Warning: If you are a rigid pragmatist/literalist, itchingly evangelical, a scowler, a doubter, a burned-out former '60s radical with no hope left, or are otherwise unable or unwilling to parse alternative New Age speak, click away right now, because you ain't gonna like this one little bit.
Barack Obama isn't really one of us. Not in the normal way, anyway.
No, it's not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring rhetoric. It is not fresh ideas or cool charisma or the fact that a black president will be historic and revolutionary in about a thousand different ways. It is something more. Even Bill Clinton, with all his effortless, winking charm, didn't have what Obama has, which is a sort of powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity.
Here's where it gets gooey. Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul.
The unusual thing is, true Lightworkers almost never appear on such a brutal, spiritually demeaning stage as national politics. This is why Obama is so rare. And this why he is so often compared to Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., to those leaders in our culture whose stirring vibrations still resonate throughout our short history.
Guess from the newspaper of which spiritual city this came.
#7
In His Own Words (from his own writings ((books))
This guy wants to be our President and control our government. He also talks about unifying everyone. Does this sound like one who really wants to unify? Pay close attention to the last comment.
From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mothers race.'
'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
Ever in search of instant gratification, we've edited together the USAF's various videos and reconstruction animations of the B-2 crash at Guam in February. The crash was caused by moisture in the air-data pressure sensors - a known problem with a known fix that was never written down, but instead passed (or not) by word of mouth.
Video at link. This mighta been another straw on Moseley's back. That's an expensive documentation problem.
When Pakistan's current government took office following February's elections, it promised to put an end to homegrown violence and terror. It has done nothing of the sort. Instead, it has botched its negotiations with militants. It has utterly failed at freeing its people from the extremists' influence. Instead of protecting its citizens, the current government has sold them out.
This government, a coalition between the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has proved to be worse at fighting extremism than the one led by discredited President Pervez Musharraf.
All of this was sadly demonstrated this past Monday when a car bomb exploded outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad. The blast killed at least six people and injured dozens. Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the explosion. And they said they received help from Pakistani militants.
When the new government took office, the only course for the U.S. seemed to be to step back. The U.S. was closely allied with Musharraf, which had created resentment in the political opposition. The new leaders were going to have to be given a chance to take ownership of Pakistan's fight against terror. The new leaders were not going to cooperate if it looked like they were fighting a proxy war on behalf of the United States.
Now it looks like they won't cooperate in fighting a war on behalf of their own people. The inept Pakistani government is capitulating to indigenous militants.
This can be seen in the Swat Valley, a picturesque landscape of lush valleys, rivers and mountains that once was a prime destination for Pakistani newlyweds. Last year, extremists led by pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah invaded the Swat Valley. Music was banned. Girls' schools were closed. Traditional dancers and singers, popular entertainers locally, were told their homes would be blown up if they kept working. Shops selling CDs and videos or DVDs were blown up. Hundreds of people died in bombings and attacks by insurgents.
Residents of the valley, as the Tribune's Noreen Ahmed-Ullah reported earlier this year, wanted nothing more than a restoration of law and order. They yearned for security, and a return to their old lives.
They got nothing of the sort. A little over two weeks ago, Pakistan's government signed a peace agreement with Fazlullah's militants that legitimized the introduction of Shariah law to the region. The government agreed to free hundreds of militant prisoners. The militants promised to allow girls to return to school and said they would stop attacking government forces. But they retain de facto control of the Swat Valleyand its highly developed infrastructure, which includes roads and hotels. The government may claim it has negotiated peace. But it has, instead, given the militants both the time and the access to resources that will allow them to get stronger.
Pakistan's new leaders are caving to extremism. For all the success against terrorism around the world, what's happening here chills the blood.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/08/2008 09:05 ||
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#1
They are not giving in to anything.
Terrorism is an essential tool of the Pakistani state's foreign and domestic policy
Terror struck into the hearts of the enemy is not only a means, it is the end in itself. Once a condition of terror into the opponent's heart is obtained, hardly anything is left to be achieved... Terror is not a means of imposing decision upon the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose upon him
- The Quranic Concept of War by Brigadier General S K Malik.
In the foreword of this book, then Pak leader General Zia Ul Haq wrote of the Pakistani Army's motto
JIHAD FISABILILLAH (Jihad in the path of Allah) is not the exclusive domain of the professional soldier, nor is it restricted to the application of military force alone. The book brings out with simplicity, clarity and precision the Quranic philosophy on the application of the military force, within the context of the totality that is JIHAD.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/08/2008 9:13 Comments ||
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#2
I was going to say "Pakistan returns to it's roots." but John says it better.
#3
* Nuclear Pakistan [100 reported nucbombs in various types] is in Asia.
* The NUCLEAR MATERIALS + WEAPONS STOCKPILES of modernizing but still weak RUSSIA + CHINA is in Asia.
* NUCLEAR INDIA is in Asia.
* NORTH KOREA is in Asia.
* NUCLEAR JAPAN is in Asia.
* VIETNAM is in Asia, as is THAILAND, MALYSIA, INDONESIA.
* TAIWAN.
* FORMER SOVIET SSRS.
TOPIX > VARIOUS > VIETNAM LEADS THE SOUTHEAST ASIA PACE FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY.
TO SALVAGE THE ISLAMIST JIHAD, HOLD STEADY AND FIGHT ANOTHER DAY 2008-2012, AND GO/FIGHT NUCLEAR AFTER 2010 - 2012, OSAMA IRAN + RADICAL ISLAM HAVE THE ABOVE.
