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Arjun Janah

Member since: Jul 9th, 2007

Arjun Janah's Latest Comments

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Politics Daily2 Comments
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Recent Comments:

Facebook Says No to Nursing Mothers, Yes to Anti-Semitism (Switched)

May 12th 2009 12:31AM The remedy for bad speech is more speech. Those who deny that Jews were systematically massacred in Europe in the 1930's and 1940's by the Nazis and their collaborators are, in my opinion, quite mistaken. But so are those who deny, or are even unaware of the far greater number of deaths (all combined) of Gypsies, Communists, Socialists, Trade Unionists and Slavs -- carried out by the same forces at the same time in the same area. And what about the slaughters, nay, genocides, of Aborigines and Tasmanians in Australia, and of Amerindians in the Americas -- especially in these our United States, where they were systeamtically slaughtered and starved to near extinction? Where are the Holocaust Memorials to these populations? And where do we find commemorations of the slaughter and cultural genocide of the Transatlantic Slave Trade?

Top Court Could Revoke Presidency (But Probably Won't) (News Campus Blog)

Nov 30th 2008 3:17PM Fools abound, and rascals too, and ignorance still grows/
With devilry, and all of this, this "controversy" shows./
Have they no time for better things than to stir up debate/
On whether one who spent a month(perhaps!)before he came/
To these our shores can qualify for office he's elected/
And yet pass by that other, who was clearly born outside/
But still, as Obama himself supported, still could run/
And be defeated, as he was, most clearly, in the vote,
But no, the ones who still protest, were those, who tried to smear/
Him with religion, with his name, his ties to "terrorists"/
And label, "liberal", which, he has sadly quite forsaken,/
Naming those on center-right, and even hawks and those,/
Who preached the market gospel and let loose the winds that wreak/
Their devastation from New York, much as our interventions/
Have brought the winds of murder, hate, and dissolution bleak/
To lands across the seas that never brought us any grief/
From Vietnam right to Iraq, but all of that's neglected/
In trivial pursuit of petty things as these are clear/
Whither goes this nation, those of conscience, still do fear.

AOL Straw Poll: Jan. 7-14 (Politics Daily)

Jan 14th 2008 7:22AM Dennis Kucinich has been right on all the issues, including the Iraq War, in both this presidential campaign and earlier ones. Unfortunately, he gets short shrift from the public. Perhaps this is because his views are unpopular with big business and the media. John Edwards has now taken up many of his issues, and added some heated rhetoric of his own. He has got more traction, and will get more if this country heads into a serious recession, as is likely. However, he too is short of money, as expected, because of his stand against corporate greed. What we need in this country is a TV network that provides free and equal airtime to candidates who can get a minimum number of votes in the early caucuses and primaries, where money is not as important as later on.

Clinton Loses General Election (Politics Daily)

Nov 28th 2007 12:18AM The level of the drivel is such that I would puke,
But then I faint, because, you see, these yahoos have the nuke!
Oh woe to all the rest of us, in nations round the globe,
For this, alas, is what now rules. It's better not to probe!
America, America, these great United States,
What morons are your denizens, who now control our fates!
Some say Iraq, some say Iran, and some say Pakistan,
Are the most potent threats to peace, and would these nations ban,
From nukes or even right to be, but how can we ignore
The greatest threat, this imbecile, that would just be a bore,
If it were not the one with all the megatons of bombs,
Which it has shown a willingness to use, to fill the tombs!
Beware, beware, this threat is real, and it should be clear,
For ignorance and prejudice and avarice are here,
And much, much more, and all we thought it had of virtues true,
Is buried now in avalanche, and debts are coming due!

