Naden sis You are raising multiple questions. 1. The First: The verses in Surah An Nisaa are indeed addressing the plight of Orphans, however, the verse in question is well known to be addressing the orphan girls estate problem, as this was an unjust practice that needed a legislation. That does not mean that the boys wealth can be freely used by a guardian, because, the boys according to the Arab culture, upon reaching responsible age, used to take over their estate, while girls, usually entrusted (equivalent to power of attorney) their husbands to everseaa their estate. Second Question: In The Quraan, Maturity does not conflict with being ana orphan, as girls used to get married as early as they reach puperty. Third Question: Dont worry about the sixty old man, the verse does neither support him nor its against him, polygamy was an existing pre-Islamic custom , the verses simply limited the number to four (4) Nur

Naden sis I am working on a new post about Islamic Financial Transactions ( Fiqhul Mucaamalaat), the Islamic worldview on wealth, its aquisition, transfer and philanthropy ( Awqaaf). InshaAllah, it will open new doors of knowledge on complex issues. Nur

Dr. WOL The verse " (And let those beware who oppose the Messenger's commandment, of a Fitna ( Kufr) or a severe punsihment ( In this life and next) If the mere opposition of a single commandment of the Prophet SAWS cam lead a person to Kufr, then what about a " Muslim " who opposes the establishment of the entire Sharia? Nur

Somalia - One Year After TPLF Invasion Shabait.com (Asmara) EDITORIAL 20 December 2007 Posted to the web 21 December 2007 Asmara In a press release it issued on 1 December 2006, the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs had revealed that the UN Security Council was contemplating to adopt a resolution that at first seemed to ban the interference of external forces but was in fact aimed at creating a conductive ground for a single political force in Somalia. The release had also cautioned that the unstudied and reckless measure the Security Council was about to take will plunge Somalia into further chaos. Stating that the Somali interim government not only lacked legality at the time of its establishment, but had also failed to gain acceptance among the people, the press release attempted to remind that that the Council or the international community had no authority or right whatsoever to enforce an unwelcome political force on a sovereign people. It went on to expose the misleading concept that the Security Council's draft resolution was initially proposed by IGAD, and stated that the seven member states of the regional organization did not have a common understanding regarding the Somali issue. Moreover, the release revealed that the erroneous assumption that 'Somalia will become a haven for terrorists and a new battle field for Eritrea and Ethiopia' could not justify external interference, and warned the Security Council to refrain from taking any measure that could entail dangerous consequences on the peace and stability of Somalia. Similarly, President Isaias Afwerki had on several occasions warned that the contemplated invasion of Somalia would be a 'journey into a quagmire' and repeatedly called on the international community to rule out any possibility of external interference in Somalia, particularly that of the Somali people's long time adversary, the TPLF regime. Thus, the existing quagmire of prolonged war and a terrible humanitarian crisis in Somalia had been predicted long before the invasion took place. Yet, administered by intelligence agencies and reduced to being merely tools at the hands of superpowers, international organizations had no time to entertain such earnest and accurate calculations. The US Administration had for several reasons chosen to enforce an illegal and unacceptable political entity on a people who had made their choice very clear. Moreover, the Security Council, instead of fulfilling its duty as an international body to protect the sovereign nation from invasion and, thereby, uphold international laws and principles, engaged itself in creating conducive grounds for the implementation of US policies. Adding fuel to the flames, the Council even lifted the arms embargo on Somalia dating back to 1992, allowing the unacceptable interim government and other forces in the country to arm themselves. In keeping with its previous measures, the Council went on to accuse nations who opposed US policies in this case of 'illegally smuggling in arms to Somalia.' The Security Council, while technically being the first body that should have opposed the invasion, instead chose to debase the principles and objectives it stands for and, in a bid to conform to US policies, gave the green light for Ethiopian troops to invade Somalia under the pretext of protecting the interim government. Following suit, and to the embarrassment of all Africans, the AU gave its blessing to this invasion, claiming that Ethiopia 'has every right to defend itself.' Similarly, other international organizations, short of making feeble statements, refrained from showing strong objection towards such an illegal action while being fully aware that it was against all international principles and charters. Now, one year later, everyone is witnessing the ghastly consequences of the aforementioned callous and erroneous measures. The interim government, even with the TPLF regime at its side, could not gain complete control of Mogadishu and still remains limited to Baidoa. Moreover, it has lately been forced to admit that 80% of Somali territories are out of its control. This is because it is impossible for a government that cannot make a place for itself in the hearts of its people, in the first place, to gain control of the land. In sending batch after batch of soldiers to their death, the TPLF regime has been gambling with the lives of Ethiopian youths. But, in the end, it will become clear that only shame and defeat could come out of this blood game, for no force can ever suppress the choice of the people!

Xiin Bro Eid Mubaarak Sorry for taking this long to answer your question, I have just realized it now. You write: "I always apposed armed dacwah in the house of Islam, but I thought the intractable political and security circumstances in Mogadishu warrant some exceptions. In the light of your analysis however I realize the wind behind your argument, and till I do more research on this issue I have to control my personal desires for a speedy reestablishment of shariicah in Mogadishu. Perfection should not be the goal, I still hold, but we shouldn’t lower the quality bar in favor of expediency, I concur. So we are not ready for it yet, I agree. But what shoud we do in the meantime, I ask? PS: To continue this discussion I will come back for the questions you posed." Answer: The ICU movement since their melting-away thinly in Somali populace, has transformed and restructured itself into a legitimate resistance movement, as long as they exist, they will be the winners inshAllah ( with all their shortcomings and lack of experience). If they ever succeed in driving the Ethiopian enemy out of Somalia, then, a consensus building phase will be required to pave the way to a fruitful and agreable arrangement in which Sharia can be re-introduced with flavors ( like strawberry milk). By flavors, I dont mean a deviation from the Sunnah, but the delivery of the content while introducing it to a modern thought consumer, a feat that calls for a combination of Aql, with Naql ( Reason with Scripture), so that we avoid the predicament of the compannions who gave the wrong literal fatwa that caused the death of a fellow companion, which angered the Prophet SAWS saying " Qataluuh, qaatalahum/Qatalahum Allahu" Today, its high time for a marriage between reason and scriptures when it comes the application of the Sharia, a task that can best be met by an enlightened body of Ulema, well versed in contemprary issues as well as a deep knowledge of the Usuul and Maqaasidul Sharia. Nur

