Countering The Neocons: Progressives Will Have To Get Proactive

There are things I agree with when it comes to the neocons. The day 9/11 happened, I said this is the beginning of something of the same magnitude as the Cold War. This is not an incident, this is an era.

But I have vehemently opposed the prescription. These right wingers are racist people who don't mind killing tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi people.

The progressives have also disappointed. Their anti-war position oftentimes sounds like they were saying Saddam should still have been in power. They want to end the war and withdraw.

Having an anti-war stance is not enough. We have to offer an alternative. We have to be able to say, you spent $500 billion in Iraq to topple Saddam, we are going to spend 1% of that money, and topple Mugabe, and we will do it in less than a year from now. Or maybe 0.1% of the money. $500 million will be enough. Or maybe 0.01% for $50 million.

Give me a million strong Matrix in New York City, and I see a total spread of democracy by 2020. I have not managed to sell this idea to the progressive groups in Manhattan, or elsewhere in the city.

There is only one way to win the so called War On Terror: you spread democracy in Arab country after Arab country after Arab country, one after the other after the other. You could do the neocon way that bleeds the country's finances and bleeds Arab bodies to death. Or we progressives could offer a viable alternative.

Spending money can help. I hate to have to repeat this again and again but, yes, Nepal is the answer. Nepal's April Revolution 2006 is the role model. Only we have to perfect the method each time, make it better and better and better.

Spread Democracy
The Matrix
Revolution

This will work like clockwork, country after country after country.

But the progressives in America are going to have to get behind this idea. The progressives in New York City are going to have to get behind this idea.

Oftentimes progressives in America can talk like there were a hieararchy, and the Republicans have the money, and they are at the top, and the middle income progressives are in the middle, and the Third World people are at the bottom of the heap, they don't matter, they don't factor in. The Republicans look down upon Democrats, the Democrats have the Third World people to look down upon.

This used to be a humanitarian issue, this used to be an idealism issue. Now this is a security issue. If we are not going to offer a strong progressive version of spreading democracy, Giuliani will have an ax to grind in 2008, because the Al Qaeda threat is very real. Retreating from the Arab world is not an option. But we do have to engage differently. We have to engage the progressive way.

Wash Mugabe Away With A Revolution
Darfur: A Clear Case For External Intervention
Obama Gameplan: Stable, Democratic Iraq
Will It Be Obama Versus Rudy?
Fox, Barack, Islam

Obama's Weapon On Clinton: Iraq
Democratic Vision For The 21st Century
The Energy Solution: Nuclear Energy
Iraq: Dumb War
Middle East: The Final Map
Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson 4
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson 3
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson 2
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson
The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal

I just read some good news on Russia. Putin is trying to turn Russia into a democracy of state funded parties. How many votes you get is how much money you get, in proportion. Also proportional elections with party lists. The dude is learning that formula from Nepal.

