If you have a network that uses Opendns to serve as a dns server, then when you type some incomplete addresses into the url bar, Opendns will give you results from its search engine instead of the Google search results that you probably want. Also Opendns sometimes slows way down when it gets an address that it can’t digest. To speed up such searches, and get your Google search results back, follow these directions.
We just followed these directions exactly on Firefox 3.6.6 and everything worked okay.
type “about:config†in the url bar… click “I’ll be careful, I promise!†in the “This might void your warranty†notification box.
type “keyword†in the “filter barâ€
you should now have a few choices—right click on “keyword.URL†… click “modify†… paste the following text into the box …
Musa Syeed is directing a movie entitled “Valley of Saints,†which focuses on several themes including the tragic environmental conseauences of development, the love of one’s homeland, and a man’s desire to leave his homeland in search of a better life.
In the film, by writer/director Musa Syeed, “a young Kashmiri boatman teams up with Julie, an American scientist, to save his poor community on Dal Lake from environmental eviction.â€
The screenplay won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Feature Film Production Award for its portrayal of conservation issues, and Musa Syeed was named one of the “Ten Filmmakers to Watch in 2010†by the Independent Magazine in anticipation of the project.
Musa Syeed is the son of Dr. Sayyid Syeed, long involved with ISNA at its highest levels. Dr. Syeed was born in Kashmir six years before the British withdrew from the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
Dr. Syeed worked with many different Islamic organizations including IIIT and ISNA.
Zim Integrated Shipping Services, the biggest cargo shipping company in Israel, and the 10th largest in the world.
The Electronic Intifada
For the first time in US history, a peaceful protest was able to stop workers from unloading an Israeli cargo ship on Sunday, 20 June, in the San Francisco Bay area. From 5:30am until 7pm, social justice activists and labor union organizers blocked and picketed several entrances at the Port of Oakland, preventing two shifts of longshoremen with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to come to work and unload the Israeli Zim Lines cargo ship.
Approximately 700 protesters and labor organizers launched the action in direct response to the ongoing blockade in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid activists aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla last month. Nine persons, including a 19-year-old American citizen, were killed in the attacks, and at least thirty were wounded as activists attempted to sail to the beleaguered Gaza Strip with thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies prevented from normal import by Israel.
The picket at the Port of Oakland comes on the heels of a similar actions around the world in protest of Israeli policies. Dockworkers in Sweden announced on 2 June that no Israeli ships would be unloaded or processed between 15-24 June in protest of the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
A coalition of Palestinian trade unions issued a call for the labor-led action, stating that “Gaza today has become the test of our universal morality and our common humanity.†Bay Area members of the Labor for Palestine group, heeding the call, issued a press release saying that the ILWU Local 10 joins with dockworkers in South Africa, western Australia, Sweden and Norway, who have all launched similar actions.
A press release from Labor for Palestine stated: “this action stands in the proud tradition of West Coast dockworkers who refused to handle cargo for Nazi Germany (1934) and fascist Italy (1935); those in Denmark and Sweden (1963), the San Francisco Bay Area (1984) and Liverpool (1988), who refused shipping for apartheid South Africa; those in Oakland who refused to load bombs for the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1978); and those at all 29 West Coast ports who held a May Day strike against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2008).â€
Monadel Herzallah, organizer with Labor for Palestine and the Arab-American Union Members Council, told The Electronic Intifada that the Port of Oakland remains a beacon of global justice activism tradition with the ILWU:
“They have been courageous and have stood in principle to support different issues. Today, the SF Labor Council, the Alameda Central Labor Council, and dozens of other labor councils have responded to the call by Palestinian labor unions to block the ship and make a statement — after the flotilla incident, there’s no way that Israel can conduct business as usual. Having this type of action at this moment in the US, a supporter of the injustice being done by Israel, is quite significant.â€
ILWU Local 10 member Clarence Thomas said that the action would raise the stakes and encourage other labor unions to broaden their education around the Palestine issue. “The world is watching,†Thomas told EI. “There hasn’t been any significant labor action responding to Israel’s actions [until now]. Israel’s naked aggression in international waters is very difficult to ignore. With this action today, this is the start [of a broader movement]. This is going to be a very important, a very historic day … This is a teaching moment.â€
Thomas told EI that crossing the picket line raises an issue of health and safety for the workers, which was cited as the official reason ILWU shifts were cancelled (with full pay). In 2003, in a similar action against the loading of weapons and military equipment bound for US-occupied Iraq, both protesters and longshore workers were wounded by Oakland police officers who fired wooden dowels, sting balls, tear gas and percussion grenades after the crowd refused to disperse. “We don’t want our workers put in the middle again,†Thomas said.
Labor organizers handed out flyers to truckers, dockworkers and other port workers on their way to work, explaining what happened on 31 May to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and urging workers not to handle Israeli cargo “until the blockade in Gaza is ended.†Workers turned around and went back home, many of them honking their horns in support of the picket.
After the first shift of workers decided not to cross the picket line following arbitration meetings, protest organizers urged activists to stay and block gates for the second shift. By 6:30pm, the second shift decided to honor the picket and refused to come to work. Meanwhile, the Israeli cargo ship arrived at the docks, but no one was there to unload it.
Wael Bheisy, a Palestinian refugee from Kuwait whose parents were expelled fromPalestine after 1948, said he was at the protest to send a message of solidarity to his relatives in Gaza. “They live in a big jail … and that this is happening in this day and age is just unbelievable to me. We’re here to take action and make the world listen. No country should continue to have normal relations with the State of Israel, or any government that practices, in everyday policy, such brutal oppression against a people.â€
Bheisy said that this action could make a huge impact across the country and the world. “This is historic, this is unprecedented. As we know, in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the anti-apartheid movement against South Africa was launched. And it’s disappointing that thirty years later, we’re here again. But it’s an action that’s hopefully going to spark similar actions. For the first time, we stopped Israeli goods from unloading in the United States.â€
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s first “Religious Games†took place in the southwestern province of Yunnan this week, allowing Buddhist monks and Taoist nuns to compete with Muslims, Catholics and Protestants in a series of sporting events, local media reported.
The Games, held from June 20-22, saw nearly 1,000 participants from the five faiths battle it out at athletics, table tennis, badminton, basketball, chess, rope skipping and even tug of war, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The 21 participating teams were not always divided on religious lines, with Buddhists, Taoists and Muslims often on the same side, the Yunnan Information News said.
“We have never trained for this. We are not here to win, but to participate,†the paper quoted a Buddhist nun as saying after she had lost a badminton match 2-0 to a Muslim woman.
China, officially atheist, has been accused by human rights groups of heavy-handed treatment toward religious minorities, like the Muslim Uighurs and Buddhist Tibetans in the northwest.
Pictures from the games showed a team of Buddhist monks at a basketball game wearing running shoes, with their traditional orange robes cut short, as well as a number of Tibetan lamas cheering on a colleague during a long-distance run.
“The participants are religious practitioners, students from religious institutions and normal religious people,†said organizer Xiong Shengxiang, chief of religious administration of the provincial government.
“The Games aim to increase exchanges among the religions.â€
Yunnan is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse provinces in China. Around 10 percent of Yunnan’s population of 45 million belong to one of the five major faiths.
(Reporting by Liu Zhen and David Stanway; Editing by Ron Popeski)
TMO Editor’s note: James Petras is a famous American writer, a professor at Binghamton University in New York. He has written 62 books, published in 29 languages, and over 600 articles in professional journals. The views expressed here are his own.
Introduction:
Despite almost a decade of warfare, including an invasion and occupation, the US military and its allies and client state armed forces are losing the war in Afghanistan. Outside of the central districts of a few cities and the military fortresses, the Afghan national resistance forces, in all of their complex local, regional and national alliances, are in control, of territory, people and administration.
The prolonged unending war has become a major drain on the morale of the US armed forces and undermined civilian support in the US, limiting the capacity of the White House to launch new imperial wars. The annual multi-billion dollar military expenditures, are exacerbating the out-of-control budget deficit and forcing harsh unpopular cuts on social programs, at all levels of government. There is no end in sight, as the Obama regime keeps increasing the number of troops by the tens of thousands and military expenditures by the dozens of billions but the resistance advances, both military and politically.
Faced with rising popular discontent and demands for fiscal restraint by a wide spectrum of banking and citizen groups, Obama and the general command have sought “partial exit†via the recruitment and training of a large scale long term Afghan mercenary army and police force under the direction of US and NATO officers.
The US Strategy: The Making of an Afghan Neocolony:
Between 2001-2010 the US military expenditures total $428 billion dollars; the colonial occupation has led to over 7,228 dead and wounded as of June 1, 2010. As the US military situation deteriorates, the White House escalates the number of troops resulting in a greater number of killed and wounded. During the past 18 months of the Obama regime more soldiers were killed or wounded than in the previous eight years.
