The War Machine

A system of controls and suppression...

It’s amazing how many people actually believe that non-Westerners hate Western nations because of their hatred for “freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of belief and freedom of rights”. However, ask anyone who comes from, or has family and friends from, a country outside of these Western nations and you’ll see the reason for this dislike or hatred is far different. The war machine is always hard at work to spin things far from the truth in order to justify what they do…

Western nations are generally disliked because they have, for hundreds of years, colonized and exploited other nations. In essence, other countries are being raped by these Western nations. Economies are made to be subservient to Western nations. People are told their cultures are backwards and have to conform to Western practises and objectives. Entire nations are robbed of their resources and threatened to accept this or be attacked for their insolence. All in the supposed name of “freedom” and “democracy”, we have nations that are bled dry in order to support Western nations and when one of these nations tries to stand up for itself and declare it to be enough, they’re made out to be a villain and attacked.

Case-in-point: Iraq, a nation rich in history and resources, had Saddam Hussain installed as their leader by the United States in order to carry out their objectives. Once he had served his usefulness, they turned on him and used that as a means to “shock and awe” the nation into American control. Never mind the fact that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction – they could barely afford food and the United Nations confirmed there was no weapons of any kind there – but they were attacked on that premise in order for the United States and other nations to regain control of their massive oil reserves. The first thing that was secured when the Americans illegally invaded Iraq: the oil reserves.

Another case-in-point: Cuba, just a couple hundred kilometres south of Miami, was raided of its resources in the 1950’s by the United States before the Cuban Revolution came about. The movement, successful in 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power, was predicated on the Cuban people having enough of their nation and people being looted and exploited by the United States. Despite not being much better off today, Cuba pushed back against their nation’s exploitation and to this day, the United States boycotts Cuba for forcing their personnel out of the island nation.

If one studies American foreign policy and covert operations dating back to 1907 and beyond, it becomes readily apparent that a recipe is in use on how to build up some nations while tearing down others. A systematic method of control is exerted over others and while the Western nations enjoy luxury and peace, blood and oil are spilt with fires burning away at whatever’s left. Freedom is something that people of other nations don’t have thanks to Western nations exploiting them… the irony being that while being denied freedom by Western nations controlling them, non-Western nations are threatened to conform and accept or be labelled as an enemy of “freedom”. Maybe that’s why Western nations are so disliked… they export “freedom” in order to control them instead…

“No kids, but trust me I know how to raise a gun…”
- Jay-Z (Come And Get Me)

The June Fourth Movement

The "Unknown Soldier" who stood up...

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square Massacre were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) beginning on April 14th, 1989. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world.

The protests were sparked by the death of pro-market and pro-democracy official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. By the eve of Hu’s funeral, it had reached 100,000 people on the Tiananmen Square. While the protests lacked a unified cause or leadership, participants were generally against the government’s authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change and democratic reform within the structure of the government. The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which stayed peaceful throughout the protests.

The movement lasted seven weeks from Hu’s death on April 15th, 1989 until tanks cleared Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1989. In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or injured. The official death toll according to the Chinese government was 200 to 300, but Chinese student associations and the Chinese Red Cross reported 2,000 to 3,000 deaths.

Following the violence, the government conducted widespread arrests to suppress protesters and their supporters, cracked down on other protests around China, banned the foreign press from the country and strictly controlled coverage of the events in the PRC press. Members of the Party who had publicly sympathized with the protesters were purged, with several high-ranking members placed under house arrest, such as General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. The violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest caused widespread international condemnation of the PRC government.

“Why don’t you ask the kids at Tiananmen Square was fashion the reason why they were there…”
- System Of A Down (Hypnotize)

The Future of I-Slam Hockey

The future is friendly...

As most of you know, I’m one of the individuals responsible for I-Slam Hockey which is a ball hockey league that serves the Muslim community of Greater Toronto. My goal with I-Slam Hockey has been to provide a league in which the competition level is second to none yet the environment and atmosphere is beyond anything that the Muslim community has seen before anywhere. By implementing and enforcing Muslim beliefs and ideals, I-Slam Hockey will be the definitive league for which all people will want to take part in.

After wrapping up our second season a few weeks ago, much has been asked about when and how the third season will take place. I had a meeting with my associates recently on how we want to proceed with the league but we face a few issues for which I’m still trying to resolve.

The first issue is location. The first season ran out of the Ultimate Sports Center but that facility has since closed down and we relocated for the season season to Rink City in Mississauga. The latter is a suitable facility because it’s in downtown Mississauga and is easily accessible for many people. However, therein lies the problem. As I-Slam Hockey intends to be a league that serves the Greater Toronto Area, it’s difficult for many individuals who live in the eastern-end of the GTA to commute to Mississauga. We need a location that’s central.

From this first issue emerges the second issue which is expansion. In the second season of I-Slam Hockey, there were 7 teams with over 100 individuals taking part. However, expanding the league would require either more rink-time or a second location. The problem with this idea is two-fold: expanding the league may water down the talent-level of the teams and obtaining a second location would require another group of logistical coordinators to oversee. Granted, more people could take part in the league this way but would the vision of the league be served by doing so? Furthermore, having a second location, likely in the east-end of the city, would likely take away from the environment that’s been established thus far.

The third issue is timing. Some members want to see the league run multiple times in a year but due to the fact that many players take part in other leagues and have other obligations, I feel that this would seriously take away from the impact that I-Slam Hockey currently has. It would lose its elite status if it were readily available for anyone to take part in at any time of year. Currently, the plan is to run the league once a year and have it run after Ramadan. However, with so much hockey already available and many players taking part in other leagues, it might be best to delay the league a little further than a set time each year.

The last issue is that I don’t know how much longer I see myself involved in helping run I-Slam Hockey. I’ve wanted to branch out into other tasks and running a hockey league is a time-consuming effort. A long-term strategy is needed but that’s easier said than done when it comes to a fickle community such as this.

“This world is a drought when out of love, please come back to us, you’re all of the above…”
- Incubus (Sick Sad Little World)