– New York Times reports. Good move by Obama.

During President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition, the Center for American Progress proposed a 10-point clean-energy agenda for the president and Congress that would speed the economic transformation to a clean energy economy. A review of these items today finds that all were adopted or are working their way through the process. This is a startling achievement amidst the worst economy in 70 years, two wars, and an opposition party disinterested in cooperation. President Obama did much of what he promised, and he can do more in 2010 by cajoling Congress to do its part.

These achievements will have real world impact. By 2011, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, P.L. 111-5, will double the generation of renewable electricity from the wind, sun, and earth. ARRA will also lead to energy efficiency retrofits in 1 million homes by 2012. And President Obama’s new fuel economy standards would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil. Additional benefits will accrue as the president and Congress finish some 2009 clean-energy initiatives and additional efforts are launched in 2010.

The post a full review of progress made by the president and Congress over the past year. Very encouraging.

In contrast the Republicans are toeing a tight line, making sure not one Senator crosses over. The result? Obama is in deep shit. If healthcare reform fails then his administration will be labelled as a failure. And all because of one Senator who doesn’t want to give easy access to abortion (Nelson) and the other because he wants to see Democrats fail (Lieberman). And that, in many ways, is why I have a problem with agreeing that allowing politicians plenty of independence is a good thing: you end up with an American system that can’t get much done at all unless discipline is imposed.

There’s a point of clarification here. I generally don’t have problems with independent MPs who attack to defend the base, as people like Howard Dean are doing. I abhor independents who betray the people who turn out to campaign and vote for them and the party that represents a certain set of values.

Foreign policy
Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
The US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards
The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan

Science / Environment
Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
New federal funding for science and research labs
Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports

Domestic
Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
Limits on lobbyist’s access to the White House and on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
The FDA is now regulating tobacco
Built a swing set for the girls outside the Oval Office!

As a result, while I was desperately trying to hold on to the few readers I had on my old website, Ali managed to build up a huge readership in a remarkably short period of time. In many ways, my blogging output declined when I realised that Ali was already expressing most of what I wanted to say. Therefore, I was disappointed when eteraz.org suddenly disappeared. There was still content on the US presidential elections and his series on Islam for Comment is Free, but the constant desire to write, challenge and engage seemed to have disappeared.

‘Children of Dust’ gives the back story of Eteraz. From growing up in a dusty village in a remote region of Punjab, to crisscrossing America through high school, college and work, while trying to come to grips with Islam. The tagline for the book says, ‘A Memoir of Pakistan’ which I suspect was the work of some marketing person. Pakistan definitely plays a crucial role in Ali’s journey and his life allows us to see some of the ways in which it has changed over the years. However fundamentally, this book is about a personal journey. What inspired Ali to become so passionate about his religion, the ways in which this manifested itself, the contradictions it caused in his personal life, why he burned out and how he found salvation (i think).

Technically I don’t think that this book is the back of Eteraz’s writing. One of the thinks which I’ve enjoyed about his work is his range – he’s written everything from metaphysical reflective pieces, argumentative polemics and more formal legal and philosophical pieces. On the other hand, at times, this book seems like its being gritted out – but, on reflection I think it had to be this way. Given the sensitive nature of the subject matter and the fact that he’s engaged in the difficult process of reflecting on his life, it would be unrealistic to expect glittering prose, although we do see glimpses of it. This is not to say that the story isn’t gripping, as there is always underlying tension in it and with Ali’s changing avatars, the book does have a very literary feel.

—

In the prologue, Ali mentions that this book is about his journey and in brackets, ’some parts of it are about the girls he met along the way’. However, what is probably the most significant relationship in the book is the one he has with a friend living in the Middle East, when he travels to Kuwait in search of continuing the reformation.

I’m slightly biased towards this book in that I was familiar with Ali’s work before hand. However, I’d recommend it for not only people who are interested in Pakistan or Islamic issues, but for anyone looking for a compelling personal story. This is because ultimately, this memoir isn’t about religion but about a fascinating quest for self-fulfillment.

I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995. We had a beer in his office. He needed one. I remember the ugly mood in Israel then — a mood in which extreme right-wing settlers and politicians were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin, who was committed to trading land for peace as part of the Oslo accords. They questioned his authority. They accused him of treason. They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shouted death threats at rallies. His political opponents winked at it all.

And in so doing they created a poisonous political environment that was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish nationalist as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.