Underdressed Hooters Waitress Bounced Off Flight, Into Playboy (News Bloggers)

Nov 17th 2007 11:26PM Kyla Ebbert flew Southwest,
But had on naught of underwear.
Her skirt and top, she has confessed,
Were brief, and showed her form so fair.
But what the flight attendant saw,
When she looked up and saw much more
Than she had ever seen before,
At least, on board, made some guffaw,
And others grimace, and some smile,
While others smirked, so though no law
Forbade her showing, precious chile,
What is, indeed anatomy
Most common and yet hidden from
The public gaze, by those more shy
Than Kyla, she of bare aplomb,
The poor attendant thought it fit,
That Kyla should be asked to hide,
What here we shall just term as "it",
By spreading legs a bit less wide,
Or better yet, by changing skirt
To one whose length could cover up
That lack of panties, that might hurt,
The calm of kids, who scamper up,
And shout, "Look, Ma, she's got no pants!"
So though, in truth, it's far more healthy
To wear no thongs, and let things breathe,
It fell to one, who was not wealthy,
To ask of Kyla, that she wreathe
Her treasures in some kind of cloth,
Which made Ms. Ebbert's momma seethe,
And even at the mouth to froth,
For she thought that her precious darling,
Should not have been told to cover
That which was her wondrous plaything,
And which now, thought not on cover,
In the Playboy spread she shows off,
Saying, though we cannot hear,
"Here I am, with my clothes off,
And see, there's naught for you to fear!"

Kucinich Offers Bill to Impeach Cheney (News Bloggers)

Nov 8th 2007 8:40PM Dennis Kucinich should be applauded for having the courage and industry to attempt to hold Richard Cheney accountable for his high crimes and treason. Why have others in Congress not taken this step earlier? History will hold this nation to account for allowing the Bush administration to utilize the fear generated by the attacks of 9/11, (carried out by Saudis and Egyptians affiliated with an organization that we had ourselves helped fund and supply in Afghanistan) plus a series of outright, and absurd, lies and deceptive linkages, to pursue a global agenda that has no conection to the attacks, and, in particular, to invade Iraq, resulting in a holocaust in that country, involving the deaths, maimings, bereavement and displacement of tens of millions of Iraqis, and the unnecessary deaths and maimings of thousands of our soldiers.

Was Hitler a Christian? (News Bloggers)

Nov 4th 2007 7:18PM Let's carefully read the comment quoted by Dinesh D'Souza:

Atheist writer Sam Harris writes that "the Holocaust marked the culmination of...two hundred years of Christian fulminating against the Jews" and therefore "knowingly or not, the Nazis were agents of religion."

To what part(s) of the quoted statement is Dinesh objecting? The statement itself seems to be a very carefully worded , and, indeed, understated.

The atrocities carried out by the Spanish Inquisition which followed the expulsion of the Muslims from Spain, against Jews and other "heretics" has been well documented. The constant fulminations of the Catholic Church against the Jews, which resulted in the ethnic cleansing of much of Southern Europe, giving rise to the Sephardic diaspora into North Africa and even as far as Turkey, is well known.

Hitler himself was an Austrian Catholic, born into a Church with a long history of stirring up anti-Semitic calumny and hatred. So the Nazis, the inheritors of this tradition, did for Northern and eastern Europe, in the 20th century, what had been successfully carried out by the Church and its allies in Spain and elsewhere in Southern Europe around the time of Columbus' sailing.

The role of the Church, and of Christian ideology, in the extermination of the peoples and cultures of the New World, starting with Columbus, has been well documented.

While economic, racial, political and other factors have played their roles in genocides, religion has often been either the motivation or the excuse. This is especially the case with the monotheistic, Judaic religions, such as Judaism itself (just read the old Testament to learn about exterminations) Christianity and Islam. These, which posit a god intolerant of any other,have been particularly rabid in their role in cultural and physical genocides.

The placing of genocide at the hands, exclusively of atheists, ignores the long history of religiously inspired, or religiously sanctioned campaigns of extermination, which wiped entire continents free of those of the wrong religious persuasion, or even of almost all previous human inhabitants.

As Dave's quotations from Hitler's speeches demonstrate, Hitler's atheism, or even his paganism appears to have been very well hidden from the public, while he was proficient at riding the reptile of religious intolerance long nursed and haltered by the Catholic Church.

The campaigns against the Jews, by the way (and, earlier, against the Muslims)in Europe should be viewed as but the culminations of earlier campaigns by an insecure Church against the native religions of Europe, involving witch-hunts and witch-burnings, and the branding of all such traditions as Satanism. The prejudice and hatred then instilled survives to this day.



The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (News Bloggers)

Sep 20th 2007 5:38AM Interesting interviewee and intriguing subject. Somber's comments reveal a thoughtful, balanced, educated mind at work. That's refreshing.

