Usain Bolt 9.58

BERLIN - Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, smashes his own world record in the 100M. Simply the best.

HD Video

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Dahlback Spins the Pyramid

John Dahlback - Pyramid

True Knowledge

"The knowledge of anything, since all things have causes, is not acquired or complete unless it is known by its causes. "

--Ibn Sīnā

Infuse Your iPod

Barry Jay - Infused

Drone Count: Midsummer Edition 2009

Drone attacks continue to escalate in number and severity since our last report under the auspices of Barack Hussein Obama. Here are the documented incidents of blood spill in Pakistan via unmanned US aircraft:

Apr 1 2009 - US drone attack kills at least 12 and wounds many more in the Orakzai Agency. The huge blast caused panic among local residents and was the first in this particular region.

Apr 4 2009 -Air strike kills 13 in North Waziristan, prior to the arrival of US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke to Pakistan. The attack took place in Data Khel in Miranshah.

Apr 8 2009 - Predator drones fire 2 missiles and kill 4 in Gangi Khel area, near Wana. A vehicle was struck.

Apr 19 2009 - At least 8 people killed in Gangi Khel by a US missile strike. Drones hovering in the air "unleashed fears" of local residents upon sighting them. Sources indicate that all were civilians, primarily women and children.

Apr 29 2009 - Drones kill at least 10 and wound 4 in South Waziristan. .

May 9 2009 - Likely 25 killed in Sararogha via 4 missiles from aerial drones.

May 12 2009 - In the village of Sara Khwara, 8 are killed. It is the second such attack in the region over the past 3 days.

May 16 2009 - In Khaisur village of the Mirali subdivision of North Waziristan, 40 people are killed. Reports of a destroyed school as well.

Jun 14 2009 - Predator drone attack on a vehicle near the Ladha region in South Waziristan kills 5.

Jun 18 2009 - Remotely piloted aircraft fired four missiles into a compound in the village of Raghzai, near Wana, the capital of South Waziristan. 13 were killed. Initially a missile killed only 1 person, but subsequently rescue workers were massacred by assault from the skies.

Jun 23 2009 - First attack on the day by Predator drone in South Waziristan kills 17.

Jun 23 2009 - After killing 17 earlier in the day, drones attacked a funeral procession taking the death toll over 80 for the day. The controversial tactic of attacking rescue workers and funeral prayers continues and casualties continue to mount. The 2 separate attacks took place in South Waziristan.

Jul 3 2009 - In the Kokatkhel village of Sarokai area, several were injured and 13 deceased by drone attack. Another missile was fired in the Mantoi area, although there were no casualties reported in that area.

Jul 4 2009 - Obama enjoys a barbecue at the White House.

Jul 7 2009 - Predator drones kill 17 in the Zangra village of the Ladha region.

Jul 8 2009 - A swarm of Predators fired at least six missiles in Karwan Manza early in the morning. Eight were killed during the airstrike, according to reports.

Jul 8 2009 - A vehicle convoy was attacked in South Waziristan killing 40, taking the death toll for the day up to 50. The attack was on the main road between Ladha and Sararogha. The number of casualties up to the time of publication continues to mount.

The 17 attacks in this update have resulted in 306 deaths. Please note that these numbers are likely underestimated given the methodology of reporting in the region. Since the beginning of the Obama Administration this gives a grand total of:

1) At least 25 Predator drone attacks

2) At least 440 people killed--numerous civilians, women and children inclusive

3) At least 1 White House barbecue

Jeremy Scahill Speaks the Truth

Jeremy Scahill is an American journalist and author of the international best-seller Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Needless to say, he is one of the few in the American media who knows the truth and is not afraid to speak it. You probably won't see him on mainstream TV, but here he is--telling it like it is, on Real Time With Bill Maher.

The Difference Between Sharpton and Obama

Al Sharpton delivered an excellent speech at Michael Jackson's Memorial today at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Reinforcing the concept of innocent until proven guilty, he had this to say to MJ's children: "There was nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with, but he dealt with it."

"It was that comfort level that kids from Japan and Ghana and France and Iowa and Pennsylvania got comfortable enough with each other so later it wasn't strange to us to watch Oprah on television,” the reverend continued. “Those young kids grew up from being teenage comfortable fans of Michael to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be the president of the United States of America.”

