text:
First up, my reviews are updated on the right:
Let me know if one's missing and let me not lie here, C.I. updated it adding the top five. I didn't even remember reviewing Bruce's album. :D Thank you, C.I., I didn't even know she'd done it. I got online thinking that before I go to sleep (I haven't been to bed yet) let me update the list and saw that it was already updated.
Ruth's Streaming Report
2020 in Books (Martha & Shirley)
I loved Ruth's report and it tipped me off that C.I. had her year-in-review finished and ready to post. She likes to give us all at least two hours before she posts her thing. But since it's done, I read it. It is wonderful. She says the year is like a bad sexual partner (I'm not giving away the title). It's wonderful.
And I loved Martha and Shirley's look at books.
And 2020 in music is my music piece.
So just a quick note before I go to bed. Happy New Year, everyone.
Thursday, December 31, 2020. The last snapshot for 2020.
On the last real news day in the US prior to January 3rd, the media slowly wakes up to a potential attack in Iraq. ANI reports, "Amid concerns of possible Iranian retaliation, the U.S. on Wednesday flew a pair of B-52H over the Persian Gulf, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)."
Last news day? Friday is the first day of 2021 and that's a 'slow' news day in the US with many people on vacation. Saturday and Sunday are weekend days and Sunday is the 3rd. Will there be violence? I hope not but the US government is worried and it's a damn shame that what passes for a media in the US couldn't have spent time explaining that.
Here's the statement from CENTCOM:
Release # 20201230-02
U.S. Air Force B-52H "Stratofortress" aircrews from the Minot Air Force Base, N.D.-headquartered 5th Bomb Wing made a deliberate appearance in the Middle East today to underscore the U.S. military's commitment to regional security and demonstrate a unique ability to rapidly deploy overwhelming combat power on short notice.
The two-ship deployment also delivers a clear deterrent message to anyone who intends to do harm to Americans or American interests.
"The United States continues to deploy combat-ready capabilities into the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to deter any potential adversary, and make clear that we are ready and able to respond to any aggression directed at Americans or our interests," said Gen. Frank McKenzie, Commander, U.S. Central Command. "We do not seek conflict, but no one should underestimate our ability to defend our forces or to act decisively in response to any attack."
The United States continues to work closely with allies and partner to advance regional security and stability.
This mission is the third bomber deployment into CENTCOM's area of operation in the last 45 days.
They also released the following video.
Robert F. Burns (AP) notes, "One senior U.S. military officer said the flight by two Air Force B-52 bombers was in response to signals that Iran may be planning attacks against U.S. allied targets in neighboring Iraq or elsewhere in the region in coming days, even as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office." If you're late to the party, AFP explains, "One year after US forces assassinated Iran's most storied commander, tensions are boiling between Iraq's Washington-backed premier and pro-Tehran forces that accuse him of complicity in the Baghdad drone strike." Dan Lamothe (WASHINGTON POST via BOSTON GLOBE) words it this way, "The US military is bracing for a possible attack on American personnel and interests in Iraq, US defense officials said, days before the first anniversary of an American drone strike that killed an Iranian general in Baghdad."
The murder of Gen Qasem Solemani revealed just how hollow the US peace movement is as various voices disappointed lamenting the death of the terrorist. Joan Baez, when she still had ethics, upset a lot of people by defending the Boat People and calling out the Vietnamese government but that was the right thing to do. Jane Fonda's reaction was a knee-jerk reaction -- to call them refugees names and rush to minimize the actions of the Vietnamese government and attempt to justify what took place. There was no justification.
At the start of the year, the reviled Donald Trump ordered the murder of terrorist Soelmani and you could have called out murder, you could have called out many things. But the knee jerk reaction was to rush to defend the terrorist, to call him a poet, and a person of peace and a hundred other bits of garbage that only Americans who never paid attention to Iraq could have uttered. He was a terrorist. The Sunnis were terrorized by him, Iraq's LGBQT community was terrorized by him, his actions go back to the original targeting of Iraq's intellectual community (doctors, professors, etc) following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Not surprising because this is the man who, in Iran, advocated for taking out (for killing) the leaders of the 1999 student uprising in Iran. He was a man with blood on his hands.
That doesn't mean you couldn't be dismayed by his murder. It does mean you didn't act like he farted rainbows and burped unicorns -- but that's what so many on the left in the US did. It's because we're so damn stupid.
Qasem Soelmani was a man of violence so it's not a surprise he met a violent end. He was a brutal thug and there's no need to pretend otherwise -- unless your goal is to flaunt your stupidity.
Americans then tried to portray a Baghdad funeral procession as the Iraq position. It wasn't even the Shi'ite position, let alone the position of all of Iraq. Again, your stupidity was showing. Iraq and Iran are neighbors, they are also frequently at odds. And the majority of Iraqis are very clear that they don't want to become an Iranian proxy (or a US proxy). They weren't thrilled that an Iranian general was in the country directing militias.
This was ignored.
It was very disappointing to watch as various people -- including Margaret Kimberley -- turn this man into a noble person and realize that they could comment on events in Iraq it's just that they had chosen, for months and months, to ignore the protests that started in October of 2019 and that were continuing (and still continue). Their Tweets and other b.s. went to everything that's wrong in the United States.
You had a mass movement of Iraqi youth taking to the streets but you couldn't tell that story. You needed a celebrity and you needed to play with 'the rugged individual' because that's your limited mind functions. A large group of Iraqi students taking to the streets was too much for you to cover. But an individual killed and suddenly you were all experts and all concerned and all wanting to use your power -- such as it was. The failures of the US media are ingrained in the failure of the US to develop beyond restrictive narratives that they trot out century after century in their attempts at conversations. One has to believe even cave dwellers were better at communication.
MIDDLE EAST EYE notes, "The United States announced on Wednesday that it sent Iraq's army 30 armoured vehicles to secure Baghdad's Green Zone, ahead of the anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis."
Again, I hope there is no attack. But this is a news story. CNN offers, "Yet others in the Pentagon contend that the threat is being exaggerated, with the first senior defense official -- who is directly involved in discussions -- telling CNN that there is 'not a single piece of corroborating intel' suggesting an attack by Iran may be imminent." I hope the unnamed official is correct. I hope s/he's not playing word games -- I don't think anyone believes Iran's going to do anything themselves. I think the fear is they'll use Iranian linked militias in Iraq to carry out an attack. The wording offered to CNN makes it appear someone may be playing word games.
A new development on that year ago murder, MEMO reports, "Iranian Prosecutor Ali Al-Qasi Mehr has accused the British company G4S of providing the US armed forces in Iraq with the arrival details of the aircraft in which General Qasem Soleimani was travelling prior to his assassination by an American drone. G4S is responsible for aviation security at Baghdad International Airport, where the attack which killed Soleimani took place."
On the militias, Murat Sofuoglu (TRT) offers:
With the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Washington unexpectedly helped Iran play its political game better, removing one of Tehran's fiercest enemies, Saddam Hussein, the former Sunni leader of the Shia-majority country.
Since that time, Iran has dominated the Iraqi political life. The recent escalations between Iraq's top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani and Iran's Shia spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, however, show that something has changed in terms of Tehran's influence in Baghdad.
The main problem between the two leaderships is related to the composition of Iraq's top militia group, Hashdi Shabi, which means Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF). Iraqi factions loyal to either Tehran or Baghdad have grave differences over how Hashdi Shabi should be led.
"The emergence of divisions has been long expected. As much as Iran's influence in Iraq has increased, these divisions become more clear and visible," Bilgay Duman, the coordinator of Iraq Studies Department at Turkey's Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM).
Since last year, a protest movement with a clear anti-Iran message has also dominated the streets of Baghdad, demanding the Iraqi leadership to limit Tehran's oversize influence in the country.
"Iraq's Shiites feel that they can not move independently, being under the total control of Iran. As a result, they began reacting to Iran. The emergence of Hashdi Shabi, which has long appeared to follow Iran's lead along with other Shia militia groups, has irritated them a lot," Duman tells TRT World.
A few hours ago, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq Tweeted:
Happening Now: SRSG Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert delivers remarks at the "Social, Religious and National Diversity in #Iraq and its Importance in Building Citizenship and Peaceful Co-existence" workshop in #Baghdad
As we've noted before, she has a problem with 'messaging' in Iraq. For example:
Ammar al-Hakim guards yesterday attacked the demonstrators, and today the United Nations joined with him in this meeting !!
What do Iraqis think of the protests that have been taking place in their country? A new study sought to discover the feelings on the protests. Here's the summary:
In a recent study initiated by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and conducted by an international research company 1,000 Iraqis aged 18 years and older were interviewed in person in September and October 2020. For the majority, the protests are an outcry against corruption in a crisis-ridden country; the desire that those responsible for the socio-economic crunch will be held accountable is overwhelming. The most recent protests were very popular among those surveyed: 60 percent support the movement, which is undoubtedly more than just a youth revolt.
Since October last year, thousands of people have regularly taken to the streets against their government and engaged in often bloody street battles. The results so far are appalling: more than 600 people have been killed in the protests and around 7,000 injured. Nevertheless, the majority of the Iraqis are optimistic about the future - especially the younger generation between 31 and 45. It can be assumed that the demonstrators will not give up in 2021 either.
PDF format warning, full report is here. From the report:
In the poll 66% of Iraqis expressed optimism about the future. The 31-45 age group are the most optimistic about the future (71%). Contrary to the other regions, the majority of Kurds in the KRI are pessimistic about the future (37%).
In general, 60% of Iraqis support "the events", i.e. the protests, that are happening since October 1st, 2019. More men (63%) tend to support "the events" than women (57%). Iraqis from Central and Al-Furat Al-Awsat regions (both 67%) support "the events" more than the other regions, especially Iraqis from Kurdistan (53%) and the Northern regions (55%).
We asked the participants for the name they would ascribe to "the events": Most Iraqis call the current events a demonstration (44%) or a revolution (31%). Fewer call it an uprising (17%) or a movement (7%).
For the Iraqis, "the events" are a clear result of the accumulated conditions it preceded. 89% strongly or somewhat agree to that (Top 2 Boxes = T2B). For the vast majority "the events" erupted as a call against corruption (93% T2B). While the majority thinks that it all started with clear demands and it was later exploited and modified (67% T2B). Iraqis mostly disagree that the protests are not being manipulated by either local parties (56% L2B = Lower two Boxes) or by external parties (58% L2B).
Most Iraqis agree that it is true that "the events" have some deficits, but describe them as necessary (89% T2B). They support "the events", but do not support blocking roads.
Updating a story covered earlier this week, YOUR MIDDLE EAST reports, "Iran will resume normal gas flow to Iraq on Wednesday after reaching an agreement with the country on Tuesday over unpaid bills, Iraqi electricity ministry spokesman Ahmed Moussa told state television." Staying with economic news, Dilan Sirwan (RUDAW) reports:
A member of Iraqi parliament's finance committee has told state media that the country's budget deficit for 2021 stands at 71 trillion dinars (approximately $49 billion), according to a bill set to be read by parliament next month.
Muhammad Saheb Al-Daraji told state media on Wednesday that the budget, approved by Iraq's Council of Ministers on December 21, stands at 164 trillion dinars (approx. $113 billion), and the price of oil is set at $42 per barrel, according to the bill.
"The deficit in the budget reaches 71 trillion dinars," Al-Daraji added, saying Iraq will also be steeped in 16 trillion dinars, or $11 billion, worth of debt from previous loans.
Deputy parliament speaker Basheer Haddad said that the parliament will conduct their first reading of the bill at the "beginning of January," state media reported on Tuesday.
Iraq has plunged deeper into an economic crisis amid low oil prices, the main source of revenue for Baghdad. Economic woes were a key factor pushing people to the streets in widespread protests that began in October 2019, with youth calling for better services and an end to mass unemployment, but the economy has continued to weaken amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In October, the World Food Programme warned that 10 percent of Iraqis are going hungry.
The Iraqi government has devalued the dinar. Hatem Hussein (ALMADA) reports that economist state this move will increase the percent of Iraqis living in poverty to 60% of the population.
The following sites updated:
The Evolution Of Jon Batiste, Music Consultant Of Pixar's 'Soul'
A Dalit and a Brahmin
Medicare For All and WONDER WOMAN 1984
Josiah Thompson discusses the JFK assassination
pardon ed snowden
POP MATTERS is a joke
Antiwar.com Original
The US Money Tree: The Untold Story of American Aid to Israel
One more time, we weren't all in this together
Howie and Angela and a t-shirt
Gorilla Radio
Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Finian Cunningham December 29th, 2020
I had an e-mail about "This edition's playlist" at THIRD:
1) Fiona Apple's FETCH THE BOLT CUTTERS.
2) Glen Campbell's WICHITA LINEMAN.
3) Peggy Lee's 2 SHOWS NIGHTLY.
4) Denny Doherty's WAITING FOR A SONG.
5) The Mamas and the Papas' THE PAPAS & THE MAMAS.
6) Harry Style's FINE LINE.
7) Bob Dylan's ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS.
8) Dionne Warwick's SHE'S BACK.
9) Cat Powers' WANDERER.
10) Diana Ross' SUPERTONIC MIXES
Denny Doherty's WAITING FOR A SONG?
Lisa e-mailed asking about that. Denny was one of The Mamas and the Papas. The other three were Cass Elliot, John and Michelle Phillips. WAITING FOR A SONG is a solo album he made after the group broke up. I wasn't aware of it until we listened to it while writing the THIRD edition. It's a strong album and, as C.I. pointed out, Michelle and Cass sing backup vocals on the tracks. So it should be better known. It's three of the four members working on an album together.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020. Iraq, RISING, Hilaria Baldwin, etc -- we cover a great deal this snapshot.