I agree with Somber that the momentum is very difficult to slow, let alone reverse, individually, and that it is still to do this possible, collectively.

However, without detracting in any way from that argument, I believe, from personal experience, that there is still room for individual action -- be it in simple things like choice of transportation, housing, work, diet, use of media, and involvement with family and community, exercising whatever little freedom remains in, or even of, these and other areas.

Of course, one's birth, abilities, location and even access to community and education are things that are not in our control. Nevertheless, rather than wait for revolution or evolution, one can begin to exercise one's fundamental freedoms, that begin with one's own lifestyle and habits, of body and mind.

These are difficult to change, but very rewarding and empowering when done.

At the same time, it behooves us to look for like-minded people, to exert some effort in simple things such as bothering to find out about candidates for judgeships and local, state and national political office (not just those for glamorous, high power positions, such as presidents, senators, governors and mayors) using such things as voter guides, newspapers and the Internet.

Public television and radio are still good resources with which to educate oneself on issues, if viewed and listened to, not passively, but critically. One needs to begin to think about these things, and to voice one's views, with willingness to listen to contrary viewpoints and learn from these.

This is a long hard struggle out of the way of life that many of us have been brainwashed into, but , for those, at least, who are dissatisfied with it, and the way we are manipulated and pressured, here is a way out. No one said it would be easy.

The point about knee-jerk reactions is key. One needs to look for these in oneself and others, and so avoid being part of the problem. And a realization that we are not the center of the universe -- neither individually nor as a nation or species -- is perhaps necessary for any kind of mental progress.

The divide between liberalism and conservatism, by the way, is an artificial one. Both sides wear blinkers, and are guilty of arrogance in not attempting to understand the validity of the arguments and values of the "other side".

Books and insights such as those of the author and of Somber help to stretch and challenge one's thinking in social and political areas, and this is much needed in our time and place. Thanks!

Moore Lashes Out on CNN (News Bloggers)

Jul 10th 2007 12:50PM Although, in this piece, Wolf Blitzer comes off as being reasonable while Michael Moore sounds intemperate, the truth is that MM has plenty to be upset about, and so do the rest of us, about the poor job the mainstream media has been doing. Indeed, the media has become the tool by which we are manipulated, as the outrageous lies, for there is no other word for them, that we are told go unquestioned and become, through repetition. Even the "debates" on the media, by the pundits who should play the role of critics, are quite useless, indeed deceitful, as they take these lies as their starting point. And so, in foreign affairs, we were lied to about Vietnam, about Central America, about Afghanistan, Palestine-Israel, Iraq, and now, about Iran and Syria. In domestic affairs, we have been lied to about healthcare and about the reasons that our system of education is in chaos. In every case, the mainstream media has, with rare exceptions, been a collaborator in the deceit. Those who question the heart of our foreign and domestic policies simply do not appear on mainstream media, and are thus effectively marginalized and silenced. Michael Moore has had the courage to take basic issues, that affect our lives and that of others, and bring them, in his own, clearly entertainment-savvy way, into the public discourse. And his efforts have been consistently derided and lampooned. He is owed an apology.

Run, Cindy Sheehan, Run (News Bloggers)

Jul 9th 2007 7:19PM The trouble in this country is that we have been lied to, and manipulated, for so long, that when someone wakes up, be it through education, effort, or experience, and says, "Wait a minute? What's going on?" then that person is labeled as far-left, ostracized, demonized and, effectively, silenced.

This is particularly so when it comes to foreign policy, as we appear to be proud of our ignorance of history and geography, and impatient with anyone who tries to draw our attention to goings-on outside our borders.

Unfortunately, the left has become associated, in the popular mind, with wealthy elites who have the access to the rest of the world that many of us do not.

Until this changes, and the left is able to identify itself again with bread-and-butter issues that affect the daily lives of working people, the age of darkness that this country has entered, will not end.

Now, we see signs of a popular discontent, even a revolt, on healthcare, education and foreign wars, in which the people, or significant segments of the population, appear to be well ahead of where the politicians, even those of the nominal left, are prepared to go.

This augurs well, but one remains cautious. The forces of capital are so strong in this country, and our ignorance and apathy so wide and deep, that the people's will can still be subverted by all manner of tricks of obfuscation, false association, fear-mongering, intimidation and covert or overt violence.