Baku!

Obama on his way to scapegoat; for the fall of the American empire!

Obama to Azeri Dictator: Set Our Big Macs Free

By Ken Silverstein

A reader recently called to my attention to a 2005 Chicago Tribune story detailing a trip to Eastern Europe that Obama took early in his Senate career. At the time, Obama was seeking to establish his foreign policy gravitas and hence joined then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar of Indiana on a trip to inspect weapons sites across the former Soviet Union. “I very much feel like the novice and pupil,” Obama was quoted as saying of his relationship with Lugar (a man who gets uniformly positive press, though he easily makes the list of Top Five Overrated Members of Congress).

One of the stops on the trip included Azerbaijan, where Obama and Lugar met with President Ilham Aliyev. The latter had inherited power from his father two years earlier, won a rigged election, and then crushed protests that erupted in response.

So what topics did Obama raise with Aliyev? Human rights? Political reform? His government’s flagrant corruption and theft of energy revenues? Well, actually the topics he called to Aliyev’s attention were “slightly more parochial,” the Tribune reported:

Why is McDonald’s having difficulty opening restaurants in Baku [the Azeri capital]? And why is Boeing shut out of selling planes to the state-owned airline? “They are two Illinois companies who want to do business and expand,” Obama explained, “but they are having roadblocks.” He didn’t walk away with a concrete answer. He could, however, report back to constituents that he voiced concern at the highest levels of government.

Well, I guess this isn’t as bad as Hillary Clinton threatening to “totally obliterate” Iran, but it’s not exactly inspired foreign policy either. What’s perhaps more troubling is that Obama still seems to look to Lugar, who’s always been overwhelmingly sympathetic towards the Azeri and other crummy Central Asian regimes, as a sort of foreign policy guru.

An update of this story, read here.

McDonald’s: Baku Hot Spot

By Ken Silverstein

A few weeks back I posted an item about a 2005 Senate trip Barack Obama made to Azerbaijan during which he lobbied dictator Ilham Aliyev on behalf of McDonald’s and complained about obstacles faced by the company in opening restaurants in Baku, the Azeri capital. A Westerner residing in Baku subsequently sent me the following note:

Obama should be happy to know that McDonald’s is now thriving in Baku, with four locations, including one in the swanky, central Fountain Square. Every day Baku’s growing elite, clad in the most ostentatious plastic outfits that money can buy, parade in and out while techno music is pumped through the speakers, giving the place more the feel of a nightclub than a fast-food joint. Speaking of Obama, Azerbaijanis are generally suspicious of him because of his connections to the Armenian lobby and his public support for the recognition of the genocide. And speaking of Armenia, I’ve been told by a number of proud Azerbaijanis that there are no McDonald’s restaurants in Armenia. Obviously the future belongs to Azerbaijan!

I also received another letter of complaint, with the writer saying,

I was disappointed in your unfounded attack on Obama today. In your post “Obama to Azeri Dictator: Set Our Big Macs Free,” you suggested that Obama’s visit to Azerbaijan and subsequent meeting with President Aliyev was limited to questions about McDonald’s and Boeing. In fact, a few minutes on Google reveal that more issues than that were raised.

The writer included articles that showed Obama had discussed topics with Aliyev ranging from biological weapons to elections (and, of course, “the exploitation of energy resources.”) He also met, according to the articles, with other Azerbaijani officials and opposition leaders.

Which is a fair point and gives a fuller account of Obama’s agenda during the trip. On the other hand, Obama as far as I can tell made few public comments in Azerbaijan that were critical of the government. And it’s discouraging that he used his personal time with the dictator to lobby for McDonald’s and Boeing.

Tibetan girls from a Nakchu Primary Education Project partner school in Driru county hide shyly behind their books.

I have joined for three weeks ago a fitness centre for women only, the first of its kind here in Denmark. The owner of the place is a 33 years old male and he came up with the idea from a research in the USA that showed women fell comfortable working out in the gym with other women. Why are we surprised about that?

