Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "That Moment Nancy Can't Live Down." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declares, "As I told Wolf Blitzer, 'We feed them.' And we also? Evict them. Because, think about it, you go to a party and you eat, you drink but then you have to go. Unless you're in Congress. If you're in Congress you stay for life." Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.
Big event in Iraq. Whether it's been reported accurately or not is another question.
Everyone's saying the attack was aimed at Mustafa al-Kahdimi, the prime minister of Iraq.
US State Dept spokesperson Ned Price issued the following statement:
We are following the reported drone attack targeting the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Kadhimi. We are relieved to learn the Prime Minister was unharmed. This apparent act of terrorism, which we strongly condemn, was directed at the heart of the Iraqi state. We are in close touch with the Iraqi security forces charged with upholding Iraq’s sovereignty and independence and have offered our assistance as they investigate this attack. Our commitment to our Iraqi partners is unshakeable. The United States stands with the government and people of Iraq.
Alistair Jameson (INDEPENDENT) reports:
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt with armed drones that targeted his residence early on Sunday.
Seven of his security guards were injured in the attack, which occurred in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone area.
AP notes, "Two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press that seven of al-Kadhimi's security guards were injured in the attack with two armed drones which occurred in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone area. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements." THE GUARDIAN reminds:
Protests turned deadly on Friday when the demonstrators marched towards the Green Zone and there was an exchange of fire in which one protester was killed and dozens of security forces were injured.
Al-Khadimi ordered an investigation to determine what sparked the clashes and who violated orders not to open fire. Some militia leaders have openly blamed al-Kadhimi for Friday’s clashes and the protester’s death.
Al-Kadhimi, 54, was Iraq’s former intelligence chief before becoming prime minister in May last year. He is considered by the militias to be close to the US, and has tried to find a balance between Iraq’s alliances with the US and Iran.
That would be the only real reason to attack Mustafa.
Otherwise, he doesn't really matter.
He was never really elected and on one thinks for a moment that he'll have a second term. His brief term has been a nightmare and he's failed at everything he's attempted. (Including re-election.)
The violence would play like an attention-getting stunt carried out by his supporters (possibly US supporters). The only real reasons he'd be attacked -- he is an outgoing prime minister?
To destabilize the country further or for revenge. Those are the only two logical and workable motives to target him now.
Who wants revenge? The militias.
Where'd the drone come from?
Was it used by the Iranian-backed militias? Was it a drone from Iran?
If so, this is what some consider payback for his disenfranchising the militia members. A large group of them were prevented from voting. This was due to the electoral commission and many of the militias believe that the commission was acting on the orders of Mustafa. If you're new to this detail, October 10th, Iraq voted. The Friday before, the security forces voted. Security forces voted early because they were being deployed by the government on October 10th to protect polling stations. They would not be in their own neighborhoods to vote. The Iraqi government, under the pervious prime minister, made the militias part of the government's security forces. They were disenfranchised. That's one of the reasons they're calling out the vote, one of the reasons they're objecting to it. The press keeps lying.
The western press keeps insisting that there is no evidence of any irregularities in the vote. There may or may not be additional irregularities but the fact that a large number of people were disenfranchised is not in dispute. The electoral commission made that late ruling publicly, right ahead of the vote. We covered it in real time. To pretend this didn't happen is to lie. I don't understand how lying about this helps anyone.
I am not pro-militia. I opposed for years the notion that they should be made a part of the security forces. After they were, I continued to oppose it. Even now, I think they should be expelled from the government forces.
That is my opinion.
My opinion does not change reality. Reality is that they are security forces under the present system and that they were denied the right to vote in large numbers.
That could be a motive for revenge.
There are other people who want revenge on Mustafa.
And there are people who want to de-stabilize Iraq which would be killing the prime minister right now. Right now, this a chaotic period. There's still no final vote count -- no official one. No one knows who will step forward to be named prime minister-designate. You could do a lot of damage to the system right now by killing Mustafa.
There are many who want to damage the system.
So revenge and chaos are the two most logical explanations to an attempt on Mustafa. If indeed, this was an attempt on Mustafa.
Kat's "Kat's Korner: No, Diana Ross, Thank You" went up earlier. The following sites updated:
Kat: Diana Ross has released THANK YOU and it's a great album -- one that allows us to look at the shortcomings in the system.
Such as? It's been called Diana's 25th solo studio album released by the media and that's not accurate. I may have repeated it myself online, that false claim. I mentioned it to C.I. and she rolled her eyes. Huh? "Kat, THE WIZ." Immediately, I knew two things (a) that it was a lie and (b) how the lie started.
