Bush is coming to Canada, to Halifax and Ottawa. Naturally he'll be met by strong protests and much angry demonstrators,activists and plain anti-American protestors (excuse the limited vocabulary). Of course he won't be able to handle all these 'critics' of his, and he won't be addressing Parliament.

People who turn out to these protests have my support but I think people should not lose fact that GWBush is not the sole perpetrator and mastermind of all his policies, but his administration (VP DCheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld etc.) and his corporate backers. GWBush may be ideal for portraying the ultimate but he is just one cog in the wheel of injustice that rules the world through military force, media perception and free-trade capitalism.
What I'm saying is, "Don't focus so much anger and rage on Bush that you ignore or forget all the other real causes of oppression and exploitation that cause so much evil."

Much has been made of that admirable woman, Margaret Hassan especially her vast humanitarian work among poor Iraqis. Her execution was a very tragic event, as no doubt was that of all hostages in Iraq.
It is right to feel repulsed and outraged by her killing, but it is not to blame her death on all Iraqi or Islamic militants. Several Iraqi resistance groups in fact called for her release and many Iraqis who knew her begged for her release.
Before we all jump to conclusions about the barbarity of those Iraqi militants/extremists please keep in mind that nothing is clear or certain on the circumstances of her death.

This article makes a very valid argument about the American killing of an unarmed man during the campaign in Fallujah and American atrocities in general.
I assume that the point derived is how the media blames all hostage deaths on all Iraqi resistance fighters, yet when western /American soldiers commit murder it's blamed on the individual and not on the whole.

Some people wonder why do I write this blog? What is the purpose of posting and linking to articles on world affairs and news? Well, it's just my feeble and idealistic but honest attempt to draw attention to issues that interest me, on news and articles on all the terror and evil all over the world.
However I really got the idea from other people, specifically the writers of instapundit.com and kurtnimmo.com. These people inspired me that it is meaningful to write/ blog about these issues in order to inform people, to draw attention by linking to various sources. By no means am I saying my blog is anywhere equal to them, it is not. Kurtnimmo (I'm not sure about his real name) writes some really good stuff and most of his postings are his own articles and opinions which are anti-Bush and liberal. Instapundit is allegedly, the most popular blog (read that in a Wired magazine) and he is a real, strong Bush supporter and right-winger. Also his blog has a lot of links to news and his model is the one who I more base this blog on. Also 'Instapundit' writes some really prejudiced (though honest and blunt) and provocative material.
It's ironic that I got the main idea for this blog from somebody who has the opposite ideas and viewpoints I have.

Investigating imperialism is another newsite run by an individual that I find is quite good. This site also has articles by other writers and some which can be controversial and a few seem conspiratorial. It's got numerous articles on different trouble spots including Haiti, Venezuela, Middle East and Africa and many times, they reveal information and viewpoints that are vastly different from those of the mainstream media.

A lot of people get skeptical of all these 'alternative' information that seems contradictory or is not published or reported in mainstream media but I think it's really important for people to broaden their knowledge, their ideas and perspectives. Reading or checking up 'alternative' media is the best way of doing this and while there may be unbelievable or bigotted material sometimes, keep in mind the mainstream media has the same. It's impossible for anyone to assume mainstream media is fully fair, honest, balanced and right.
So please give alternative media a fair chance. Instead of CNN, Time, newspapers, check out some of the links I have on the side of the blog, and also the sites I mentioned above. Read The Nation, Harper's, Adbusters and Zmag.
These 'alternative' media like the ones I mentioned, all do a great job pointing out injustice and telling us the story behind the scenes. The world is a dark place, and many times, what we read about may seem hard to believe, but sometimes the truth is strange.

On the subject of Islam, it seems there's so much stereotyping against it but also sympathy (from others). As one of the largest religions in the world in terms of number of believers and countries that practice it and its cultural and historical impact, Islam should be learned about and better understood if we desire a greater chance of peace and tolerance, which seems more and more unlikely. This interview with a former member of a militant Islamic organisation in Trinidad, has some interesting opinions and explanations on various aspects of Islam. Certainly the one about Saudi Arabia being like the Amish is quite amusing but it does ring a little true.

