In the fall of 2012, I wrote a piece here that addressed the issue of secession across America. My interest in this subject only grew as I read about how the movement has expanded since Obama’s re-election. I’m following these events closely, so I figured I’d keep track of them here. *************** Sean Hannity predicts…… Continue reading Tracking the Secessionist Movement Across America
Syed Taj, who happens to be a Muslim American immigrant, is running as a Democratic candidate for Congress in Michigan. His opponent has just run a nasty add on television claiming that he wants to ‘advance Muslim power’ or something of that ridiculous nature. When asked how he felt about the commercial, Taj responds with:…… Continue reading Syed Taj Reinforces the Pluralist Vision of the Founding Fathers
Ahead of tonight’s third and final presidential debate, which happens to focus on foreign policy, I turn to journalist Ari Berman’s article ‘Mitt Romney’s Neocon War Cabinet’ to show how Romney may go about positioning the U.S. on the world stage. ‘If we take the candidate at his word, a Romney presidency would move toward…… Continue reading Politics: Romney’s dangerous ‘More enemies, less friends’ foreign policy
In this post from yesterday, I provided a glimpse into what you could expect in Round 2 of the Obama vs. Romney debates. One of the reasons why I wrote that post was due to my confidence in knowing what the issues would be and how Obama and Romney were going to handle themselves. And…… Continue reading Round 2 of Obama vs. Romney, just as I predicted
What Obama has to do to win: He needs to appear aggressive and attack Romney and his winner-take-all society. He needs to have energy, confidence, and that twinkle in his eye. He needs to specifically hit Romney on his 47% comments. He also needs to specifically hit Romney on his activities at Bain Capital. He needs…… Continue reading What to expect in Round 2 of Obama vs. Romney debate
You don’t have to tell the truth to win a debate, but you do have to have fine talking points, clear and simple policies, effective communication, good body language, sound composure, a sense of humour, and a competitive edge. I woke up this morning and read on Twitter that media outlets the world over are…… Continue reading Politics: Impression on first debate is Romney winner
My latest cross-post from Greenwald has to do with a small excerpt from one of his articles and the graph he included in it. The graph highlights U.S vs. Iran military spending. What’s most alarming isn’t that the difference in spending is so large (though of course it’s indeed scary), but that the U.S., with…… Continue reading Disparity Between U.S. vs. Iran Military Spending
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post weighs in on the Obama vs. Romney debates: ‘Romney’s task is more difficult. For the umpteenth time, he has to introduce himself to the American people. He has to erase the impressions left by all the Mitt Romneys we met earlier—the clueless rich guy, the heartless private-equity baron who likes…… Continue reading Politics: Will the ‘real’ Mitt Romney please stand up at the debates?
It was 2009 and I was shocked at what I was reading: Obama was actually increasing strikes in a highly controversial, if not downright illegal drone bombing campaign in Pakistan that began under the Bush administration. When Obama started rocking-and-rolling in his foreign policy adventures, the press gave his global drone bombing campaign hardly any attention,…… Continue reading Commentary: The truth behind U.S. drone campaign coming to light
I want to share with you a very good article in the Guardian from Glenn Greenwald. The title of the article is ‘Five lessons from the de-listing of MEK as a terrorist group’, but here I want to share a particular section of it: The past decade has seen numerous ‘material support’ prosecutions of US…… Continue reading Politics: Greenwald suggests there’s a separate justice system in the U.S. for Muslim Americans
Naomi Wolf writes a piece in the Guardian in response to Mitt Romney’s historic ‘47%’ comments. I’ve included a few excerpts: What Romney’s comments reveal is that the American Dream is dead, killed off by skepticism from the bottom up – by the 99% of lower-income and middle-class people who no longer believe in it…… Continue reading Politics: Naomi Wolf on when Romney killed the ‘American Dream’
It’s no secret that the Romney campaign has attempted to paint Obama as the socialist candidate bent on redistributing wealth to the poor. But is there any truth behind this claim? Forbes has recently published a list of the wealthiest people in the United States which provides a snapshot of the gross inequality in American society.…… Continue reading Politics: Rich getting richer under Obama’s watch
Last update: November 5th, 2013 New Colorado: the 51st state? Rural Coloradans feel marginalized by urban voters. So 11 counties will soon vote on a proposal to secede from Colorado. Keep reading at Al-Jazeera America. * The US government shutdown is over, but the divide between the “two America’s” continues, as the New York Times…… Continue reading Calls for secession in the U.S.
