To Ban or Not to Ban the Full-Face Veil…

France’s recent overwhelming vote to ban the full face veil aka the Burka or Niqab, worn by a fraction of Muslim women, in public places, has come into scrutiny and debate. Those opposing such a move have expressed similar criticisms across the globe ranging from being un-democratic, hypocritical, an infringement to individual freedom, intolerant, to being Islamaphobic. But those who support this ban have all echoed the same sentiment and justification: that the burka/niqab is a symbol of religious extremism and oppression of women, a threat to secular tradition and a threat to security.

British MP Damian Green has expressed that banning the burka/niqab would be un-British while the vast majority of the British people are against the burka/niqab. So have we and our politicians gone a little too PC? Critics of this burka/niqab ban, however, are pounding their chests exclaiming that if people allow the government to dictate what to and what not to wear in public places, it’d be tyranny.

So, the question in our minds is, should the government have the right to ban or not to ban the burka/niqab? Or to put it in another way, should the government have the right to ban or not to ban what people wear or not wear in public? That’s the question.

Having been exposed to Eastern and Western cultures, Christian and Muslim faiths in my life, in my opinion, banning the full veil is not about attacking the Muslim faith. In fact, the vast majority of Muslims in the world do NOT wear or support the full face veil at all. Traditionally, only those women who come from deeply conservative families with specific beliefs about how much a woman should cover herself in public, wear the burka or the niqab. More specifically, the Wahabi faith which stems from Saudi Arabia and spread to various corners of the Muslim world including the Taliban in Afghanistan who preach more conservative & fundamentalistic version of Islam.

Now, some women wear it as a political protest against policies like France’s burka/niqab ban. But let’s not kid ourselves. The majority of Muslim women do not choose to wear it. Those who insist that it’s a symbol of their freedom to wear the burka/niqab are just delusional or have been brainwashed by their male-dominated families. These women are living in the West. Ironic, isn’t it? I’d like to see them live in oppressed countries like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan where women are treated like objects with absolutely no rights whatsoever to even think for themselves, let alone walk free in public without male supervision, and God forbid, without full body and face coverage! And if they still have the same opinion about the burka or niqab being a symbol of freedom after that, then I’ll listen.

Moreover, the full-face veil ban is not about infringing the rights of some women who have a choice whether to wear it or not. It is to protect the majority of women who don’t currently have a voice to protest against the veil as they’re usually pressured by their families to adhere to their fundamental beliefs and rules about attire or face harmful consequences.

Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America. These fundamentalists have been forcing and pushing for more conservative and warped teachings of the religion onto other Muslims, particularly the youth, those who’ve been disenfranchised by the West, the poor and the uneducated in parts of the world. Believe me, these fundamentalists do not speak for the entire Muslim population. Far from it. In fact, the majority of Muslims is of moderate, modern thinking, and believe in the rule of law, separation of religion and state, women and individual empowerment, education, and religious tolerance. But the volume of the fundamental voice has been much louder than the majority. Hence we only hear the fundamentalistic views of the religion.

In recent times, there’s been a large group of migration by Arabs to the West, particularly Europe. Amidst these immigrants, there are fundamentalists who refuse to integrate into their adoptive society. These people who came from oppressed and religious countries strongly believe that they have the right to change the secular West. Hence, we’ve been observing the rising social tension and conflict between religious and secular believers. So, what do these observations have anything to do with banning the burka, you may ask. Well, it’s definitely not what some people may think – that the West is out to corrupt Muslim women with their secular, open beliefs.

After 9/11 and subsequent terrorist attacks in various parts of the Western world, the rising exposure of Al Qaeda and the Taliban preaching corrupted Quran teachings to further their plan to rid of all infidels in the world and wreak havoc everywhere, images of women in burqa being abused or tortured (i.e. in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan), and images of terrorists with masked faces, many people including Muslims associate the veiled or masked face as a symbol of fundamentalism and oppression against women. Additionally, the image also gives many a sense of discomfort and insecurity as they don’t know who they’re speaking to underneath the burka/niqab.

Now, my question to those who outwardly oppose to this ban is this: If you think that the government has no right to impose laws about what people can and cannot wear in public, then why would you agree with the government imposing laws against nudity? People can argue that banning nudity in public is an infringement to individual freedom. Yet, people  have no problem at all with that ban. It’s all about the public having a sense of security and comfort. Same thing with the burka/niqab. Surely you’d feel anxious, fearful, worried or uncomfortable if someone walking toward  you or passing you by is wearing a ski-mask, all covered up from head to toe. Heck, we’d immediately call the authorities because we fear that he/she underneath that mask may be up to no good! I’m not saying that people who wear the burka/niqab are immediately seen as having bad intentions. But the burka/niqab has been proven to enable  male terrorists or simply bad men to take advantage of it in order to escape authorities, do something illegal or worse, plan a bomb because authorities generally don’t check those wearing the burka/niqab out of respect of the faith. As human nature goes, we tend to abuse our liberties, don’t we?

Don’t know about you but for me, despite being exposed to the niqab for many years, every time I see an individual wearing the burka/niqab, I still can’t help but feel a little anxious simply because I can’t see the person’s face, so I don’t know how she feels, can’t hear her properly or what she’s thinking and more importantly, who she is, or if it’s actually a she! So, to me, the ban is not against Islam. It’s all to do with security. The government has the responsiblity to ensure the protection and security of its citizens.

