The Common Ills: 2020-08-02

Saturday, August 08, 2020

THE INDEPENDENT published a major article on Iraq -- but only in Arabic

In June, it was noted that Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi would be traveling to the United States to meet with US President Donald Trump. Yesterday, the White House released more details:

President Donald J. Trump will welcome Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi of the Republic of Iraq to the White House on August 20, 2020. The visit comes at a critical time for both the United States and Iraq as we continue our collaboration to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and address the challenges from the coronavirus pandemic. As close partners, the United States and Iraq will look to expand our relations across a range of issues, including security, energy, health care, and economic cooperation.

It is a critical time for both. For Iraq, there's the lack of dependable electricity in the midst of a pandemic. Omar Sattar (AL-MONITOR) reports:

The heat wave in Iraq has raised the ire of citizens in the central and southern areas, pushing many to take to the streets once again. The popular protests in the squares had settled down due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the searing hot weather and declining hours of electricity supply have forced the new government to once again face the protesters.

Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government was only formed less than three months ago and is now in the middle of the process of activating electricity interconnection agreements with Gulf countries and speeding up the cooperation agreement with Germany's Siemens AG.

Although he inherited a mess, and is taking action to fix it, there is no quick fix and the political blocs opposed to Kadhimi have tried to harness the protests to undermine his government and drag it into a bloody confrontation with the protesters, especially in Baghdad, Dhi Qar and Basra.

Clashes between protesters and security forces have resulted in three deaths and 21 injuries, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

And with that backdrop, temperatures soared even higher in Iraq today -- in fact, Baghdad set a new record. Natalie O'Neill (NEW YORK POST) notes,

Folks in Iraq aren’t hot on this weather trend.

Temperatures soared to a scorching 126 degrees in Baghdad last week — the hottest ever recorded in the city, according to a report.

The sweltering heat, which comes during the country’s hottest summer ever, sparked power outages that forced locals to endure the weather without air conditioning, Bloomberg News reported.

Shakthi Vadakkepat Tweets:

IRAQ'S HEAT WAVE: Temperatures in Baghdad last week reached 52°C (126 °F).
Here's how local kids are keeping cool as power blackouts mean no air conditioning during the #coronavirus lockdown

From

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom's INDEPENDENT is known for publishing the 'facts' from Paddy Cock-Burn. He's seen as anti-Arab -- for good reason -- and he misses so much. Including this article at the Arab edition of THE INDEPENDENT written by Ghufran Younes. She notes the area near Falluja is infamous for its number of missing people -- missing as a result of the militias liquidation operations in Anbar Province. In June of 2016, Faiz al-Rikan explains, approximately 735 residents were abducted. A man whose three sons, ages 16 to 26, were abducted speaks of his sadness over his missing children. They are among The Disappeared. Since 2017, the High Commission for Human Rights has received complaints of at least 8,615 Iraqis being disappeared. Professor Anas Akram Muhammed sits on that commission and states that a national database is needed to track the disappeared and their numbers. The Commission works with the United Nations Development Program. The Iraqi Center for Documenting War Crimes' Omar al-Farhan states that Iraq is the top ranked in the world when it comes to the number of people who have been disappeared by government forces (including the militias).

It's a major report. It has clear news value -- certainly more pertinent than anything 'Middle East expert' Paddy Cock-Burn has filed recently as he's restyled himself to become a US 'resistance' 'fighter.'

We should all be asking why THE INDEPENDENT has elected to publish this very important article only in Arabic?

Friday evening, it went up at THE INDEPENDENT's Arabic site and it's been talked about non-stop on Arabic social media. But, for some strange reason, THE INDEPENDENT -- a British publication -- feels no compulsion to publish the article in English.

It's no where to be found at their English site -- not in the news of the world and not in Middle East news. Someone needs to answer why that is.

In other news, MENAFM reports, "The cumulative number of the confirmed COVID-19 cases that have been recorded in Iraq since it has been hit by the pandemic has raised to 144,064, as 3,461 more patients tested positive for the virus over the last 24 hours ending on Saturday, the country's ministry of health announced."

Lastly, THE DAYTONA NEWS-JOURNAL covers the tally of the US fallen in Iraq, "In operations related to Iraq, a total of 4,603 members of the U.S. military and Department of Defense civilians have died. Another 32,523 U.S. service personnel and DOD civilians have been wounded in action."

The following sites updated:

Krystal and Emily: Joe Rogan KNOCKS Biden After New Cringe Interview Disaster

Krystal Ball and Emily Jashinsky weigh in on Joe Biden's response to an interview question about his mental state. About Rising: Rising is a weekday morning show with bipartisan hosts that breaks the mold of morning TV by taking viewers inside the halls of Washington power like never before. The show leans into the day's political cycle with cutting edge analysis from DC insiders who can predict what is going to happen. It also sets the day's political agenda by breaking exclusive news with a team of scoop-driven reporters and demanding answers during interviews with the country's most important political newsmakers. Follow Rising on social media: Website: Hill.TV Facebook: facebook.com/HillTVLive/ Instagram: @HillTVLive Twitter: @HillTVLive Follow Saagar Enjeti & Krystal Ball on social media: Twitter: @esaagar and @krystalball Instagram: @esaagar and @krystalmball

DVA "Soldier For Life" (Bryan Lett)

From Disabled Veterans of America, this is Byran Lett's "Soldier For Life:"

Army, RecruitMilitary partnership to connect veterans with DAV services

The transition from military to civilian life is a multilayered and often challenging process, but now soldiers exiting service will have additional resources to help them along the way.

