Politics

In the words of a farmer, the most profound man in Iraq, who are the foreign fighters?

Most Profound Man in Iraq — an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes, you."

Another telling quote about high ranking visitors:

VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our briefs and commentary seem to have no effect on their preconceived notions of what's going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that they've been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.

Iran continued defiance of Western pressure and its assertiveness are not out of mere religious fervor. The BBC's John Simpson's article: Iran's growing regional influence explains the motives in nationalist and anti-Imperialist. Similarly, Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah has a growing popularity in non-Shia countries, such as Egypt, because of his militia's being able to hold off Israel in the recent war in Lebanon.This led to humorous things, such as the most expensive variety of dried dates being dubbed Nasrallah by fruit sellers in Cairo. The worst kinds are dubbed Olmert and Bush.

The term "Islamic fascism" or "Islamofascism" has been in use for some time, specially by right wing talk shows and Islamophobic web sites.

Now, it has gained currency in the jargon of the Bush administration. President G. W. Bush used it several times in speeches recently, including the recent trans-Atlantic bomb plot.

The term is ambiguous and imprecise, since historically, fascism was confined to secular governments, and not non-official religious groups. It also maligns Islam and Muslims in general by associating fascism with Islam.

Although intelligence is a better anti-terror weapon than wars, there are some side effects of arrests such as the recent ones for the trans-Atlantic flight bomb plot.One of these side effects is what is termed Security theater, coined by Bruce Shneier.This is for government actions that are designed to look like they are improving security, but really do not. This is like the old joke that goes like this:

A recent poll commissioned by a upcoming reality TV show confirmed that Americans are more likely to know pop culture factoids, but not news, classical literature, science or history.

Quote:

The poll found that:

• About 77 per cent of Americans can name at least two of the dwarfs from the fairy tale Snow White, but only about 24 per cent can name two U.S. Supreme Court justices.
• 57 per cent of the U.S. respondents know that English writer J.K. Rowling's fictional boy wizard is named Harry Potter, while only 50 per cent can name U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
• 73 per cent can name the Three Stooges (Larry, Curly and Moe). Only 42 per cent could name the three branches of the U.S. government (judicial, executive and legislative).
• 60 per cent of respondents knew that, on The Simpsons, Homer's son is named Bart. Only about 21 per cent could name one of the ancient Greek poet Homer's epics (The Iliad and The Odyssey)
• Of those polled, 60 per cent could name Krypton as the home planet of Superman. Only 37 per cent could name Mercury as the closest planet to the sun.
• While 23 per cent of poll participants know that Taylor Hicks is the most recent singer crowned American Idol, only 11 per cent could name Samuel Alito as the most recent judge to join the U.S. Supreme Court.

A consultant to the poll is quoted as saying:

Seems like carbonated sugar water is making news in politics again.Earlier, I reported on how six states in India banning Coca Cola and Pepsi caused the US government to warn India about the effect of those decisions on investment from American companies.Today, Pepsi announced that an Indian born woman, Indra Nooyi is to become CEO of the company.In the past, Nooyi has made comments at a graduation ceremony where she said that the USA is the middle finger, and when it extends a hand to other nations, it should appear as a helping hand, not just extending a finger.

The Economist has a well written article on how the Lebanon-Israel war is perceived in the USA and the rest of the world.As usual, the USA is staunchly pro-Israel and can't understand why would anyone think otherwise. The rest of the world has a very different perception.The influence of lobby organizations like AIPAC, and the Evangelical constituency cannot be underestimated. Read the Economist article To Israel with love.

This is a web site that collects media articles hostile to Muslims. Although they can use better wording than "Western Imperialism" on their About us page,  the collection is valuable, and categorized by country and topic.Even notorious Islamophobes like Daniel Pipes and Oriana Fallaci have their own category, not a surprise given the volume and vitriol of their writing.Visit Islamophobia Watch and judge for yourself. 

A new scarecrow term that has emerged recently, specially in right wing media and the Bush administration's rhetoric. The term is the caliphate.

In this article, I mention some facts on the caliphate, and what the above rhetoric is.

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting from various sources how the influential neo-cons in the White House are urging Israel to attack Syria.This is like trying to widen a fight during lunch break in a high school ... specially when the person doing the encouraging is doing so to further their own agenda ...