Cancel Culture

Hello all right?? Today I bring to you, a reflection on what has been our way of thinking about something or someone... In this photo, we have two women, both covered the same way, but each with different meaning... yes, different meaning... the first picture, is an Arabic and Muslim woman, she is culturally represented, and the second picture, we have an American and Christian woman, representing what she does as fashion... In the eyes of many, the first image has been seen as an oppression, that Muslim women have no rights or powers over themselves, are forced by their husbands, to dress in an unwanted way, and we end up forgetting that culture , whatever it is, imposes virtues, behaviors and rules of good coexistence... the way we analyze our culture, we want it to be that way for all peoples... For the second image, ahhhh, there's no oppression, it's just fashion, we dress as we want... yes, unfortunately that's been our analogy... Have you ever heard of cultural approp...

Listen to a reading of this article: ❖ There's a quote from an ancient Buddhist text called the Dhammapada that's often translated as, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” In other words our mental habits shape our personality and determine how that personality will behave, and that behavior contributes to the shaping of the world. We see a similar line in the Upanishads of Hinduism: "As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.” These are two different ways of expressing the same timeless observation we see pop up in various forms throughout philosophical traditions around the world: that our actions arise from our thoughts and our thoughts arise from our conditioned mental habits, so we need to be very careful about what those mental habits are since it will ultimately determine our destiny. But the pe...

China’s FM: What the U.S. says VS. what it does on Afghanistan 1. The U.S. says it cares about Afghan reconstruction, but "took away all that can be taken & blew up all that can’t be taken" as it withdrew. It even blew up Kabul airport's navigation & Afghans' civil planes! 2. The U.S. says it spent a huge fortune evacuating tens of thousands of Afghans it cares about, but it left behind tens of millions of ordinary Afghans & refugees to suffer, and offered them 0 dollar. 3. The U.S. lectures other nations about human rights, but it has kept violating the human rights of Afghans with illegal actions such as drone strikes killing civilians. 4. The U.S. says nothing about its responsibility for causing the chaos and bloodshed, but finger points or criticizes Afghanistan’s neighbors’ constructive efforts to restore stability. 5. The U.S. claims to be fighting a war on terror, but it took ETIM out of the list of terrorist organization, w...

Noam Chomsky Manufacturing Consent and the Media: Corbyn and the Press By  Paul Knaggs , September 10, 2021 Know the rules in press minipulation: Manufacturing Consent Renowned critic and always MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, one of the classic voices of intellectual dissent in the last decades, has compiled a list of the ten most common and effective strategies resorted to by the agendas “hidden” to establish a manipulation of the population through the media. The media serves an important function in a democratic society. Historically the media have proven highly efficient in moulding public opinion, their power is in the main unchecked. Known as The Fourth Estate or fourth power a term that refers to the press and news media both in explicit capacity of advocacy and implicit ability to frame political issues. Though it is not formally recognised as a part of a political system, it wields significant indirect social influence. The derivation of the term fourth estate a...

Independence will free us from leaders like Boris Johnson who view being Scottish as a 'political disability' – Laura Waddell I welcome the announcement there is to be another Scottish independence referendum before the end of 2023. It’s time. Let’s go. By Laura Waddell Wednesday, 8th September 2021, 4:45 pm Here is our chance to rid ourselves of the Westminster system once and for all, a system so engrained, knotted, whorled and warped from centuries of elitism, that the current leader of the UK is another braying Bullingdon boy and even the Labour Party leader is a Sir. A system where any attempts at change are heckled by hyenas in the building and hounded by their compatriots in the press outside. A system that has held Scotland in outright contempt for hundreds of years. Here is our chance to get away from a political system that could elect a man like Boris Johnson as leader, a man who, under his time as editor of the Spectator, allowed publication of a poem ca...

"I served two deployments in Afghanistan. What I saw and did there disgusted me. Now I spend my life trying to convince kids not to join the military and not to fight these wars for the ruling class.⁣ I speak to high school and college-aged students now. I feel overwhelmed by all those I’m not reaching. I constantly ask myself if it’s all in vain. The US military is working with a billion-dollar-a-year advertising budget. More than 10,000 military recruiters stalk the hallways of high schools across the country targeting those with the fewest options after graduation. Black and brown people are disproportionately recruited.⁣ But know one thing: bottom-up socialism, communicated one conversation at a time and then collectively struggled for, is the only thing that can get in the way of another major war, the ongoing climate catastrophe and increased exploitation and oppression in the world. So I keep at it. I keep going to the schools trying to communicate the benefits of socialism...

