spun and mixed by iraqis

From the Hip-Hop Diplomacy blog: An Embrace of the U.S., Spun and Mixed by Iraqis gives a brief glance at how American culture, Islam and urban resistance come together in the lives of some Baghdad hip-hop heads.

pa'lo monte - enigma (featuring chuck d)

immortal technique on the iraq invasion, afghanistan, 9/11, obama and the music industry

another bit

McCain:
This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.

I was just thinking about this statement the other day. Even if we grant that McCain is willing to adopt unpopular stances regarding the Iraq Waq it definitely doesn't follow that he is making objective decisions based only on what is best for the United States. McCain is also a Vietnam veteran with a son currently in Iraq. So his emotional investment in the conflict is certainly sufficient to explain some of his positions as well.

pride of baghdad

I recently read Brian K. Vaughan's graphic novel Pride of Baghdad (art by Niko Henrichon) and was really impressed. The story is a political allegory with talking animals so it obviously screams to be compared to Animal Farm but it manages to give the Orwell classic a run for its money. The plot focuses on a group of lions (Zill, Safa, Noor and Ali) who escape from the Baghdad Zoo during a US bombing attack but from another perspective the novel is an engaging meditation on the meaning of freedom and autonomy in general, but especially in the context of modern-day Iraq. I definitely recommned.

Dorkgasm: CRITICAL ANALYSIS: PRIDE OF BAGHDAD

goatmilk: an interview with noam chomsky by wajahat ali

CHOMSKY SPEAKS: An Interview with Noam Chomsky by Wajahat Ali on Vietnam, Iraq, the War on Terror and the limits of dissent.

why is america in iraq? aka what if noam chomsky were a latino stand-up comedian?

I normally have trouble swallowing Carlos Mencia's unapologetically jingoistic brand of comedy so I was really surprised by the following excerpt from one of his shows:

mos def & cornel west on the new world order

old boondocks

On a Hill...

Huey to Ceasar: Soon our nation will pause and celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. We will reflect on his legacy and his wisdome. Who can forget when he said, "Violence against your fellow man is never the answer...

"... unless you suspect your fellow man has a weapon that you yourself have but don't want him to have, then you should bomb the bejeezus out of 'em!"

Ceasar to Huey: Stop that.