Of course he’s drawing parallels with what is happening now and pointing out that an atmosphere is being created where someone will try to assassinate Barack Obama. It doesn’t surprise me. Media Matters for USA points out that a popular right-wing website this week published an article essentially stating that a military coup was needed to solve “the Obama problem”. These people are not only nutjobs, they are now mainstream Republicans.

What’s all the more interesting in this ongoing saga is that all those people who screamed about “anti-Americanism” for the vitriol that was hurled at Bush are now keeping very quiet on Obama even though he’s not started any wars. Double-standards? Of course. Initially I used to dismiss notions that people would kill Obama just because he was black. Now I’m not so sure. These people are seriously unhinged. And there are a lot of them out there.

Actually this isn’t very uncommon. When people say that ‘British culture’ or ‘native culture’ is under attack from the ‘multi-culturalists’ – they can never define what they’re supposedly trying to protect, nor give solid examples of what they mean.

I wish someone here put Nick Griffin, or even Richard Littlejohn, on the same spot.

2. Facts don’t always work. Emotion does. And the media always follow a circus. Exploit that to your advantage.
Following on from above – the left thought that the public would never buy the idea of ‘death panels’ or the people who turned up to townhalls with assault rifles. But people are influenced by their fellow citizens getting angry over something. And the media follows the circus – with the result that angry townhalls dominated coverage, and people started thinking all of America was angry at Obama’s healthcare. Result – public opinion shifts.

The point isn’t that you push lies, like Sarah Palin has done. The point is that thinking that just by debunking right-wing nonsense will do the job is not good enough. The media plays the game of ‘journalistic equivalence’, which means that a lying Republican will be offered equal space to someone debunking it. People assume that both are simply two sides of a debate, and they’ll believe with their guts than facts.

3. Don’t defend the status quo even if you want to retain it. Go on the offensive. Obama should have said that healthcare is broken, and that insurance companies were fleecing people. He started off by telling people they could keep what they had, instead of telling them they were paying too much for healthcare. Bad strategy.

4. Discipline on your side is necessary, and so is a clear message. Keep repeating the basic message. Those who want nuance can find it.
The Democrat Blue Dogs should have been taken outside and shot. I kid, only half-heartedly. If the bill doesn’t get passed it will be thanks to conservative Democrats who don’t realise it will kill their re-election chances too. Obama should have forced discipline from day one rather than letting everyone pile in.

And there’s plenty more examples of right-wing nutjobs in America trying to paint Obama as Hitler or Stalin. A lot of this is driven by racism, especially since it ties closely with the Republican “birther” movement who refuse to believe Obama was born in America. I wonder if the far-left in the UK will also buy into that racism by equating Obama with Hitler too.

No, Obama’s grandmother didn’t say he was born in Kenya. On a related note – I’m disappointed that Melanie Phillips hasn’t covered the “Obama is a Muslim” conspiracy for quite a while now either. Poor show.

The Obama administration has opened the way for foreign women who are victims of severe domestic beatings and sexual abuse to receive asylum in the United States. The action reverses a Bush administration stance in a protracted and passionate legal battle over the possibilities for battered women to become refugees.

There are still strict criteria but the move is to be celebrated nevertheless.

It also struck me that in addition to foreign policy, the environment and a whole rage of domestic issues like healthcare and science – Obama really is trying to eke out a different agenda despite the establishment inertia. And yet there are still hard-left ranters who keep saying there’s little difference between Obama and Bush. It boggles the mind.

Is she planning to start a campaign for president? I think that’s a bit premature. Governors don’t usually resign this far in advance and start campaigning. I have a feeling that something is going to come out of Palin’s closet and she’s just resigning in advance.

Of course this is quite annoying as I was hoping Palin would run in 2012 and help the Democrats win again. Dammit!

Jamie Foxx, the host of the Black Entertainment Television music awards, was unequivocal on Sunday night. “We want to celebrate this black man,” Mr. Foxx said of Michael Jackson. “He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else.”
…
Mr. Jackson was to music what Michael Jordan was to sports and Barack Obama to politics — a towering figure with crossover appeal, even if in life some of Mr. Jackson’s black fans wondered if he was as proud of his race as his race was of him. But since his death on Thursday, many African-Americans have embraced Mr. Jackson without ambivalence. In scores of interviews across the country over the weekend, few expressed the kind of resentment some once had for his strangeness, his changing appearance, his distance from the cherubic Michael of the Jackson 5.

I can understand the sentiment behind this – Michael Jackson was the first big black icon. So naturally African Americans feel a sense of ownership. But there is a danger here isn’t there? If every black person represents or belongs to the community then you end up defending the bad (OJ, Mike Tyson) along with trying to claim the good (MJ).