Insha’Allah, if I have more time tomorrow, I’ll do my best to write the latest public debate (and very ugly) on Islamic headscarf.

To my readers, believe me or not, all my entries on this site were written or posted during work hours — meaning I have maximum 20 min to write a post or a comment, and no, I don’t take my laptop at home unless it is very urgent.

Yesterday I had my lunch break with an old lady (65 years old) and a friend. She finished her Master degree in history and she told that there were possibilities that she would get a PhD degree based on three articles she published. Well, I was very happy for her and she seemed very proud of herself and relieved for coming out of the shadow of her siblings.  She is the oldest daughter of very respectful family here in Denmark. Her father was the first person who conducted brain surgery, and one of her brothers is a famous film director. Despite all of their successes, all the family members are down to earth people and participate various humanitarian organisations.

Some how our conversation turned into cultural education and we discussed if it was reasonable  to expect an African child in Africa to learn first a European tongue before he even mastered his mother tongue, and I know some places in Africa have changed this old fashioned colonial system. My friend, on the other hand, saw no problem at all and thought it was justifiable, and gave me an example of her colleague who is also a historian. After her colleague fished her study, she sought a position to teach in Zambia, and since the country has no history (she is telling that to my friend) the only thing she could do was to teach the children the history of non other than the famous German Chancellor, Bismarck! Well, I honestly did not know what to say. I was beyond shocked. How do you respond to that? My initial thought was, how can someone give a PhD degree to a person who believes that countries in south of Sahara have no history, and I was particularly shocked that it was my friend. I mean, what have she read all the years? It was indeed an reminder to me that title and wealth are not similitude with knowledge.

And our conversation turned into sadness. My friend continued how important for her was to get the PhD degree and to able to publish articles to see her name written on, because since she has no children it would be something she will left behind after her death.  I thought this was much worse than what she said before. As a Muslim, our faith is based on that  the Life in Hereafter is better than the present [Qur'an 93:4]; a Hereafter where you will not get older and never die, SubhanaAllah, May Allah (swt) Have Mercey on us, ameen. Certainly, we Muslims don’t believe that we should neglect the present Life, but it is an opportunity to prepare ourself to do good deeds, because when you will stand front of your Creator that Day, your thoughts are not concentrated on titles,fame or a PhD degree. For many Muslims (rich and poor) when they get old, they are often generous to help the orphans, set up schools or build a mosque. There is a well known Hadith our beloved Prophet(PBUH) taught us:“When the son of Adam passes away, all of his deeds are stopped except for three. Some kind of charity that is continuous, or knowledge which the people are benefiting from, or a righteous child who is praying for him.”

SubhanaAllah.

Found another way to embed this short video. Hope it will work.

Go here for more information.

One of the most powerful speeches.

[Or how woman's body becomes a justification of a capitalist economy. I don't want to miss up Zine Magubane's brilliant essay, but you need to read and print. Once I read the article I appreciated more of my hijab. gess]

The Mammy and the Panopticon: African American Women in the Self-Help Movement

Posted May 8th, 2008 by Zine Magubane

(more…)

Which I can’t download.

Click the picture or here.

But found his website, where you can listen to the longer version of Kill The Bandits.

Washington, DC –The House today passed legislation to erase a government-imposed stigma against membership in the African National Congress of South Africa. This bill, authored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-CA), will remove from U.S. databases any notation that would characterize the ANC and its leaders — including Nobel Laureate and former South African President Nelson Mandela — as terrorists.

“This long-overdue bill is the direct result of a stunning and, frankly, embarrassing story for the United States,” Berman noted. “Despite recognizing two decades ago that America’s place was on the side of those oppressed by Apartheid, Congress has never resolved the inconsistency in our immigration code that treats many of those who actively opposed Apartheid in South Africa as terrorists and criminals.”

Link