Yaa Ghaaliya, here is how: Ibn Katheer said in the explanation of the verse: "If anyone of you (addressing men)is a guardian/caretaker (of the assets ) of an orphan girl and he is afraid that he may not be fair with her dowry as he would give to other women not under his care, then let him (not marry the orphan girl under his care) instead, he should marry other women of his choice (upto a limit) Imam Bukhari has reported from Urwah, that Urwah (nephew of Aisha, wife of Prophet Muhammad SAWS) Aisha said to him: O my nephew, (the verse means) an Orphan girl under the care of her Waliyy makes him a partner in her Estate, and he becomes attracted to her wealth and beauty, so, her Waliyy desires to marry her without paying due Dowry ( Mahr, so he pays her as much as he pays (less than what she deserves justly). So care takers were prohibited from marrying the orphan girls under their care unless they treat them fairly by paying highest possible dowry due to her peers (in her wealt and beauty class). As a close example from our own culture, in Somalia, its customary to employ a maid who is also a relative, yet, she ends up not being paid equivalent of what other maids are paid, she is neither given the right of a relative and treated as a member of the family, nor is she paid like other girls working as maids to other families. Wallahu Aclam Nur

Naden. Please do not put ideas ahead of facts. The context in which the verse weas revealed referred specifically on Orphan Girls ( That is if you accept Ibn Katheer, and all of the other tafaaseer), and the ahaadeeth, this is not a matter of conjecture, Context is Important here. If you need substantiation , InshAllah I will do Nur

Nadem sis You write: "It does make you wonder if he was lying to you or lying to himself (as gaudy a symptom of being past your prime as a red sports car). " Sis A routine lie detector test for men is in order, every three years! Could it be that women ( married ones) are also lying to themselves by ignoring an impending (Midlife Crises) for their hubby? I know of a man who is as a happy as if he has a second lease on life, his second wife is younger than his daughter, at 16, this Halimo was presented to him as 19, yet, his Madam, who is oblivious, has no idea this lil lady exists, we have a real problem, how long are Faaraxs and Halimos going to lie to each other? ( He lives in the west, second lady lives with her parents back home in Somalia) By the way he adores his First lady, but he shivers when he thinks about the news hitting home! he needs humanitarian assitance by the Red Crescent, can you help him? Nur

Naden sis You write: "Any financial system moves money in the direction of the wealthy as they have the greatest power, I don't know how the Islamic system moves wealth from Allah to the people in these theories of finance. " Which is precisely why the big boys are afraid from a true Islamic Banking institutions and Islamic Law. I will post my take later, inshaAllah, good suggestion! Nur

Naden sis Allah SWT says in Surah Nisaa: 1. O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship) . Surely, Allah is Ever an All­Watcher over you. 2 And give unto orphans their property and do not exchange (your) bad things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by adding it) to your substance. Surely, this is a great sin. 3 And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan­girls, then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three, or four but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one or (the captives and the slaves) that your right hands possess. That is nearer to prevent you from doing injustice. When Islam appeared in Arabia, the main message was for mankind to surrender to their maker llah SWT. If they agreed to surrender to Allah, then regualtions followed. Regulations had a rule: Everything is halaal ( permitted) unless otherwise forbidden by a verse or Hadeeth. But there was an exception to that rule. 1. Wealth ( aquiring and spending) 2. Marriage ( who we can marry) For the above two, all of aqusisitions of wealth and sexual relationships is forbidden except for what has been explicitly supported by Quraan and Sunnah. o, regulation in Islam had severl forms: 1. re-Confirm a pactice that existed in Jaahliyah (pre-islam) 2. Modify a practice 3. Forbid a Practice. In the case of marriage, polygamy was reconfirmed, but modified, in conjunction with wealth, as it existed in Judaism and Christianity. So, let us look at the background of the verse: 1. It addresses a core issue which is not even marriage, its about orphans, and how to be equittable to them regarding their wealth.. 2. It sets rules for caretakers of orphans who oversee wealth of orphans. 3. It gives a safety net to caretakers and guardians of orphans not to mix their wealth with the wealth of the rich orphans that they are waliyy (acretaker). The situation arises when a caretaker: 1. Wants to take advantage by marrying an orphan to use her wealth to marry another. 2. Wants to pay less dowry, not in line with going rate of dowry (mahr). So to avoid the above injustice to the orphan, Allah offered to marry other women, two, three or four, and in case, again one fears to commit injustice, one should only marry one wife. Nur

Naden sis You write: "The 60-something businessman needs to grow up. A younger woman will not bring back what the years have taken." Answer: But it might revive old forgotten and pleasant memories! You write: "Funny how he describes his life as I have served my time , like a prison sentence. Loooooooooooool, wallahi thats how he put it, he truly expressed himself here, many other men feel in prison, lets hear it! You write: "If there is wisdom to go with graying hair and clogging arteries, it would mean that he and his life partner have accumulated enough mutual interests to finally pursue them now that the children are grown and finances are not an issue. But to run after flesh when the love, history and companionship are already there? Blah, I say." Naden, sis be kind to the guy, you are not in his shoes, if he still kickin and his lady on the rocker chair weaving kofio barawani, and he's got an eye for a younger lady, and he is healthy enough to have a need, why suppress him? specially when there are takers? You write: " Tell him to go home, eat his salt-reduced dinner, have a good laugh with the woman who was there through thick and thin, and then thank God for the life he has led and is now leading. " He is more on the road for business trips, five star hotels and all, if he was not observing Allahs ules, he would ave played a great role as an ideal hsuband, while livinga double life. Nur

Naden sis In a past thread " Islamic Finance" you have written: "The value and intent behind a policy/practice has to jibe with the meaning behind the Quran's words." Well sis, you have summed it up brilliantly, baarkallahu feeki, its not only about the instruments we use for transactions that count but also the driver behind them, in adddition, the INTENT as you have put it, is what completes the picture, when we do it in compliance with Quran and Sunnah. The Islamic Economic Theory begins with the ownersip of wealth, Allah is the real owner of all wealth, Mankind is only a care taker of Allah's wealth, from there downwards, all of the transactions are tied with the Moral of the Law, Justice. A general rule of thump! If a trasaction is no equittable, its Haram. But what is equittable? Unlike the capitalist system, in Islamic Economics, equity or ownership of wealth is transferred from Allah to people by virtue of just economic transactions. Allah SWT says in Quraan " Do not consume ( taakuluu) wealth in transactions between you unjustly" The stakeholders in any transaction are: 1. Parties in a transcation 2. Community Allah , therefore made it Haraam, that wealth circulates among the rich only as its is according to the present capitalst system. Wealth must reach all segments of society equittably. With that above spirit, we have to review the present financial systems, including " Islamic Banking: which lately has become a new fad and a new tool for the rich to get richer. This topic requires rigorous treatment due to its technical nature, so in due time, and inshAllah this time, sooner than later, we shall examine it in light of Quraan and Sunnah. Jazaakellahu kheiran for bringing up a timely question to the board. Nur