It’s the same logic that Muslim countries, particularly the Arab countries, impose on their visitors and migrants. For e.g., in the UAE, you’re not allowed to kiss in public places because it’s against the law and its core values. In Iran, women must wear the head scarf in public because it is the law, and people are discouraged from covering their faces for safety and security purposes. So why can’t the Western countries uphold their beliefs and values as well? Whatever happened to the phrase, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”? What, it doesn’t apply to some because of their particular faith? Why have we gone so overboard with political correctness when it comes to anything related to Islam?

I may sound a little insensitive but if those women who oppose the ban because they feel that it infringes upon their freedom to wear it, then the best thing is for them to move back to where they came from or if they’re European-born, then migrate to those countries that allow or impose this attire on women. Bottom line is this. While I also don’t like to feel like my individual rights and freedom are being taken away by governmental intervention, we’re living in a violent and dangerous world today where security is key to our way of life and survival. There are certain liberties we have to forego for the sake of our safety and security.

Next, we need to debate the banning of the Shariah law and honour killings. These actions have no place anywhere but since these are observed in certain countries and may be part of their sub-culture we don’t live in, we have no right to impose our beliefs on them, obviously. But we do have the right to protect our freedom and women’s rights in our world because rights and freedom are 2 of the most fundamental secular and democratic values that every citizen or person living in a democratic, progressive country must uphold.

~ written by Gobsmacker, for Chatteringmind

Week #18 in Review ’10

Week #18 (Week of May 3rd) has surely been overshadowed by the UK Election and its unprecedented results, making it one of the most exciting, nail-biting elections to watch! No longer is the US Elections the only one now… Plus, the other political news that made the headlines…

1. UK is HUNG after 36 years – Wow, what an exciting, nail-biting election to watch this past Thursday night in Britain indeed! Never thought the UK Election would be so thrilling to follow…not to mention, WELL INTO the next morning. Initially, when the exit poll was out, showing a hung parliament with the Conservative (Tory) Party holding the majority seats, followed by the embattled 13-year ruling Labour Party and then trailing way behind, as usual, was the Liberal Democratic Party, nobody could believe the numbers. According to the exit poll, the LibDems lost 5 seats and judging by the huge rise in popularity of its party leader, Nick Clegg, during the campaign, surely the poll was grossly mispresented! The BBC covered the election before and after the vote counting with great efficiency and detail. All its commentators, led by the incomparable David Dimbleby and the always tough Jeremy Paxman, stayed throughout the night and way past breakfast hour without any rest or sleep, in order to bring us all wickedly funny but always accurate, detailed, factful coverage and analysis of all the results. By 0200 GMT it was very clear that we were all in for a very long, uncertain time as the real results slowly but surely mirrored the numbers from the exit poll!

Although all the political pundits and commentators were expecting a hung parliament way before the election night, it was still quite an unbelievable spectacle to actually see with their own eyes that the prediction was coming to fruition! Well, it’s understandable why the level of disbelief was still apparent despite expecting its inevitability before May 6th. The last time Britain had a hung parliament was in 1974…. over 3 decades ago! The country had been so used to being governed by 1 winning party before this election that the very idea of not having that clarity this time is a bit hard to swallow. Alas, by Friday morning, it was clear as day that the exit poll performed on Election Day was right on the money. The final results were eerily similar to the exit poll numbers! Britain has a hung parliament in 2010! It’s a total disaster for the Tories who were expecting to bring Labour to its knees. The results did swing to their side albeit fell a little short to take over as the majority government. With 20 seats short of the magic 326-seat minimum requirement, David Cameron is in a fix. But the most disappointed person coming out of this election is perhaps Nick Clegg, the young, charismatic, earnest, hugely popular leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. Before the election, every media outlet was expecting him to come out THE victor of this hard-fought campaign, especially after the televised debates in which he did mighty well. Everyone was branding him as the “new” Obama of Britain, with the “Change” term flying high in his campaign promises. So, what happened in the polling stations?! Instead of making history in the number of seats won, the Liberal Democrats actually LOST seats! FIVE seats! Now, THAT literally sent the media into total hellspin. Everyone was gobsmacked; shell-shocked! Betters lost big money! Nick Clegg clearly couldn’t turn his popularity into votes. At the end of the day, the voters, however psyched they were during the campaign to see their own “Obama” version in Nick Clegg, went with the big, well-known parties instead. In the end, it’s the “better the devil you know” mentality that kicked in. It’s human nature to go with the known instead of the UNknown.

Now, Britain has no government. Constitutionally, the Prime Minister has the first right to form a government. However, because the Labour Party has been bashed ever so severely in the voting results, Gordon Brown was clearly deeply embarrassed and disappointed. He saw that the people were revoking against him. This was personal. So, instead of implementing his constitutional right, the deflected Gordon Brown publicly announced that he’d granted Nick Clegg’s wish to have a discussion with David Cameron of the Conservative Party first before having any with Brown. David Cameron wasted no time and publicly announced that his party had come up with a comprehensive package for the Lib Dems’ consideration. Hands already open wide, willing to work with Clegg and his party so the Tories can once again move back into Number 10 after 13 years in exile. The mainstream media and social networking sites especially Twitter have been having a field day about the possibility of a coalition government between the Tories and the Lib Dems.

