Category Archives: Current Events

Reflecting on Burqas…and Butt Cheeks

05 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Culture, Current Events, Society

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burka1shorts

During the whole Stephen Harper burqa or nikab (face covering worn by some Muslim women) controversy, friends and acquaintances often asked me my opinion on the matter. I assume this is because I write about political and social issues. But it is likely also due to the fact that I am of Middle Eastern origin and was raised by Muslim parents.

While I do have an opinion on the matter I have purposely stayed away from the topic for a few reasons. The main reason is that I am not a proponent of identity politics and am not really able to comment on, or even think about, single issue politics (in this case, “women’s issues”) without a broader look at the political, economic, and geo-political factors involved. Second, as a staunch critic of Empire,  I cannot comment on the issue without eventually commenting on the history of imperialism in the Muslim world, and that may get a bit wordy for some people’s tastes (and for a single article).

Moreover, I would not want my personal opinion on the burqa to be unwittingly used—as some female Muslim commentators’ views have been—to feed or justify some disingenuous imperial pretext of opposing and destabilizing Muslim countries in part to “liberate” oppressed Muslim women. As noted scholar and author Leila Ahmed argued in her work entitled “The Discourse of the Veil,” western imperialists (she was writing about the British Empire in Egypt) do not care about women’s rights anywhere, including in their own countries. They simply use the liberation of veiled Muslim women as part of an excuse to invade, occupy and exploit certain nations. [1]  Continue reading →

Canadian Media Attacking Trudeau for Correctly Undoing a Wrong: Why Should we be “at war” with ISIS in Syria When the West Helped Put Them there in the First Place?

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by in Current Events, Politics

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jets

It is being reported that one of Trudeau’s first moves as new PM has been to inform Barack Obama that Canada plans to pull its fighter jets from the air strikes on ISIS in Syria and Iraq, taking Canada out of the fight again the terrorist group. Some media outlets such as the Toronto Sun are bashing the move as dictatorial since Trudeau did not consult other members of government such as his cabinet or the Minister of Defence, both of which have yet to be officially named. While the decision is admittedly unilateral (given that the rest of the government has yet to be formed), it is still a necessary first step towards undoing some of the geopolitical follies of the Harper government.

Rather than simply lament what some see as a negative move, Canadian media should take a far step back and critically examine how ISIS came to be in Syria in the first place. This requires moving beyond myopic historical and geopolitical amnesia. The situation in Syria is very complex and is not always accurately portrayed, not least given that the US and its allies (including Canada and other NATO states) are currently, and ironically, attempting to take out a terrorist group that they helped—through military aid, training, armaments, border access through fellow NATO member Turkey, etc—put in Syria (as a way to undermine it) in the first place. While Canada was not directly involved, given the Harper regimes acquiescence to US foreign policy in the region and its agenda there, Canada is indirectly linked at the very least. Continue reading →

Justin Trudeau Takes the Reigns: He Channeled Obama in his Vows of “Hope and Change,” Will He Be as Withholding as Obama in his Post-Election Delivery?!

20 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by in Current Events, Politics

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Justin-Trudeau-Liberal-Majority

The Election is over and Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberals and son of the late Pierre Trudeau, has taken the reigns with a majority government. Like many Canadians, I am ecstatic at the exit of Stephen Harper, who during his three mandate-term reign managed to turn Canada into a junior neo-con imperial pariah (not that Canada does not have a long imperial history, but it was greatly amped up under the America-loving Harper). So intense was the hatred of many Canadians for Harper that one has to wonder whether Justin Trudeau’s victory is  a result of his and his team’s clever campaigning or a matter of fortune and good timing; running against a man Canadians had grown to hate and were eager to see gone?!

No matter the reasons for his sweeping victory, there is one thing that struck me as eerily surreal and potentially worrying during Trudeau’s campaigning. Trudeau spoke a lot about, and promised Canadians, hope and real change. “Hope and change,” does this slogan sound familiar? It should. A then would-be presidential hopeful and political new comer, Barak Obama, promised these same things to desperate Americans back in 2008. Americans believed him and looked to him to undo the disastrous foreign and domestic policies of George W. Bush’s neo-con agenda. But while Barack talked a smooth game—much smoother than Justin—in the end, he failed to deliver either change or hope and reneged on almost every campaign promise he had made (i.e., closing Guantanamo Bay, ending the war in Iraq, fixing the economy, creating employment, empowering the poor, etc).