A lot to cover today. First, for weeks we've been noting videos on Jimmy Dore's Force The Vote to force the vote on Medicare For All. Below the videos, there is the description which usually includes the link to the petition. We have not noted the petition in the snapshots so let's do that -- click here to sign the petition to Force The Vote for Medicare For All.
Now we're going to go personal business. As disclosed before, I know Alec Baldwin (and like him, he's a smart person and a loyal person). His wife is receiving some bad publicity. He defended her and now he is receiving bad publicity. So I am going to weigh in. I went back and forth on it. This site is not about promoting my friends. But this 'news' 'story' deserves a comment or two. And had RISING not decided to trash Hilaria, I probably wouldn't be commenting.
Hilaria Baldwin, for whatever reason, created an identity for herself. She is not a Latina. Why did she do it? Krystal Ball insists it was to profit and to make money.
I don't think so. I think Hilaria wanted to be Latina. I think that was a driving want in her life.
Why did Michael Jackson want to have plastic surgery? Because Joe Jackson abused him and destroyed him and, in Michael's mind at least (I believe Michael), didn't love him. So Michael could not take looking in the mirror and seeing anything of the person who was so horrible to him. The actress Merle Oberon? Why did she pass for Anglo White? Because she wouldn't have had the career she had otherwise.
Why did Hilaria do what she did? I have no idea but it wasn't a prank or a lark.
Krystal and her guest just ripped into Hilaria and it wasn't deserved. Hilaria didn't steal any position or post by presenting herself as Latina. She created a figure and she lived that life. Why? That goes to her reasons which we might get at some point -- especially if we'd stop with the scorn and the ridicule. She had a reason for what she did and money and power were not the reasons.
Alec defended his wife. For that he's being mocked and attacked. For that he's being mocked and attacked? I'm going to guess by a lot of pathetic people who have never known love and probably never will. If you've been in love even once, you should be able (a) to understand what Alec did and (b) to be proud of him for defending someone he loves.
Now we've talked about Hilaria here and I know some e-mails will come in and insist, "This is not a topic to cover!" You know what, you're probably right. But I'm defending someone in the midst of a dogpile -- and I've always done that. Equally true, we've eaten our vegetables. All week long, we've covered serious issues.
RISING? When do they ever cover the ongoing Iraq War? When do they ever even use it to note, for example, that the same Nancy Pelosi that balks over the price tag of Medicare For All never balks at the much, much larger price tag for the Iraq War?
And let's be really clear. I consider Alec a friend and everyone who knows me knows that. I had no idea until RISING what had taken place because people knew not bring the story to me. I don't like gossip about my friends. So yesterday, I'm trying to find political things to post and going through everything e-mailed as well as anything I can find. And that's when I stumbled across the segment on Hilaria. I don't like gossip about my friends. All RISING did was gossip. And what's even worse than that, they did it poorly.
Rachel whatever was the co-host with Krystal and they went to town on Hilaria.
They brought in some supposed feud with Amy Schumer -- but never explained what that had to do with anything other than getting Amy's name in a sentence -- apparently to star power up their gossip item. They showed a clip of Hilaria asking the (English) name for a cucumber. Strangely, they didn't credit the person who made that a major issue on Twitter . . . last week. I found all sorts of things after their 'report.' They scavenged the work of others while mocking Hilaria.
Hilaria is a self-made businesswoman. She was given no credit for that. It reminded me, honestly, of the attacks and glee of the attacks that the press offered on Martha Stewart in the early '00s. Those attacks mocked Martha and mocked what she did. It wasn't 'manly' enough to focus on food and home and they made that very clear as they trivialized Martha. Never once did they point out the skills and the knowledge Martha possessed that allowed her to succeed.
Krystal wanted you to know that Hilaria was body shaming pregnant women.
What a dumb idiot Krystal was in that moment. And she's probably not going to get listed on a praise feature at THIRD next week as a result. We discussed that feature and started it and she was going to be noted as an important voice. I don't think so now. We'll note others, but not her.
Hilaria posing with her child or without her child in some stage of 'undress' (I have no idea, I'm not on Instagram and I never will be -- I have a thing called a life, maybe Krystal could try getting one) is not about body shaming pregnant women.
Let's pretend for a moment that it was about body shaming to show just how tiny Krystal's mind is.
If Hilaria showing off her body -- if that's what she was doing -- is body shaming, Krystal, you stupid idiot, then it's body shaming large women who are large without having just been pregnant. Do you get it? You threw a life raft to women who'd just had a baby while letting all other large women sink and drown. That's how stupid you are. You're a f**king idiot.
Why? Watching the segment, it was clear why: Jealous.
Jealousy, thy name is Krystal Ball.
Hilaria makes money from yoga -- instructor, studios, DVDs, etc. Her body is very much her work.
Years ago, when Krystal was still wetting her diapers, there was one attempt after another to regularly destroy Jane Fonda. At one point, they came from the UK. A rumor to destroy her was that she'd had a heart attack. Too much working out!!!!! What did Jane do to refute that rumor? She invited the press in the next morning to watch as she did The Workout. During those years -- when Jane did very little acting (THE DOLLMAKER, AGNES OF GOD and THE MORNING AFTER -- plus playing a security guard on one episode of the TV show she was producing based on her hit film 9 TO 5), Jane's business was fitness. She had her workout studios, she had best selling books, she had best selling recordings (vinyl, cassette and, yes, videos including the first one that revolutionized the video industry). Her body was her work.
So if Hilaria is showing her body, she's showing what yoga can do. Her body is the advertisement for her work.
This isn't, for example, Alyssa Milano and her hint of nipple posing. Unless we're falling back to TEEN STEAM, Alyssa has nothing to do with working out. But damned if that woman doesn't cheesecake her own ass into oblivion. Now that I object to. A woman trying to ride feminism -- Alyssa is not feminist and the set of CHARMED proved it -- in a desperate attempt to revive a dead career while also posting cheesecake photos? At 48, she long should have stopped posting her braless picks -- and with the obvious difference in boob size (did she get lazy and nurse one of her kids on just one boob, is that why they're so off now?) you'd think she'd stop promoting her body.
Because an actor is supposed to be about acting and, especially after a certain age, you really shouldn't be doing cheesecake. By a certain age, your talent should speak for itself. So that when you appear on a cover, for example, someone says, "Wow. Not only is _____ a great dramatic actress, she looks really good as well." Cheesecake might get you in the door but if it's your selling card, you're probably not really an actress.
Now I've never heard Krystal object to Alyssa or anyone doing cheesecake. We do and we have. I'm very glad that a woman in a man's circle jerk now has learned to put on a bra from time to time and to also stop standing in front of the camera heaving her tits as though she's Suzanne Somers in the opening credits and Mrs. Roper just 'watered' Chrissy's back while watering the plants so Chrissy turns over in shock and does a deep sigh so her breasts go up and down (not a slap at Suzanne, she's a sweet lady and THREE'S COMPANY was decades ago and when she was starting out -- and it was meant to be funny).
But a yoga instructor she's going to shame? Denise Austin, Joanie Greggains, Jane Fonda and many other women in the fitness business grasped -- as Joe Weider and many other men did as well -- that their own bodies were their best advertisement for fitness.
Never having spoken to Hilaria once, not knowing one person who knows Hilaria, not knowing anything, Krystal and Rachel did a gossip segment and it was a segment where everything turned on conjecture and every bit of conjecture could only be the worst possible reason. She lied for this reason, she posed for a picture for this reason, she's body shaming --
The hate and the scorn in that piece?
I'm sorry, wasn't it just last week -- yes, it was -- that I was calling Krystal out because yet again she'd brought on guest that no one should bring on. This was a 'writer' and a 'reporter' but, golly gee, this is the man THE DAILY BEAST fired for repeat plagiarism. And, after he was fired, turned out he was doing the same at his outlet right before that and in his books. He was stealing constantly. And he lied each new time he got caught.
Now you're going to go after a fitness guru? You're going to attack her because she's not Latina like she says and because she uses her body as a billboard for what yoga can do?
But you're going to promote -- without apology and without remorse -- Gerald Posner?
You really need to take a look in the mirror, Krystal, and you did come off petty and jealous.
Again, please show me the segment that RISING did in the twelve months-plus about the ongoing Iraqi protests. Please show me where they spoke to anyone about how the government forces were attacking the protesters.
They don't do the vegetables, they just do candy.
And I'm getting really damn tired of their Whiteness. This goes to Jimmy Dore too. It's past time that you invite on Margaret Kimberley and Glenn Ford. Margaret especially has an audience that you all are not reaching. Jimmy, it is a huge mistake to build a pro-Medicare For All argument around White voices only. It's an issue that effects all communities. And bringing on Margaret or Glenn (BLACK AGENDA REPORT is their outlet if anyone's unfamiliar) would make the discussion taking place as broad-based as the issue truly is. Brihana Joy Gray and Nina Turner sprinkled into the discussion is not enough (a) because they're not on that often and (b) they owe their fame to White outlets. We were talking about Luther Vandross (Betty and I) in "Roundtable" and the White music fans to this day don't seem to get just how important and popular Luther was. That's because he really didn't crossover. He was built by soul radio stations and the listeners saw him as "their" Luther because of his lack of crossover (two top ten hits on pop radio is not a crossover). By the same token, a Margaret or a Glenn who has come up outside the White circle jerk and against the odds is someone who rose on the strength of their talents and someone who comes with an audience that you are not reaching. It's amazing that the whole circle jerk -- and this includes Katie Halper on her own and with USEFUL IDIOTS -- can't find Margaret or Glenn on their contact list and invite them to be guests. Glenn and Margaret have a lot of important information and analysis to share, reason enough for them to be guests. But you're also opening yourself up to more viewers who aren't watching right now. It's smart for discussion, it's smart for the issue and it's smart in terms of building your audience. So what's the problem, what's the barrier? Why aren't Glenn and Margaret invited on?
Betty's daughter just walked in to show me something. This is so typical of what I'm talking about right now. Betty's daughter found an RS feed of Betty's site with comments. Betty's being attacked by several in the comments. Why? For calling out the race hustlers -- the White men who use racism and pretend they're not racists (Tim Wise, Paul Street, etc) -- and the result? Betty, a Black blogger, is being trashed by White commentators for calling out Wise and Street and others. That's the circle jerk, boys and girls, it never died. Barack made them shut up because they wanted him elected in 2008, but the racism of the left never went away. And if you're not aware of that racism and if you're not aware of how it impacts African-Americans on the left and how they use social media, then you just might be someone who doesn't grasp that failure to invite Margaret Kimberley and Glenn Ford to the party means some may interpret it as Whites only party.
There has been far too many attacks on bloggers of color over the years for people to still not grasp how some are rightly wary when approaching a new voice or program.
Hilaria created a character that she wanted to be. Why she wanted to be that way is something she should share. I don't see malice or profit in the equation. I'm sorry she's been embarrassed. I'm sorry that Alec defending his wife is seen as something to mock.
I'm especially sorry that day after day we cover the Iraq War and we do it largely by ourselves in this country. Joel Wing covers it. Margaret Griffis covers it. Did I forget anyone? Probably not because that's how short the list is.
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos (INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE) notes:
What does it look like when you "liberate" a country that hasn't asked for it, when you unleash a violent chain of events creating the conditions for an even worse tyranny than before?
Those who witnessed Iraq in the wake of the American invasion in 2003, the failures of reconstruction, and the rise and fall of ISIS, say one need look no further than that country today to get your answer.
The Washington Post last week reported that there are still a million internally displaced Iraqis who fled the 2014 takeover of ISIS and the ensuing war to overthrow it — with many living in soon-to-be-shuttered government-run camps. Meanwhile, COVID has sent an already fragile economy spiraling toward collapse, with salaries in the major cities left unpaid, reconstruction projects stalled or completely aborted. A new central government is still trying to find its legs, more than a year after deadly street protests washed over the country. According to experts who spoke with RS, direct attention from the Western powers that sent this country on its present course is scattershot, with aid easily corrupted by a burgeoning kleptocracy across the provincial governments and Baghdad.
"The trauma on Iraq has been despicable," said Abbas Kadhim, who spent his own youth in an Iraqi IDP camp in the 1990s before coming to the United States, where he observed the 2003 war and its aftermath from a distance. Now he is the director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council in Washington, trying to rebuild broad diplomatic and political bridges with Baghdad.
"This is really the part we have to reckon with when we talk about what happened in Iraq and what it will take to build back. There are things going on in that country that will take decades to undo," he said in an interview with RS.
That's the opening. It's an important piece and Peter Van Buren makes some important comments in the article. The war is not over, just US media interest in it. Tyler Olson and Audrey Conklin (FOX NEWS) report:
Georgia Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock spoke at events organized by a religious group that called on Christians to repent for military action in Iraq between at least 2007 and 2009.
Warnock, the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, was part of a group called the "Christian Peace Witness for Iraq," seeking to "foster a serious nationwide discussion on following Jesus in matters of conscience and duty, violence and nonviolence, war and peace" through its "Conscience in War" project.
Warnock spoke at a March 2007 Christian Peace Witness event at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., according to multiple reports. One video from Fox 5 D.C. showed Warnock (time stamp: 2:05) speaking at the altar of the cathedral during the event.
FOX thinks they're shaming Ralphael with that report. I don't see how. He seems a lot more serious to me because of the report. He's a person of a faith and he's applying his faith. Isn't that what happens every Sunday across the country in houses of worship. How is this inconsistent? It's not. But I guess, to FOX NEWS, the war is trivial and something to be mocked?
