Marvin Gaye's What's Going On... #1 Album Rolling Stones Top 500 Albums All Time 2023 (thread link)
"Tops' bass singer, watched TV coverage of hundreds of club-wielding cops breaking up the People's Park, a protest hub in Berkeley. Aghast at the violence, Benson began to write a song with Motown lyricist Al Cleveland, trying to capture the confusion and pain of the times.
He knew he had something big in his nascent version of "What's Going On," but the rest of the Four Tops weren't interested, and Benson's efforts to get Joan Baez to record it didn't work out, either.
(more on the genesis of this song at the thread link)
The Pentagon is moving a Marine expeditionary unit and more warships to the Middle East, as Iran steps up its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved a request from Centcom for an element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit, typically consisting of several warships and 5,000 Marines and sailors, according to three U.S. officials.
US issues up to $10 million reward for information on Mojtaba Khamenei, Larijani The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice programme has called for information on "Iranian terrorist leaders", including Mojtaba Khamenei. The State Department set the reward at up to $10m and said information could make people eligible for "relocation". Read more
Florida AG James Uthmeier threatened the state will take action if Mayor Jane Castor (D) continues to enforce "sanctuary policies" on the Tampa Police Department.
Just Another Corrupt AG from Florida Like Pam Bondi
Donald Trump bleated that Iran's national football team is welcome to compete in this summer's World Cup but warned it may not be safe for them to do so.
Donald Trump is Killing the People of Iran but Welcoming Their Football Team
An American military refueling plane taking part in the operation against Iran crashed in Iraq and rescue efforts were underway, U.S. Central Command said Thursday. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation, said the KC-135 aircraft that crashed had at least five crew members aboard. The crash was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire, the military said in a statement, which described the plane as "a loss."
The Israel Defense Forces dismissed the indictments of five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian prisoner at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in July 2024"an attack that sparked worldwide outrage. "Israel's military attorney general just gave his soldiers license to rape, so long as the victim is Palestinian," said one Israeli rights group.
Other IDF Soldiers Have Been Accused of Raping Palestinian Detainees
Nasa says it's on track to launch its Artemis II mission in early April, which will see astronauts fly around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The rocket had been set to blast off in March, but after a helium leak was discovered it was returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for repairs. Nasa says it's confident the problem is fixed, and is planning to roll the rocket back out to the launchpad on 19 March, with the earliest possible launch date of 1 April.
In a post on social media platform X, the Iranian president said the conflict could only end if Iran's "legitimate rights" are acknowledged, compensation is paid for damages and strong international guarantees are provided to prevent future attacks.
Secular Talk, posted today
In which MAGA self-owns while trying to target Talarico.
Drone Threats to US
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's neighbors are suing the Democrat, accusing him of stealing a slice of their land to erect an eight-foot-high security fence around his private residence in an "outrageous abuse of power." The neighbors, Jeremy and Simone Mock, are currently duking it out with the governor in court over a 2,900 square foot parcel of land located between their two homes in Abington, Montgomery County, court papers show. The Mocks alleged in a lawsuit filed last month that Shapiro and his wife, Lori, unlawfully seized the stretch of land after initial negotiations to buy it from them went up in flames.
A Skokie woman made headlines this week after her family and a local politician claimed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security detained her for nearly 48 hours before she ultimately ended up in Wisconsin " an extraordinary story disputed by accounts from the federal government, two sheriff's departments and her purported employer. Summer Sundas "Sunny" Naqvi's family alleges the 28-year-old woman was taken into custody Thursday morning at O'Hare International Airport after arriving on a flight from Istanbul. Naqvi, whom Cook County records show was born in Evanston
In North Carolina, Harvey L. West Jr. was appointed to lead the GOP's 1st Congressional District committee in the state's eastern corner, and to head the party's powerful Plan of Organization committee, which effectively controls rulemaking. West (54) was a 28-year-old police officer in Washington, a small town in Beaufort County near the Outer Banks, in 1999 when he was arrested and charged with the statutory rape of three girls, two aged 14 and one aged 16.
NC 1st CD Population 752,478; 48% white
George Noble, a longtime Fidelity fund manager and Wall Street veteran, sees big problems brewing in the booming private credit market. The former director of Fidelity Overseas Fund recently wrote that he sees the makings of a financial crisis in the sector, echoing others who have worried about a spate of negative headlines in recent months. Private credit fears have been swirling on Wall Street since late last year when some high-profile borrowers went bankrupt. Noble said he has been monitoring it for months, and he thinks problems are getting harder to ignore. "We're watching a financial crisis unfold in real time," he said in a post on X. "The last time funds started blocking investors from getting their money back, Bear Stearns collapsed six months later."
Three days after President Trump announced his "Complete and Total Endorsement" of the Louisiana congressional candidate Blake Miguez, the Republican contender posted a video from outside the West Wing boasting of his close relationship with Trump and his team. "I just got done having some great meetings with the White House," he told his supporters on February 7. What he did not say"either publicly or to Trump's advisers at the time"was that there was a political bombshell about to drop on his campaign for Louisiana's deep-red Fifth Congressional District. Months earlier, when Miguez was running for the U.S. Senate, a 2007 police report had surfaced that showed that Miguez's former girlfriend had accused him of rape and other abusive behavior, including locking her in bedrooms, taking away her keys, and holding her down.