While Justin is not as smooth or charismatic as Obama was back then (though both shared in an appeal to youthful exuberance), he has made similar overtones–one of his campaign slogans was change together now/changer ensemble maintenant–and made certain promises (decriminalizing marijuana, for example, which is not a comprehensive policy but a token gesture) and vowed to return Canada to a purer time (Canada as global “peace keeper,” etc). It remains to be seen what he may or not improve in the next four years. Will he bring real hope and change, or should Canadians brace for an Obama-style disappointment?

Welcome to Harper Land: You Know You Live in a Surveillance State When…

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by in Current Events, Politics

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harper sign

In a not surprising or atypical—yet completely ridiculous—move for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, Calgary Tory campaigners were recently made to take down ‘24 hour surveillance’ stickers that were purposely posted to Stephen Harper campaign signs (by a member of the local campaign) in Harper’s Calgary riding. Wow, are they serious? How very Stephen Harper and how very Bill C-51 of them! Why not just put up ‘1984’ stickers or stickers with the far-more catchy warning: ‘Big Brother’s Watching You!’ While the national Conservative campaign team claims ignorance of the surveillance stickers (and were the ones who told local campaigners to take them down) and claim that the stickers have only appeared on signs at one particular home, CBC reports that stickers have popped up in other locations. Local campaigners allege that the stickers were put on to deter vandalism to Harper campaign sings, which has been an issue since August. Whatever the reason and regardless of the supposed ignorance of the national Conservative campaign team, nothing could be a more ironic reminder of Harper’s creeping surveillance (errr police) state and more of an in-your-face reason not to vote for Harper and the Conservatives in the upcoming election, than a sticker that warns the public that the Conservatives are indeed watching us! Continue reading →

Kurdi Family Tragedy: Real problem is not that the Canadian State denied them refugee asylum but that it helped create the refugee crisis in the first place!

04 Friday Sep 2015

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Abdullah-Abdullah Kurdi grieves the deaths of his two young children and wife.

AS the world watches the tragedy of the Kurdi family unfold—where two young children, Aylan and Galip, and their mother drowned to death (along with several others) while trying to seek refuge in Europe—there has been public outcry against the Canadian government for refusing Abdullah Kurdi and his family, who fled Syria for Turkey due to the ongoing conflict in Syria, refugee status. While the deaths are no doubt a tragedy, such criticism is shortsighted and misplaced. The real problem is not that the Canadian government refused the family’s application for refugee status (Abdullah Kurdi has a sister in Vancouver that was trying to sponsor the family) but that it (along with Western allies like the US and France) directly or indirectly helped to create the Syrian “civil conflict” and the ensuing refugee crisis in the first place! Continue reading →

Last Minute Coward: PM Tsipras Betrays the Greek People!

10 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by in Current Events, Political Economy, Politics

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greek PMAfter the July 5 Referendum in Greece—where the people voted “oxi” (no) on austerity measures from the Troika—I stated that, in calling a referendum and urging the people to vote no on EU austerity, prime minister Tsipras’ government had stood up to global economic power. But it appears I may have spoken too soon. It is being reported that despite being the brains behind the referendum and despite his appeal to the people to vote NO (to austerity terms), Tsipras has caved to Troika officials/Eurozone finance ministers in the eleventh hour! The situation is still unfolding, but what a traitorous tragedy for the people of Greece!