In other news, DEUTSCHE WELLE is concerned about possible violence in Iraq on January 3rd. That is something the US media should be covering but they can't. The only thing they cover is Donald Trump's pardons and pretend that's coverage of Iraq. Three Iraqi community members in Iraq are wondering if anyone in the US reads Arabic media? No, they apparently do not. They apparently do not grasp that the pardons are not a major story in Iraq. They were a 24 hour news cycle and Iraqis have much more to deal with than something from 13 years ago. Americans don't grasp that in part because of a trashy media (Hey, Amy Goodman, looking at you -- don't you wish you could still get away with publishing in HUSTLER each month, I'm sure trash like you does) and because of the self-importance that we Americans always embrace.
Now REUTERS is reporting that someone at the UN says the pardons are a violation of international law. So what? International law doesn't trump a damn thing in the US. If that's news to you, you are deeply uninformed. The pardons have been issued. It's over. People need to grasp that. "But it's fun to beat up Donald Trump, right? And we get to pretend that we care." They don't care a damn thing about the Iraqi people.
Jared Keller (INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE) notes:
Unfortunately, the average American appears to have a relatively high tolerance for war crimes abroad. According to a 2016 Red Cross report, Americans "are substantially more comfortable with war crimes than are populations of other western countries like the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and even Russia," as The Week put it at the time. "When asked whether 'a captured enemy combatant [can] be tortured to obtain important military information,' just 30 percent of Americans said 'no,' the lowest of any country surveyed except Israel and Nigeria." Indeed, one 2018 poll suggested that a significant portion of Americans believed U.S. service members shouldn't be prosecuted for overseas war crimes simply because "war is a stressful situation and allowances should be made."
That isn't to say American's aren't entirely immune to the perils of war crimes; indeed, they care more about U.S. war crimes abroad than they did during the Vietnam War, according to research. In a December 2019 poll of more than 1,000 Americans, researchers asked Americans if they approved or disapproved of Trump's decision to pardon Lorance despite his 2012 conviction for killing civilians in Afghanistan. Forty-one percent approved of the pardon and 59 percent did not, the researchers found. "In 1971, Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was court-martialed and convicted of murdering 22 civilians in the 1968 My Lai Massacre," the researchers noted. "He was sentenced to life in prison. A 1971 Gallup/Newsweek poll found that 11 percent of Americans approved of the verdict."
Their research, published in the Washington Post, reveals that war crimes, like most other issues surrounding the military, break down along partisan lines when it comes to their impact on civilian populations: just 12 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of Independents approved of Trump's Lorance pardon, while 79 percent of Republicans fully approved. But what's more telling is the written commentary from respondents, which indicates that "many Americans appear to believe that if troops are fighting a just war, they should be excused from responsibility for violent acts, even war crimes," as the researchers wrote in the Washington Post.
"Our survey finds that respondents who agree that the 'United States was morally justified in going to war against Afghanistan when the war began in 2001' are significantly more likely than those who disagree to support Trump's pardons, by 52 to 22 percent," the researchers wrote. "As one pardon supporter explained, the 'Lieutenant was fighting for our freedom.' Another simply wrote, 'soldier is protecting our country.' Those who said the war was morally justified were 14 percent more likely to support the pardons, even when controlling for party identification as well as age, race, gender and education."
So do war crimes matter to the average American? In the short term, it appears that war crimes and their related pardons are simply new battlegrounds in the ever-expansive culture war between left and right, liberals and conservatives, that seems to have enveloped modern politics rather than becoming matters of human dignity in their own right. And that's a damn shame.
For the record, Keller's opposed to the pardons.
If you're late to the party, I'm not opposed to any presidential pardon. Henry Kissinger's a War Criminal but if he got a pardon, I wouldn't be opposed. It's a presidential power and it's one that I think should be used more. I would advocate for Leonard Peltier, among others. I don't stomp and scream over a pardon because I don't want to be a hypocrite. A pardon is an act of a president granted by the Constitution. Though it provides legal protection, it does not wipe away the historical record.
In terms of Blackwater, they served more time, the four, than did any of other Americans who shot Iraqi people (civilians). All of the other incidents are forgotten by Americans but not by the Iraqi people. This wasn't uncommon. An Iraqi community member pointed out that in 2004, the same crowd today was presenting Blackwater as heroes when some of their members were killed and this was used to justify an assault on Falluja. She's right.
When Erik Prince, head of Blackwater, and the various people -- Republicans and Democrats -- responsible for the war start facing criminal charges, talk to me about justice. Until then, four people served a little bit of time -- much more than should have considering the deal the US State Dept made in the immediate wake of the assault. No one wants to discuss that either, not in the US. We're going to pretend that the crime took place, an immediate outcry universally followed (PBS mocked the dead and injured, that's reality) and then a quick trial put them away. That's not what happened.
The pardons have taken place. They cannot be overturned. "Give it up, Jake, it's Chinatown," as they say at the end of the film.
Blackwater becomes the story because (a) it lets a certain crowd trash Donald Trump and pretend that makes them political and informed, (b) it was a story in the news for years so they know something about it and can pretend to be informed, (c) it's a way to call out US War Crimes without actually calling out US War Criminals in the elected official realm and in the US military, (d) it gives their pathetic lives some meaning.
"What about the Iraqi people!" Learn to read Arabic. I don't know what to tell you other than Iraqi social media is full of stories of murders by Americans and pointing out that their family members are being swept aside yet again while this one incident is covered and recovered and covered again.
On the pathetic whose lives will apparently end on January 20th, Glenn Greenwald (IHC) notes:
Asserting that Donald Trump is a fascist-like dictator threatening the previously sturdy foundations of U.S. democracy has been a virtual requirement over the last four years to obtain entrance to cable news Green Rooms, sinecures as mainstream newspaper columnists, and popularity in faculty lounges. Yet it has proven to be a preposterous farce.
In 2020 alone, Trump had two perfectly crafted opportunities to seize authoritarian power — a global health pandemic and sprawling protests and sustained riots throughout American cities — and yet did virtually nothing to exploit those opportunities. Actual would-be despots such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán quickly seized on the virus to declare martial law, while even prior U.S. presidents, to say nothing of foreign tyrants, have used the pretext of much less civil unrest than what we saw this summer to deploy the military in the streets to pacify their own citizenry.
But early in the pandemic, Trump was criticized, especially by Democrats, for failing to assert the draconian powers he had, such as commandeering the means of industrial production under the Defense Production Act of 1950, invoked by Truman to force industry to produce materials needed for the Korean War. In March, The Washington Post reported that "Governors, Democrats in Congress and some Senate Republicans have been urging Trump for at least a week to invoke the act, and his potential 2020 opponent, Joe Biden, came out in favor of it, too," yet "Trump [gave] a variety of reasons for not doing so." Rejecting demands to exploit a public health pandemic to assert extraordinary powers is not exactly what one expects from a striving dictator.
A similar dynamic prevailed during the sustained protests and riots that erupted after the killing of George Floyd. While conservatives such as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), in his controversial New York Times op-ed, urged the mass deployment of the military to quell the protesters, and while Trump threatened to deploy them if governors failed to pacify the riots, Trump failed to order anything more than a few isolated, symbolic gestures such as having troops use tear gas to clear out protesters from Lafayette Park for his now-notorious walk to a church, provoking harsh criticism from the right, including Fox News, for failing to use more aggressive force to restore order.
Virtually every prediction expressed by those who pushed this doomsday narrative of Trump as a rising dictator — usually with great profit for themselves — never materialized. While Trump radically escalated bombing campaigns he inherited from Bush and Obama, he started no new wars. When his policies were declared by courts to be unconstitutional, he either revised them to comport with judicial requirements (as in the case of his "Muslim ban") or withdrew them (as in the case of diverting Pentagon funds to build his wall). No journalists were jailed for criticizing or reporting negatively on Trump, let alone killed, as was endlessly predicted and sometimes even implied. Bashing Trump was far more likely to yield best-selling books, social media stardom and new contracts as cable news "analysts" than interment in gulags or state reprisals. There were no Proud Boy insurrections or right-wing militias waging civil war in U.S. cities. Boastful and bizarre tweets aside, Trump's administration was far more a continuation of the U.S. political tradition than a radical departure from it.
The hysterical Trump-as-despot script was all melodrama, a ploy for profits and ratings, and, most of all, a potent instrument to distract from the neoliberal ideology that gave rise to Trump in the first place by causing so much wreckage. Positing Trump as a grand aberration from U.S. politics and as the prime author of America's woes — rather than what he was: a perfectly predictable extension of U.S politics and a symptom of preexisting pathologies — enabled those who have so much blood and economic destruction on their hands not only to evade responsibility for what they did, but to rehabilitate themselves as the guardians of freedom and prosperity and, ultimately, catapult themselves back into power. As of January 20, that is exactly where they will reside.
Here's a link to Caitlin Johnstone -- I've been trying to work in a link to one of her articles for over a week.
We'll wind down with this from the Green Party:
www.gp.org
Michael O'Neil, Communications Manager, meo@gp.org, 202-804-2758
Holly Hart, Co-chair, Media Committee, media@gp.org, 202-804-2758
Craig Seeman, Co-chair, Media Committee, media@gp.org, 202-804-2758
"The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the glaring inadequacies of the nation's current hodge-podge of insurance options," said Mark Dunlea, a New York-based Green Party organizer , co-founder of Single Payer New York and former head of the Hunger Action Network. "This is not the time to shy away from promoting Medicare-for-All. The Democratic Party had the power to pass a genuine universal health care bill in March 2010 and instead squandered the opportunity out of deference to private insurance and other health-care lobbies. The height of the pandemic, along with the promise of the vaccine, is the best time to correct this tragic mistake."
"Congress members who support Medicare-for-All should push for a vote on HR1384 now as the tip of the spear for more comprehensive COVID-19 relief," said Gloria Mattera, Green Party National Co-Chair, who works as Director of Child Life at a public hospital in New York City and serves on the executive board of Physicians for a National Health Program — NY Metro Chapter. "They should take the opportunity during the coming weeks to educate the public about how we can improve medical care for everyone while drastically cutting the cost of coverage and treatment, eliminating co-pays, deductibles, out-of-pocket fees and surprise bills. We can replace the private bureaucracies that keep denying and restricting treatment and end the epidemic of bankruptcies over medical costs."
A Medicare-for-All vote will challenge Democrats and Republicans to take action on a crisis that the two-party establishment keeps ignoring: the lack of healthcare for millions of Americans who lack coverage, the private insurance bureaucracy's restriction and denial of treatment for those who have coverage, and the soaring cost of treatment and prescriptions that has drained the savings of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
"Corporate lobbyists and their PR departments are going on the offensive and will spread misinformation, said Laura Wells, former Green candidate for California state controller. "The healthcare industry front group demonizing Medicare for All and a public option has amassed $36 million for its campaign heading into 2021." (The Green Party supports Medicare-for-All, not the public option.) According to a recent poll conducted by the PEW Research Center, an increasing majority of Americans support government-provided health care coverage for all.
"The Green Party has run and will continue to run strong candidates for the US House and Senate, all of whom support Medicare-for-All and a Green New Deal," said Trahern Crews, Green Party National Co-Chair and Green Party National Black Caucus Co-Chair. "The country desperately needs people in Congress who don't have to answer to the leaders of the two corporate-money parties. Both major parties are in the pockets of Wall Street, ensuring more of the same corruption and exploitation. The Green Party and Green candidates don't accept contributions from corporate PACs. Having Greens seated in Congress and every other level of government will end the dynamic in which Democrats and Republicans compete bitterly over political power but are in consensus on leaving economic power to the 1%."
Green Party Petition at GP.org: $600 and No Medicare-For-All Vote? Bah-Humbug! Tell Congress, Trump and Biden: "Don't 'Scrooge' us on Medicare-For-All and COVID Relief!"
A New Congressional Budget Office Study Shows That Medicare for All Would Save Hundreds of Billions of Dollars Annually,Bruenig, Matt. Jacobin, December 19, 2020
The Next War Against A Public Option Is Starting, Sirota, David and Andrew Perez. The Daily Poster, December 9, 2020
"Every. Single. One.": Ocasio-Cortez Notes Every Democrat Who Backed Medicare for All Won Reelection in 2020, Queally, Jon. Common Dreams, November 7, 2020
Increasing share of Americans favor a single government program to provide health care coverage, Jones, Bradley. Pew Research Center, September 29, 2020
COVID 19 and Medicare for All, Physicians for a National Health Plan - PNHP
Green Party Platform on Single-Payer Health Care
The Hawkins Healthcare Plan, Green Party 2020 Presidential Candidate Howie Hawkins
Newsroom | Twitter: @GreenPartyUS
Green Party Platform
Green candidate database and campaign information
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Green Papers
The best television of the last 15 years
Joe stumbles around in public again
Thank you, Howie and Angela
wonder woman 1984 really sucks
Superman & Lois, Batwoman, Wonder Woman
My Barbie post
Beans and Barbies
Pelosi, caves and JFK
The fakery
Good Intentions Paving Company - Joanna Newsom
When Washington Sends a Message by Threatening War, Other Countries Hear 'Build Nukes!'
Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dave Lindorff, Finian Cunningham December 31st, 2020
The Official Jody Watley Website
2020 Rewind. Jody Watley BMI Jam Sessions Stay At Home Series.
gunsandbutter - Guns and Butter
Financial System In Transition
A book and a musical passing


