They say it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I’m going to gamble on that and offer this, my Labor Day extravaganza of random leftist agitprop which I’m going to pretend is somehow connected to the blog’s purpose in that it shows you a bit of a subculture you’re probably not familiar with.
While I am fully prepared for Evan to chew me out, I am hopeful that you, the faithful readers, will soften his hard heart by reminding him of these two important facts:
Firstly, it’s Labor Day.
In this country, that doesn’t mean much more than a last chance to get some barbecuing in while the weather’s still pleasant. Considering how pitiful the labor movement has been in this nation, a bit of red flag waving and raised fists is far overdue.
Secondly, today is my birthday.
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Posted in bizarreness, film, literature, morality, politics
Tagged 1984, Albert Einstein, Andy Garcia, Angola, Animal Farm, ban music, Batista, Belgium, birthday, burn books, C S Lewis, cartoon, Che Guevara, Cuba, Cuban, despot, dictaor, George Orwell, Helen Keller, homophobia, homophobic, Jack London, Joy Davidman, Joy Gresham, Joy Lewis, Labor day, Mao, marx, Marxism, Marxist, meme, murder, Pol Pot, racist, robert oppenheimer, segregation, socialism, socialist, Stalin, Stieg Larsson, The Lost City, the trotsky, tyrant
I grew up in Syria.
I was born in the US, but the vast majority of my life was spent in the Middle East. In spite of the civil war that’s been raging in my adopted homeland for the past couple of years, I’ve remained largely silent on the issue here on the blog. More than anything else, I’ve done so because I know that there’s really no happy ending to anything I can say. For all my raging and foaming at the mouth, I really and truly don’t enjoy having to lambaste things- more than anytime else when there’s really and truly no light I can see at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless, with American warships closing in on the Syrian coast and a mountain of evidence growing for the regime having unleashed a chemical attack on its own people, there’s really no keeping quiet at this point.
So here it goes.
I. There Is No Free Syrian Army
If you’ve been watching the situation or if you listen to the news, you may hear the term “Free Syrian Army” or “FSA” thrown around. While initially formed out of deserting Syrian soldiers and officers in the early stages of the conflict, there never really was- and still isn’t- any kind of centralized command. There’s a myriad of different militias and cells in Syria all operating under the banner of the FSA, but there’s really no connection between any of them, militarily, ideologically, or demographically. There’s also no connection, as is otherwise sometimes portrayed, between the self-declared opposition government operating out of Turkey and the FSA- they’re two completely different groups. It’s important to understand this to keep from being led into the false assumption that there’s only two sides to the conflict- the dictatorial regime and the pro-democracy rebels. There’s going to be a temptation to grossly oversimplify the situation- don’t let it happen more than it already has.
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Posted in America, Islam, media, money, morality, news, politics
Tagged aid, Arms, Assad, Camp, Camps, Civil War, conflict, democracy, Free Syrian Army, FSA, Hezbollah, Humanitarian Aid, Iran, Islamic, israel, Military Intervetion, Pro-West, rebels, Refugee, Syria, Syrians, Tent, US, weapons, west, Winter
I’ve mentioned on more than a few occasions that Europe is grappling with issues of racism, which is something of a euphemism for “full fledged white supremacy movements.” What with my repeated references and the major role that this obviously plays on a cultural and political field, I figured it’s high time I actually break it down for ya.