NO US-IRAN WAR + OCCUPATION > the US + ISRAEL need to be contained [or better i.e. forces rdux-withdrawal] and AFAP from IRAN + CENTRAL ASIA while IRAN + Militants go nuclear.
Afghanistan, Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Syria, UAE, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Iraq, Maldives, Djibouti, Benin, Brunei, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mozambique, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Suriname, Togo, Guyana and Côte d'Ivoire are all Muslim-majority states. Can you name the one -- and the only -- Muslim-majority state where Muslims blew up the Danish embassy killing at least eight other Muslims?
Why, why Pakistan? I don't have all the answers, and I am sure no one does. But, please have a look at what the Punjab Textbook Board is teaching eleven-year old Pakistanis. Here is a paragraph from the Social Studies textbook for Class 7, page 43 (written by Professor Dr M H Bokhari and Syed Hassan Tahir):
"European nations have been working during the past three centuries, through conspiracies on naked aggression to subjugate the countries of the Muslim world."
Here is a paragraph that was not part of the previous year's Pakistan Studies but has been inserted in the textbook for the current academic year. This text was written by Muhammad Hussain Chaudhry, Ali Iqtadar Mirza, Sheikh Anees, Rai Faiz Ahmad Kharal, Syed Abbas Haidar and Dr Qais. This is for students of Class 9 and appears on page 3:
"The economic system of (the) west was creating unsolvable problems and had failed to do justice with the people."
Thirteen- and fourteen-year-old students of Pakistan Studies are being taught that "one of the reasons of the downfall of the Muslims in the sub-continent was the lack of the spirit of jihad (Class 9-10; Pakistan Studies, page 7)."
Imagine; thirteen-year-old Pakistanis are being taught that "In Islam jihad is very important ..The person who offers his life never dies .All the prayers nurture one's passion of jihad (Class 9-10; Pakistan Studies, page 10)."
Look at what Dr Sultan Khan, Muhammad Farooq Malik, Rai Faiz Ahmad Kharal, Muhammad Hussain Chaudhry and Khadim Ali Khan are teaching sixteen-year-old Pakistanis: "Always keep oneself ready to sacrifice one's life and property is jihad ..The basic purpose of all submissions and jihad is to keep oneself follower of the good will of Allah Almighty (Class 12; Pakistan Studies, page 4)."
At the tender age of 10, Pakistani students are discovering what the British had done to them. "The British sent rare books from these libraries to England. Thus the British ruined the Muslim schools. They did not want that Islam should spread (Class 6; Social Studies, page 99)." This text was scripted and translated by Professor Mian Muhammed Aslam, Professor Muhammed Farooq Malik and Qazi Sajjad Ahmed.
Look at the remarkable breakthrough achieved by of our learned Professor Dr M H Bokhari and Syed Hassan Tahir. In a total of 36 words, the duo has managed to capture the cause of the crusades: "History has no parallel to the extremely kind treatment of the Christians by the Muslims. Still the Christian kingdoms of Europe were constantly trying to gain control of Jerusalem. This was the cause of the crusades (Class 7; Social Studies, page 25)."
It seems as if our ministry of education is grooming our children for death rather than for life. The examples quoted above are all out of our federal ministry of education's curriculum designed by the curriculum wing. I agree that nine-, ten- and eleven-year-old students after reading these textbooks are not going to go and blow themselves up but the federal ministry of education is certainly creating a thoroughly militarized society. In that sense, our curriculum appears to have been deliberately designed to facilitate the usurpation of genuine educational space by forces of hate, violence and that of extremism. What we have is a primary and secondary school environment consciously manufactured to nurture terror, promote prejudice and breed extremism.
Our 'Curriculum of hate' is, hopefully, not producing suicide bombers but it is definitely breeding closet bombers who wholeheartedly support the ideals of suicide bombers being produced elsewhere. In essence, the two -- suicide bombers and closet bombers -- have a strange symbiotic relationship whereby the parasite cannot survive without a receptive host. And, the receptive host is all around us -- courtesy the ministry of education, government of Pakistan. Why is our ministry of education so bent upon preparing our kids for death and not for life?
Posted by: john frum ||
06/08/2008 00:32 ||
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I want another textbook, only this one goes only to Western politicians who can control immigration of jihad-robots. Pakis aren`t even good workers; they don`t aspire to do much more than drive a taxi.
#2
Note that this isn't taking place in madrassas. There is no memorization of the koran in these schools. This is the secular, normal Pak education system.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/08/2008 7:41 Comments ||
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#3
Negatory B. The average income of US muslims is higher than the US average. The US has skimmed the cream off the muslim world. But it also means they are more likely to be certain of their superiority and look down on the average American, be more more deeply embedded in American power structures and have the free cash to influence policy makers.
Posted by: ed ||
06/08/2008 8:10 Comments ||
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Sorry. Not B, but McZoid.
Posted by: ed ||
06/08/2008 8:11 Comments ||
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#5
I keep seeing claims that George Orwell said in about 1946 that "the men of the BBC are communists and should be shot down in the streets."
Sounds good enough to me, but unfortunately I cannot find any reliable source for it.
Courtesy of LGF
A search of the official my.barackobama.com site for Jewish Lobby reveals an enormous amount of antisemitic hatred being posted. This is really shocking stuff, and shows beyond any doubt that this is no fluke.
There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of posts that refer to the Jewish lobby at the Obama site. I stopped looking at the results on page 10. If only it was a left-wing phenomena
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
