Donald Trump and the fall of US presidency

It was once a matter of common wisdom that the president of the United States was the most powerful person in the world. It was also almost universally accepted that the president, regardless of his political views, was worthy of considerable respect. For allies of the United States, therefore, finding a way to draw as close as possible to the president was seen as a natural primary objective of foreign policy.Today, the first assumption is open to question, the second is no longer true and the third raises diplomatic challenges especially relevant to America’s allies in the Middle East.

While a considerable portion of the power of the president is associated with the unparalleled might of the US military, the will to use that force has declined dramatically and some of the greatest strengths of the US – its ability to wage nuclear war or contest a major conflict – are among those America is least likely to demonstrate. Recent experience in the Middle East has shown that lesser applications of American force are not an area in which the US has had much success in advancing its long-term goals, and have been very costly.

For each of these reasons, America’s military strengths contribute less to the day-to-day power of the presidency than they have at any time in recent memory.

This diminishment is compounded by the fact that America’s core alliances have been weakening over the past decades due to challenges within and between allied governments. Further, the relative power of rivals has grown, as has their ability to flex their muscles without effectively being counter-acted by the US or its allies. This refers to the relative gains of major powers like China and Russia, as well as the gains in capability of rogue actors like North Korea and Iran.

The stature of the US president is also under siege. In the past week alone, the president saw the departure of two top aides, the defeat of a signature legislative measure, swirling controversy over the mismanagement of his White House, and several instances of public rebuke from constituencies that would once have been considered reliable, uncontroversial bastions of support – from the heads of US police forces to the Boy Scouts of America.

The president is under investigation by multiple congressional committees, as well as by a special counsel appointed by the department of justice. His approval rating is at historic lows. He is an object of ridicule, not just by rivals, but also allies from Australia to Mexico to the EU. Leaders in Canada and Europe have distanced themselves from him and have argued that it is time to prepare for a world in which the US no longer played the leadership role it once did.

In other words, what is happening with Donald Trump in the United States is not normal.

It is also not sustainable. His own political party is seeing increasing dissent. Some, like 2012 GOP nominee for president, Mitt Romney, have long opposed hm. In the past week, the GOP presidential candidate prior to Romney, senator John McCain, cast a decisive vote killing a key Trump initiative. Others in the GOP leadership threatened strong action against Mr Trump if he removed his attorney general, as he was contemplating doing. If when we near the 2018 mid-term elections and Mr Trump is still in distress, his party will distance itself from him further. This will lead to more investigative pressure on him and even greater weakening. His inability to manage his White House or its message won’t help.

The result is that allies of the US such as those in the Middle East face a conundrum. The reflexive temptation is to seek closeness with Mr Trump and his team. This is especially true because some Trump instincts, such as his anti-Iran stance and his toughness on extremism, are so appealing.

But it is important to remember several factors. First, America lacks the will to act that it once had. Next, this president is much weaker than past presidents. In fact, he is almost certainly the weakest president since America became an international power.

Third, he has proven himself to be an extremely erratic leader. Fourth, he is almost certainly going to become weaker and may not last out his term of office.

Finally, there is a tendency in US politics to seek to reverse the policies of immediate predecessors regardless of the merits of the case. Mr Trump is doing so with Barack Obama’s polices. Mr Obama did so with George W Bush. Mr Bush did so with Bill Clinton.

In short, while getting close to Mr Trump may seem like the natural thing to do and may offer near-term benefits, it poses long-term risks.

Washington is very close to being paralysed by a constitutional crisis. And so for American allies in the Middle East, the best course of action may be dictated by remembering two folksy “American” sayings.

One has been attributed both to Benjamin Franklin and to Seneca, and it is: “He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.” The other is in the form of a question-and-answer joke.

The question is: “How do you make love to a porcupine?” The answer: “Very carefully.”
By David Rothkopf in TheNational

AUK 300

Class rep should contact the HOD for subsequent lectures. 

