Iron Man, Messianic Violence, and Arabs in Film
By yaman | May 12, 2008
Another film that tries to integrate contemporary political themes into its plot, Iron Man tells the story of an exuberant Tony Stark who, despite accusations that weapons made by his company Stark Industries make him a “merchant of death,” believes he is helping to defend noble ideas like freedom and democracy. His alpha-male confidence makes him a cultural pop-star and manages to land even his strongest critics (characterized, unsurprisingly, as feisty female reporters) in bed with him.
That is, until he is captured while demonstrating new technology that he has developed for the American occupation army in Afghanistan. After spending weeks in captivity, living thanks to the inspirational motivation of a similarly captured Afghani doctor, Stark appears to have undergone a “change of heart,” returning to America after an almost too-brilliant escape only to announce that he intends to shut down the weapons-manufacturing wing of Stark Industries, a company that specializes in weapons technologies.
In his seclusion, Stark develops an impressive new suit that has him dubbed the “Iron Man” by the press. With flying capabilities as well as advanced navigation, aiming, and targeting systems, all powered by radioactive polonium, the suit, ostensibly, is supposed to be a weapon that can’t end up in the wrong hands. Of course, Stark’s vision is undermined by the work of his former captives and a traitorous colleague who successfully reverse engineer the crude prototype he had built in order to escape his captors in Afghanistan, providing for a formidable foe in the final scenes in the movie. Read the rest of this entry »
Israel at 60
By yaman | May 7, 2008
If we have to pretend states have birthdays, we have to take the metaphor to its logical conclusion…
Apparently, Israel is turning 60.
You know what that means? Israel is only two years away from reaching the legal retirement age!
That’s right, maybe when it turns 62, Israel will finally pack its bags, move to Florida, and let the Palestinians return to their homes and live in peace.
If you want to know what all the fanfare is about, why Israel out of all countries in the world is the only one that has to mobilize a multi-million dollar campaign to celebrate its “birthday” in places that are… not Israel… read up about some of complications that accompanied Israel’s birth: namely, a little problem called “the Palestinian people,” who were dispossessed of their lands, homes, rights, and security in 1947 and 1948, and continue to live mostly under military law (aka, brute force) in the West Bank and Gaza, thanks to billions of dollars of birthday gifts that the United States gives Israel every year.
Editorial in the SF Chronicle: Mayor Newsom’s Israel trip is ill-advised on the 60th anniversary of the Nakbah
On May 15, my family will commemorate an-Nakba, Arabic for “the catastrophe,” which is the dark underbelly of Israel’s foundation. Sixty years ago, Jewish militants and, later, the Israeli army, forced 2 out of every 3 Palestinians - more than 700,000 people - to flee their homes. Many Palestinians who resisted expulsion or were unable to leave were massacred in cold blood, as were those who returned to harvest food from their orchards or gather personal belongings left behind. The Palestinians who fled now constitute the oldest unresolved refugee population in the world, despite their internationally recognized right to return. Meanwhile, Israel permits any Jew from anywhere in the world to immigrate and obtain citizenship.
General Resources about the Nakbah: Electronic Intifada’s Nakbah page.
I’m afraid Israel can’t wish that problem away when it blows out the candles next week.
Why does the Daily Cal print anti-Muslim advertisements?
By yaman | May 6, 2008
For some reason, the Daily Californian yesterday printed an advertisement, shown above, by the “David Horowitz Freedom Center” that alleged Muslim students around the country were “waging” a “stealth jihad on America’s college campuses.”
While the advertisement does contain a disclaimer “PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT,” probably to distance the views expressed from the newspaper itself, it’s difficult to see why this classification was chosen: the advertisement does not support nor oppose any specific political candidate, legislation, action, or issue. All it does is bash Muslims. Since the Daily Cal is under no obligation whatsoever to print all advertisements, it retains full discretion over what it does and does not agree to print. Why it did agree to print this is still unanswered.
Barack Obama’s Charisma Will Save The World
By yaman | April 20, 2008
When it comes to Iran, Barack Obama says that the US needs to be careful about the use of force and must pursue other avenues, invoking George Bush and Iraq as foils to his “new foreign policy.”
When it comes to Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama says that Americans should not be quick to judge the man, and should make an attempt to understand his statements, sentiments, and beliefs within the context of his experience in a racist America.
But when it comes to the Palestinians, Barack Obama rejects any such nuanced approach. Instead, he, Hillary Clinton, and every other Democrat try to the best of their abilities to sound as much like George Bush as possible. Deviation from the norm here is not called ‘debate’ or an ‘exchange of ideas,’ it’s downright sedition.
For those who would claim that he might be “concealing” his true opinions: I don’t believe in trojan horse politics; I don’t believe a trojan horse democracy is democracy; the only trick trojan horse candidates play are on those who might support them on that premise. Read the rest of this entry »
The democracy racket
By yaman | April 16, 2008
Too much anti-war sentiment in the United States focuses on the disastrous consequences wrought by American violence on the Iraqi people. Not enough pays attention to the sickening extortion of Iraqis’ natural and material resources to cover the cost of crippling, starving, invading, occupying, and destroying their country.
This is the democracy racket: a fraudulent enterprise that offers freedom, in exchange for occupation; human rights, in exchange for Abu Ghurayb; security, in exchange for bribed militants; and a parliament, in exchange for the oversight of an embassy-fortress.
America’s debt to Iraq will never be paid.
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