However, all is not as clear cut as we may think. Before Nick Clegg can proceed with any further talks with David Cameron, he must first obtain 2/3 approval from the senior members of his party. So, what can or cannot be traded off of their manifesto during the negotiations depends solely on the majority concensus of the senior members. Meanwhile, the growing fear that Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems would abandon their fundamental fight for political reform if they were to form a government with the Tories, thereby making David Cameron the new Prime Minister, had caused a major protest outside the HQ of the Liberal Democratic Party on Smith Square on Saturday where Nick Clegg was holding internal talks with his senior members. Over 1,000 protesters were chanting “You Serve Us!” outside the HQ. After a while, Nick Clegg came out and faced the noisy Lib Dem voters, publicly accepted the signed petition and urged every supporter to continue voicing their concerns about political reform across the country. Now, does this mean that the deal-breaker between the Lib Dems and the Tories is political reform? At this point, the Tories have all emphatically rejected even the mere notion of reforming the political system that has governed the country for more than 180 years. The Tories are adamant about retaining the old political system, not even entertaining a referendum on it. The Lib Dems, although their most critical fight has been to reform the political system, seem to be a bit more flexible about it now that they may very well end up holding key cabinet seats in the government if they go with the Tories.

So, will the Lib Dems capitulate and put their political reform fight in the backburner in return for getting key cabinet positions in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, hence alienating their base? Or, will they stick to their guns, as their voters and supporters are expecting them to, and demand for the Tories to put political reform on the agenda, which may cost them their golden opportunity to take part in governing the country if the deal-breaker for the Tories is a resounding no to political reform? If that’s the case, then David Cameron could very well have the opportunity to form a minority government. This option, though, would be hugely risky for him and his party especially in the midst of a major economic crisis in the country where they’d have to make very unpopular decisions. If they don’t do it properly, they risk having to face another election as early as 6 months from when they take over Number 10.

Another option, which is quite unlikely at this moment, is for the Lib Dems to align with Labour. But even in so doing, they won’t have enough seats to form a government. So they’d have to seek coalition with the other smaller parties like Scotland’s SNP, Wales’ Plaid Cymru, and other anti-Tory parties which would be much more difficult in trying to get all these parties’ concensus to form a coalition government. The other big issue is Gordon Brown. It’s highly unlikely that the Lib Dems would go with Labour if Gordon Brown is still the leader. For Labour to even have the slightest chance of redeeming themselves and getting a 2nd chance to form a coalition government, Gordon Brown must step down. The Labour voters had spoken at the polling stations. They do not want Brown as their party’s leader. He has to go.

For now, at least, until we get news about the outcome of Cameron and Clegg’s backroom deals, the game is still on for the Labour Party, however remote.

2. Arizona State of Bigotry – It seems that Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, isn’t given any break at all after signing in the unconscionable, zenophobic, socially inept, unconstitional, un-American bill into law. She’s now complaining about being under attack by “terrorists.” She’s fiercely defending her actions and the new law, not backing down despite big protests in her state and around the country, her state’s NBA team changing its name from “Phoenix Suns” to “Los Suns” in defiance and marking Cinco de Mayo this past Wednesday. Hispanic citizens and residents around the country are screaming for boycott of Arizona by businesses, sports, politics and what not. Even a few GOP politicians have come out publicly against Brewer’s new anti-immigration law. But Brewer still stands firm, even warning businesses and sports teams/leagues that their boycott would only hurt Arizonans in the end. Which brings us to this sticky, discouraging point about the All-Star MLB game to be held in Arizona next year. It’s been reported that the boss of MLB has expressed reluctance in pulling the All-Star game out of Arizona as it would most definitely hurt businesses related to this game which he made a deal with before Arizona imploded with this horrible law. But nothing’s final yet. So, perhaps, there should be a show of force by the MLB players, especially the crowd-gathering ones like Jeter and Rodrigues, to opt out from participating in the All-Star game next year if it’s still being held in Arizona. But, it’s probably going to be difficult. We’ll have to continue observing MLB’s actions for now and evaluate…

3. FREAKY DOW Meltdown - Boston Beer valued at $0??! Sotherby’s share is over $100K per share?! WTFF??!! Yeap, on a freaky Thursday afternoon at at precisely 2:47 p.m., all of a sudden we saw a number of companies’ share values plunging into the zero territory, meaning at a flick of the finger, these companies, namely Boston Beer, Radian Group, Exelon and Centerpoint, only valued at $0!!! OMFG! Initially, everyone in Wall Street blamed Greece for the plummeting trades. But before long, it was thought that an error was made by one of the traders, who mis-typed “b” (billion) instead of “m” (million), sending shares down fast and furious. Talk about a TYPO indeed! What a disastrous one, to say the least! But the damage was done. For the last 2 hours of trading, we saw stocks nose-dive to 9%, with the Dow suffering its biggest point-drop, with almost 1,000 points. But the freaky thing is, nobody knows what the heck happened, specifically. Many theories are flying around but one thing is clear: the stock market would cancel all the trades done during that freaky period of $0 valuation. And this whole thing is under investigation now.