Naden sis writes ( page 12) " Nur, brother, do you think this discussion on polygamy should at least include some mention, if not an in-depth look, at the issue of orphans and their mothers? The verse on polygamy is inextricably linked to orphans and being fair/just in their care. Is there a hidden assumption that every second (or 3rd or 4th) wife is a widow w/kids that my dense mind is missing in the multiple scenarios brought up by you and the posters? If not, why is the permissability of the practice not linked to the 2 conditions in the verse: 1) fear of not managing orphans' affairs justly, 2) taking a second (or 3rd or 4th) wife - no doubt the mothers of these orphans, or else verse 3 sura 4 would not bring them up at all. " Response: I have unintentionally overlooked to answer this question, InshaAllah , I will come back with a full answer, thank you for your composure and patience. Nur

CIA Destroyed Torture Tapes Despite Court Orders By Matt Apuzzo Associated Press Writer 12/12/07 "AP"--- - WASHINGTON — The Bush administration was under court order not to discard evidence of detainee torture and abuse months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some of its harshest interrogation tactics. Normally, that would force the government to defend itself against obstruction allegations. But the CIA may have an out: its clandestine network of overseas prisons. While judges focused on the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and tried to guarantee that any evidence of detainee abuse would be preserved, the CIA was performing its toughest questioning half a world away. And by the time President Bush publicly acknowledged the secret prison system, interrogation videotapes of two terrorism suspects had been destroyed. The CIA destroyed the tapes in November 2005. That June, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. had ordered the Bush administration to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay." U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a nearly identical order that July. At the time, that seemed to cover all detainees in U.S. custody. But Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the terrorism suspects whose interrogations were videotaped and then destroyed, weren't at Guantanamo Bay. They were prisoners that existed off the books — and apparently beyond the scope of the court's order. Attorneys say that might not matter. David H. Remes, a lawyer for Yemeni citizen Mahmoad Abdah and others, asked Kennedy this week to schedule a hearing on the issue. Though Remes acknowledged the tapes might not be covered by Kennedy's order, he said, "It is still unlawful for the government to destroy evidence, and it had every reason to believe that these interrogation records would be relevant to pending litigation concerning our client." In legal documents filed in January 2005, Assistant Attorney General Peter D. Keisler assured Kennedy that government officials were "well aware of their obligation not to destroy evidence that may be relevant in pending litigation." For just that reason, officials inside and outside of the CIA advised against destroying the interrogation tapes, according to a former senior intelligence official involved in the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is under investigation. Exactly who signed off on the decision is unclear, but CIA director Michael Hayden told the agency in an e-mail this week that internal reviewers found the tapes were not relevant to any court case. Remes said that decision raises questions about whether other evidence was destroyed. Abu Zubaydah's interrogation helped lead investigators to alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Remes said Abu Zubaydah may also have been questioned about other detainees. Such evidence might have been relevant in their court cases. "It's logical to infer that the documents were destroyed in order to obstruct any inquiry into the means by which statements were obtained," Remes said. He stopped short, however, of accusing the government of obstruction. That's just one of the legal issues that could come up in court. A judge could also raise questions about contempt of court or spoliation, a legal term for the destruction of evidence in "pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation." Kennedy has not scheduled a hearing on the matter and the government has not filed a response to Remes' request. ___ Associated Press Writer Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report. Copyright 2007, The Associated Press.

Ngonge writes: "Imagine someone asking you why do you pray? "You'll probably reply: because it is my religious obligation They'll ask you why do you have to adhere to it? You'll reply: because I believe in god and god ordered me to pray to him. They'll say why do you believe in god? You'll reply: because he's the creator of the universe. They'll ask, but why do you believe in him? You'll reply: because he's the almighty. They'll ask again but why do you believe? You'll eventually have to reluctantly spit out the word choice somewhere along the way" " Inna minal bayaani la sixraa........" Hadeeth Well said Ngonge. Kheyr: These questions open doors of understanding, as the world gets closer and closer, different faiths have to share close proximities, and when that happens an explanation is due to the hosts, so, so like Engonge said, you are not not opologetic if you patiently explain why. Nur

I was in a meeting with a senior businessman recently, at the end of our meeting, the chatting veered to social problems, the businesman (BM) in his early sixties, who raised two sons succesfully, and a loving wife for over 30 years has this to say: BM: Nur, I have a dilemma, I have served my time and raised a family, my two sons are graduates and successful professionals, which leaves me plenty of time to look around, but my wife's only business is to keep an eye on me. Nur: " isnt that great?" I reason. BM: Well, not if I want to marry again. Nur: But why? arent you satisfied? BM: Well, yes in a way, she has been a great partner and remains very loyal to this day, she cant see life without me. At this older age, I am still attracted to younger women, just like I was when I met her in our twenties. Nur: So, what have you done so far? BM: Well, I tried to keep her busy with a new business venture, but she declined. Nur: Then what? BM: Well, I tried to travel for business extensively to hide my motive of looking for another wife, but she refused to stay behind, she said that she is afraid to stay home alone, she now travells with me, even for genuine business trips, I am really stuck, Nur, do you have any ideas. Nur: Well, she can baby sit your grand children, toddlers can keep her busy you know? BM: Both of my sons are single, and not looking. Nur: This is a tough one, I have no answer, let me put it on SOL, may be the Halimos and Faaraxs can help with an idea or two. Nur