Mondoweiss writes: You will see the billboard for an Israeli settlement right below us being built inside the Palestinian neighborhood of Jebel Muhaber. The billboard features an appeal for American Jews to buy here. The colony is called Nof Zion, the vista of Zion. At 2:08 you will see the black barrels on the tops…… Continue reading “The Forefront of Zion:” Video of Israeli Colonization of East Jerusalem
Here’s a brilliant idea… let’s go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan even though we don’t have the money to pay for it. We can just put the tab on our credit cards. $3,000,000,000,000 isn’t that much money anyways. No worries. Here’s another good idea. While we’re at war, let’s give tax breaks to the…… Continue reading Politics: The deficit as another example of the ‘alternative universe’ of the Republican Party
Wait, what? The N.Y.P.D., located half way across the world from the ‘Holy Land’, has opened its own ‘anti-terror’ office inside Israel, writes the al-monitor.com. Will N.Y.P.D. become a branch of the C.I.A.? How exactly does this legally work? I feel that this is messed up in all sorts of ways.
Think back to the election of 2008. Do you remember how one candidate had it easy? He had eight years of abject failure to run against. Eight years that included the launching of two dismal wars, the creation of a torture gulag with its crown jewel at Guantánamo Bay, the ushering in of a program of robotic assassination missions and secret spying…… Continue reading Politics: On these issues, there’s little difference between Obama and Bush
The Republicans must be aggravated that a short black man can be so politically destructive. It must shatter the constructs that many have in their head. Patrick’s speech had very little rhetoric, which I like. He was strong and feisty and attacked. He called on Democrats to stop being such wimps. He told his party…… Continue reading Politics: Deval Patrick’s feisty ‘backbone’ speech calls on Democrats to stop being whimps
To what extent is communism a fundamental principle of Christian theology? To what extent is the implementation of communism the correct path for the realization of republican ideals and virtues? What are the similarities and differences between communism and socialism? How could the abolition of private property and inheritance be realized? How can our needs…… Continue reading Politics: Considering questions about communism
From Desmond Tutu’s Why I had no choice but to spurn Tony Blair: ‘On what grounds do we decide that Robert Mugabe should go the International Criminal Court, Tony Blair should join the international speakers’ circuit, bin Laden should be assassinated, but Iraq should be invaded, not because it possesses weapons of mass destruction, as…… Continue reading Politics: Double standard in war crimes
Many people who are from or have lived in Massachusetts know that Romney, while Governor, led a state which was near the bottom of the national list for JOB GROWTH. During his administration, he also piled up more DEBT per person than any other state and CUT taxes for millionaires. Romney’s track record in no…… Continue reading Politics: What Massachusetts knows about Romney’s ‘business experience’
About five minutes ago, I had a link ready for posting on my Facebook profile. The link had to do with Eilat, Israel’s (mis)treatment of the children of African migrants. In a nut shell, the rulers of Eilat want these children to be placed in separate schools and away from the ‘real’ and more ‘authentic’…… Continue reading Politics: Politics of ‘Anti-Semitic’
I won’t be tuning into the Republican National Convention, though last night, while eating dinner, I overheard that the theme for the first night of the Convention was ‘We Built That’. So who and/or what is the Grand Old Party (GOP) referring to with ‘We’? Who exactly is ‘We’? Is it a reference to Americans generally or…… Continue reading Politics: Who is ‘We’ and what have they ‘Built’?
The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins eviscerated ardent US Republican radio broadcaster Michael Graham over issues like healthcare and foreign policy. Read more here.
Check out the piece I just had published in the Arizona Capitol Times (the most read newspapers in Arizona for political affairs). I wrote in response to what a Tea Party leader had said about the loyalty of Muslim Americans. Read it here
Chris Fields, a disgruntled, if not delusional veteran of the Iraq War, is running against Congressman Keith Ellison for a spot on Capitol Hill. Fields had the following to say in a letter to the City Pages that was directed towards Ellison: Dear Patriot, While I was fighting on a battlefield in Iraq, my opponent…… Continue reading Politics: Help our veterans with their mental issues
In a nut-shell, Mitt Romney insinuated on his recent visit to Jerusalem that Israel’s economy performs well because Israeli society has a superior culture. Inevitably, Romney also hinted that the Palestinian economy does not perform well because Palestinian society lacks ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’, thus making Palestinian culture ‘inferior’. Romney’s ‘logic’, therefore, suggests that a strong…… Continue reading Weak Economy Means an Inferior Culture?
Artist Taxi Driver can be found on Twitter at @chunkymark. He comments and posts videos regular on British society.
To be a member of the Know Nothing Party, one had to be ‘a native born citizen, a Protestant, born of Protestant parents, reared under Protestant influence, and not united in marriage with a Roman Catholic’. In addition, members of the Know Nothing Party had to take a pledge to prevent ‘the insidious policy of…… Continue reading Déjà vu and the Tea Party
In a treaty with the Islamic nation of Tripoli initiated by George Washington, completed by John Adams, and ratified by the US Senate in 1797, the Founding Fathers declared that … the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion… So, for the love, please spread this around, especially…… Continue reading A quote for the Christian-American right
On Thursday, 26th July, Israeli occupation forces arrested at dawn, Imam of al-Aqsa mosque after they broke into the mosque, closed its gates and forced the worshipers to leave. Sources in Jerusalem said that worshipers were at the mosque for al-Fajer prayer and suddenly the Israeli police broke into the mosque, arrested the mosque’s Imam and…… Continue reading Al Aqsa Imam Arrested by Israeli Army During Ramadan
Professor Akbar Ahmed speaks about the difficult quandary in present day Pakistan, especially in the Tribal Areas. Be on the lookout for his forthcoming book The Thistle and the Drone (to be published by Brookings Institution Press in the spring of 2013).