4. Is the US Constitution Redundant Now? It seems that every single time there’s been an attack or an attempt to do so on Americans domestically, we see radical bills being introduced regardless of sounding absolutely unconstitutional, un-American or impractical. Remember the McCarthy-inspiring Patriot Act right after 9/11? Now, after the New York Times Square bombing cock-up by an American citizen last week, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut has introduced a bill that could strip Americans off of their citizenship, called the Terrorist Expatriation Act, supported by a few other politicians, most notably the just-elected Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts. This bill specifically gives the State Department the sole discretion to strip any American off of his/her citizenship should he/she be suspected of just being associated with a terrorist organization or terrorist-sympathizing organization, as decided by the Department. Wow, whatever happened to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?? Has Senator Lieberman forgotten about it or he just doesn’t care about it anymore? Interestingly enough, recently 9 members of the Hutaree Christian Militia group were arrested for plotting to kill law enforcement officers and to create an uprising against the government. FBI agents who closed in on them found explosives and weapons. That time, the government was lucky to be a step ahead of the militia group. However, there was not even a peep coming out of the Congress about it, let alone a bill to prevent the threat from recurring. Don’t know about you, but this Militia group, or any militia group for that matter, is considered a terrorist group. But no, that term was not used at all except for small minority of the media. So, why wasn’t there a huge uproar from politicians after the arrest of the 9 members? Was it because they happen to be of Caucasian race?

On the other hand, Faizal Shahzad, the failed bomber last week, has been the poster child for politicians to bang on about tighter security, punishments for future perpetrators who dare to attack America domestically. Cue Senator Lieberman and Senator Brown when they paraded to the podium in front of the media, proudly proclaiming that their bill, the Terrorist Expatriation Act bill would strip terrorists like Shahzad of their American citizenship, thereby annulling the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Why wasn’t this bill introduced when those 9 members of the Hutaree Militia group were arrested? The Feds lucked out when they managed to stop these crazy people from implementing their plot. We lucked out as well that Shahzad turns out to be a total idiot and the Feds caught him. He was actually waiting to be caught, interestingly. So, why the double standard? Is it because Shahzad happens to be from a race other than Caucasian, thereby reducing his worth as an American?

With this so-called Terrorist Expatriation Act bill floating around and the recent Arizona anti-immigration bill signed into law thereby sanctioning racial profiling and violating the civil liberties of every person living legally in the U.S., with other ill-informed states considering signing in similar law, what do we make of the fabric of America? One upside to all this embarassing, incomprehensible, unprecedented fringe right hysteria that we see recently is that we’re not all like this group of zenophobic, ethnophobic, Islamaphobic people in America. There IS still hope. We MUST fight for our rights as Americans, upholding the constitution that our forefathers had given us so we could live freely and without fear of being persecuted for having differing values, religion and race.

—written by Gobsmacker, for Chatteringmind

Week in Review (Week #17)

Well, it was a busy Week #17 (Week of April 26th) from politics to showbiz news; some bizarro ones, obviously! Let’s take a look:

1. Bigotry in United States of Arizona – as expected, since Arizona governor, Jan Brewer (R) signed the anti-immigration aka “Papers, Please!” bill into law, there has been huge protests all over America, prompting the state legislature to amend the bill in order to soften the term where law enforcement officers could stop anyone with “reasonable suspicion” and asks for documents proving his/her citizenship. The amended term, is an attempt to soften the blow. But now, instead of giving law enforcement officers carte blanche to stop anyone and ask for papers under the unimplementable “reasonable suspicion” criteria, officers are restricted to only ask for proof of citizenship if the person is also charged or suspected to have committed a crime or done something against the law. However, committing a crime and/or doing something against the law could be as minor as having untrimmed lawns, being accused of noise pollution, not clearing up after his/her pet in public areas, public disturbance, etc.. So, this so-called amendment does nothing to soften the bill! In fact, it’s worse! What if whoever reports on the person to the law enforcement agency about the lawn or noise, etc., is doing it out of malice or revenge? Worse, this bill is already a sanction for abuse of power based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexuality, political alliance, the whole nine yards.

At least one sherrif from Pima County in Arizona has spoken out against this hugely racial law and vows not to implement it as it’s unconstitutional, racist and un-American. Good for him! And there’s been a slow trickle, but a trickle nonetheless, of conservatives speaking out against this bigoted law. Civil rights groups have organised protests across the country to boycott Arizona and anything associated with the state, i.e. sports teams. The MLB association is already reviewing its decision of having the All-Star game in Arizona next year. That’s great! The only way to eliminate this hateful law is for people and groups in high places to take the big step of denouncing this abominable thing that has occurred in one state. But, it’s frightening as a few more states are now contemplating on following Arizona’s bigoted footstep in targeting illegal immigration. Is America going backwards socially to the era before the civil rights movement? Do people have to once again fight for their civil rights all over again??

2. UK Election 2010 – the first-ever televised Prime Ministerial Debate is over. Britons have just days before the election. The 3rd and final debate last Thursday organised by the BBC was, in my view, the best of the 3 yet. The moderator was engaging rather than just keeping time for the candidates. The questions and answers were applicable to the debate topic which was the economy. All 3 candidates – Gordon Brown (Labour), David Cameron (Tory), Nick Clegg (Lib Dem) – did well. But sadly, the news about the debate wasn’t about the debate at all. Alas, it was about what happened the day before the debate! Yes, by now, you’d have heard all about Gordon Brown’s faux pas when unbeknownst to him, he said a whole lot of things no public should’ve heard after his unsuccessful meeting with one of the Labour voters, an elderly woman. Yes, it’s the worst nightmare a public figure, a politician, can ever have – to have a mic on him/her still hot and saying things that he/she would definitely regret! Brown was complaining bitterly about his disastrous meeting with the elderly woman and uttered what he actually thought of her after she blurted bigoted remarks about immigration and Eastern Europeans. Yes, he called her a “bigoted woman.” Well, between you and me, who are against bigotry, we’d have said the exact same thing, if not worse, about the elderly woman. But for Brown to have said that behind the woman’s back no less, that’s just a PR disaster for Brown and the already embattled Labour Party!  And all this happened a day before the final PM debate! Poor Gordon Brown! It seems that he’s never able to catch a moment’s peace or a break ever since he took over Tony Blair as the Prime Minister, has he? He’s been trying his utmost to improve his stony, cold public image and what does he get? This ginormous gaffe! Poor bugger!