Brother GJ Sheikh-Zubeir I Have already posted a sufficient and an appropriate message that is intended to welcome Nomads to this site, inform them of the aim and purpose of this page, as it differs from that of the Al Tayyiboon Institute, and in a very polite way have reminded Nomads to be considerate and respectful. SOL Islam page is a discussion board on broad Islamic issues, its not a technical forum nor an institue with professional scholars, its mainly run by volunteers such as myself, when we have time, together, we are in a learning journey, and its this style that makes SOL Islam page different. This forum attracts all kinds of viewers, and lately, since 911, active participation has noticably decreased to a boring level, thanks to George Bush's war on basic freedom's, such as Freedom AFTER speech. Our example to emulate was the Prophet SAWS, the best teacher who've ever walked on earth, he dealt with common people and knowledge seekers alike, in the same gatherings, and at times, knowledge seekers learned from complete laymen/ bedouins as they have approached Prophet Muhammad SAWS with all kinds of questions ( that would have been banned according to the above rules), even disrespectful ones, and he has never ejected anyone from his gatherings for inappropriate gestures, to the extent that a bedouin has urinated in the Masjid (Mosque). The Prophet simply ordered the cleaning of the Masjid( mosque), no big deal. His tolerance to nonsensical or even vulgarity was examplary; a young man once appoached the Prophet SAWS to find a solution for his preoccupation: To pass a fatwa (edict) to make fornication sex Halaal ( lawful), the Prophet calmly convinced the young teen that the edict, if passed, can have harmful side effects since his mother and sister who he holds in high esteem, would also be eligible. What we are suffering from today is over regulation, and over reaction, and in the process, we are losing sight of the most pressing and important Islamic issues of the hour. What we need instead is the philosophy of mind over water, to react as much as the disturbance calls for, under reaction or over reaction are detrimental to our sanity, we need to look Islam as a wholesome experience whose parts fit and not conflict. With utmost respect to your suggestion, I feel that these rules, some of which are already politely implied on the (Welcome To SOL Islam Page) thread, may come across as disrespectful and discouaraging for would-be mature particpants at a time this thread is in dire need for active partipation. ......Geeljiroow, mesha dad kuma heynee, inta yaroo hartay hanaga kala didinin! Nur

The upcoming week marks the fall of the Union Of Islamic courts of Somalia, thousnads have died since, hundreds of thousands displaced, and because its not in the intersts of those vested with political, military or Media power, Somalia remains a untouchable special case, Somalia is forgotten, thrown for the dogs, no one cares, the old, the injured, the homeless, the afflicted, have no one to turn to but Allah SWT. Because Somalia's plight is not as appealing as Darfur for the Media tycoons, and their sponsors, who cares if United Nations itself has become a criminal organization used by the powerful to pass any resolutions that fits its interests? who cares if the UN has blatantly allowed the occupation of Amercian proxy army of Ethiopia to do the dirty work in Somalia? Allah cares, He says in the Holy Quraan: " Walaa taxsabanna Allahu ghaafilan cammaa yacmalu al thaalimuun, innamaa yu'akhiruhum liyawmin takhshacu fiihil absaar, muhticiina muqnicii ru'uusihim....." " Do not think that Allah is oblivious to the(attrocities) the transgressors ae committing, (Allah) is allowing a grace period till a a day in which their stares will be humbled, subdued, their heads hanging low...." Nur

JZK, Revolution for your kind comments. Nomads, since the posting of this thread, three years have passed, another reminder to make use of these blessed days. Nur

Khalaf bro. Looool at Nairobi Refugee camp, be careful, eNuri resorts to jokes a times to drag unsuspecting Nomads to Jannah. Being American is like being a Xamarawi, Hargeisawi, or a Londoner, its a geographical classificaion and residency desription, and at times , loyalty to its national constitution which is being vaiolaed these days by its own caretakers, besides, America is two continents, south and North, Chavez is an American in that sense, a south American hero of the poor, and the very word America is Italian, in recognition of Amerigo Vespucci, who "discovered" the continent( an its Indians residents). You see not all people in America think alike, nor agree on any political/economic or religious issue or philosophy completely, but its an interesting place on Allah's earth to be, some great people live in it, and some real evil people do too, just like any other place else on earth, so America bashing can get out of hand at times if one is not careful, mostly due to reaction against Bushite politics (with least political constiyuency in History), but people who live in America can be some of the best humans, and if they are misinformed, they can be the worst. Nur