The White House and Pentagon strategy is premised on massive flows of money, arms and an increase in the number of surrogates, mainly subsidized warlords and puppet western educated ex-pats. The White House “development aid†involves, literally, purchasing the transient loyalties of clan leaders. The White House attempts to give a veneer of legitimacy by running elections, which enhance the corrupt image of the incumbent puppet regime in Kabul and its regional associates.
On the military front, the Pentagon launches one “offensive†after another, announcing one success after another, followed by a retreat and return of the Resistance fighters. The US campaigns disrupt trade, agricultural harvests and markets, while the air assaults targeting “Taliban†and militants, more frequently than not end up killing more civilians celebrating weddings, religious holidays and shoppers at markets than combatants. The reason for the high percentage of civilian killings is clear to everyone except the US Generals: there are no distinctions between “militants†and millions of Afghan civilians since the former are an integral part of their communities.
The key and ultimately decisive problem facing the US occupation is that it is a colonial enclave in the midst of a colonized people. The US, its local puppets and its NATO allies are a foreign colonial army and its Afghan military and police recruits are seen as mere instruments perpetuating illegitimate rule. Every action, whether violent or benign, is perceived and interpreted as transgressing the norms and historical legacies of a proud and independent people. In everyday life, every move by the occupation is disruptive; nothing moves except by command of the foreign directed military and police. Under threat of force, people fake co-operation and then provide assistance to their fathers, brothers and sons in the Resistance. The recruits take the money and turn their arms over to the Resistance. The paid village informants are double agents or identified by their neighbors and targeted by insurgents.
The Afghan collaborators, Washington’s closest allies, are seen as corrupt traitors; transient rulers who have their bags packed and US passports in hand, ready to flee when the US is forced to exit. All the programs, “reconstruction†funds, training missions and “civic programs†have failed to win the allegiance of the Afghan people, now as in the past as well as in the future, because they are seen as part of the US military occupation ultimately based on violence.
Ten Reasons Why the Afghan Resistance Will Win:
1. The Resistance has deep roots in the population – family community, linguistic and cultural ties which the US does not possess nor can “inventâ€; nor can these ties be bought, traded or replicated by their Afghan `collaborators’ or imposed by propaganda.
2. The Resistance has fluid borders and broad international support especially with Pakistan but also with other anti-imperialist, Islamic groups who provide arms and volunteers and who engage in actively attacking the logistical transport supply lines of US-NATO military in Pakistan. They also pressure overseas US client regimes like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia opening multiple fronts.
3. Widespread infiltration, voluntary, active and passive support of the Resistance among the US recruited and trained Afghan military and police results in crucial intelligence on troop movements. Desertions and absenteeism undermines “military competenceâ€.
4. The scope and breadth of Resistance activity over extends the imperial armies at its current strength and causes it to rely on unreliable Afghan security, who have no stomach for killing their brethren, especially when directed against communities with relatives or ethnic kin.
5. Resistance allies are more loyal, less corrupt and reliable because of deeply shared beliefs. US allies are loyal only because of ephemeral monetary gratification and the temporary presence of US military force.
6. The Resistance appeals to the people in the name of a return to law and order in everyday life, which preceded the disruptive invasion. The US promise of positive outcomes following a successful war, have no popular resonance after a decade long destructive occupation.
7. The US has no belief system that can compete with the religious-nationalist-traditionalist appeal of the Resistance to the vast majority of village, small town and displaced rural population.
8. The Resistance’s support of Iraqi, Palestinian and other anti-imperialist forces has a positive appeal among the Afghan people who have seen the destructive results of US wars in Iraq and proxy wars in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The US backed Israeli assault of Lebanon and the humanitarian ship destined for Palestine and the highly visible presence of Zionist militants in the US government, repels the more politically aware opinion leaders in Afghanistan.
9. Afghans have, by force of circumstances, longer staying power in resisting the US military occupation, than the US people who have other, far more pressing needs and the US military with growing commitments in the Gulf.
10. The Afghan Resistance does not normally kill civilians in combat missions since the US troops and NATO are clearly identified. Whereas, the opposite is not true. The Afghans who are part of the villages in occupied communities are subject to assassinations by “Special Forces†and drone bombings. In these circumstances ordinary people suffer the same military assaults as Resistance fighters.
A Failed Mission: The Incapacity to Build a Reliable, Effective Afghan Mercenary Army
A US government audit published in late June of this year demolished the Obama regime’s claims that it is succeeding in building an effective Afghan mercenary army and police capable of buttressing the current client regime in Kabul. The Report, based on a detailed analysis and field observations argues that the Obama Pentagon relies on “standards [which are] woefully inadequate, inflating the abilities of Afghan units that Mr. Obama called “core to our mission†(Financial Times, June 7, 2010, p1). In other words, Obama continues to play the con game, which he inaugurated during his electoral campaign with his phony promises of `change’ and “ending the warsâ€, and continued with his bail out of Wall Street in the name of `saving the economy’. He followed up by escalating the war in Afghanistan by sending 30,000 more troops and increasing military and police expenditures to $325.5 billion, approximately 132% higher than the last year of the Bush Administration (Congressional Research Service, FY 2010 Supplemental for Wars … June 2010).
The Obama regime’s phony claims of progress were based on self-serving bureaucratic and technical criteria, rather than the actual fighting performance and behavior of the Afghan mercenary army. The military command’s reports and progress reports were based on how many courses were taught, the length and breadth of training and the amount and quality of arms and equipment supplied to the Afghan troops. As the number of Afghan units passing the “training missions†increased from zero to 22, between 2008 – 2009, the Pentagon claimed extraordinary progress. To correct the errors, the Pentagon has turned to “field assessments by commanders†– which is also failing, since the officials have a vested interest in inflating the performance of the Afghans mercenaries under their command in order to secure promotions and merit badges. The Obama regime plans to increase the Afghan military from 97,000 in November 2009 to 134,000 in October 2010, to 171,000 in October 2011 a 75% increase in two years (Congressional Research Service 2010, p 13). The same increase occurs with the police: from 93,800 in November 2009 to 134,000 in October 2011 a 43% increase.
Obama’s claim that the war is gradually being handed over to the US “trained†Afghan army is fully belied by two other basic facts. The White House has requested $1.9 billion – double the 2009 level under Bush – for military construction of new bases and installations for a “long term presence†(which the con-man Obama claims does not mean a “permanent presenceâ€). Secondly, using the familiar double-talk of the Obama regime, Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff now argue that Obama’s campaign promise of beginning the retirement of troops in July 2010 really means “a day we start transitioning … not a date we’re leavingâ€, which would be based on “conditions on the ground … a several year process†(Gates Testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee, December 2, 2009). In plain English “transitioning†is not “leavingâ€. It means staying, fighting and occupying Afghanistan for decades. It means adding more troops, building more bases. It means spending another $400 billion over the next 5 years. And it means doubling the number of American soldiers killed and wounded over the next 3 years, from over seven thousand to fourteen thousand.
The criteria of `success’ in Afghanizing the war is belied by the growing Americanizing of the bases, combat troops and expenditures. The reason is that the Afghan army figures are as phony as Obama’s promises. The number of US personnel is growing because the Afghan political puppets are so corrupt, ineffective and despised by their people that Washington has to surround them with “monitorsâ€, “advisers†and “operatives†who in turn are totally incapable of relating to the needs and practices of the communities. Increased US “aid†has led to greater corruption, more unfulfilled promises and greater animosity from the would be popular recipients.
The fundamental problem is that this is an American war and that is why Afghan units suffer a 50% reduction of strength due to at a minimum, a 20% desertion rate, admitted by US military officials (Congressional Research, op cit, p.14). In other words, the Afghan recruits, take the money and their arms and return to their villages, neighborhoods, families, and perhaps not a few, use their military training, joining with the National Resistance. With such high levels of disaffection among Afghan recruits and even officials it is not surprising that the Resistance has such high quality intelligence on US troop movements. Given the degree of disaffection it is not surprising that some of the US intelligence collaborators are double agents or vulnerable to exposure and execution. Faced with a billion dollar recruitment program with high rates of desertion and the “turning of guns on their mentors,†the White House, Pentagon and Congress refuse to recognize the reality that the imperial occupations is the source of the resistance of almost the whole people. Instead they call for more trainees, more funds for “training programsâ€, more “transparent†mercenary contractors.
