The Nomad and the Olive Branch

Why, you ask? Well, considering that their government has been helping the states defeat the UIC in neighboring Somalia by invading the nation and making way for U.S. Navy Seals to enter and make an even bigger mess... of course, that's after they helped the corrupt transitional government, again backed by the U.S. A "diplomat" by the name of Nurudin Farah was in Somalia during the time of this unrest, and he watched the chaos unfold right before his very eyes. However, he paints a different picture that many people are used to seeing in neocon PR. According to the New York Times (thanks, Mr. Abu Khalil), Over Christmas, Ethiopia, perhaps intending to provide a gift for the festive season to its American ally, invaded Mogadishu and expelled the Islamists. With thousands of Ethiopian troops in the country — and only a few African Union troops from elsewhere — savage battles took place in Mogadishu between the transitional government army (backed by Ethiopia) and the Islam...

Courtesy of Al Jazeera Arabic... What a shame. I was watching the networks this morning... NBN-TV, NewTV, Tele Liban, Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN... The incompetent nutcases in the Lebanese government whine about the Lebanese Army getting shot at, while turning the other way when the issue of indiscriminate shelling of civilians, let alone Palestinian civilians, is brought up. These refugees aren't safe in their new homes now. It's unbelievable. There is no need for such a crisis to occur, and the Lebanese Army's disproportionate response to the attack made it all the while worse.

It's a "Java Malfunction"...but I'm not talking about the computer program that is constantly being used by thousands of websites that are trying to deliver their material in as organized and attractive a way as possible, and not even about coffee gone horrible. After watching this disturbing video on YouTube, I opened my eyes more to the supposedly troubled archipelago that we know as Indonesia, the most populous self-proclaimed Muslim nation. Apparently, from the surface, we see nothing but news of fanatics, bombings, murders, hurricanes... things that make your heart cringe or, in the case of the massacres that have been taking place over the past few decades, ache... But what is plaguing Java and Indonesia in general? Is it religious conflict in the form of Muslim fanatics vs. Christian fanatics? Is it just a case of hate crimes between religious communities? Could it be ethnic strife? Could the corrupt Indonesian government have a hand in this? Or did it simply ...

The Zionist P.R. is abuzz with news of a Mickey Mouse moniker on Al Aqsa television, Hamas's equivalent of Hizbullah's Al-Manar, telling children to "annihilate the Jews" and that one day Muslims will rule the Earth. I actually fell for the P.R. that spewed it out, until my sister found the video on YouTube and was considerate enough to show me. After watching it, I concluded that the video was heavily butchered and the translation was waaay off.Why do I say that? First, the translator was MEMRI, the same organization that made a pitiful translation and coverage of the Wafa Sultan debate . MEMRI is known for snippetting MidEastern media output and horribly translating what is being said on Arab television. Second, even if MEMRI did turn out to be a "reliable" source, there were many translation mistakes evident, as well as quotes that were taken out of context. At 00:18 , "Farfur" (فرفور, a play on the Arabic word that means "mouse") gi...

I couldn't help but delay my rant on the GOP "debates", but after watching a program hosted by Ahmed Mansour on Al Jazeera last night, I decided to post instead about a topic that "required" my attention during the Abu Ghraib prison scandal . I was watching Mansour interview a British anti-war activist, and as the program continued, they called a number in Jordan. They could've called me so I'd give my opinion, but apparently they weren't calling an ordinary follower of the news. They called the symbol of Abu Ghraib himself , Hajj Ali al-Qaysi , who is now an Iraqi refugee in Amman. Ali al-Qaysi went on a little spiel, denouncing the occupation of Iraq by colonialist governments who have interests that totally oppose the interests of the Iraqi people (and rightly so). But that's not what caught my ears. What really caught my ears was his mentioning that there were mercenaries present at the base that worked for American corporations. He mentione...

About a year ago, I decided that I had enough of reading opinions and propaganda outlets, so I started a blog of my own and posted on it. It wasn't until I realized that what I wrote and saw and had feedback on had more of an effect on my outlook on things than what I read that I began to obtain a clearer state of mind that saw things for what they were and not for what I wished them to be. Apparently, I'd have lived in more of a bubble if I read more than I blogged. I guess it was because blogging itself made me actively read, as opposed to passively read, all materials and pieces of information out there that existed on the net and elsewhere, and thus it helped me process this information more and more as I actually engaged in producing feedback to what I read and came across. Perspectives do change over time, and that's guaranteed, but I never expected mine to change so drastically over a course of 365 days. Allow me, then, to reflect on how my perspectives have changed ...

Great. Just what I needed during my examination period at my university: news of a shooting at another university. And not just any university, but one of the top universities in the United States of America: Virginia Polytechnic, or Virginiatech for short. Kinda reminds me of the Columbine shootings, et al., but this one turned out to have a death toll of 33 students and professors, including the shooter. I know that this story is at least two weeks old, but the story behind the shooting is one that would be told should something like this happen again, to remind us of the deviants in society. Even when taking a look at the list of the deceased does one realize that the shooter did not discriminate between anyone as he murderously raged through the school and kill those who stood in his way. Not surprisingly, however, was the notion that the media spun a hype about the massacre being motivated by "Islam" ever since police identified the words "Ismail Ax" in red i...