Saint Joe and the Impending Global Financial Crisis By Mike Whitney 12/06/07 "ICH" -- -- -The wreckage in the housing market just keeps piling up. Sales of existing homes in October dipped 23.5% from last year. Prices on new homes dropped 13% year over year. Third quarter foreclosures skyrocketed to 635,000, a 94% increase over last October and an all-time high on the Misery-Meter. The real estate market is in free-fall and the real trouble hasn't even begun yet. California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida are mired in a full-blown housing depression. Inventory is off-the-chart. Presently, there's a 10.8 month backlog and the numbers are steadily rising. If foreclosures continue at the current pace, by the end of 2008, there'll be a 14 month inventory. That means that every builder in the country could take off his tool-belt right now and stop working FOR MORE THAN A YEAR before the market would clear. Contractors would be filling out job-applications at Red Lobster or looking for an empty street-corner with a tin cup. We're now entering the crisis phase of the biggest housing bust in US history; Greenspan's remake of Three Mile Island; only this time the whole country will be vaporised by a subprime-radioactive cloud. As bad as the housing market is now; it's going to get a whole lot worse. Judith Levy sums it up in her article “ARM Resets to Hit Fan in 2008”: “In 2008 interest rates will be reset upward on $362 billion worth of adjustable-rate subprime mortgages [ARMs] ....The 'real crest of the reset wave' has yet to take place, which promises more pain for borrowers, lenders and Wall Street.... In addition to the $362 billion of subprime ARMs, $152 billion of other adjustable-rate loans are scheduled to reset in 2008, including jumbo mortgages and Alt-A loans. The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that 1.35 million homes will enter foreclosure in 2007 and another 1.44 million in 2008, up from 705,000 in 2005.” $514 billion in resets. 3.5 million foreclosures. Did I say Three Mile Island? I meant Nagasaki. California is bound to be the state that's hardest hit by the housing slump. Homeowners can expect to see price depreciation that could rival the Great Depression. As Broderick Perkins says, “The California Association of Realtors reported the median price of an existing, single-family, detached home in California dropped 9.9 percent in October, compared to the same month a year ago. The decline was the largest year-to-year decline in CAR's history books.... We believe that a downturn is imminent, with sales volumes down 52 percent from the peak (in January 2005) and inventory (11.8 months) up 100 percent since last year. House price depreciation and credit deterioration go hand-in-hand. We anticipate residential mortgage credit deterioration to follow house price declines in California. Presently, credit quality (in absolute terms) is better in California versus the national average, but the rate of deterioration is much worse. For instance, in the second quarter of 2007 delinquency rates for prime ARMs and subprime ARMs rose 92 percent and 73 percent year-on-year respectively in California, versus 53 percent and 38 percent nationally," Goldman Sachs reported.”( Broderick Perkins, “Record Home Price Declines Portend Extended Downturn”, Seeking Alpha) Wow. Home prices dropped 10% in a MONTH! Inventory is up 100%. Sales volumes are down 52%. Its the trifecta! Its getting so hard to sell a house in California, that people are resorting to divine intervention. A number of websites have popped up on the Internet promoting transcendental or occult techniques for attracting potential buyers. Luckymojo.com recommends an old favorite; “burying a statue of Saint Joseph upside down in the yard”. The site even features its own “Real Estate Spell Kit” which includes: 1 Dressed and Blessed Saint Joseph Candle 1 Statuette of Saint Joseph 1 Bottle Saint Joseph Oil 1 Saint Joseph Chromo Print 1 Saint Joseph Holy Card Luckymojo even provides an optional prayer that can be recited during the ceremonial burying of St. Joseph: Saint Joseph, I am going to place you in a difficult position with your head in darkness and you will suffer as our Lord suffered, until this [house/property] is sold. Then, Saint Joseph, I swear before the cross and God Almighty, that I will redeem you and you will receive my gratitude and a place of honor in my home. Amen. Following the prayer, the supplicant takes the statue of Saint Joseph and plugs him into the ground upside down and waits for the phone to start ringing. Who needs a realtor anyway? “If there's no yard, then dig a hole in a large potted plant.” St. Joe won't mind. All of this can be done without chanting, amulets, prostrations, or messy sacrificial animals. It's worth a shot. But sorcery won't work for everyone and the deteriorating housing market is sending tremors through the broader economy. In fact, the accelerating rate of foreclosures has put Washington in full panic-mode. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been frantically trying to put together a bail-out package that will keep millions of homeowners from losing their homes. Here's Paulson's statement from earlier in the week: “As we are all aware, the housing and mortgage markets are working through a period of turmoil, as are other credit markets, as risk is being reassessed and re-priced. We expect that this turbulence will take some time to work through, and we expect some penalty on our short-term economic growth. To speed up the modification process, Treasury is working through the “HOPE NOW” alliance with the American Securitization Forum to convene servicers and investors so they can develop categories of borrowers eligible for appropriate modifications and refinancings, and an industry-wide solution....I am confident they will finalize these standards soon. And I expect all servicers will implement them quickly, and create benchmarks to measure their progress along the way. As a result, what was a fragmented, cumbersome process can be a coordinated effort which more quickly helps able homeowners.” Who does Paulson think he's kidding? He knows the plan is a non-starter. Why would homeowners opt to make outrageous monthly payments on homes that are quickly losing value, when they can just park the keys on the kitchen counter and vamoose. There's no incentive for them to be shackled to a home if prices are going down. They'd be better off loading up the U-Haul, grabbing the dog, and letting the bank worry about it. That's who Paulson is really worried about anyway. “Helping the homeowner” is is just a red herring. There are a number of glitches to Paulson's scheme. For example, if he freezes monthly mortgage payments, then bondholders won't get what they bargained for and the market for mortgage-backed securities (MBS) will dry up. As Tom Deutsch, deputy executive director of the American Securitization Forum, said, ``If they no longer invest in mortgage-backed securities, you've cut off the credit available for refinancing, you cut off the lifeblood of being able to give better loans.” (Bloomberg) That's right. If investors don't get the returns they were promised---or if the government arbitrarily changes the terms of the deal—bondholders will just take their money and put it somewhere else. It's as simple as that. That would trigger a run on the MBS market and put the kibosh on Paulson's plan. One thing is certain, investors will not sit by quietly while their rights are trampled and their profits are slashed so that people can stay in their homes. That won't happen. Any viable bailout plan will have to be evenhanded, so that everyone shoulders part of the burden. Besides, these bonds are covered under contract law and the investors have rights. Paulson seems to thinks he can just make up the rules as he goes along. But he's wrong. If he tries to void or rewrite the contracts he'll be hit with class-action lawsuits that will stop him in his tracks. The best summary of Paulson's plan appeared in the Wall Street Journal: “This whole scheme is an act of eminent domain, except the government isn't formally seizing property rights, but emboldening private parties to do so. Why is no one calling a spade a spade?” It's ironic that the biggest boosters of free enterprise—like Paulson---are the first to do an about-face at the first whiff of grapeshot. Whatever happened to principles? Does Paulson really want to promote a scheme that forces the revision of contracts as well as repeals basic property rights? Needless to say, Paulson's metamorphosis into Leon Trotsky has not been warmly received on Wall Street where he has been lambasted by friend and foe alike. The housing blowup is having dire effects on global financial markets. The credit crunch has spread throughout Europe where lending standards are tightening and industrial growth is threatened by the falling dollar. Consumer confidence has plummeted in Europe just like in the US. Last week, the Dow Jones slipped below its August low of 12,850 following the path of the Transports. The stock market continues to lurch back and forth furiously like an overloaded washing machine; soaring 100 points one day and then, plunging 200 the next. The volatility is just another indication that we are entering a primary bear market. Dow Theory suggests that the trajectory will continue downward into recession. The subprime debacle has cast doubt on whether