Jackson did indeed help break down the barriers for the election of an Obama. Here's what the good President had to say after acknowledging the influence of the King of Pop: "You know, his extraordinary talent and his music was matched with a big dose of tragedy and difficulty in his private life and I don't think we can ignore that." On the day people worldwide were eulogizing Michael Jackson, Obama had to play politician and didn't fail to take a [unsubstantiated] jab. It was undoubtedly a game of political posturing. Stay classy, Barack Obama.

Love him or hate him, Al Sharpton is a true civil rights leader and believes in some semblance of justice for the oppressed and maligned. Barack Obama, is simply a pure politician who doesn't stand for much. And herein, lies the difference.

The Moonwalk

Jermaine Jackson on the Today Show

7/2/09 - From the Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, CA

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

US Muslim Leaders Ready to Claim Jackson As One of Their Own

The rumors swirling around Michael Jackson's funerals continue. The latest news has a public ceremony in Neverland on Friday, followed by a likely private burial ceremony on Sunday--the site to be determined. The religion of Jackson at his death remains in question, although there are some indications that he may receive a Muslim funeral.

Eminent Muslim leaders are eager to welcome the King of Pop among their ranks. Here are some statements from well-known American Muslim leaders.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf of the Zaytuna Institute:

"Given Michael’s reported conversion to Islam last year, Muslims count him as one of our own, and we pray that he can finally find the peace he never found in this world and that he is in a place, God willing, of mercy, forgiveness, and solace." [Full statement]

Siraj Wahhaj of of the Muslim Alliance in North America:

[Regarding the funeral services of Michael Jackson]

“Even if I stand in the back, I want to be there”. [Link]

Imam Johari Abdul Malik of Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center:

"I pray that Allah will have mercy on his soul and grant the family some privacy as they make the plans for a Muslim funeral...I pray that Muslims will respond to this loss our brother in every loving way possible." [Full statement]

Imam Zaid Shakir of the Zaytuna Institute:

"Now Michael is gone. Hopefully, he had found peace in Islam. Hopefully, the tears he cried in the privacy of his oftentimes lonely world, tears described by Smokey Robinson as those of a clown, shed when no one’s around, had dried." [Full statement]

.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, prolific author and Islamic teacher at Yale University:

"I gave a khutbah at a masjid yesterday, the second half of which was dedicated to the passing away of Michael Jackson." [Full statement]

Arabic Michael Jackson

Who else has this kind of influence?

Islamic Burial for Michael Jackson?

There are many reports of Michael Jackson converting to Islam in November 2008. These claims yet remain unconfirmed, spurring controversy as to his religion at the time of his death. His brother Jermaine embraced Islam in 1989 and remains quite devout. After Jackson's passing, Jermaine said, “May Allah be with you, Michael, always", a clue that he may have been Muslim. The King of Pop has also resided in Bahrain, donated money to the construction of mosques, and has been known to be interested in Islam.

An additional clue, not reported in the media is how the body of Michael Jackson was transported from the UCLA Medical Center to the Los Angeles coroner in Boyle Heights. Jackson was taken by helicopter in what clearly appears to be a white shroud. In Islam, a dead body is wrapped in sheets of clean, white cloth known as a "kafan." In short time, we will find out if Jackson receives an Islamic burial, known as a janazah, or one favored by his parents, who are Jehovah's Witnesses. Even if Jackson has a Christian burial, we may not truly know the faith he held upon his death.

Was Jackson being transported in a kafan? You decide.




Example of a kafan

Remembering A Musical Genius

Terminal Velocity in Norway

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo

Imperial History of the Middle East

From Maps of War

US Carrying Out Secret Assassinations

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Seymour Hersh recently broke a story on secret US assassinations during the Bush administration. Death squads went to dozens of foreign countries and took out "high-value" targets without knowledge of both the local CIA station chief or the US Ambassador. Apparently and to no surprise, these were conducted under the direction of Dick Cheney. Such killings are in direct opposition to the Constitution, international law, and basic ethics. Moreover, under the guise of the "War on Terror", executions also took place far from any battlefield in Central and Latin America.

This should be really alarming, but we are all quite used to it now. In fact, these extradjudicial murders still take place with drone attacks on Pakistani soil and missile strikes in various parts of the world such as the Sudan. Just add this to the long list of George W Bush's reknowned legacy. This leads to a more important question: Is Barack Obama also continuing this illegal and illicit Bush policy?