UMYU 300

Class rep should contact the HOD for subsequent lectures. 

BUAD 856

Class rep called asking about a certain reading material on sale. Am aware of the material and was given a copy too. Those that can afford may buy it. It’s completely at their discretion. The material was not produced by me neither does the proceeds or any potion thereof would reach me. 

Those who can afford it may buy it. Indeed there nuggets of information there that could be helpful.  

Vanishing farmlands fuelling deep crisis in Nigeria

Most Nigerians detest Trump: poll

N8gerians were not the only ones who condemned Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric or his election. But post election Trump continue to draw the ire of Nigerians. His crass Islam phobic tweets and policies are condemned roundly by most people in the country pointing the danger it could portend for the oft fragile multi religious harmony enjoyed in the nation. But Trump does not stop there as he supports an asinine rightist immigration policy that directly affects nearly a million Nigerians in the USA. While being Islam phobic is often supported by some Christians in the country the immigration policy on the other hand swings the pendulum mostly against Christians living illegally in the US. This checkmates any support doled out to Trump by Nigerians of the two religions. 

A vox poll conducted in a major northern town revealed little support for Trump on account of the two policies taken together. Most Muslims condemn Trump for both being an Islamaphobe and his anti immigration stance. Most Christians on the other support Trump on Islamaphobia but condemn him on the immigration policy which they see as targeting their counterparts living illegally in the USA.

On the whole the mist apt description of Trump remains one: a lunatic. 

UMYU 300

Check out reading material with your class rep and Deputy or else request a copy from me directly using my email address. 

Assignment: read the whole of chapter one. 

AUK 300

Am meeting you today and already by the venue. Class rep has switched off his phone and I have not seen any of you around the school. Where are you all?

White House press secretary Sean Spicer finally quits

White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned his position on Friday after the communications director job he wanted was given to Anthony Scaramucci, the self-promoting hedge fund cable news talker. This was the line in the sand for Spicer ― not the near-daily humiliations he allowed himself to be subjected to in defending his boss, President Donald Trump.

Spicer’s infamous turn as press secretary began with perhaps the most obvious lie ever told in the West Wing briefing room. On the first full day of Trump’s presidency, Spicer marched out to the lectern in an ill-fitting suit and insisted that the president’s inauguration featured the largest crowd in presidential inauguration history. Photographs and Metro ridership figures clearly showed that Trump’s inauguration was not the largest ever.

“That was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period,” Spicer declared to an endless parade of Pinocchios and “pants on fire” ratings from fact-checkers, and mocking memes from everyone else.

Spicer’s humiliating display of wanton mendacity made him instantly famous ― and not in a good way. But Spicer did not quit then. The line in the sand came six months later with Scaramucci’s hiring.
From Huffington Post

Reliance rattles Indian mobile market again by releasing cheap 4G phone

India’s disruptive new mobile entrant Reliance Jio, backed by the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, unveiled a low-cost 4G-enabled phone on Friday to woo tens of millions of new customers, further destabilising established telecoms players.

Jio has enjoyed a meteoric rise since its launch a year ago, with its months of free services and sharply discounted plans battering the fortunes of incumbents such as Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) and Idea Cellular (IDEA.NS), who have seen revenues and profits shrink dramatically.

Despite Jio’s rapid rise, funded by mega-profits churned out by parent Reliance Industries’ (RELI.NS) core refining and petrochemicals operations, it has been unable to tap more than 500 million non-smartphone users in India, who still rely on old feature phones to make calls and send text messages, as its network only supports 4G-enabled phones.

Reliance sees the new handset, named JioPhone, allowing it to target India’s entire mobile market for the first time.

The new phone will “effectively cost zero” as buyers would be able to get the device for a one-time refundable security deposit of 1,500 rupees ($23.3), said Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, announcing the launch at the conglomerate’s annual shareholders’ meeting.

