tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26340146034667424972012-02-17T15:18:43.153-06:00Reasonable thoughts stated reasonably.fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.comBlogger541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-85210002304367941902008-11-08T18:44:00.002-06:002008-11-08T18:50:07.228-06:00

Ladles and jellyspoons, we interrupt this programme to inform you that Sleeper Cell has found a new home at talkislam.info. The exact website is something like www.sleepercell.talkislam.info. We are still in the process of moving in, so the new house doesn't quite look as nice and put-together as this old one.We here at Sleeper Cell appreciate your well wishes and support during these 18 months.

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-4648978207911345502008-09-27T09:59:00.002-05:002008-09-27T10:05:28.282-05:00

So says a reader from Serbia. (Yes, some of my readers are Serbs. You got a problem with that?) A reader identified only as JK writes:"Did you see Palin's interview with Katie Couric? She said of the Pakistani people: 'They want democratic values to be allowed in their country'."What kind of stupid bitch is she? Democratic values are allowed in Pakistan. Pakistan is a democracy. Do not

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-24487814217726102412008-09-19T16:24:00.002-05:002008-09-19T16:31:39.584-05:00

Contrary to Barack Obama's gushing that the surge has worked "beyond our wildest dreams", a new study from UCLA confirms what experts like Patrick Cockburn have said all along: interethnic conflict in Iraq has decreased due to the actions of the Iraqis themselves. It has nothing to do with President Bush sending more racist thugs to murder and rape the Iraqi people.This study shows that

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-17607980861085716732008-09-10T14:08:00.002-05:002008-09-10T14:16:38.641-05:00

Another one from the Associated Press. I love it when people are singled out for their ethnicity (see post below about Pakistani woman in the U.S.).This guy is a dancer engaged to a Jewish girl who has a lot of family in Israel. His dad is Muslim. His first name is Muslim. He arrives at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel.Yeah, some dance troupe from the States is going to sneak in a terrorist. Yup

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-47805698596590160002008-09-10T14:00:00.002-05:002008-09-10T14:04:40.706-05:00

The year was 2006. America was at its most ignorant and bullying self (wait, that's today - uh, never mind, skip the intro).A Pakistani woman is now suing US Airways after she was detained, while pregnant, for 9 1/2 hours in 2006 because she had facial cream in her carry-on luggage. Rather than discard the cream and let her board the plane, "security officials" detained her without counsel and

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-39872668857520286422008-09-10T01:40:00.005-05:002008-09-10T01:53:44.290-05:00

Regarding the question of Palestinian nonviolence, and the question of a one-state solution versus the popular two-state solution, reader "fayruzz" in London writes:Dear Sleeper Cell,I've found that some of the best analysis and explanation of the conflict comes from open dialogues. Even e-mail dialogues. Here is a recent exchange between me and an American Kenyan friend of mine. He is learning

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-10408382672554936382008-09-08T10:16:00.003-05:002008-09-08T10:23:51.230-05:00

After weeks of denials by our government, there is finally no doubt: more than 90 Afghan civilians, at least 75 of them children or women, were killed by an American bombing frenzy in Azizabad on 22 August.Carlotta Gall of the The New York Times parses through the evidence in a courageous article and comes to this conclusion. She is supported by various NGOs in the region, several human rights

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-51976543224613230182008-09-06T14:24:00.002-05:002008-09-06T14:47:01.192-05:00

There's no way to put this mildly: this is the best article on Gaza I've read in the last five years. In fact, it's probably the best article I've read on the entire conflict in the last five years.Jeff Halper is an Israeli activist. I'll leave it at that for now. Here's an excerpt from his article describing his recent visit to Gaza. Link to full article below this excerpt:To be honest, we

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-71255410392735462352008-09-02T06:07:00.003-05:002008-09-02T06:20:55.195-05:00

