Saudi Women Drivers 9-30-2017

30, September 2017              Saudi Women Drivers

After decades of defiance by Saudi women activists, the Saudi kingdom has finally lifted the driving ban. There were no religious reasons for the ban as cars did not exist at the time of Mohammed. The kingdom gave some fuzzy reasons for restricting women from driving – arguing they lacked the mental dexterity, damage to the ovaries, distraction to male drivers and increase the likelihood of infidelity.  In the early days of the faith, women were fiercely independent riding donkeys unsupervised, without being encumbered with head coverings.

The Al Saud ruling family must do more to distance itself from the “stone age” Wahhabi clerics who impose their ultra-strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Wahhabism is one of the ideological pillars of global jihadi terrorism.

Women continue to be an underused resource.  More women attend universities than men but only make up 15% of the workforce.  It is time to eliminate the wilayah (guardianship) system and the head to toe body covering which is likely to impact peripheral vision while driving.  The Saudi kingdom must do much more to promote complete gender equality.

Repeal the Jones Act 9-28-2017

28, September 2017                    Repeal the Jones Act 

The Jones Act was enacted to establish a trading monopoly, to maximize profits for US corporations. This has severely hampered recovery from hurricanes, IRMA and Maria. The Act prohibits non-US shipping companies from delivering critical goods to the beleaguered island. Under this Act, vessels entering Puerto Rico must pay punitive tariffs, fees, and taxes which are passed on to Puerto Rico consumers.

The US Virgin Islands has moved off the radar and is suffering similar neglect from the US.

It is interesting that the Jones Act was suspended this year to benefit Texas and Florida during hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Why are Puerto Ricans not afforded the same courtesy?

Trump took his eye off the ball preoccupied for five days firing his racist tweets about the NLF flag kneeing controversy. This was odd coming from a man who has shown utter disdain for the significance of the flag.

Living in his tight bubble, Trump was heaping praise on himself saying he was doing “a "great," "amazing," "tremendous" and "incredible" job. This was reminiscent of President Bush gushing that FEMA boss, “was doing a heck of a job” during the Katrina debacle.

Trump’s declares war on NFL 9-25-2017

25, September 2017            Trump’s declares war on NFL

While many parts of the country, are still recovering from devastating floods, Trump found the time to criticize Colin Kaepernick and declare war on the NFL with his juvenile tweets. It was classic Trump playbook egging on his supporters, blessed with white privilege, to voice their racist rants. It was revealed that while Trump directed his ire at predominantly black athletes with slurs he defended the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va., as “very fine people.”

Black athletes are the modern gladiators of American sports. Sports are the few opportunities that offer them an escape from poverty. They sacrifice their bodies to punishing pain for the enjoyment of predominantly white fans. 

African-Americans have every right to voice their outrage over police brutality and daily humiliations living in a very oppressive society which has been made infinitely worse by Trump’s racist taunts. The American flag is not a symbol of pride for those living under such oppression.

Colin is an icon on and off the field. This is the man who helped to organize relief supplies to famine-stricken Somalia and invested his time and money to needy communities back home. Trump is the quintessential anti-Christ who seeks to destroy Colin’s reputation. Those who choose to remain silent in the face of injustice, like the majority of Republicans are un-American, whereas Kaepernick and his fellow-travelers are the real American heroes.

Let’s us hope the loud protestations of the NFL league follow through and offer Colin his rightful place on the field. 

Trump’s UN Speech 9-22-2017

22, September 2017                             Trump’s UN Speech

Mimicking the personas of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood (“make my day”) Mr. Trump huffed and puffed and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea and kill its 25 million people pitting two highly unstable leaders to the utter dismay of UN members and the world at large. It was evident that Mr. Trump was playing to his supporters who seem to relish his “tough guy” approach. It is a pity Trump sought 5 deferments when he was drafted when he could have become a real hero.

The world’s most tyrannical despots, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, The Philippines Turkey, and Syria . . .  were omitted from Trump’s tirade. Instead, he took aim at Shia Iran to placate his latest loves – Sunni King Saud and Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu who responded to his speech with enthusiastic applause.

Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, smarting under Trump’s bellicose language and insults called Trump the "new Hitler" of international politics.

The speech was a horrifying grotesque spectacle. There is no better way to precipitate armed conflict and possibly the destruction of the entire planet than to publically berate your adversary. The North Korean leader has every right to be wary of America’s intentions. Remember Saddam Hussein didn’t possess WMD’s and died. Kaddafi of Libya gave up his nuclear weapons and suffered a similar fate. There is also a real possible danger that Trump might initiate an armed conflict to “rally Americans around the flag” and distract from Mueller’s investigations.

War Crimes 9-22-2017

22, September 2017                         War Crimes

A major new investigation by Amnesty International reveals a US bomb killed 16 civilians and seriously wounded 17 more in Yemen last month. 

Among the survivors was a 5-year-old girl Buthaina, whose photograph went viral in the Arab media, social media even the mainstream media following the US strike. Buthaina lost her whole family. Bomb fragments matched the US made components used in laser-guided bombs. 

