For a quick overview of what’s happening in Darfur, Sudan, check the National Geographic online video series.
Category Archives: Islam
what causes war?
I did the 4 minute Wikipedia research.
* Historical theories
* Psychological theories
* Anthropological theories
* Sociological theories
* Demographic theories
* Evolutionary psychology theories
* Rationalist theories
* Economic theories
* Marxist theories
* Political science theories
* Extortionate
* Aggressive
* Colonial
* National liberation
* Religious
* Dynastic
* Trade
* Revolutionary
* Guerrilla
Religious differences are significant, but not one of the major causes of warfare.
Significant exceptions were the massacres of Indian Independence (1947, Hindu vs. Muslim) which I’ve studied. Sheer stupidity. Hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved if the British handled the withdrawal better. (Are you listening USA?)
Wars, Massacres and Exterminations Due to Religious Intolerance – rateitall.com
Al Jazeera meets The Daily Show
I liked it almost as much as Huffington.
What an inspired, genius move on the part of the underexposed and under-carried Al Jazeera English network: Offer yourself up with abandon to “The Daily Show” for a long, meaty, hilarious, humanizing clip. Outstanding.
Last night, crack correspondent Samantha Bee (and most senior correspondent, I might add) did a long segment on the new network which culminated in Bee’s hilarious attempt to re-make the network in a manner appealing to Americans (Bee: “Whoa. News hour?”).
The segment drove home the point that Al Jazeera is actually serious about serious news, with a pared-down no-nonsense style heavy on actual news content while at the same time humanizing the network by highlighting its employees, and the mission, which has not been overly popular, to say the least (and, in fairness, Al Jazeera is sort of associated with videos from terrorists who take credit for atrocities and shout about the glories of holy slaughter of American infidels, which sort of works against domestic viewer goodwill).
Anchors Dave Marash and Ghida Fakhry are particularly excellent sports. It’s a brilliant, hilarious segment, and is probably the best commercial Al Jazeera could have in this country. An amazing PR coup.
“religion is the cause of most wars”
I heard that again last night.
Wrong again, in my opinion.
Religion is often used as an excuse for war. The instigators are invariably after money and power.
Religion is just one of many factors that sets “us” against the “other”.
It helps “demonize”.
Look at recent history. The Germans under Hitler were evil. Now Germany is our friend. Then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. They too were the great enemy (along with sad sack Italy). Now we drive Japanese cars and dream of vacations in Tuscany.
Then came the cold war with Russia. (We’re still a little suspicious of them.)
Now the enemy of the West is radical Islam. We fear Arabs in particular. (How soon would that go away if there were no oil in those countries?)
Next North Korea. Then, almost inevitably, China.
Who after that?
All of these conflicts were not caused by religion. Anyone who thinks Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or Kim Jong-il motivated by religion are wrong.
George Bush now?
Well there are a few world leaders that may actually be guided by religion. But they are the exception to the rule.
Can religion be blamed for war? – Mike Wooldridge, BBC
a skeptical environmentalist – that’s me
I had a feeling I was doing some good NOT owning a motor vehicle. That was before I found out my airline flights do far more damage.
Just watched a Penn and Teller Bullsh*t video debunking environmental hysteria. It’s not nearly as good as the others I’ve seen so I didn’t link to it here.
But Penn did have some very good points.
Some environmentalists are embarrassingly naive and uninformed. It was not difficult for Penn to film them. And cry BS.
(Turns out he was one of the protesters in the 1970s.)
The vague fear people have in 2006 regarding global warming, ozone depletion, species extinction — reminds me of the uneasy, ill-informed fear of Islam that the right wing is so quick to foster.
I’d better get schooled. I could read Al Gore.
But instead I’ll start with this book: The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World
Iraq has a women’s beach volleyball team?
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — When Salim Al-Nabit and his friends went to see beach volleyball for the first time, they left their wives home.
Al-Nabit said he would watch the bikini-clad women, but he certainly wouldn’t want his wife to do so. He was there, he added, because it was a matter of national honor.
“We don’t see this a lot in Qatar,” Al-Nabit said. “I think most people think it is outrageous. But we accept it because it is important for our country. We want others to see us as a generous and hospitable people, willing to accept their ways, even if we don’t agree.”