During recent floods in India that have made over 1.2 million homeless, caste prejudice has reared its ugly head. Reports of Dalits, or "untouchables", being stranded and left to die in their homes have become widespread.Gavin Rabinowitz of the Associated Press reports in some detail. Despite protestations from India's government that Dalit villages were being ignored by rescue boats, "only a

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-80349460311300606852008-08-29T14:25:00.004-05:002008-08-29T14:31:56.655-05:00

Most of you are probably familiar with Irshad Manji, a Canadian "journalist", a wanton Muslim-basher who proudly called herself an atheist before realising it was more profitable to market herself as a "practising Muslim" who just happens to hate Muslims, the Qur'an, Muhammad, and Palestinians, and who happens to love Bush and praise Israel for its "compassionate" policies vis-a-vis the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-25445391226676384742008-08-27T13:30:00.003-05:002008-08-27T13:40:28.031-05:00

Some university students in Gaza who were accepted for admission to Harvard and other Ivy League schools were denied permission to leave the country by Israel. Israel did not cite security or other concerns (and how could they, considering the students would be leaving Israel/Palestine). It simply denied them their right to education.There is a public Israeli precedent for this. In the past -

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-14679645009128618242008-08-18T04:07:00.002-05:002008-08-18T04:19:07.591-05:00

Guest Column by Pak-Man:Am I a foreigner? Americans certainly seem to think so. In the space of a couple of hours, I was once "accused" of being a foreigner, and once informed that I am being investigated by the highest intelligence levels of the United States Air Force for being a "foreign national".I was born in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House. I am as American as

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-15897961611058044242008-08-17T18:22:00.003-05:002008-08-17T18:29:39.059-05:00

Mazen Asbahi, whom Barack Obama chose to coordinate his Muslim American affairs, resigned from that position just days after being selected for the prestigious (or notorious?) post because of controversial alleged ties to a "mosque in Chicago controlled by a fundamentalist imam".His childhood friend, Rany Jazayerli, of Baseball Prospectus fame, and a physician, writes passionately on

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-14710974103115090582008-07-26T02:10:00.002-05:002008-07-26T02:22:59.029-05:00

.from Democracy Now!:http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/23/headlines#6Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reports the Bush administration is debating whether to silence a forthcoming high-level report critical of Israel’s conduct in the Occupied Territories.The report is written by the top US official there, retired general James Jones.According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Jones has written a “

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-22119807492717280812008-07-20T23:07:00.005-05:002008-07-20T23:19:53.159-05:00

.This new titbit from the Associated Press. The Israeli government claims, amazingly, that it knew nothing of the military's illegal use of literally millions of cluster bombs on Lebanon in its 2006 invasion of the country.The government claims the military never mentioned the humdrum fact that they dropped millions of such bombs illegally on civilian population centres in Lebanon, so the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-51180004374982164442008-07-15T23:12:00.004-05:002008-07-15T23:18:02.263-05:00

"Never believe the news," I used to say when I was 21. "A few years later, the truth will come out. The New York Times' banner should read, 'All the news that will be proven false a few years hence'." I was a wise ass then.Check out this amazing history of an Iranian passenger flight loaded with pilgrims from Hajj being shot down in cold blood by a U.S. warship illegally treading into Iranian

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-52426244468914332872008-07-13T14:49:00.002-05:002008-07-13T14:52:07.383-05:00

Our own American media reaches new lows in the breathless coverage of Iran's testing three (or four) missiles. Iran has had these missiles for years, has had the capability of striking its neighbours for years. This isn't news whatsoever. The Young Turks (of Air America) break it down:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB__0qRHBRc&feature=userGod, we Americans really are morons if we can't see the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-68349332414397005372008-07-07T18:59:00.004-05:002008-07-07T19:15:31.420-05:00

McClatchy Newspapers, an American organisation, has conducted the most in-depth and serious investigation yet into torture of illegally detained prisoners at Guantanamo. Considered a landmark study by newspaper publishers and editors, the report has not made even a ripple in the national media. (Of course, McClatchy itself is a mainstream news media company. Why, then, are media outlets not

