NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

It is a strange paradox in a colony to consider the issue of patriotism and or lack thereof. On the one hand, as a colony you are being discriminated or marginalized in some way that is fundamental to your political relationship. Whether it be massacres and mass exploitation of resources or the creation of rules and laws that disenfranchise you and leave sovereign power over your lives and lands with those thousands of miles away. In this context, patriotism or devotion to the colonizer seems very unlikely in a colony. But this isn't really the case. Although the basis for patriotism is a reciprocal inclusion. It is not simply a unilateral love, but rather the relationship whereby your political love will be rewarded with a set of basic rights or forms of recognition. Despite the inequality or lack of a well-defined circle of recognized belonging, patriotism is still routinely found in the colonies, and even takes on superlative forms. Colonies are structured so that, there

I've been scrounging the internet looking for good articles about the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the public's response. It is such a difficult things to make sense of, because while for some it is very simple, crazed terrorists attacked some cartoonists and police because of cartoons, and the end of the discussion is everyone stand tall claiming "Guahu Si Charlie lokkue'!" from their cellphones, ipads and Facebooks. But in the larger scheme of things, this generally isn't productive. You can focus in on this one instance, but such can be deceptive, it can prevent you from seeing how that may actually change or help little. It is easy to look at the relationship between societies and say this society is bad and this is good. This society allows this while the other does not. In terms of free speech there are definitely key differences between some Western and some Islamic societies. But if you are truly trying to improve things, you also have to acknowledge the

I wrote on this blog and in my Variety column about the debate brought out last month over Islam first starting with the exchange between actor Ben Affleck and Bill Maher and Sam Harris (both well-known atheists) on Maher's show Real Time. Since the debate didn't really start with them but is something that has been going on for centuries, the debate has continued, although in its current iteration constantly referring back to Maher and Affleck as being different discursive positions within the discussion. Below I've pasted two letters. The first from Michael Moore from his Facebook page where he defended Bill Maher and the second from a Pakistani/Canadian blogger Eiynah who is critical of Ben Affleck's position. ********************* A Message in Support of Bill Maher Michael Moore 11/10/14 Facebook Bill Maher is a friend of mine. He stood up for me when I was attacked after my Oscar speech (given on the fourth night of the Iraq War, a war Bill publicly oppo

--> I am a big fan of Bill Maher and his show Real Time on HBO. I have actually been a fan of him since his Politically Incorrect days and even remember him making his comments that lost him his original show so long ago. He has been spearheading this election season a campaign he calls “Flip a District.” After receiving thousands of suggestions from people across the US, claiming their incumbent Congressperson as being the most useless and whose absence in Congress would make their state a better place, he chose Rep. John Kline from Minnesota. Kline, a Republican is not one of the loud and aggressive and sometimes hardly sane mouthpieces that dominate Fox News, such as Louis Gomert and Michelle Bachmann. He doesn't say the sometimes ridiculous things his fellow Republican became notorious for. But he votes alongside them and practices the age-old art of incumbent invisibility. He says little, stands for less, but collects lots of money from major corporations whose a

Fired-up Ben Affleck clashes with Bill Maher over Islam By Jeff Labrecque   on Oct 4, 2014 at 3:07PM Entertainment Weekly Ben Affleck’s publicity tour to promote Gone Girl took a detour on Friday night, when the outspoken liberal engaged in a heated debate with author Sam Harris and HBO’s Real Time host Bill Maher over their criticism of Islam. “They’ll criticize Christians … but when you want to talk about the treatment of women and homosexuals and free-thinkers and public intellectuals in the muslim world, I would argue that liberals have failed us,” said Harris. “We have been sold this meme of Islamophobia, where criticism of the religion gets conflated with bigotry towards muslims as people. It’s intellectually ridiculous.” Affleck, who frequently expressed impatience and outrage at Harris’ more measured explanations, was offended by the message. “[Your point of view] is gross, it’s racist,” the actor said. “It’s like saying, ‘Oh, you shif

