The religious impact on Society

Institutionalized religion can have a major social impact on society,for good or for evil. This blog is not concerned with discussing the ‘dogmatic’ aspect of religion;rather it revolves around religion’s impact on society.

Generally,it is the poorer societies that have the greatest proportion of the population following institutionalised religion. For this reason,religion tends to have a greater social impact in poorer societies,where it is supported more strongly by the majority. Either the religion controls the government or the government uses religion as an opiate in a majority-poverty society as influence.

When Karl Marx stated that “religion is the opium of the masses” he was perhaps referring to the above mentioned features existent in the state of Pakistan today – there is a majority following of institutionalized Islam and there is an abject condition of poverty prevalent in the state.

Read more...

Syrian Revolution: Everyone’s Ball Game

The world is wary of the likes of John McCain and his trigger happy reactions to anything and everything that flits its wings. We watched and waited apprehensively for a year till Syria, one of the last chess pieces on the board, to become the new Libya; for the west to sanctimoniously step in with/without UN mandate as champions of democracy and its ideals. The great elephant in the room being of course UN’s inability to enforce anything without the blessing of the Big Five in the Security Council, donning imperialism with a whole new garb. So while any hopes of a UN sponsored intervention were dashed at the Security Council on 4th February following the double veto by China and Russia on invoking Article 6 for ‘pacific settlements of disputes’ several questions now surface in the face of protracted civil war and escalating violence, covert operations and furtive intervention coming to the fore; and a not-so subtle attempt to shift geopolitical dynamics from one tutelary to the other.

The Obama Administration has vehemently denied any involvement or intentions of pushing for an offensive NATO strike or supplying arms to the Syrian National Council or the small factions that exist within the opposition. The death toll in Syria has crossed the seven thousand mark since last year, the past week marking one of the bloodiest so far. The civil war however is contained within three of Syrias largest cities: Derra, Homs and Damascus, with Damascus still being a government strong hold and posts a sizeable support for Bashar Al Assad. America is in a flurry trying to come up with a viable policy regards to Syria, an overt armed intervention seems off the table and economic sanctions haven’t had much of an impact as yet either.

Read more...

In the name of National Security

Overnight OBL posed an existential threat to all of mankind, Saddam and a mushroom cloud literally became synonymous and Gaddafi morphed into a tyrant from a friend: Iran is a lethal combination of all three (so to speak). While a small minority remains critical of the hollow statements thrown at them by Western agenda driven media, majority of Americans have become victims of acute paranoia; leading lives of constant trepidation that somehow, somewhere someone will attack them. 

War propaganda against Iran finds its abode in this very psyche. The dramatic Saudi assassination plot that was unraveled in October 2011, to Michelle Bachmann’s ‘reliable diplomatic’ sources which confirmed that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at wiping Israel off the map (and eventually destroying US) and the Israeli ad campaigns that hint at unilateral airstrikes on Iran: the mainstream media, social media, and establishment have all made Iran’s nuclear program the biggest security threat to the international community. The very Israeli lobby responsible for convincing Bush to go to war with Iraq in 2003 after WMD is now pitting the Obama administration against Iran. 

Read more...

Response to Tarek Fatah’s Delusional Midrash

Comment on a video telecast by Rawal TV Canada featuring Tarek Fatah

“Recently the following video was posted to me. It is a program of a Canadian TV,called Rawal TV. One often sees content that one disagrees with,or there are cases where one does not know enough about the subject to form an opinion about it. But sometimes the content is outrageous. And sometimes it is so outrageous,that it is difficult  to simply sit back and not respond.

I am not of the view that the army should not be treated with the stick that it so often deserves. But am of the firm view,that when army bashing assumes the form of a virulent disease,of which some of our “intellectuals”are acute patients,the boot needs being put into their mouths so that objectivity is restored to the debate.

Below is my response to one such video,addressed to Rawal TV.”– Saeed Malik

Read more...

Obama takes steps to improve Pak-US ties

US President Barack Obama has reviewed efforts to improve ties with Pakistan with his national security team, the White House said on Thursday as media reports indicated that both countries were trying vigorously to reduce tensions that have bedevilled their relations for more than a year now.

At Wednesday’s meeting, President Obama “received an update on our engagement with the Pakistani government on a range of issues of mutual interest, including efforts to strengthen cooperation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” the White House said.

US sources told Dawn that the White House had been regularly consulting Pakistan’s new ambassador in Washington, Sherry Rehman, on these issues.

Read more...

Foreign offices conveys its concern regarding US Congressional hearing on Baluchistan

Responding to the US Congressional hearing on Balochistan, the Foreign Office on Thursday stated that it had conveyed its concerns to the United States and had been ensured that the US government had nothing to do with the briefing.

The Foreign Office – referring to the statement of the US State Department – said that it clearly pointed out that the US government had nothing to do with this briefing.

“We have conveyed our concerns and raised this issue with the US authorities both in Washington and Islamabad. The matter was clarified by the US State Department yesterday,” said the Foreign Office.

Read more...

Former IAEA inspector asks for transparency

Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Paul Jay in Washington.

Robert Kelley,a nuclear engineer and former director/inspector with the IAEA,recently wrote a piece in Bloomberg about the whole question of Iran,nuclear weapons,and such. Here’s a little bit of what he said:

Read more...

Ron Paul - Let Me Get This Right

The Path to Reconciliation

Spearhead Analysis - 09.02.12

The coming of a new year brings hopes of a brighter and better future. Unfortunately, few would say it holds true for the US-Pakistani relationship. It sure hasn’t had a sunny past as a precursor. In the past year, the Raymond Davis affair, OBL raid by US Seals, Salala check post attack together with recurrent drone attacks and accusations of being in cahoots with the militants has caused this relationship to plummet into a deep abyss. 

Pakistan reacted to these transgressions in a bold fashion by shutting down NATO supply routes, forcing US to vacate the Shamsi Airbase and threatening to shoot down any drones that enter its air space. However, it’s safe to say that to some degree the frozen relationship has thawed. Drone attacks have resumed and although the Pakistani government denies giving consent, it hasn’t shot down drones either. Officials on both sides speculate the reopening of supply routes most probably once certain conditions have been met by US. Reports claim that an imposition of taxes can be expected. This would probably be a better deal for the US forces which are paying up to six times more for the northern distribution routes. 

Read more...

The river traders of Brazil

There is a unique and dangerous commerce system at work in Amazonia, where children risk their lives for a few pennies.

There is a unique commerce system at work along the narrowest stretch of the Tajaparu River in Amazonia, northern Brazil.

This is where the boats pass close to the shore and it is the best place for the small canoes selling sweets and jams to do their business. 

Read more...