It is really something amazing.
They truly are the finest and hardest working TV critics in the country.
No one writes like them, no one can make the points they make.
They do the heavy lifting.
Over and Over.
And have for 12 years now.
12 years.
And they are still going.
I mean look at their body of work.
It's amazing.
Early on, Dona grasped that. She's a smart cookie.
She said that Third would end up remembered for the work Ava and C.I. did.
And that's what's happened.
Online or in books, when something's noted from Third, it's the work Ava and C.I. did.
They've been the voices who never shied away.
They didn't hide.
Nor did they live in fear.
Which allowed them to offer truly original writing and insights instead of being pack runners who do nothing original.
I really love Ava and C.I. for all they do (including their work going around and talking to people about the war).
But in terms of writing, they aren't my friends.
Nor are they my peers.
They are giants.
And they carved out the feminist space online.
They are fierce.
And that's why so many men have attacked their work.
Danny Schechter, for instance.
Oh, he loved to repost their work -- entire articles -- at Media Channel.org.
But let them take on the attempt to normalize Ike Turner's terrorism and abuse towards Tina Turner (a lot of men wanted to celebrate Ike when he passed) and Danny gets his panties in a wad and writes them angry e-mails.
And dares to ponder what Tina would think.
What Tina would think?
Uh, Danny (now dead), as Ava and C.I. responded to your e-mails, they don't have to wonder -- they know Tina.
They can pick up the phone and ask her.
You would not believe the 'name' men who have attacked them (in fairness, some 'name' men have praised them).
And it never silenced them.
It never made them pause.
They have covered the media beat every week for 12 years now.
They've never taken a week off.
There was one week when Third couldn't pair it together and the only thing published was Ava and C.I.'s reporting.
So hats off to them, two women who made a difference.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:
Monday, July 17, 2017. Chaos and violence continue -- as does The Mosul Slog.
That passes for 'liberation' in Iraq.
And The Mosul Slog continues.
IRAQI NEWS reports today:
An Iraqi security member was killed on Monday during clashes with remnant Islamic State militants in western Mosul’s Old City, a security source was quoted saying.
Shafaq News quoted the source saying that a soldier was killed and another was wounded during operations targeting the remaining havens in Shahwan neighborhood in the Old City.
Looks like that announcement last Tuesday that The Mosul Slog was ended was premature.
As was the victory parade over the weekend.
Checking Elise Labbot's Twitter feed for her response and there is none. Elise infamously yelled out "NO!" in a State Dept press briefing when another journalist dared to suggest that Mosul was a slog.
Elise does offer this nonsense.
Bush and Clinton stress value of humility in Oval Office @CNNPolitics
Humility?
Neither offered anything but hubris.
Bill destroyed the safety net.
That's the safety net, note, that held up his ass.
But he didn't give a damn about single mothers when he was president.
He was raised by one who depended on the safety net.
But his hubris was unbound.
There's also the Iraq sanctions which killed at least a half million children in Iraq.
That's not humility.
Then there's War Criminal Bully Boy Bush who started the Iraq War -- the one that's never ended to this day.
Bully Boy Bush was never one to show humility.
He was a vengeful, angry child.
As bad as Donald Trump is, he's not Bully Boy Bush.
He may become him.
But, at his worst, Donald's a petulant adult.
Bully Boy Bush was (and remains) a petulant child.
INTELLIGENCE POST offers a look back at Iraq which includes:
That's when the Islamic State took root in Iraq.
And none of the conditions that allowed ISIS to rise have been addressed.
Mosul's not liberated but it is destroyed.
Today from @AP: Widespread devastation following Iraqi forces' 9-month fight to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State http://bit.ly/2vtRHR6
That's how a lot of Iraq will look if the conditions are not dealt with.
New content at THIRD:
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iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq
That passes for 'liberation' in Iraq.
And The Mosul Slog continues.
