Explainer: What's behind the storming
of Iraq's parliament?
Posted By: Dreadnought, 7/28/2022 3:35:18 PM
Baghdad -- The followers of the influential populist Shiite cleric came by the thousands to storm Iraq's parliament. Just as quickly, the protesters dispersed at his command. Mass mobilization and control is a well-worn strategy of Muqtada al-Sadr, a mercurial figure who has emerged as a powerful force in Iraq’s cutthroat political scene with a nationalist, anti-Iran agenda. Wednesday's storming of parliament came after al-Sadr's Tehran-backed political rival, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, nominated a pro-Iran politician to be Iraq's new leader. A look at how Iraq got to this point:
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On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein said it “makes perfect sense” that 64% of Americans think we’re in a recession because “most people are thinking about inflation. They’re thinking about the pressures on their family budgets. And it’s completely understandable that they would be.” Bernstein also said that while inflation is too high, “we’ve tried to point out that those families often have pretty decent balance sheets.”
Bernstein stated, “I say that that makes perfect sense to me that people would answer a poll with that kind of response. And the reason is because if you actually look at how the group
Today Russia announced a bunch of new problems it was allegedly having with the Germany-made machines that pump natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Delivery of a Nord Stream 1 gas turbine to Germany from Canada after maintenance was not in line with the contract, Gazprom’s senior manager said on Friday, stepping up criticism of manufacturer Siemens Energy.
Vitaly Markelov, Gazprom’s deputy chief executive, also said Russia had complained repeatedly to Siemens Energy about problems with other turbines.
“We have repeatedly applied to the Russian representative office of Siemens about this, sent 10 letters.
The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed an “assault weapons” ban by a vote of 217 to 213 on Friday evening.
The legislation, H.R. 1808, was sponsored by Rep. David Cicillene (D-RI). Cicillene tweeted passage of the bill: Democrats had intended to hold a vote on an “assault weapons” ban on Wednesday, but had to pull the legislation after realizing they might not have the votes. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) warned this morning that Democrats were working behind the scenes to rally enough support to vote on the measure today.
The legislation is not expected to pass the 50-50 Senate.
On July 21, 2022, Breitbart News pointed to
Recent developments warrant the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, former Attorney General William Barr says.
“[I]ntervening events, especially recent reports about FBI whistleblowers and the possible reach of the investigation, warrant adding the protections of special counsel status to assure that key decisions are made independently without political ‘favor,’” Barr told The Federalist.
President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has been under federal investigation since 2018 for issues related to his foreign business practices, including obtaining investments and board positions from politically compromised figures in communist China and other trouble spots. Multiple U.S. attorney’s offices were tasked with components of the investigation
Britain’s official National Security Advisor, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, has warned that the risk of nuclear escalation is greater today than it was during the Cold War, particularly with respect to China.
Speaking to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C., the former top bureaucrat at the Ministry of Defence argued that the West “face[s] a much broader range of strategic risks and pathways to escalation” than during the Cold War, not least because, during that long-simmering conflict, the Soviet Union and its satellites reached something of a “shared understanding of doctrine” which made the threat of nuclear conflict more manageable — some notable flirtations with destruction notwithstanding.
Joe Biden had a more than two-hour call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The first thoughts I have in writing about that call are that it’s dangerous for the United States to have him on a call for that long with a foreign leader, particularly Xi — that Xi would be able to see the issues, and therefore the weakness of Joe Biden. The one thing you never want to project to the Chinese is weaknessBut that’s just what Biden has been doing. China has been upset about the trip that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has planned to Taiwan. Taiwan is our ally. Biden should tell
Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky's governor said 16 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling.
"We've still got a lot of searching to do," said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Kentucky's hard-hit Perry County. "We still have missing people." Powerful floodwaters swallowed towns that hug creeks and streams in Appalachian valleys and hollows, swamping homes and businesses, leaving vehicles in useless piles and crunching runaway equipment and debris against bridges.
The streaming service Hulu says it will start accepting advertising about contentious political issues like abortion rights and gun control.
