tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26340146034667424972009-12-26T22:36:53.157-06:00Reasonable thoughts stated reasonably.fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-85210002304367941902008-11-08T18:44:00.002-06:002008-11-08T18:50:07.228-06:00

Ladles and jellyspoons, we interrupt this programme to inform you that Sleeper Cell has found a new home at talkislam.info. The exact website is something like www.sleepercell.talkislam.info. We are still in the process of moving in, so the new house doesn't quite look as nice and put-together as this old one.We here at Sleeper Cell appreciate your well wishes and support during these 18 months.

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-4648978207911345502008-09-27T09:59:00.002-05:002008-09-27T10:05:28.282-05:00

So says a reader from Serbia. (Yes, some of my readers are Serbs. You got a problem with that?) A reader identified only as JK writes:"Did you see Palin's interview with Katie Couric? She said of the Pakistani people: 'They want democratic values to be allowed in their country'."What kind of stupid bitch is she? Democratic values are allowed in Pakistan. Pakistan is a democracy. Do not

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-24487814217726102412008-09-19T16:24:00.002-05:002008-09-19T16:31:39.584-05:00

Contrary to Barack Obama's gushing that the surge has worked "beyond our wildest dreams", a new study from UCLA confirms what experts like Patrick Cockburn have said all along: interethnic conflict in Iraq has decreased due to the actions of the Iraqis themselves. It has nothing to do with President Bush sending more racist thugs to murder and rape the Iraqi people.This study shows that

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-17607980861085716732008-09-10T14:08:00.002-05:002008-09-10T14:16:38.641-05:00

Another one from the Associated Press. I love it when people are singled out for their ethnicity (see post below about Pakistani woman in the U.S.).This guy is a dancer engaged to a Jewish girl who has a lot of family in Israel. His dad is Muslim. His first name is Muslim. He arrives at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel.Yeah, some dance troupe from the States is going to sneak in a terrorist. Yup

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-47805698596590160002008-09-10T14:00:00.002-05:002008-09-10T14:04:40.706-05:00

The year was 2006. America was at its most ignorant and bullying self (wait, that's today - uh, never mind, skip the intro).A Pakistani woman is now suing US Airways after she was detained, while pregnant, for 9 1/2 hours in 2006 because she had facial cream in her carry-on luggage. Rather than discard the cream and let her board the plane, "security officials" detained her without counsel and

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-39872668857520286422008-09-10T01:40:00.005-05:002008-09-10T01:53:44.290-05:00

Regarding the question of Palestinian nonviolence, and the question of a one-state solution versus the popular two-state solution, reader "fayruzz" in London writes:Dear Sleeper Cell,I've found that some of the best analysis and explanation of the conflict comes from open dialogues. Even e-mail dialogues. Here is a recent exchange between me and an American Kenyan friend of mine. He is learning

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-10408382672554936382008-09-08T10:16:00.003-05:002008-09-08T10:23:51.230-05:00

After weeks of denials by our government, there is finally no doubt: more than 90 Afghan civilians, at least 75 of them children or women, were killed by an American bombing frenzy in Azizabad on 22 August.Carlotta Gall of the The New York Times parses through the evidence in a courageous article and comes to this conclusion. She is supported by various NGOs in the region, several human rights

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-51976543224613230182008-09-06T14:24:00.002-05:002008-09-06T14:47:01.192-05:00

There's no way to put this mildly: this is the best article on Gaza I've read in the last five years. In fact, it's probably the best article I've read on the entire conflict in the last five years.Jeff Halper is an Israeli activist. I'll leave it at that for now. Here's an excerpt from his article describing his recent visit to Gaza. Link to full article below this excerpt:To be honest, we

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-71255410392735462352008-09-02T06:07:00.003-05:002008-09-02T06:20:55.195-05:00

During recent floods in India that have made over 1.2 million homeless, caste prejudice has reared its ugly head. Reports of Dalits, or "untouchables", being stranded and left to die in their homes have become widespread.Gavin Rabinowitz of the Associated Press reports in some detail. Despite protestations from India's government that Dalit villages were being ignored by rescue boats, "only a

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-80349460311300606852008-08-29T14:25:00.004-05:002008-08-29T14:31:56.655-05:00

Most of you are probably familiar with Irshad Manji, a Canadian "journalist", a wanton Muslim-basher who proudly called herself an atheist before realising it was more profitable to market herself as a "practising Muslim" who just happens to hate Muslims, the Qur'an, Muhammad, and Palestinians, and who happens to love Bush and praise Israel for its "compassionate" policies vis-a-vis the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-25445391226676384742008-08-27T13:30:00.003-05:002008-08-27T13:40:28.031-05:00

Some university students in Gaza who were accepted for admission to Harvard and other Ivy League schools were denied permission to leave the country by Israel. Israel did not cite security or other concerns (and how could they, considering the students would be leaving Israel/Palestine). It simply denied them their right to education.There is a public Israeli precedent for this. In the past -

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-14679645009128618242008-08-18T04:07:00.002-05:002008-08-18T04:19:07.591-05:00

Guest Column by Pak-Man:Am I a foreigner? Americans certainly seem to think so. In the space of a couple of hours, I was once "accused" of being a foreigner, and once informed that I am being investigated by the highest intelligence levels of the United States Air Force for being a "foreign national".I was born in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House. I am as American as

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-15897961611058044242008-08-17T18:22:00.003-05:002008-08-17T18:29:39.059-05:00

