What is a theologian? There are a lot of definitions out there, mostly like “person thinking about God” or “someone who studies the nature of God, religion, and religious beliefs” and the like. This is a profoundly NON-Christian view of theology, and I will come back to it later (in a future vignette) Imagine you are one of those modern wannabe “theologians” and you think about God and religion a
Internal Taliban divisions come to the fore as squabbling hinders the formation of Afghanistan’s new Islamic Emirate By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times It looked like everything was set for the Taliban to announce the new government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after this Friday’s afternoon prayers. But then internal dissent prevailed. That was compounded by the adverse optics of a ragtag “resistance”
I have always been a big fan of Greek music, be it traditional singing, Orthodox singing and even more modern types of Greek music of the Rebetiko style including, for example, Giorgos Dalaras. Here is an example of Dalaras singing the famous Cuban son “Hasta Siempre Comandante” with Al Di Meola on guitars(!): Today a family member sent me a video of a singer I did not know, Yiannis Kotsiras,
Original link: http://middleeastobserver.net/will-you-stop-me-from-filling-up-iranian-petrol-beirut-sunni-imam/ Description: Lebanese Sunni Sheikh Mustafa Hamade scolds local pro-US parties and media for their opposition to Hezbollah’s recently announced move to import Iranian fuel to Lebanon, a country facing a crippling energy and economic crisis. Sheikh Hamade, who is the Imam of the Hamzah Mosque in Beirut, blasted pro-US forces in Lebanon and called on anyone opposed to the move to ‘quit trying to fool the Lebanese people’
2021/09/03 01:00:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
Dear friends, Software engineers begin counting from zero, not from one, and that is nice since it give that first number a pre-beginning feeling. Please consider what is below as a first, test, “Beta” Vignette Zero. A first small trial. Andrei for the Saker blog First, a caveat which in the future I will post under every Christian Vignette. It is important, very, so please read it carefully. I, Andrei
A short story by Grifon for The Saker Blog On the path of the warrior are 4 enemies. Fear, clarity, power, and old age (or death). No warrior has conquered the last. (The Teachings of Don Juan ) Clearly the world is gripped by an Apocalyptic Plague and the salvation is in the hands of the Corporate Overlords. It is the vaccine, it is fact checked, and it is
By Zamir Awan for The Saker Blog The US, along with its 46 Allies and additional 11 nationals supporting the war on terror, 150,000 well-trained, well-equipped, most sophisticated and lethal weapons, hi-tech and advanced military techniques, two trillion dollars, and two decades, altogether destroyed Afghanistan. The explosives drooped in Afghanistan is much more than the compiled explosive used in World war I & II, yet not satisfied, and before leaving
Ed: This is a wide ranging discussion of international affairs Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions from MGIMO students and faculty on the occasion of the beginning of a new academic year, Moscow, September 1, 2021 Friends, As always, I am delighted to be here on September 1, and not only on this day, of course, since we hold events here at other times of the year
By Michael Hudson and posted with special permission. In a Financial Times op-ed, “Investors in Xi’s China face a rude awakening” (August 30, 2021), George Soros writes that Xi’s “crackdown on private enterprise shows he does not understand the market economy. … Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has collided with economic reality. His crackdown on private enterprise has been a significant drag on the economy.” Translated out of Orwellian Doublethink, the
By Andrei for the Saker Blog. The current mass hysteria about what just happened in Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan is not dying down. Why is that so? I believe that what is happening is this: if we compare the people of the USA to the passengers on the Titanic, we could say that our passengers were listening to the still playing orchestra until their feet got soaked in
by Pepe Escobar for The Saker Blog and friends Dear reader: this is very special, a trip down memory lane like no other: back to prehistoric times – the pre-9/11, pre-YouTube, pre-social network world. Welcome to Taliban Afghanistan – Talibanistan – in the Year 2000. This is when photographer Jason Florio and myself slowly crossed it overland from east to west, from the Pakistani border at Torkham to the Iranian
Dear friends, For various reasons, I plan to make the new Saker blog more similar to the very old Saker blog (2007-2012). None of the planned adjustments below will dramatically change anything, so please think of is as a kind of mid-life minor maintenance overhaul. What follows is a summary of these changes: The biggest change will be not in what I write, but how I present things to you.
By Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog All flags are on half-mast in the US of A. The cause are the 13 American soldiers killed in this huge suicide bombing outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, on Thursday, 26 August. As it stands, at least 150 people – Afghans, including at least 30 Taliban – plus 13 American military – were killed and at least 1,300 injured, according to
By Observer R for the Saker Blog In my previous article, A Poisoned Chalice? (The Saker Blog, December 15, 2020), I noted that there were so many crises and troubles ahead for the United States (US) that it was questionable as to whether it was a good idea to be the winner of the 2020 election. Whichever candidate took office in January 2021 would inherit a vast slate of problems.
Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Mr.President, The Russian Federation strongly condemns the terrorist attack that was carried out in the vicinity of the Kabul airport on 26 August killing hundreds of people. We express our condolences to the friends and families of those killed and wish speedy recovery to the injured. At the same time, we had to abstain during the vote on the draft
Since I wrote my overview about the causes and implication of the Kabul disaster things have not improved in the least. It is clear that the “Biden” administration has tried very hard to do some damage control, but that only made things even worse (just think of Biden’s talks to the nation). It is also clear that there is no way the US can evacuate all its citizens, nevermind former
By Aram Mirzaei for the Saker blog These past weeks in Afghanistan have been what some would call a shit storm, in lack of better words. What is unfolding in front of our eyes is truly both a tragedy of great proportions and a spectacle of some sort I guess. After 20 years of occupation, Washington and its obedient dogs are not just retreating, they are fleeing in panic from
by Pepe Escobar and first posted at AsiaTimes It was 20 years ago today. Asia Times published Get Osama! Now! Or Else…The rest is history. Retrospectively, this sounds like news from another galaxy. Before Planet 9/11. Before GWOT (Global War on Terror). Before the Forever Wars. Before the social network era. Before the Russia-China strategic partnership. Before the Dronification of State Violence. Before techno-feudalism. Allow me to get a little
2021/08/30 13:30:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