Beach volleyball’s penchant for bikinis has touched off a bit of a cultural clash in this conservative Muslim city, which by hosting the Asian Games, a regional sports extravaganza, is trying to bolster its bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to the Middle East.
The city has transformed itself in an effort to woo the Olympics. It has spent billions on infrastructure and sparkling new sports facilities, including the 50,000-seat “Aspire” stadium. …
Though 16 Muslim nations are represented at the Asian Games, only one, Iraq, is competing in women’s beach volleyball. And its team, sisters Lisa and Lida Agasi, are Christians.
Beach volleyball bikinis shake up Asian Games in Qatar – CNN.com
Bahrainis use Google Earth to spy on royals’ palaces
It was in China in 1998 when it first dawned on me that the internet would bring down that totalitarian regime.
I expect China to suddenly (and surprisingly to some) move to democracy by 2010.
Why?
Because totalitarianism is inherently unfair. It’s a system where those in control stuff as much RMB into their pockets at the expense of those not in control. This kind of injustice is not sustainable once those being robbed find out what’s going on. Every day it gets harder to keep the masses ignorant.
After China, the rest of the non-democratic nations of the world will go the same way. Even the Kingdom of Bahrain.
How happy are the Bahrainis with their Royals once this kind of information get circulated widely?
Boing Boing: Bahrainis use Google Earth to spy on royals’ palaces
BBC – who stole the Baghdad billions?
Billions of dollars are missing in Iraq.
Where are they?
This 2-part audiocast is a shocker. I’ve listened to it several times.
Iraq has become a vast financial black hole.
Since the war began in 2003, the Americans have spent around $30 billion of their money – and at least $20 billion of Iraq’s own money – in rebuilding the country. But where has it all gone?
Mark Gregory has followed the money trail from Iraq to Washington via a kebab shop in Jordan.
He discovers that there have been allegations of fraud, mismanagement and corruption on such a gigantic scale that much of the money is now untraceable. …
The US-led administration, talking shortly before the return of sovereignty, offered a vision of a country in which the lights worked and clean water flowed from the taps.
But two-and-a-half years after the handover, many Iraqis say their lives are getting worse despite the vast sums allocated for rebuilding.
Mark Gregory explains how profiteering, corruption, bad management and the strength of insurgency have all paid a part in the failure to rebuild Iraq.
BBC results for Baghdad billions
Read a summary on the BBC website: Baghdad’s ‘missing’ billions
video – Alive in Baghdad
The runaway winner in the first annual Vloggie awards (Vlog is another bad name for video casts) was Alive in Baghdad.
(That was a surprise to me as they did not have anywhere near the viewership of Rocketboom or other mainstream shows.)
Alive in Baghdad was formed to counter the sound-bite driven, “Live From” news model. Through the work of a team of Americans and Iraqi correspondents on the ground, Alive in Baghdad shows the occupation through the voices of Iraqis. Alive in Baghdad brings testimonies from individual Iraqis, footage of daily life in Iraq, and short news segments from Iraq to you.
The CNN news model which got so popular during the first gulf war is limited at best. I much prefer to hear what the people in Iraq have to say.
See for yourself: AliveinBaghdad.org
To see an interview with the founder click PLAY, or watch the clip on YouTube.
movie – Munich
Just saw the film Munich , the Hollywood version of the story of Israeli retaliation after the kidnapping and murder of 11 athletes at the 1972 Olympics.
Steven Spielberg directed and the quality is excellent.
I thought it was remarkably unbiased. Both the Palestinian terrorists and the amateur Israeli retaliation team are shown as people, not heroes or villains.
Spielberg focuses on “the cyclic nature of revenge and the moral price of violence”.
Everyone is a loser in this film.
I might have liked the movie better if I had not read the book on which it is based, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas.
Jonas attempted to document the true story of one of the Israelis, Yuval Aviv, who is played by Eric Bana in the movie.
In the book the assassinations of people on a list who may or may not be involved in Munich was much uglier than in the film.
Well … the movie is “inspired by the true story”. The book criticized as being inaccurate regarding the true story. The facts are muddled.
But one thing is clear to everyone. Assassination and counter-assassination do not work, long-term.
I recommend both film and book.
