Recommendation: Trojan Horse Affair Podcast

I listened to it on Spotify. Here's the information page at the New York Times, which includes other platforms to listen to the show.

Recommendation: We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, Matt Sasaki and Ross Ishikawa

We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration 

was written by Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura and illustrated by Matt Sasaki and Ross Ishikawa.

For me, it was powerful to learn how ordinary Americans of Japanese descent resisted official Japanese-American organizations' recommendations to demonstrate loyalty to the United States, regardless of its treatment of Japanese-Americans.

I urge people to visit the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California.

It is vital that people learn about the limits of respectability politics.

If you want to read more about these events and even teach about them in a classroom, check out the accompanying curriculum.

Think about this panel the next time your masjid or Muslim association welcomes agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations or military recruiters. (click to enlarge). If you hear somebody say, "I'm fine with the FBI spying on me. I have nothing to hide.", then lock them in a room & read this to them until they know better.

P.S. Nauseous that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had a recruiting booth at the 2022 Islamic Society of North America Annual Convention.

Recruiting at the Islamic Society of North America annual convention 🗑️ pic.twitter.com/GVbkZUFkQJ

— Climate reparations for the global south 🌏 (@ShabanaMir1) September 5, 2022

Review: Spencer Ackerman - "Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump"

 

Spencer Ackerman's Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump aims to convince liberals to stop their support of the Global War on Terror in all its forms. The premise of the Global War on Terror is that the proper response to attacks against the United States, its allies and its interests is escalation of violence and tightening of control. This inevitably leads to the strengthening of illiberal elements within the United States, whether they be the national security state or everyday believers in American Exceptionalism who, despondent at the terrible cost of the national security state and lack of results it produces, seek to use its tactics against ever-widening circles of internal enemies, including United States Muslims, racial and ethnic minorities, migrants and liberals.

Comments on "To the Far Right Christian Hater...You Can Be a Good Speller or a Hater, But You Can't Be Both" by Bonnie Weinstein

I read To the Far Right Christian Hater ... You Can Be a Good Speller or a Hater, but You Can't Be Both by Bonnie Weinstein in a book club I organized as a member of the local chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It consists of hate messages sent to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), occasionally accompanied by a pithy rejoinder from the author, who is married to the organization's founder, Mikey Weinstein.

While the Establishment Clause of the USA Constitution has brought this society many benefits, some of which I've mentioned elsewhere, this book can open eyes to the dangers the continuation of the Global War on Terror (GWOT), in its neoconservative Bush-the-Small iteration or its neoliberal Obama iteration or its 45 Regime kill all non-whites iteration.

Hey Creative People! Is it the right time for a remake of "The Prisoners of Quai Dong" by Victor Kolpacoff?

My local public library regularly removes books from its shelves for a variety of reasons. I purchased about 15 boxes of books through the Friends of the Library, a volunteer organization which sells these books to fund efforts to support the public libraries in my city. I've sold, exchanged and given away most of the books in those 15 boxes. Recently, I received an order through my Amazon store for The Prisoners of Quai Dong by Victor Kolpacoff. Before fulfilling the order, I read the book. I can't do a proper review of it, but I wanted to give you creative people out there a heads up that this book may be a productive basis for a play or movie or a graphic novel.

Multimedia Journalist Fahmo Mohammed: Muslims in Trump's America

On Instagram & Facebook, you can follow the series Muslims in Trump's America by multimedia journalist Fahmo Mohammed.

A photo posted by فهمو محمد 🇰🇪 (@donye94) on Jul 17, 2016 at 5:28pm PDT

She also produces video on Vimeo.

Somali refugees flee war, only to endure racism in Italy from Fahmo Mohammed on Vimeo.

For more information, visit her website.

Radio Islam Show Features Steve Downs, Coleen Rowley & Marcy Wheeler to Discuss War on Terror & Orlando Shooting

Here are the show notes:

In this Radio Islam segment we'll explore what FBI entrapment cases entail and loop it back to the Orlando shooting. See more at: www.radioislam.com/node/5168 Host: Gerald Hankerson Guest: Steve Downs, Founding Member of Project SALAM Guest: Coleen Rowley, Former FBI Agent Guest: Marcy Wheeler, Blogger/Journalist on the Empty Wheel

Mohammad Fadel "The Challenge of ISIS to Sunni Islam"

University of Toronto Law Professor Mohammad Fadel gave the Third Annual Sharjah Chair in Global Islam Lecture on September 29, 2015. You can follow him on Twitter and read some of his papers.



Parts of his talk focusing on the dismal political conditions in predominantly-Arab countries leading to the heresies of ISIS reminded me of Umberto Eco's novel In the Name of the Rose.

Corey Robin Interview of Moustafa Bayoumi, Author of “This Muslim American Life”

I've reviewed an earlier book by Moustafa Bayoumi, and I've followed Corey Robin's blog for a couple of years now. Also of note is Professor Robin's strong support of Steven Salaita.