This happens a lot in the UK too. For the longest time, in the national newspapers, if one Muslim or black person did something bad then it was seen as representative of the entire ‘community’. Taking that cue from the papers – the same people end up trying to police everyone and condemning anyone from their community who steps out of line as bad.

I think it’s time to kill this attitude. Even the words ‘community’ or ‘communities’ should be banned. Who says white people belong ‘to communities’? And yet you see journalists now refer to minorities as belonging to ‘communities’ instead of one community. That’s not really an improvement is it. They should use ‘families’ or refer to them as individuals.

But Obama’s speech was widely expected. Some even thought he wouldn’t mention Israel / Palestine, but then Obama has always been one to grab the bull by the horns.

But, why Egypt and not Indonesia?

“I like to go to the sources of the problem not around it,” he said, adding that giving the speech in Indonesia would be “almost like cheating” because Indonesia and the US have generally very strong ties and that because of his background having lived in Indonesia and having a sister who is half Indonesian, he would have “home ground” advantage and he did not want that.

Here are some reactions positive, negative and insane (video included)…

POSITIVE
Stephen Walt at Foreign Policy blog:

I thought his handling of the Israel-Palestinian issue was clear and straightforward, He reaffirmed both the bedrock U.S. commitment to Israel’s existence and security and the necessity of an independent Palestinian state. He understands — even if others do not — that “this is in Israel’s interest, Palestine’s interest, America’s interest and the world’s interest.” He also rejected the poison of Holocaust denial and “vile stereotypes about Jews” in clear and direct language, and told his listeners that such beliefs helped prevent “the peace that the people of this region deserve.” I wish he had offered a few more specifics, but overall he handled this issue well.

M.J. Rosenberg writes:

Mission accomplished. For the first time in memory, an American President spoke to Muslims and Arabs not as antagonists who need to take certain actions before achieving US acceptance but as equals.

Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic:

An African-American President with Muslim roots stands before the Muslim world and defends the right of Jews to a nation of their own in their ancestral homeland, and then denounces in vociferous terms the evil of Holocaust denial, and right-wing Israelis go forth and complain that the President is unsympathetic to the housing needs of settlers. Incredible, just incredible.

He also managed to unite everyone! (from here)

Kadima, MK Ze’ev Boim:

Obama’s speech is further proof that Netanyahu did not properly gauge the policies of the Untied States. The policies of the president on the Palestinian issue are identical to those of Kadima, and it is unfortunate that Netanyahu is unable to accept the idea of two states for two peoples for narrow political reasons.

Labor, MK Eitan Cabel:

The president’s words made it very clear that in Washington they are unwilling to turn a blind eye. Time is working against us, and the Israelis interest of not being a serial rejector means accepting two states for two peoples and stopping construction of settlements.

Nabil Rudeineh, Spokesman for President Abbas:

His call for stopping settlement and for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and his reference to the suffering of Palestinians. . .is a clear message to Israel that a just peace is built on the foundations of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. President Obama’s speech is a good start and an important step towards a new American policy.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Ramahi:

I have followed the speech closely. There are many positive points. There is a difference between his policy and Bush’s policy. I see a change in the U.S. foreign policy discourse. But the problem is still on the ground. Would they achieve a Palestinian independent state? If he does that, that would be a relief and good for all parties.

NEGATIVE
Ira Stoll on the conservative Commentary Magazine:

Even when Obama was trying to be nice to Israel, he was tone deaf: “America’s strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied,” he said. The missing words were those usually present in such passages about shared democratic values and strategic interests.

This video, shot in Israel, has some downright racism against Obama

via Max Blumenthal

FULL SPEECH

And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.

Guess what Spectator Magazine’s Melanie Phillips had to say?

Just what planet is this US President on? Or is this not a statement but an aspiration?

Oh yeah, whoops! Barack Hussein Obama mistakenly blurts out his plan to convert America to Islam by stealth! Phillips is so absurd that even fellow blogger Alex Massie couldn’t help but mock her:

This is intriguing and I’d be interested to learn how the President might make the United States an islamic nation. Surely this was something he should have mentioned on the campaign trail? Clearly, his reticence about this confirms the seriousness of his intent. All the most dangerous plots are kept secret, dontcha know? Only the bravest and wisest can penetrate the conspiracy and sound the necessary alert.

