Author: mara.ahmed

Speaking before a packed audience at Hampshire College, Tariq Ali argues that an immediate exit strategy from Afghanistan and Pakistan is vital both for the region and for the United States. Watch here.

“If democracy were to be given any meaning, if it were to go beyond the limits of capitalism and nationalism, this would not come, if history were any guide, from the top. It would come through citizen’s movements, educating, organizing, agitating, striking, boycotting, demonstrating, threatening those in power with disruption of the stability they needed.” (howard zinn)

Watch here.

It has been more than three months since Attorney General Eric Holder announced his probe into torture under the Bush administration, an investigation which seems to quickly be going nowhere. He may be inspired by how some Latin countries have proceeded in the face of similar concerns. Full article.

I’d suggest taking a look at this footage from 1964 — a powerful counterpoint to the current situation as the president escalates a war and Congress fails to assert its constitutional prerogatives under Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution.

Il est suisse, il s’appelle Guillaume Morand, il n’est pas musulman, il est propriétaire de la chaîne de magasins de baskets Pomp it up et il vient de construire un minaret sur le toit du siège de son entreprise à Lausanne pour manifester son opposition à l’interdiction de construire des minarets, décidée par 57% des votants lors du référendum organisé en Suisse le 29 novembre. Article complet.

Rachel Maddow talks about President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, and how closely it aligns with President Bush’s speech to cadets at West Point in 2002. Watch video.

I suppose that my parents’ guiding principle was that they had to choose the best neighborhood school. The fact that it happened to be run by Catholics did not scare them–they understood that being in daily contact with another religion is not dangerous. It does not mean you will be converted. It does not mean that you will have to change. Religion is not passed through the air you breathe or the sidewalk you tread or the classroom you share. Full article.

The death toll in two bomb blasts at a busy market in the centre of Pakistan’s second largest city, Lahore, has risen to 48, police and medics say.

The attack, which injured over 100 people, sparked a huge blaze at the city’s Moon Market.

The toll has risen with the death of 12 more people overnight, police said.

The blasts came just hours after a suicide bomber on a rickshaw killed at least 10 people in Peshawar when he blew himself up near the courthouse. Full article.

France is not alone in wishing that its Muslims were invisible. As anyone who has visited Western Europe in the past few years will tell you, the “Muslim question” is a matter of grave concern. Full article.