Mazen Asbahi, whom Barack Obama chose to coordinate his Muslim American affairs, resigned from that position just days after being selected for the prestigious (or notorious?) post because of controversial alleged ties to a "mosque in Chicago controlled by a fundamentalist imam".His childhood friend, Rany Jazayerli, of Baseball Prospectus fame, and a physician, writes passionately on

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-14710974103115090582008-07-26T02:10:00.002-05:002008-07-26T02:22:59.029-05:00

.from Democracy Now!:http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/23/headlines#6Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reports the Bush administration is debating whether to silence a forthcoming high-level report critical of Israel’s conduct in the Occupied Territories.The report is written by the top US official there, retired general James Jones.According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Jones has written a “

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-22119807492717280812008-07-20T23:07:00.005-05:002008-07-20T23:19:53.159-05:00

.This new titbit from the Associated Press. The Israeli government claims, amazingly, that it knew nothing of the military's illegal use of literally millions of cluster bombs on Lebanon in its 2006 invasion of the country.The government claims the military never mentioned the humdrum fact that they dropped millions of such bombs illegally on civilian population centres in Lebanon, so the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-51180004374982164442008-07-15T23:12:00.004-05:002008-07-15T23:18:02.263-05:00

"Never believe the news," I used to say when I was 21. "A few years later, the truth will come out. The New York Times' banner should read, 'All the news that will be proven false a few years hence'." I was a wise ass then.Check out this amazing history of an Iranian passenger flight loaded with pilgrims from Hajj being shot down in cold blood by a U.S. warship illegally treading into Iranian

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-52426244468914332872008-07-13T14:49:00.002-05:002008-07-13T14:52:07.383-05:00

Our own American media reaches new lows in the breathless coverage of Iran's testing three (or four) missiles. Iran has had these missiles for years, has had the capability of striking its neighbours for years. This isn't news whatsoever. The Young Turks (of Air America) break it down:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB__0qRHBRc&feature=userGod, we Americans really are morons if we can't see the

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-68349332414397005372008-07-07T18:59:00.004-05:002008-07-07T19:15:31.420-05:00

McClatchy Newspapers, an American organisation, has conducted the most in-depth and serious investigation yet into torture of illegally detained prisoners at Guantanamo. Considered a landmark study by newspaper publishers and editors, the report has not made even a ripple in the national media. (Of course, McClatchy itself is a mainstream news media company. Why, then, are media outlets not

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-29871650573284368552008-06-29T13:03:00.002-05:002008-06-29T13:13:30.985-05:00

If this columnist from the right-wing Washington Times* is right, I'll definitely vote for Obama. Canada is exactly what these United States need to become.http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/29/obamas-america-is-canada/*True story: I shared a cab once in Jerusalem with a white South African who wrote for The Washington Times. He asked me if I'd heard of the paper. "Don't confuse it

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-24158101502542799072008-06-23T01:19:00.005-05:002008-06-23T01:38:48.241-05:00

It's the damndest thing: finding yourself agreeing with those who hold views totally contrary to your own. Take Bill Bonner, editor of The Daily Reckoning (online financial newsletter), and author of two bestselling books on the economy.Mr. Bonner is a libertarian. He believes that people should be left to fend for themselves, without government interference. "Let them get what they deserve," is

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-68100163470631218652008-06-21T01:37:00.002-05:002008-06-21T01:47:04.485-05:00

An eye-opener from the BBC today, reporting on UK charity ActionAid's study on the frightening disparity between numbers of girls and boys in India. In one sample site, there were just 300 girls for every 1,000 boys.Female foetuses are detected by ultrasound, which costs just a few dollars to perform, and aborted. Other practises include letting baby girls' umbilical cords get infected by

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-78831943673691173532008-06-20T15:57:00.004-05:002008-06-20T16:04:27.588-05:00

This is the curious headline of a speculative piece published in The Nation. Robert Dreyfuss analyses Israel's recent practise runs on bombing Iran based on a Pentagon official's anonymous quotes.A short article, and I know it will suffer rot link soon, so here's the link and the full piece. (Interestingly, Dreyfuss deems Iran "not a suicide nation", whereas that is the exact phraseology

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-26406440765374503102008-06-18T06:22:00.003-05:002008-06-18T06:37:07.342-05:00

If there was any doubt in your mind - and some of my American friends do doubt - about our brave American boys in uniform torturing those evil Eye-rackis and ragheads, let the medical record speak for itself.Physicians for Human Rights, an organisation to which I belong, has published a report (Broken Laws, Broken Lives) documenting torture of prisoners after conducting extensive, two-day long

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-41682311915991535592008-06-17T04:33:00.002-05:002008-06-17T04:36:15.695-05:00

.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/magazine/15wwln-Q4-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=magazine&pagewanted=print&oref=sloginmy god, he is truly brilliant. i would literally pay money to see him debate hitchens.i think we do still have public intellectuals, but they're different now. dumber. media-savvy. michael moore is an example. those old-style public intellectuals like noam chomsky exist only in

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2634014603466742497.post-77900053378422923402008-06-15T08:47:00.003-05:002008-06-15T08:54:30.066-05:00

No, no, there's no racism in this statement, just pure truth, unadulterated and clear like spring water (except the kind infected by Giardia, which is most spring water).In the last ten presidential elections, Republicans have won the majority of white male voters. Even Clinton, in his trouncing of Bob Dole and George Bush, lost the white male vote. In fact, he lost the overall male vote to Bob

fedsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927272251780456315noreply@blogger.com1