I had hoped that the Greek government would construct a future plan to leave the Eurozone and drop the euro altogether. But instead it appears that Tsipras may have betrayed the anti-austerity vote of the people (a position he himself had galvanized) and finally sold out. The situation is still developing but what is being reported so far is that Tsipras recently submitted a proposal to the Troika that much resembles the Troika’s austerity demands (the same demands the people voted against only five days ago) in the first place. These include:

  • Raising the retirement age to 67
  • Increasing taxes on most goods and services
  • $13 billion in budget cuts, that will gravely affect ordinary and disadvantaged Greeks

What a mess! One has to wonder what kind of pressure or bribery was hoisted upon him in the wake of the “no” vote. Could it be that Tsipras was only raising the stakes (by calling the referendum in the first place) and hoped that the Troika wouldn’t call his bluff, or, that other states (Russia or China) would “bail him out”. Whatever his deal, way to raise and then completely quash the hopes of the people in the span of one week. It is still not known what the people will do in the face of this betrayal and how they will react to being used as pawns. This all goes to show that the global banking mafia will never tolerate true (i.e., not rigged or pre-determined) democratic expression.

 

Notes: http://www.globalresearch.ca/political-sellout-in-athens-prime-minister-tsipras-surrenders-ignores-the-oxi-vote/5461731

Greece Votes NO! And Serves a Blow to Predatory Global Capitalism

06 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by in Current Events, Political Economy, Politics

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'NO' supporters hold a banner reading 'NO' in Athens on July 5, The results of the referendum are in. It’s after midnight, so this will be a short post. But I cannot go to bed without saying a few words about the people’s vote and what this means for the European and global elite/bankers/oligarchs, which have used the EU and the eurozone to increase the wealth of the imperialist capitalist elite in Europe (mainly, the German banksters and uber-wealthy capitalists) by preying on poorer member nations and the working people of all EU nations (including Germany). To understand the full significance, or potential, of today’s vote we must move beyond Greece and view what is unfolding there as but one symptom of the recurrent capitalist crises that are currently sweeping the globe. Monopoly capitalism, especially in its current globalized and regionalized form, is a predatory system that drives down the wages and living standards of working people (including the middle class). From its inception, the economic effect and aim of the EU and the euro has been to drive down the living standards of working people throughout Europe, while enriching the global banking and corporate elite. What is really at stake here is something that people in the west refuse to talk about: CLASS. Continue reading →

There’s Just Something About ISIS…

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Current Events, Politics

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isis-twitterWhat the heck is up with ISIS? No, I don’t mean what’s wrong with them! It’s pretty clear what’s wrong with them; they’re a global gang of murdering, psycho, terrorist thugs, to say the least. That much seems pretty clear. But what is up with them? Something just seems, I don’t know…off. I mean do we ever stop to think or ask, who are these people? From where did they suddenly appear? And who trains, arms and funds them? They popped up on the global stage relatively recently, armed and organized to the teeth, and few really stop to wonder who is funding all of this, who’s backing this, and who ultimately benefits (the most) from these nut jobs.

And have you seen this terrorist group’s membership?! Everything from Islamist fundamentalists to “hoods”/gang bangers from South Central L.A. and teenage female groupies from countries like Sweden, the US and the UK. What a kitchen sink! What do any of these people have in common, other than the fact that they are all possibly insane? And how is ISIS recruiting these people you might ask? Why through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, apparently. Wait, what? Isn’t ISIS a global terrorist organization? And isn’t the US (and the west) currently fighting (for the last 14 years now) a global war on terrorism? Doesn’t the US and the NSA have the most advanced technology and spying and surveillance capacities in the world?! How the hell is a terrorist organization able to create and then KEEP a Facebook or Twitter account in the first place?! Is it possible that the US, a state that is able to tap your phone from Mars or trace your IP address using a paper clip and a battery, cannot seem to shut down a simple Twitter account?! Despite the recent deactivation by Twitter officials of thousands of accounts linked to ISIS (or their supporters), tens of thousands remain. And rather than intervene with its 1984-esque spying technology (as we are made to believe it easily could) the US government has stated that they are simply collaborating with Twitter to “keep an eye on” these accounts. Why not just disable them outright? Wouldn’t that better serve the cause of not promoting or aiding terrorism?!