The UK
You’d think that a nation that’s invaded all but 22 countries, maintained the largest empire of all time, and started multiple wars with underdeveloped nations to force them to buy drugs would be a bit more understanding when the people from those countries tried moving to the UK to build better lives for themselves. Instead, the flow of immigrants into Britain has resulted in a massive backlash from the “native” English (you know- the ones descended from Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Norman immigrants). United under the fear that the empty house next door might be rented out by a family with brown skin and funny accents instead of a family with white skin and funny accents, Britain has seen the rise of bigoted groups in both the forms of political parties, such as the “British Nationalist Party” [BNP], to straight up gangs of violent racist thugs, such as the self-proclaimed “English Defense League” or “EDL”. But hey- we’ve got similar problems across the pond- what’s the big deal (other than, you know, the attempts to turn Britain into a whites-only nation, through violence and intimidation if necessary)? Continue reading →
Posted in America, Europe, Islam, morality, politics, race, religion
Tagged Anders Brevik, Angela Merkel, anti-semite, anti-semitic, apartheid, Arabs, ban, bigotry, BNP, Britain, British Nationalist Party, burka, Csanad Szgedi, EDL, English Defense League, european parliament, European Parliment, Expulsion, Fascism, Fascist, France, Great Britain, Holocaust, holocaust denier, Hungary, Immigrants, Islam, Islamization, Jobbik, KKK, Klu Klux Klan, law, Marine Le Pen, Minaret Ban, multiculturalism, Multiculturalism has failed, Muslims, nazi, neo-nazi, Nick Griffin, Norway, prejudice, refugees, Roma, segregation, Switzerland, Turks, UK, Utoya, Veil, white supremacist groups, white supremacy
2014 will see the XXII Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. Or at least, such is the current proposal of the Russian state and the Olympic committee. Personally, I’d like to keep that from happening.
Here’s why:
Russia isn’t exactly a beacon of freedom and human rights today (or since 1929, for that matter). In spite of having the basic decency to offer former-NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden something of a safe haven, the modern Russian Federation has more than a few dents in its reputation.
And its cars…
While massive corruption has been an issue for a long time, and while Russia is no more free from the ugly face of white supremacism than any of its fellow European nations, a few recent events stand out as especially damning. Continue reading →
Posted in Economy, Europe, lgbt, money, morality, politics, sports
Tagged 2014, apartheid, Assad, BDS, bill, Boycott, David Cameron, duma, Edward Snowden, Equality, gay, Homosexual, human-rights, law, neo-nazi, Obama, politics, propaganda, Pussy Riot, Russia, Russian, Snowden, Sochi, sochi russia, Stephen Fry, Stoli, Stolichnaya, Syria, Winter Olympics
For the month of July I was living with my in-laws in Williams Lake. So on Monday, July 22nd, I was able to be present at the “first day of public hearings into Taseko’s proposed $1-billion open pit gold and copper mine near Williams Lake, B.C.”
I was working until about one o’clock that day but my mother-in-law, who is a teacher here in Williams Lake, first went downtown around lunchtime at which point two very separate information centers were happening.
Join us and have hot dogs galore!
At one camp, the Taseko mine representatives were serving burnt hot dogs to visitors. There wasn’t much of a crowd, but the vice president of the mine was offering her students jobs if the mine was allowed to come in.
Meanwhile, at the park nearby the Tsilhqot’in nation had prepared a lunchtime feast. There was music and dancing. Most of her friends were at the park. In fact, most of the crowd seemed to be at the park.
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Posted in Canada, Culture War Report, environmentalism, news, politics
Tagged British Columbia, Canada, copper, Culture, economy, first nations, First Nations Rights, Fish Lake, gold, government, mining, money, New Prosperity Mine, politics, race, society, Taseko, Teztan Biny, Tsilhqot'in, Williams Lake
Posted in Africa, Islam, morality, news, politics, race, religion, Shame Day, sports
Tagged Arab, Army, bigotry, birth control, children, Culture, Ethiopian Jews, Fascism, Fascist, hasidic, idf, Immigrants, indefinite detention, israel arab, israeli palestinian conflict, loyalty oath, middle-east, minors, mizrahi, mugabe, Nationalism, orthodox, palestine, palestinian, prison, racism, racist, reformed, religon, segregated buses, segregation, sephardic, t-shirt, tsvangarai, ultra orthodox, zimbabwe, zimbabwe elections, zionism
Culture War Reporters 