DistortedSoul.com – The FUNK According to Nadir Omowale

‘Blues Talkin' - Nadir's Blog’

After several years, I’m finally fed up with my favorite Detroit soul food restaurant.

My wife, Akanke, and I live in the often soulless Detroit suburb of Westland. The relatively quiet bedroom community is devoid of any real culture of its own beyond the Westland Mall and the city’s well maintained parks. (There is a lot to be said for tree-lined streets though.)

The best aspect of Westland, however, is that it lies halfway between Michigan’s two cultural meccas – Ann Arbor and Detroit. We always end up driving a half hour in either direction to get our culture on. Concerts, real shopping (in non-mall boutiques) and good (non-chain) restaurants.

Because of our southern upbringing, good southern cooking, aka soul food, is an important part of our lives. No, it isn’t the healthiest food in the world, but it is comfort food. You can’t eat stir fry and tofu every day. When it comes down to it, every once in a while, you’ve just got to have some cornbread, fish and collard greens. Read the rest of this entry »

I have nothing more to say about the war in Iraq that I haven’t said many times over the years. On the eve of the invasion I wrote a piece comparing the invasion to past imperial misadventures by the very powers who sought to divide and conquer the nation.

Now that the US occupation of Iraq is kind of, sort of, almost over, what is there to cheer about? Nothing. We shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

This BBC piece sums it up pretty well.

BBC: Assessing America’s ‘imperial adventure’ in Iraq

“This,” a leading American supporter of President George W Bush wrote in a British newspaper back in February 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, “is our imperial moment”.

He went on to argue that the British had no right to criticise America for doing what they themselves had done so enthusiastically a century before.

But America’s imperial moment did not last long. And now, seven years later, the US is criticised for just about everything that happens here.

Opinion is evenly divided between those who are glad to see the Americans go, and those who criticise them for leaving too soon and potentially laying Iraq open to fresh sectarian violence.

It is a pattern that every occupying power becomes used to. America, it seems, cannot do anything right – not even getting out.

Read the full article HERE

You see? This is why I get my news analysis from The Daily Show and not Fox News.

Fox News has stoked the fire of the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy by demonizing Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a respected clergyman who is noted as a model of moderate Islam, and who helped the FBI with counterterrorism efforts. They have done so largely by emphasizing one of the Islamic Center’s funding sources,  Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Foundation.

What Fox New neglects to mention is that Al-Waleed bin Talal is the #2 shareholder of News Corp, Fox’s parent company! So much for journalistic standards and full disclosure. Check out Jon Stewart’s scathing segment below:

I suppose Fox should also question the terrorists at Harvard University. Those jihadist Ivy Leaguers had the audacity to accept bin Talal’s money when they founded The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program. Here is what they say about their benefactor, Forbes Magazine’s 22nd richest man in the world:

Committed to making the world a better place, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia is known for a wide range of philanthropic activities around the globe. He seeks to promote change through mutual cultural understanding. Read the rest of this entry »