Everyone knows that if a woman uploads a picture of her breastfeeding her child on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram, it will be quickly taken down, yet these sites can’t take down an international terrorist group’s recruitment or fan pages!?? The same goes for YouTube, where the terrorist group has been known to post many a graphic video of beheadings and other autrocities. Perplexingly, rather than block this group’s YouTube channels or videos outright, US State Department representatives have stated that:

“We’ve talked to Twitter and YouTube and others about their own terms of service and making sure that ISIS’s videos or photos don’t violate those, because some of them, as you know, are quite gruesome.” [1]

Wait. What?!! The US government is more concerned with the violation of YouTube’s terms of service than with actually getting such videos off of there completely (in the interest of combating and limiting the spread and promotion of global terrorism)?! Is this for real, have I just entered the terrorism twilight zone? A person cannot post a copyrighted song on YouTube without the copyright brigades taking it down completely but a TERRORIST GROUP is free to keep their videos up so long as they don’t violate YouTube’s “terms of service.” Something just aint right here…

Or hey, maybe it’s just me.

[1] http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/twitter-isis-war-ban-speech

Hypocrisy Alert: DEA agents party it up at drug cartel-funded “sex parties”!

29 Sunday Mar 2015

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dea-party

I recently read a news article entitled “DEA agents had ‘sex parties’ funded by drug cartels…” As the article states, a report by the US Justice Department has revealed that, “US Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] agents working abroad took part in ‘sex parties’ with prostitutes that were funded by the drug cartels they were meant to be battling.” In other words, DEA agents—the people who are suppose to be fighting the US’ “war on drugs”— were partying with hookers paid for by the same international drug lords they are suppose to be fighting and bringing to “justice.” Let’s not forget that these are federal agents, with huge amounts of power to arrest others for illegal, drug related behaviours. I guess it would be counter-intuitive for them to start arresting each other!

I for one am not the least bit surprised. If there’s one thing you can count on in this world, and especially in the US, it is for the people in power—be it political, legal, religious or financial power—to often be complete hypocrites. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if these so-called “drug enforcement” agents were also using drugs at these hooker-filled sex parties. After all, what’s a drug cartel sponsored sex party without some “party favours”!? And considering that these parties were funded by drug cartels, one can assume that the agents wouldn’t have much trouble “scoring some drugs.” I can picture it now; American DEA agents doing lines of cocaine off of foreign prostitutes’ toned midriffs. But I digress, there are no reports (yet) of DEA agents actually doing drugs, so lets stick to the facts at hand, shall we: sex parties with hookers paid for by drug lords!

Now, I am not “personally offended” by this story. Personally, I could give two flying flips if these guys are partying with hookers and drug cartels. Now their wives might not be too impressed but that’s not my issue. No, my outrage is more of an intellectual variety; it is rooted in justice and logic, because these party boys also just happen to be federal DEA agents. Now in a “democracy,” the myth goes, certain forces and institutions—such as, umm, the Law—are given power over the rest of us lowly mortals because they are supposedly righteous and are upholding justice and what is “right.” Of course, they also happen to be the same institutions that define what is “right.”

The biggest issue is the hypocrisy of it all; the utter and brazen double speak and double standard by a system of power that purports to know what is “right” and lawful, and which has the power—and audacity—to police and judge and incarcerate the rest of us—for doing the same “bad” things (or in this case, probably far less bad things than) they do. It’s the same hypocrisy at play when politicians preach family values then cheat on their spouse or when homophobic preachers turn out to be closet homosexuals, etc. But this DEA story is far worse than just personal hypocrisy because it is lawmen breaking the law, drug enforcement officers colluding and partying with mega drug dealers.

Why claim to be fundamentally opposed to something—and condemn and police other people over it—when you are doing it yourself!? Why wage a bogus “war on drugs”—that has incarcerated millions of mostly poor, black and brown males—while participating in the drug trade (1980s contras scandal, anyone)? Why outlaw prostitution and then party with prostitutes on foreign soil? Basically, why break the same laws and rules you mercilessly enforce against the rest of us?