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-29871650573284368552008-06-29T13:03:00.002-05:002008-06-29T13:13:30.985-05:00

If this columnist from the right-wing Washington Times* is right, I'll definitely vote for Obama. Canada is exactly what these United States need to become.http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/29/obamas-america-is-canada/*True story: I shared a cab once in Jerusalem with a white South African who wrote for The Washington Times. He asked me if I'd heard of the paper. "Don't confuse it

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-24158101502542799072008-06-23T01:19:00.005-05:002008-06-23T01:38:48.241-05:00

It's the damndest thing: finding yourself agreeing with those who hold views totally contrary to your own. Take Bill Bonner, editor of The Daily Reckoning (online financial newsletter), and author of two bestselling books on the economy.Mr. Bonner is a libertarian. He believes that people should be left to fend for themselves, without government interference. "Let them get what they deserve," is

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-68100163470631218652008-06-21T01:37:00.002-05:002008-06-21T01:47:04.485-05:00

An eye-opener from the BBC today, reporting on UK charity ActionAid's study on the frightening disparity between numbers of girls and boys in India. In one sample site, there were just 300 girls for every 1,000 boys.Female foetuses are detected by ultrasound, which costs just a few dollars to perform, and aborted. Other practises include letting baby girls' umbilical cords get infected by

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-78831943673691173532008-06-20T15:57:00.004-05:002008-06-20T16:04:27.588-05:00

This is the curious headline of a speculative piece published in The Nation. Robert Dreyfuss analyses Israel's recent practise runs on bombing Iran based on a Pentagon official's anonymous quotes.A short article, and I know it will suffer rot link soon, so here's the link and the full piece. (Interestingly, Dreyfuss deems Iran "not a suicide nation", whereas that is the exact phraseology

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-26406440765374503102008-06-18T06:22:00.003-05:002008-06-18T06:37:07.342-05:00

If there was any doubt in your mind - and some of my American friends do doubt - about our brave American boys in uniform torturing those evil Eye-rackis and ragheads, let the medical record speak for itself.Physicians for Human Rights, an organisation to which I belong, has published a report (Broken Laws, Broken Lives) documenting torture of prisoners after conducting extensive, two-day long

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-41682311915991535592008-06-17T04:33:00.002-05:002008-06-17T04:36:15.695-05:00

.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/magazine/15wwln-Q4-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=magazine&pagewanted=print&oref=sloginmy god, he is truly brilliant. i would literally pay money to see him debate hitchens.i think we do still have public intellectuals, but they're different now. dumber. media-savvy. michael moore is an example. those old-style public intellectuals like noam chomsky exist only in

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-77900053378422923402008-06-15T08:47:00.003-05:002008-06-15T08:54:30.066-05:00

No, no, there's no racism in this statement, just pure truth, unadulterated and clear like spring water (except the kind infected by Giardia, which is most spring water).In the last ten presidential elections, Republicans have won the majority of white male voters. Even Clinton, in his trouncing of Bob Dole and George Bush, lost the white male vote. In fact, he lost the overall male vote to Bob

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-78228755970401530292008-06-14T05:12:00.003-05:002008-06-14T05:24:22.427-05:00

This article from the Associated Press tells ye all that ye need to know.Bangladesh's government has gone on a witch hunt, arresting at least 10,000 civilians on dubious charges. Human rights activists internationally have condemned this act, calling it a "crackdown on democracy". And the U.S. government? Its voice has remained "low key"."In contrast to its loud and repeated criticism of the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-54824801991612292712008-06-08T13:23:00.004-05:002008-06-08T13:50:54.786-05:00

Guest column by DJ Razza:I get sick every time we get ready to invade another Muslim country. This occurs at a pre-rational level. Even before I can verbalise all the arguments for or against invading, the thought of all those bombs dropping on all those children makes me nauseous.My aunts, uncles, cousins - almost my entire family - are Muslims. They're not terrorists or mullahs or crazy people

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-74869858400204162442008-05-16T07:43:00.004-05:002008-05-16T08:00:13.588-05:00

[Publisher's note: It has been a mighty long time - three months, an eternity in the blogosphere - since our heady correspondent in Africa inveighed against the depredations of Western imperialism in the third-world. In the last three months he has moved - twice - and is only now starting to settle into his new home before moving a third time in 2008 come August.]In all the debate about health

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-79414267556855213432008-02-19T01:48:00.004-06:002008-02-19T01:54:44.216-06:00

It's one thing to plead ignorance, it's quite another to be aware and simply dismiss the suffering of others. As Bill and Kathleen Christison, former CIA analysts, explain below, Americans are not unaware of Israel's atrocities, but simply unconcerned. The Christisons, in addressing a group of influential American journalists, academics, and opinion-makers from across the political spectrum,

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-20019887047371662052008-02-19T01:32:00.002-06:002008-02-19T01:34:04.815-06:00

Do you think that Barack Obama is going to fight for the common man, or will he - like every other candidate in the race - be beholden to corporate interests? Well, guess who is the number one recipient of campaign funds from the following industries: computer and Internet companies, commercial banks, health professionals, health services and HMOs, hospitals and nursing homes, lawyers and law

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-31815620954620936122008-02-13T01:58:00.003-06:002008-02-13T02:02:08.672-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRcOF7rEfQToo bad this campaign will go nowhere. The few Americans who have an opinion about Iran want to bomb it back to the Stone Age. Ridding Americans of our breathtaking ignorance won't be accomplished with a campaign or two, unless they last a thousand years and have billions of dollars of Madison Avenue advertising behind them.Forgive me my realism.

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-46029449269857685182008-01-27T14:29:00.001-06:002008-05-16T08:03:50.672-05:00

ah, well, i've spent the afternoon reading about gaza and hebron. hebron, too, who knew how bad things are there? 77% of businesses closed down, 40% of people have fled their homes, israeli settlers commit acts of violence against hebronites daily. the situation is so dangerous there for palestinians that most never leave their homes (except when they're literally running for their lives). it is

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-17364312608002549532008-01-21T17:19:00.000-06:002008-01-21T17:23:55.676-06:00

The word genocide is tossed around in careless ways these days. Is Princeton Professor Richard Falk's designation of Israeli policy toward the Gaza Strip as a "prelude to genocide" valid? Omar Barghouti, a political analyst, examines this question in the light of Israel's round-the-clock siege on Gaza, and with reference to the UN definition of genocide, on CounterPunch.org.Link:http://

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-2270856950117594672008-01-16T16:33:00.000-06:002008-01-16T16:49:30.167-06:00

Kathy Kelly, the courageous American peace activist, was charged with illegal conduct for taking food and medicines to Iraq during the years the U.S. imposed starvation-inducing sanctions. During those grim years (is today any less grim in Iraq?) rates of kwashiorkor and marasmus - types of severe malnutrition among children - increased 60-fold in Iraq due to the sanctions, according to the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-75230203338355319002008-01-14T23:15:00.000-06:002008-01-14T23:20:34.667-06:00

In a startling revelation, it was learned at Lady Diana's inquest in England today that her mother scolded her for being romantically involved with Muslim men.As Robert Barr of the Associated Press reports today, Frances Shand-Kydd "upbraided her daughter in June 1997 for romances with Muslims. That remark came in 1997, before Diana's romance with Fayed [an Egyptian Briton], but toward the end

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-83997945052627421402008-01-10T17:57:00.000-06:002008-01-10T18:06:26.720-06:00