IRAQI NEWS reports today:
An Iraqi security member was killed on Monday during clashes with remnant Islamic State militants in western Mosul’s Old City, a security source was quoted saying.
Shafaq News quoted the source saying that a soldier was killed and another was wounded during operations targeting the remaining havens in Shahwan neighborhood in the Old City.
Looks like that announcement last Tuesday that The Mosul Slog was ended was premature.
As was the victory parade over the weekend.
Checking Elise Labbot's Twitter feed for her response and there is none. Elise infamously yelled out "NO!" in a State Dept press briefing when another journalist dared to suggest that Mosul was a slog.
Elise does offer this nonsense.
Bush and Clinton stress value of humility in Oval Office @CNNPolitics
Humility?
Neither offered anything but hubris.
Bill destroyed the safety net.
That's the safety net, note, that held up his ass.
But he didn't give a damn about single mothers when he was president.
He was raised by one who depended on the safety net.
But his hubris was unbound.
There's also the Iraq sanctions which killed at least a half million children in Iraq.
That's not humility.
Then there's War Criminal Bully Boy Bush who started the Iraq War -- the one that's never ended to this day.
Bully Boy Bush was never one to show humility.
He was a vengeful, angry child.
As bad as Donald Trump is, he's not Bully Boy Bush.
He may become him.
But, at his worst, Donald's a petulant adult.
Bully Boy Bush was (and remains) a petulant child.
INTELLIGENCE POST offers a look back at Iraq which includes:
In 2011, it was clear that Iraq was repeating its history, with slight modifications. Corruption was deeply entrenched in all institutions, from security and political establishment, to bureaucratic and service providing sector, relying on political, sectarian, and ethnic identities and allegiances. The government continuously interfered with the judiciary, while institutions in charge of checks and balances were either never formed or faced pressure and violence. Key elements of the power-sharing agreement reached in 2010 were never carried out. After Vice President, Tareq al-Hashimi was arrested (many believe for publicly criticizing al-Maliki), his opponents among Sunnis, Kurds and Shi’ites grew dissatisfied. The standoff with the Kurdish government continued well into 2012.
As Al-Iraqiya, a secular cross-confessional movement, fell apart due to internal rivalries and a lack of an assertive stance in fighting al-Maliki’s growing authoritarianism, numerous Sunni Arabs who identified with their ideology started peaceful protests. On top of the stand-off between al-Hashimi and al-Maliki, the triggering event was the arrest of the bodyguards of a prominent Iraqiya member. The government responded with bureaucratic procedures, refused to negotiate directly and ultimately deployed security forces in Sunni neighborhoods.
In this stand-off, coupled with the Syrian civil war escalation spilling over to Iraq, radical voices gained prominence, giving the government an excuse to storm a camp in Hawija, killing more than 50 people and injuring 110 more. At the same time, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, alarmed by developments in Syria, recruited young people and ex-insurgents into militias, which were deployed to Syria. Retaliatory sectarian violence soon spiraled out of control, with 2012 ending with more than 4,600 civilian deaths, mainly in terrorist attacks claimed by ISIS and Al-Qaeda. In 2013, the death toll doubled, with more than 9,800 victims, according to ICB. Al-Maliki was ultimately unseated and replaced by Haider al-Abadi after newly elected president Fuad Masum nominated him for that position.
That's when the Islamic State took root in Iraq.
And none of the conditions that allowed ISIS to rise have been addressed.
Mosul's not liberated but it is destroyed.
Today from @AP: Widespread devastation following Iraqi forces' 9-month fight to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State http://bit.ly/2vtRHR6
That's how a lot of Iraq will look if the conditions are not dealt with.
New content at THIRD:
- Truest statement of the week
- A note to our readers
- Editorial: ABC covered it, did you catch it?
- TV: On HOOTEN & THE LADY and the Emmys
- The Acting nominations that should have been
- Some Emmy Tweets
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- The Aaron Sorkin Award goes to . . .
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- Theme playlist
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iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq
