Awesome video

Nov 28th, 2008, 09:24 pm

I lied. I decided to post again, this time with a video I’ve been obsessed with since a day after the election:

McCain is a better dancer than Obama.

Posted in Politics, Hilarious | No Comments | Trackback

The first president to wear so much eyeliner

Dec 11th, 2007, 10:40 pm

Yesterday, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was sworn in as Argentina’s new president, becoming the country’s first elected female head of state:

To reflect this rise of women in what has traditionally been a male-dominated region, several countries sent women to represent them at the inauguration ceremony in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

Among them were the US Labour Secretary, Elaine Chao, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano and the Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean.

The irony is that political analysts in Argentina say that the new president prefers working with men. (BBC)

I tried watching the ceremony on TV, but my elderly host mom kept drowning out Cristina’s speech by commenting how nasty the new president looks. I had to agree with her; why the frick does she put on so much eyeliner? Ewww. The combination of Botoxed wrinkly skin and makeup is not pleasant.

Posted in Argentina, Politics | 4 Comments

Argentina’s first elected female president

Oct 31st, 2007, 04:53 pm

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, wife of current president Néstor Kirchner and former senator of the Buenos Aires province, creamed the opposition and has become Argentine’s first presidenta electa, or first elected female president. Let’s let the BBC speak:

Argentina’s current first lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has secured victory in the country’s presidential election.

With ballots counted at almost all polling stations, Mrs Kirchner had an unassailable 44.9% lead.

Her nearest rival, former lawmaker Elisa Carrio, has admitted defeat, trailing on 23% of the vote.

Mrs Kirchner will succeed her husband Nestor Kirchner and become Argentina’s first elected female president. (more)

I’m a busy man, so I’m afraid I don’t have time to make any insightful commentary, but I just wanted to share the big news from my neck of the woods.

Read about the mess the led up to Sunday’s elections and the regional, ethnic, and class differences that continue to divide the country.

Posted in Argentina, Politics | 7 Comments

US Army: Pissing people off is bad for occupation

Oct 5th, 2007, 08:33 am

According to The New York Times, the US Army has begun recruiting anthropologists and sociologists to help with military operations in Afghanistan:

Since Gen. David H. Petraeus, now the overall American commander in Iraq, oversaw the drafting of the Army’s new counterinsurgency manual last year, the strategy has become the new mantra of the military. A recent American military operation here offered a window into how efforts to apply the new approach are playing out on the ground in counterintuitive ways.

In interviews, American officers lavishly praised the anthropology program, saying that the scientists’ advice has proved to be “brilliant,” helping them see the situation from an Afghan perspective and allowing them to cut back on combat operations.

The aim, they say, is to improve the performance of local government officials, persuade tribesmen to join the police, ease poverty and protect villagers from the Taliban and criminals. (more)

Um, isn’t it obvious that learning the savage’s culture is essential for civilizing, er, I mean, bringing democracy to them? You can bomb and shoot them all you want, but it takes much more to keep them under control.

Anthropology arose during the great era of European colonization when the white man traveled the world and encountered strange and interesting savages. Due to his superior culture and intellect, he realized early on that he must learn about the cultures of his subjects to find ways to best dominate and civilize them. Perhaps America’s military leaders should have learned from the masters. How else are you gonna play your subjects against each other if you don’t know what ticks them off?

In the video, Col. Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division unit, discusses the changes that the social scientists have brought to the military’s tactics: “… [I]n ‘02 we used to kick in doors, and ‘07, the Afghan army or Afghan police knock on the door and request to come in.” And they needed academics to tell them that kicking in doors instead of kindly knocking pisses people off?

Okay, it’s good the Army finally realizes that force alone does more harm than good, but it just amazes me that it took them nearly six years to seriously ask why the Afghans behave the way they do. Dude, just do a friggin’ Wikipedia search! If look beyond your own narrow world view, it’s really not that hard to learn about someone else’s culture.

Posted in Politics, Culture | 5 Comments

Free Burma!

Oct 4th, 2007, 10:24 am

Posted in Politics, Injustice | No Comments

Sunni-Shia tensions rising in the US?

Sep 28th, 2007, 10:41 am

USA Today discusses this issue in a recent article:

For years, Sunnis and Shiites in this country have worked together to build mosques, support charities, register voters and hold massive feasts for Eid al-Fitr (on Oct. 13 this year in the USA), the celebration at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Now there are small signs of tension emerging in America’s Muslim community that are raising concerns among many of its leaders. They worry that the bitter divisions that have caused so much bloodshed abroad are beginning to have an impact here. Such concerns are rising at a time when the USA’s Muslim community has grown from less than 1 million in 1990 to nearly 2.5 million today, with two of three Muslims born overseas, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

“You have people who recently arrived from other places where things may have gotten out of hand,” says Sheik Hamza Yusuf, the U.S.-born co-founder of the nation’s first Muslim seminary, the Zaytuna Institute, in Berkeley, Calif. “It takes just one deranged person with a cousin back home who died in a suicide bombing to create trouble here.” (more)

I would make extensive commentary and some witty remarks like I usually do, but I’m really pressed for time, so I’m just gonna say this: why can’t we all just be Muslims? The fact that there are even sects among us is disturbing. I mean, didn’t Allah reveal Islam to humankind because people had distorted the messages of their previous prophets? There were no “sects” during the Prophet Muhammad’s time. These emerged after his death, in response to the question of who would lead the Muslim community. From that point on, we began to distort Allah’s message at an early stage in Islamic history. I really doubt Allah introduced Islam so that we may become more divided. Or maybe that’s part of the test.

On a lighter note, the article also talks about HijabMan, friend and fellow blogger that sells shirts that say things like “My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?” and “Frisk me, I’m Muslim.” His products were recently mentioned on a segment of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Good job!

Posted in Islam/Muslims, Politics | 6 Comments

Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week

Sep 11th, 2007, 11:48 pm

David Horowitz and Friends have cooked up a new way spread their hate-filled, politically-driven ideology to a college campus new you:

During the week of October 22-26, 2007, the nation will be rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever – Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses.

The purpose of this protest is as simple as it is crucial: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the war on terror and that Global Warming is a greater danger to Americans than the terrorist threat. Nothing could be more politically incorrect than to point this out. But nothing could be more important for American students to hear. In the face of the greatest danger Americans have ever confronted, the academic left has mobilized to create sympathy for the enemy and to fight anyone who rallies Americans to defend themselves. According to the academic left, anyone who links Islamic radicalism to the war on terror is an “Islamophobe.” According to the academic left, the Islamo-fascists hate us not because we are tolerant and free, but because we are “oppressors.” (more)

That’s right, folks. The Islamo-fascists are out there to eat you and your children (especially the gay female Jewish ones that love freedom), so you better listen and learn. What? You don’t know what an Islamo-fascist is? You’re an idiot. It’s so obvious. Just imagine a Muslim version of Benito Mussolini.

In all seriousness, what the heck is an Islamo-fascist? Most people don’t even have a clue what fascism is; they just know it sounds evil. And as we all know, Islam is the most evil religion in the galaxy (isn’t that obvious from my posts?), so Islam + Fascism = omg omg omg mommy the moslemz r out to kill us. Islam, Muslims, and an Anthropologist has an excellent post about this very topic.

It’s pretty scary that such anti-Muslim rhetoric hardly causes anyone to flinch these days. Just imagine the uproar with a Judeo-Fascism Awareness Week. Or a Hindu-Fascism Awareness Week. Muslim trashing is the norm these days rather than the exception. You have bigots like Glenn Beck that make a career out of demonizing Muslim minorities in the West on mainstream networks like CNN, yet hardly anyone raises a finger. What a world we live in.

The top hatemongers out there aren’t stupid. It may comes as a surprise, but they study Islam and know it very well. They just choose to hide the facts for their own political gain. Yep. That’s who you’re dealing with.

To all my Muslims out there: don’t sit back and let this stuff slide. Fight back and attack the ideology and flaws of such close-minded thinking. Speak to your congressman or senator. Protest. Write to the editor of a newspaper when you read something false and misleading about Islam and Muslims. Post a link to your blog about an act of bigotry. There’s no excuse for you not to do anything. Even the simplest acts can serve to improve the image of Islam and Muslims.

Just don’t do anything stupid like burning down an embassy. Please?

Posted in Islam/Muslims, Politics, Bigotry | 2 Comments | Trackback

¡No me digas!

Jul 12th, 2007, 12:05 pm

Surprise, surprise. Securing energy resources in the Middle East has played a key role in Australia’s involvement in the American-led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation of the the country:

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq.

