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Today's Stories November 11, 2010 Peter Linebaugh November 10, 2010 Allan Nairn Dean Baker Nicola Nasser Missy Beattie Sergio Ferrari Patrick Cockburn Dave Lindorff Mumia: New Lawyer, New Round Sherwood Ross Joshua Frank Website of the Day November 9, 2010 Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Jordan Flaherty Afshin Rattansi Annie Gell Dean Baker Dave Lindorff Stewart J. Lawrence Walter Brasch Website of the Day November 8, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Thomas Healy David Swanson David Smith-Ferri Ralph Nader Ray McGovern Torture Sans Regrets: Bush's Confessions John Feffer Christopher Ketcham Website of the Day November 5 - 7, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Vijay Prashad Patrick Cockburn Darwin Bond-Graham
Mike Whitney Linn Washington, Jr. Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud Larry Portis Gary Leupp William Loren Katz Brian Cloughley Mark Weisbrot Rubén M. Lo Vuolo, Daniel Raventós / Pablo Yanes Joseph Nevins Neve Gordon Alan Farago Stewart J. Lawrence James R. King Ron Jacobs Franklin Lamb James McEnteer Richard Phelps Saul Landau David Ker Thomson The Long Argument Evelyn Pringle Joseph G. Ramsey Until Pigs Fly: the Morning After With Michael Moore Stanley Heller Missy Beattie Harvey Wasserman Billy Wharton Shamus Cooke Linh Dinh Windy Cooler Charles R. Larson Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Website of the Weekend November 4, 2010 Doug Peacock Andrew Cockburn Iain Boal Paul Craig Roberts Chase Madar Dave Lindorff Russell Mokhiber Laura Flanders Website of the Day November 3, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Franklin C. Spinney Chris Floyd Dissatisfied Mind: Flickers of Hope in a Deadly Political Cycle William Blum Sheldon Richman Stephen Soldz Mark Weisbrot Stewart J. Lawrence Manuel Garcia, Jr. Election Night in Oakland Norman Solomon Website of the Day November 2, 2010 Vincent Navarro Ishmael Reed Uri Avnery Mark Driscoll Mike Whitney Linh Dinh David Macaray Randall Amster Wikilessons: War is a Joke, But It Isn't Funny Betsy Ross Yves Engler Website of the Day
November 1, 2010 Ted Honderich Steven Higgs John Ross Dean Baker Ralph Nader Justin E. H. Smith Marjorie Cohn Scott Boehm Brian Tierney Trish Kahle Martha Rosenberg Bathrobe Erectus: Feting Hugh Hefner Website of the Day
October 29 - 31, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Joe Bageant Peter Lee David Rosen Mike Whitney David Smith-Ferri Afghanistan: "Is This Normal?" David Macaray Chamber of Horrors: Turbo-Lobbyists for the Ruling Class Rannie Amiri Jonathan Cook Ramzy Baroud Ellen Brown Dr. Nina Pierpont Dave Lindorff Brian Horejsi Daniel Raventós Worldwide Concentration of Wealth: What the Figures Say Richard Anderson-Connolly David Thomson Christopher Brauchli Bob Fitrakis / Harvey Wasserman Charging Rove With Racketeering Roberto Rodriguez Arizona Blues: a Time and Decade of Betrayal Ron Jacobs Farzana Versey Michael Donnelly Gerald E. Scorse John Grant Mickey Z. Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini Peter Stone Brown David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
October 28, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Joseph Grosso Kirkpatrick Sale Michael Winship Sherwood Ross Mark Weisbrot Sam Smith Washington: Where Smart People Go to Do Stupid Things Nicholas Arguimbau Sheldon Richman Franklin Lamb Website of the Day October 27, 2010 Conn Hallinan Michael Schwalbe Dave Lindorff Gareth Porter Dean Baker Clancy Sigal Ram Etwareea Stewart J. Lawrence Alan Farago Binoy Kampmark Offshoring Middle Earth: Prostituting the Hobbit Website of the Day
October 26, 2010 Pam Martens Joann Wypijewski Clarence Lusane Sold Brothers: the Bizarro World of Juan Williams and Clarence Thomas Gareth Porter Stephen Soldz Lawrence Davidson Alan Farago Dean Baker Jerica Arents Gerald E. Scorse Messing with Mankiw: Whining About Taxes and Work Website of the Day
