SaviArora.com : Broadcaster, Podcaster, Columnist, Political Blogger, Company Director, Interfaith and Media Commentator » US Politics

The killing of Bin Laden

drsavi — Tue, 10 May 2011 17:05:04 +0000

When I was at school one of our reading books was To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harpers Lee. Since it was first published in 1960 it has never been out of print. One of the key scenes in the book is of Lynching – This is a term described as an extrajudicial execution carried out by a group in order to punish an alleged transgressor…

At a recent public discussion shown on TV it was suggested that maybe Bin Laden had lost his human rights as he (Bin Laden) had denied others the right to life. Its an interesting perspective as should we do onto others what others do to us? Should we show a higher degree of morality? One of the main problems with what Bin Laden eventually lead others to do is that it resulted in such devistation, shock and horror. Human emotion will move towards revenge. The other issue is the aftermath, what can be done to prevent him from becoming idolised. If he had been captured and put on trial, that too would have taken years. However, a trial could have been useful to expose the extent of penetration of his network or influence.

As a society we need to be careful about how we communicate what took place, explore the reasons why his supporters continue to be driven to terrorise. Dialogue with murderers is hard but when they see the light of sense to stop with our help, maybe that is a better long-term solution.
How close are we to getting to the root cause of all the issues. Or, are we too late and some people will never change?
We can only hope that staying one step ahead will avoid the loss of innocent lives.

Sikhing the Truth at US Security zones

drsavi — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:20:34 +0000

Here is an article from KQED Radio concerning a recent episode at LA airport.

When her championship high school debate team navigated airport security, Jennie Savage’s students and their trophy got through just fine. Except one.

The related audio from the news site/archive can be found here.

Or, listen to an extract from the show here:

Having recently (28th August) returned from a lengthy trip to the US and Canada on every occasion I was put aside to have my turban pressed down as part of the TSA’s search process. I was singled out every time and the TSA staff were, for myself courteous, explaining why they were conducting the ‘search’.

The TSA have worked with the Sikh Coalition. Their (The Sikh Coalition’s) excellent work has resulted in the following guide: Airport Screening Procedures for Sikh Travelers.

Back to the Trip…
From San Francisco to Seattle, because I was wearing a Ben Sherman Tee with cassette tape images, the security guard said, ‘Do they still have tapes in Saudi’! I said I wasn’t from there. Actually if you read the T-Shirt it had British flags depicting the era of Mods back in the 60s! See design below:

I was wearing this one!

It was only on a flight from Seattle to Washington Dulles, from memory, that someone wiped down my turban with a cotton swab.

At Washington Dulles on my way back to London I was getting a bit annoyed about being singled out yet again and said, ‘look I’m a UK born guy that is just returning home’. The TSA chap replied, ‘I was born in Colorado and if I wore a hat then I would have to have it searched’. Clearly he was unaware that Turbans are NOT hats!

Being singled out and being kept in a Penn is not a nice experience.
There is clearly more learning that is required about who Sikhs are.
Profiling is being incorrectly performed and could be ignorance based, remember, the potential shoe bomber was a white person.

This is why I keep harking on about the need for more media about Sikhs, who we are, what are our ethics and the rich history / heritage we have.

NB The Sikh Coalition have helped to pass the California Kirpan Education Bill, it passed 36-0 in the full Senate vote.

At last, a very appropriate track for the Inaugural Neighborhood ball

drsavi — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:05:58 +0000

Clearly romance is in the air. Imagine dancing with your loved one with Beyonce singing a song originally issued by Etta James in the background.
It is great to see the new president in town, ‘getting on down’. Thanks to a Facebook friend who pointed this one out.
I hope the dynamism that appears in the air will take us through our current times.
I loved the fact that he recognises the need for greater harmonisation – We need this more than ever as the economies plunge.
After all the celebrations are over, let us hope that just like President Kennedy we get something like the Peace Corps as a lasting initiative.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stevie and Sting are also inspiring – Maybe they’ll issue a CD with all this great music – recording a sense of hope…

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is really signed, sealed and delivered ? Its the latter word for the world we need to focus on now:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Will Obama bring real change ?

drsavi — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:38:04 +0000

DC’s filling up as I write. Aspirations are high. Expectations are being set, all consolidating into a sense of hope. Maybe thinking about doing good can eventually lead people to perform good?

I had a long conversation with a friend yesterday about the real causes of the world’s issues today.
For example, hunger, famine, destruction, disputes over territory, poverty, alcholism and the manifestation of drugs in all walks of life. Shall I go on?

Obama lead his successful campaign on a ticket that sells change – Sorry about that pun but money talks, even though much of it has been lost into a black-hole due to a combination of over zealous bankers and the publics cry for property acquistion.

What are the causes of today’s problems
Unless we stop the shipment of arms and both stop the production and transportation of drugs, these evil entities will make it more diffcult to keep our hopes for change to affect our lives for the better. In Gene Rodenberry’s world of Star Trek he established that the human race had resolved these issues. A world of plenty in terms of food and opportunity had been acomplished.