Although Brown did well in the last debate, every media outlet seems to think that his fight is over and so is Labour’s. People are fickled and have short memories. 13 years of Labour rule, people want to change. It’s the same as in the USA. A few years ruled by one party; and then the other party steps in when people get tired of the current one. So, people in Britain are tired of the Labour Party. It doesn’t help when its leader is Gordon Brown, who has never been able to garner as much support as his predecessor did simply because unlike Blair, who’s a natural charismatic leader, Brown is clearly not. That’s why I always thought that he was not suited to be the PM but a great Exchequer because he’s a numbers guy; he’s very intelligent. He knows how to govern the country. But a PM can’t just be that. A PM needs to get the love and support of the people. He/she needs to be charismatic, to be the Pied Piper of the British people, so to speak, who’ll follow his/her lead willingly, wherever they’re being taken. Gordon Brown is no Pied Piper.

What’s disconcerting is that while Nick Clegg is hugely popular as the NEW charismatic leader, the Liberal Democratic Party is still largely unknown. It has never governed the country. People are not sure even though they love Clegg. Which brings us to David Cameron. He’s young, good-looking, ambitious, a smooth-talker, quite charismatic. But you know he’s slippery. He’ll say anything to get your votes and you can see it in his eyes. But he’s from the big, well-known Tory party. People’s voting record has always been voting for the devil you know instead of a stranger. In this case, the devil is the Tory; the stranger is the Lib Dem. Labour is out of the equation because it’s the current governing Party.

Guess we’ll never know until after 6th of May when the election is held. After the votes are counted, let’s just hope that the new government, whichever Party(ies) it/they may be, will lead its people properly and with dignity and equality for all in Britain.

3. BP Oil Rig Spill in Gulf of Mexico – What? Right after the disastrous Icelandic volcano eruption has subsided, we now have yet another disaster??! WTF?! Now, it’s the oil spill that just keeps getting worse by the minute! Remember the horrible Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Alaskan waters back in 1989? Well, that horrible spill was from a vessel. This one, just outside the Gulf of Mexico, is from an oil rig!! The last time there was an oil spill from an oil rig was back in 1969! The difference between oil spil from a vessel and one from the oil rig itself is that if it’s from the latter, crude oil just keeps spilling into the waters from the pipes without any end in sight especially if there’s no way of turning it off from the well! This is exactly what’s happening at the BP-owned oil rig in the Gulf. Now, the spill has reached the extremity of the Louisiana coast. Animals and sea life are beginning to be affected by it. Still, BP and all the experts have not come up with a practical, feasible solution since the oil well can’t be shut off due to an absence of a backup switch! BP is going to pay dearly from this, that’s for sure. But that’s not the disaster. The disaster is nature, environment and economy – sea life, coastal animals, Louisianans’ economic life (2/3 of Louisian’s economy is generated from the Gulf). This is Obama’s worst nightmare especially when the US economy has barely pulled out of the water and the anger toward the government has grown exponentially since Obama took office. With the slow economy recovery and unemployment rates, the anti-government sentiment is surely going to increase even more now with this potentially biggest disaster ever hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coasts. *sigh* But at least we don’t have to hear that incorrigible Sarah Palin screaming “Drill, Baby Drill!” anymore! This phrase is annoyingly obnoxious! Like UK’s Gordon Brown, it doesn’t seem like Barack Obama can ever catch a break, no matter how prudent, dilligent and smart he is. Wonder if Hillary Clinton is thanking her lucky stars that she’s not the President in this climate, eh?

4. Coming Out of the Closet, PR Style – Don’t know about you but I’ve never heard of a celebrity wanting to come out of the closet use it to create buzz. Traditionally coming out has been the result of being caught, or the person doesn’t want to hide or run away from it anymore. But never has coming out publicly been used as a PR tool to generate curiosity in the entertainment world BEFORE the official coming out! AND, having a specific coming out date, as well! Jeez, it seems that everything’s changed. For more than a week now, this leak about a major celebrity who’ll be coming out publicly on People magazine has been teasing everyone from its PR activities on social networking sites, newswires, entertainment sites. First, the only leak was “a major celebrity.” Then, it elevated to “a female major celebrity“. Finally, it was graduated to “a female major celebrity in country music.” Oh, brother!! So naturally, the buzz has been crazy. Everyone has an opinion about who it’s going to be. From Oprah to Latifah, Shelby Lynne…!

I just hope that by the time the name of the celebrity is revealed on May 5th on People Magazine, it’d be worth all the PR effort! I have a strong sensation that the revelation would be a buzz kill.