The French Revolution And DFNYC




In The News

Analysis: Dems Keep It Cordial in Debate Forbes It was less of a debate and more like a polite first date ...... the Democrats vying for the White House were downright complimentary, calling each other by their first names more like friends than rivals. ..... "Nobody made any significant mistake, but nobody distinguished themselves." ..... They all were to attend the state party's biggest fundraiser Friday evening, then party together at a fish fry thrown by Rep. Jim Clyburn in a downtown Columbia parking garage. ....... Clinton said the fact that most of the public doesn't like her is actually a form of flattery because it shows she stands up for what she believes in. Obama, questioned about whether he's light on substance, laid out a three-point health care plan. ........ Obama responded that it would be a mistake to initiate war with Iran, but the country's nuclear programs pose a major threat to the United States. ..... Obama smiled to cool the heated exchange. "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise," he said to laughter from the crowd.
Gravel to Obama: 'Who Do You Want to Nuke NewsMax.com
Obama wins Round One on points - just barely New York Daily News
Pity Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Huffington Post Expect pundits to proclaim Barack Obama the winner of this first debate.
Govt calls NFIN for talks on May 5 Nepalnews.com
With the return of democracy, Nepal struggles with big questions International Herald Tribune
Giuliani shaping up to be the best option The Brandeis Hoot
Bihar ahead of Bengal in development : Thakur NewKerala.com
The Democratic Debate: Winners and Losers Washington Post Clinton entered the debate with high expectations and managed to meet them -- not an easy task. She was informed, concise and under control at all times. She showed her tough side when asked what she would do in the event of simultaneous terrorist attacks against two American cities
AOL Launches AOL.in Portal In India WebWire (press release)
Saudis say they've busted massive terror plot CNN "They had the personnel, the money, the arms. Almost all the elements for terror attacks were complete except for setting the zero hour for the attacks." ...... the operation confiscated 20 million Saudi riyals ($5.3 million) ...... Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera reported that the militants wanted to use airplanes to attack refineries. ..... A principal goal of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been to bring down the Saudi monarchy
'Mutual destruction' danger in US anti-missile plan: Putin New Straits Times
Putin retaliates for American antimissile plan Los Angeles Times In his wide-ranging address to parliament, Putin also reaffirmed his intention to step down next year as required by the Russian Constitution ...... Putin said changes in electoral law to provide for members of parliament being chosen purely on a proportional voting basis from party lists, rather than having some members elected from individual districts as in the past, would make December elections more democratic. The president, however, indicated that his concept of democracy did not allow for empty promises designed to appeal to the public — something many voters in the United States and other countries might think of as being a basic characteristic of democratic systems. ......... "In accordance with election results, parties get the right to state financing," Putin said. "And Russian taxpayers have the right to expect that their money will not be spent for empty populist promises or undermining the foundations of the state structure."
Google Desktop 5 Speaks 29 Languages PC World available in 29 languages, including Hindi ..... Microsoft Corp.'s introduction of new desktop search functionality in Vista
Army testing Mobile WiMax ZDNet.com blogs
Our neighbour betrayed us: Amitabh Bachchan SantaBanta.com Says the Big B angrily, "That's because some of the people who came to the wedding surreptitiously took photographs with their mobile cameras and disgracefully put them on the net. In fact I've caught out the person who has taken the photographs. He's my neighbour. I've had a very serious talk with him. He has apologized profusely. He says he wasn't giving it to the press. While he was sending the pictures to his sister in the US they got intercepted on the net." ....... "I don't think sections of the media has the right to dictate to me about how to conduct my life and how to deal with my family and social obligations. ..... My family's privacy is very important to me. And I'll protect it with my dying breath. No one can dictate to me about how I should conduct my life, or my son's wedding. ....... We made the shamianas air-conditioned and sound proof for the comfort of the guests and so that people outside wouldn't get disturbed. We had no fireworks to avoid sound pollution. ........ you can't block my car when I'm taking my new daughter-in-law home after the wedding. Why spoil the most important moment in my son and his wife's life?" ...... One was the wedding card and the other is the information card which will go to all our friends. ...... It informs about the wedding with a shagun and mithai and asks everyone to bless the couple. .... We've sent this card to everyone, in the film industry, the political circles because of Amar Singhji and Jaya, and whoever has been a part of our lives. Even after all this if some people choose to be hurt what can we say?"
Vista, Office 2007 Drive Microsoft Profits Up PC World
Scientists Identify 7 New Diabetes Genes New York Times the biology of a disease that affects 170 million people worldwide. ..... the pursuit of the genes that underlie common diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and schizophrenia. ...... diabetes research has been what his professor warned would be “a geneticist’s nightmare.
One small step for man, a giant leap for Hawking Sydney Morning Herald
Not the type of guy to be kept down Los Angeles Times
'One Laptop Per Child' price jumps from $100 to $175 TG Daily mass production is expected to begin in October, and the 75% price increase will not affect the prospect of reaching three million orders for the green-and-white laptops. ...... So far, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, Thailand, Nigeria, and Libya have all placed orders. Peru and Russia are also in talks to buy large quantities of the inexpensive machines ..... Quanta, the contracted manufacturer for the computers, will make about $78 profit per laptop with the new price. They will come pre-installed with a proprietary version of Windows, but can also run its own homegrown operating system
Sony announces video chat add-on for PS3 ZDNet
Pentagon: Top al Qaeda leader taken to Guantanamo CNN al-Hadi was believed to have been captured in 2002 ..... There are now about 385 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

South Carolina Debate

Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 1 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 2 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 3 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 4 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 5 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 6 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 7 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 8 of 9
Democratic Debate for 2008 Presidency SCSU part 9 of 9













In The News

Clinton Asserts Edge Over Obama In Debate CBS News
Hollywood Actor Apologizes for 'Obscene' Kiss in India Voice of America
Aishwarya ‘Bachchan’ to live with her in-laws Gulf Times
Clinton edges ahead after first Democratic debate Times Online

