Starving Child

Read more!

Egypt....A Permenant Emergency State?

Very interesting developments out of Egypt. The Egyptian populous is voting on sweeping changes to the constitution. The interesting thing about this is that even though Egypt has been a police state since the assassination of Anwar Al Sadat, the country's constitution still possessed many of the rights of the citizens and limited the government's powers. Since the assassination of Sadat, the leader who made the historic peace with Israel, the country has been running under Emergency Laws which gives the government broad powers that trumps the human rights, government limitations, etc. as long as the country is deemed to be "under attack"....very similar to the Anti-Terrorism Laws in the US but much broader. The problem is the country has been run under these Emergency since 1981!!! The ruling party and the leader has been the same since then with no prospect of change anytime soon. Today the government wants to change the constitution to be in sync with their current practice.

The government claims that these amendments were done in order to better reflect the current state of the country and to better serve the people. They state that it was also done as a response to the rise of religious extremism and to protect the country of political powers gained through religious exploitation.


There are three controversial areas of proposed change. One would ultimately allow broad powers to monitor and detain people accused of terrorist activities while not specifically defining terrorism. Another would limit the role of judges in monitoring elections, which are often mired in accusations of fraud. And a third would prohibit the creation of any religious political parties.

The Muslim Brotherhood among other organizations have organized demonstration rallies to encourage the populous to reject the amendments claiming that such amendments will make Egypt a permanent police state.

It is interesting that the country is voting on 34 changes with three significant changed sandwiched in there. It makes it very hard to sort out which amendment is important and which one was just a minor one. Egyptians polled didn't know really what they are voting for. Thus serious changes to the constitution are going to be made without many who voted knowing how significant they are.

Official Website of the Egyptian Government

Article on the Amendments

BBC Analysis

Read more!

RAGE IS BACK!!

Finally after seven years Rage Against the Machine has reunited....well...they will do a couple of shows at least, but who knows maybe the chemistry they have when they do a live show will inspire them to come up with another gem of an album. Can't wait. Probably will go to the New York concert with Wu-Tang.

Their two confirmed concerts are:

April 29th in Southern California at the Coachella Music Festival.

July 28th in New York at Rock the Bells concert.

Read more!

Double Standard

There are recent reports that the latest suicide bombings by Iraqi insurgents/terrorists have involved Chlorine bombs. Chlorine when inhaled could cause severe burning to the throat and lungs and could kill within seconds. This deadly and frightening method is only the most recent terrorist tactic used against Iraqis by Iraqis. So whats the Arab reaction to such a heinous crime against fellow Muslims and Arabs...NOTHING!! The double standard in Iraq is beyond belief right now. The US is blamed for everything (largely because of its bullish style and methods), while the insurgents/terrorists get a free pass especially from the Arab/Muslim countries. I think this double standard or the idea of looking the other way at the atrocities caused by these so called Jihadists are a big reason why the West (specifically the US) will NEVER win in Iraq. As long as no Muslim or Arab leader (be it a political or a religious one) speak up against these acts, the perception will remain that all the deadly acts inflicted on the Iraqi people are caused by the Americans which is not true. If we are to look closer at the activities of these Jihadists who claim to defend Iraq against the American conquerers you will see that they are committing as terrible if not worse crimes against the Iraqi people. The difference however is that these insurgents are not held accountable for what they do. The American soldiers are held somewhat responsible for their actions because the American government has to answer to the media and albeit it a mild but still transparent policing system within the military that punishes or condemns war crimes. However these Jihadists do not have a government to report to, no populous that voted them in to hold them accountable.



Lets start with a bit of history. Suicide bombings were controversial in Palestine during the second Intifada (beginning in 2000), but eventually and sadly it became a normal method to fight off the Israelis. This was the beginning of the problem, no one influential enough or significant enough in the Muslim/Arab World spoke up against it. No Muslim/Arab country made it clear to the Palestinian Authorities that they must stop or condemn this tactic. It grew more and more popular. It became tragically heroic and gave meaning to someone's life (ironically) and a purpose to the young who otherwise lived in despair. Palestinian youth are living under a modern style aparathied in Israel with no real hope of improving their lives. This tactic unfortunately was encouraged by the likes of Hamas and gave these young people a sense of belonging. The US didn't stop Israel from its brutality (Israel has the right to defend itself, but its brutal in sending its message and thus leads to more damage, more resentment than before). The Arab countries just speak rhetoric to make sure that their own populous do not get angry at them (they blame Israel for everything but doesn't really take any steps to make Israel feel more secure in the region to help secure a sovereign Palestine). The Arab leaders at the end of the day wants nothing more than the Status Quo, they don't really care about the Palestinian cause and at the same time love the fact that Israel could be the scapegoat for things going wrong. In any case, the Arab world grew to accept suicide bombing as the only method of defiance against the US supported Israel aggression against their Arab brothers. This was a dangerous step, the normalization of an abnormal and criminal act into a culture. This was the precursor to what is going on in Iraq right now.[Photo]
In Iraq brutality has branched off to areas that no one could have imagined. Suicide bombing was initially used against the US Marines and personnel. It was justified as Iraqi defenders against occupiers. Then when that tactic wasn't as successful as before (US and British forces stayed in a highly secure Green Zone thus limiting their casualties), they started kidnapping non-military personnel. Again controversial but still falls under the label of Foreigners and Profiteers in Iraq, so the Muslim/Arab World looked the other way. The US would not negotiate with these Insurgent groups, then it got really ugly. There were beheadings, shooting, and burning of American and British contractors. All these acts (as horrible as they are) could still possibly be fall under the "Foreigners/Occupiers" Umbrella. But it went further. Shiite militant groups started sending suicide bombers to Sunni neighborhoods, and Sunni militants dispatched theirs in Shiite neighborhoods. Mass killings were underway between the two Muslim factions while the Arab/Muslim world stood still. All they could do is blame America for everything. It didnt' stop there, these insurgents starting bombing schools, hospitals, Universities, and more. Mosques of rival sects were bombed and school classrooms were used for urban fighting. These insurgents have such confidence and complete lack of respect or regards for anyone outside of their goals...political gain through religious Jihad pretext fueled through extremism.

How can they possibly justify the killing of common workers? Seniors? Children? Really? But no one is stepping in, because everyone wants the US to fail, but the problem is...IRAQI CIVILIANS ARE DYING!! That has to take priority over proving Bush wrong!

Read more!