The reality is that with a bigger American occupation, with escalating military expenditures, the Resistance is growing, surrounding the major cities, targeting meetings in the center of Kabul and rocketing the biggest US military bases around the country. It is clear that the US has lost the war politically and is in the process of losing it militarily.
Despite the most advanced military technology, the drones, the Special Forces, the increase in the number of trainees, advisers, NGOers and the building of more military bases, the Resistance is winning. The White House by adding to the millions of displaced and murdered and maimed Afghans is increasing the hostility of the vast majority of the Afghans. Civilian killings are turning more and more of their military recruits into deserters and “unreliable†soldiers.
Some of whom are `turned’ into committed combatants for the `other side’. As in Indo-China, Algeria and elsewhere, a popular, highly motivated guerrilla resistance army, deeply embedded in the national-religious culture of an oppressed population is proving more resistant, enduring and victorious over an alien high tech imperial army. Obama’s `rule or ruin’ Afghan War, sooner rather than later, will ruin America and end his shameful presidency.
FREMONT — Moina Shaiq didn’t venture outside on Sept. 11, 2001 — or the next day, or the day after that.
It took her more than a week to finally leave her opulent Fremont home — as always with a headscarf covering her hair — and go grocery shopping for her family. At the time, Shaiq could barely face a world she thought hated her. But instead of withdrawing, she soon would become an important face of the Muslim community.
In the years since 9/11, Shaiq, 51, has founded a nonprofit that helps Muslim seniors and joined more than a dozen civic organizations. The mother of four has made time to drive cancer patients to doctors’ appointments, provide spiritual guidance to the sick at Kaiser Permanente Fremont Medical Center, bring city leaders into her mosque and encourage fellow Muslims to get involved in politics.
“I just had this feeling that I needed to let people know that not all Muslims are bad,†Shaiq said. Her transformation from suburban mom to community leader started with her opposition to the Patriot Act — the 2001 bill that curtailed privacy rights in order to help federal authorities keep closer tabs on terrorists.
In lobbying the Fremont City Council to oppose the bill, she came into contact with city leaders and soon accepted an appointment to the city’s Human Relations Commission.
She continued to network, joining many civic organizations and helping start a couple of her own—the Muslim Support Network and the American Muslims and Friends Democratic Club.
Her work with the Tri-City Interfaith Council has made her a regular at the annual Holocaust Remembrance Service.
And with the Fremont Alliance for a Hate Free Community, she helped promote “Wear a Hijab Day†in 2006 after a Muslim woman wearing the head covering was shot to death as she was walking with one of her young children on a Fremont street.
“Moina is very comfortable in her faith, but she is also very comfortable with American pluralistic society,†said Agha Saeed, a friend and professor at Cal State East Bay. “She is a true face of American Muslims.â€
Shaiq’s background is atypical of most American Muslim immigrants. She grew up in an upper-class home in Karachi, Pakistan, where she attended English-language schools and graduated from college with a degree in psychology at age 19.
Upon graduation, her parents arranged for her to marry an engineer, Mohammad Shaiq, who had a job lined up in Dallas.
“I was so excited to come to America,†she said. “I just wanted to assimilate completely into the society.â€
After short stints in Texas and Florida, as well as several months in Zambia, the couple moved to Fremont in 1982, where Moina Shaiq opened a computer wholesale business and her husband worked for Sprint.
But they didn’t fully immerse themselves in American culture as Shaiq had expected.
Most of their friends were fellow Pakistani immigrants, and Shaiq, who never attended mosque in Pakistan, began learning more about Islam.
In 2000, she started wearing a headscarf, and her eldest daughter soon followed her example.
“When my kids were born, that’s when I realized that I have an identity, and I should teach them my language and my culture,†she said. “But first I had to learn about my faith.â€
Shaiq’s husband took over the computer business after their youngest daughter was born in 1997. With more time at her disposal, she began volunteering with a Muslim civil rights group and a community soup kitchen.
As Shaiq began volunteering more after 9/11, she realized that many Muslim seniors were confined to their homes with little social activity or access to services.
“A lot of the seniors from my community didn’t know that there is paratransit or Meals on Wheels,†she said. “In Pakistan, the community takes care of elders, but here, the community is busy because people are working most of the time.â€
In 2005, Shaiq started the Muslim Support Network, which connects seniors with available resources and organizes events for Muslim seniors at the Fremont Senior Center.
The program’s success has been noted by local social service workers.
“I’ve sat with people who say the work she’s doing has been a lifesaver for them,†said Suzanne Shenfil, Fremont’s director of human services. “We’re very appreciative of her. She’s not flashy, but she’s always working hard behind the scenes.â€
Shaiq has also sought to comfort the sick. For the past three years, she has been a volunteer spiritual adviser at Kaiser, although she visits Muslim and non-Muslim patients alike.
“She’s very peaceful, very present,†said Carol Estes, who helps run Kaiser’s chaplaincy program. “Her energy is, I would say, life-affirming — just her presence when she enters a room.â€
One reason Shaiq says she works so hard to show Muslims in a positive light is that she often feels misplaced guilt when a Muslim commits an act of violence. The day after U.S. Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire on his fellow soldiers in Fort Hood, Texas, Shaiq dropped her daughter off at a youth soccer game, but once again didn’t feel comfortable going out in public.
“I couldn’t bring myself to leave the car,†she said.
Finally Shaiq mustered the strength to walk around a lake adjacent to the soccer fields, but she still couldn’t bear to make eye contact with the people she passed.
“It was like I had done something wrong,†she said.
Shaiq watches television news and reads the newspapers with trepidation.
“Any time it’s a Muslim that does something violent, it makes headlines,†she said. “People look at us in a negative way because every time they turn on a television or open a newspaper, that’s what they see.â€
When her youngest daughter asked why “Muslims were so bad,†Shaiq told her, “It’s just a few people on the extreme giving the community a bad name.â€
Shaiq, who became a U.S. citizen more than 20 years ago, said she has never faced discrimination in Fremont. “I’m very blessed living in this community,†she said. She also said she feels “completely American,†even though she still fears that some Americans will judge her for the scarf she wears on her head.
“It’s always on my mind that I need to change the image of what a Muslim is for ordinary Americans,†she said. “That’s why I live and breathe community service.â€
By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent
For most Muslim pre-teen and teenage girls, surfing the Internet to find halal activities or games is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. Seizing upon the lack of online gaming venues for Muslim girls, American-born Saudi Arabian based businesswoman April Tosch has founded Jasmine Club (www.Jasmine-Club.com), which is an innovative gaming site for both Muslim and non-Muslim girls.
The primary feature of the website is a dress-up game that allows girls to dress their very own doll in a variety of Middle Eastern and Islamic-inspired clothing as well as western fashions. The site can be viewed in either English or Arabic which allows Muslim girls from all over the world to participate.
Becoming a member of Jasmine Club is free, however access to the VIP section requires a paid subscription. Once a user registers an account, she will have her very own page complete with her own avatar to dress and a dressing room. Everything from clothes to jewelry to make-up can be accessed from a fully customizable dressing room to modify the avatar to each user’s specifications.
Social networking is also a vital part of Jasmine Club. Each user has her own ‘wall’ that visitors can leave messages on. There is also an email inbox for sending and receiving messages from other members. No other website on the Internet today so effectively bridges the gaps between East and West as Jasmine Girl does.
The website also allows users to earn Jasmine Dinars, by playing the games, which can be used to purchase virtual items like backgrounds, jewelry and cyber furniture that users can acquire to decorate their avatars and page. Purchasing a new avatar costs 50 Jasmine Dinars while a new necklace might set a user back 75 Jasmine Dinars.
For Tosch, giving her site visitors a positive message in the midst of the gaming experience is of utmost importance. Her website features a ‘well-being; section where visitors can watch inspiring videos. Currently, she is developing a storyline that revolves around five girls from five different ethnicities. Tosch has enlisted the help of author Carolyn Handler Miller who has specialized experience working with Disney and Pixar. The purpose of the storyline is to show that it is possible to bridge both cultural and religious gaps with understanding.
The future for Jasmine Club looks very bright as it is already getting thousands of hits and developing its very own fan base. Tosch hopes to create partnerships with other Middle Eastern media companies to further develop the tween and teen market in the Gulf region.
By Nurit Peled-Elhanan, an Israeli woman and mother, from a speech given at the European Parliament
“Thank you for inviting me to this today. It is always an honour and a pleasure to be here, among you (at the European Parliament).
However, I must admit I believe you should have invited a Palestinian woman at my stead, because the women who suffer most from violence in my county are the Palestinian women. And I would like to dedicate my speech to Miriam R`aban and her husband Kamal, from Bet Lahiya in the Gaza strip, whose five small children were killed by Israeli soldiers while picking strawberries at the family`s strawberry field. No one will ever stand trial for this murder.