These leather bags are a hidden gem.
Really impressed with this bag, definitely adds class when I'm out and about.
Love the bag, the leather has a quality feel to it. I am quite a big guy so happy the straps are adjustable.
Just like on the photos, KP in the woods, I have taken mine to the beach!!
Practical, sophisticated and classy. Perfect for me!!


text:
Q: Eclipse inserting arg0, arg1 etc. instead of proper parameter names when overriding Android methods When I override methods from the Android classes in Eclipse, I get useless parameter names like "arg0", "arg1" etc. For example when overriding methods from SQLiteOpenHelper I get:
@Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase arg0) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
}

@Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase arg0, int arg1, int arg2) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
}

I've found various posts about this but none of the accepted solutions seem to work for me. It is also strange because it only seems to happen some of the time. For example the constructors in the above test had correctly named parameters.
I have got "Documentation for Android SDK" installed in the Android SDK Manager for Android 4.4.2. Do I still need to manually attach the docs (or even source?) somehow for this to work reliably, and if so how do I go about this?
Thanks!

A: As @greg-449 mentioned in the comments, the Android source needs to be attached for this to work.
Following the steps in this link seems to fix this.
In case the link is broken in future, the steps are:

*

*Download "Sources for Android SDK" using the SDK Manager

*Right click android.jar in the Eclipse Package Explorer (under the Android {version} node), and click properties

*Under "Java Source Attachment", enter the path to the downloaded source directory which is along the lines of {sdk}/sources/android-{version}
I then get this:
@Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
}

@Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
}

UPDATE: For reference, a similar problem occurs in Android Studio (v0.4.2 at the time of writing). Sources can be attached via File -> Other Settings -> Default Project Structure, select SDKs, android platform and add the source in the "Sourcepath" tab.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Caraco is a specialist supplier of worktops in granite, quartz and marble for kitchens and bathrooms. We provide an expert service including design, templating, and installation. Based in East Sussex, Caraco is well placed to cover the South East including Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South London.
Natural stone or quartz will give your home the 'wow factor' you're looking for. Now is the time to complete or update your kitchen and bathroom with stunning, great value stone worktops.
All our tops are cut from full size slabs. Contact us when planning large islands as the slab size varies.
Granite worktops are more affordable than you might think. For a medium-sized kitchen, fully fitted with vat included, we have lots of choice at under £2500. That's great value; after all, it's been around for millions of years already and will never wear out!
We have a great range of Quartz tops too. Superbly engineered in Germany by Quartzforms for style that lasts.
All our tops are cut to a digital template from large slabs of premium quality stone using the latest CNC machinery. We can create custom vanity tops, bath surrounds, fire hearths and surrounds, garden table tops and any other projects you have in mind.
Looking for something exclusive? We can even machine solid marble to produce vanity basins custom designed to your exact requirements.
Why not give us a call or visit our showroom to see our large range of samples.
Click here for our online granite price calculator and photo gallery.
and here for our online quartz calculator and photo gallery.
10-2 Saturdays. Closed Sundays and public holidays.