the “structured finance” model of securitizing debt will survive. On Monday, there were crucial new developments in this story that will have profound effects on the future of many the country's largest investment banks. E*Trade Financial has been forced to liquidate $3 billion of its mortgage-backed securities. Up to now, the banks, hedge funds an other holders of these toxic MBS and CDOs have been reluctant to sell, fearing that trillions of dollars in asset value would be immediately wiped out (for similar investments) once a firm “market price” is established. Well, the Day of Reckoning arrived on Monday and the only thing missing was the funereal dirge and the wreath of fresh lilies. According to Reuters: “Financial analysts on Friday said E*Trade got anywhere from 11 cents to 27 cents on the dollar for its $3.1 billion portfolio of asset-backed securities. The portfolio sale was part of a $2.5 billion capital infusion from a group led by hedge fund Citadel investment Group. "The portfolio sale, one of the few observable trades of such assets, has very clear, generally negative, implications for the valuation of like assets on brokers' balance sheets," Credit Suisse analyst Susan Roth Katzke said.” $.27 on the dollar! Yikes. No doubt they'll be pulling a few weepy bankers off the ledge before the week is out. What is particularly distressing about the E*Trade sale is that over 60% of the $3 billion portfolio “WERE RATED DOUBLE-A OR HIGHER”. That means that even the best of these mortgage-backed bonds are pure, unalloyed garbage. This is really the worst possible news for Wall Street. It means that trillions of dollars of bonds which are currently held by banks, insurance companies, retirement funds, foreign banks and hedge funds will be slashed to $.27 on the dollar OR LOWER. Banks will have to hoard reserves to meet the new capital requirements on the falling value of their assets, which means that they'll have less money to loan to businesses and consumers. In fact, this is already taking place. (which is the real reason the Fed keeps injecting money into the banking system) The E*Trade “firesale” confirms that the country--and perhaps the world---is now headed into a downward deflationary spiral. The Fed will HAVE to cut interest rates 50 basis points on December 11, just to keep the financial system from freezing up entirely. That will, of course, further emasculate the dollar and send food and energy prices through the roof. There's really no way to overstate the importance of the E*Trade sell-off. It is the equivalent of a neutron bomb detonating in the heart of the financial district. Yes, everyone is still milling around with their caramel Macchiatos clutching their Blackberries just like before. But the game is over. Trillions of dollars of market capitalization will be lost and some of the biggest names in banking will be carted off to the boneyard. It will be a miracle if the Fed's interest rate cuts are enough to keep the economy sputtering along while the losses are written-down and the country recovers its footing. $.27 on the dollar should be inscribed on the headstone of every Wall Street fraudster and every chiseling “financial innovator” who transformed the world's most powerful and resilient markets into a carnival sideshow. It should include every subprime “no doc--no down” homeowner who lied on his loan application to goose the system and get another 50 grand for a jet-ski and 42” liquid TV; every cheesy realtor who fudged the paperwork to put unemployed busboys with bad credit in $550 McMasions in Loma Verde; every ratings agency stooge who got carpal-tunnel from stamping each shaky subprime loan with with AAA seal of approval; every lacquer-hair banker in a two-toned shirt who bundled up garbage loans and dumped them on Wall Street; every shabby hedge fund manager who used the subprime loans to beef-up his own personal administrative fees by leveraging the MBSs and CDOs at rates of 10 to 1; every regulator who serenely looked the other way while the market was dousing itself in jet-fuel and reaching for the matches; and, of course--above all--the Federal Reserve, who initiated this whole boondoggle by producing trillions of dollars of low interest credit which flooded the system creating the greatest speculative frenzy in the world history. Alan Greenspan—the Ponzi Ringleader-- deserves a place of honor at the head of the chain-gang as they are frog-marched to some remote black site where they can pay for their transgressions. The rest of us will have to stay put and endure the fallout from a “completely avoidable” Great Depression. We're dead ducks. Managing Director of Pimco Managed Funds, Bill Gross, summarized our present conundrum in a recent article: “What we are witnessing is essentially the BREAKDOWN OF OUR MODERN DAY BANKING SYSTEM, a complex of levered lending so hard to understand that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke required a face-to-face refresher course from hedge fund managers in mid-August. My PIMCO colleague, Paul McCulley, has labeled it the "SHADOW BANKING SYSTEM" because it has lain hidden for years—untouched by regulation—yet free to magically and mystically create and then package subprime mortgages into a host of three-letter conduits that only Wall Street wizards could explain.” (Bill Gross, “The Shadow Knows”, Pimco Funds) A few months ago, Gross's observations would have been dismissed as the ravings of a doomsday alarmist. Now they are part of mainstream analysis. Gross is a realist. The financial markets are broken; it's time to strap the patient to the gurney and wheel it in to I.C.U. No more band aids, thank you. Closing Thoughts The President of the St. Louis Fed, William Poole, discussed many of these issues in a speech last week. Poole insisted that it is not the Fed's intention to “pump up the stock market” or to protect investors from losses by lowering the Fed's Fund Rate. Rather, the rate cuts are supposed “to restore normal market processes. He said, “ An active financial market is central to the process of economic growth and it is that growth, not prices in financial markets per se, that the Fed cares about.” Fair enough. He added, “One of the most reliable and predictable features of the Fed’s monetary policy is action to PREVENT SYSTEMIC FINANCIAL COLLAPSE. If this regularity of policy is what is meant by the “Fed put,” then so be it, but the term seems to me to be extremely misleading. The Fed does not have the desire or tools to prevent widespread losses in a particular sector but should not sit by while a financial upset becomes a financial calamity affecting the entire economy.” The Federal Reserve is now actively trying to forestall “a systemic financial crisis”. (Poole's words) The trillions of dollars that were loaned to mortgage applicants--and which ignored traditional criteria for lending---have created the likelihood of a decades-long downturn in the housing industry as well as a meltdown in the broader financial markets. The bundling of dodgy subprime liabilities and selling them as valuable assets to unsuspecting investors; is a scam that any competent regulator should have spotted immediately. And stopped. It doesn't take genius to see that offloading sketchy MBSs and “marked to model” CDOs to gullible institutions is wrong and a danger to the entire system. Financial innovation has created a dilemma for which there is no easy solution. The Genie cannot be put back in the lamp. Paulson's remedies have no chance of succeeding. Mortgage-backed securities have been so chopped up and spread throughout the system; it would be easier to to unravel a bowl of spaghetti , separate each strand, one by one, and lie them next to each other without touching. It can't be done. The bad debts will have to be written down, banks will have to fail, and government will have to investigate affordable housing alternatives for millions of defaulting homeowners. Deregulation has created a monster. The prevailing Reagan-era, “supply side”, free market doctrine has removed tariffs, subsidies and other state-created price-distortions, but it has also eliminated all oversight and accountability. Government agencies no longer play an active role in policing the markets and, as a result, US financial institutions have fallen into disrepute. This is, first of all, a credibility problem and it will require astute leaders with a strong moral foundation, not evasive bureaucrats who're looking for a painless way to “cut their losses” and and keep the wheels of industry clanking along. Asset-backed commercial paper--a $2 trillion business--“is hardly trading at all.” The securitization of credit card debt, mortgages and car loans has slowed to a crawl and is in danger of stopping altogether. Many of the main engines for generating revenue for the banks—the repackaging of debt and amplifying it through levered derivatives—has vanished overnight. The financial markets have never been under such stress. There's so much mortgage-backed gunk in the plumbing, the system is grinding to a halt. This is no the time for “business as usual” “garbage in, garbage out”. We need people who really understand what is going on to step up to the plate and propose coherent “fiscal” policy options that will steer the global economy away from the reef. Forget about Paulson's “quick fix” snake oil. It's utter bunkum. The credibility of the system is at at stake. It's time to get serious.

