December 24, 2012

Last night we noted Sunday protests in Falluja and Ramadi and relied on US outlets plus AFP.  My bad.  Mohammad Sabah (Al Mada) explains that in Falluja they also demanded the release of prisoners.   Kitabat goes further and reports that yesterday's Falluja protest was decrying Nouri's targeting Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi (Sunni and member of Iraqiya which beat Nouri's State of Law in the 2010 elections) by arresting/kidnapping 150 of the employees who work for him.  But, the news outlet explains, it also was about what's taking place in Iraqi prisons and detention centers -- the abuse of women.

I don't think any Western outlet has covered that yet.  (AP doesn't in this story they filed this morning on Sunday's protests.)  We've been noting it since it surfaced in October and it became one of the dominant stories in the Iraqi press in November and this month.  It's led State of Law to storm out of Parliament.  It's led Nouri to make a speech on a Saturday threatening to arrest those discussing the torture scandal.  It's led to multiple press conferences by various political blocs and by various Parliamentary committees.  But it's gotten zero coverage in the Western media.  The article notes that people spoke out against the violations against women in custody, detention centers and prisons.

Kitabat also reports that the Supreme Judicial Council has found four cases of females being raped in a Baghdad prison.  The article also notes the young girl in Nineveh Province who was raped by one of Nouri's soldiers and how the Ministry of  Defense (Nouri -- because he never nominated anyone to head the ministry) refuses to turn over the soldier despite the arrest warrant.  As we noted Saturday, "Alsumaria reports that Nineveh Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi has closed the road linking the province to Baghdad.  This is over one of Nouri's soldiers raping a young girl and the refusal of Nouri to obey a court order to turn the soldier over to Nineveh police. "

 The targeting of Rafie al-Issawi comes exactly a year after Nouri targeted two other high profile Sunnis who were also members of Iraqiya.  Fakhri Karim (Al Mada ) notes the similiarity between targeting al-Issawi and the December 2011 targeting of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.  He writes of how this is seen as an attempt to monopolize power and how it is contrary to the Constitution. 

Not everyone is upset with Nouri.  All Iraq News notes that MP Aziz Sharif Mayahi shows up today to carry water for Nouri and insist that is others who are authoritarian and who do not want to share power.  Keep repeating it until you convince yourself, Aziz.  Alsumaria also notes that Nouri issued a statement yesterday basically ordering clerics not to comment on the latest crisis in their Friday prayers and sermons this week.  In a further example of the crazy, Far News Agency reports MP Izzat al-Shabandar is declaring that Turkey and Qatar as well as Saudi Arabi all have secret plots against Nouri.  Although he is an MP, he's generally identified as Nouri's "aide" -- such as in this CBS News report from July.


Through Sunday, Iraq Body Count counts 219 people killed in violence so far this month.  Today?
All Iraq News notes that a Ramadi parking garage bombing has left one child injured, two Baghdad bombings have left six people injured,  and 2 police officers were shot dead in an armed attack in Samarra.  Alsumaria adds that a Falluja bombing has killed 1 shepherd and left three more injured.

Aswat al-Iraq reports, "Iraq's Parliament's Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi on Monday congratulated Christians in Iraq and all over the world on Christmas, stressing on the national unity among all Iraqi factions." We'll note that and more in the snapshot today.

From the previous entry on Time's person of the year:

My short list?   Chris Fry and Workers World go with Bradley Manning.  He would be part of my top four.  The other three?  Curiosity (which Betty was hoping Time would pick), the land rover on Mars;  A.M. MacDonald, H.C. Bonsor, B.E.O. Dochartaigh and R.G. Taylor for their discovery regarding groundwater resources in Africa; Shonda Rhimes.  Shonda Rhimes is the show runner for three different shows on television.  She's not doing Grey's Anatomy and Grey's Anatomy NYC, Grey's Anatomy: Trial By Jury, Grey's Antaomy Miami and Grey's Anatomy: Special Victims Unit.  She's created three distinct and popular shows that are all airing right now.  And her latest show, Scandal, is riveting, is the success story of fall 2012, and provides the writing that finally gives Kerry Washington the opportunity to truly shine (she's amazing and should be Emmy nominated for Best Actress).  Shonda Rhimes has changed and is changing television.  She would make my top four and any of the four would be, I would argue, worthy of person of the year.
We're noting that again for two reasons.  First, I forgot Betty's link. No problem, just log back in and add the link, right?

Wrong.  I am on the move this morning and am using wireless.  And normally I don't worry but you may have noticed an 'entry' with a link earlier today.  It also went up at Cedric and Wally's sites.  We didn't post that.  Last Monday we also had that same entry go up at our sites.

I'm not (nor are they) logging in on WiFi currently (as of today).  I will go from connected at the house (or hotel if I'm on the road) and then plugging in Wifi as we start moving but I'm not relogging in.

I don't think someone's trying to hack or destroy.  I think they're trying to communicate.  But whatever it is is they're trying to get across, I'm not understanding.  Wally called me this morning about the 'post' that went up at our sites.  I changed my password.  I do every two weeks -- I didn't last Monday because it wasn't time and I didn't see the message posted as harmful.  Wally and Cedric changed their passwords but that didn't do any good obviously.  They were on WiFi when they did the change and that's the only thing we could figure out.

Again, I'm not worried.  I think someone's trying to communicate and I can't figure out what it is they're trying to get across.  (We do have an e-mail address that's public, FYI.) And it's not the log in.  I just realized it.  That's not what they're using.  I've got to go into a charity meeting in a few seconds -- Wally and Cedric, if you read this before I talk to you today, they're using the e-mail, change your e-mail post option or e-mail post address, that's what they're using.

Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Barry O's Favorite Topic" went up last night.  On this week's Law and Disorder Radio,  an hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) topics addressed include the late Robert Bork, the shooting in Newton Connecticut, political prisoner Lynne Stewart (we will note that in a snaphot this week) is discussed with guest Ralph Poynter (Lynne's husband).


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