text:
Hugh Likes Podcasts: Journey Into Misery
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Podcasts, Uncategorized British Podcasts, Comics, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, Journey Into Misery, Reveiw Leave a comment
Journey Into Misery
Hosted by Helena Hart and Keiran Shiach
JIMPodcast.com
Comics continuity can really suck. With the wrong writer, it can be a confounding mess that ruins favorite characters, and even in the best hands, it creates a barrier of entry for new readers. But as media becomes more and more serialized, continuity becomes more and more omnipresent in entertainment.
Fortunately, The Journey Into Misery podcast is here to help. Each episode, Keiran Shiach introduces a new character, event, or creator run of superhero comics to his cohost and partner Helena Hart. In the wrong hands, this could come off as a dour, mans-plainy mess, hence the title, but the pair make every show a delight.
First of all the chemistry between the pair is immediately evident. They each bring something to the podcast that makes it more than the sum of its parts. Keiran's breakneck descriptions are lightning-fast but still easy to follow. He's both patient and skilled at explaining some of the weirdest bits of DC and Marvel continuity. And Helena's enthusiasm and interest are infectious, elevating even the worst of comics concepts. The pair has covered all sorts of topics from Batman: Knightfall and The Spider-Man Clone Sage to Runaways and Final Crisis. They even did a delightful April Fools Day episode where they turned the tables and Helena explained the plot of one of her favorite bits of pop culture, Les Miserables.
Catching up on comics continuity can be a joyless, gate-keeping slog, but with podcasts like Journey Into Misery, you can still enjoy the ride. Visit JIMPodcast.com or subscribe in your preferred podcatcher.
Thanks for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please share it! If you really enjoyed it, you can support me on Patreon for more content!
Hugh Likes Comics: New Avengers
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics Al Ewing, Comics, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Marvel, New Avengers, review Leave a comment
New Avengers # 1
Written by Al Ewing
Drawn by Gerrardo Sandoval
Published by Marvel Comics
With almost an entire line of new comics coming out, Marvel probably has most of my immediate attention. Particularly after the variety of neat stories that came out of Battleworld. There are a lot of new ideas and re-imaginings to come, but one of the books I'm most excited about is New Avengers.
The interesting thing about the book is that by most marketing standards, it shouldn't work. It's a superhero team made entirely of legacy heroes, supporting characters, and C-listers. And that is why I really hope it succeeds.
Organized by mutant billionaire Roberto Da Costa (A. K. A. Sunspot,) the team consists of former Master of Evil/Thunderbolt Songbird, the newest White Tiger, Power Man Victor Alvarez (not Luke Cage,) Wiccan and Hulkling from the Young Avengers, and Squirrel Girl. Hawkeye is also presented as a potential recruit. Da Costa tells him he was 'hoping for the other one.' Squirrel Girl's sidekick Tippy-toe is also a member. Together they represent Avengers Idea Mechanics, a global problem-solving team.
The thing that really works about this team is that writer Al Ewing really understands the voices of these characters and gives them all a chance to interact naturally with each other. The writing for everyone is very on-point, with Squirrel Girl attempting to reason with the bad guys and Wiccan and Hulkling showing characteristic empathy and concern. The whole concept of Sunspot trying to solve crises by throwing misfit teen superheroes at them from his Pacific Island Fortress is ludicrous yet so entirely in keeping with the character that I'm completely sold.
The art is solid, but not without its nitpicks. Sandoval's designs have a delightfully energetic Saturday morning cartoon feel, with exaggerated features and not-quite proportional limbs. Stylistic choices aside, a few of the characters feel a bit off model, and occasionally drawn from unusual angles. Squirrel girl seems to be missing her tail, for instance. He feels a bit uncomfortable with the characters, but his style is charming enough that I hope he either relaxes or makes the designs more his own as the series goes on.
New Avengers is a delightful new comic that brings back some of my favorite characters without relying too heavily on an encyclopedic backstory to enjoy the book. It's a great introduction, and I can't wait to see where their adventures take them next. New Avengers is available from Comixology, the Marvel app, or your local comics shop.
If you enjoyed this article, please share it, or support me on Patreon for exclusive content!`
Hugh Likes Comics: Starve
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics Brian Wood, Comics, Danjiel Zezelj, Dave Stewart, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, review, Starve Leave a comment
Brian Wood, Danijel Zezelj, and Dave Stewart
Published by Image Comics
So I've been really thinking about cooking lately. Not just how to cook, or where my food comes from, but the whole process, how something goes from a pile of disparate ingredients and becomes something else. I've also been reading "Starve" by Brian Wood, Danijel Zezelj, and Dave Stewart. Much like a fine meal, a comic that is more than the sum of its parts.
"Starve" is the story of runaway reality TV Chef Gavin Chruikshank. After the collapse of the global economy and the ruin of his marriage, he disappeared into the wilds of Southeast Asia. Three years later, the network comes looking for him, to force him to fulfill his season contract on a show that is very different than the one he originally began. "Starve" is no longer a travel show, but a competition for the benefit of the 0.1%, still on top despite economic and environmental catastrophe.
Starve is a fun little near future drama, with Gavin fighting for the soul of Chefdom and the love of his daughter against his estranged wife and the rival who stepped into his shoes. It's politics, aside from F*CK THE 1%, are tough to pin down, but it is a joy to watch anarchic, barbarian chef Chruikshank work his magic. He's nasty, belligerent, and entirely too much fun. He's Hunter S. Thompson in a white jacket. While he is a master chef, the comic aims to shock rather than hunger. In the first issue, Gavin is asked to prepare a dog. Rather than being horrified, as is the intention, he carves up a slice, narrating that people all over the world eat dog.
The art is moody and heavily inked, with dark, brooding figures even under blazing stage lights. The washed out color palate further emphasizes the crushing blandness of the excess "Starve" represents.
If I had a complaint, it is I wish they would do more with Gavin's sexuality. This is hardly a romantic book, but so far, (three issues published at the time of writing) Gavin's homosexuality has been raised as an important character trait, but never explored. It's simply treated like another vice, or another thing his ex-wife holds against him. He has had some interaction with his male handler, but almost all of his important relationships are with women.
While it may not whet your appetite, "Starve" is far from slight. Check it out on Comixology or in your local comics shop.
Hungry for more content? Support my Patreon for early and exclusive podcasts and articles!
Hugh Likes Comics: Toil and Trouble
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics Comics, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, review, Shakespeare, Toil and Trouble Leave a comment
Toil and Trouble #1
Written by Mairghread Scott
Drawn by Kelly and Nichole Matthews
Published by Archaia
Shakespeare enjoys a peculiar place in the canon of English literature. Both a foundational document and endlessly mutable, it is performed, reenacted, remixed, and endlessly reinterpreted. Romeo and Juliet inspired the musical West Side Story. King Lear was translated into Akira Kurosawa's opus film Ran. Recently, the tragedy of Hamlet was remixed into the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style game-book, To Be or Not To Be. Toil and Trouble takes up from Macbeth, focusing not on the Thane, but the Witches.
Structurally, it resembles the Tom Stoppard Play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," which follows the two titular henchmen from before their introduction and up to their bumbling, offstage demise. (Spoiler alert for a four-hundred and a fifty year old play, respectively.) The comic follows Smertae, one of the three witches, returning to Scotland after being banished. The reason for her banishment is unclear, but seems to involve Macbeth. Like the Stoppard play, the action of the original Shakespeare drifts around and through the dialog of the comic. In this first issue, the reader sees an expanded version of the opening scene.
In Scott's version of events, the witches are agents of Fate, tasked with ensuring the continuity of Scottish royalty. To accomplish this, they mean to strike down Macbeth in order to give Prince Malcolm a trial to ready him for the throne. Smertae is against the plan, but reluctantly agrees. We then follow the witches in their work cursing Macbeth's camp, and in the battle the next day, where Smertae makes a decision that goes against fate.
I was drawn to this comic because I am a huge fan of the Scottish Play. The plot is an interesting take, and I'm excited to see how it interacts with the original. The writing is actually quite solid, and the dips into 17th Century language feel natural with the rest of the dialog. The world building is the biggest break from the original, but I'm a sucker for the concept of a fading magical world, struggling in the face of onrushing modernity, and Scott absolutely nails this fantasy milieu.
What surprised me is the exceptional quality of the art. The Matthewses style is absolutely gorgeous, and the designs, particularly of the three witches, are immediately eye-grabbing and carry a lot of the story's weight. The three represent Sea, Earth, and Sky. Smertae has crab-like spikes jutting from her body, and her sisters equally expressive of their elements. The 'acting' of the characters is also very well done. The meeting scene is wonderfully emotional without relying too heavily on the dialog to convey meaning, for example. The art is helped by bright and detailed coloring and inventive layouts, such as the climactic battle splash page, which features small circular insets showing the effects of the witches curses in the epic clash.
"Toil and Trouble" is the first part of a series I can't wait to read more of. Find it on Comixolgy, or in the rack at your local comics shop.
Hugh Likes Comics: Wayward
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics Comics, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Image, Japan, Jim Zub, Steve Cummings, Urban Fantasy, Wayward Leave a comment
Wayward Vol. 1: String Theory
Written by Jim Zub
Drawn by Steve Cummings
Rori Lane isn't your typical teenager. The daughter of an Irish engineer and a Japanese seamstress, she moves to Japan to live with her mom after her dad 'didn't work out.' Before she can settle in, she begins to have visions of glowing red thread, and is soon drawn in to the dangerous hidden world of the Yokai, or Japanese monsters. But she isn't on her own. She makes friends with other mythological denizens: An energetic cat girl, a classmate laboring under a curse, and a mysterious homeless boy with untapped powers.
Cummings's art is gorgeous, and dispenses with pop-culture cuteness. The Yokai in this book are by turns tough, terrifying, and absolutely disgusting. There are no fuzzy-wuzzy kitsune mascots, and the kappa have a taste for human flesh, not cucumbers. The gore is a little brutal at times, but the grown-up monster designs do a great job of just how deep and dark the well they they've stumbled into is.
The detail in the art is quite appealing as well. Having worked as a English as a Second Language teacher in Japan, I noticed lots of little details in the background art that made the Tokyo of the book come alive.
"Wayward" is one of those odd little books that is too adult for YA based on the fact that the teenaged characters act a little too realistically. Rori is foul-mouthed and psychologically damaged in ways that would make Katness Everdeen crap her pants. Her mother is loving, but busy and at times distant. Rori's real teenage problems fitting in to a new environment are a nice parallel to her supernatural adventures. While too much for youngsters, this is an excellent, but serious fantasy adventure for older teens. Parental discretion advised, of course.
Hugh Likes Comics: Sex Criminals
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics, Review Brimping, Chip Zdarski, Comics, HLC, Hughl Likes Comics, Matt Fraction, review, Sex Criminals Leave a comment
