M.I.A. - "Born Free"

Here is the new video for M.I.A.'s latest single "Born Free" by director Romain Gavras.  The video is probably NSFW unless you happen to work for some sort of revolutionary establishment, yet I would say the video is important enough to risk a lunch break viewing. 

In nine minutes the video gives a graphic example of the lunacy and perils of military sponsored violence towards civilians in a society.  You may not identify specifically with any of the people in the video, but you should be able to understand how violence similar to that in the video has been acted out on countless numbers of groups with equal force and reasoning.  This video should make you think, and if it does not you need to think again.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Terrorism Abroad is Terrorism at Home - The Pune, India Bombing

On the February 13th, the night before Valentine's Day, a bomb detonated at the German Bakery in Pune, India.  At least nine people died and more than 40 were injured from the blast.

My friend Shama Kaur was sitting in the coffee shop across the street, and this is what she saw.

It was the night before Valentine’s Day, I just finished consulting on cross-cultural relations and decided to go have some kichardi, a healthy easy to digest daal and rice mixture spiced with ginger, garlic and herbs.  Unfortunately, the chef didn’t show up.  So my option was to leave or settle for a cheese and tomato croissant.  I stayed, finished my meal and looked at my clock- 6 p.m. exactly. Content with my meal, I reviewed my schedule and decided to call my friend who just got his first cell phone two days before.  He is a very humble man who gave up his post as an economics professor in order to become more aware of himself and cultivate good values, that is his path.  Looking at him you would never guess he sleeps at the local river cemetery. I walked over to the German Bakery to use the phone, dialed his number and my friend said he would meet me in ten minutes.  Standing there by the phone I watched people walking in and out of the bakery, a few familiar faces whose stories I know, and the Tibetan lady sitting outside her jewelry shop reciting prayers as she passed a mala through her withered fingers.  I wondered how long she had been sitting in that same place, praying on those same beads and chanting the same mantra.  I wondered how long she would continue to sit there.

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The Sunday Knight - Terrorism in Reverse

Joseph Stack flew his airplane into this building and became a domestic suicide bomber

This has been a fascinating week concerning terror and the United States in that everything has been reversed yet no one knows how to feel about this reversal of fortune.  This past Thursday Texan Joe Stack flew his airplane into an Austin, TX building that housed a branch of the Internal Revenue Service.  Joe Stack was an American who disapproved of our tax codes and now he is an American suicide bomber.  At the same time that an American was bombing Americans, the U.S. military along with many allied forces was having their most successful raid on the Taliban.  The raids that the military has engaged in over the last week have reportedly captured three top ranking Taliban officials.  To finish off the week we have just gotten the news that the Secretary of the Defense Robert Gates wants to change the name of the war in Iraq from operation Iraqi Freedom to operation New Dawn.  All three of these events play a very large part in how Americans view their security and safety, and these new developments need to be examined further.

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Terror is the Topic

I've been gone for a week and the issue of the day, or last eight years, is terrorism.  How do we stop terrorist and what should we do once we get them?  Additionally, once terrorism is viewable on the national stage the next question must be are the people who did not prevent this treat capable or qualified to adequately perform their jobs.  During the Bush administration people questioned the competencies of the President and his staff, and now the same is being questioned of President Obama and his staff.  These are the questions we ask and the Christmas Day bombing attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has brought them back to the fore. 

Lets examine these questions now that the President has voiced his stance on this situation.  (Video below)

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Dana Perino is a Liar or 9/11 Never Happened

While trying to explain how Ft. Hood was a terrorist attack Dana Perino, former Press Secretary under George W. Bush declared,

We did not have a terrorist attack on our country under President Bush's term

This must be the most rose colored, revisionist view of this decade that I have ever heard.  The only way that this could be even remotely possible would be if she got her Bushes confused, yet I know that is not the case.  She said this on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News and they did not force her to explain this opinion, and that was expected.  Yet if according to Dana Perino, and we did not have a terrorist attack in America under President Bush, I must now ask what is her explanation for why we are in Iraq and Afghanistan.  If we were not attacked, then why are we fighting?

Watch Dana Perino talk nonsense below.

The Big Hate by Paul Krugman

The Oklahoma City bombing, the second largest terrorist attack on American soil

Paul Krugman provides a very good prospective on the new wave of American terrorist attacks.  Read HERE.