When I asked the people who invited me here why didn’t they invite a Palestinian woman, the answer was that it would make the discussion too localized.
I don’t know what is non-localized violence. Racism and discrimination may be theoretical concepts and universal phenomena but their impact is always local, and real. Pain is local, humiliation, sexual abuse, torture and death, are all very local, and so are the scars.
It is true, unfortunately, that the local violence inflicted on Palestinian women by the government of Israel and the Israeli army, has expanded around the globe, In fact, state violence and army violence, individual and collective violence, are the lot of Muslim women today, not only in Palestine but wherever the enlightened western world is setting its big imperialistic foot. It is violence which is hardly ever addressed and which is halfheartedly condoned by most people in Europe and in the USA.
This is because the so-called free world is afraid of the Muslim womb.
Almighty America and Great Britain are infecting their respective citizens with blind fear of the Muslims, who are depicted as vile, primitive and blood-thirsty, apart from their being non-democratic, chauvinistic and mass producers of future terrorists. This in spite of the fact that the people who are destroying the world today are not Muslim. One of them is a devout Christian, one is Anglican and one is a non-devout Jew.
I have never experienced the suffering Palestinian women undergo every day, every hour, I don’t know the kind of violence that turns a woman’s life into constant hell. This daily physical and mental torture of women who are deprived of their basic human rights and needs of privacy and dignity, women whose homes are broken into at any moment of day and night, who are ordered at a gun-point to strip naked in front of strangers and their own children, whose houses are demolished , who are deprived of their livelihood and of any normal family life. This is not part of my personal ordeal.
But I am a victim of violence against women insofar as violence against children is actually violence against mothers. Palestinian, Iraqi, Afghan women are my sisters because we are all at the grip of the same unscrupulous criminals who call themselves leaders of the free enlightened world and in the name of this freedom and enlightenment rob us of our children.
Furthermore, Israeli, American, Italian and British mothers have been for the most part violently blinded and brainwashed to such a degree that they cannot realize their only sisters, their only allies in the world are the Muslim Palestinian, Iraqi or Afghani mothers, whose children are killed by our children or who blow themselves to pieces with our sons and daughters. They are all mind-infected by the same viruses engendered by politicians. And the viruses , though they may have various illustrious names–such as Democracy, Patriotism, God, Homeland–are all the same. They are all part of false and fake ideologies that are meant to enrich the rich and to empower the powerful.
We are all the victims of mental, psychological and cultural violence that turn us to one homogenic group of bereaved or potentially bereaved mothers. Western mothers who are taught to believe their uterus is a national asset just like they are taught to believe that the Muslim uterus is an international threat. They are educated not to cry out: `I gave him birth, I breast fed him, he is mine, and I will not let him be the one whose life is cheaper than oil, whose future is less worth than a piece of land.`
All of us are terrorized by mind-infecting education to believe all we can do is either pray for our sons to come back home or be proud of their dead bodies.
And all of us were brought up to bear all this silently, to contain our fear and frustration, to take Prozac for anxiety, but never hail Mama Courage in public. Never be real Jewish or Italian or Irish mothers.
I am a victim of state violence. My natural and civil rights as a mother have been violated and are violated because I have to fear the day my son would reach his 18th birthday and be taken away from me to be the game tool of criminals such as Sharon, Bush, Blair and their clan of blood-thirsty, oil-thirsty, land thirsty generals..
Living in the world I live in, in the state I live in, in the regime I live in, I don’t dare to offer Muslim women any ideas how to change their lives. I don’t want them to take off their scarves, or educate their children differently, and I will not urge them to constitute Democracies in the image of Western democracies that despise them and their kind. I just want to ask them humbly to be my sisters, to express my admiration for their perseverance and for their courage to carry on, to have children and to maintain a dignified family life in spite of the impossible conditions my world in putting them in. I want to tell them we are all bonded by the same pain, we all the victims of the same sort of violence even though they suffer much more, for they are the ones who are mistreated by my government and its army, sponsored by my taxes.
Islam in itself, like Judaism in itself and Christianity in itself, is not a threat to me or to anyone. American imperialism is, European indifference and co-operation is and Israeli racism and its cruel regime of occupation is. It is racism, educational propaganda and inculcated xenophobia that convince Israeli soldiers to order Palestinian women at gun-point, to strip in front of their children for security reasons, it is the deepest disrespect for the other that allow American soldiers to rape Iraqi women, that give license to Israeli jailers to keep young women in inhuman conditions, without necessary hygienic aids, without electricity in the winter, without clean water or clean mattresses and to separate them from their breast-fed babies and toddlers. To bar their way to hospitals, to block their way to education, to confiscate their lands, to uproot their trees and prevent them from cultivating their fields.
I cannot completely understand Palestinian women or their suffering. I don’t know how I would have survived such humiliation, such disrespect from the whole world. All I know is that the voice of mothers has been suffocated for too long in this war-stricken planet. Mothers` cry is not heard because mothers are not invited to international forums such as this one. This I know and it is very little. But it is enough for me to remember these women are my sisters, and that they deserve that I should cry for them, and fight for them. And when they lose their children in strawberry fields or on filthy roads by the checkpoints, when their children are shot on their way to school by Israeli children who were educated to believe that love and compassion are race and religion dependent, the only thing I can do is stand by them and their betrayed babies, and ask what Anna Akhmatova–another mother who lived in a regime of violence against women and children–asked:
Why does that streak o blood, rip the petal of your cheek?
I am writing because Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is running for Governor of Michigan in the Democratic primary, which will be held in August. I have worked for Virg in some capacity since 2002, dating back to his State Senate campaign. In 2003 and 2005, I served as his Deputy Campaign Manager when he ran for mayor, unsuccessfully in ‘03, and by a landslide victory in ‘05.
Not only is this exciting because Mayor Bernero has long been an unwavering advocate for the Muslim community, but also because he’s what Michigan needs right now. As Mayor, Virg has balanced 5 straight budgets, on time, without raising taxes and without draining the city’s reserves. At a time when almost all other cities in the state of Michigan were hemorrhaging jobs and losing investment, Lansing grew by 6000 jobs and gained over a half billion dollars of new investment to the city. Moreover, Virg has been able to cut 20% out of Lansing’s budget over the last 5 years without laying off a single employee. Virg is one of the rare Democrats who is well-liked not only by labor, but also by people in the business community, including the Lansing Chamber of Commerce. His energy, vision, and enthusiasm can help get our state out of the mess we find ourselves in, due to years of failed leadership in the state legislature, beginning with our opponent, Andy Dillon, Speaker of the Michigan House. Virg has been gaining momentum in the past few months going across the state and meeting with elected officials, labor leaders, and community organizers. He has already garnered many key endorsements, including the AFL-CIO, the UAW, the Michigan Education Association, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, and two individuals who are dear friends to the Muslim community, Congressman Dale Kildee and former Congressman David Bonior.
In January, I began serving as Deputy Campaign Manager for his gubernatorial campaign. Not only is this a great honor for me personally, it also bears testament to Virg’s comfort level with me and with our community. I have taken a leave of absence from medical school to run his campaign, and then intend to return to medical school once the campaign ends. Our community has a lot to gain if Virg and I are able to earn your support. Mayor Bernero’s cabinet is the most diverse in Lansing’s history, and certainly he would want to bring that same diversity to the Governor’s office. While positions for appointments would be based on qualifications and not race, ethnicity, or religion, certainly having Mayor Bernero in the Governor’s office would present the Muslim community with arguably our best chance at getting a high-level appointment to the Governor’s Cabinet or other positions for which we may have qualified candidates, but are often overlooked.
And while other candidates only reach out to Muslims during election years (or not at all, even), Virg has demonstrated over the years that his friendship with our community is genuine — even when it was politically unpopular to do so. After 9/11, Mayor Bernero was one of the people who reached out to the Mid-Michigan Muslim community to ensure them that he would work hard to dispel stereotypes, combat profiling, and ensure their safety. Mayor Bernero has been to many events sponsored by the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing, both at the mosque as well as within the community. Starting in 2006, Mayor Bernero began holding an annual city-sponsored “Diversity Day†to showcase Lansing’s diversity, educate mid-Michigan residents about the different cultures and religions that exist here, and celebrate our common humanity. Members of the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing played an active role in planning and staffing each Diversity Day, including putting together a booth to showcase Islamic Culture. Moreover, every year since 2007, Mayor Bernero has held the annual “Mayor’s Ramadan Dinner†in Lansing during the month of Ramadan to bring people of every faith together to educate people about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as well as to use the event as a way to raise money and awareness for the Mid Michigan Food Bank and the Greater Lansing Food Bank, incorporating the acts of generosity and charity that take place during Ramadan. This past Ramadan was the largest of the three Ramadan Dinners thus far, and it featured a keynote address from Congressman Keith Ellison. Past keynote speakers include Dawud Walid (2007) and Judge Adam Shakoor (2008).