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The announcement, which was greeted by applause from shareholders at a packed auditorium in south Mumbai, sent shares in rivals Airtel and Idea down 2 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Disruptive Pricing

Jio’s disruptive pricing of the new phone and its online content partnerships could further weigh on the sector’s already dismal earnings and put pressure on lenders’ balance sheets.

Earlier this year, India’s central bank warned the telecom sector’s earnings had deteriorated to the point that it was untenable for telecoms players to even cover the interest costs tied to loans.

“They are getting people hooked to the data with the content,” said Varun Khandelwal, managing director, Bullero Capital. “Airtel, Vodafone do not have such bandwidth to give free phones, or the kind of content that Jio has.”

Reliance shares closed up 3.7 percent, after touching a nearly nine-and-a-half-year high in trading following the meeting, where the company also announced a one-for-one bonus share issue.

Ambani said the new device would begin to hit store shelves from Aug. 15. Voice calling will be free on the JioPhone, while unlimited data packs will cost 153 rupees ($2.38) a month.

“The offer is quite compelling, as the phone has a lot of compelling features,” said Nitin Soni, who covers the telecoms sector for Fitch Ratings.

Jio already boasts more than 125 million users, making it the world’s fastest growing tech firm, and has added customers quicker than even the likes of free services such as Facebook (FB.O) and its popular messaging service WhatsApp, said Ambani.

It has propelled India to become the No. 1 data consumer worldwide, surpassing both the United States and China, he said.

“My sense is that they are looking at between 150 million and 200 million subscribers within the next 12 months,” said Fitch’s Soni.

Export Opportunities

Ambani, whose speech was frequently punctuated with loud chants of “Jio”, said that the company was aiming to make 5 million JioPhones available every week after launch.

The company was bracing for huge demand after the launch and expected it might run out of stock, said a senior company executive who did not wish to be named.

Ambani dedicated Friday’s launch to his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, who founded the company. It is the second time Ambani has upended India’s telecoms sector – he did the same in 2002 with a different venture, Reliance Infocomm, launched with the advent of CDMA technology.

Unlike 2002, when Ambani indicated Infocomm would be profitable within a year, this time he has given no indication of a timeline for making profits from a business that has already guzzled around $30 billion.

The company believes the scheme offered with the JioPhone will make money and the entire business has a set internal target for reaching profits, the senior executive said.

The manufacturing of the phone will eventually be done “by the likes of Foxconn, Flextronics”, working to a design and operating system produced by any in-house Reliance team, said the executive, adding that the company had been approached by foreign peers about exporting the phone.

Reliance plans to start reporting performance numbers for Jio along with its quarterly results from October onwards, said another senior executive who did not wish to be named.

Ambani said that Jio has more than 100 million paying customers with most of them on a 309 rupees plan.

Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Sankalp Phartiyal; Additional reporting by Rahul Bhatia and Krishna V Kurup; Writing by Euan Rocha; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Alex Richardson

Amazon opens new office in London

In what appears to be a confirmation of the importance of London in post-Brexit Britain, Amazon, along with other tech giants like Google, continue to open new branches in the city. 

BUAD 900 PhD

Second material is available and submissions of the summary next Tuesday should follow the same format as the first.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z name their son Rumi