Longtime DAV partner RecruitMilitary, a Bradley-Morris company, was recently enlisted by the Army to provide employment services and resources through the Army’s Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program to help active, Guard and Reserve soldiers and their spouses. As a result, DAV will have a unique avenue to extend its no-cost services to families in need.

According to a 2018 Department of Veterans Affairs report, “The Military to Civilian Transition,” roughly 100,000 men and women transition out of the Army each year. Annually, this accounts for half of all transitioning service members.

“We all know how important it is for veterans to get their civilian lives started on the right foot,” said National Employment Director Jeff Hall, a combat-wounded Army veteran. “This partnership just about guarantees that our nation’s soldiers and their spouses will have an opportunity to connect with DAV’s services through exclusive Soldier for Life career fairs. That means we will have a chance to help them both in finding a meaningful career and ensuring they receive the benefits they earned.”

DAV’s Veterans Pulse Survey found that 47% of veterans thought finding employment was their toughest transition obstacle, so being able to link exiting soldiers directly to DAV and RecruitMilitary’s co-hosted career fairs, which are now all virtual hiring events due to the COVID-19 outbreak, is a critical component to streamlining the process.

“This is a game changer,” said Chris Newsome, senior vice president at RecruitMilitary. “We are accustomed to capturing the attention of transitioning personnel once they have already transitioned, but getting the opportunity to support them as they are still in the on-base transition process makes this far more seamless.”

A transitioning service member can get hit with so much vital information at once that some important material can get lost in the shuffle, which makes the timing and these resources so important.

DAV’s Pulse Survey also discovered that only 38% of veterans thought they had the support they needed when leaving the military. Furthermore, just 35% of veterans thought their benefits were clearly explained to them and only 37% said they were aware of what benefits they qualified for and how to take advantage of them.

“Another vitally important connection these individuals will have are DAV benefits and claims experts, which have been the leader in their field for the past century,” Hall said. “Being able to introduce these tools to them early in their transition process is critical to setting them up for success in the next phase of their life.”

Another important factor of this partnership is its national reach.

“We are now able to help these men and women get connected with opportunities regardless of where they will reside next,” Newsome said. “Roughly 60% to 70% of transitioning personnel go somewhere other than the installation they are transitioning from. Some go back to their home of record, while others follow significant others, friends or opportunities.

“The trouble is that many aren’t able to truly explore the opportunities in alternative markets until they’re already there,” added Newsome. “It puts them behind the curve. Now, these men and women can search on a national or even an international level for the right opportunity.”

There are many helpful resources available to those transitioning from military service; however, this can lead to confusion and lead many into an abyss of inactivity.

“The significance of connecting hundreds of thousands of transitioning soldiers each year with a powerful ensemble of career resources and benefit experts while they are still wearing the uniform is not only an important partnership, it’s smart,” Hall said.

“DAV and RecruitMilitary complement each other, as we both have unique core competencies,” Newsome said. “DAV enhances our services while also tying in services that steward soldiers in a more holistic manner, such as access to benefits, claims processing, legal advocacy and representation on Capitol Hill.

“Together, we can truly take the soldier under our wing and streamline meaningful and impactful outcomes.”

Transitioning soldiers can begin their exploration of the program at recruitmilitary.com/army. Once there, soldiers can create their professional profile, build their resume, access resources and review how-to content that covers everything from resume writing to best practices for interviewing.

Move Back In 🚚 with Jackée Harry & Marla Gibbs

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Workers Blow the Whistle on Mass Death | The Search for a Covid Vaccine Is Not an Arms Race

8 August 2020

For Black people to have justice, we must:

Friend,

We are in the middle of a public health pandemic, one which continues to highlight how Black and Brown communities remain vulnerable to natural disasters in this country at alarmingly higher rates than those of our white neighbours. Just as the COVID-19 mortality rates remain twice as high for Black people as for white people[1], August 29th marks fifteen years since Hurricane Katrina: a natural disaster which ravaged the Black communities in New Orleans.

As part of the continuum of Black struggle for justice in this country, Hurricane Katrina was the first major event of the 21st century that laid bare our struggle, which began 401 years ago when the first enslaved Africans were brought to our country.

In recognition of the 15th anniversary of Katrina, Hip Hop Caucus is releasing a list of demands for justice. Sign on today!

To achieve justice for Black America we MUST:

Defund police, invest in community programs of social uplift
Invest in education, health, housing, and Black businesses
Divest from fossil fuels and invest in a just transition for climate solutions. Otherwise we will only see more disasters such as Katrina in the gulf coast, throughout our country, and around the world.

SIGN NOW

Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast on August 28th, 2005,then the levees broke and New Orleans flooded on the morning of August 29th. 50 years to the date that Katrina hit land, on August 28th, 1955, Emmett Till was murdered in Missisippi, and it was the image of his murder published in Jet Magazine that helped galvanze the Civil Rights Movement.

Also on August 28th, but in 1963, a quarter million people joined the March on Washington, and Dr. King gave his “I have a dream” speech.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast 15 years ago, Black people and poor people were left to die in the richest country in the world. Each year on the anniversary we commemorate our loved ones we lost, celebrate our resiliency, and demand justice and a just future.

SIGN NOW: Sign on to our demands for the Struggle for Black justice.

In the 15 years since Katrina, the recovery for the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast has been uneven. Black communities have been even further left behind. This has been made clear in the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Black communities in Louisiana and New Orleans right now.

While New Orleans continues to recover and heal, Black Americans still remain vulnerable to future storms both literal and figurative, in a nation which violates and attacks our access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Join us to build a better Black America.

For Future Generations,,

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr.

President & Founder

Hip Hop Caucus

[1] https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race

D O N A T E

Hip Hop Caucus
1638 R Street, NW #120, Washington, DC 20009