But, as I’m sure you know, we need help. If we can get the Arab and Muslim communities behind us, it would go a long way in helping us win the primary on August 3rd. I have been reaching out to networks I belong to, both in Lansing and in Metro Detroit, to engage them in the process of raising money and earning votes. I would like to ask you your interest level in joining our team of supporters and helping raise money for our campaign. Individuals are limited to $3400 to donate to gubernatorial campaigns this election cycle, while PACs are limited to $34,000. To learn more about our campaign and to contribute, please visit http://www.votevirg.com/
Please let me know if you have an interest in supporting our candidacy for Governor. Our community needs to know all the things Virg has done for us in Lansing and across the state.
As the social and political situation worsens in Pakistan many questions arise. One starts to wonder about the future of the country and in turn ones’ own future because every Pakistani’s future is tied to the future of Pakistan. Most young adults who have the opportunity to get higher education want to leave the country. The ones who don’t want to leave or are not leaving are ones who don’t have the opportunities and the finances to do so. Of course everyone knows how things are in Pakistan and while things may not be as bad as they seem on TV the living standard still is very different then what it is in most Western countries where most people are going for education and careers.
Looking at the past statistics very few numbers of those who leave come back to live in Pakistan after they are done getting their education or after getting some professional experience. Even if some do come back the number of people doing that isn’t significant enough. The same goes for professionals that are in the prime of their careers. If they are able to leave they never want to come back
Even if they say they want to come back they most likely will not after settling abroad and having children there.
This leaves the country in the hands of those who are either not qualified or not competent enough to lead the country. Just recently we had the fake degree fiasco which goes to show the incompetence of our leaders and the lack of educated and level headed people who can run the show. Political meetings and assemblies often end in shouting matches and sometimes even physical fights erupt. The sad things is that the people who are watching all of these things taking place are not educated enough and have not seen anything different to be able to recognize that the situation of the country and the condition of our politicians is not the way it is supposed to be.
Many say in the light of current events people cannot be blamed for wanting to get out since the country is in shambles. However this statement begs the question, what is in the future of Pakistan? What does the country need right now? What needs to be done to make these fresh graduates and professionals stay in there country?
This brings us to the most important and eye opening discovery, which is that the new generation does not have the same emotions and attachment to the country as their elders did even though they have been raised in Pakistan. The generations that came before were ready to give up everything, and a lot of them did, to benefit the country. Why didn’t they instill the same feelings in their children? Why are the younger people ready to leave the country on a whim? What went wrong that the parents stopped telling their children that this is your country and you will live and die for it? They did it themselves why don’t they now ask their children to do the same?
Is it that they saw what the results were of them trying and when it was time for their children they realized that it was a hopeless cause? Somehow they taught their children that it is okay to be selfish and think only of themselves and not of the interest of their nation.
Whatever the reason without the same motivation and the same feelings we cannot excel in any field and cannot fight the ills of our society; we see the smartest and the most capable people of Pakistan sitting outside of Pakistan and talking about that country like it is the most horrible place to live. Who wants to go back to that? When I start spreading the blame around I start with myself. I left my country at a young age, lived in the US, got my education from there while I kept thinking that one day I will go back but I didn’t really want to leave. I finally left but I will always be willing and ready to go back. I wanted to help my country; I had left the States with a lot of dreams and aspirations about how I will change things. I got here and realized it wasn’t as easy as I had imagined. How can one change a people when they don’t realize that something is wrong? So what to do?
Should one give up opportunities for their own selves and their families to fix a place that everybody else has given up on? Or should one forget about a hopeless cause and work on the betterment of his/her family? Is there a way to do both in Pakistan? If there isn’t a way to do both which is more important?
The patriots of Pakistan say learn from abroad but come back and use that knowledge to help your own country. If thinking from our hearts this sounds like a great idea but when one is not able to find a job there and not able to feed the family what then? Is sacrificing for the country more important then feeding one’s own children?
Some people are going to have to put the needs of their own families aside and make sacrifices for the country to make some changes. Who are those people and where will they come from?
We Say ALLAH is Rabbil al ameen. (Lord of all the worlds.) Ruler of everything we can see and that which we cannot see. The Boss over everything…including Satan. Including Satan??? Does this mean ALLAH OK’s Satan’s antics? Does this mean He tells him it is OK to wreck havoc on Adam all over the world? If ALLAH is the boss of Satan, does this mean ALLAH OK’s Satan’s lying, stealing, murdering, and cheating? If ALLAH is the boss of Satan too, why or how does Satan run rampant in the society?
ALLAH gives the answer in the creation of Adam:
“And behold, We said to the angels: ‘Bow down to Adam;’ and they bowed down. Not so Iblis; he refused and was haughty – he was of those who reject faith.â€2:34.
Satan’s job is to wreak havoc in the land. When ALLAH told the angels to bow to Adam, Iblis, who was among the angels, refused. When questioned as to why he wouldn’t bow, he told ALLAH, “I am better than he. You made me from fire and him from dirt.†7:12.
That’s good to know too because the important thing is not what Satan thinks of us, but rather what ALLAH says of us. Adam is above Satan IF he (Adam) does the right thing as laid out in the Qumran. Otherwise he can be reduced to the lowest of the low. Mankind has the ability to follow and worship anything or anybody he/she chooses. This is why we can use Satan as a tool to further our own salvation, rather than seeing him as an awesome figure to be feared. All we have to do is simply use his existence as another reminder to follow our Creators guidance. After all, since ALLAH loves us and wishes us success, the existence of Satan can only be for our good as long as ALLAH’S instructions are followed.
One very important part of our religion (Al-Islam) that is different from many other religions is that we can’t blame Satan for any of our adversities. The Muslim can’t say “the Devil made me do it†as some other religions might say. Since we are above Satan, when he comes to us with his sin we need only to look him in the eye and say NO!
Thoughts on human morality are generating keen interest from many different sections of our country. As part of a poll conducted on the American people, a sampling was asked what they thought was the most pressing problem facing the country today. The overwhelming majority said the moral climate of the country was our biggest problem. Many respondents said that we don’t seem to value goodness any more. The next most frequent answer was the environment.
Both of these areas are the responsibility of Adam. First Adam was created to follow God. He was created to be moral and he accomplishes this by worshipping ALLAH. This makes his life better as well as his family and the society as a whole. Next, as custodian of the earth, Adam has the job of protecting the environment. We can’t (shouldn’t) pollute the oceans or the land. We also shouldn’t pollute the air with foul language and foul deeds to our brother or sister.
So don’t sit around full of doom and gloom about the existence of Satan. Instead thank ALLAH for giving you the opportunity to get stronger, enhance your faith, and prove that the book (Qur’an) is right. You couldn’t do that if it were not for the existence of Satan and other adversities in your life. You would be just like a cow or sheep. Just eat grass and sleep. But since you have so much more to gain, you must also give more to get it. So thank ALLAH for all He gives you – for it is all good.
The Peace be on you, As-Salaam-Alaikum, Al Hajj Imam Abdullah Bey El-Amin
Dearborn–June 20–The level of rhetorical violence against Muslims has been ratcheted up by entire orders of magnitude recently. An example of this rhetorical violence was the visit of troublemakers at this years Arab Festival in downtown Dearborn–the annual event at which Warren Avenue is closed off for several blocks, with bands performing, vendors purchasing space to sell everything, and Arabs and other local residents participating, celebrating Arab culture.
Fortunately people who went to the festival to cause problems obtained criminal records for their trouble, namely four Christian missionaries from a group called Acts 17 Apologetics, who with video cameras assaulted Muslims at the festival in order to make people react angrily and then post their videos on youtube.
Nabeel Qureshi, a convert to Christianity, and David Wood, members of the Acts 17 group, were arrested after assaulting several people. Their names and videos were listed on several anti-Muslim websites.
What was quite remarkable at the festival was the increased evangelical Christian presence–although the churches that maintained booths at the festival seemed respectful in comparison with the hoodlums who were arrested, it is quite an assault against Muslims when they cannot even walk at an Arab festival without people trying to drag them away from their religion.
But other than the evangelical churches there were several Islamic groups and mosques and Arab groups, for example ACCESS, not to mention people selling various Arab paraphernalia like clothing, food, and musical instruments.
There were rides, the same as at the last several years’ carnivals.