The internet went into meltdown last week when global music power-couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z released the first photo of their newborn twins, named Rumi and Sir Carter.
In that same week, Coldplay released the EP Kaleidoscope, whose title is inspired by the Rumi poem The Guest House.
All this is confirmation of something we already know and have known for years – Rumi is a big deal in the West.
Ironically, the 13th-century Islamic poet is arguably today’s biggest cultural export from the Muslim world, spanning various facets from literature to music.
He is presently the most-read poet in the United States, with millions of copies of his books sold, and his work is a hallmark of greeting cards, for everything from births to condolences.
Rumi remains a popular figure in social media too – there are up to a million Instagram hashtags mentioning his work, while a Rumi Quotes Facebook page has almost 700,000 likes.
Born in 1207 as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi in Balkh, in present-day Afghanistan, Rumi followed his father’s academic leanings and grew to become a famed teacher and theologian.
The turning point came when he met the wandering dervish Shamsuddin of Tabriz in the Turkish city of Konya. They made an odd pairing and the close friendship between the refined Rumi and the uncouth yet wise Shamsuddin elicited jealousy from Rumi’s students. They schemed and eventually killed Shamsuddin almost a decade later.
The dye was cast, however. The life-changing bond he shared with Shamsuddin inspired Rumi to work on his Sufi masterpiece, Masnavi until his death in 1273.
With 26,000 couplets of didactic verses that aim to spiritually counsel and instruct, the six-volume Masnavi is viewed as one of the longest single authored poems ever published.
This is besides in excess of 3,000 poems Rumi wrote, which act as odes to God, the Prophet Mohammed and love.
The Mevlevi Sufi Order (renowned for their whirling dervish form of worship) was established after his death to preserve his teachings. The order has been run under the Rumi family since – the 22nd generation descendant, Faruk Hemdem Celebi, is presently the Makam Chalabi, or chief master.
Rumi’s imprint on the English-speaking world took hold relatively recently, and the chief reason was the dearth of accessible translations. 
The desire to shift Rumi’s work away from the scholarly arena moved poet Robert Bly to seek the services of fellow American translator Coleman Barks in 1976. Bly gave him a copy of Rumi’s poetry, translated in a suffocatingly-dense style by esteemed British scholar Arthur Arberry, and famously said: “These poems need to be released from their cages.”
With Barks unable to speak Arabic or Farsi, the now-80-year-old poet worked purely from English scholarly translations of Rumi’s poetry – particularly the works by American academic John Moyne and English orientalist Reynold Nicholson – and transformed the stiff prose into free verse. The results were immediate; Barks published more than 20 volumes in 30 years, including the 1995 bestseller The Essential Rumi.
Barks puts Rumi’s appeal down to his unifying message resonating in a time where societies are ravaged by religious conflict.
“I feel there is a strong global movement, an impulse that wants to dissolve the boundaries that religions have put up and end the sectarian violence,” he was quoted as saying in an interview in 2014. “It is said that people of all religions came to Rumi’s funeral in 1273. Because, they said, he deepens our faith wherever we are. This is a powerful element in his appeal now.”
Rumi proved to be an equally beguiling character in the fictional world. With the bestselling 2009 novel The Forty Rules of Love, Turkish author Elif Shafak juxtaposes the relationship between Rumi and Shamsuddin with the life of a rich suburban housewife to create a powerful novel about finding meaning in a material world.
Culled from TheNational Newspaer, Abu Dhabi

First book on marriage and sex by a Muslim female

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4700692/Writer-publishes-sex-guide-Muslim-women.html

 

 

 

 

 

BUAD 856

Welcome to the blog.

Note to make your typed submissions of 5 definitions by different authors on A4, 6pp minus cover and reference pages, using Verdana 12 font with x2 spacing no spiral binding.

Mosul: After they bombed it

GENS LGDS 300

I may not be with you from time to time due to the nature of the office I hold. Note, however, that someone will be standing for me so as to keep the pace of your lectures.

AUK BUS 300

Reading material available for distribution. Both hard and soft copy. Class rep and two or three others should send their email addresses. 

AUK BUS 300

This is a welcome note to students of Al Qalam University in Katsina. This blog will have posts specifically meant for you as we continue to meet in the semester.  I also post issues of interest which you may find interesting. You are free to write your comments under any story or post.

Once again you are welcome.

Dishonest sellers dupe second-hand car buyers in Nigeria

Genration M Muslims going places

A young British Muslim sharing content with Boris Johnson, UK minister.

I remember thinking when the July 7, 2005 bombings happened in London, that they were Britain’s 9/11. The ripples of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center’s twin towers had been felt all around the world, including in the UK. After all, George W Bush’s war on terror was global, and under prime minister Tony Blair’s leadership Britain stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the US.