Noam Chomsky on the Economy and Democracy

theRealNews.com

What Sakib's Reading

Osama and Orientalism: Where Islamophobes Meet Al-Qaeda | Religion and Theology | ReligionDispatches [www.religiondispatches.org] Posted: 30 Mar 2009 05:27 AM PDT The deeper problem is that many Muslims, at least in the United States, are internalizing this Orientalism. The result is that the Muslim community is not fighting this fight as equals and partners, but instead act as mere bystanders. They remain frustrated, wishing to do more, but do not have the capacity to get involved. Their understanding of the faith can be defined as much by CNN as anything else.

Drone Count: March 2009

Barack Obama ramped up his drone war on western Pakistan in the month of March. The frequency of attacks has increased since our previous update. Here are the most recent documented bombings on the allegedly sovereign state of Pakistan:

Mar 1 2009 - At least 8 people killed and 9 wounded in the village of Hebat Khan in the Sararogha area of South Warizistan, after 2 consecutive missiles were fired.

Mar 12 2009 - Obama's drones strike upon the Kurram agency with at least 24 new deceased. 4 missiles struck a residential building.

Mar 15 2009 - US unmanned Predator aircraft attacked in the Bannu district of NWFP in Pakistan. The village of Chota Janikhel was hit killing at least 5 people.

Mar 25 2009 - 2 missiles from a US drone kill at least 8 in Makeen, south Warizistan.

Mar 26 2009 - The town of Mir Ali in Sokhel, north Warizistan was attacked by a drone missile strike killing 5 and injuring the same number. It marked a drone attack on consecutive days.

These attacks have resulted in at least 50 killed since our prior report--for a total of 134 deaths from 8 strikes since the beginning of the Obama administration. Drones are undeniably an efficient killing machine. However, the efficacy of the amplification of this Bush-Obama policy that has resulted in the murder of dozens of innocent civilians, remains unproven.

What Sakib's Reading

The secret war against American workers [Salon] Posted: 30 Mar 2009 03:40 AM PDT

Jim Webb's courage v. the "pragmatism" excuse for politicians [Salon: Glenn Greenwald] Posted: 28 Mar 2009 06:02 AM PDT

Palestinian Land Loss

The above is a simple graphic of Palestinian land loss. Green represents Arab (Muslim and Christian) land that is inhabited by and belongs to the Palestinians. White represents Jewish controlled territory. The first snapshot is from 1946, the last from 2000. The picture speaks for itself.

The Guardian (UK) Investigates Israeli War Crimes in Gaza

Palestinian children used as human shields

Medics, ambulances, and hospitals targeted

Drones used to kill children, civilians

The Sweet Science

Can we all at least agree that Mike Tyson is the "baddest man on the planet"? Iron Mike was the most dominant heavyweight fighter ever and arguably the best of all time. In his prime, Tyson was absolutely unstoppable--raw, relentless, brute, and powerful. His entrance into the arena--shirtless or in a cut-out towel draped around his neck sent a bone-chilling fear into this opponents. They cowered in the ring, in anticipation of the most vicious uppercuts in the history of mankind. Referees counting to ten and the relative comfort of being face-down on the mat, were the only sense of relief and escape, for those that dared to face him.

Tyson created an aura that was unmatched. The ringside was electric, closed circuit/PPV homes at a premium, and kids with Mike Tyson's PunchOut, the most popular. Heavyweight boxing was at a pinnacle because simply put, Tyson was there and boxing mattered. The spectre of impending doom of his opponents filled the seats and minted money. A strong argument can be made that Muhammad Ali was equally entertaining, and the best heavyweight champion ever. Ali, was the polar opposite of Tyson--nimble, quick, flashy, and full of guile. He was without a doubt equally important for the sport and brought it to the heights that enabled Tyson to become a superstar.

Who's the best of all-time? We'll never know but this can be argued until the end of day. The mythical Tyson-Ali fight remains the most desired of matchups. You can't go wrong with the butterfly quick Ali, but I'll hang my hat on the man who eloquently stated: "Everybody has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth." Iron. Mike. Tyson.

The Fast and the Furious: Audi R8

Construction America

Driving to work yesterday, I passed 2 separate construction crews. The first was a 6-man team with large trucks and lumber equipment. In this group, 2 members were being used to direct traffic holding "STOP/SLOW" signs on the road, on either ends of the site. They were not more than 25 yards apart. 1 member was cutting a log, or at least looked like he was partaking in some sort of actual physical activity. Around him, 3 other men who were huddled together watched. About 15 miles down the road another crew had 4 members and one piece of heavy machinery. The machine operator cleared some debris from the side of the excavated road. The other 3 members carefully watched the machine operator.