Zodiac Maritime, the Mercer Street’s operator, has a long history of working closely with both the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Israeli intelligence unit Mossad, using its ships to ferry arms and operatives around the region for covert operations, including assassinations "GULF OF OMAN — Earlier this summer, the Israeli-operated oil tanker Mercer Street was attacked by drones, allegedly emanating from Iran, disabling the ship and killing two people on board. The incident, portrayed as an unprovoked attack on a civilian vessel, caused worldwide outrage, and marked a new low in Iranian relations with Israel and its Western allies. But a MintPress investigation can now reveal that Zodiac Maritime, the Mercer Street’s operator, has a long history of working closely with both the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Israeli intelligence unit Mossad, using its ships to ferry arms and operatives around the region for covert operations, including assassinations." Article: https://www.m...

According to a shocking  report released by the US Treasury Department this morning, the richest 1% of Americans aren’t paying $163 billion they owe in taxes each year. The richest 5%, meanwhile, fail to pay $307 billion — over half the total of unpaid taxes. The report says that the wealthiest Americans account for the vast majority of unpaid taxes thanks to their capacity to hire accountants and tax preparers who help them shield their wealth.  The wealthiest Americans are cheating the government out of $307 billion every year. But the government will tell them its broke. That is after giving away 2.2 trillion dollars to private contractors in Afghanistan. Forbes Article: Richest 5% Of Americans ‘Choose Not To Pay’ $307 Billion In Taxes Each Year, Treasury Reports https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/09/08/richest-5-of-americans-choose-not-to-pay-307-billion-in-taxes-each-year-treasury-reports/?sh=a308cbd459df

Excerpt: "CHINESE SCIENTISTS HAVE quietly made their country the world leader in energy production. China now produces 7.5 trillion kWh (kilowatt hours) of electricity a year, far ahead of the United States’ 4.4 trillion kWh. Yet the average Chinese person uses less than half the electricity of the average American or Australian. “China will lead the world in nuclear energy, along with all other energy sources, sooner than you think,” analyst James Conca wrote recently in Forbes. China’s energy restructuring plans are likely to see it becoming a global front-runner in multiple forms of energy, including nuclear, wind, hydroelectricity, and renewables." Source: https://www.fridayeveryday.com/2021/09/06/chinese-race-to-build-nuclear-plants-while-westerners-are-shutting-theirs/

China snubbed America's poodle Australia's and its iron ore. Australia has been crying foul for the loss of trade.  Seeing that the new cold war has targeted China and its logistical challenges to access mineral resources. Guinea has become an alternative to Australia and the capacity of the West to control and limit China's ability to make steel.  Despite the Democratic fallibilities already existing in Guinea, the timing and character of the current coup against its political leader may have a significant impact on China's iron ore supply objectives in the country. These untimely events seem all too convenient for the geopolitically oriented West. And the sordid legacy of the US's interference on the continent, facilitating and supporting prior coups to disrupt the then cold war rival- the Soviet Union, makes them suspect. It would not be a stretch to imagine the surly hands of the CIA in this Guinean crisis. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/ne...

The boys who never grow up: Sad Little Men, by Richard  Beard, reviewed A furious denunciation of the private boarding school system which produces damaged men prone to dissembling, hypocrisy, snobbery – and a blind belief in their right to run  the country https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-boys-who-never-grow-up-sad-little-men-by-richard-beard-reviewed Commentary: ‘His book makes the same point again and again with elegant variation because it’s a point that needs thrashing into us: that the system produces damaged men who are nevertheless encouraged to believe they can run the country. Since there is no longer the colonial service for them to enter, the country they end up damaging is their own.’ These have been my thoughts for years- abolishing (or majorly reforming) England’s private school system is one of the first ports of call if we’re to survive as a nation. I’ll be reading this book. NB. Also, this review (in the Golden Dawn-celebrating Spectator no...