Fallujah has been secured and a crushing defeat inflicted on the Iraqi resistance. 50-plus Americans dead but over 1000 Iraqi resistance fighters killed, and many more civilians and non-combatants. The carnage is terrible and no doubt this 'victory' by the US will not lessen but only increase the bitterness and hatred of the locals against their 'occupiers/saviors'. Obviously the Americans are using fear and military might to win over the locals, as written in the second the double-article in the above link, hoping that overwhelming military power will make the Iraqis come to their senses and start supporting the Americans.

Yasser Arafat, RIP also.
There's so much conflict about his legacy, he was well-loved and idolised by most of his people but hated and detested by the Israelis, by the Americans and others who thought him corrupt, inefficient, and dishonest.
This article presents a different view from that commonly expressed in most news-media articles and reports, one that paints an ironic picture of Arafat's actions and their impact on his people.
We can only hope that the situation in the Palestinian territories don't flare out of control.

Afghanistan has largely been forgotten by (American) mainstream newsmedia but that doesn't mean that things there are good and just. This news feature from The Nation's website shows just how chaotic and oppressive conditions have remained like before. Warlords of different factions rule the countryside and the government in Kabul are not blameless themselves. Also the democractic elections that took place weren't exactly democratic as the feature mentions.

The coming elections in Iraq are not exactly democratic either, and Naomi Klein writes about how and why the US administration has gathered so much hatred, ill-will and mistrust from the Iraqis concerning the running of their country.

The battle in Fallujah is almost coming to an end with US forces gaining control of most of the city and inflicting huge losses on the Iraqi resistance. However there is nothing beneficial to the Iraqi people from this victory or occupation for that matter. There's certainly great suffering by the people of Fallujah that we may never be aware of and know, but is happening.

Fianlly, this article also from the Nation, is on Columbia, more specifically the mounting US-supported war on drugs and rebels, one which is the longest-running war in the western hemisphere and also the bloodiest. While both sides in this conflict, the leftist FARC guerillas and the government with their rightist paramilitary 'allies' have committed serious violence and atrocities in this war, the government is reputed to carry out human-rights violations like assasinations and imprisonments of government civil opponents.

Pat Tillman A real UnAmerican hero

-Pat Tillman, you were a brave, humble and strong man. You had such great fortitude and self belief,you seemed like you could do anything and succeed. You walked on to your college football squad, you won a starting position there, you graduated summa cum laude from college in three and a half years, you got drafted to the NFL, you did a marathon one off-season, another you did a triathlon, you started as a substitute and became a starter, you got a multimillion dollar contract and you joined the US Army and became a Ranger. You served well and in the end you made the ultimate sacrifice for your country. I admire you greatly.

Many of you might not know this person or even heard about him but he was a very special guy. He was a graduate of Arizona state who graduated with honors in marketing. He was a NFL football player for 4 years, a starter at safety for the Arizona Cardinals with a multi-million dollar paycheque.
Six months after the September 11 attacks levelled the WTC towers in New York, Pat Tillman went to his coach and told him he was leaving the team and quitting his job to join the Army. This he did without any fanfare or publicity and against the advice of his own agent, he and his brother, an aspiring minor league baseball player signed up for the Army and 'tried out' for the Rangers-argurably the toughest, roughest elite band in the Army.
They both made it and Pat Tillman did his first tour of duty in the Middle East before returning in December 2003 to visit his former coach and teammates for a game in Seattle, then slipping out a side door afterwards to avoid any reporters. In fact he never gave any interviews since it was announced he was joining the Army. He also made a pact with his family to stay silent about his service.

Pat Tillman was a guy who never seeked the limelight or glory, but he was blunt and determined, he always worked hard and dedicated himself. He was a guy who didn't own a cellphone and biked to team practices. He married his high school girlfriend right before joining the Army and he used to climb the light towers overlooking his school's stadium to reflect and think in solitude.
His attributes of humility, courage and hard work are qualities that everyone should strive for and attain. He lived a simple life, worked hard at his goals and succeeded without any fanfare, bravado or false humility.