Sex Criminals: One Weird Trick
Written by Matt Fraction
Drawn by Chip Zdarski
"Sex Criminals" is my jam. A heady combination of character study, an intriguing high-concept premise, and dick jokes, it is one of those books that feels like it was written just for me.
It is the story of Suzie and Jon, two people with the rare ability to stop time when they have sex. Each believing themselves to be unique, they meet each other at a party. As their relationship develops, and they find themselves in a world inhabited only by themselves, they do what comes naturally in a budding relationship: They rob banks. Specifically, one bank. The bank which is foreclosing on the library where Suzie works, which is the same one where Jon works a depressing 9 to 5 job he hates, which is also the place where Suzie's father died in a random shooting when she was just a girl. So there's a lot going on there. As they plan their heist, however, they learn they aren't the only ones with this ability after all, and someone is on to them.
"Sex Criminals" is a beautiful, funny, and especially dirty look at the awkward, sad, and joyous paths of self-discovery. It is also a uniquely affecting look at the early stages of a relationship, filtered through a surprisingly poignant sex comedy. Moving back-and-forth through time and featuring a plethora of ingenious sight gags, this is a comic that rewards careful re-reading.
Zdarski's art is great, and The Quiet has a beautiful, unearthly look that is fantastic. It works in perfect concert with Fraction's script, delivering every awkward teenage gut-punch and nonsensical sex joke to life with aplomb. My absolute favorite gag is a fourth wall breaking sequence in a pool hall where a spontaneous dance to "Fat Bottomed Girls" starts up, while the text apologetically explains that they could not secure the rights to the lyrics.
This is a magical, rare comic, which, like a great lover, challenges and moves the reader, but still can make you laugh when you least expect it. "Sex Criminals" is available from Amazon, Comixology, or your local comics shop.
Hugh Likes Comics: Usagi Yojimbo
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics Comics, Dark Horse, Hugh Likes Comics, Japan, review, Samurai, Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo Leave a comment
Usagi Yojimbo Omnibus Volume 1
Script and Art by Stan Sakai
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Usagi Yojimbo is kind of a difficult comic to classify in terms of age appropriateness. As a samurai pulp, it is certainly the most accessible to a western audience of the comics I've discussed so far. It lacks the gore and explicit content of "Lone Wolf and Cub," and its setting is simpler than "Rurouni Kenshin's" historical period. At first glance, the cartoonish talking animal characters make it seem perfect for younger kids. The first story in this collection even features a guest appearance by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But there is something nonetheless unflinching in Sakai's tales of the long-eared wandering swordsman that resonates with the stark realities of Japan's Shogunate period.
Although this collection is labeled as "volume one," this collection actually contains parts eight through ten of the series, which is the point where Dark Horse began to publish the collected volumes. Although a great deal of backstory is referenced at times, Sakai is very good at bringing the reader up to speed quickly, and I never felt lost.
Following Miyamoto Usagi as he wanders the countryside, the stories in his collection are picaresque adventures that flow organically, and build slowly upon one another. They don't reach a climax in this volume, but I am quite curious about where Usagi ends up. These stories are by turns exciting, heartwarming, and sad, and they are filled with a sense of wonder and reverence for Japanese culture and traditions. Even though he is of the Samurai class, Usagi's humility and genuine desire to connect with other people allow him to enter a variety of stories, from a widow struggling to avenge her husband's death on the gambler responsible to an exploration of traditional seaweed farming.
The varied nature of the stories is delightful, but parents might want to read through first, or read with their children to be able to answer some of the difficult issues sometimes raised by this comic. One of the most moving, but also difficult to read stories in this collection is entitled "Noodles." The story of a mute soba seller and his performer/pickpocket companion, it deals with some very heavy subjects, including justice, or the lack thereof, the rights of the disabled, and capital punishment. While the conclusion to that story is satisfying, it is the darkest point in the book, and it was hard for me to get through as an adult.
Sakai's art is superlative. His style is at once a blend of Carl Barks and Goseki Kojima and something entirely his own, and it is breathtaking. His attention to detail, and his deft depiction of samurai fighting that doesn't dip into gory self-indulgence is wonderful, and keeps the stories moving while lending them a timeless atmosphere.
Usagi Yojimbo is an excellent comic for readers new to the genre, or for anyone with an interest in Japanese culture. You can find the first volume on Amazon, or at your local comics shop.
Hugh Likes Comics: Wolverine
hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics, Review Chris Claremont, Comics, Frank Miller, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Marvel, review, Wolverine Leave a comment
Written by Chris Claremont
Drawn by Frank Miller
Love him or hate him, Wolverine is one of the most popular and exposed characters in Marvel's stable of heroes. And with the publisher set to kill him for a while, I thought it was time to take a look at the limited series that really cemented his character.
It's easy to see why this comic was so groundbreaking. Right off the bat, it establishes Wolverine as a much darker, more badass character than his taciturn, volatile persona on the X-Men. This is Wolverine in his element, and that means hunting bears and fighting hordes of ninja. After spending some time in the deep woods of Canada, Logan discovers that his letters to his girlfriend, Japanese dignitary Mariko Yashida have been returned unopened, and that she has left the US. Wolverine follows her to back to Japan. There, he discovers that her father, a presumed deceased crime lord, has returned, and that Mariko has been married to one of his lieutenants.
After being rolled by Yashida in a fight which would have killed him if not for his mutant powers, Logan is rescued by Yukio, a hedonistic assassin who is playing games of her own.
"Wolverine" is Claremont writing at the peak of his craft. Unrestrained by the team dynamic and superhero tropes of the ongoing X-Men comic, he really digs down into Wolverine's character. This isn't just four-color antics, but a rich, pulpy story about honor, appearances, and the nuances of a world shaded in gray. And being drawn by a Frank Miller just coming into his own as an artist elevates the comic to a classic.
Delivering a gritty comic is harder than taking a cape and rolling in the mud for a little bit. It's something that has to be carefully structured. The pieces all need to support each other in a way that the reader both can believe and doesn't expect. "Wolverine" delivers by revealing a deeper, darker world in the periphery of one the reader already knows. It shows a midnight underworld hidden behind an upstanding daylight face. And it does it beautifully. Miller's Japan is a labyrinth of towering yet indistinct skyscrapers, with scores of ninja hiding in every alley. It echoes and reinforces the script beautifully. Miller echoes seminal Japanese artist Goseki Kojima in this story of corruption hiding within the Yashida clan's adherence to tradition, and one warrior willing to abandon all pretexts to expose the truth.
In graphic story telling, especially when a writer and an artist are both masters of their craft, the finished product can seem at odds with itself. The words can be sharp and engaging. The art can be beautiful, but they need to work together to properly tell a story like this. Here, Claremont and Miller's efforts are a synthesis that is greater than the whole of its parts.
The Wolverine is available from Amazon, Comixology, or your local comic shop.
Happy Marvel Day!
hughjodonnell Uncategorized 616, Bloomsday, Comics, HLC, Joyce, June 16th, Marvel 1 Comment
In literary circles, June 16th is "Bloomsday," this single day on which James Joyce's beloved classic Ulysses takes place. Folks take the day to either honor or malign the author and his works. As a thinking person of Irish descent, I've made several attempts to conquer the novel, but never completed it.
This year, I'm going to neither praise nor condemn the man. Instead, I'm going to celebrate another significant numeral of 6/16.
In the Marvel comics universe, or rather multiverse, 616 is the number associated with the version of Earth where the stories take place. There are other Earths, where these characters don't exist, or live radically different lives. Occasionally, readers get a glimpse of these 'alternate' realities, but for the most part, our heroes are the ones from Earth-616. So this year on 6/16, rather than celebrate a work I have a complicated history with, or an author who has his own complex history of achievements and failures, I'm going to watch "The Avengers" and enjoy some literary works that may not be as highbrow as Joyce, but still were a force for good in the world.
Captain America was a symbol of hope and encouragement in the darkest days of World War II. Even up until the present, he has served as a reminder of the greatest ideals of my country: Freedom, Equality, Tenacity and Acceptance. The X-Men are icons of the struggle civil rights in every community. Iron Man is a symbol of what we can achieve if we dream big enough and work hard enough, and also of the fact that no matter how high we fly, we can't outrace our demons. And of course, Spider-Man is an example of the responsibility to use power for the benefit of others.
These characters might not breathe the same rarefied air as literary icon Leopold Bloom, but I learned more from their stories than I ever did from Joyce's high-barred, punctuation-less tome. But I won't admonish any literary fans from enjoying today as they see fit. But as for me? Pour me a glass beer, put "The Avengers" in the DVD player, and hand me my "Astonishing X-Men" collection, and make mine Marvel.
How are you celebrating today?
Hugh Likes Comics Classic: Nextwave: Agents of HATE
hughjodonnell Uncategorized Comics, Comixology, Explosions, Facekicks, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Nextwave, review Leave a comment
Written by Warren Ellis
Drawn by Stuart Immonen
2006's "Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E." is the best super-hero comic nobody read. It's a cynical, action-heavy book about washout super-heroes that will teach you to love again. The Nextwave Squad were going to be the elite Super-hero team of the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort. (H.A.T.E.) Until, that is, they discovered that H.A.T.E. is a front for the Beyond Corporation, a rebranded terrorist organization interested in field testing bizarre weapons of mass destruction on American Soil. They go rogue, steal an experimental aircraft, and set to work stopping H.A.T.E.
"Nextwave" was a comic ahead of its time. A parody of Marvels greatest excesses, it recast five c-list heroes as scenery chewing, trench-coat wearing action stars with severe personality issues. At a time when Marvel was pitching overblown crossovers like "Civil War," Ellis boiled it down, doing short, fun action movies in two issues. These story's were thrilling, easily digestible, and more importantly, irreverent. In the main universe, Marvel's heroes were making gritty choices and compromising their ethics fro security. Nextwave was kicking broccoli-based HR Robots until they exploded.
Immonen's art, which is absolutely gorgeous, helps. It's as bright and beautiful as story is darkly comedic. Every kick and explosion is delivered with aplomb. The characters all have a manic gleam in their eye and a middle finger thrust towards convention.
Even the editorial team was in on the joke, with a letter page written by a delusional mail-sorting machine. "Nextwave" even had its own theme song, with the lyrics printed in issue one, and an MP3 recorded by editor Nick Lowe's band "Thunder Thighs."
"Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E" was a sly, silly, chop-socky gem of a series, and it remains a cult favorite. You can pick it up in trade omnibus from your local shop, or in digital issues from Comixology.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