Photographs of the bomb victims also went viral intensifying hostility towards Saudi Arabia and it major military supplier, the US. It’s hard to imagine any incident could intensify more anger more than witnessing a whole family blown to pieces. How can we possibly make the false claim we are a force for good?  We continue to supply billions of weapons to the Gulf States totally unconcerned of the devastating loss of civilian life our weapons can cause.  Many Arab countries are calling Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US as the new the axis of evil.

Please tweet, POTUS Halt all weapons sales to the Gulf States immediately these are being used to slaughter large number of civilians which is a war crime

Medicare for all 9-20-2017

20, September 2017                      Medicare for all

Kudos to Sen. Sanders for unveiling a Medicare-for-All (MFA) Bill with 15 patriotic co-sponsors.

It is unconscionable that the pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, hospital corporations, medical device manufacturers and, behind them all, Wall Street—are profiting from human suffering.

If we can send people to the moon and create technical wizardly surely we can craft an equitable health care system. Let our lawmakers study the successful systems in countries like Britain, Germany, and Switzerland, Canada and Australia and cherry pick the best features of each system.

The MFA would eliminate 20-25% overhead of the insurance companies and their obscene profits and salaries. Doctors and nursing associations welcome a MFA system which would eliminate the cumbersome billing system and would substantially lower drug prices. The system could easily be funded by eliminating Pentagon waste and Wall Street excesses.

Following Sanders clarion call, millions of Americans tweeted their support. Hundreds of people flooded town halls across the country to voice their support. The people have spoken. It is time for Congress to act and reflect the will of the people.

Let’s us not squander this pivotal moment in US history. The time for Medicare-for-All is NOW.

Agent Orange – America’s shame 9-17-2017

17, September 2017             Agent Orange – America’s shame

Ken Burns’s documentary, “Vietnam”, compels us to revisit the horrors of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, – countries that never threatened the US.  These three countries suffered a staggering 3.8 million deaths. A large number of civilians continue to suffer horrific birth defects from exposure to US chemicals.

The long tortuous history of Vietnam and Agent Orange should shame all Americans. Fifty years ago, the US sprayed more than 20 million gallons of various herbicides over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1961 to 1971. Agent Orange, which contained the deadly chemical, dioxin, was the most commonly used herbicide. It was later proven to cause serious health issues—including cancer, birth defects, rashes and severe psychological and neurological problems—among the “Vietnamese” people as well as among returning U.S. servicemen and their families. Oblivious of the dangers, US serviceman used the empty 55-gallon drums for makeshift showers.

The Pentagon denied such health hazards fearful of the huge liabilities that would have to be paid to the victims.

Chemical companies were well aware of the birth-deformity hazards of their products but chose to remain silent. The offspring of the soldiers continue to suffer exceptionally high birth-rate defects. It is time we offered unconditional apologies to the Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians, massive reparations and offers to clean up the deadly deposits of Agent Orange.

 

Crime & Punishment 9-13-2017

13, September 2017                       9-11 Crime & Punishment

As the nation marks the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, questions persist about the role Saudi Arabia played in the attacks.  Why has Saudi Arabia been a free pass when 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia? Families and survivors are continuing their efforts to take Saudi Arabia to trial. Investigative reporter, Andrew Cockburn, has found new evidence alleging that Saudi Arabia funded a “dry run” two years before the attacks. Lawyers of the plaintiff’s families and insurance companies say the new allegations offer "a pattern of both financial and operational support" by the Saudi government.

Senator Bob Graham, the former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, co-chair of the joint congressional inquiry into the 9/11 terrorist attacks agreed that the GW Bush administration concocted a false story that Iraq was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and felt it better to “bury” Saudi Arabia’s involvement given our oil dependent economy.

Interrogators at Guantánamo were given instructions to torture detainees into falsely linking the 9/11 hijackings with Iraq. It seems the ruling elite placed a higher premium maintaining their special relationship with Saudi Arabia than the victims of 9/11. Mr. Trump’s obsequious behavior bowing and fawning in front of the “mighty” King Saud seems to confirm that that the US is on a downward morality spiral. Weapon sales to the messianic Saudi’s trump all considerations of human rights. Let’s make ‘America Great” by selling billions in weapons sales to these merchants of death.

India’s mafia, Modi’s shame 9-13-2017

13, September 2017                     India’s mafia, Modi’s shame

India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has become victim to its “deadly embrace” with the RSS wing of the party. Much like the US, the duo has unleashed a growing intolerance that threatens the very foundation of its democracy.

For example, the sanctity of cows seems far more important than the welfare of its poor and low cast castaways.

While cows get a free pass. bullocks are not so lucky. India has now become the largest exporter of beef in the world employing millions of workers and generating $4 billion in profit.

Although the Supreme Court suspended Modi’s government ruling outlawing the killing of cows, low caste Hindus and Muslims have been targeted because they have traditionally engaged in the meat and leather industry.

In most cities cows have the right of passage, their emaciated bodies wondering the streets ingesting anything that comes their way, including plastics, to satisfy their hunger pangs.

To soften Modi’s image, India’s film censor board, headed by a Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart, ruled that references to “cows”, “Hindu India,” “Hindutva view of India” — meaning Hindu nationalism — and “Gujarat, be cut.