I really admire him for 3 reasons, all of which make my title clearer, all which embody qualities which go against what society deems most important in America:

-he gave up a glamorous status, guaranteed job and rich contract as a NFL football starter for a stint in an elite fighting unit, undergoing extreme hardships and danger whilst earning little doing it (like all soldiers do).

-he lived a simple life without many of the luxuries we take for granted like cellphones and expensive cars. He never valued material things and wealth, especially when he turned down a more lucrative contract ($9 million for 5 years) with another team because of loyalty to his team that had drafted him

-Shunning the limelight and mass adulation, he turned down various offers for book and movie contracts about his life, especially during his visit back in 2003 after his first tour of duty.

Pat Tillman was not some crazy football player who relished the chance of killing some Middle Eastern 'infidels' nor was he some kind of patriotic flag-waver. He joined the Army maybe because of a sense of duty after the damage done on September 11, certainly not because he wanted to fight a war. He never used the word "patriotism" when explaining his reason to enlist, and he didn't like to talk about it. He cited his great-grandfather serving in World War 2 and other family who served in wars and compared himself to them saying, "And I haven't really done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that."

Pat Tillman died at age 27 in Afghanistan this April after being hit by friendly fire while on patrol in a hostile area.

His death was no worse than any other combatant who gave his or her life, his patriotism and service was no less or more heroic than any other soldier, but his spirit and life stands as a true inspiration and in great contrast to the negative values that are so prevalent in society.

Well, the final push into Fallujah to reclaim the city and cleanse it of all those resistance "fundamentalists/rebels" is going on with mounting casualty tolls and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Those poor civilians will suffer the most, especially from the American artillery and air-strikes against military and civilian targets. The American military have commited so many war crimes in Iraq, and more will be done in Fallujah, including the bombing of a hospital, (see previous posting).

It's old news by now that George W. Bush will be the president for another 4 years, for sure there'll be a lot of soul-searching and bitter infighting among the Democratic party faithful over what went wrong and who'll step up to lead them. It's sad that Bush has a lot of supporters and got many votes because of his 'morals' and 'faith', which haven't done any good to the people of Iraq, American soldiers and many thousands of working class Americans. It's obvious that Bush has used or exploited his 'faith' to justify his actions in invading Iraq and sell the occupation and fighting to many Americans, who believe in him and that he's their best protector against terrorism.

This is a fine speech by Arundhati Roy, the famous female Indian author and human-rights activist (though she claims she's not). She made this speech on accepting the Sydney Peace prize, on the danger to justice in the world.
She goes into great detail and clarity on the injustices carried out in Iraq. The corruption, the killings, the flagrant violation of international law in invading a country with false reasons,
the suing for millions by American corporations over 'lost profits' because of the 1991 Gulf War, the tragic effects of the economic sanctions against Iraq in the 90s. This list goes on and on, and shows how much injustice exists today and gives you an idea of why so much hatred exists against the Americans over there.

Right after their presidential election, US forces have launched their campaign to capture Fallujah,a Sunni town that has remained in Iraqi resistance hands since April this year.
There will be tough fighting and terrible casualties on both sides but the worse thing will be the plight of many civilians who will lose their possesions, their homes and their lives.
With their callous disregard for civilian lives and safety, the Americans will use overwhelming force including artillery and airstrikes to destroy selected targets which includes civilian homes and infrastructure including hospitals.

The Ivory Coast in West Africa is undergoing serious fighting as government troops push on rebel-held positions. French peacekeeper troops have been attacked by government forces and fought back, allegedly killing some civilians.
This former French colony and economic pride of West Africa has deteriorated greatly during the 90s up to now, with civil war breaking out in 2002. There is a lot of poverty and economical decline in this country as with many of its neighbours.

It's still taking time to sink in but GWBush won again. This time in a fair and outright way, winning both the electoral and the popular vote.
Or did he??
Check this article by the Greg Palast, author of The best democracy money can buy and the feature on the illegal and deceitful way how Bush won Florida back in 2000. What he writes is definitely worth considering.
There's also the twin issues of malfunctioning or inaccurate (or rigged) vote results with electronic machines which seemed to favor GWBush and the discrepancy between exit polls (polls taken of voters after voting on who they voted for) and actual results.