Your Next President @ MySpace PC World The new show, called Independent, will be something like American Idol for politics.
Mr. Smith Goes To MySpace Wired News
Google eclipses Microsoft as world's most visited web site Mobile Digest
Google is world''s ''top brand'' Equimedia Marketing News
Ms Rai? No, she’s Mrs Bachchan, says Big B Times of India
Nepali Media Boom In North America Nepali Monitor
Dell Swaps Hard Drives For Flash On More Notebooks InformationWeek
Astronomers Discover Earth-like Planet Outside Solar System Voice of America
Barack Obama Fires Back at Rudy Giuliani for Terrorist Comment My Fox Colorado.com Rudy Giuliani today has taken the politics of fear to a new low ...... We know we can win this war based on shared purpose, not the same divisive politics that question your patriotism if you dare to question failed policies that have made us less secure. ..... In 2004, President Bush was re-elected after claiming that Democratic Sen. John Kerry would waver in the face of terrorist threats. Vice President Dick Cheney suggested a vote for Kerry would risk another terrorist attack.
It's 20 lightyears away - but still close to Earth New Zealand Herald Scientists have discovered a planet not much bigger than Earth that could be covered in oceans and has the right temperature to support life - and it is only 20.5 lightyears away. ....... Its "year" lasts only 13 days because it is 14 times closer to its star ...... surface temperatures would be between zero and 40C - just right for oceans to have formed and life to have begun. ...... Any living creatures on it would need thick bones and sturdy legs, because they would be twice as heavy as on Earth. ...... "There are caveats, one being that the environment around a red dwarf is very full of radiation. ...... They employed a method that looks for the "wobble" on a star caused by the gravity of a large object orbiting it. By measuring the wobble motion, astronomers can calculate a planet's orbit and mass.
Obama lays siege to Clinton's black support on home patch New Zealand Herald Obama is laying siege to the black support in New York state that Hillary Clinton used to be able to take for granted. ...... About one in five Democrats who vote on primary day in New York next February will be black .... a new poll on Tuesday showed him dead even with her nationally for the first time. ....... Obama appears to be stirring ethnic pride and excitement ...... His presence as a legitimate politician at a national level brings a certain pride. ....... Dismissing reports of a mass desertion is Congressman Charles Rangel, the most senior black elected official in the state, who is working hard to bolster Clinton's position. "I don't know Obama supporters in New York."
Obama pulls even with Hillary Clinton Blogger News Network
Clinton loses black leaders to Obama Telegraph.co.uk a "significant number" of black officials who had been seen as firmly in the Clinton camp have said they are now "undecided" because they are "impressed with the strength of Mr Obama's campaign in recent weeks". ...... This shift has occurred despite Mr Obama doing almost no campaigning in New York.
Obama Team Sees South Carolina as Key to Victory U.S. News & World Report
Carl Bernstein Writes Hilary Clinton Bio Post Chronicle Carl Bernstein's stunning portrait shows us, for the first time, the true trajectory of her life and career,'' Sonny Mehta ...... the Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles on the Watergate scandal that helped bring down President Nixon. ...... such best sellers as Plan of Attack and State of Denial becoming must-reads for Washington gossip. ..... Clinton's ``complex relationship with her disciplinarian father'' to ``her courtship with Bill Clinton and the amazing dynamic of their marriage, during the most trying of circumstances and times. ...... her own political brilliance and blind spots .... Bernstein worked eight years on the book and ``interviewed more than 200 people ....... ``Bernstein reaches conclusions that stand in opposition to what Sen. Clinton has said in the past and has written in the past' ....... The new book will arrive two months before another scheduled Clinton biography, Her Way, by New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr.
New book puts Hillary Clinton under scrutiny Akron Beacon Journal
Nepal to probe Terai unrest Zee News
DNC: Rudy Too Arrogant for America PR Newswire (press release)
In Bihar corruption is but a way of life Daily News & Analysis
Is McCain-Feingold In Trouble ? Liberty Papers
Launch of the first Italian satellite in India Avionews
Dow Bursts Through 13000 New York Times that it would spend $15 billion more to buy back its own shares or the $25 billion buyout of Sallie Mae by private equity firms and two big banks. ...... the announcement earlier this week by I.B.M.“There is a lot of money sloshing around,” said James Dunnigan, chief investment officer for the wealth management business of PNC ....... problems in the mortgage business have been limited to loans that were made to people with weak, or subprime, credit ..... most of the money that has poured into the market in recent years has come from institutional investors, rather than individuals........ “The whole rally here has been driven by institutional investors and companies themselves doing share buybacks” ....... international stocks, which have outstripped their American peers in part because the dollar has lost ground against the euro and British pound. ...... A $1 change in a stock like 3M that trades at about $76 a share has the same effect on the index as a $1 rise in Microsoft that trades at about $28, even though Microsoft’s market value is about five times that of 3M.
Oil Worker Deaths a Wake Up Call for Globalizing China Washington Post

Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The City

मेरो अाइसी (IC) कम्पनी ज्योितकनेक्ट

This past Friday evening, I proceeded to walk from Little Bangladesh, where I live, all the way to Jackson Heights. Little Bangladesh is south of Prospect Park. Now that park itself is quite walkey, you can walk around it, you can walk inside it. I love to walk. It is my favorite form of exercise. With other forms of exercise, it is like you have to suspend the process of thinking. Walking is thinking on steroids. No need to warm up or warm down. And the scenery changes.