The primary sponsor was the Arab American Chamber of Commerce. Other sponsors included Comcast, Dish Network, Ford, GM, Verizon, Marathon, and many other blue-ticket corporations too numerous to count.
Most of the vendors seemed satisfied that this year was as well-attended as previous years.
There was a Verizon booth at the festival sporting the most recent Verizon smart phones, and offering free calls to anywhere in the world using Verizon’s network.
The festival aimed to draw over 300,000 people. Highlights of the festival included 30 international food booths, and a halal hot-dog eating contest.
The performers included the Orchestre Chabab al Andalous (a large Moroccan ensemble which has toured the world, performing Andalusian style music, which has been preserved in Morocco for over 500 years.
Another performer included Maher Halabi, a singer born and raised in Palestine, who has recorded seven albums and shot 6 music videos.
Doris Farhat, a Lebanese singer, also sang, and Nidal Ibourk, a talented Moroccan star who has appeared in many music TV shows including one apparently patterned after American Idol.
There were many other musicians and also dance groups.
McChrystal was fired not because he spoke disparagingly of President Obama, or because he was insubordinate. He was fired because he got in over his head.
Was it an Act of God? The journalist who stayed with McChrystal’s staff, Michael Hastings, was supposed to stay for only one day, but then was forced by the Iceland volcano eruption to stay with McChrystal’s staff for a month–in unguarded circumstances and conversations that would lead to the ends of many of McChrystal’s associates’ careers.
McChyrstal, despite his glowing reputation, had a dark past. He oversaw the cover-up of the Pat Tillman killing, and more importantly was implicated by Human Rights Watch for abuse and torture of detainees at Camp Nama in Iraq.
That’s right, abuse and torture. In fact the Tillman story is a nice segue into the Camp Nama abuse, since McChrystal himself said that there was no way the Red Cross would ever be allowed through the door at Nama (presumably because there was so much evidence of abuse there that the Red Cross couldn’t help but trip over it).
There are some misconceptions about the Rolling Stone article–it did not display any disobedience or insubordination against President Obama, other than the political maneuvering. In fact it documents McChrystal’s having voted for Obama.
McChrystal did say that he thought Obama looked intimidated by the military brass. Probably this was true. Obama is not a military man. It is doubtful that during his social organizing days in Chicago, or at Harvard, or on the campaign trail, or in Hawaii, he used to hang out in bars with uniformed marines and soldiers.
But despite his lack of military experience, Obama seems to value his image as a tough guy very much. In fact he has a lot of personal grit–he gave the order to shoot the Somali pirates, after all.
Obama met with Bill O’Reilly, the bully of the right wing news media, who himself seemed impressed. “He’s not a wimp,†he said. O’Reilly, who likes to physically intimidate interviewees and threaten to beat them up, seemed swayed by Obama’s personal toughness.
In fact Obama has displayed his toughness again and again. His handling of McChrystal shows it also–perhaps he is tough to a fault. The disposal of McChrystal could have been dealt with more quietly, without the pillories, and the extremely public walk-of-shame from Afghanistan to the White House axe.
Obama’s ego and his toughness were directly assaulted by McChrystal’s comment about his feeling intimidated by military brass, and still more directly affected by Michael Hastings’ words, “McChrystal, they felt, was trying to bully Obama, opening him up to charges of being weak on national security unless he did what the general wanted. It was Obama versus the Pentagon, and the Pentagon was determined to kick the president’s ass.â€
In fact to isolate the words that cost McChrystal his job, it was more likely those words above, written by Michael Hastings, rather than any words spoken on the record by General McChrystal himself.
Perhaps Obama fired McChrystal out of loyalty to his vice president? There was some contempt in the McChrystal ranks that reached Joe Biden, as evidenced by the article. This contempt was likely founded on their opposing Biden’s arguments against the Afghan troop surge that McChrystal championed.
One underlying problem that the article laid bare was the fact that McChrystal had built a relationship with his close staffers that was long on camaraderie, drinking, and army bravado, and short on diplomacy or discipline.
The evidence of this was all of the asides by McChrystal staffers, “Bite-Me,†or “This is gay,†or “clown.â€
McChrystal can blame himself for that. “Does this come with the position?†asked McChrystal as he gave his chief of staff the middle finger.
Maybe giving your buddies the finger is okay at West Point. But to build leadership and trust, not the right way. To build friendship, maybe. To build respect, no.
McChrystal saying he’d rather be beaten up by a roomful of people than go to a meeting would be acceptable in other circumstances but perhaps not here in an important official post. His comment that nobody could do it is just army bravado, encouraged in most branches of the military to a degree that is probably beyond what is helpful, or realistic.
If he and his staff took themselves seriously they wouldn’t name themselves “Team America,†after the movie created by the South Park writers–it might be funny but it is also fairly dishonorable given that nobody in that movie was particularly a role model.
Some argue that McChrystal was asking to be put out of his misery, because he already knows Afghanistan can’t be won. He did refer to Marjah (a stepping stone towards the more important goal of wresting Kandahar from the Taliban) as a “bleeding ulcer,†months after it was supposed to have been subdued. But with his bravado and his career, it does not seem likely that he destroyed himself to avoid a challenge.
Realistically, McChrystal and his staff were likely blind-sided by the Rolling Stone article. Expecting a puff piece, they were actually all beaten up by Michael Hastings, the scrawny young reporter who was with them the night that General McChrystal said that “Unfortunately, nobody here could†beat him up. In fact Hastings single-handedly beat up McChrystal and the roomful of people who were with him.
The essence of McChrystal’s problem was his playing politics. McChrystal publicly displayed his impatience with Special Representative to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke (pitting himself against Hillary Clinton); he pitted himself directly against Joe Biden (or at least his staff did); he fostered the American diplomatic ineptness in Afghanistan, for example by undermining Holbrooke, but also by his political battle with Ambassador Eikenberry, a retired Three-Star General who served in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2005 (and had been McChrystal’s boss)–McChrystal scuttled Eikenberry’s route to the powerful colonial sounding position of Viceroy in Afghanistan, which according to Hastings “would have made him the diplomatic equivalent of the general.â€
Aside from the political maneuvering, there is his handling of the troops–according to the article, at least one soldier, Michael Ingram, died because he and his comrades were not given permission to destroy an unoccupied house that was frequently used by the Taliban, including in the ambush that led to the death of Ingram.
McChrystal had fought hard to stop attacks against civilians, while also encouraging special forces to kill a lot–and in the language McChrystal uses in speaking with a Navy Seal it appears understood that some of that Seal’s targets would actually be innocent.
The death of Ingram, attributable to the rules of engagement, likely grated on Obama.
The best friend McChrystal made in Afghanistan was perhaps Hamid Karzai, with whom he showed immense patience, waiting at Karzai’s beck and call as Karzai slept through the day at his palace in Kabul, the general begging for Karzai’s staff to wake him.
There were mistakes in McChrystal’s past that were likely gnawing at Obama, like the way he asked for thousands of soldiers, circumventing the chain of command; it is doubtful that the Tillman coverup or even the Nama abuses weighed in Obama’s decision-making. But what most angered the president was likely McChrystal’s political maneuvering, the rules of engagement, and McChrystal and his staff’s apparent gross inappropriateness in a diplomatic role.
In fact the article demonstrates that McChrystal began to take the same liberties against his superiors that he had previously used against the nation’s enemies, interfering with their plans, disrupting their planning, fostering their weakness in order to make room for himself to operate. Perhaps in reaction to all this Obama felt that the axe had to fall.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After suffering sustained criticism of its role in the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve looked set on Wednesday to emerge from an overhaul of financial regulations with its jealously guarded independence intact.
In a big victory for the central bank, lawmakers hammering out a final version of a Wall Street reform bill agreed to drop two provisions the Fed had warned would subject its economic decision-making to outside political influence.
Lawmakers seeking to resolve differences between financial reforms passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate dropped a provision that would have opened the Fed’s interest-rate policy to congressional audits, opting instead to examine less sensitive areas.
Lawmakers also agreed to abandon a plan to make the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank a political appointee, according to a document distributed by Democratic senators on the committee, but postponed formal action until Thursday.
Despite widespread criticism on Capitol Hill that the Fed is too close to the banks it regulates, the central bank is poised to emerge as the most powerful financial regulator under the broadest rewrite of financial rules since the 1930s.
The Fed had been lambasted for failing to stem the risky lending that fueled the U.S. housing bubble and for bailing out big financial firms after the bubble popped. It has acknowledged its oversight was too complacent before the 2007-2009 financial crisis that shook economies worldwide, but has said it has already taken steps to amend its ways.
Democrats who hope to send a final financial reform bill to President Barack Obama to sign into law by early July said they did not want to compromise the Fed’s political independence.