However it can't be overlooked that John Kerry was not the ideal leader candidate, and that his party and platform were weak in many ways, including in Ohio. If Bush's victory is a legitimate one, then the Democratic party of the US must be prepared to stand up more(as well as all Americans who don't support Bush) and adopt a better strategy and attitude towards its people.

Today's the eve of the US presidential elections, and many hope,including me,the eve of GWBush's term as president (not exactly as the incumbent remains president until inauguration of the new president in December or January).
These last few years have brought nothing but lies, deceits, trickery and oppression from the American (GWB) administration. Nothing illustrates this more than the Iraq war and occupation but along the way there's been countless examples and incidents revealing the guile and injustice perpetuated by GWBush and his administration. See Fahrenheit 911, remember VP Cheney telling a senator IN the senate chamber to "Go FUCK yourself!", read about the awarding of contracts without any bidding to Halliburton and the other shady business deals that went on, read about the growing deficit of the US, the continuous support to big business corporations, the Weapons of Mass Destruction accusation bullshit which even had them threatening Iran for a while and the branding of anyone who asks tough questions to or criticises the administration as being UNPATRIOTIC, traitorous and hating their country(US).
We mustn't forget Iraq, which many people instead of asking how just are the US in running the country, are being caught up in their prejudices of the 'barbaric and uncivilised' Muslims/Arabs/Iraqis, which is something that's promoted by the US administration who refer to all and any Iraqi fighters as terrorists or extremist.
Through all the news reports of violence and death especially to American and allied personnel and western workers, we hardly hear about the total death toll that's resulted from US military actions. This article, written by a former UN arms inspector in Iraq, claims that there's been over 100,000 Iraqi deaths since the US occupation. It first appeared in the
Guardian newspaper of UK.

Some people favor Bush because of his policies which ring true to Christians such as being against legal abortion, homosexual marriages while John Kerry and his Deomocrats support the opposite of these measures. This is true. Christians don't think this is right, neither do I.
However the big question is whether as Christians, is it more important to oppose homosexuality or the killing and exploitation of countless thousands and millions in foreign lands??

It's amazing to read about how Iraq (post-Saddam Iraq) is now paying out retributions for its military aggression under Saddam. Sorry, it's amazing that a large amount of these reparations are being payed to Corporations, for "lost profits" or "decline in business".
This is the kind of exploitation going on around the world and under our noses.
Jubilee Iraq is an organisation that seeks to prevent the payment of massive debts by Iraq against foreign nations by invoking debt forgiveness from the creditor nations.

It's been a barren time in this space for the past few weeks. School, disillusionment and laziness have all combined to postpone my postings and linkings for a while now.

It's really something to read about what happened in a downtown university here , with a miscreant putting up hate-filled postings around campus, with racist messages and death threats against both Jews and Muslims. Apparently this guy is trying to provoke some big fight or conflict between those groups and it's good that he was caught. Why would he do something like this? Out of pure spite or malice maybe, but it seems like maybe there's something more. This is ignorance of the extreme degree and I'm glad he got caught.

In other worldly news, fighting rages on in Iraq, especially in Fallujah this past week where US forces are mounting a heavy campaign to crush local resistance and regain control of the city. Fallujah was where the bodies of 4 American military 'contractors' were mutilated this April and led to heavy fighting and then a virtual siege by US Marines and Iraqi government troops until eventually ceding the city to local resistance forces.
Also British forces are being asked to be sent near troubled areas to assist the US military in holding control. There are lots of oppostition to this move as it suggests that the Americans, to use a cliche,having bitten off more than they can chew,now need outside assistance to reach their own goals of winning their blatant and unjust war on the Iraqis.

There's lots of other news/ injustice happening around us but that's it for right now.

