'the Database' - Blog Posts
These events I feel do not differ, and are in fact intersectional. They tie between race, gender and our environment with grass roots activism. It's up to us to continue to fight against those who are actively trying to dismantle and take away our freedoms for civil disobedience.
Mass Media and Society
How does mass media affect our society? Is entertainment what drives our society moving forward, and if it is, what type of entertainment are we really pushing out there? These notes discuss how media relates and corresponds pre-existing themes, like ageism, racism, sexism, and the term ‘other-ism’ and explains the origin of the ‘mean world syndrome’ from a sociologist’s point of view.
The Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and the people affected
NO.1
20 years ago, the U.S took action and invaded Afghanistan after the events of 9/11. No Afghan person was involved in such events, and have been victims themselves to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda prior to 9/11; for 20 long years, innocent Afghan civilians have been suffering, displaced, and killed in a war the U.S incited. Now, as reports came in two weeks ago, President Biden has finally pulled the U.S troops out of the country, the Taliban, now stronger than ever, stormed the capitol of Kabul, declaring it under Taliban rule now.
NO. 2
How was the Taliban and Al-Queda created? Who formed them? By the U.S, during the Cold War Era! The C.I.A, at the time, entered the country to fight against Russia/communism. Once the Russians left that side of the country, so too did the U.S, leaving heavily armed militants with American weapons with nothing to fight against except civilians. ‘‘The CIA gave birth to Osama Bin Laden and breastfed his organization during the 1980′s. Former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, told the House of Commons that Al Qaeda was unquestionably a product of Western intelligence agencies. Mr. Cook explained that Al Qaeda, which literally means an abbreviation of “the database” in Arabic, was originally the computer database of the thousands of Islamist extremists, who were trained by the CIA and funded by the Saudis, in order to defeat the Russians in Afghanistan. America’s relationship with Al Qaeda has always been a love-hate affair. Depending on whether a particular Al Qaeda terrorist group in a given region furthers American interests or not, the U.S. State Department either funds or aggressively targets that terrorist group. Even as American foreign policy makers claim to oppose Muslim extremism, they knowingly foment it as a weapon of foreign policy.’’
NO. 3
‘‘Pashtana Durrani, the founder and executive director of LEARN, a nonprofit focused on education and women's rights, said she had run out of tears for her country. "I have cried so much there are no more tears left in my eyes to mourn. We have been in mourning the fall of Afghanistan for now quite some time. So I'm not feeling very well. On the contrary, I'm feeling very hopeless," she said. Durrani said she'd received text messages from boys as well as girls, who despaired that years of study were "all for nothing." She said the Taliban kept talking about girls' education, but they hadn't defined what that meant. Islamic studies are assumed, but "what about gender education? What about professional education?" she asked. "If you think about it, it makes you hopeless because there's no answer for it."
NO. 4
In fact, in the 1990’s, the Taliban had a strong hold on the country, forcing women to into arranged marriages, banning them from school, and executing those who were not wearing their full-face veils, not to mention banning women from professional careers. The Taliban supported Al-Qaeda to plan terrorist attacks on Western nations. Now that the U.S has left, ‘‘some Taliban members want to address local grievances, others wants to return to the brief period prior to 9/11 when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the late 90’s, and the establishment of a caliphate.’’