How Western anti-Muslim bigotry became respectable

How Western anti-Muslim bigotry became respectable

An interesting debate about the rise of the Muslim bigotry in the last years, both in Europe and in the US, presented by The Real News Network between Sener Akturk and Mujeeb Khan. It's quite short but thought provoking nevertheless.

Enjoy!

PS: Click on the link to watch the video.

A little history of Curacao

It has been a while since my last post. I have been very busy with getting back to my routine. Actually let me be honest, I am finding it really hard to get back to my routine. Maybe that is why I have been unconsciously avoiding my blog. Well, finally reality set in and here I am. I just hope we will not have another snowstorm before the spring arrives.

I have taken few photos of the island of Curacao, which is located right above Venezuela. It is best known as the A, B, C islands. Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

I will give you a brief history of the island from what I read and talking to the locals. Of course I always trust the locals rather then history books… Their version is usually more accurate!

Curacao was the home of the Arawaks until the Spanish discovered the island in 1499. As you can imagine, the arrival of the Spanish was anything but blissful. The Arawaks were quickly enslaved and shipped off to various parts of the Empire to work on plantations. They either died of various illnesses encountered by the living conditions or were killed during their enslavement. So today we have little knowledge of the Arawak culture.

With the arrival of the Dutch in 1634, the African slavery was introduced to the tropical island. The Spanish did not see any value to the island therefore they made a deal with the Dutch and gave it away. Half the slaves destined for the other Caribbean islands passed through the Curacao markets. There are a few plantation houses that have been restored recently which are a strong legacy of its sad past.

After the end of slavery, Curacao was pretty much left on it’s own, destitute and fairly poor. During the 1950’s, with the beginning of the tourism market, Curacao gained its importance once more. Now Curacao is a fairly rich and well-preserved land, which is still owned by the Dutch.

I have talked to a few Dutch locals who have bought homes and settled to escape the cold. They are usually shop owners or local merchants. They usually live in big homes close to the town center. However, their ex-slave counter parts do not enjoy the kind of living that the Dutch possess. First and for most, blacks are angry about their past and say it to anyone who would listen. On many occasions they have pointed out to me the discrepancy in the living conditions between the whites and the blacks.

I have been to quite a few of the Caribbean islands in the past to dive and every time I see the horrible legacy of slavery quite clearly. Its everywhere and on every ones mind; well at least on the mind of the black population!

Diving in Curacao

I am back from an amazing short getaway. My family and I escaped to the exotic island of Curacao, right above Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. I will post photos of the actual island and tell you a little bit if it's history as well very soon.

In the mean time, enjoy the under world....

I will be going away on a diving trip for 10 days...

Every year I try to arrange a diving trip for my sanity. This means a double tank dive, one shallow and one deep dive everyday of the trip. Shallow dives are generally 25-35 feet and deep dives are around 100 Feet. In my previous dives I saw amazing and beautiful underworld creatures such as sharks, turtles, large lobsters, moray eels, string rays, interesting corals, fishes of various sizes and colors.

When I dive, I feel diverse range of emotions, which cannot be experienced all at the same time during my mundane life, such as: freedom, inner calmness, fear, anxiety, focus, connectedness and kinship with other divers and underwater creatures.

Freedom: The vast open space, little carved hills, small tunnels and the endless sand at the bottom of the ocean is very liberating.

Inner Calmness: The sound of my breathing and no other sound makes me feel connected to my body on a level I usually do not experience in my everyday life.

Fear and Anxiety: To feel completely vulnerable and defenseless is a great wake up call. To know that your survival is limited to the diving equipment is something that must be experienced in order to be understood.

Focus: When diving, one must have 100 percent focus and attention to everything. One must focus on how much air do I have left, how fast am I going up to the surface, what is the nitrogen level in my body, how many minutes do I wait before surfacing, where is my diving buddy, where is my group, where is my boat etc…

Connectedness and kinship: The strangest of all is how one feels total connectedness and kinship with various animals and divers. Just before we decent down under the ocean, all divers must get to know one another in a short time span. We must all rely on each other for our safety and enjoyment of the whole experience.

In short, diving is my time away from the family and from my boring and ritualistic life. It is a source of escape from my repetitive behavior(s), furthermore it helps me center my soul and body.

Unfortunately it is short but it is very sweet…

I am leaving this Thursday for 10 days get away. I will make sure to take lots of photos.

A little note I must add: Normally, I enjoy my red wine and sometimes I drink more then I should, but in my diving trips, I take care of myself very well. I never drink too much alcohol, I keep my body hydrated at all times, I eat well and I go to bed really early to get a healthy good night sleep. One must be top notch health wise, otherwise it can be quite dangerous.

A poem by my good friend Sarah...

I have been following Sarah's Blog for sometime now. I love her poems and her beautiful take on life in general. We also share one very important thing in comment... We are both mother's of twins!

The other day on her blog she posted the poem below: I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you all. If you are a lover of words, I would highly recommend her blog.

Enjoy!
-----------------------------------------

My Lovely Bubble

Call me naive,
lived a long time in a bubble called hope,
or cynical of the manoeveres of double speak,
multiple voiced manipulators.

Naive is innocence?
and yes I am and both guilty at the same time
of listening when my heart knows better,
when my stomach utters.

That gut feeling.

Or is it gullibility,
and yes I am that too,
made stupid, by a life of drink,
and media, listening to mutliple voices,
layering a lie over lie,
of my well tended ignorance.

Spin circles in my brain
of a logic that won't compute,
too many valid oppostitions
for the same answer.

And in the end become my
own best authority,
responsibility, take it back
and call it for my own,
and live on the right of that
or the consequences of
mistakes that are mine alone.

Live in a world
apparently full of
paedophiles, murderers
and rapists,
when the reality is that
the majority are good
living along, smooching kind,
kids, family love,
food on the table,
scraps and suppers.

Speaks of the right we have by justice,
to be humankind in our naivity,
and innocent until proven guilty.

Sarah Turton~Selchie

Master Neyzen: Ercan Irmak

Ercan Irmak is a master neyzen, who performs various styles on the ney including the Turkish classical Sufi and the Anatolian folk styles.

I love Sufi music. I hope you will enjoy it too...

Nuru Kane: Number One Bus

Découvrez Découvrez Mondomix.com, le magazine des Musiques et Cultures dans le Monde!

A friend from my London days have brought this video to my attention...

I love it!

Those of you who knows London town will appreciate this video...

Enjoy!

Blackwater’s Youngest Victim: Father of 9 Year-Old Killed in Nisour Square Gives Most Detailed Account of Massacre to Date

A documentary by Big Noise Films have been brought to my attention by Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill. I urge you to watch it. My intention is not to upset you or reiterate on the insanity of wars, however, I also believe it is important to educate oneself on the criminal behavior of Blackwater, the mercenary army that is comfortably roaming around in Iraq and Afghanistan as we speak...

I am so tired of reading, watching and listening to the lunacy of what is going on in various parts of the world but I will not give up on bringing actual human suffering to my blog. I refuse to shut my eyes and heart!

As I was watching the video, I cried for the little boy in the documentary because it could have been my son, or your son that was lying in a pool of blood. Just because we live in our comfortable homes, with our comfortable toys and our healthy lives does not mean everyone else is living like us. Actually, a big majority of the world is living like little Ali in the documentary. Let us never forget that... Even if our lives may feel or seem horrible at times, compare to hunger and war, we have it pretty damn good if you ask me!

My condolences to little Ali's family...