As we've covered in previous leaks, the LG V40 does indeed have three cameras on the back, something we confirmed after getting a chance to play with a unit earlier this week. Just like last year, LG is trying to make its latest V-series flagship the phone video producers and creative professionals will always want to have in their pockets.
While the rear cameras on this phone have multiple features which are under embargo until the phone officially launches, LG did give us the go-ahead to show off a particular feature present in the device.
The LG V40 can create cinemagraphs with all three of its rear-facing cameras. If you haven't heard of these before, they're effectively images that are completely static save one or two moving elements. An example of this might be a scene of a waterfall where the water is in motion but the objects around it are not.
Usually, creating a cinemagraph is fairly difficult. You need to line up a photo with a video almost perfectly and do some clever editing to make it work. With the V40, you just need to put the phone in "Cine Shot" mode, hold the camera still for six seconds, then highlight the area you want in motion.
LG is not the first phone maker to offer a cinemagraph feature — the Moto Z3 Play offers similar functionality and Nokia did it way back in the day — but it's surprising that more manufacturers haven't implemented it yet. A phone can create layer masks over video much faster than a human could, and it's nice to finally see this feature automated.
LG's version worked very well in the time that we have had with the phone. Because you are simply drawing over the area you want to be in motion, you can make a single subject move or everything but the subject — it's really up to your imagination.
We've already seen what the phone looks like in a promotional trailer from LG, and we'll likely see it be available to the public very soon.
Is there a specific feature you're looking forward to in the V40? So far, LG is only the second major manufacturer that's done a triple camera smartphone, but we're sure we'll see many more launch in the near future.


text:
Early-career teachers in the spotlight: Q & A with Teach Plus founder Celine Coggins
At the end of last year Celine Coggins was named one of three winners of an "educational entrepreneur" fellowship from The Mind Trust for her work starting Teach Plus. The 35-year-old former research director for the Rennie Center for Educational Research and Policy in Massachusetts, who once worked as a middle school science teacher, is now devoting her time to keeping young teachers in the profession by showing them how to be policy advocates.
All 16 of the teachers chosen for Teach Plus are under 35, with between three and 10 years of experience in urban schools in and around Boston. In addition to their teaching duties, they meet in a monthly seminar to learn about education policy.
This month the teachers released a report, "Ready for the Next Challenge: Improving the Retention and Distribution of Excellent Teachers" outlining their own approach to getting and keeping top-notch teachers -- like themselves -- in schools where many of the children are poor and minority.
Q: What's the aim of Teach Plus?
A: It's to retain great teachers in urban schools. Our specific demographic is the second stage of the teaching career. With up to 50 percent and sometimes more teachers leaving urban districts in their first three to five years, we have to get a handle on which teachers we want to retain and then we need to work really closely with them around what will keep them.
One thing that's really important to the teachers we've worked with is that they're coming to us ready to lead. They are not looking to 15 years from now when they could become a mentor. They want opportunity sooner.
Q: What was your impetus for starting Teach Plus?
A: My parents were both public school teachers and when I told them at age 15 that I wanted to become a teacher, my mom cried and my dad yelled. They said that smart, talented people don't go into teaching. I did become a teacher and then I left for new challenge and growth after three years. I've been in the policy world ever since and felt like there's inadequate representation of early-career teachers' voices.
Q: What are the challenges of getting classroom teachers, however smart, to be able to navigate the policy world?
A: They came in as practitioners, who know a lot about the curriculum for their classes. They came in not knowing the language, not knowing the key issues, not knowing what would be appropriate for policy versus what should be dealt with at the school level. They had to learn how to hook into an issue that engages policy folks and then ask how teachers want to see that done.
What was surprising to me as someone who lives and breathes this stuff, they didn't know about some of the innovations we talk about all the time, like the TAP model and Denver's ProComp pay plan. We shared those with them for the first time and they are like, "Wow! How cool."
Q: An example of an issue hot on the policy scene but where your teachers had their own take?
A: We tried to craft a proposal on performance-based pay where policy folks would be interested but it would still stay true to what the teachers wanted: a working environment that values teacher empowerment and collaboration while it provides recognition and rewards high performance.
Our teachers accepted that they need data to judge their own performance. And they're for the development of value-added methodology to link individual teachers' performance to student test scores, but it can't be the be-all and end-all of judging teachers' effectiveness. The field is moving in that direction, but the methodology is not all the way there yet. Their message is a nuanced one.
Q: So what do they suggest instead to compensate effective teachers?
A: In our teachers' model for turning around struggling schools, they call for at least a third of the staff in a struggling school being designated as members of a specially selected "Excellence Corps." Corps members would receive supplemental pay by virtue of having been selected for this honor on the basis of their past performance. If they also took on leadership roles in these schools, they would be eligible for further supplemental pay. However, should the school improve significantly, all of the teachers in the school, not just members of the Excellence Corps, would receive a bonus.
Teach Plus will launch another cohort this fall in Boston. The group will continue to press its teacher recruitment and retention idea in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Teach Plus is recruiting for a second program in Indianapolis, where the Mind Trust is located.
You can find "Ready for the Next Challenge: Improving the Retention and Distribution of Excellent Teachers" at www.Teach-Plus.org.