The aftermath of July 7 certainly threw suspicion on Muslims. Scarves and beards were seen as signs of terrorism, and many of the latent prejudices against Muslims began to manifest themselves more openly. My elderly father was jostled in the street. My friend was violently assaulted on the train.

But there was – and still is – a certain resilience to London. I remember that day and those that followed it. There was a determination to continue. The shell-shock at the scale and spread of the attacks left us in a daze. It was the first major attack in the UK since the terrors of the IRA bombings had subsided. But despite the entanglement on the war on terror, there was at least the appearance of leaders making an effort to set a positive tone. But overshadowing this was the construction of a framework that saw anything to do with Muslims as a security and extremism issue. Integration? Extremism! Women’s rights? Extremism! Speaking English? Extremism!

Many Muslims feel that the only time Muslims are talked about is to do with terrorism. As a British Muslim I feel a strong connection between the atmosphere today and that horrible day in July 12 years ago.

Much has changed over the intervening decade. We have endured the global financial crisis. Austerity has hit and economies have slowed down. Economic and political power has shifted eastward. The Arab Spring awoke the Middle East and then its hopes have cooled into the Arab winter. Occupy Wall Street followed Tahrir Square. The “one per cent” and “ninety-nine per cent” entered our vocabulary. The burgeoning internet exploded into the all-pervasive social media. To think, we didn’t even know what a selfie was.

More recently we have faced the rise of Putin, Trump and Modi, a return to strongman politics. There has been an alarming rise of the far right. Anti Muslim hatred has become acceptable. Liberal elites are reviled by all sides, by “left-behinds” who see the elites as in it for themselves and by oppressed minorities who see them as colluding with middle-class bigots in their belief that Islam is the problem, and hence Muslims are inherently violent and problematic.

Yet the incredible shift is in people. The rise of the Millennial generation gives hope that their ethical-centricity and globalised outlook can act as a bulwark to growing hatred. And in particular, while the government focus in on security and terrorism, the rise of the young Generation M Muslim audience – who believe in faith and modernity – is giving rise to a positive, hopeful and economically vibrant segment. The commercial and creative space is far outstripping the toxic and stagnant pace of the security agenda.

The anti-extremism agenda, which has its roots in July 7, has borne little fruit and in fact alienated Muslim communities, as well as leaving their social and economic needs unaddressed. It has also allowed far-right hatred to flourish. The extraordinary spike in anti-Muslim hate attacks, including acid attacks in just the last few weeks, is terrifying and shows it hasn’t work.

If our memory of July 7 does anything, it should be to prompt a re-think of our strategy towards terrorism, and also the relationship between the state and its Muslim communities.

The young Generation M Muslims are already articulating alternative visions, based on participation, civic engagement, creativity and engagement. What is most successful about their approach is that they take pride and inspiration from their faith. They see Islam as a force for good, not something that needs reform or obliteration. One anti-Muslim campaigner recently claimed that “less Islam is good”. That’s bigotry talking. What the evidence shows – and for some people it’s controversial to say this – is that when it comes to social relationships, community cohesion and integration, as well as tackling terrorism, it is in fact more Islam that these young Muslims need.

By Shelina Jan Mohammed a public commentator based in the UK.

BUAD 900

Here’s a big welcome to the class and a wish for a productive semester ahead.

I have sent a reading material to the class rep for distribution and expect a summary to be submitted by all when next we meet.

Submission format; 6pp minus cover and ref pages, Verdana12 font, x2 spacing.