“The Fed was set up to be an independent body to set monetary policy, and we’ve been trying to walk this line between how independent they should be in doing that and how transparent those activities should be,†said Democratic Representative Mel Watt.
The broader reforms under consideration would crimp financial firms’ profits and saddle them with tighter regulations. They would establish new consumer protections, set up a process to dismantle troubled firms and likely limit a wide range of risky but profitable trading activities.
Goldman Sachs Group would lose the most under the new rules, followed by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, according to a Citigroup analysis.
FED NOT ENTIRELY UNSCATHED
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who endured a tense Senate confirmation vote in January, said the overhaul looked like it would be effective in preventing or at least blunting the impact of future crises.
The Fed did not escape entirely unscathed.
Lawmakers signed off on a one-time look at its emergency lending during the crisis, and ordered the Fed to disclose on an ongoing basis details on its discount window lending and open market operations, although with a three-year lag.
Democrats agreed to drop a proposal to make the head of the New York Fed a presidential appointee. A summary paper said Senate Democrats supported the move, but Senator Christopher Dodd said he needed time to address concerns by some members.
Under the plan, the New York Fed’s board would continue to select the president of that branch, the only one of the 12 regional Fed banks with a permanent voting seat on the central bank’s policy-setting committee.
But no bankers on any regional Fed board would be able to participate in selecting their Fed bank chief, a departure from current practice.
Separately, negotiators agreed to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission but remained divided on whether the agency should be able to keep all the fees it collects to fund its operations, which would greatly expand its resources.
They also disagreed on whether broker-dealers should face a higher standard of care when giving financial advice, and how to give shareholders an easier and cheaper way to nominate corporate board directors.
The negotiating committee directed the SEC to find a way to reduce the conflicts of interest that critics say led credit-rating agencies like Moody’s Corp and Standard & Poor’s to issue top AAA ratings on toxic securities ahead of the financial crisis.
The SEC would need to set up a government clearinghouse to prevent agencies from soliciting business from the credit issuers whose products they are supposed to assess impartially unless it determined a better way to resolve the conflict of interest.
The agreement, which concluded negotiations started on Tuesday, is a win for credit rating agencies, which otherwise would have definitely seen the clearinghouse take effect.
But lawmakers agreed to allow investors to sue agencies that recklessly failed to review key information as they developed their ratings, creating additional legal risk.
Moody’s stock rose 2.5 percent and S&P parent McGraw Hill rose 1.5 percent, building on Tuesday’s strong gains.
Democrats have yet to resolve a number of contentious issues before they complete their work.
House negotiators agreed to give shareholders the ability to sue banks and other third parties that are not directly involved in securities fraud cases. Senators on the committee opposed that idea.
House Democrats also said they would press their Senate counterparts to accept a $150 billion fund to pay for liquidating financial firms that get into trouble. The Senate’s approach would cover liquidation costs by selling off the troubled firm’s assets, or levying a fee on other financial firms if more funds are needed.
The committee is scheduled next week to tackle disputes about how to limit banks’ risky trading activities, how to protect consumers and whether to limit fees on debit card transactions.
Banks are pressing to soften a proposal that would limit their ability to trade on their own accounts and invest in private equity and hedge funds. But their prospects appear to be dimming.
They also look likely to face limits on their lucrative swaps-trading operations as Democrats near consensus on a proposal that would require banks to spin off their operations to a separately capitalized affiliate.
(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon and Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Peter Cooney)
HUDSON,NY–When Mohammed Ariful Ghani arrived in this town four years ago from Bangladesh, he couldn’t speak only rudimentary English. By sheer determination and dedication he has now overcome all hurdles to attain the status of valedictorian. He is ranked first among 120 graduating seniors and is the recipient of several academic honors and scholarships.
Mohammed is a member of the National Honor Society and Varsity soccer team. He has been selected as a Hudson Rotary Student of the Month and received the Multicultural High School Achievers Award from the University of Albany. Mohammed currently volunteers at Columbia Memorial Hospital and plans to attend Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute to study Civil Engineering in the fall.
He received a $15,000 math scholarship and substantial financial aid, leaving him to take out $10,000 in loans for the school’s $54,000 bill for tuition, room and board.
“I want to go back to my country one day to build a better infrastructure. Bangladesh is very poor, and they can definitely use the skills of a civil engineer,†he told the Times-Union.
His valedictorian speech will try to summarize a remarkable immigrant’s story. “I wrote about why I came here and how difficult it was in the beginning,†he said. “With the help of so many wonderful teachers, I overcame all those difficulties. My message is, ‘Never give up on your dreams.’ “
Ali Mahboub wins Roane State President’s Award
KNOXVILLE, TN–Ali Mahboub has been declared as one of the co-winners of Roane State Community College’s highest student honor, the 2010 President’s Award. Mahboub is from Alexandria, Egypt. He came to Roane State two years ago through the college’s partnership with Community Colleges for International Development. Mahboub served as a tutor and volunteered for many community service projects. A dean’s list student, Mahboub graduated with an associate of applied science degree in business management technology and a certificate in computer science. He recently returned to Egypt. His parents are Taha Mahboub and Nadia Kamal.
Mahboub also won awards for Excellence in Web Design and Excellence in Programming.
TN mosque expansion proposal sparks Islamophobia
MURFREESBORO, TN–The proposal for a new Islamic center near Murfreesboro has sparked a new wave of Islamophobia with some residents attacking the Islamic faith while others called the dispute one of ugliest displays of religious intolerance, the Tennesean reported.
Although no one defended the mosque at last week’s meeting, many were offended by what they heard, Commissioner Anthony Johnson said during a Saturday interview.
People who spoke at the meeting were emotional and afraid, he said.
“My faith is different than theirs, but that is their faith,†said Johnson, who attends Pentecostals of Smyrna church.
“We as a county commission by law can’t pass a law to dictate what they teach in their churches. I wouldn’t want government coming in and telling us what we could preach or what our doctrine must be
Illinois Imam’s police chaplaincy rescinded
CHICAGO,IL–The Illinois State Police have rescinded its offer to a Chicago area Imam who was to be the the department’s first ever Muslim chaplain, according to press reports.
In statement, the state police officials say the appointment of Sheikh Kifah Mustapha as a volunteer chaplain is “being denied†following a background investigation.
Last year the Illinois State Police made history by naming him the department’s first and only Muslim chaplain. He was one of seven religious ministers who went through chaplain orientation training in Springfield.
At the end of the training that Mustapha paid for himself, he and the other ministers all received their Illinois State Police ID cards, and bulletproof vests they are required to wear on ride-along and at crime scenes where they tend to victims and police needs.
The decision is reportedly sparked by an article by a self-styled national security expert who criticized Mustafa’s appointment by linking him with extremism. At press time the Council on American Islamic Relations was planning to hold a news conference calling it shameful that the state police revoked Mustapha’s chaplaincy.
Muslims provide food for the needy
DETROIT–Islamic Relief USA (IR USA), a US-based non-profit relief and development organization, in coordination with Neighborly Needs, Inc., and Kids Against Hunger packaged thousands of meals for metro-Detroit families in need on Saturday, June 19th.
The meal packages, formulated by food scientists at Kids Against Hunger, provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins needed by a malnourished child’s body and mind.
IR USA and Neighborly Needs will packed 1,667 nutritional packets which when prepared — by adding water — produces 10,000 meals. Two thirds of the meals will be distributed to Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southwestern Michigan, Muslim Center soup kitchen and Muslim Family Services food pantry. The remaining one third will be returned to Kids Against Hunger for its worldwide outreach.
“Our faith teaches us that with every hardship, there comes ease,†said Saleem Khalid, IR USA’s domestic programs manager and a native of Michigan. “With the recession causing such widespread hardship, there is ample of opportunity for us to act on our faith, serve our community and help bring relief. With Michigan being hit the hardest, it only makes sense to focus our efforts here.â€
ICNA Relief Working to Bring Reprieve to Nashville Flood Victims
The Islamic Circle of North America Relief (ICNA Relief) has joined hands with other faith based (Christian and Jewish) organizations and local Masajids to help the people affected by the flooding in Nashville, Tennessee.
“In a matter of 30 minutes, everything you worked for, everything you thought was valuable, it all looks like trash†Mayor Karl Dean estimates the damage from weekend flooding could easily top $1 billion in Nashville alone.
Many of the families affected by this flood are Somali and Kurdish Muslim families, who are still struggling to stand on their own feet after this devastating blow to their households. All three Masajids and the community’s Islamic School were also badly hit.