He said maintaining “resource security” in the Middle East was a priority.

But PM John Howard has played down the comments, saying it was “stretching it a bit” to conclude that Australia’s Iraq involvement was motivated by oil.

Wait, there’s more:

In comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Nelson admitted that the supply of oil had influenced Australia’s strategic planning in the region.

“Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world,” he said.

“Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

“It’s in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security.”

So you’re telling me that Australia and the rest of the “Coalition of the Willing” may have put their troops in danger in a faraway country they probably could care less about not to bring democracy, Wal-Mart, and 50 Cent’s latest album but to get a share of the loot? That’s absurd.

Let’s not be naive here. Securing energy resources is a matter of national concern for all countries, especially developed and newly industrializing nations, so we really shouldn’t be shocked when one country wants to invade another to ensure its survival and well-being. Clearly, we need something to fuel our cars, power our factories, heat our homes, and run our PlayStation3s. But it would just be nice if country A said to country B, “Hey, we need some oil to keep our economy going, so I’m gonna invade your country and take it. Okay?”

Whatever happened to the good ol’ days of colonialism? At least the Europeans made it obvious that they wanted to suck the resources and labor out of the darker-skinned people of the world while they were kind enough to teach them the ways of the white man in return. Everyone was a winner!

Thanks, iMuslim, for the link.

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment | Trackback

Muslims: a Muslim’s worst enemy?

Jul 11th, 2007, 11:49 pm

Given the tremendous growth of violence between Muslims over the past few decades and in recent years, I can’t help but wonder whether the real threat to the ummah comes from within. Take the latest string of suicide bombings in Iraq, for example:

Saturday’s blast, at around 8:30 a.m., destroyed several mud homes in the village of Armili, and victims had to be transported in farmers’ pickup trucks to the nearest health facility, in Tuz Khormato, 27 miles to the north, said Capt. Soran Ali of the Tuz Khormato police. Police said one man fled the truck before it detonated with another man still inside.

Saleh Ali, a medic at Tuz Khormato hospital, said 25 dead and 100 wounded were brought to the facility. Residents of the village said more victims remained trapped under destroyed houses and shops, and doctors said many of the wounded were in critical condition, meaning the toll could rise…

The village, 100 miles north of Baghdad is mainly made up of Shiite Turkomen, an ethnic minority that is spread across north-central Iraq, though most of its members are Sunni Muslim.

The night before, a suicide bomber detonated a boobytrapped car at around 9:30 pm outside a cafe near a market stocking Iranian goods in the Shiite Kurdish village of Ahmad Marif, killing 26 and wounding 33, said an official at the joint security coordination committee of Diyala province, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The village - 85 miles northeast of Baghdad in a remote corner of Diyala province - is home to about 30 Kurdish families who had been expelled under Saddam Hussein’s rule and returned after his fall. Many Kurds in the area are Shiite Muslims.

A half hour after that blast, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in a funeral tent in another Shiite Kurdish village, Zargosh, west of Ahmad Marif. The blast killed 22 people and wounded 17 others, said the head of Diyala provincial council, Ibrahim Bajilan, and a police official in the provincial capital of Baqouba, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

So much for Muslim unity.

Posted in Islam/Muslims, Politics, Religion | 1 Comment | Trackback

Y’all don’t speak Hindu, do ya?

May 11th, 2007, 08:56 pm

Not that I would have ever guessed this or anything, but the U.S. government has a severe shortage of intelligence agents familiar with the diverse languages of cultures of Muslims worldwide:

The U.S. government, in dire need of intelligence agents skilled in the languages and cultures of the Muslim world, is struggling to recruit from American ethnic communities grown wary of its policies.

Relations with many minority communities, first soured by a post-Sept. 11 crackdown on Muslim immigrants, have been further strained by uproars over the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, U.S. interrogation practices and President George W. Bush’s now-suspended domestic spying program, experts said.

I’m no expert, but I would say that America’s invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, the anti-Muslim stances of important political figures, and the growing Islamophobia in the media also have something to do with this mistrust. Yeah, given the political situation, it’s hard to believe that you won’t be betraying your own people by working as an intelligence agent for the FBI and CIA.

Posted in Islam/Muslims, Politics | 3 Comments | Trackback