Little Bangladesh is mini Jackson Heights. You can do all the Desi grocery shopping you want here.

New York City is the most diverse place on earth. Queens is the most diverse borough and where almost all my fellow Nepalis live, my comrades from the April Revolution. Jackson Heights in the most diverse locality in Queens.

I am thinking I am going to have my company's global headquarters in Jackson Heights. J for JyotiConnect, J for Jackson Heights. (Entrepreneurs: Spikes)

I have walked literally all over southern Brooklyn. I have been south to the water many times. I have been east to the water many times. Walking over to Coney Island is no big deal. Recently I formed a little walk rectangle. You go south and follow the D, M line and then you follow back up along the F line. I have walked west and the north to downtown Brooklyn.

But this was going to be much longer. And I was going to use my mind compass. Half way there I found myself in front of the big two buildings that house hundreds of Nepalis in Ridgewood. I asked a Hispanic guy there if he knew Jackson Heights.

"Yeah. But you nowhere near Jackson Heights."

A little later, I ordered a large pizza for eight bucks. Heck, that beats even the dollar pizza near Times Square, I think 42nd and 9th.

The walk was Friday evening. I took the F train back home from Jackson Heights.

Saturday evening was a huge Nepali New Year celebration. A legendary Nepali musician was on stage. He had been invited all the way from Nepal. I mentioned my walk to a few friends. I was getting calls about it the following day.

Another long walk like that I took was from up in the Bronx down to Little India in Manhattan. I had been to this Bill Clinton event (Bill Clinton Had Icecream For Lunch). A few days later I went back to the spot where I had shaken his hand ("Mr. President, you are Elvis!") and then decided to walk back. I was going to walk all the way to Little Bangladesh. But then I proceeded to eat at the Curry In A Hurry place in Little India, and I no longer felt like walking, so I took the train. Little India is Lex and 26th, I believe.

I have walked all over Manhattan. I walked all over Harlem on election day. (On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama)

I am in total love with New York City.

I own this city. It is just not official yet.

News: Thieves Steal New York Mayor Bloomberg's Car

Overheard

Audio Clip
My Back Against The Wall
Madonna: I Love New York
If You Want To
Amitabh In Town
Me, Ethiopian
KY, IN
Not Going Anywhere Outside The City
Moved
Police Brutality




Deuba In Jackson Heights 9
Deuba In Jackson Heights 7

Deuba In Jackson Heights 10

In The News

Police Search For Suspect In Fatal Jackson Heights Shooting NY1, NY
Police raid on Pakistani restaurant causes panic Daily Times, Pakistan
Jackson Heights woman, 18, dies in shooting Times Ledger, NY
Jackson Heights Making the Cut: A Matter of Interpretation New York Times, NY During Semana Santa, the Holy Week before Easter, it is customary among Latin American Catholics to refrain from eating red meat in favor of fish. Even so, the carnicerías, or butcher shops, of Jackson Heights, Queens, were bustling last week with Hispanic customers tempted by glossy lobes of liver

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New York City's ban on metal bats not a hit with area players, coaches The Journal News.com
New York City bans use of metal batsIn-Forum (subscription)
New York City radio hosts suspended indefinitely over racially ... San Diego Union Tribune, CA
New York CBS radio hosts suspended for racially charged segment Canada.com
US high court weighs whether New York City can sue foreign ... International Herald Tribune, France
Court weighs whether New York City can sue foreign countries over ... San Diego Union Tribune
New York Mayor Unveils Multi-Billion Dollar Green City Plan Environment News Service
New York Pledges 1 Million New Trees by 2017 myfoxny.com
ATA sees problems with New York pricing plan eTrucker
New York City congestion charge gets mixed reaction Raw Story
New York City leaders put the brakes on unregulated pedicab industry San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Overriding Veto, Council Limits Pedicabs to 325 in New York New York Times
Pedicab Smackdown: City Council Defies Bloomberg, Reins in 'Green ... Village Voice
Cities Have Trouble Keeping Up With Cyclists Wired News
New York City Ballet Opens Spring Season With Tribute to Lincoln ... PlaybillArts, NY
A New Take on Young Love New York Sun
Lord of the dance Newsday
From Bowser to New York City Parksville Qualicum News, Canada
UN Welcomes New York City's 'Green Initiative' NewsBlaze, CA
Famed Horse Stable In New York City To Close myfoxny.com, NY

Voters Head To Polls In Brooklyn Special Election NY1, NY
Ghostface And Others To Raid Brooklyn HipHopDX, CA
Brooklyn Tech Won’t Move, Dept. of Ed Assures Alumni Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY
Separate Drive-By Shootings in Brooklyn Gothamist, NY
A Madrasa Grows In Brooklyn Evening Bulletin, PA
Brooklyn Residents Vow To Name Park For Controversial Activist NY1, NY