—written by Gobsmacker, for Chatteringmind

This Week (Week #16 of 2010) in Review – from Politics to Showbiz

This is my 1st attempt at reviewing or commenting on every week’s goings-on, as per Chatteringmind‘s request, ranging from politics, economics to science, religion & showbiz news or shockers. I’ll try to do it every week, time willing, but we’ll see. Well, we’re into week 16 of the year 2010 and my gosh, what a week it’s been! Let’s see…

1. State of Arizona – clearly off the radar until the Republican governor, Jan Brewer, decided to sign the outrageously zenophobic, anti-immigration bill into law this past Friday. The law, which gives law enforcement officers the absolute right to exercise “reasonable suspicion” and ask for immigration papers from anyone living in the state of Arizona, arrest anyone who doesn’t produce the papers when asked, is absolutely UN-enforceable! Why? Well, because what constitutes a “reasonable suspicion” when Brewer flat out denies that the bill generates racial profiling and clearly points out that racial profiling is against the law, Federal law? How does one determine whether someone “looks” or “seems” or “acts” like an illegal immigrant when racial profiling is strictly prohibited from this godforsaken “Papers, Please!” law? Heck, even Brewer found herself stumbling on her own words trying to answer this precise question from a journalist at the press conference on Friday ‘coz this law is OXYMORONIC!

To me, Brewer‘s more interested in getting re-elected than pretending to be “concerned” with the rising number of illegal immigrants crossing the border. She doesn’t care if the UN-American bill she just signed into law doesn’t even begin to tackle the root problem of illegal immigration….BORDER control, or lack thereof, to be precise… let alone the law being enforceable. Governor Brewer only cares about being re-elected, that’s what I think. So, this so-called law may just have wasted a lot of the taxpayers’ money for nothing because simply put, it is NOT enforceable because nobody knows how or what criteria an “illegal immgrant” can be created under in order to implement the law. As a result, anyone in Arizona, resident or otherwise, is subject to be being pulled over and asked for papers. Period. Be afraid, Americans and Arizonans, be very afraid.

2. The healthcare reform bill has been signed into law and in effect already. But it hasn’t stopped the crazies from acting even more bizarrely. Take Sue Lowden, former State Senator of Nevada, for example, currently leading in the polls against current US Senator, Democrat Harry Reid, and trying to run for US Senate against Reid in November. If you read her CV with her long-standing experience in politics and public service, you wouldn’t, for a second, doubt her intelligence or integrity as a common sense human being. But when she starts banging on about bringing back the already extinct Barter system, to a point where she actually has the audacity to propose paying healthcare and doctors with….ok, are you sitting down… CHICKENS…that’s when you need to be afraid. Well, what can I say… I’m speechless. Dumbfounded. Amazed. For a moment, after hearing about it, I thought someone pulled a fast one on me..yes, you, Rachel Maddow! It was a joke, plain and simple, I told myself. Then, I thought I was dreaming, or in someone else’s dream. “This can’t be right!” I repeated to myself. But then, it’s turned out to be true because after Maddow reported on it on her show, people in politics and the media wouldn’t stop talking about it the next day until now! What the HELL is going on?! Are we living in the Twilight Zone now?! What has the world turned into?!

Another thing worth pointing out from “TRMS” too is yet another bizarro scene. (Good job, Rachel! Really, thumbs up for bringing this to light!) Apparently, Sue Lowden isn’t the only one under the bizarro spell (cue “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers“!). Tennessee GOP State Representative, Mike Bell, also made the “NUTTER” headlines with his comment during the discussion of a proposed state law that might exempt Tennessee from the federal healthcare insurance mandate: “Some people pay healthcare with vegetables.” Like the Democratic Representative, Joe Towns, I declare this outrageousness as…”IT’S AN ANOMALY!” Surely! This kind of crazytalk MUST be an ANOMALY, no?! Well, judging by how the GOP politicians have recently flocked to the “dark” side of fringe bonkersness, I very much doubt it’s just an anomaly. GOP politicians with the help of the fringe right “teaparty-ers’ seem to be flooding the media with demented, lunatic, idiotic, loco, loony-bin ideas that is somehow listened to by more and more people! Again I have to ask, have we been unwittingly transported to one of the bizarre episodes of “The Twilight Zone“?! Where are we now? I.DON’T.UNDERSTAND.

3. President Obama has been on the aggressive in pushing for Wall Street reform with the proposed bill all week. My gosh, it’s a little disconcerting that the Democratic party is working Obama to death, what with him having to be the only one out there spewing endless speeches in literally every corner of the nation. No wonder his hair has turned so much whiter already, with only 16 months into his rein in the White House! It’s sad to see that the Democratic Party doesn’t have anyone else to relieve Obama of these trips and speeches to defend his party because the reality is, Obama is the only one in the Democratic Party who has the favorable numbers to show for while literally every Democratic politician is failing miserably in the polls. It’s amazing that we’re only 7 months away before the mid-term elections and there’s NOBODY in the Democratic Party who can beat the rising popularity of the fringe right that is dragging the GOP along into favorable numbers. Anyway, back to Wall Street reform – it seems that while the White House and the Democratic-led Congress want to rush the bill through, there may be yet another GOP filibuster.

