Mumbai Updates

As Pakistan President Zardari denies any involvement in the attacks, Condi Rice headed to India for her own research after she called the attacks ” “the kind of terror in which al Qaeda participates.”

Death toll: 172.

….I think this article is a very good read for those interested.

‘The terrorists cannot be followers of Islam’

(Indrani Roy Mitra interviews Idris Ali for Redcliff)

Excerpt:

As a minority leader, do you think the Mumbai terror attacks will fan the fire of communalism in the country?

I don’t think so. It should not. What we must realise Islam never propagates violence. The word Islam is derived from aslama, which means submission to the supreme power.

And submission can never be achieved through bloodshed.

Those 10 blood-thirsty men who slaughtered innocent Mumbaikars cannot be the followers of Islam.

Had they read the Quran, they would have waved olive branches and not automatic guns.

My heart goes out to the victims of the attacks.

“…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.” [Al-Qur’an 6:151]

“…if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” [Al-Qur’an 5:32]

“Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loves not transgressors.” [Al-Qur’an 2:190]

Eat your turkey.

Attacks break out in Mumbai, India…protestors in Thailand stick up airports. We need to be aware, folks. Things are hitting the fan. On Wednesday, gunmen led coordinated attacks on the Oberoi Trident and the Taj Mahal Palace located in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. The death toll is 125 and more than 300 injured. Many people are still being held hostage. Indian PM Manmohan Singh is certain that the gunmen are from “outside the country” and India would not tolerate “neighbours” who provide a haven to militants targeting it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7752237.stm).

This “neighbor” that the PM is suggesting is Pakistan, from what I deduced from the news.

In interview with Larry King, Deepak Chopra calls “war on terrorism” an oxymoron:

Chopra: I think Mr. Obama has a real opportunity here, but a challenging opportunity, a creative opportunity. Get rid of the phrase “war on terrorism.” Ask for a creative solution in which we all participate. King: Is it because the war on terrorism really can never be won because the terrorists (inaudible)? Chopra: Because it’s an oxymoron. It’s an oxymoron, Larry, a war on war, a war on terrorism. You know, terrorists call mechanized death from 35,000 feet above sea level with a press of a button also terror. We don’t call it that, because our soldiers are wearing uniforms. They don’t see what is happening, and innocent people are being killed. So, you know, terror is a term that you apply to the other.

Unfortunately, the world is once again looking at “Muslims,” but negatively. Al Jazeera reports, the group claiming responsibility is the Deccan Mujahedeen:

Mahan Abedin, an insurgency analyst, told Al Jazeera: “At this stage, that name does not necessarily mean that much. The co-ordinated attacks are the most severe to have hit Mumbai in months [AFP] “We have seen an increase in recent years in indigenous Indian Muslim organisations beginning to take a violent stance towards the Indian state and sections of the Indian society, particularly the commercial elite of places like Mumbai, in order to highlight, they would say, the sheer inequality of life in India.

One thing I appreciate Chopra saying is that this is not a Muslim problem because extremists are commiting these attacks. This is not a Western problem or American problem if some Americans die. This is a global problem that requires global awareness and response.

Meanwhile, Thailand is appearing to be on the verge of a civil war. Protesters have seized both international airports demanding for a legitimate government. Is a coup emerging? With no civilian airports, what is going to occur?

About the 3,000 protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD):

“The PAD, a loose coalition of business leaders, urban middle classes and royalists, accuses the government of being tainted by corruption and of being a puppet of Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled ex-prime minister who was ousted from power in a 2006 coup.”

The streets are on fire (Lupe Fiasco) and that’s for certain.

Prayers to all the victims of the attacks and may we be guided.

But, just in case you don’t give a cahoots about the rest of the world and would prefer to sit at home and eat your turkey :), here’s a lil gift from me to you for your Turkey Day. But before you accept my gift, I ask that you remember.

Remember the genocides of the indigenous whose blood stains the lands that we call home. Remember how true reparations for Native Americans are still necessary. Remember that many people in the world won’t eat dinner tonight in the comfort of a warm, safe home. Remember that we can change this, God-willing.

Cool?

Okay, here you go….. … … ….

Happy Thanksgiving!

Obama/Ayers ’08?

So, I was watching TV right, and this ad comes on.

Now of course the ad is not going to go so far as to place Bill Ayers into a historical context. No.

He’s evil. Obama associates with him. Thus, Obama associates with evil. Well, after scoping out the American Issues Project organization that produced the ad, and later hearing the lovely Bill O’Reilly’s insight, I decided to do some research of my own. I watched some clips from the documentary produced on the Weatherman organization. Here’s my favorite quote:

“There’s no way to be committed to non violence in the middle o the most violent society that history’s ever created.” -Bernardine Dohrn

And the more I learn, the more I am even further upset with US (mis)education. I mean, why don’t I know about this?

Hear it is, black political activists turned political prisoners had to flee to Cuba (Eldridge Cleaver, Huey P. Newton, Assata Shakur), died, were murdered because of their “radical” views and work to make their communities a safe and healthy live. Activist, journalist, and scholar Mumia Abu Jamal still sits in prison today after being sentenced to death in prison for allegedly killing a police officer. (FREE MUMIA!)

And they know:

“It was all bad of course. but we knew, too, that even here we were enjoying the privilege of our skin.  We were being pursued and beaten, true, but our Black Panther comrades were being targeted and assassinated.” – Ayers

Meanwhile, some members of Weather Underground are now professors! Ayers is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education. Bernadine Dohrn is an Associate Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law. And they successfully bombed the US Capitol! Why is this not in the history books? I mean, how does an entire social movement be dismissed as they “attempted to break out of the repression of the past into the revolutionary future”? And now more than 30 years later, it comes out. Well, sort of. Fox News is going to enlighten the “regular” voters about Bill Ayers to somehow prove that Obama is friends with the “terrorists”. When Bush was making his “Axis of Evil” list, where were these people that now the media wants to paint as “terrorists”?

Ugggh, the rhetoric is so stifled.

At any rate, Weatherman is definitely an interesting story. But, see for yourself.

The revolution is here,

adr