Muslim girl challenges Ummah to create a meeting place with suitors

In a desperate letter written by a young Muslim girl, the Ummah has been challenged to urgently help young girls by providing a halal meeting place for them to be meeting potential suitors. In the letter, which is currently circulating in the social media, the girl lamented the pressure to get married quickly mounted on young girls by parents and the Ummah saying no one was really helping them achieve the goal. She suggested that one way to give a helping hand would be by creating a meeting place where marriageable girls and men can meet periodically to interact. Pundits say this could be akin to the prom  dates in the USA where young girls are chaperoned to meet, dance and interact with their potential suitors. They however said it was a long shot as religious bodies like Izala would never approve such a meeting.  
Check the letter below:
Copied:

APPEAL TO THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY TO GET THE YOUTHS MARRIED

Assalamu alaikum,

I am a 23 year old Muslim girl from a decent Muslim family, For a very long time this issue of marriage has weighed heavily in my mind. It has kept me crying most nights before sleep finally takes me. I am using this opportunity to appeal to the Ummah, our religious leaders and our parents to make getting married a bit easier for us.

To the religious leaders

 1. You completely ignore the females during your daawah sessions and talk as if it’s only the men that are exposed to fitnah, we are too you know.

 2. We want you to make it so much of an issue that our parents would heed to it, we are the ones who have the problem and so we look for daawah regarding the issue, our parents don’t listen please make them listen.

 3. “Make dua “ you say, we do all the time trust me , and we will continue to but you have to remember, good and pious husbands do not fall from trees, or start up a conversation in malls, or stop sisters on the street. Create avenues for us to meet in the halal way.

To the society

 1. You ask us “When are you getting married?” or talk behind our backs saying “Is she still not married? Who has ever attempted to offer us proposals? Or task the Islamic community with getting us married?

To our parents

 1. Our dear parents who love us so much, trying so hard to do right by us and not do to us “auren dole” by letting us engage in haram relationships claiming “ itama to nemo mijinta da kanta” or “ bama so mu takura mata”. You have indeed placed us in grave danger, being alone with a non muharram, talking and doing things we shouldn’t be doing.

 2. You have made getting married so hard for us, you create reasons and excuses that have no significance in Islam, but ” you have to finish school “ they say, but ” he earns very little “ they say, but  “he is not the same tribe as you “ they say. Kindly refer to the imams for explanation on what the religion says concerning criteria for choosing husbands for your daughters.

Finally, the Muslim society has failed us and our parents have failed us in regards to aiding us to protect our chastity. 

This is my contribution I hope this open letter of mine creates a trend, I hope the message spreads far and wide  and I hope whoever this message reaches tries to forward it to a higher Islamic organization.

Spread the word: The youths are in distress, trust me, we girls are. 

Written by a concerned but hopeful Muslim sister.

“I don’t feel safe working here”: says African American as he quits company owned by white racist

An African American man in Louisiana quit his job after management dismissed his concerns over finding a noose strung up near his break area.

Jason Allen from New Orleans discovered the noose after arriving to work at the Kearney Companies in Baton Rouge.

“The first thing I thought and came to mind was slavery and black people being hung and intimidation,” the machine operator told BRProud.com.

The general manager is reported to have laughed when he mentioned the noose.

“He got out of his company truck laughing and smiling saying someone has a sick sense of humor,” Allen said.

It’s illegal to publicly display a hangman’s noose in the state of Louisiana. Allen and colleagues contacted authorities over the incident. If caught, the perpetrator could face a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Allen said he quit because the company didn’t address any of the concerns raised by employees.

“I don’t feel like this is a comfortable work environment and I don’t feel happy or safe to work here anymore,” he said.

The company said they are investigating the matter.

READ MORE: Hate on display: Noose found in DC African American museum & N-word scrawled on celebrity LA home

“We aware of the symbol that was placed after work hours at one of our warehouse locations.

“We are investigating this unfortunate situation and we regret any negative feelings that this symbol might have caused with our employees at that location,” the company said in statement.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate-group monitor, said nooses show support for the days of segregation. “The noose not only symbolizes racism, but also served as the actual murder implement for the lynching of people because of the color of their skin.”

Noose laws vary from state to state. However, it is illegal to display them in many parts of America.

From RT