This typical scene of construction workers embodies the American work ethic. It is not the work ethic that Obama so glowingly praises and refers to all of the time. Construction serves as a microcosm of what is a nationwide epidemic. Unskilled laborers making $45/hour for simple assembly line jobs, business consultants spending over half their days chatting on AIM, corporate executives playing Ponzi with client's hard earned monies--this is the reality. Is it any surprise that jobs have been shipped overseas to places like India and China where workers actually work? Utter laziness is just one of many causes of America's diseased economy. Perhaps the one with the hardest cure.

Norman Finkelstein on Gaza Massacre

Crossing Rafah

The recent Israeli massacre in Gaza has resulted in the death, carnage, and destruction that has become a recurring theme for both the Palestinians and Lebanese. The barbaric crimes committed by the Israeli Defense Forces is obvious. What has often been overlooked is the complicity of neighboring Arab states, mainly Egypt, in this unrelenting assault.

Israel and Egypt have enforced the land-sea-air embargo which has been in effect since June 2007--after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip. Under the pretext of declaring Hamas a terrorist organization, the war-torn coastal strip has been under a virtual siege for nearly two years. Very little goes in or out of Gaza through official border crossings. Nearly every consumer good from a can of Coke to oil, is smuggled through a series of tunnels along the Egypt-Gaza border. It is essential to the survival of people living in what is commonly referred to as the "world's largest outdoor prison."

The official border gate between Egypt and Gaza is in the town of Rafah. This border has been essentially sealed since the blockade was instituted in 2007--limiting the influx/outflux of both goods and people. Israel reduced the number of commodities allowed in, including foodstuffs such as lentils and macaroni, from 9000 to 20 during this time period. Furthermore, in late 2007, Israel began to cut fuel supplies to this embattled territory. In January of 2008, due to a lack of fuel, the only power plant in Gaza shut down its operations. This led to a breach of the wall at Rafah by Palestinians on January 23, 2008. It is estimated that almost half of the 1.5 Million residents of Gaza crossed into the Egyptian side of Rafah to purchase essential foods, medicines, and other goods of survival.

Crossing the Rafah border into Gaza remains a very difficult task, even for humanitarian aid or medical personnel. During the recent Israeli bombardment of Gaza, civilian refugees of war were not allowed into Egypt to escape air strikes and a looming ground invasion. An overstressed and embargo-weakened medical system was unable to adequately serve the Gazan population in the recent attacks that left over 1300 dead, and 6000 wounded. Egypt allowed a select few of the injured and maimed to cross the Rafah gates, to receive treatment in its own nation. Furthermore, Egypt denied passage for numerous casualties destined for treatment in Europe and abroad. These patients, predominantly children, were turned back to the inadequate care provided by the collapsing Palestinian health system. In addition, the Israeli border was completely closed as well, with an exceptionally limited number of people who even dared to venture near its checkpoints and heavily fortified Apartheid Wall.

To add insult to injury, Egyptian border officials made the entrance of humanitarian aid extremely difficult during this crisis. At the Rafah terminal, numerous international volunteer medical teams waited for weeks to gain entrance to Gaza, if they were allowed in at all. Convoys of donated aid from nations as wide-ranging as Venezuela to the United Arab Emirates, also waited for weeks before being allowed in. The Egyptian enforcement of the Israeli-led blockade undoubtedly led to preventable suffering, hunger, and death of the Palestinian population.

Despite claims of an open border by Egyptian officials--numerous first-hand accounts from American, South African, and Turkish medical teams prove otherwise. A litany of media reports by the international press also documents quite well, the virutal sealing of Rafah. There are a variety of reasons why Egypt may be enforcing this crippling, inhumane policy--covert agreements with the Israelis, US funding to an annual tune of up to $1.7 Billion, fear of populist ideology spreading to Egypt and threatening the established dictatorship, or profiteering from the smuggling industry. This much is clear--the underground tunnels will remain the lifeblood of the Gazan people until Crossing Rafah is no longer a myth, but a reality.

Crisis of Credit

Aspiring "polymaths",

Below is a video explaining the origin of the credit crisis. Who said economics is just for economists?