Khalf brother here is another view of the problem you have posed: " Sh. Nur, of course as a believer in Allah Most Great and the Last Day the answer u gave makes prefect sense. But umm check dis they will say: no merciful God would let people make mistakes to begin with (freefill) that puts them in hellfire forever, since it would be more merciful to have never created them." Answer: Brother, humans have three requirements: 1. Freedom of Choice (Good or bad) 2. Justice 3. Mercy. In That order. The first item, freedom of choice is limited, because, we do nont have the choice to be created or not to be created, a Devine decree has decided that humans to be created to populate planet earth for a while. We also did not have the choice of our phyical attributes, sex, birth date, death date, choice or country o be born, nationality, Qabeel. Because if we had these choices, I am sure that many Nomads on this forum would have been a black American woman like Oprah who is so rich by coincidence. or may be another Black American woman like Condi Rice who so powerful, in few years she has caused the death of millions around the globe and she is not done yet. But, as humans we have the choice of our actions, or in the case of the "internationl Community" inaction about the poor in Somalia dying wholesale under the American sponsored bloody Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia. 2. Justice: As slaves of Allah ( limited freedom of choice) we are responsible and accountable, both in this life and the next. 3. Mercy: When we fail, and we show remorse, like any criminal, our punishment is either forgiven, or reduced. Nur