This is Diana's 26th solo, studio album.
Back in 2016, I wrote "Kat's Korner: Diana Ross releases a masterpiece (belatedly)."
She brings each song to life.
"Wonder Wonder Why" may be one of her strongest performances and, even
if you're a fan of "Is This What Feeling Gets?" from the original
soundtrack for THE WIZ, you'll love her version here even more.
Oh, and that's the thing.
This is not Diana's tracks from the film soundtrack being repackaged.
In 1978, she went into the studio with Suzanne de Passe and Lee
Holdridge to record these thirteen songs. In the years since, only
"Home" has been released (in 2001).
And that's how you know Motown was over by the 80s.
When Diana was with the Supremes, Motown issued A BIT OF LIVERPOOL
(1964), THE SUPREMES SING COUNTRY, WESTERN AND POP and WE REMEMBER SAM
COOKE (both in 1965), THE SUPREMES SING RODGERS & HART (1967) and
DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES SING AND PERFORM FUNNY GIRL (1968).
These were not expected to be huge sellers or even strong ones.
The point was to make clear that Diana could handle more than top forty.
The point was to make clear that Diana was an artist.
This album was supposed to have been released in January of 1979,
following the release of the film in October of 1978 (the film's
soundtrack was released in September 1978).
The digital booklet notes:
When the film wrapped and Ross returned to Los Angeles,
producer/arranger Lee Holdridge received a call from Motown. "We've got
to have her do some cover versions of these songs," he was told with
some urgency.
"We literally ran into the studio in a great hurry to do this,"
Holdridge says. Luckily, this was not Holdridge's first time working
with Motown or Diana Ross. "I did all the orchestrations and
arrangements for the film MAHOGANY, and 'Do You Know Where You're Going
To' was a big hit for her," he adds. "So she knew exactly who I was.
We knew all the keys and stuff like that, so we tried to emulate what
some of the film tracks were like. Diana was excited about it."
Months later, Cher would star in her
ABC's CHER . . . SPECIAL featuring a 15 minute segment of her playing
all the parts in the musical WEST SIDE STORY. But before that happened,
Diana should have been presented to the public playing all the parts
from THE WIZ.
And the film could have been rescued somewhat by the album being released.
As it headed to the second-run houses, the dollar theaters, DIANA ROSS
SINGS SONGS FROM THE WIZ could've provided incentive to check out the
film. It would have also telegraphed just how strong a singer, how
great an artist, she is.
As she demonstrates on "Don't Nobody Tell Me No Bad News" and on
"Believe In Yourself," she could have easily played the role of either
Evillene or Glinda The Good Witch in NBC's broadcast last year. Her
medley of "You Can't Win"/"Slide Some Oil"/"(I'm A) Mean Ole Lion" argue
she could have handled the roles of Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly
Lion as well.
Do you get it? DIANA ROSS SINGS SONGS FROM THE WIZ is a studio album. It was recorded for a January 1979 release. It didn't get released until 2015. Like BLUE. Diana recorded that album in 1971 and 1972 but it didn't get released until 2006. CRAPAPEDIA rightly counts BLUE as a studio album. But DIANA ROSS SINGS SONGS FROM THE WIZ is wrongly listed by CRAPAPEDIA as a "compilation" album and appears wrongly listed with various best of and greatest hits albums Diana recorded. These are not recordings from the film soundtrack of THE WIZ. These are recordings of those songs done by Diana in a studio after the film for an album. Every song on this album was recorded after she had completed THE WIZ and was intended for this album. It was Diana taking on the entire soundtrack and she did a wonderful job.
But she's a woman and she's African-American so CRAPAPEDIA doesn't give two s**ts about the truth.
I care about the truth. Sometimes I'm a little slow on the take. So when I read Friday's snapshot, a point C.I. was subtly making went right over my head. I nodded along and thought I got it. Then I talked to Ann (read her "I'm really tired of the every day racism.") and really got the point. Brit critic at THE GUARDIAN was utilizing racism to dismiss Diana -- her new album and her accomplishments. He was doing it by resulting to the sexist and racist criteria that allowed the male created the rock canon that tossed in a few tokens but otherwise excluded all women and men of color. Ann's documented it far beter than I could so make a point to read what she wrote and grasp what we allow and what we ignore encourages racism.
THANK YOU, the 26th solo studio album by Diana Ross, is an amazing accomplishment. And, if we include compilations and her work in the sixties with the Supremes, this is at least her 123rd album.
That's a lot to compete with.
Is it Diana's best album?
No, I don't think so.