October 25, 2010 Nancy Scheper-Hughes Patrick Cockburn Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Bill Quigley Winslow T. Wheeler David Macaray Stewart J. Lawrence Ray McGovern Missy Beattie Website of the Day
October 22 - 24, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Lee Ballinger Franklin C. Spinney Rannie Amiri Ralph Nader Laura Carlsen Avi Shlaim Mike Whitney Josh Stieber Kathy Kelly Sasan Fayazmanesh Conn Hallinan Linn Washington, Jr. Christopher Brauchli Mark Weisbrot Stan Cox Ramzy Baroud Dave Lindorff Benjamin Dangl Peter Stone Brown Julie Hilden David Ker Thomson Missy Beattie Suzy Dean Charles M. Young M. Shahid Alam Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 21, 2010 Diana Johnstone Joanne Mariner Mike Whitney Lawrence Davidson Bill Quigley / Alan Farago David Smith-Ferri Tolu Olorunda Educational Heroes and Myths Website of the Day October 20, 2010 Philippe Marlière Tariq Ali Anthony Pahnke / Mark N. Hoffman David Smith-Ferri Patrick Madden Ishmael Reed Dean Baker Mike Roselle Dave Marsh Pete Redington Website of the Day October 19, 2010 Pam Martens Uri Avnery Ralph Nader Clarence Lusane Sherwood Ross Trudy Bond Sherry Wolf Yves Engler Camilla Fox / Erin McManus Website of Day October 18, 2010 Mike Whitney Jonathan Cook Martha Rosenberg Stewart J. Lawrence P. Sainath James Zogby Ken Cole, Ralph Maughan / Brian Ertz Patrick Brennan Jack Heyman John Grant Website of the Day October 15 - 17, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Slavoj Žižek Paul Craig Roberts Adrienne Pine / Peter Lee Jonathan Cook Bitta Mostofi Franklin Lamb Rannie Amiri Robert Alvarez Joe Paff David Rosen David Correia Sam Hitchmough Ramzy Baroud Dave Lindorff Graham Usher Gary Leupp David Macaray Ron Jacobs Peter Cervantes-Gautschi Lawrence Swaim Linn Washington David Ker Thomson Norman Solomon Michael Dawson John Stanton Jayne Lyn Stahl Paul Buchheit Ziad Abbas Anthony Papa Hardy Jones Missy Beattie Charles R. Larson Peter Stone Brown David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 14, 2010 Mike Whitney Jonathan Cook Dean Baker Marjorie Cohn Stewart J. Lawrence Carl Finamore Dave Lindorff Raúl Zibechi Willie L. Pelote Website of the Day October 13, 2010 Vijay Prashad Uri Avnery Dean Baker Winslow T. Wheeler Patrick Bond Michael Winship Myles B. Hoenig Tom Turnipseed Website of the Day October 12, 2010 Ralph Nader Franklin C. Spinney Mike Whitney Robert Alvarez Deepak Tripathi Chris Genovali / Camilla Fox Harvey Wasserman Robert Jensen Mark Weisbrot Charles R. Larson Website of the Day
October 11, 2010 Michael Hudson Bill Quigley Linn Washington Paul Krassner Jonathan Cook Cal Winslow Sherry Wolf Peter Stone Brown David Michael Green Jayne Lyn Stahl Website of the Day October 8 - 10, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Paul Craig Roberts Alain Gresh Patrick Cockburn Rannie Amiri Conn Hallinan Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Sam Smith Yvonne Ridley Ellen Brown Santwana Dasgupta David Macaray Labor Secretaries: Frances and Elaine Gerald E. Scorse Tony Newman David Ker Thomson Christopher Brauchli Jon Mitchell Kevin Zeese Steven Best Missy Beattie Binoy Kampmark Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini Dave Marsh David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
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November 11, 2010 The Scent of BigotryWhy the Oklahoma Shariah Law is UnconstitutionalBy LIAQUAT ALI KHAN and JASMINE ABOU-KASSEM On November 2, 2010, an overwhelming majority of Oklahoma citizens (slightly more than 70%) approved State Question (SQ) 755, as a state constitutional amendment, forbidding Oklahoma courts from “considering or using” international law or Shariah law. Oklahoma State Representative Rex Duncan, the amendment’s principal author, characterized the Shariah as a “cancer that must be removed with a preemptive strike.” A petition has already been filed with the United States District