I’ve had a short two weeks in the Gulf of Oman, shuttling between a couple of cities, including of course the old hang-out area known as Dubai.
After getting lost a bunch of times in the new suburban neighbourhood my parents moved to, I took a look around and saw/heard the same crap as last time. Recession, increasing crime rates, mega-corporate partnerships, and so on.
Having recovered from the shock of being served by an European at a restaurant (recession all over the place), I decided to write a few short stories summing up some of my favourite conversations and experiences here. These are all unfortunately true for the most part.
The past few weeks have been trying on a number of accounts. Watching good friends getting beaten up and arrested by cops, watching a war machine in propaganda mode after murdering activists bringing aid to Gaza, and (on the positive side) seeing for the first time in Vancouver a massed solidarity movement in support of Palestine.
Just imagine within all this the sheer incompetence of the many in the left to separate reality from propaganda, or the inability to notice how their arguments are tilted in favour of homogenizing movements. Trying indeed. Continue reading ‘Resisting Homogenization: At Home and On the Streets’
On 19 January, as the people of Dubai marvelled at the very rare instance of rain in the city, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was being given muscle relaxant before being smothered. His assassins were 26 operatives that were using fake passports to get around the city. The operation took place quickly and mercilessly, at the end of which the Hamas operative who had been accused of trying to get his organization closer to Iran lay dead. What the agents, who have been by now been identified as Mossad, did not count on was the fallout.
This is a complicated post. This post is about the old colonial policy about divide and rule and how it impacted the world over centuries and continues to do so to this day. This post is about the fallout from the colonial masters, the tatters of cultures they left behind once they decided that multi-nationalism worked far better at creating and maintaining slave culture than actual colonialism. This post is also about cows smuggled inside tunnels. How are these two subject related? Read on.
Divide and conquer was a maxim a lot of Indians I knew spat out with a certain amount of indignation. It came with the realization that said Indians had only realized the British strategy far too late, after it had caused deep enough rifts between religions and classed in the subcontinent to the point that when it was given independence, three different countries had to be created. Continue reading ‘Cows in tunnels’
The man on the left is Jalaluddin Haqqani. He was aided back in the 80s by the CIA in his battles with the Soviets in Afghanistan. He even helped form the post-war government back then. He visited the Reagan White House, and was claimed to be “goodness personified” by Charlie Wilson (Wilson was played by Tom Hanks in a biopic that re-wrote history to say that it was US aid instead of the mujahadin that won the 1980s Afghanistan war).
A bit less than a month ago, a rather special man sat on a flight back from London. He was more than a bit dejected. The European leaders that had flocked to his side had just wagged their fingers at him for the billions his little city owed their nations. He was to them no longer the wunderkid that had raised a metropolis in the middle of a desert.
And then he picked up a copy of the Times that nearly made his royal blood boil right out of his skin onto his gold-threaded kandura.
Upon arriving back home in Dubai, the man, who was Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ordered the Ministry of Information and police to confiscate all copies of the Sunday Times from news stands. Continue reading ‘Drowning sheikhs’
I was meandering through a shop a few months ago - one of those hipster places that sells things that make you feel like you’re not really buying but sharing whatever the hell it is that’s caught your eye.
My friend, who was similarly meandering about pointed to someone and said to me, “Isaac, America’s the only country where people walk about wearing t-shirts with the president’s face on it. It’s weird. You won’t catch anyone in India doing that.”
Now, I’m a thinking man, and this statement got me thinking. Though I’ve only been to my native land, India, for less than a year if one were to stalk me and cumulate each month-long visit, I do take a bit of interest in the culture and politics there. I mean, where the hell else do you have baby-tossing rituals? Continue reading ‘The Technocrats of India’
First of all, I’m shocked to find out from Stim that “Izzy” was Asper’s nickname. Because that was my nickname as a child from the paternal side of the family. Coincidence? Yes, totally.
Incidentally, Comcast is planning to soon bulk up by taking over NBC-Universal. And you thought it was going to end with the latter.
But, this is an excellent segway into all things Israeli.
What has the country been up to? Other than bombing a few more settlements - the whole set-fire-to-the-apples-to-kill-the-worms strategy - it has also gone ahead with planning more settlements in Al Quds. Even the French were a bit miffed. As always, there’s more than meets the eye. Israel has what’s known as a heinous plan afoot. Continue reading ‘Location bloody location’
It is. That magical time of the year that ends a 40-day 12-hour fast observance. Though I didn’t partake this year, I’ll be sure to be celebrating Eid. Especially since North America seems to be going mental over H1N1. Islands in BC are scared about the disease spreading far to thoroughly through the populace. Tourists have cut short their vacations.
Not so in countries with visibly large Muslim populations. Across the globe, people are pouring out to eat and be merry regardless of the hype. Celebrations in Indonesia, the UAE, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere have already been seen as some of the largest ever. It’s also been a time of inter-faith dialogue. IslamOnline had this excellent story about Hindus in India celebrating with Muslims.
The Guardian is pointing to Japan’s new economic recovery signs like it’s the coming of the Messiah. Not to be outdone, Kin Jong is planning to reopen his country’s border with South Korea. It all goes quite nicely with Obama’s sight on world economic recovery on the horizon. And, a Saudi man bought a solid gold penis enlarger. But recovery for who(m - tsk tsk Real News), ask a few of my unemployed friends:
I’ve had a short two weeks in the Gulf of Oman, shuttling between a couple of cities, including of course the old hang-out area known as Dubai.
The past few weeks have been trying on a number of accounts. Watching good friends getting beaten up and arrested by cops, watching a war machine in propaganda mode after murdering activists bringing aid to Gaza, and (on the positive side) seeing for the first time in Vancouver a massed solidarity movement in support of Palestine.
On 19 January, as the people of Dubai marvelled at the very rare instance of rain in the city, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was being given muscle relaxant before being smothered. His assassins were 26 operatives that were using fake passports to get around the city. The operation took place quickly and mercilessly, at the end of which the Hamas operative who had been accused of trying to get his organization closer to Iran lay dead. What the agents, who have been by now been identified as Mossad, did not count on was the fallout.
This is a complicated post. This post is about the old colonial policy about divide and rule and how it impacted the world over centuries and continues to do so to this day. This post is about the fallout from the colonial masters, the tatters of cultures they left behind once they decided that multi-nationalism worked far better at creating and maintaining slave culture than actual colonialism. This post is also about cows smuggled inside tunnels. How are these two subject related? Read on.
The man on the left is Jalaluddin Haqqani. He was aided back in the 80s by the CIA in his battles with the Soviets in Afghanistan. He even helped form the post-war government back then. He visited the Reagan White House, and was claimed to be “goodness personified” by Charlie Wilson (Wilson was played by Tom Hanks in a biopic that re-wrote history to say that it was US aid instead of the mujahadin that won the 1980s Afghanistan war).
A bit less than a month ago, a rather special man sat on a flight back from London. He was more than a bit dejected. The European leaders that had flocked to his side had just wagged their fingers at him for the billions his little city owed their nations. He was to them no longer the wunderkid that had raised a metropolis in the middle of a desert.
I was meandering through a shop a few months ago - one of those hipster places that sells things that make you feel like you’re not really buying but sharing whatever the hell it is that’s caught your eye.
on this post
It is. That magical time of the year that ends a 40-day 12-hour fast observance. Though I didn’t partake this year, I’ll be sure to be celebrating Eid. Especially since North America seems to be going mental over H1N1. Islands in BC are scared about the disease spreading far to thoroughly through the populace. Tourists have cut short their vacations.
The Guardian is pointing to Japan’s new 
Who's talking shit