Could it be that the laws are only meant for the lowly masses; that the laws exist to control and domesticate the people—the underclass—while the elites do as they like?! Could it be that, as Kahlil Gibran once wrote, “the nets of the law are devised to catch small criminals only”? When you learn of federal drug enforcement agents who, according to the article, “also were provided money, gifts and weapons from cartel members,” it really makes you wonder! What’s next, are we going to learn that the same government regimes that started a global “war on terrorism” also sometimes support or indirectly fund Islamic terrorists?! Oh, wait. This. Just. In:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22906965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidaJHwZZgs

http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/09/u-s-general-openly-admits-we-helped-build-isis/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tifCnaKrlaE

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-isis-a-terrorist-group-but-taliban-an-armed-insurgency/ (an extra treat)

Will German pilot be labeled a terrorist or is that label reserved for “certain people”?

27 Friday Mar 2015

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german pilotIt is now being revealed that, tragically, the recent Germanwings crash was the result of intentional actions by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz (pictured above). It is being reported that Lubitz waited until the other flight pilot left the cockpit, locked the door and then proceeded to purposely fly the plane into the French Alps, killing himself and all 149 people on board. The tragic situation is still under investigation and further details—such as Lubitz’s motive or mental state at the time of the intentional crash that killed everyone on board—have not yet emerged. It is possible that Lubitz suffered some kind of a mental breakdown or that he was suicidal and maliciously and selfishly took the lives of 149 other people with him. Or maybe he had some political or social grievances.  At this point, we simply do not know what caused him to do such a horrible and murderous thing. And since Lubitz perished in the crash, we may never know.

The point I’d like to raise is this: will the media and officials (and people in general) label Lubitz a terrorist, now or in days to come? So far, I have not seen media reports using this language to describe the co-pilot and his sick actions. The reality is that we do not know enough to know what his motives were, if they were politically motivated or if he was having some kind of personal or mental episode. We still do not know and it is too early to say. Though I would argue that if someone selflessly, sadistically and senselessly takes the lives of 149 other people then they are a terrorist, whether they have political or religious motive or not. If Lubitz was suicidal then why not simply take his own life? The very act of intentionally murdering 149 innocent people along with him is an act that will forever terrorize the family of those innocents, frighten the public, and, is now forcing airlines around the globe to change their chock pit policies.

At the end of the day, this man killed innocent people by flying a plane into the side of a mountain. And when people crash planes into inanimate objects we tend to call them terrorists (and rightly so!). Still, no one is calling Lubitz a terrorist. But we can bet that had this sick and murderous co-pilot been a Muslim (or a brown non-Muslim even), and had he done the exact same thing as Lubitz, we would have automatically labeled him a “terrorist.” Before knowing any of the details, before knowing the circumstances or mental state of the pilot, his very identity as a Muslim (or Arab or numerous other ethnicities that fit the “evil other” image) would be enough to label him a terrorist, regardless of the details.

In the case of the Germanwings crash all we know so far is that the pilot intentionally crashed the plane and he happens to be a German, and no one is calling it terrorism. But if he were a Muslim man, it is highly unlikely I could write the same words. For instance, that: All we know so far is that the pilot intentionally crashed the plane and he happens to be an Arab or Muslim, and no one is calling it terrorism. That does not read very “realistically” because the reality is, in the current climate in which we live, if someone does something bad or horrible and they happen to be Muslim, then their actions will automatically be labeled as terrorism, even before we know any of the details. As Bill Maher so inanely once put it: “not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims.” Using this (ill) logic, when non-Muslim people commit acts that could potentially (or actually) be considered terrorism, we cannot or will not label it as such, because that label is reserved only for Muslim people (and other unlucky brown folks that could be mistaken for or confused with Muslims).

I’ve scanned the media coverage and no one is labeling Lubitz a terrorist. But if the co-pilot of Germanwings flight 4U9525 were Muslim (or brown) it is very likely we would label him first, and ask questions later. But alas Lubitz is a white European and, arguably, has what comedian Paul Mooney once called “the complexion for the protection.”

UPDATE: On March 28 media reported that Lubitz might have been suffering from depression, describing him as a “troubled pilot.” Still no mention of terrorism. This is typical of media coverage of mass murders by white men; they’re often described as troubled or lone wolfs, etc.