Despite the fact that the GOP leaders don’t want to be seen as pro-Wall Street with their objection to the financial reform bill because that’d affect their favorability among the voters, the astro-turf pros who’ve been the engine behind the tea party movement, sure aren’t losing faith in their strategy to make the financial reform bill somehow seem “socialistic” and Obama-esque (because as we all know, the tea party movement HATES anything associated with Obama). What’s not helping the White House and the Democrats is that even the Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, isn’t too sure what’s in the bill! Yup, watching him on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe” dodging the questions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, makes one think that this bill is still in a “work-in-progress” mode. Let’s just hope that it won’t descend into the black-hole like the healthcare reform bill where secret meetings and deals were made behind-the-scenes…!!

This bill is TOO IMPORTANT for the White House and Democrats to LOSE! If somehow this bill is killed, it’s a sure-fire way to confirm that the Democratic Party is no longer a viable alternative to the conservative movement. Progressives, listen up. You need to take the reins and start balancing out this rising ultra-conservatism that’s drowning the nation. Let’s see if the Senate can get a vote this coming Monday to proceed with the financial reform bill, shall we?

4. April 19th 2010 was the 15-year anniversary of the home-grown terrorist attack in Oklahoma that killed hundreds of people and injured a whole lot more back in 1995 by one Timothy McVeigh. The exclusive 2-hour documentary which was simpled entitled, “The McVeigh Tapes,” hosted by MSNBC‘s Rachel Maddow, was an eye-opener for everyone. It was the 1st time we heard from McVeigh himself about when, how, where he turned himself into a domestic terrorist in America. Hearing his own words describing his screwed-up, demented ideas that inspired and justified his actions really sent chills. McVeigh‘s beliefs really aren’t different from the terrorists that we’re fighting against in our world today. There are so many parallels we can draw from between the beliefs of the individuals in the so-called anti-government militia in America like McVeigh and those of the individuals in the Islamic militant groups. Domestic terrorism in America is just as dangerous, if not more, than global terrorism.

Right now, since Barack Obama took office as the President of the USA in 2009, the level of extremism, anti-governmental views of various groups including the tea party members and the militia groups who’re by and large, religious, has skyrocketed to a whole new level. While a lot of people draw its similarity to the 90s, I say, the level of extremism we have in America now is more like in the era of segregation and the fight for civil rights. The media and the politicians from the left and middle have been reluctant to discuss race as one of the fundamental factors of the level of hate, intolerance and anti-government sentiment we’re seeing since 2009. The rhetoric shouted by the GOP politicians all across the country has been so extremely hate- and fear-inciting that has caused violence and death threats against those who don’t have their beliefs! But we have Palin, Bachmann, Boehner, Beck, Limbaugh and the likes, fiercely defending their tactics as just words, hence, free themselves from any responsibility of violence that’s broken out, albeit not full-fledge….yet.

However, as history has shown us, WORDS do matter. If nobody takes these threats and continuous dangerous rhetoric seriously, one day, something bad is going to happen and we’ll all turn around and ask ourselves, why didn’t we stop it when we could? I cannot believe that these hate and intolerant preaching politicians are actually representing us in the government! Worse, people seem to be hooked in all this drama that’s playing out on TV. Politics in America has surely become entertainment. That’s why people like Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh are so popular because people so love to watch train wrecks!

Just like in the TV entertainment industry right now – look at all the crazy reality shows that keep churning out, yet viewership continues to rise. Why? Because, people, by and large, love to watch train wrecks! And we’re seeing the same pattern in politics in the media now. Fox News is not a news channel. It’s an entertainment channel and Beck, Hannity, and the other Fox News minions are all performers. I must say, they perform very well. When it’s entertainment, who cares about facts, right? Nobody does. However much MSNBC tries to point out the lies from Fox News, that ain’t gonna pull the viewership down one bit ‘coz at the end of the day, people are hooked because rhetoric, crazytalk, lies, are all entertaining! If people stop watching and start calling out the lies by the “performers” on Fox News, you think Rupert Murdoch wouldn’t pull the plug? Of course he would. For Murdoch, it’s all about the ratings. It’s all about the bottom line.

So, as long as people want to watch Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly et. al. tell lies on TV, these people will rein over facts, truth, real politics. Hey, what’s the old saying? “Politics is boring” Well, not anymore with the birth of Fox News! Remember, it’s all about supply and demand. It’s economics. Even TV. Just like the tabloids. As long as there’s demand out there, all this crap will survive well.

In short, if we’re not careful and do something about the craziness in politics right now, we’re only inviting the potential repeat of what happened in 1995.

5. For those of you following the current election campaign in the UK, the 2nd televised Prime Ministerial debate was aired this past Thursday, with the title, “Foreign Policy.” It was refreshing to see the 3 leaders from the 3 main parties debating issues on TV. Also, it actually increased the level of interest in politics among the Brits. This election which is only a couple of weeks away, is clearly going to be one of the most important elections to watch out for. People are sick and tired of the 2 big parties, Labour and Tory, hogging the government for so many decades. It’s really exciting to finally see the 3rd party, Liberal Democratic, with a truly viable leader by the name of Nick Clegg who can give David Cameron and Gordon Brown, a run of their money. And he’s proven that in 2 of the 3 televised debates already. The poll numbers for Clegg and his party have been increasing rapidly, much to the chagrin of their rivals, particularly Cameron and the Tories. With the powerful Murdoch media machine behind him and the Conservative Party, we all thought that this time, there’s no stopping the Tories from taking over the government rein from the Labour. Boy, were we wrong! It’s great to see that for once, Murdoch can’t seem to retain his usual grip in manipulating British politics as he’s been doing very successfully for the past decades. Now that we’re so close to the election, we can safely say that the Liberal Democrats are the kingmakers in the election. They’re a force to be reckon with now – just like in the 70s when Labour had to strike a deal with Liberal Democrats in order to stay in power. Perhaps we may see a repeat this time? Regardless of whether Labour or Liberal Democrats get the higher number, let’s just hope that there’s not going to be a coalition between either of them and the Tories because with the Tories leading the government, it’s actually Murdoch taking power in British politics again.