The US presidential election is coming up soon, November 5, and there are frantic efforts to get Democratic candidate,J.Kerry elected so that finally we can all be rid of GWBush, his corporate- (see Dick Cheney and Halliburton) administration and including those sinister neo-conservatives.
It's a good idea, for a lot of people, the get-Bush-out-at-all costs, the Kerry is so great mentality in spite of the fact there's little difference between his views and that of GWBush on America's foreign policies (which were the main reason people Bush hate Bush so much). I believe that people need to be careful, that they don't place so much hope and trust on Kerry and his policies. There are some good points made here about whether there would be any real changes to US foreign policy with Kerry on williambowles.info.
From the same author, this is another article on his own site which seems quite interesting with frequent articles on world injustice and politics. This article talks about the injustice that happens everywhere yet there are only a few that the US and western world intervene in. The thing is, are their intentions really magnaminous or is there a deeper and darker purpose? Read it and see. Power, greed and deceit all cut deep and everytime, it's the poor and disadvantaged (3rd world) who suffer the worst.

From Russian media sevice Pravda, a good summary of the history of the conflict and turmoil in the Middle East and Iran and Iraq. We often wonder why there's so much violence in that area, and consequently we develop a great sense of wonder, shock and derision towards those Arabs/muslims who're always fighting and making trouble, especially in Palestine. Yet do we know of the roles that the western countries have played in starting and stirring those conflicts and hatreds? Do we know of the oppressions and manipulation that have been carried out on those nations and people by the western world?

An article from the International Herald Tribune on the conflict situation in Iraq, which describes how numerous the attacks against the US have become.
A touching mosaic of faces of all US servicemen who gave up their lives so far in Iraq, forming the face of GWBush.
This South African article was written after the week of 911, and it really rings true, the contents in it, of how alliances were formed without any clear ideas who the real enemies were.

It's almost the end of September 2004, and things in Iraq are still heating up, and there's no reliable signs of valid improvement there. The US death toll has surpassed 1,000 and God knows how many thousands/tens of thousands Iraqis have died since.
From the Nation's website , here's the Top 10 reasons for why the US should get out of Iraq though I think it should be the Top 10 reasons why the US were unjust, exploitative and criminal in invading Iraq.

I'm looking at my first posting on this blog, way back from last year, and I realised back then I actually supported GWBush's view on evil in this world. I mean I disagreed with the methods the US used to wage war, but I was in support of his reason for waging war. I was naive back then, and didn't have much knowledge of global politics and events especially the US. Also I didn't have any exposure to alternative/ non-mainstream media and information so I relied a lot on mainstream media for my international knowledge. I was naive, and it's really hard to know that there are so many people out there who still think the way I did. So many people who support GWBush and his administration/government and their policies in spite of all the injustices, crimes, anger and evidence to back these up, that's occured because of Bush and his administration.

Been quite preoccupied these past weeks so couldn't blog regularly. Tonight's posting links to articles on accusations and provocations against Iran by Israel,
and a webpage on the massacre that occured at the Sabra and Shantila refugee camps in Lebanon in the 80s.
The final link is to an article on the public scorn and scandal , such as being branded as unpatriotic, meted out to American journalists, specifically Dan Rather, who dare to ask the tough questions about their government and its policies and actions. This article on Zmag, is written by Greg Palast, who in my opinion is one of the best investigative journalists around, based on reading his best-seller: The best democracy money can buy.

So after the tragic loss of life in the Beslan school hostage-taking, Russia is planning to turn up their fight on terrorism and fundamentalism, taking a page from the recent US war policies of these past few years and threatening to carry the fight anywhere. Also Russia is apparently turning for advice and support from Israel, itself a victim of 'fundamentalism'.

This is a nice brief summary of the failings of the US' policies and actions and why there's so much hatred and anger against the West in the middle east.

There's a main point to be derived from all these article referrals above,
these 3 countries have all been horrendously afflicted by terrorism and their first and main solution is to attack and destroy these 'terrorists' to stop the terrorism.
They are all deluding themselves, the only way to stop this terrorism is to stop their own terorism/ oppression, whether against the Palestinians, against the Chechens, and for the US,against so many people.
Violence only begats more violence.