Nomads Your cent or two on this great topic, questions, definitions, lets get the Tawkkal going, TRUST ALLAH, but TIE-UP YOUR CAMEL, and your SEAT BELTS for that matter. Nur

Dea Brother Khalaf America is Allah's land, the orginal settlers were American Indians, they hosted the Eurpean settlers and served them turkey, only to be squeezed to reservations and vanish. Today, America is a melting pot of many nations, all came to these shores seeking better life, no one is entitled of American-ness than you, do not feel like a second tier citizen just because you were hauled by an American plane from Nairobi Refugee camp to Davenport Iowa, to work the farms which you are ill prepared. Bother, the difference between Arabs and Americans when t comes to Somalia, is the America has a direct interest, thus the outcome of any initiative it carries out in the region, America has oil interest in Somalia, and one other little problem, which is an obstacle to its interest, ISLAM, so, it has to fight Allah trying to get that oil, which is making it poorer these days, Allah is no weak god you know, although Muslims are. Nur

America is going fascist The signs are all there for anyone to see, and time is getting short for action By Michael Nenonen 12/04/07 "The Republic" -- -- Reading Naomi Wolf’s The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007), I realized the hour is later than I thought. Many of us have watched the Bush regime’s actions with a growing feeling of horror intertwined with a sense that somehow we’ve seen all of this before, but we aren’t sure where. We’re confused because what we’re seeing conflicts with unexamined and deeply held assumptions we have about American freedom. Wolf’s short but meticulously documented book shows that what is happening in America has indeed happened many times before, not in the United States, but rather in places like Chile, Italy, Russia, and Germany. In each case, people couldn’t understand why they didn’t recognize where they were heading before they passed the point of no return. It's shifting fast Wolf argues that the United States is undergoing a “fascist shift” from an authoritarian but still relatively open society to a totalitarian society. The techniques for forcing this shift have evolved over the last century and are now studied by aspiring tyrants the world over. These methods are even part of the formal curriculum in places like the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, previously known as the School of the Americas, in Fort Benning, Georgia, where thousands of Latin Americans have been trained by the United States government in the most savage techniques of insurgency and counterinsurgency. Fascists use ten basic strategies to shut down open societies. 1. They invoke an external and internal threat in order to convince the population to grant their rulers extraordinary powers. 2. They establish secret prisons that practice torture, prisons that are initially few in number and only incarcerate social pariahs, but that quickly multiply and soon imprison “opposition leaders, outspoken clergy, union leaders, well-known performers, publishers, and journalists.” 3. They develop a paramilitary force that operates without legal restraint. 4. They set up a system of intense domestic surveillance that gathers information for the purposes of intimidating and blackmailing citizens. 5. They infiltrate, monitor, and disorganize citizens’ groups. 6. They arbitrarily detain and release citizens, especially at borders. 7. They target key individuals like civil servants, academics, and artists in order to ensure their complicity or silence. 8. They take control of the press. 9. They publicly equate dissent with treason. 10. Finally, they suspend the rule of law. All of these strategies are being employed in America today. Consider the evidence The Bush administration and its supporters have consistently portrayed the security threat posed by international terrorists as a threat to the very survival of Western civilization in order to justify permanent war and to keep the American public in a state of panic and paranoia. The prisons at Guantanamo and God-knows how many CIA “Black Sites” torture their inmates, even though human rights organizations have demonstrated that the majority of at least Guantanamo’s inmates are innocent victims of mass arrests. The inmates are designated as “enemy combatants” who have no rights under international or American law. And there is nothing stopping American presidents from filling these prisons with American citizens. In an April 24 2007 article for the Huffington Post, Wolf writes that thanks to the Military Commissions Act of 2006, “the president has the power to call any US citizen an ‘enemy combatant’. He has the power to define what ‘enemy combatant’ means. The president can also delegate to anyone he chooses in the executive branch the right to define ‘enemy combatant’ any way he or she wants and then seize Americans accordingly. Even if you or I are American citizens, even if we turn out to be completely innocent of what he has accused us of doing, he has the power to have us seized as we are changing planes at Newark tomorrow, or have us taken with a knock on the door; ship you or me to a navy brig; and keep you or me in isolation, possibly for months, while awaiting trial.” She points out that while currently Americans in such situations will be spared any torture except psychosis-inducing isolation and can look forward to eventual trials, these rights typically evaporate in the final stages of a fascist shift. They're called "mercenaries" Military contractors are the regime’s paramilitary force. Blackwater’s mercenaries, many of whom were trained by Latin America’s most horrific police states, have operated in Iraq outside of Iraqi, American, and military law, and have murdered uncounted innocent Iraqis with impunity. Domestically, Blackwater was contracted to provide hundreds of armed security guards in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and there’s evidence that they fired on civilians. Blackwater’s business plan calls for their use in future disasters and emergencies throughout the United States, and it’s supported by some of the biggest powerbrokers in America. American intelligence agencies are now bypassing court orders to wiretap citizens’ telephones, spy on their e-mails, and monitor their financial transactions, and the USA Patriot Act forces corporations, booksellers, librarians, and doctors to turn over previously confidential information about Americans to the state. Thousands of human rights, environmental, anti-war, and other citizens’ groups have been infiltrated by government agents, many of whom have clearly acted as agent provocateurs in order to undermine the groups’ solidarity and to legitimize police actions against them. Political opponents listed America’s Transportation Security Administration maintains a terrorist watch list of tens of thousands of Americans who are now subjected to security searches and arbitrary detention at airports. The list includes people like Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy and respected constitutional scholar Walter F Murphy. US Attorneys, CIA agents, military lawyers, and other civil servants who’ve disagreed with the Bush administration have been threatened and fired. David Horowitz and his colleagues have mounted a well-funded nation-wide intimidation campaign that has university students spying on their professors and that has successfully coerced regents at State Universities to discipline or fire left-leaning professors like Ward Churchill. The regime’s supporters have organized campaigns to damage the careers of artists like the Dixie Chicks for criticism of the president and his policies. The administration has Fox News in its pocket, it has paid journalists for positive coverage, it has disseminated misinformation through the media, and it’s ferociously attacking critical journalists. Arrests of US journalists are at an all-time high. The Bush administration’s outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame was done in retaliation against her husband, Joseph Wilson, whose New York Times op-ed piece exposed lies that the Bush administration used to lead the nation to war. Worse than this, independent journalists appear to be marked for death by American forces in Iraq. In her Huffington Post article, Wolf writes, “The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented multiple accounts of the US military in Iraq firing upon or threatening to fire upon unembedded (meaning independent) reporters and camera operators from organisations ranging from al-Jazeera to the BBC. . . . In some cases reporters have been wounded or killed, including ITN's Terry Lloyd in 2003. Both CBS and the Associated Press in Iraq had staff members seized by the US military and taken to violent prisons; the news organisations were unable to see the evidence against their staffers.” The goal of these tactics, as she writes in The End of America, is to create “a new reality in which the truth can no longer be ascertained and no longer counts.” Dissent = treason In recent years, prominent Republicans like Ann Coulter, Melanie Morgan, and William Kristol have accused liberal journalists of treason and espionage for publishing leaked material damaging to the administration, and in February 2007, Republican Congressman Don Young said “Congressmen who wilfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are sabateurs, and should be hanged.” This would be amusing, were it not for the Bush administration’s revival of the draconian 1917 Espionage Act after half a century’s slumber. And finally, the Bush administration shows contempt for the law. In The End of America, Wolf writes that Bush has used more signing statements than any previous president, and by doing so has relegated “Congress to an advisory role. This abuse lets the President choose what laws he wishes to enforce or not, overruling Congress and the people. So Americans are living under laws their representatives never passed. Signing statements put the president above the law.” He has also gutted the Posse Comitatus Act, which was created to prevent the president from maintaining a standing army for use against American citizens. Wolf writes that the 2007 Defence Authorization Bill lets the president “expand his power to declare martial law and take charge of the National Guard troops without the permission of the governor when ‘public order’ has been lost; he can send these troops out into our streets at his direction—overriding local law enforcement authorities—during a national disaster, epidemic, serious public health emergency, terrorist attack, or ‘other condition.’” On its own, this is an incredible expansion of presidential power, but when combined with the use of military contractors like Blackwater it gives the president almost dictatorial authority. Wolf shows that fascist shifts don’t happen overnight, but rather over a course of years during which the fascists’ plans unfold at an accelerating pace. Germany in 1933 was further along this path than it was in 1931, and Germany in 1935 was farther along than it was in 1933. Similarly, America in 2007 is farther along the path than it was in 2005, or will be in 2009, provided that a massive pro-democracy movement, complete with impeachment proceedings, doesn’t reverse the shift while there’s still time. A simple Democratic victory in the 2008 presidential election won’t do the job unless the institutional and legal environment created by the Bush administration is thoroughly dismantled. Regardless of whether the next president is a Republican or a Democrat, he or she will inherit a legacy of centralized power that a democracy simply can’t tolerate. Left behind Unfortunately, during the shift opposition politicians and activists still tend to perceive the world through a democratic frame of reference, and this prevents them from seeing that their opponents are no longer operating within this frame. As the opposition is tying its boxing gloves, the fascists are breaking out the machetes. Wolf’s work has its problems. She doesn't acknowledge that Black and Indigenous Americans have long lived under quasi-fascist rule, she doesn't examine the role that previous administrations have played in setting the stage for the Bush regime, and she doesn't acknowledge the roles played by corporatism, widespread social dislocation and the radical Christian right in the rise of a fascist American zeitgeist. Despite this, The End of America needs to be read by as many people as possible. Wolf writes about America, but Canadians don’t have any cause for comfort. Canadian and American military forces are already deeply enmeshed. Thanks to NAFTA, we’re tied at the hip to the American economy, while the Security and Prosperity Partnership is integrating our countries’ security forces and harmonizing our no-fly lists. The Harper government is eager to kowtow to the Americans, even to the point of refusing to advocate for Canadian citizens on American death rows. The powerful think tanks and lobbying groups that influence our provincial and federal governments, such as the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, either can’t see the shift for what it is or they don’t care. More than all of this, however, is the simple reality that once the shift is complete, the American government will act even more irrationally and belligerently than before. Canada has resources like oil and water the United States is going to need, and the Canadian border is less defensible than the French border was in 1940. Americans and Canadians have to fight back more fiercely than ever before, to organize and lobby and fill the streets with mass protests, to raise awareness and forge alliances with anyone opposed to totalitarianism regardless of whether they’re liberals, socialists, or conservatives. We have to take all the steps that have rescued dying democracies in the past, and to take them immediately, in the desperate hope that it isn’t already too late.