Modi’s chief surrogate is Yogi Adityannath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, a Hindu warrior who has declared a fatwa on all Muslims calling them “a crop of two-legged animals that has to be stopped” shouting at one rally, “we are all preparing for religious war!” This mimics the language used by the Hutus calling the Tutsis “cockroaches” in the Rwandan genocide or Trump calling Hispanics crossing our border, “murderers and rapists”.

The implications for India’s democracy are chilling and fraught with the uncertainty.

The recent murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, a fierce critic of rising Hindu-nationalist militancy is further evidence of growing intolerance of an independent media.  “The message to journalists and all dissenters is loud and clear,” tweeted Siddhartha Bhatia, founding editor of the Indian online news site, The Wire. “We are watching you and one day we will get you.” Anti-Muslim hate crimes have risen a staggering 10-fold since Modi came to power in 2014.

Fortunately some concerned Indians are fighting back.

A caravan of peace activists has arrived in the capital, New Delhi to take part in a month-long journey across India to highlight the rise of lynching and violence against Muslims, Dalits and other minority groups. Led by activist Harsh Mander, the activists are visiting victims of hate crimes

Daring To Drive 9-12-2017

^{12, September 2017                           Daring To Drive}

^{Manual Al-Sharif superb book, ‘Daring to Drive’ provides a disturbing insight into the suffocating life for women in Saudi Arabia. In 2011 “Rosa Parks” Manual defied Saudi’s archaic laws and decided to drive alone, and was promptly arrested and charged with “driving while female”.}

^{In 1990, prior to Manual’s courageous effort to buck the Saudi dominated patriarchal system, forty-seven women defied the ban on driving. For 30 minutes (much like Thelma and Louise) they set up their cars in a convoy and drove around the capital City, Riyadh, until the religious police caught and arrested them. These 47 women, known as the “women drivers” were vilified for the rest of their lives. Those who had government jobs were fired and suffered religious persecution. The late journalist and photographer, Saleh Al-Azzaz who documented the protest was arrested and tortured. The cruel irony - there is nothing in the Saudi traffic code that prohibits women driving.}

Aung San Suu Kyi 9-11-2017

11, September 2017                           Aung San Suu Kyi  

Buddhism has had a long tradition for promoting non-violence but that all changed with the ethnic cleansing of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and now the killing of the Rohingya. 

The de-facto leader of the government, Aung San Suu Kyi, has now become an apologist for the Buddhist-majority Myanmar who is slaughtering the Muslim Rohingya minority.

Kyi, who was put under house arrest for 15 years for defying Myanmar’s military dictators, is now defending the ethnic cleansing of the darker-skinned Rohingya and denounces them as terrorists and illegal immigrants.

As a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Kyi was honored for her incredible courage for resisting oppression. She has now soiled her once stellar reputation by condoning the butchery of its defenseless minority. In the ongoing pogrom, even children are not spared. This harks back to the Rwanda genocide when the Hutu majority tried to wipe out the minority Tutsi.

Kyi even went as far as criticizing the international aid agencies for spreading misinformation.

She hit a new low by claiming a reported brutal gang rape as “fake rape”. Tragically, the reputation of this former moral giant has been forever tarnished. Calls for the Nobel Committee to revoke her Peace Prize seem to be getting louder.  

DACA 9-8-2017

8, September 2017                      DACA

Trump’s decision to kill DACA is a moral obscenity evicting 800,000 young people to a terrifying, uncertain, future. Killing DACA would be killing the American dream for the dreamers. It reeks of racism. Their only crime was to be born with a brown skin. The racist AG Jeff Sessions tried to justify his boss’s edict with voodoo economics, claiming dreamers were an economic burden on America. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The dreamers are law abiding citizens making significant contributions to the US economy and are a huge asset to a rapidly aging population.

Japan is paying a heavy price for their hostile immigration policy.

Fewer and fewer people are entering the workface. The government is encouraging singles to get married and have lots of children – so far the results have been dismal.

Trump’s Grandfather 9-5-2017

5, September 2017                      Trump’s Grandfather

While Mr. Trump declares war on the children of illegal immigrants, perhaps he should remember that his German grandfather begged not to be deported from Germany.

Friedrich Trump wanted to return to Germany with his wife and daughter after having emigrated to the US. He was refused reentry because he failed to complete his mandatory military service and to register his initial emigration to the US 20 years earlier. This seems to be a family trait. Remember how Donald Trump successfully used his wealth and connections to evade the Vietnam draft 5 times. 

Donald Trump's German grandfather responded to the royal decree to leave the country and never return, by pleading to the prince regent of Bavaria not to deport him.

He described the moment he received the news as "a lightning strike from fair skies". "We were paralyzed with fright, our happy family life was tarnished. My wife has been overcome by anxiety, and my lovely child has become sick," he wrote. "Why should we be deported?" he asked, "This is very, very hard for a family. What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree."

This honest, salt of the earth, later made his fortune as a brothel owner. 

I wonder how the poor children of DACA feel as the dark clouds of deportation loom ever closer.