After all the hullabaloo over Iranian Navy ships supposedly threatening American military vessels in Boratesque voice and grammar, now a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is conceding that the voice may not have come from the Iranians at all:http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011008R.shtml [ABC News link]Where did it come from, then? From Sascha Baron Cohen doing a voiceover?Come on, the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-66074846161243374682008-01-04T11:13:00.001-06:002008-01-04T11:15:09.276-06:00

According to the testimony under oath of this computer expert, vote rigging by computer is easy, and he was asked by a U.S. Congressman to prepare such a vote-rigging program in the fall of 2000.Believe it when you see it:http://pkpolitics.com/2008/01/03/high-tech-rigging/

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-80999027351228151582007-12-29T11:45:00.000-06:002007-12-29T11:48:05.691-06:00

Actual Reuters headline today: "Online dating brings hope and frustration, researchers find".And this is different how from real-life dating?We need research to tell us this?This is about as momentous as Slovenia signing on to be witness to the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-46678981336704271502007-12-21T09:31:00.000-06:002007-12-21T09:40:41.152-06:00

OK, after this I don't want to hear it from any of yous! These seven "well-known facts" are medical myths, as documented by the British Medical Journal. It's very hard in discussions with people to pinpoint exactly from where one gathered one's information, especially when it comes to mythbusting and debunking, two of my favourite activities (how do you think I got so interested in the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-24692925920490308512007-12-06T21:16:00.000-06:002007-12-06T21:29:12.969-06:00

Wow, Mitt Romney passed the latest test in his bid to become president, and the media are gushing. Romney, a Mormon, when asked whether he will show favouritism to Mormons or be a president for all Americans, promised that he would "serve only the common cause of the people of the United States."Brilliant! No wonder the media are all smiles. It was a tense moment there, because he may very well

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-17632865794190682632007-12-01T00:49:00.001-06:002007-12-01T00:51:34.662-06:00

A handful of Muslim readers of this website have recommended this poem read aloud by American poetess Suheir Hammad, a Brooklyn native. Ms. Hammad, whose two brothers serve in the American Navy, talks about 9/11 and the way it affected her as an American and as a Muslim.It's poignant, it's heartrending. Don't take my word for it. Watch the video yourself:http://youtube.com/watch?v=0fhWX2F6G7Y

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-57653255156902019762007-11-29T17:23:00.000-06:002008-01-04T11:26:43.043-06:00

Journalist Thom Hartmann invokes Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese author of The Art of War, to argue that we must know our enemy first in order to fight him better. This introduces his review of James Howarth and Bruce Lawrence's collaboration entitled Messages of the World, the Statements of Osama bin Laden.Somehow, this book has disappeared from the shelves of all New York City Barnes & Noble

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-53015401705005633312007-11-29T12:49:00.000-06:002007-11-29T17:37:54.172-06:00

Contrary to the overhyped reports in our U.S. media about Israelis and Palestinians reaching a final accord by the end of 2008, Israeli officials promised that their government would refuse to compromise on any outstanding issues. Israel is not willing to make a single concession, according to multiple Israeli officials speaking out in Israel.As Dion Nissenbaum and Warren P. Strobel of McClatchy

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-53399952138280046602007-11-27T18:38:00.000-06:002007-11-29T15:54:06.089-06:00

"Fuck Whitey." That's the only thing one can think to say, according to one of my readers, after reading about the case of Bisher al-Rawi.Mr. al-Rawi is a British resident who worked for the MI5 (UK equivalent of the CIA) for several years on anti-terrorism intelligence. American terrorists - I mean, soldiers - kidnapped him from Gambia in 2002 and sent him to Guantanamo, where he spent the next

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-86168226044615017492007-11-22T09:13:00.001-06:002007-11-22T09:31:21.361-06:00

It's Thanksgiving Day in America, when Americans gather round to celebrate the myth of a multicultural past of European settlers sitting down to share a meal with exotic indigenous people, when in reality the unsuspecting natives were slaughtered in cold blood and the whitefolk's original Thanksgiving was a celebration of the massacres.On this Thanksgiving Day in Palestine, farmers are not