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo

Obama Wars: Attack of the Drones

A quick update on Obama's war on Pakistan:

Jan 18 2009 - Obama takes oath in office: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

Jan 23 2009 - Obama orders his 1st drone attack on Pakistan. At least 22 killed in North and South Waziristan

Feb 14 2009 - Obama's 2nd drone attack by a US Predator kills at least 32 in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan

Feb 16 2009 - Obama orders 3rd attack on Pakistan, in the Kurram agency, killing at least 30

In a flagrant violation of both human rights as well as Pakistan's sovereignty, that results in a total of at least 84 murdered since the Inauguration--many of whom are women and children. Please help us keep tally as we will continue to update the Drone Count

Will an "economic adjustment" mean a renewed American humility?

It's a fundamental question based on a fact pattern universally known and fairly well understood. The nation has been spending too much, producing too little, for too long. Debt is high, credit is low. There is little utility to delving further into the specifics before asking, what happened to the America we grew up reading about in history books? And more importantly, can it come back?

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From the lay person's perspective, the American economy has two fundamental problems. The first is that there are vast, established parts of the economy which are wholly phantom in nature. (The second will be addressed at a later date and time.) Bernie Maddoff's ponzi scheme is one such piece. Sub-prime mortgage backed securities are another. But sadly, the phantasm doesn't end there. Large national law firms, for example, are engaging in massive layoffs as work stops coming in. The phantom component to their business plans wasn't some non-existent client--it was inflated value for the work they were providing. Ideally, when a client hires a consultant or retains an attorney, fees are paid for a service which will ultimately save the client money. The value added to the client must excede fees charged. Billing that works off of a percentage of value-added (ie attorney/consultant takes home 10% of value-added) has been discussed for years, but the difficulty and uncertainty in actually quantifying the value-added leads clients and consultants to choose hourly billing instead.

Regardless of how fees are calculated, the ratio of fees to value-added is the most important decision making factor when deciding to retain services in most cases. The problem with law firms and other struggling service providers is that their rates are too high for the value that they add. That's why business has slowed. While no one may actually have quantified value-added, clients are often more savvy than metrics. They know their bottomlines and have a sixth-sense for where their profits actually come from. They've stopped buying because the fees to value-added ratio is simply too high.

So, why doesn't service-providing America simply drop prices? It's incredibly humbling for a professional who has built his or her livelihood for charging for their time and spent decades preparing to charge a high rate, to accept that maybe their work/their time/their effort is simply not as valuable as previously thought. If the market will require, in order to stay in business, an adjustment in prices, will the result correspond with a Darwinian selection of the humblest surviving and the arrogant dying off?

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Recessions, and especially depressions, are times for soul-searching and a reevaluation of the metrics by which we determine our own success. If before, the pursuit of material things allowed us to self-value, now with their evaporation and without practical opportunity to pursue them at will, we find value in new things. We revalue our time, what it is worth. What before might have been a $500/hr services, is now $250. Not because quality or effort has dropped, but because the value to the client never actually supported $500. We are in this mess because we moved away from our equilibrium, our pricing, lending and investing was not sustainable.

Sustainable pricing has been ethically necessary in some form or another since the beginning of professional services ethics. Engineers, lawyers, even auto mechanics engage in it all the time. I took my car to the body shop once, to ask if a scratch could be touched up. The previous shop I had taken it to gave me a $300 estimate. At the second auto shop, the mechanic took a look at the scratch, grabbed a towel and some de-greaser, and cleaned the scratch out to the point it was barely noticeable. By doing so, he lost the $299 he could have charged me by bidding less than the first shop. But he was honest, so he did the job at lowest cost to me. I now take my car to his shop only.

As we move forward, we need to realize that there is little difference between the a mechanic charging me $299 for a service he could to for $5 and a lawyer charging $500 for a service that only adds $3000 to the client's value (assuming the maximum sustainable ratio of fees:value-added is less than 1/6, which I believe it might be) or a doctor charging $600 for a procedure that he could charge $400 if HMOs or Medicare weren't footing the bill. What was the additional money going to pay for before for the client? The prestige and ego of retaining a pricier service?

Ultimately, inflated prices for professional services will have to go the way of mortgaged backed securities and magical Madoff funds. Hopefully, the void left will be filled with a renewed sense of honesty and humility.