Salon.com published Professor Robin's interview of Moustafa Bayoumi on December 27, 2015.

Get the book at an independent bookstore or from a library near you.

Help Documentary "(T)ERROR" Cover Legal Expenses and Insurance Costs

Update: Feb 15, 2016: This documentary is airing on PBS's Independent Lens, February 22, 2016.

A major theme of this blog has been criticism of the Global War on Terror (GWOT), in both its international and domestic forms. I hope this documentary film will be another tool to change the current policies of the United States government, but the filmmakers need your help to reach a wider audience.

TERROR Documentary is facing unprecedented legal obstacles, and there is now a danger WE WON'T BE ABLE TO RELEASE THE...
Posted by TERROR Documentary on Friday, July 31, 2015

Here's the link to the Kickstarter project.

Review: The trials of Abu Ghraib: an expert witness account of shame and honor by Stjepan Gabriel Meštrović

I did my review through a series of Twitter status updates using the hashtag #TrialsAbuGhraib. If you use Twitter, please add your comments using that hashtag.

Review: Redeployment by Phil Klay

Redeployment by Phil Klay (Twitter) (Penguin Books, Paperback, 9780143126829, 304pp.)

Author Phil Klay is scheduled to come to my city, Augusta, GA, on April 17, 2015. I intended to go and confront him, not because I knew anything about him or his book, but mostly because of my anger over the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the worldwide assassination program by drone and other global war on terror calamities. 'Murica's embrace of the movie American Sniper also increased my bitterness, which I expressed on Twitter. This one best sums up what I thought I'd feel about Phil Klay and his book:

Until #USA pols in #prison for #WarCrimes, any movie which focuses on psychological trauma of US soldiers is war propaganda #AmericanSniper
— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) January 25, 2015

Anti-Terrorism Messages Lack Substance

This morning, I heard a segment on USA National Public Radio entitled Building Ties to Counter Religious Extremism in LA. The segment features two law enforcement types extensively, and two Muslims, Amina Mirza Qazi and Salam al-Maryati, who present different points of view. I've written on this blog extensively on the Global War on Terror, so I'd encourage you to review those posts.

Documentary: The Newburgh Sting

HBO premiered the documentary "The Newburgh Sting" on July 21, 2014.

The film has a Twitter account.

"Worldly ambition inhibits true learning." - Andrew Bacevich, "Washington Rules"

Worldly ambition inhibits true learning. Ask me. I know. A young man in a hurry is nearly uneducable: He knows what he wants and where he's headed; when it comes to looking back or entertaining heretical thoughts, he has neither the time nor the inclination. All that counts is that he is going somewhere. Only as ambition wanes does education become a possibility.

Review: Afghanistan and the Artificial US War on Terror by Anand Gopal

Afghanistan and the Artificial US War on Terror (Anand Gopal's New Book) - http://t.co/g6Xxdvf6zD pic.twitter.com/qyeu0gqjHj
— Juan Cole (@jricole) June 23, 2014

Entry on IndieBound.org

Minority Report Law? Cheney’s 1% Preemptive Doctrine of Prosecution and the Case of Ziyad Yaghi

Satyagraha911.org conducted an interview about the case of Ziyad Yaghi, a Muslim US citizen victim of the "War on Terror." The interview covers Ziyad's background, trial and imprisonment. Laila Yaghi, Ziyad's mother, Dr. Mel Underbakke of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms and journalist Siraj Davis participate in the interview.

Minority Report Law? Cheney’s 1% Preemptive Doctrine of Prosecution and the Case of Ziyad Yaghi... http://t.co/pbhprQigQt
— siraj davis (@sirajdavis) March 23, 2014

"... a fundamental principle of their work: the presumption of guilt."

One of my favorite novels from college was Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler. I'm currently listening to Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Twitter) (Facebook). The following quotes reminded me of the War on Terror materials I've been reading & watching and reviewing on this blog.

Review: Barzan

The documentary film Barzan's website has the trailer and links to interviews with its creators. I watched it in light of my national security and immigrant rights concerns. I was fortunate enough to have Alex Stonehill (Director/Cinematographer), Bradley Hutchinson (Director/Editor) and Sarah Stuteville (Writer/Reporter) in the room for a Q&A after the screening.

Dead Man Tell No Tales: Susan Zalkind's Story on Ibragim Todashev

Check out @ThisAmerLife episode 519: 'Dead Men Tell No Tales.' http://t.co/IyJkGD89pk
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) March 10, 2014

This American Life is one of my favorite National Public Radio programs. This episode focuses in another of the glorious episodes in the United States's War on Terror, about which this blog has a series of entries.
Updated March 24, 2013.

BREAKING: FTF has obtained a leaked copy of the FBI's Todashev report. http://t.co/dUSz4Uyh9b

— Fire Tom Friedman (@firetomfriedman) March 24, 2014