Faiz Ahmed's Personal Blog

By Faiz Ahmed Oakland University Tunisia’s revolution definitely seems to have sparked the massive revolutionary powder keg that was the Middle East and North Africa. Tunisia and Egypt’s focus is now shifting on Yemen, Bahrain, Morocco, Libya and Kuwait. In Bahrain, the Shia majority are calling for the abolishment of the Sunni monarchy which is a US ally, and is considered a buffer zone between the Middle East and Iran because of the US naval base there. The center of the revolt where all the protesters gather is Pearl Square. People from all walks of life have been protesting. However the government has been responding with tear gas and rubber bullets. The protesters are calling for a constitutional monarchy similar to that of UK and want the sham parliament dissolved. However, a part of the protesting group is calling for the entire dissolution of the monarchy altogether. The Saudi government has also pledged its undying support to the monarchy of Bahrain and has pr

By – Faiz Ahmed Oakland University A recent article on the Department of Defense website has created quite a stir. The article brings to light the fact that the U.S. Geologists have uncovered large deposits of mineral resources in the mountains of Afghanistan. The minerals are worth over a trillion dollars. The report mentions that the resource evaluation of the country’s land began a year ago. It has also been mentioned that the research records of the Erstwhile Soviet Union were used as a foundation basis for this research. Paul Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense and Director of Task Force Business and Stability Operations, in a phone conversation available on the Department of Defense website said:“We’ve identified 20 sites that are worth a lot of money that will generate enough revenue for the Afghans to pay for their own way, you can count on private industry to make investments to help develop these resources because they generate a high return for the companies and done

By: Faiz Ahmed Oakland University Working at the Mall is a boring job, especially as the major shopping season ended with Christmas. To rid myself of my boredom, I downloaded an online book written many years ago in the 1920s by an English intellectual, George Bernard Shaw. Bernard Shaw was an intellectual who had wisdom, not just knowledge. The preface of the book is the most interesting part. After the preface there are five plays that portray the beginning of human existence from the time of Adam and Eve and the serpent, to the end of times in Bernard Shaw’s understanding. The preface is an absolute work of philosophical achievement while the plays are fiction which he derived from his experiences and his philosophical enlightenment. As I read on, I understood Shaw’s world view. Shaw had rejected canonical Christianity and the modern day bible. Shaw was also an evolutionist, however he was not a Darwinian, as in he did not agree with the concept of natural selection. He was a neo-L

By Faiz Ahmed Oakland University I recently made a trip down to Chase Bank to sort something out with the banker. As I was sitting in the banker’s cubicle, I noticed the poster behind the banker. I zeroed in on the poster and I could not help but notice the methods of marketing and advertising that went into the poster. The Poster was about retirement plans and it said something like “save up for your retirement plans now” and “talk to your banker about the best plan for you”. “Amusing”… to me the poster was just amusing. I started thinking about all the skills that went into the creation of that poster. Some of the Key words and phrases were bigger than others, some were of bright colors and others were light shades of gray. The blue color was used quite a lot and all the really big phrases were in shades of blue. The color blue, according to “www.about.com” is a corporate color, because it has a calming effect on the people who view it. The same website also claims that blue is a ba

By Faiz Ahmed Oakland University This case study of a socio political revolutionary organization will be devoted to an organization that no longer exists and is a rather fascinating subject to study. The Black Panther Party was formed at the end of the nonviolent era of the civil rights movement in America.  This organization is fascinating to study in its formation,  its objectives, its bravado, its uncompromising stance for liberation, its genius use of an existing support community, its ideological search and ideological evolution, its local community programs, its national structure, its internationalism, and in its charismatic leadership.  A history of rebellion against the establishment, a strong leadership, a national movement, law enforcement interventions, armed clashes with police personnel, electoral politics, members in exile or underground, assassinations, arrests, good leaders gone bad, factionalism, and a dissolution of the organization that was respected and fea

By Faiz Ahmed Oakland University I had to read an interesting book for class called “Killing Hope – US Military and CIA Intervention Since World War 2” authored by William Blum. Blum was an employee of the State Department and he resigned in 1967 because he did not agree with what the US government was doing in Vietnam. He has since then worked to expose the interventions that have been carried out in the name of the citizens of USA and with their tax dollars. The United States of America has intervened in the political affairs of different countries in the world many times. There are a few different reasons for the US to have followed a policy of intervention in the foreign political arena. The first reason which is the basis for all other reasons is to maintain US hegemonic control over the rest of the world. Hegemony means control and influence. The control of the economy of the other nations of the world is the key idea. To control the economy of a foreign country would mean