The kind of conspiracy loons that Melanie Phillips now attracts is evident by the comments. One says:

It’s because he is a Muslim.

Born as one, educated in early years at a maddrassa, pictured in muslim dress. Even, gasp named Hussein. What’s not Islamic about any of that?

Then the missing records. The birth certificate. The education records.

Not forgetting that grovelling bow.

I felt that the idea of a black potus was extremely laudable. However of all the suitable black people in the US they pick this marxist, racist and divisive product of the Chicago machine.

Nothing will surprise except for the fact that the US is still in thrall.

Pajamas Media, Atlas Shrugs and Family Security Matters are good places to start if anyone needs a little education outside the MSM.

It’s more amusing that the Spectator Magazine is happy to continue publishing such conspiracy loons.

This strikes me as one of those idiotic regulations which does no good and plenty of harm. Sikhs have long served honourably in the British armed forces (and elsewhere), without the British armed forces ever feeling the need to pressure them to conform. It is therefore clearly not an impediment to active service, nor is it any way slovenly. It has been argued that the sight of turbaned Sikhs in British uniform became such a common sight prior to Indian independence, that when Sikhs in Britain were agitating for the turban to be exempted from helmet regulations, there wasn’t widespread opposition to it because people had already come to associate turbaned Sikhs with martial valour.

The most eloquent testament to turbaned Sikhs serving in the armed forces comes from the British general Sir Frank Walter Messervy:

“In the last two World Wars 83,005 turban-wearing Sikh soldiers were killed and 109,045 were wounded. They all died or were wounded for the freedom of Britain and the World, enduring shell fire with no other protection but the turban, the symbol of their faith.”

(Hat-Tip: Ravneet at the Sikh Coalition)

I’m not going to write a lengthy tirade, re-regurgitating past opinions about the rights or wrongs about the invasion, the lies we were told to sell us on the venture or the horrendous number of people killed as a result.

Nor am I going to lay in to the former lefties who backed this war. I figure a thread for reflection and remembrance and perhaps a little hope of what may be possible for the future might suffice.

Where were you on the night the bombing started? What were your thoughts? Do you see a better future for the country and it’s people?

Since entering office Mr Obama has overturned a number of policies that religious conservatives hold dear, such as a ban on government aid for family-planning groups that promote abortion in poor countries. Plans are also in the works to rescind a regulation enacted in the dying days of the Bush administration that gives health workers a “right of conscience”, protecting them from the sack if they refused to co-operate in certain medical procedures (mainly abortions). Social conservatives are also upset with Eric Holder, the new attorney-general, for confirming that the federal government will no longer take action against medical-marijuana clubs, which are legal in some states.

None of these reversals is a surprise, but conservatives have been taken aback at the unflinching speed of the changes. Mr Obama may be emboldened by his solid victory—he does not need the support of religious conservatives to govern. And for all the talk of bipartisanship and Mr Obama’s courting of religious voters during his campaign, their voting patterns did not change much at all, so he owes them little.

Obviously, I’m overjoyed. All those people who said Obama was nasty and bad for reaching out to conservatives and wouldn’t really be liberal-left in power are now eating their words. On domestic policy his record is stellar: pro-union, pro-science, pro-civil rights, pro-civil liberties and pro-feminist. On foreign policy: not so good. As many generals have already said, the new administration has placed a firm emphasis on diplomacy over military action. But not much action has followed. For a start he should have gone further in embracing Cuba. That the neoconservatives will be crying into their cornflakes will be amusing to watch; I also want to know what British neocons, who constantly accused the left of “anti-Americanism”, will say now.

This also raises some questions about political positioning. Frank Rich thinks the cultural warriors on the right have lost because of the recession. But it’s also undeniable that Obama neutered a lot of criticism by sounding genuinely non-partisan during his campaign. He didn’t make a big song and dance about being on the left or right – he simply laid out what he believed in. Nevertheless, religious conservatives still didn’t really vote for him. What does that say about his pragmatic strategy?

Added: Interesting…the columnist with the best access to the prez is a conservative, who can neutralise or convince the very audience you need to reach out to while pushing effectively a leftwing agenda. Obama is as smart as I thought he was.

President Obama said, “Vivek Kundra will bring a depth of experience in the technology arena and a commitment to lowering the cost of government operations to this position. I have directed him to work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations. As Chief Information Officer, he will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible.”

The only other South Asian person to be offered a role was the Surgeon General position! Being medics and geeks, is that all we’re good at?? Well, at least the American tech industry are ecstatic. Heh.