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-36152316379546016902007-11-19T12:48:00.000-06:002007-11-19T14:49:30.771-06:00

Yup, it's official: Americans are illiterate and stupid. You don't have to point to the results of our past two presidential elections to know that; hard data bears it out ever more clearly.A new, comprehensive government study shows that only 31% of Americans are proficient in reading the English language, and only 28% are proficient in writing it.Only half of all American adults even read a

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-42590726505686680582007-10-28T12:22:00.000-06:002007-10-28T23:27:28.352-06:00

You can't make this shit up.Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, of course, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his activism against apartheid.From CBS affiliate WCCO in Minneapolis:Oct 4, 2007 11:26 am US/CentralDesmond Tutu Not Invited To St. ThomasSt. Paul (AP) ¯ Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu won't be speaking at the University of St. Thomas in April because school officials

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-30823464982591673672007-10-16T09:10:00.000-05:002007-10-16T09:23:48.935-05:00

Let's face it, the invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq boils down to one question: "Why are we in Iraq?"Leaving aside the fact that the U.S. government's answer to this simple question has changed, almost on a monthly basis, let us deal with their current answer to this question: "To help the Eye-rackis. To bring them democracy and to help them build a stable nation."This same answer is

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-51281873860356801122007-10-09T05:25:00.001-05:002007-10-09T05:30:42.356-05:00

Last week I visited Dubai for a few days - and I confess, it was a relief to be out of Africa and to have running water - and literally the first thing I saw when I switched on the television was (drumroll, please)... Seinfeld!Yup, contrary to the assertions made on Bill Maher's show [see my blog post dated 10 July 2007], Seinfeld is popular in the Arab world. Speaking to a few Arabs from

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-19639287228400932022007-10-09T05:17:00.000-05:002007-10-09T05:24:36.513-05:00

If you had any doubts as to the deliberate aim and effects of the Israeli occupation, look no further than this article from the LA Times [see below].The Israelis have imposed a "carefully managed" starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza, in the words of the UN.The Israeli government, for its part, laughs at its starvation policy as a case of "put[ting] the Palestinians on a diet."Link: http://

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-75009325615839942022007-07-10T21:27:00.000-05:002007-07-10T21:40:20.713-05:00

Bill Maher, well-known hater of Arabs and blind supporter of Israel and its well-documented war crimes against Lebanon last summer (more on that coming up), has the perfect opportunity to ask Jason Alexander, who used to play George on the sitcom Seinfeld, about his experiences in the Palestinian Territories. However, as soon as Alexander mentions that he was part of a grassroots peace initiative

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-8472101219144742652007-07-10T20:57:00.001-05:002007-07-10T21:00:03.694-05:00

If somehow you haven't seen this elsewhere, you may be living under a rock. If you have seen it, this is your handy-dandy link to referencing it more easily.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bs_LBXD69w&eurl=

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-24357590778361645052007-07-09T01:08:00.000-05:002007-07-09T01:15:53.584-05:00

A word after watching Sicko in the cinema:The film is not about promoting socialised medicine, but about promoting socialism, period.After watching the movie, my wife wants to emigrate to Canada, or possibly, to the UK. While it's certainly possible to make more money in the States than you ever could in Canada or the UK (how many Bill Gateses or Warren Buffetts are from Canada?), it requires an

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-89115194453180248462007-06-28T07:35:00.001-05:002007-10-29T13:54:14.923-06:00

I'm no fan of celebrity news taking precedence over 'real' news, but I am continually surprised at the double standard our mainstream American media take when it comes to celebrities' political views. Celebrities who wave the flag and say, "I support our troops," are not only tolerated, but celebrated (hence the term 'celebrity'), while those who dare step outside the carefully proscribed and

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0