6. Ok, the biggest shock in entertainment news this week, at least for those of us on this blog, is the split between Melissa Etheridge and long-time partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels. Well, a bigger shock is rumor that Etheridge cheated on Michaels with her ex, Julie Cypher! Wow, talk about a big slap in the face for Tammy Lynn…! Of course, who are we to judge, right? Relationships do break for some people. But it’s always a shame especially where kids are involved. Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn have twins together, who are now aged 4. Well, let’s hope that regardless of what caused the break-up, these people will make things as easy and painless as they can for their children. We wish them all the best.

7. One of the best, most original, most entertaining shows to grace US TV has got to be “Glee“! The hilarious, innovatingly creative musical comedy just returned last week on Fox. But this week’s episode was by far, the BEST! One word to describe it: CLASSIC. A homage to Madonna! How cool was that?! But what was cooler was the fact that Sue Sylvester, who hadn’t been showing off her music talent on the show yet before this episode, did a fantastic, amazingly funny yet COOL rendition of Madonna‘s “Vogue“! It was so fabulously entertaining that FOX had to re-air it as an Encore on Friday! Gotta tell ya, Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester to absolute perfection, is THE star of “Glee.” No disrespect to the other cast members who’re all very talented and funny and entertaining, but without Jane Lynch playing the deliciously evil Sue Sylvester, “Glee” wouldn’t have been as entertaining, as funny or as enjoyable to watch! Jane Lynch = SIMPLY.THE.BEST. Period.

8. By now, you should’ve heard that the next James Bond movie has been put on hold indefinitely because of the current financial woes of MGM. My question is, WHY?! If MGM, which is the movie franchise’s exclusive distributor, is in financial trouble, surely EON Productions, the producer of the James Bond movies, can wriggle their way out of the contract because MGM‘s situation could be argued as unattainable for the other party to continue abiding by the contractual terms, right? I can’t believe for a moment, that EON Productions could sign an exclusive contract with MGM that didn’t somehow give them a way out should there be anything drastic like the unsustainable financial viability of MGM happen, you know what I mean? So, rather than putting the new Bond movie on hold indefinitely, shouldn’t EON be shopping around for another distributor who’d, I’m sure, gladly take over the reins from MGM because everybody knows that the James Bond franchise is a sure-win product? It’s maddening because this limbo could cost Daniel Craig, the current James Bond, the role. This rumor about Sam Worthington as the replacement?! NO! At least, not yet, please! Daniel Craig has been so fantastic playing the younger, stronger, more brutal Bond, he at least deserves another Bond movie before bowing out! So, here’s hoping that EON productions or even Pinewood could get this movie production going again before Daniel Craig really gives up waiting!

9. I’m sure that by now, everyone’s sick of Iceland‘s volcanic ash, what with its inconsiderate eruption causing the airline industry to nearly collapse and its impossibly difficult to pronounce name, it was such a relief when planes were finally allowed to fly across Europe and the UK! Poor Iceland. First it was its near-death experience with bankruptcy and now the whole world gives out a look of sheer hatred at the mention of its name, Iceland! Let’s hope there won’t be a 2nd volcano eruption in the next 6 months because historically, whenever this volcano erupted, the other one would do so within 6 months! Fingers crossed, eh?

10. Finally, what’s the 1st thing that comes to mind when you hear the name, Sinead O’Connor? For me, it’s the unforgettable song, “Nothing Compares 2U” but almost immediately it’s overshadowed by the her ripping up the picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992. Well, for those people who cursed at her and literally turned her into a pariah for speaking out against the Catholic church, the Vatican and the Pope, shouldn’t they be eating their own words now that the Catholic church abuse scandal has received global attention recently, with revelations about the sex scandals by countless priests from all corners of the Catholic faith, the inexcusable cover-ups by the Vatican and particularly by the current Pope Benedict XVI, with documented evidence, and the number of resignations from guilty priests trickling in as we speak.

So, it was welcoming to see Sinead O’Connor on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Friday talking about the need for Catholics to take back the church, for the Pope and other so-called leaders to step down for covering up the scandals for so many years and for the total revamp of the Vatican. O’Connor never looked better. It’s as if she’s finally vindicated from all the cruel remarks she received in 1992 for speaking out. But I’m so glad we have one activist like Sinead O’Connor who isn’t afraid to confront the Goliath of the Vatican and the Catholic church and make them take full responsibility for concealing this horrible, terrible act of abuse by those to whom the people of Catholic faith had put their trust in.

If the Catholic church wants to see more people regain their faith in the religion, it must first get rid of all the guilty parties involved in this scandal. I for one, totally agree and support the demand for Pope Benedict XVI to step down. But somehow, I doubt we’d ever see it happen. If it does, it’d be the greatest thing that has ever happened for Catholics!

—written by Gobsmacker, for Chatteringmind