The policy change follows a backlash earlier this week on social media from Democratic groups protesting the fact the streaming service refused to run some of their ads"For them to block us from being able to communicate the gravity of the times that we're in was hugely problematic for us," said Julie Norton, founding partner at Mosaic Communications, a media consultancy firm that buys ads for Democratic clients.
Since Hulu's parent company, Disney,
The Democrats have launched two cringeworthy ads targeting Hispanic voters as the party continues to lose favor with that once trusted demographic.
Slated to air in Texas and three other states, the DCCC, the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, ads openly admit that Democrats are “out of touch.” The first ad features two Hispanic women speaking English as they talk about the many economic woes spurred by Democrat policies, even going so far as to admit the party has grown “out of touch” and should be voted only as a default against Republican extremism. Transcript: Woman 1: Ah, my back and neck hurts.
Woman 2:
The search history on the phone of Nicholas John Roske – accused of planning to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh – includes the phrases like “most effective place to stab someone” and “assassin skills,” according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search warrant application.
Both subjects, among other phrases using “assassin” and “assassination,” were searched on the device in the weeks leading up to his alleged attempt on Kavanaugh’s life. In the affidavit supporting a search warrant, obtained by the Daily Beast, FBI special agent Ian Montijo highlighted worrying Internet searches from the phone of the accused, Nicholas Roske, between May 5 – just days after the Supreme Court leak
Vindication: Biden Administration Quietly
Orders Part of Border Wall to Be Finished
in Arizona 20 replies
Orders Part of Border Wall to Be Finished
in Arizona 20 replies
On Thursday, the Biden administration ordered for the Yuma Morelos Dam Project in Arizona to be completed, which would “close four gaps” along the porous southern border sector. According to the Associated Press, this effort was backed by former President Donald Trump’s administration, essentially vindicating conservatives who backed tougher security in the region.
The Department of Homeland Security said that the effort will mitigate the risks for migrants, as “the area presents safety and life hazard risks,” according to a statement.
Of course, nobody should expect the administration to brag about this,
Why don’t Americans trust the government and other institutions? Maybe it’s because the government and other institutions aren’t trustworthy.
There’s certainly plenty of evidence for both the lack of trust and the lack of trustworthiness. And if the trend continues, it bodes poorly for America.
The news is bad on the lack of trust. A recent University of Chicago Institute of Politics poll found that a majority of Americans think that the government is “corrupt and rigged against people like me.” Two-thirds of Republicans and independents felt that way, but things weren’t much better among liberals, 51% of whom agreed. So this isn’t the usual sour grapes from the party out of power — it’s a general sentiment.
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he evidence is building that President Joe Biden isn’t the only Democrat Americans should be worried about when it comes to how things are working upstairs.
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the podium on Thursday for her weekly news conference, she launched into a stream of incoherence that would have rivaled Biden on his worst day.
And it couldn’t have built much confidence in the nation’s top leadership.
Today during her press conference she was either on medication or some sort of alcohol because her behavior was not normal!
San Francisco has declared a state of emergency over the spread of Monkeypox in the city, Mayor London Breed said Thursday as the number of cases soared in July.
The first case of the virus, which is predominately affecting the gay and bisexual community, was recorded on June 3. By July 28, the number of cases reached 281, according to the city.
“San Francisco is declaring a Local Public Health Emergency for monkeypox. This declaration will go into effect starting August 1 and will allow us to prepare and dedicate resources to prevent the spread,” Breed said.
Today Russia announced a bunch of new problems it was allegedly having with the Germany-made machines that pump natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Delivery of a Nord Stream 1 gas turbine to Germany from Canada after maintenance was not in line with the contract, Gazprom’s senior manager said on Friday, stepping up criticism of manufacturer Siemens Energy.
Vitaly Markelov, Gazprom’s deputy chief executive, also said Russia had complained repeatedly to Siemens Energy about problems with other turbines.
“We have repeatedly applied to the Russian representative office of Siemens about this, sent 10 letters.