I think THE BOSS is her best album. That 1979 album features the title track, "It's My House," "I Ain't Been Licked," "No One Gets The Prize," "All For One," "Once In The Morning" and "Sparkle." And, for me, it's Diana's finest album. It's gorgeous -- the vocals are so powerful and crisp, the musical arrangements are perfection.
THANK YOU? Out of Diana's 123 or so albums, I would rank it . . . number two.
I have loved THE BOSS since I first heard it in 1979. That's a lot to compete with. And I also love her 1980 album diana, 1984's SWEPT AWAY, 1985's EATEN ALIVE, 1992's THE FORCE BEHIND THE POWER, 1999's EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY, 1970's DIANA ROSS, 1971's SURRENDER, 1976's DIANA ROSS, 1972's soundtrack to LADY SINGS THE BLUES, 1989's GREATEST HITS LIVE, Diana Ross & The Supremes' 1968 REFLECTIONS, 1993's STOLEN MOMENTS: THE LADY SINGS . . . JAZZ AND BLUES, 1994's DIANA EXTENDED: THE REMIXES, 2020's SUPERTONIC MIXES, 2015's DIANA ROSS SINGS SONGS FROM THE WIZ, 1966's THE SUPREMES A' GO-GO, 1967's THE SUPREMES SING HOLLAND-DOZIER-HOLLAND, 1968's DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES SING AND PERFORM FUNNY GIRL, 1977's AN EVENING WITH DIANA ROSS, 1994's A VERY SPECIAL SEASON, 1973's TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING . . .
Against all of those albums and many more, THANK YOU ranks number two as the best Diana Ross album of all time.
It's that good. It's that great. It's truly wonderful.
Thirteen tracks of perfection. Keyon Harrold's trumpet on "Just In Case" is moving and layered and nearly as textured as Diana's vocals on the song. The music doesn't compete with Diana. On every track, it enhances her vocals. And it's real music. The way some critics are describing the album, you'd think it was Madonna in the '00s. As Ava and C.I. observed in the 2006:
The drone. The lack of anything resembling music, let alone music that pops. "Let's Do It" pops on Diana's new album. It's a stripped down track with fluttering lines and strong percussion.
The piano work by Charlie McLean on "I Still Believe" is right up there with the piano on "More And More" and Valerie Simpson's piano work on THE BOSS. The song also features some of Diana's deeper register. She really has a great lower register and I'm always surprised she doesn't feature it more. Yes, I love it when she goes to the top of her range and, yes, that work clearly influenced Michael Jackson. But she's also got a gorgeous lower register. 1982's "Fool For Your Love" is one of the few songs where she really resorts to the lower register for the entire song.
Diana co-wrote that 1982 song, by the way. She also co-wrote 1982's "So Close" and "I Am Me," 1984's "Fight for It" and "Swept Away," 1983's "Girls," 1987's "Shockwaves" and1999's "Hope Is An Open Window."
I mention that because one prissy critic wants you to know Diana co-writes nine of the thirteen tracks and he (you knew it was a 'he,' didn't you?) insists she's not really been a songwriter and really just previous co-wrote 1981's "Work That Body." Uhm, no.
She and the other songwriters do a great job on THANK YOU. Those writers include her oldest daughter Rhonda Ross who wrote, all by herself, the delicious "Count On Me" -- another song with great piano work and with a vocal from Diana that really delivers.
I love the background vocals on "Come Together." I love all the extra touches and flourishes that go into this album to make it so special and wonderful.
In Betty's "WHO IS THE GREAT EARTHA KITT? (and thank you, Diana Ross!)," she notes:
I also highly recommend Diana Ross' THANK YOU. A fantastic album. I am
loving it. It is wonderful and I cannot praise it enough. If you like
Diana, you are going to love this album. One of the songs features a
syncopated vocal like on "Now That You're Gone" (diana album) or "Not
Over You Yet" (EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY album). I love all the songs and
even the ones that I loved as singles work so much better on the album
in the context of the other songs.
She's talking about "In Your Heart" and it's really something with the syncopated vocal, the drum rumbles, the caressing musical notes.
I love this album. I love the title track, I love "If The World Just Danced" -- all of it.
I love the lyrics, I love the vocals. In the album notes, Diana explains THANK YOU Is a "songbook of love." That's truly what the album is. It's a celebration and reflection of what we have and what we can have.
"The Answers Always Love" probably sums up the album.
Diana Ross' THANK YOU is an album you don't want to miss. It's everything a musical album should be.
[Note: For this review, I used C.I.'s advanced copy of THANK YOU. I have paid for my copy, it's just been lost in transit, see my "Once upon a time AMAZON revealed they were a liar" from Friday.]
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