Solutions
I keep talking about the need for world harmonisation as a project for recovery. For example, developed countries helping under-developed countries. I sometimes feel that I’m shouting in the dark about the need for greater corporate responsibility and communities to weed out instigators of terror. I talk about the need for a second coming for a Marshal plan, just like the one that rebuilt Japan and German post WW2. The billions being spent on bailouts just show us that money can be made available – and I don’t care if people say that this is a nieve way of looking at the problem. Maybe we should take a % from Swiss bank accounts!

Obama’s hope…
It is good to see Obama take the stand. Yes he is black and we have come a long way to assure opportunities. I wish him the best but believe that it is people that make the change not just politicians.

Today we need hope and if Obama brings that to the US and the world that is great.

Will Obama’s momentum be the world’s gain ? It is up to us to take the initiative…

Obama’s historic win

drsavi — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:13:45 +0000

I remember running in on the streets of London in my T-shirt with the phrase ‘Sanctions Yes, Apartheid No‘.
It was my way of defying and declaring my disgust at how the Tory regime was too slow in asking for change.

In the last 2 years the momentum of the Obama campaign has been amazing.
OK, lots of money has been spent on the campaign but like Obama said in his winning speech last night…

And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

The victory is an achievement. Even if we put cynicism aside for what may not be achieved, the result speaks for itself…

Today we have a chance to embrace new ideas and work for closer world harmony both in terms of relationships but also in how we live.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Change will not be easy as it will need people with money and power, especially multi-national corporations to accept that they have a role to play to achieve profit in an ethical manner.

Change comes from within…

Those of us who want to know more about how the US election system works, the following is innovative view of the process!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Obama’s perspective

drsavi — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:41:38 +0000

In this day and age it is great to see someone speaking frankly, humbly and portraying a good sense of humour.
It was nice to see Obama make a great comic delivery – see the first 3-4 minutes of part 2, the first video below.
Later, I love the way that he implied that community is important, especially for us to all come together to help.
Although he refers to the US, the same is true for the world.

There is clearly a need for greater harmonisation, especially in a world where there are some who have so much and many who have nothing.

If his passion is for real then there is a ray of optimism in the air for us all, with fresh perspectives and ideas.

If I was cynical I would say that we cannot change institutions away from their greed.
Being optimistic I like to think that soon the world will wake up and recognise that we are all the same and all we need is for us to ask ourselves and our institutions to think beyond the dollar. Harmonisation through community based projects could be a great way to unite the world and give everyone a fair chance.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Global Economic change is what we need

drsavi — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:35:40 +0000

A couple of weeks back the World Bank announced that the world had more people in poverty than ever before, stating that 1 in 4 are in poverty. This ticker bar of information flowed under the anchor woman who handed over to a journalist at the Democratic convention. People behind her stood side-by-side as their expectations for change from the Obama campaign grew. They had just heard Hilary Clinton formally announce the latter as the official candidate – Wow! Is change really coming.

Then the other night I watched a recording of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games 2008. Apart from my continued disbelieve that China ‘got the games’ in the first place, it emerged that apparently the Chinese have spent £20B, constructing venues that extends over 74 Hectares. Interestingly, currently the 2012 hosts, London, have revised their budget from £2B to £9B. The London site is expected to cost £10B use 20+ Hectares.

The Olympics are also interesting from a perspective of bringing the world together. In one way they suggest that humanity can come together and celebrate ‘the importance of taking part’. Yet, it is this very notion that is exposed, for example, with rich nations having big teams and country commentators obsessing over nationalism. Its always annoying when sports commentators never mention the achievement of other nations in enough detail. In a way the latter is an example of what we all adhere to day in and day out. We look at our own achievements and do not consider the opportunity to help or encourage others.

In recent days Billions of Dollars (the rescue deal will cost US tax payers $12 Billion) has been allocated by the US government to prop up The Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Between these two organizations they hold $5.3 trillion Dollars worth of mortgages.

In summary, there is a lot of money at stake and one could argue that that securing one economy safe guards the global economy (just look at the ripple effect of the credit crunch). However, we seem to be missing an opportunity to change the way the economy could work for the betterment of all.

Harmonization is a word that is not used enough. For example, looking at development opportunities not based on short-term returns or to sell Western based product. For example, if in the West manufacturing is decline together with a rise in service sectors, could there not be a commercial equivalent of the Peace Corps? Do we not owe it to our current and future generations to eradicate Poverty? Can we not get a stronger set of United Nations forces to implement anti-genocide regimes.

Can’t Bankers and Accountants be more creative? Can we not twin company’s the same way that towns twin each other?
As consumers can we not demand greater ethics in food and clothing production? Corporate responsibility is being ignored. Can we not remove distance between the very rich and poor? Can we not think before we spend our money on lavish events.- or – simply link the Olympics to an opportunity to drive change.

If this could happen I’m confident that future Olympic team sizes will change.