Joe Biden had a more than two-hour call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The first thoughts I have in writing about that call are that it’s dangerous for the United States to have him on a call for that long with a foreign leader, particularly Xi — that Xi would be able to see the issues, and therefore the weakness of Joe Biden. The one thing you never want to project to the Chinese is weaknessBut that’s just what Biden has been doing. China has been upset about the trip that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has planned to Taiwan. Taiwan is our ally. Biden should tell
By definition, anyone hired based on their diversity and intersectional identities will not be the best. Merit and diversity are anathema to one another. Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris for his Vice President for the singular reason that she checked off boxes for being a black woman. Ditto for Ketanji Brown-Jackson and double ditto for Jen Psaki’s replacement Karine Jean-Pierre.
This isn’t a difficult concept, but all leftists lack self-awareness, introspection, and the ability to assimilate new information with their rigid dogma. That leaves us with someone so utterly bad at her job that it’s astonishing she is able to wake up in the morning.
Russia said Thursday it was not close to a trade for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, just a day after the U.S. revealed it placed an offer on the table for her freedom.
The U.S. initially proposed a prisoner exchange in June, offering to release notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner, according to CNN. While both sides have been in negotiations for months, Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, said little progress had been made, according to Reuters.
Vindication: Biden Administration Quietly
Orders Part of Border Wall to Be Finished
in Arizona 20 replies
Orders Part of Border Wall to Be Finished
in Arizona 20 replies
On Thursday, the Biden administration ordered for the Yuma Morelos Dam Project in Arizona to be completed, which would “close four gaps” along the porous southern border sector. According to the Associated Press, this effort was backed by former President Donald Trump’s administration, essentially vindicating conservatives who backed tougher security in the region.
The Department of Homeland Security said that the effort will mitigate the risks for migrants, as “the area presents safety and life hazard risks,” according to a statement.
Of course, nobody should expect the administration to brag about this,
We found out on Thursday the Biden administration will fill in the gaps in Trump’s border wall near Yuma, AZ. Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Biden’s comments when he was a candidate. Jean-Pierre: "We are not finishing the wall." You’re not? I know this administration loves to change language and linguistics, but this is too much. Also, in 2019, Jean-Pierre called Trump’s wall racist. Is it racist when Biden does it? Jean-Pierre had the hardest time justifying the action while calling it ineffective and racist and claiming you’re just cleaning up Trump’s mess while trying to save lives:
Did You Get $8,000 From Joe Biden?
19 replies
In the administration’s haste to put out a “this is not a recession” message, they rolled out the recently COVID-19-recovered President Biden. Many COVID patients report residual brain fog, and it may be the virus that made Biden’s foggier than usual. During a discussion with his economic advisors, he essentially called Americans ignorant for not understanding all the Biden administration has done for them and treating us like ingrates for not appreciating the handouts we received.
Biden taking credit for keeping teachers on the job and schools open was pretty galling. But it only got worse. In response to one question, Biden said he takes consumer confidence
Let Trump be Trump
19 replies
For 7 years, Never Trumpers have complained about his style. I haven't. I like it. He is combative. Pugilists throw punches. Wusses say, "Please clap."
I can see why his style is off-putting. Conservatives are not used to elbows being out. They want Reagan the Grandfather.
But we have Trump who is crazy as a fox. That's the reality.
And the reality is a Reaganesque Trump would not work in today's political world. The shared experience of World War II is long gone. Elitists shun patriotism and their wannabes agree. Today's liberals respect no one, not even themselves. They run every institution in the United States, and they ruin every one.
The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed an “assault weapons” ban by a vote of 217 to 213 on Friday evening.
The legislation, H.R. 1808, was sponsored by Rep. David Cicillene (D-RI). Cicillene tweeted passage of the bill: Democrats had intended to hold a vote on an “assault weapons” ban on Wednesday, but had to pull the legislation after realizing they might not have the votes. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) warned this morning that Democrats were working behind the scenes to rally enough support to vote on the measure today.
The legislation is not expected to pass the 50-50 Senate.
On July 21, 2022, Breitbart News pointed to
Hanover, a city in the northwest of Germany, has become the first major metropolitan area to try and reduce the use of natural gas by removing hot water from public buildings. The move comes as natural gas supplies from Russia are reduced to 20% of capacity. Germany is attempting to fill up storage facilities of natural gas in order to survive the winter.
Germany, together with several European countries, are telling their citizens to expect large increases in their electricity bills as energy costs continue to skyrocket.