Victory in Iraq?

One of the most annoying things about this presidential race is that everyone feels compelled to say that we're winning in Iraq. What? Winning?

We have a massive troop presence there. The surge tactic was an okay way to temporarily keep the civil war from raging too openly. That's not really winning though. It's more like wasting time, postponing the inevitable.

We're going to be leaving sometime, right? Hopefully? Then the civil war will just start back up again. And there's no way the central government is going to win. The government is so corrupt, so fractured, so lacking in anything like morale, that it will never be viable. Everyone knows that.

The Shiite majority is definitely going to win the civil war. Under Saddam, the Sunni minority oppressed the Shiites. They're not going to take it now that he's gone.

Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shiite cleric, leader of the Mahdi Army, is probably going to come out in a leadership role. If we were to leave Iraq right now and let them fight it out, that's probably what would happen.

And you know what? That's fine with me.

Muqtada al-Sadr could be the key to lasting peace in the entire region. As a Shiite cleric, he is extremely close to the Shiite clerics in Iran. And his cousin is Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. These guys are close and natural allies. Together they form an important Shiite counterweight to Saudi Arabia, Al Qaeda, and the other Sunni extremists who currently control the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has dominated the Middle East since we put the Al Saud family on the throne fifty years ago. Look where that's gotten us. To me, it's a good thing to let the Shiites assert themselves in the region. We will be safer if the balance of power doesn't stay with Saudi Arabia.

What would happen if we left Iraq? Would we lose? Would we be in danger? No. Muqtada al-Sadr, Iran, and Hezbollah would step up. Saudi and Al Qaeda influence would be diminished. And that would make us far safer in the long run.

Heart Sutra

Have you ever heard the Heart Sutra? To me, it expresses the strength of Buddhist philosophy. There is a place in the mind of absolute will, absolute still, cognition of the universal oneness.

That's a pretty useful place, a revolutionary place.

See what I mean? Here's a video of the Heart Sutra.



Read the words too.

Here's a translation from Sanskrit to English by the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association:

When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.

Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or Dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining.

Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva through reliance on Prajna Paramita is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana! All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is a Great Spiritual Mantra, a Great Bright Mantra, a Supreme Mantra, an Unequalled Mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the Mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this:

Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté
Bodhi Svaha!

End of The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra

No Bailout? Or a better one?

Okay. The Paulson bailout was a total giveaway to the people who made up those dangerous mortgage-based securities in the first place. It probably wasn't the best idea. Economically, and morally, it sort of just didn't make sense.

But here's the thing. Paulson and Bush hyped the bailout so much that the world markets expected it. Paulson and Bush basically said that our economy will be ruined if the bailout didn't pass. So, naturally, investors everywhere were totally shocked when the House voted against it. Investor confidence is shattered, and that's dangerous.

It might be for the best that this version of the bailout didn't go through. The thing is, that doesn't mean the government should step away from the economy and pray that the free market corrects itself. We need to do something, the world markets are going to drop until the government intervenes in some major way.

Now would be a great time for a New Deal style investment in our country. Spend the $700 billion to fix what's actually wrong with our real economy. It might be the only way to avert a depression.

Tinariwen

Check out Tinariwen, a Tuareg band from Mali, producing some of the best music in the world right now.

Cler Achel video.


Chet Boghassa video.



Toumast video.


Amassakoul'n'Tenere video.

Army unit to deploy in U.S.

Oh wow. What a good sign this is! What do they expect to happen?

Wait. This is illegal.

Democracy Now excerpt.

Bikram Singh

Where is the best bhangra in the world coming from right now? New York. Oh yeah. Bikram Singh, Queens NY, baby!

Kawan video.


Sada Dil video.


American Jugni video.

Dahler Mendhi

Dahler Mendhi, proving once and for all that corny as hell and so hot it hurts are not mutually exclusive categories when it comes to bhangra music!

Tunak Tunak Tun video.


Koi Dheere video.


Saade Dil Te Churiyan Chaliyan video.