China's BRI opens new routes into South East Asia enriching the region, accessing the Indian Ocean, and lessening China's reliance on the South China Sea as a primary access point, which is why the US is giving so much attention to it. "The rail line will enable China to trans-ship cargo from Singapore Port via Myanmar. Cargo will be shipped from Singapore Port to Yangon Port. From there it will be transported to Chin Shwe Haw in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone by road, and then by rail from Lincang to Chengdu. It will take three days to get from Lincang to Chengdu by rail, according to the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar. The route is the first to link western China with the Indian Ocean. And it will significantly reduce the time needed to import cargo to landlocked Yunnan Province. The route will go through Mandalay, Lashio and Hsenwi on the Myanmar side."

A 14-year-old Mauritanian chess player has pulled out of the Junior World Cup because the draw set him up to face an Israeli player, Middle East Monitor reported on Wednesday. “I decided to retire, because I refuse to play with a representative of a fictional country that in reality does not exist,” Abdel Rahim Al-Talib Muhammad said. Talented player Abdul Rahim Al-Talib ranked 47th out of 215 players in the world. The Mauritanian National League welcomed his decision and honored him upon his return to the country. “We salute our dear son Abdel Rahman Al-Talib Mohammed, this exceptional genius which honored our country and our people by declaring a boycott of the grim Zionist face,” said Ghulam Al-Hajj, president of the league. Israel is often accused of using its presence in international sports and cultural events as a means to ‘sportswash’ its human rights violations. Other Arab athletes have taken public stances against the normalization of the relations under the guise...

September 3, 2021. Job Sikhala is calling for the kind of critical discussion the cause for change in Zimbabwe desperately deserves.  I would add that there are many people who have sought to “unpack the equation” as Sikhala puts it, but the stubborn facts they share are often viewed as inconvenient, and those who share them as “Killjoys and Grinches” by some who tend to reduce the purpose of the cause to fulfilling the political destinies of individuals and organizations. We must have the courage and decency to call that tendency what it is: a dangerous distortion, even betrayal of the cause which is supposed to be about the people. History has taught us repeatedly that in Africa, popularity alone cannot win elections against incumbents whose strategic intelligence opposition movements tragically underestimate, and who are as resourced and as determined to retain power as they are old, corrupt and incompetent. In 2012, I hosted the late Morgan Tsvangirai and his team i...

Excerpt: "Ultra-loose monetary policy in the US and the European Union during the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly helped to fuel this surge in purchases of Chinese assets. A huge amount of money is flowing out of the US and the EU, and China is a safer destination for it than other emerging-market economies." A decade ago, few economists were bullish about the growth of China’s external financial strength. But the government’s commitment to capital-market opening and renminbi internationalization – together with China’s sheer size – have fueled a rapid financial rise that will only continue. Source: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-is-becoming-a-global-financial-power-by-zhang-jun-2021-08?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_campaign=reactive&utm_post-type=link&utm_format=16:9&utm_creative=link-image&utm_post-date=2021-09-04 https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-is-becoming-a-global-financial-po...

[ Commentary - Matt Kennard]  Interesting declassified letter from UK embassy in Kabul in 1980 saying opposition to the progressive reforms of Soviet-backed govt in Afghanistan (such as land reform removing landlord control, banning dowry payments) had caused most trouble for Afghan govt, before adding... that it "serves our [British] interests to play up the Islamic nature of the opposition" because "the picture of Islamic freedom fighters is much more acceptable to world opinion than that of stubborn reactionaries determined to maintain a system of feudal antiquity". The CIA, MI6, Pakistan's ISI, then generated their own jihadist insurgency through Operation Cyclone which trained, armed, provided intelligence to Islamic extremists ('Mujahideen') from all over region, including Bin Laden, bringing them to Afghanistan to fight the govt. "In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions...

Can an Independent Scotland stand on its own two feet? [William Waldergrave]  As a civil servant in London, and being part of the establishment, I always accepted the general view that an independent Scotland would not be able to survive on its own without financial help from the London Exchequer. However, when in 1968 I was able to examine the so-called "books" for the first time, I was shocked to find that the position was exactly the opposite and that Scotland contributed much more to the UK economy than its other partners.  This was, of course, before the oil boom. I realised that the Treasury would wish to keep this a secret, as it might feed nationalistic tendencies north of the border, which at that time were very weak.  I took the decision to keep an eye on the situation to see how long it would take for the true facts to emerge, which I felt would only be a short time.  However, the Treasury and the Establishment did an excellent job, aided and a...