It's been a while since I've taught World History I at UOG. I'm teaching it again this semester and it looks to be both frustrating and fun. World History I covers a huge amount of time, much of which rarely entices students. Students who love Gladiator or Spartacus won't necessarily love learning about Marcus Aurelius or the real servile revolts. The students who liked the third Mummy movie starring Jet Li or the movie Hero starring Jet Li, don't necessarily want to learn about the actual Qin Shi Huangdi.  As I regularly tell students, tv shows like Game of Thrones don't really interest me because history itself is just as screwed up, bloody and terrifying. Should I for some reason retreat into the realm of fantasy to imagine that the horrors of the world dance and prance about simply for the enjoyment of my gaze? Nope, what use is that? People who enjoy history in the form of tv shows like that or Netflix or History Channel documentaries want history tamed f

An editorial from the Guardian/UK to start the new year. It is true in a way. There is still no other country in the world that can challenge the US militarily (although China seems to want to try for that soon). But in terms of the interests of the US dictating the way regions see or arrange themselves, or the way people on the ground aspire for their own liberty, the fantasies that of the US as that shining beacon of light on the hill are a bit out of date. That was part of the imperialist messaging of the Cold War. This idea that the rest of the world did not only want what America had, but also were willing to trade their own interests or their resources, their sovereignty in order to get it. People have learned that freedom does not belong to any particular power or country, and that the definition of freedom is that even if someone inspires you or helps you achieve it, is that you should have the right to turn your back on them and choose a life that conflicts with what they migh

The recent attacks in Norway at first glance seemed like a dream come true for crazy conservatives who love to use Islam around the world as an example of why Americans must increase military budgets, stop the seeping spread of multiculturalism, counter the pansiness of liberalism and tolerance and take up the glorious counter-Jihad against the global Islamic Jihad. Norway, one of those crazy liberal, sort of socialist countries, which people always point to along with Sweden, as places which the United States should follow in terms of improving some basic social service or government program. The people at Fox News must have been very estatic at first after hearing about the attack, since it would no doubt give them great red meat for several news cycles, inviting on people who would argue against the building of mosques in American communities (one of whom is popular Republican Presidential possible candidate Herman Cain) and maybe even bring back that crazy Texas Congressman who say

From now own I'm going to start pasting my Marianas Variety column "When the Moon Waxes" on my blog. Some of the columns will have appeared in some form or another on this blog, but it's still a good way of collecting them all here in a place where they are easily accessible for me. Sometimes newspapers, in particular the PDN tend to cut their links to articles after a certain period of time and so this way they can still be found online. I'll also be tweeting about them, for those who are interested in reading them and follow me on Twitter (all 30 of you). ****************************** "Ideological Chains" Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Marianas Variety June 29, 2011 IN THE drafting of any petition, there is always tension over the language and images you use in order to inspire, frighten or convince people to sign. Whatever your particular fight is, you tend to want as many people as possible to sign, which means you usually make the petition as n

Published on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 by The Guardian/UK Why Fear the Arab Revolutionary Spirit? by Slavoj Žižek What cannot but strike the eye in the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt is the conspicuous absence of Muslim fundamentalism. In the best secular democratic tradition, people simply revolted against an oppressive regime, its corruption and poverty, and demanded freedom and economic hope. The cynical wisdom of western liberals, according to which, in Arab countries, genuine democratic sense is limited to narrow liberal elites while the vast majority can only be mobilised through religious fundamentalism or nationalism, has been proven wrong. The big question is what will happen next? Who will emerge as the political winner? When a new provisional government was nominated in Tunis, it excluded Islamists and the more radical left. The reaction of smug liberals was: good, they are the basically same; two totalitarian extremes – but are things as simple as that? Is the true long

For those who have been following politics in the US the past few weeks, the phrase “Ground Zero mosque” has been thrown around quite a bit. Conservatives and Republicans have been using the phrase to refer to a planned Islamic Cultural Center which will be built two blocks away from the edge of Ground Zero in an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory. These cries to prevent the building of this cultural center are joined by protests throughout the US in cities big and small where people are trying to prevent Muslims from building mosques or cultural centers. The angry rhetoric is mixed and contradictory to say the least. Some would claim that two blocks away is simply too close to such a sacred site. Even if the Constitutions gives them the right to do it, they shouldn’t, and for them to force it upon the US is in bad taste, like salt in the wound. Here’s two things wrong with these arguments: 1.If the site is truly sacred then why are these Conservatives not moving to get rid of all t