These are just some thoughts I have on the perspectives that North american people have on foreign countries, specifically those that are Islamic,African and even Asian. These perspectives are sometimes really prejudiced, like when people automatically associate Islam with terrorism after 9/11, and when people think Africa consists of hopeless savage people who're incapable of . In all this, do people ever think carefully about the other side, about why so much hatred exists towards America from a lot of the international community? No, and I'm not blaming ordinary people themselves, I think the mainstream media has a lot to do with enforcing our rather negative and patronising opinions of those foriegn, troubled countries.
If I was an American
What I think on our cocoon of our comfortable society
Living in North America and being middle class, people really enjoy/get accustomed to a relatively comfortable life. Having a nice,big,air-conditioned house or apartment to live in, driving a car, being able to get loans freely, having a tv in each room of the 5 bedroom house, a car for each person, spending freely on clothes,food and electronics,DVDs with multiple easily-obtainable credit cards,watching the latest reality tv-shows, and listening to similar, formulaic pop music. All this may be wonderful and even I've benefited from a few of these amenities but at the same time do you ever think life may be too (perfect), too scripted, that life is defined by a set of rules and formulas that once broken makes one an outcast or weirdo?
We live our lives convinced that ours is the best life, and that our culture is the best. Everything we learn and pick-up drums into us that our way of life is superior, is the God-given righteous way. From school where we're taught about democracy, patriotism, honour, tolerance, about who won WW2 and who the evil enemies were, about the hard-fought ideals our nation stands for,about the great British empire and the primitive, ignorant, backwards nations and kingdoms it helped modernise as if invading, conquering and exploiting a people is a favor to these people.
The media, or should I say mainstream media, that we obtain news and information and facts from, that's supposed to educate/inform us on events and states of affairs around us, gives us content that creates a biased view of the world, a view that says we (the Western world) are much more civilised than the rest of the world, that we have a superior society, where peace and justice and democracy and human rights and respect reigns, that everywhere in the world we intervene we are doing good things, bringing our democracy and justice and equality to those less privileged, and that when locals get angry and attack, it is only because they don't want and can't accept what's good for them, that they prefer tyranny, fundamentalism and their primitive ways. All of this was sadly exposed during our reasons for and subsequent invasion of Iraq, with all the bold assertions of hidden weapons of mass-destruction, collusion with al-Qaeda, giving the Iraqi people our kind of freedom and democracy that they and the rest of the Arab world lack but really need, confirming the hollow ignorance, narrow-mindedness and stupid prejudices of our feelings towards foreigners.
And the sad thing is, this succeeds, all this one-sided media coverage and succeeds in making us feel superior towards others, feel pity for those who don't live our lifestyle, causes us to want to help others live our lives, (and if our names happen to be D. Rumsfeld or GW Bush or D. Cheney) causes us to want to enforce our 'standards' and 'democracy' on them.
The mainstream (large,corporate media organisations) media easily dominates public attention, with many people turning to CNN and FOX and reading the NYTimes and Time for their regular news.
Many alternative media do exist, with the Internet being the best source of it with independant media sites like Zmag, and personal blogs that link to a wide range of relevant news and articles. A growing number of people are turning to these alternative sources of information and hopefully soon the alternative/independant media will be seen by general public to be as dependable and accurate/reliable if not more than mainstream media [is considered]. In addition foreign media like BBC (which is mainstream but considered more unbiased than American media) and Al-jazeera are also good sources of news and can offer a more worldly perspective and view on events that local pro-american ones can't.

A brief posting tonight, a reference to an article from the Guardian newspaper of England, on the reason given by Chechen militants for their hostage-taking in Beslan. Read the article and see why the Chechens have so much hate and malice for Russians, to the point of deliberately harming schoolchildren.
Then if you want more news and background info on this vicious conflict between Chechyna and Russia that has largely gone unnoticed by the West, check out this section on the Guardian's website.

A new site I recently found that offers good news articles and opinions from the "left" point of view. Green Left weekly, of Australia.
This is something from the site about the present situation in Darfur, Sudan.