Thursday, September 23, 2004

An Open Letter to Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)

By Kurt Nimmo

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Posted 09/23 | Add a Comment

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  1. Thanks, Kurt, for another great article.  I have been calling for an ECONOMIC BOYCOTT for some time now.  It is legal.  It is non-violent. It can work.  I have said, “When the first bomb, hits the first civilian, that should automatically start a world wide boycott of all products of that country...The boycott should remain in place until the offending nation gives up ALL of its weapons.” I believe that this movement will have to have most of its support, outside of the U.S. to be effective. We will have to spread this “Boycott” message. Since not many products are manufactured in the US anymore it is a little harder to boycott, but it is still possible.  One possibility is the tourism industry and there are plenty of other economic areas that could be adversely affected by a boycott.  PEACE, rosemarie

    Posted by Rosemarie Jackowski from  on  09/23  at  08:23 PM

  2. If anything should be boycotted, it should be oil.

    Posted by MDPB from  on  09/23  at  09:49 PM

  3. CAT STEVENS IS A TERRORIST !!!!!!!!

    He has been linked to several terror groups and has given them money. Therefore he has no business in our country !

    AN OPEN MESSAGE TO CAT STEVENS

    GO AWAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Posted by Jon R. from Phoenix, AZ  on  09/24  at  10:37 AM

  4. Of course, you’re sure of this, that Islam gave money to “terrorist” groups? We know this because Israel said so (they didn’t allow him in the country for supposedly supporting Hamas, a group they essentially created). That Islam was not allowed in the United States stands to reason since the United States and Israel are inseparable. Now I understand.

    Posted by Kurt from  on  09/24  at  10:45 AM

  5. Enlightened muslims themwelves have now woken up to the cancer that has afflicted them in becoming a greenhouse of extremism and terro, violence and vile hatred. IF you hate america that much why don’t you move to one of your beloved Muslim countries.

    Posted by Thomas Foster from  on  09/24  at  11:29 AM

  6. The FBI and the BATF attacked Mt. Carmel outside of Waco, Texas and burned the buildings to the ground with all of the inhabitants inside.  The US government supports terrorist organizations such as the FBI and the BATF.  They don’t deserve to be in the US.  Ship them out, too.

    Posted by MDPB from  on  09/24  at  11:44 AM

  7. “I know you’ve seen a lot of the world can do, and its breaking my heart in two”
    Cat Stevens, “Its a Wild World

    Life imitates art negatively, on the regular.

    Posted by j cummings from  on  09/24  at  12:19 PM

  8. Media bias, again.
    The news has been filled with stories about how Yusuf Islam, the former pop star previously known as Cat Stevens has been denied access to the United States.  How many of you have seen this story? Parliament forbids the entry of Madonna into Egypt
    When I did a Google search on “Madonna Egypt” I got 19 hits. Yusuf Islam United States got 1,470 Google hits.

    Posted by Drifter from  on  09/24  at  02:31 PM

  9. Please, for Chrissake, Mr FBI man, put me on your list of not wanted in the USA.  If I am ever stupid enough to board a plane to the asylum, then turn me around and send me home. 

    Chris Jones, UK

    Posted by Chris Jones from Woking, Surrey, UK  on  09/24  at  03:11 PM

  10. “Enlightened muslims themwelves have now woken up to the cancer that has afflicted them in becoming a greenhouse of extremism and terro, violence and vile hatred. IF you hate america that much why don’t you move to one of your beloved Muslim countries.”

    This is a joke, right? Think I’d rather stay here, since I am American, this is where I was born, and resist the sort of stupidity and Manichean insanity quoted above. Of course, it may be a lost battle, considering the media (or the media most Americans watch or listen to) is infested with fascists. For instance, on the car radio last night, I heard some talkshow host (can’t remember his name) saying Kerry is a “girlie man” and a traitor for criticizing Bush “during a time of war.” First hallmark of an election: you criticize the guy you’re running against. But I guess that doesn’t work anymore, not with these fascicsts. Now, if you criticize Bush, or the government for expelling peaceful Muslims, you’re a traitor and you should go live with the Arabs. It’s insane. But then that’s the American people for you, they’ve allowed this country to go fascist. I blame them, not the guy above per se, he’s just mouthing talk radio gibberish and obviously lacks higher reasoning.

    Posted by Kurt from  on  09/24  at  03:38 PM

  11. Hey Kurt, isn’t it neat how those who yell the loudest about politicians and soldiers “protecting our freedoms” also yell the loudest when someone like you or I exercises those freedoms?

    Ah, if I only had a dollar for every yahoo who told me I should leave America…

    Posted by Mickey Z. from  on  09/24  at  03:48 PM

  12. But on a lighter note, from the Lew Rockwell site:

    Yes
    I’m being followed by an Air Marshall,
    Air Marshall,
    Air Marshall.
    Interviewed and Barred by an Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall

    And if I ever lose my rights
    get diverted –
    to Bangor
    Oh
    if I ever change my name
    Ooh
    I won’t have to fly no more.

    And if I ever cross the pond
    on watch lists, of concern –
    US
    Home-land Security
    Ooh
    I won’t have to fly no more.

    Yes
    I’m bein’ followed by an Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Interrogated by an Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall

    And if they use electroshock
    I won’t moan and I won’t beg
    Oh
    if I ever look Muslim
    Ooh

    I won’t have to fly no more.

    And if they ever pry from my mouth
    all my teeth North and South
    Yes
    with pliers, all my teeth
    Ooh
    I won’t talk.

    Did it take long to find me? I asked the fed.
    Did it take long to find me and are you gonna deport the Cat?

    (Everybody now! Come on!)