It’s safe to say that foreign policy was not the strong suit of this year’s contenders for the GOP presidential nomination. Rick Perry labeled the Turkish government “Islamic terrorists.” Newt Gingrich referred to Palestinians as “invented” people. Herman Cain called Uzbekistan “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” and memorably blanked when asked what he thought of NATO’s incursion into Libya.…… Continue reading LOL – Republicans and foreign policy
Thomas Friedman is an unapologetic advocate of modern-day American imperialism. His quotes should outrage any civilized human being. This man is a barbarian. Read this at your own discretion.
‘These are the Pashtun Tribes… The Afghans have never been defeated in history — they will destroy themselves. You blow up their villages, destroy their families, but they are very much like the Americans — they believe in independence and freedom… Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, once said, ‘Waziristan is beyond control. What they need…… Continue reading Important quote on the Pashtuns
I am trying to be more creative. Rather than writing something, I have decided to speak something.
By now you may have heard that Michele Bachmann has accused Huma Abedin of being a mole that has successfully infiltrated the US State Department on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Hmm, I wonder what MB leaders think of their mole… One Ahmed Al Nahhas, a long-time MB activist and leader in Alexandria, Egypt, has said, I haven’t…… Continue reading A ‘radical Islamist’ group responds to Bachmann’s remarks with… SANITY!?
Source: ‘Not Again’ by Arundhati Roy in the Guardian, September 27, 2002.”The Task That Never Ends is America’s perfect war, the perfect vehicle for the endless expansion of American imperialism. In Urdu, the word for profit is fayda. Al-qaida means the word, the word of God, the law. So, in India, some of us call the War…… Continue reading The minatory engine of American imperialism
The relationship between church and state in Ireland is again in question as Alan Shatter, Ireland’s Jewish Defense Minister, has been accused of being ‘ant-Catholic’ because he refused to allow the Irish army to offer a guard of honour for a religious procession during the recent International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. This ‘unprecedented move’, writes…… Continue reading Shattering ‘Catholic Ireland’: Some thoughts on the recent controversy over church and state
Dr. Lawrence Britt examined the former fascist regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, Indonesia, and several Latin American countries and found 14 defining characteristics common to each. Considering the saliency of several current issues, such as Congressman King’s ‘radical Muslim’ hearings to the influence of the media and rampant corruption and militarism, one has to wonder…… Continue reading Politics: How to spot a fascist
I have actually never voted in an American election, whether it be local, state, or national. I am not even registered to vote, but this is not stopping me from commenting on the state of American democracy and the 2012 elections. Democrats and Republicans: Two ‘different’ parties with essentially the same fundamental principles and entities…… Continue reading Time to Go Green in American elections
The population in some of the world’s most destructive and fragile areas are overwhelmingly young. Some of these areas – Kashmir and the Palestinian occupied territories as two examples – have religious conflict ingrained in their history and everyday life psyche. Here are a few figures for you to think about: 1. 75% of India’s…… Continue reading Politics: Demographics of religiously volatile areas
Who are the Sanusi and why do they remain so influential to so many? Only by understanding the Sanusi order, the Cyrenaica tribes and the historic role of both in the development of Libya will we be able to make sense of both the recent moves towards autonomy and prospects for the future of Libyan…… Continue reading The health of Libyan democracy lies with recognizing Cyrenaica tribes
Location: Noam Chomsky’s office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Date: October 2008 Topic: American identity (with some focus on Muslims in the USA) Project: Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam Principal investigator: Akbar Ahmed Filmed by: Craig Considine © Akbar Ahmed
They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells. They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features…. They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword,…… Continue reading Politics: Why do we celebrate Columbus Day?
We like to think of the drone war as something far away, fought in the deserts of Yemen or the mountains of Afghanistan. But we now know it’s closer than we thought. There are 64 drone bases on American soil, including 12 that house armed Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles. The possibility of military…… Continue reading Drones Over American Skies
One thing that I find puzzling is the notion that Obama ‘isn’t as bad as Bush’ when it comes to death, destruction, and the illegality of US foreign policy. For me, when I indulge in such conversations to prove why Obama is actually quite similar to Bush in these regards, I tend to use the not so…… Continue reading Who’s the Master of the Drone?
From Eric Margolis’ latest article ‘US trains its guns on China’: America has been at war for decades. Its aircraft and warships are aging rapidly. Equally threatening, Congress may force deep military spending cuts as deficits worsen – at a time when the US military is being ordered to keep China bottled up on the…… Continue reading In relation to China
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