The end of the year brings us empty wallets, fat stomachs and most importantly larger egos than we had the year before. It's because of these egos that people like me put together these year end "best of" lists. Although as you know, here at Concert Confessions we do things a little differently then other sites. We don't have a Top Albums list, Top Artist list, Male and Female Rookies of the year list we do top Concerts of the year. Personally, I'll trust all of you readers enough to go ahead and listen to all those albums of the year you're listing-You'll let me know what's good. You're nice people right?
Anyway, more self branding: Every year I set a personal goal of going to more shows then the year prior. In 2011, we had ourselves 23 Jay Porks Experiences. In 2012, money was a bit tight, schedules fluctuated and goals were not reached as 18 shows were only attended. But don't worry, they were some memorable ones that will most definitely fill the void in my heart that sits beneath my wretched soul (Alright it's not that bad, but it's good copy!). Below, you can view the list of the Top Five Jay Porks Experiences of 2012.
Heading to the lovely Detroit in 2013, this year brought this guy to his first ever "festival" experience. Sort of. And it turned out to be way more than I was actually prepared for. When you think festival you think a few things: camping, shower trucks and people lying overdosed in mud puddles while folks from LA Weekly takes photos. But Atlantic City brings casinos, thousands of hotel rooms (lots of them luxurious), and no camp ground. The idea is to get a room for the weekend, they had room packages with some tickets, I chose to go off course and book my own room accommodations and take a cab over and back each day. Was a solid plan going in. The list of acts seen was immense, including Metallica (curators of the Festival) headlining the two night stint. The first day I got to see Baroness, Roky Erickson, Fucked Up, Cage The Elephant, Modest Mouse and Arctic Monkeys before Metallica turned me into a fan playing Ride The Lightening in it's entirety. Skin was turned powdery white to beat red after the full day (sunscreen something I rarely carry) and the dreadful Flagship Hotel had a less than desirable internet connection. Day Two brought me the likes of A Place To Bury Stangers, Ghost, Gary Clark Jr, the waste known as Best Coast, The Black Dahlia Murder, Eric Church and Titus Andronicus before Metallica hit the stage to remind me why I was never that big into them in the first place when they played the The Black Album…. backwards. Okay. Then on this night the return to the hotel room brought me with the dilemma of having NO internet at all at the again, dreadful Flagship Hotel whose front desk said the services were down. So I walked myself to Bally's Casino w/ bags packed with all the towels, soaps and ashtrays I was able to fit in there and awaited the 4:30AM bus back into New York City. Had to catch Childish Gambino in Central Park the next night after all. Sounds like a pain, and looking back it kind of was but at the same time, those two days spent AT Bader Field (while the music was playing )were absolute magic.
This show was epic for so many reasons. In my 2nd time seeing the band this year (plus the Scott Lucas and the Married Men Mercury Lounge pit stop in June), and 1st time since the release of their latest record "Hallelujah! I'm a Bum", which is an absolute masterpiece, I found myself leaving the Bell House that night feeling way more blown away then I could have ever predicted. Take into account the spot in the back of the room where we were able to survey the entire place instead of getting hit with cups full a beer down front. The energy Scott Lucas brought to the table that night was one of a man on a mission, and tons of great songs got played off the new record. I usually hate when a band tries to shove new songs down my throat at shows but this record is one that people need to hear. It's too good to get lost in the shuffle. Ended the night covering TV On The Radio's "Wolf Like Me", which was like the cherry on an awesome sundae.
With Ween breaking up, they weren't able to snag their normal spot as my #2 show of the year in 2012(as they had in 2010 and 2011). Having seen Foxy Shazam already kind of/sort of blow The Darkness off stage in February – when a show was announced at Bowery Ballroom where they would headline I had to get in on that action-let's see what the whole shebang brings to the table. And Oh Lord was I heeled with the Holy Touch with an evening of their finest numbers, funky vibes, and Eric Nally eating the cigarette I threw on stage!
I was sitting next to some people I met outside who were nice enough to pass along a pipe to me as I was filming "I Like It" . Snagged the spot upstairs balcony. Cannot beat it. Check the video for yourself. But if you told me before I went to that show that it would end up being the #2 show on my year end list I would have never ever believed you. The band is just that good. Nailing a spot supporting Slash on his Fall tour was a great job by him. Glad Slash has good taste in music. That was Another show I attended. So three times I've been baptized into the Church of Rock & Roll this year… And I Like It.
Mike Watt has tons of friends. When this purchase is made, the only thing known is that the Minuteman will team with J Mascis and Murph from Dinosaur Jr to play tonight and that Mike Watt will be interviewed on stage before the show. I got to tape the interview but the questions are raised. So what songs are they going to play? Dinosaur Jr songs? Minutemen songs? Who's singing? Well there was no mic set up in front of J, which is indication this isn't a Dinosaur Jr kind of night. Out walks Don Fleming (from the band Gumball) and they play The Stooges "Real Cool Time". Then I remember who the active bass player in the Stooges is: Mike Watt! So here we are playing Stooges songs all night with a revolving door of guest singers. John Petkovic came out, then one of my freaking heroes Thurston Moore(of the recently divorced Sonic Youth), then Sharon Von Etten, then Kurt Vile. And Thurston reappeared at least two more times, and they had Steve Shelly (also Sonic Youth) in there on drums on some songs too along w/ Byron Coley (who did the interviewing earlier) and John Maloney. I couldn't have missed any names, because Mike Watt tweeted over the set list the next day with all the names of the parties involved and what songs they played on. That show was something I'm never going to forget. That's the closest I'll ever come to seeing the actual Stooges.
And last and certainly not least, I've added a new section to this top shows post. That portion is Top Concert Experience of 2012 NOT attended by me. We have lots of contributors, lots of varied acts getting written about. But one gig really hit close to home when out pal Reverend Justito went and saw my pals the Meat Puppets at the closing of the Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica, California. I can guarantee that I enjoyed reading this one as much as most of the attendees enjoyed living it.
Hangout Festival Returns to Gulf Shores for 2012 with Stellar Lineup!
Bangin' 7 Gram Rocks w/ Charlie Sheen 4/10/11 @ Radio City Music Hall!


text:
Feature Review| Volume 27, ISSUE 3, P231-247, March 2021
Extracellular Vesicles and Biomaterial Design: New Therapies for Cardiac Repair
Chloé Pezzana
INSERM UMRS 970, Paris Centre de Recherche Cardiovasculaire (PARCC), Université de Paris, 75015 Paris, France
Florence Agnely
Institut Galien Paris-Sud, CNRS UMR 8612, Université Paris-Saclay, 92296 Châtenay-Malabry, France
Amélie Bochot
Juergen Siepmann
Unité 1008 INSERM, Université de Lille, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Lille, 59000 Lille, France
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 75015 Paris, France
Published:November 17, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2020.10.006
Previous ArticleCellular Models and High-Throughput Screening for Genetic Causality of Intellectual Disability
Next ArticleIntercellular Communication in the Heart: Therapeutic Opportunities for Cardiac Ischemia
The use of extracellular vesicles (EVs) for cardiac regenerative medicine as an alternative to cell transplantation has been demonstrated.
For clinical applications, new translational issues have emerged such as parental cell selection, large-scale production, characterization, and delivery.
Two main delivery approaches of EVs for heart repair can be used: either direct myocardial delivery in patients requiring surgery, or intravenous (IV) infusion.
To potentiate EV beneficial effects, direct myocardial EV administration can be optimized by controlled-release biomaterials, whereas EV engineering should allow IV-injected EVs to be directed more specifically to the heart.
However, new challenges include possible changes in EV bioactivity because of their interactions with the biomaterial, as well as the complexities of EV engineering to improve organ-specific targeting.
There is increasing evidence that extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate the paracrine effects of stem cells. Although EVs have several attractive characteristics, they also raise issues related to delivery. For patients with cardiac disease that require a surgical procedure, direct intramyocardial (IM) administration of EVs is straightforward but its efficacy may be limited by fast wash-out, hence the interest of incorporating EVs into a controlled release polymer to optimize their residence time. For patients without surgical indication, the intravenous (IV) route is attractive because of its lack of invasiveness; however, whole-body distribution limits the fraction of EVs that reach the heart, hence the likely benefits of EV engineering to increase EV homing to the target tissue.
cardiac repair delivery


text:
G protein spregnuti receptor kinaze (-{GRK, GPCRK}-) su familija proteinskih kinaza koje regulišu aktivnost G protein-spregnutih receptora putem fosforilacije njihovih intracelularnih domena, nakon što se njihovi vezani G proteini odvojeni i aktivirani.

Fosforilisani ostaci serina i treonina dejstvuju kao mesta vezivanja proteina arestina, koji sprečavaju ponovno vezivanje G proteina sa njihovim receptorima. Na taj način oni sprečavaju reaktivaciju signalnog puta.

GRK tipovi

Vidi još
 G protein spregnuti receptori
 Fosforilacija
 Proteinska kinaza

Reference

Literatura

Spoljašnje veze

Ћелијска сигнализација
Трансдукција сигнала
Протеинске киназе
ЕЦ 2.7.11

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia