The profits of PORN (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Rory Carroll (theguardian.com) in Los Angeles 

(Robert the Republican) Does porno affect rapists', killers' and others' attitudes toward women? L.A. porn production (crime?) plummets by design in wake of mandatory condom law.

L.A.'s American Apparel, please spare the world your fantasies about schoolgirls

 

Burlesque satisfaction?

The number of permits issued for "adult" films plunges in the Valley and North Hollywood (both areas of greater L.A.) as the sex industry says producers have moved to Las Vegas and Eastern Europe.

The  number of permits issued for adult films fell 90% last year to just 40  permits compared with 2012, when the law was introduced, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

Hard Summer rave 2014

“We’ve  seen a dramatic drop in permits,” Paul Audley, president of FilmLA,  told the paper. “It is a cause for concern that people who are manning  the cameras, lights and other things on those sets are not working  anymore.”

Voters in LA County backed the ban after the Aids Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group, argued that unsafe sex on sets  spread HIV and other diseases.

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The industry protested in vain that it conducted regular health screenings and that audiences and performers tended to prefer porn without condoms.

The state senate is due to vote this month on whether to widen the ban to all of California.
 

We're not a "post-racial" society

Most porn production takes place without permits -- a film can be shot in a  few days in a private house -- so it was unclear to what extent the 90%  fall in permits represented a wider flight.

Several porn producers said they had moved production to other parts of southern California, as well as Nevada, Florida, and Eastern Europe, where there is less  regulation. More 

• The state senate is due to vote this month on whether to widen the ban to all of California (Bret Hartman/AP)  
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Silicon Valley sexism

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US and Germany threaten Russia with "additional consequences" over Ukraine

Moscow told it must not intervene without Kiev’s permission after Obama talks to Merkel on busy day for diplomacy 

Two Scottish councils plan to fly Palestinian flag – agree?

Glasgow and Fife councils are planning to raise the Palestinian flag to show solidarity with people affected by the conflict in Gaza. Do you agree with their plans? 

Iraq crisis: who are the Yazidis and why is Isis hunting them? The ethnic and religious minority descend from some of the region’s most ancient roots and face executions for a reputation as "devil worshippers" 

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Pope Francis: Isis violence against minorities in Iraq must be stopped 

Vatican says world must halt attacks against Christians and others, as Francis sends emissary to Iraq 

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Hundreds gather in Ferguson amid chants of "kill the police" following death of Michael Brown, 18, who was allegedly unarmed.
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Pres. Obama moves for WAR on Iraq (video)

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; DemocracyNow.org

I don't care about 4.5 thousand patriot GIs, what do I care about 1.4 million civilians? (DK)

OO-RAH, woo-hoo, yes! We get to go back to kill a new generation of kids and Hajjis!

Not so fast, NY Times, propagand of record. It's not over till it's over. And it ain't over.

.

We Meant Well in Iraq (look inside)

WASHINGTON DC (WQ/AP/FOX/LIP) President Barack S. Obama says the U.S. is prepared to take targeted military actions [more "smart" bombs, "precision" bombing runs, and "surgical" strikes?] in Iraq if they would help fight a growing threat from extremist militants. He also says the U.S. is ready to send as many as 300 military "advisers" [a euphemism for special forces soldier] to Iraq.

Obama is offering an update to U.S. operations in Iraq, where "al-Qaeda-inspired" militants have sparked instability. He says the United States is forming joint operations centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq.

But Obama emphasizes that American combat troops would not be returning to Iraq [unless they do, which will be decided later].

See how they love me in Orange County? I'm The Decider now. Forget Dick Cheney!

 

Obama says the U.S. has increased its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance [spying and exploiting of assets, and war-as-usual] operations in Iraq to better understand the threats to Baghdad. [Having traded blood for oil, we have more blood to trade so we have to protect the refineries innocent people of Iraq.]


Extended: see Minute 1:40 when Megyn Kelly begins her surprise attack on the former VP

Megyn cannibalizes Right Dick

(Occupy Democrats) Dick Cheney was blamed for the CURRENT crisis in Iraq on the rightwing haven FOX News of all places. During an interview with mouthpiece Megyn "Reagan" Kelly (The Kelly File) where Dick attempted to pin the blame on his relative Pres. Obama.
 

Shoot me in the face, Meg?

Cheney attempted to absolve the previous three Bush administrations of any responsibility for Iraq's disarray saying that they went into the country for good reasons, which we turned out to be deliberate lies used as pretexts for imperial invasions and US war crimes. Dick claims the results were "positive." Lip News looks at Cheney's deflection in this Lip clip with Mark Sovel and Lissette Padilla. See Megyn Kelly's full interview with the Cheneys.

 .

A Buddhist in Congress tries to stop this War

Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez (DemocracyNow.org); Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

I will say anything to get elected and reelected. But I do what the MIC directs me to.

.

That was wishful thinking by the NYT

Buddhist Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (Democrat, Hawaii) on Thursday said that she will stop President Obama, who unilaterally announced the deployment of up to 300 military "advisers" [that's what we called boots on the ground in our war on Vietnam] to Iraq.
 
He is using expanded executive war powers applicable to Iraq and Afghanistan (AUMF) invented using the 9/11 pretext and Patriot Act, which means he can make initial moves without declaring war or asking Congress for permission before sinking the country in yet another war. (Of course, we never left Iraq, and we have no plans to leave Afghanistan; all we are going to do is change the name of "soldiers" to "advisors," "contractors," "experts," and "investors."
 

What Bush/Cheney started Obama intensifies.

The president, face, and mouthpiece for the MIC (military-industrial complex) left open the possibility of U.S. airstrikes against Sunni Muslim "militants" who are said to have taken back large parts of their country. Democracy Now! goes to Capitol Hill to speak to Democratic Buddhist Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii, who successfully introduced an amendment that passed by UNANIMOUS consent this week to prevent the deployment of U.S. troops to Iraq without congressional approval. More

Thanks to whistleblower Pfc. Chelsea Bradley Manning we now have no doubt about the truth: The preemptive Iraq War, the illegal invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, the "Global War on Fear (Terror)," and the NSA's massive spying ring were all founded on lies.

The Imperial Rulers of IRAQ: U.S.

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Peter Van Buren (wemeantwell.com); PRI.org

Emperor Bush, Neocon Republicans to their mirror image Democrats like Obama, Feinstein

Tank u, Amerikkka! We greet u as liberators. U killed my family. As-salām 'alaykum!

The U.S. Embassy as a lush campus in the middle of a uranium-contaminated Iraqi desert

This yard will be your "campus," guys. That embassy will be ours. Deal, Maliki? Deal!

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We left Iraq a long time ago, didn't we?

Road to Ramadi is paved...

As the U.S. “relocates” personnel (rather than “evacuating” them) out of the World’s Largest Embassy [military base] in Baghdad, it is valuable to look at our one billion dollar monument to American hubris (overarching pride and ambition).

Hey, we meant well! And everyone knows the road to Ramadi is paved with good intentions.

Though likely tens of thousands of people have been inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and a great many of them have scattered photos of the place across the social media landscape, actual official photos of the embassy have been limited to a handful of narrow views. The stated reason for all this is “security.”

 

Battle for one of Iraq's major oil refineries

Of course a simple Google search [which can be done better and more privately at Startpage.com, which incorporates Google search without tracking users] will reveal many images; there even were 3-D model of the place online.

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• The battle is on for one of Iraq's major oil refineries 

"It's heartbreaking" - veteran on Iraq crisis

US veterans are reflecting on the crisis in Iraq. Blake Hall served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, in Mosul and in Baghdad among other places. Nowadays, Hall runs a tech company in Washington, DC, and he's been following the news from Iraq closely. That's been frustrating, he says, and heartbreaking. 

 

Still, what has been missing is a really nice color shot of the lawn. We have that now, posted online by someone:

There is a very interesting backstory to that nice lawn you see pictured above. If you’ve read my book about Iraq, We Meant Well, you may already know the story:

 

Iraq: Babylon, Mesopotamia, Sumeria

The World’s Biggest Embassy (104 acres, 22 buildings, thousands of staff, a $116 million vehicle inventory), physically larger than the Vatican, was a sign of our commitment to Iraq, at least our commitment to excess. “Along with the Great Wall of China,” said the ambassador, Chris Hill at the time, “the Baghdad Embassy is one of those things you can see with the naked eye from outer space.” 

Iraqi troops reject puppet gov't, go militant

The newly-opened embassy was made up of large office buildings, the main one built around a four-story atrium, with overhead lights that resembled sails. If someone told us there was a Bath and Body Works in there, we would not have thought it odd.

Iraq's next PM? Peddler of WMDs

Iraq's next PM? Peddler of false WMDs The embassy itself, including juicy cost overruns, cost the American taxpayer about one billion dollars. [And never mind that Donald Rumsfeld lost a 2.3 TRILLION U.S. dollars in Iraq the day before 9/11 then never bothered to explain it. We were already illegally invading during the first Gulf War under Emperor Bush I and his boy wonder Dan Quayle threatening to use tactical nuclear weapons on Iraq.]

 

The World’s Biggest Embassy sat in, or perhaps defined, the Green Zone. Called the Emerald City by some, the Green Zone represented the World’s Largest Public Relations Failure. In the process of deposing Saddam, we placed our new seat of power right on top of his old one, just as the ancient Sumerians built their strongholds on top of fallen ones out in the desert.
 

Less Mesopotamia but more MESS

In addition to the new buildings, Saddam’s old palaces in the Zone were repurposed as offices, and Saddam’s old jails became our new jails. Conveniently for Iraqis, the overlords might have changed, but the address had not. The place you went to visit political prisoners who opposed Saddam was still the place you went to look for relatives who opposed the Americans.

 

Read in reverse, add zeros for civilian deaths

The new Embassy compound isolated American leadership at first physically, and, soon after, mentally as well. The air of otherworldliness started right with the design of the place. American architects had planned for the Embassy grounds to have all sorts of trees, grassy areas and outdoor benches; the original drawings made it look like a leafy college campus. More

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AUDIO: What's the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims? (The World/PRI.org)

The End of Iraq (video)

Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; DemocracyNow.org

Gilgamesh seal: giant's tomb found in Iraq, 2003

Iraq is on the brink of disintegration as Sunni militants seize more towns and set their sights on the ancient Cradle of Civilization capital Baghdad. In the past few days, al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has seized control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as well as Tikrit and Dhuluiya.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India just to the right

Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurds have seized control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk. The Sunni militants now control a territory that stretches from the eastern edge of Aleppo, Syria, to Fallujah in western Iraq and now the northern city of Mosul.

Their advance has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, displacing some 500,000 people in Mosul alone -- the largest number of people ever moved in one day in world history. Mosul fell in part because U.S.-trained Iraqi forces abandoned their posts.

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, fills power vacuum (latimes.com)

• VIDEO: Former Counterterrorism Czar Richard Clarke: G.W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld Committed WAR CRIMES

Clarke: Obama drone program "out of hand"

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has reportedly urged the U.S. to carry out airstrikes in recent months, but the Obama administration [which has shown itself to be nothing more than a continuation of the Cheney and Bush administrations] has declined the request so far. 

"Fund secret war in Iraq. Divest at home."

Democracy Now is joined by guests Reuters Bureau Chief Ned Parker in Baghdad and Mohammed al Dulaimy, an Iraqi journalist with McClatchy Newspapers, who reported from Iraq for years and is now seeking U.S. asylum out of fear for his safety if he returns. This is Dulaimy’s first TV interview after years of maintaining a low profile to protect his safety. More

 

US made Iraq part of Military-Industrial-Prison Complex, Camp Bucca, 2009 (Dusan Vranic/AP)

Saying no to our U.S. "War Criminals" (video)

Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman (DemocracyNow.org)

In yer face, killer, war criminal! (Code Pink)

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- a war criminal and unindicted co-conspirator along with Dick Cheney, Karl "the Architect" Rove, both George Bush(es), Donald Rumsfeld, and John Ashcroft -- was forced to withdraw as commencement speaker at Rutgers University following protests by faculty and students over her role in the 2003 American (U.S.)-led invasion of Iraq and our torture of captives.

 

Seeking justice with a torture lawsuit

Rutgers faculty circulated a petition decrying the role Rice played in "efforts to mislead the American people about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." 

 

G.W. Bush, Condi Rice on way to jail (CP)

Last week, Rutgers students occupied a campus building in a call for the invitation (and its $35,000 stipend) to be withdrawn. In a statement this weekend, Rice said her appearance "has become a distraction."

The "No Rice Campaign" at Rutgers is discussed by student protester Carmelo Cintrón Vivas and Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. More

 

PEACE ON EARTH! WOMEN FOR JUSTICE, CODE PINK FOR PEACE (codepink.org)

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NYC to reform Stop and Frisk, end racial profiling 

New York’s new Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced the city will drop its appeal of a ruling by a U.S. district court that found the NYPD’s controversial "stop-and-frisk" program unconstitutional and settle an ongoing lawsuit.

 

Years after vowing to close Gitmo, Obama signed NDAA instead

Saying he would close Guantánamo years after it opened, Pres. Obama has signed the National Defense Authorization Act, barring the use of federal funds to transfer detainees from the notorious American torture prison in Cuba to U.S. soil. Of the 166 prisoners remaining, 86 have been cleared for release...