    We’re all bein’ followed by an Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall

    Interrogated by an Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall
    Air Marshall.

    Posted by Kurt from  on  09/24  at  03:50 PM

  13. I am not sure whether “refuse to buy American products” and boycotting trade with the U.S., is a realistic option for men and women in many of the poor countries that need to import medicine, food, capital goods, and other things.  Even Venezueala, under Chavez, is selling oil to the U.S. The Middle Eastern countries would be great trouble if there were unable to sell oil.  The same applies to East and South Asian countries, and many nations in Africa.  Unfortunately feasible options for available the people of these countries are quite limited. Moreover the regime in power in most countries which are generally dominated by the upper income groups of the country are allied with the interests of U.S. government and Western corporations

    Posted by Abu Spinoza from  on  09/24  at  06:52 PM

  14. To Abu...I agree with you, but what are the alternatives ?  If it could become internationally socially unacceptable to import or export anything to or from the U.S., it might have an impact.  Remember when anyone could light up a cigarette anyplace and then, in a relatively short period of time, it became socially unacceptable to smoke. I do agree with what you said, but while we write, and protest, people are dying.The rest of the world is soooo angry at the U.S., now might be the right time for a boycott.  PEACE, rosemarie

    Posted by Rosemarie Jackowski from  on  09/24  at  07:25 PM

  15. You gotta love the Irish.  Sometimes, things like this catch on quickly.  For your edification:

    boycott:

    Word History: Charles C. Boycott seems to have become a household word because of his strong sense of duty to his employer. An Englishman and former British soldier, Boycott was the estate agent of the Earl of Erne in County Mayo, Ireland. The earl was one of the absentee landowners who as a group held most of the land in Ireland. Boycott was chosen in the fall of 1880 to be the test case for a new policy advocated by Charles Parnell, an Irish politician who wanted land reform. Any landlord who would not charge lower rents or any tenant who took over the farm of an evicted tenant would be given the complete cold shoulder by Parnell’s supporters. Boycott refused to charge lower rents and ejected his tenants. At this point members of Parnell’s Irish Land League stepped in, and Boycott and his family found themselves isolatedwithout servants, farmhands, service in stores, or mail delivery. Boycott’s name was quickly adopted as the term for this treatment, not just in English but in other languages such as French, Dutch, German, and Russian.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=boycott

    Posted by MDPB from  on  09/24  at  07:47 PM

  16. Abu, I agree it is unrealistic, and I thought this while I was writing it, but as Rosemarie posts, I don’t know what other alternative there is.

    Actually, there is another alternative, as unthinkable as it is.

    Do nothing, let this monster run its course.

    In a few years the military will not be able to sustain itself, not as a parasite that depends on the rest of society in order to operate. If the military continues at this rate, and if the neocons are back in there and doing what they plan (invasions of Iran, Syria, Lebanon, etc.), this puppy will break, it will not be sustained, not with the current level of debt. It is not entirely unfair to speculate, after the election, there will be a depression in this country as interests rates rise and investors refuse to finance the debt (this is beginning to happen now), and worse, as the dollar loses value (it has lost a lot in the last year alone), the global currency of exchange becomes the euro, a very real possibility. Certainly, a depression would take the wind out of the war machine, but at the same time it would take the wind out of everything else, as well.

    Of course, you don’t need an economic dynamo to run a war economy, that is if you want to turn everybody into a slave, as Stalin did during and after WWII.

    Some people believe oil is at its “peak,” and this will necessitate santiy (or increased insanity in response), but I’ve been reading stuff lately that indidcates there really isn’t a looming shortage, that scientists now believe oil can be extracted in plentiful amounts much deeper below the earth’s surface, it’s just more expensive to get at.

    Finally, I think unchecked military insanity will have a way of limiting itself, especially now that we have cracked DNA. Is it possible a “super bug,” developed in military labs, will decimate humanity? Maybe. I hope not. But if it does, maybe a far more wise and circumspect species will emerge.

    Posted by Kurt from  on  09/24  at  08:45 PM

  17. superbug created in military lab?

    israel controls america?


    it must be a full moon out tonight

    Posted by adam from US of A  on  09/27  at  11:02 AM

  18. The US provides around $5 billion in aid to Israel annually?  The number is probably more than $100 billion since Israel’s inception in 1948?  All while Israel has waged a relentless campaign of dispossession and genocide against the original occupants of the land?  Must be rampant stupidity, never mind superficial jingoism, in the good ol’ US of A. 

    I was in the Post Office yesterday and asked for a book of stamps.  The clerk asked me if flags were okay.  I asked him, why, you have a torch?

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  09/28  at  03:18 PM

  19. Tracy,

    WHY DO YOU LIVE HERE ??????

    go to Canada, burn their stamps tough guy.

    I’ll bet your kids will turn out to be real pieces of work.

    Can’t imagine you are married, but if so, what does your husband think about your attitude ?

    Posted by Jeff Reichard from Phoenix  on  09/29  at  03:42 PM

  20. Jeff, Tracy is male, he lives in America, and, if I understand the Constitution, before Bush and Crew got a hold of it, he has all the right in the world to burn his stamps, flags not withstanding. Actually, if the idea of people burning stamps they paid for bothers you, maybe you should go to Canada.

    Posted by Kurt from  on  09/29  at  03:51 PM

  21. I was going to ask him if he had something less jingoistic than flags, but the average American deosn’t know the meaning of a big word like that.  I don’t have any kids, and the idea of having any in this world is not a welcome idea to me.  I’d love to live in Amsterdam or Sweden, or somewhere where governments actually care about their people rather than the military monster.  Contrary to the example of America there are such places.

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  09/29  at  09:47 PM
    22. Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. {/if}

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