ICNA Relief has started the flood cleanup project in full swing. More volunteers needed, including professionals like doctors, nurses, etc. They can come from anywhere in USA and can sign up at www.icnarelief.org
On Monday June 7th, 2010, a special event took place, where free medical services were provided. Also food and other daily need supplies were distributed at a flood affected apartment complex. In addition to regular cleanup/debris removal activity was done. Islamic Center of Nashville and Masjid Salahuddin were the key resources facilitating this effort.
ICNA Relief is appealing to the Muslim Community and all people of conscience, to come forward and donate generously, so that this volunteer work continues. For this tax-deductible donations can be mailed to: ICNA Relief USA, 87-91 144th Street, Jamaica, NY 11435; or donate on-line at: http://icnarelief.org
International Press Club of Texas will bring Voice & Strength of Diversity to the Media: Tariq Nehal Khan
“I have been proposing for a long time this idea of Asian and/or International Press Club. I applaud Wae Klee of Southern News Group and John Robbins of Southern Chinese Daily for taking up the initiative in arranging this pioneering meeting for the formation of Non-Profit International Press Club of Texas.â€
These were the enthusiastic words of Founder and Publisher of Pakistan Chronicle and Pakistan Journal Newspapers at the home of Wae H. Lee, Chairman of Southern News Group, Houston, Texas, as Mr. Lee announced the creation of the International Press Club of Texas. On that occasion, founding publishers of more than twelve leading Asian and African newspapers and newswires joined hands with ITV International Television, Digital Channel 55.5 and the International Trade Center, to form this new professional media organization, so as to connect Texas economies to the world markets, by providing a one stop location to advertise & market the products; for not only businesses, but also community outreach people like politicians, humanitarian workers, and so on.
In his remarks, Mr. Lee said: “Although technology has now connected the entire world, citizens still need to access to accurate news from dependable sources. The International Press Club of Texas will be a platform for sharing this information from multiple news organizations.â€
The International Press Club of Texas will also support and recognize journalism education in the Greater Houston area and around the State, as well as publish a newsletter that will highlight the contribution of Texas journalists working on assignment all over the world. Reciprocal membership arrangements with other press clubs all over the world are being planned.
For additional information about International Press Club, one can contact Director of the Club John Robbins at 832-448-0193.
The West precisely Britain has been campaigning for its humane values over the world for centuries. As ‘Rome was not built in a day’, the ideals that the United Kingdom earned as champion of freedom of speech and expression, for some, were also not established in a day or year. Without going by the liking or disliking of people in the East some Western countries including the UK have stood by and openly supported controversial people like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen in the recent past on grounds not other than freedom of expression.
Mumbai-based medical practitioner Zakir Abdul Karim Naik is denied entry clearance by the British Home Office. It should have been a normal business like thousands of Indians including Muslim scholars, professionals and tourists who are daily either denied or awarded visas for entering Europe or America. But unfortunately it isn’t.
The decision taken by British Home Secretary Theresa May has flung open a public debate on e-groups, social networking sites, blogs and even attracted mainstream media discussion. More so, today on Tuesday evening at least 40 Muslim organizations have agitated against Ms. May’s decision and showed sympathy to Naik.
Dr. Zakir Naik is a self-styled Muslim orator with the distinction of preaching in English and wears modern attire – pant, coat and tie with a round white cap on head. He is very much a controversial figure both in India and in the UK. A majority of Muslims across Europe, America, Africa and Asia do not endorse his style of preaching and do not agree with his understanding of Islam for various reasons. But he has developed his own world – a mixture of corporate glitter and Islamic preaching trough his Peace TV and costly public programmes in big cities of the world. Thus, he has handsome following across all the continents, is also a fact.
What Dr. Zakir Naik preaches and believes in, one may agree or disagree, but he has full right to express his opinion is an issue every individual would agree on. Your freedom must not hurt my freedom is civilized and agreed upon way forward for all— the weak and the strong, the West and the East. What we observed by the recent incidents in the West, a few Western countries have even gone too far in awarding freedom of expression to individuals who even dared to hurt sentiments of millions of people across the world including their fellow country men. Prophet Muhammad’s (saws) cartoon, Fitna – the movie, abusing of Muslim womens’ dress, minarets of masjids etc, just to name a few. All were encouraged and even awarded with the most prestigious ‘knighthood’ but in the name of freedom of expression and while upholding the ‘Western Ideals’.
Zakir Naik is a public figure; he is not a terrorist nor does he justify terror is widely known. By excluding Dr. Naik from the UK, the country has helped the victim with enormous popularity staunch among all Muslims cutting across sectarian differences. Jamiat Ulam-e Hind, otherwise a critic of the self-styled preacher, has put aside differences and shown open sympathy towards Dr. Naik and participated in the rally at Azad Maidan today.
On the country, Ms. May’s decision caused irreparable loss to the Western ‘Ideals’. The UK is in the receiving end. Every man may not shout slogan but modern man can well differentiate between ‘enduring freedom’ and practicing freedom.
Sulman Rushdie has been criticized by majority of the Muslim world but he has his own following as a writer. Similarly Dr. Naik earned both critics and fans following among Muslim as well as non-Muslims. One fails to understand why the same Britain is using different yardstick while dealing with her own ‘ideals’— freedom of speech. Or is it the West only believes in the freedom which suits her only interest and all the claims it makes over time about ‘Western values’ are just hallow.
The reason given by Ms Theresa May for the exclusion of Dr. Naik from the UK is not conceivable to those who are even known critics of Dr. Naik. My sole concern is that this spat gives a clear signal that the ‘ideals’ the West claims to stand for, for centuries, are rapidly changing. The West is growing extra cautious towards normal things. And extra defensiveness symbolizes weakness.
*The author is Director of Mumbai based Markazul Ma’arif Education & Research Center (MMERC) and Editor Eastern Crescent magazine. He can be contacted at manager@markazulmaarif.org
TMO Editor’s note: We are proud to introduced a new Muslim Observer column–by Nadirah Angail.
On Color Lines in the Ummah
Would you agree that it’s safe to say the world is “color struck� Even in this age of brown American presidents named Barack Hussein Obama, the light and dark of it all still seems to trip us up. I guess it’s the bluntness of skin color that makes it an easy target. Other qualities are hidden, not so obvious, but race (which is a social construct, not genetic) is easily observed. No effort or dialogue required.
And, of course, we Muslims are affected. Though we may not be of this world, we are definitely in it, and that influences our practice. Our Prophet (s) resolved the color issue long ago, but 1400 years later, we’re still having trouble digesting his beautiful message: “All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood†(Prophet Muhammad’s (s) Last Sermon).
Despite this crystal clear explanation, we cling to the inflated values of nationalism and color bias. We’ve been told, and have decided to believe, that the similar-colored brother is worth more. We’ve been told, and have decided to believe, that our daughters must only marry brothers of matching origin. (Never mind the fact that the “foreign†brother may make a better husband.) We’ve divided ourselves in ways we weren’t meant to be divided. Allah did not deliver an Islam for each nation. If we are both Muslim, then your religion is no different than mine, though our skin colors may vary greatly. Our physical and cultural differences are but a sign of Allah’s power and mercy. By His leave have we been crafted so differently, so beautifully. He chose the striking hues of our skin, the slants of our eyes, the varying curls of our hair. We are His design. How could there be any problem with that?
I challenge us all to embrace our fellow brothers and sisters regardless of race, nationality or madhhab. And I don’t mean the typical “I’ll give you salaams because we’re at jummah†kind of embrace. I’m talking about a genuine acceptance that recognizes the other person’s good nature, that sees them as equal and whole. Division is what has gotten us where we are: separated. Too focused on differences and flaws, we’ve created “mini ummahs†that aren’t nearly as powerful as they could be collectively. We’ve allowed shaitan to poison our thinking when it comes to our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters. We must reclaim our minds.
The world may be fine with racism and color discrimination, but we are held to a higher standard. We go against the grain if the grain is unjust. We upset the rest if the rest is undue. We challenge authority if the rule is unreasonable. We aren’t your average, everyday Earth dwellers. We answer to a call many others don’t hear. Allah has instructed us to fight against oppression, so it naturally follows that we should never oppress ourselves. I’ll type that again in all caps for effect. WE SHOULD NEVER OPPRESS OURSELVES. We don’t like to think of our “preferences†as oppression, but when we deny each other a fair chance based on these preferences, what else could you possibly call it? Islam is for us all. Islam unites us all. Let us remember that. More importantly, let us act like we remember that.
(Nadirah Angail is a Kansas City-based blogger/author with an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has recently published her first book, entitled “On All the Things That Make Me Beautiful: Short Inspirational Essays on Life, Love & Self.†Contact her at nadirah.angail@gmail.com and visit her on official website www.nadirahangail.com.)