Court to seek a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of SQ 755. It remains to be seen whether the federal courts will strike down the amendment under the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution. This commentary highlights the practical implications and legal effects of SQ 755 to conclude that the Oklahoma courts would be unable to surgically remove the Shariah from the myriad of legal relations emanating from the laws of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah, the primary sources of the Shariah law. Given the omnipresence of the Shariah law in Muslim life and its inseparability from practicing the religion of Islam, SQ 755 will go down in history as an ill-informed proposal that deceived the people of Oklahoma into voting for an illegal constitutional amendment, singled out the Oklahoma Muslim community for religious indignity, and tried to obligate Oklahoma courts to do what they, in good conscience, and as a matter of law, simply can not do. Religious Rights SQ 755 impinges upon religious rights protected under the U.S. Constitution. The application of Shariah law is necessary to protect Muslims’ civil rights and religious freedom under the U.S. Constitution. Take a simple case of supplying halal food for Muslim inmates in the Oklahoma prisons. The Shariah obligates Muslims to eat halal food much like Judaism obligates Jews to eat kosher food. In Massachusetts, Muslim inmates filed a civil rights action against the Department of Corrections for not providing halal food, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The United States District Court held that refusal to provide halal food to Muslim inmates (and likewise a ban on their weekly group prayer services) “substantially burdened Muslim inmates’ exercise of their religious beliefs.” Relying on this holding, the Superior Court of Massachusetts extended the provision of halal food “to all inmates who have demonstrated a sincere belief in the tenets of Islam.” Now suppose this case were to arise in Oklahoma. SQ 755 would require the state courts to deny, as a matter of summary judgment, the Muslim inmates’ petition for halal food simply because granting such a petition is tantamount to “considering or using” the Shariah law. But would the Oklahoma courts, in order to give effect to SQ 755, set aside the inmates’ civil and religious rights protected under the U.S. Constitution? The courts would inevitably conclude that SQ 755 cannot override the U.S. Constitution. Choice of Law Furthermore, SQ 755 impairs the freedom of contract. In a dynamic global economy, legal systems accommodate parties’ considered decision to choose a law that would govern their contract and allows the parties to choose a forum to resolve potential contract disputes. The Shariah is the choice of law in numerous international contracts. In 1995, a Saudi Arabian corporation entered into a multi-million dollar contract with an American telecommunication company. The parties agreed to subject the contract to the Shariah law. Ruling on a breach of contract lawsuit, a United States Court enforced the Shariah law as the parties’ choice of law – and rendered a Shariah ruling that was indeed favorable to the American corporation. Under SQ 755, Oklahoma courts would be obligated to disregard the parties’ choice of law if it were the Shariah law. Even more importantly, SQ 755 inaccurately presumes that Oklahoma businesses, which may opt for the Shariah law in international transactions, would always be better off under the Oklahoma contract law than they would be under the Shariah law. In doing so, SQ 755 disregards Oklahomans’ freedom of contract to make legally savvy and profitable business decisions. SQ 755 will also have a chilling effect on international investments. The ban on Oklahoma judges’ discretion to consider international or Shariah law will discourage international businesses from investing in Oklahoma or consenting to the jurisdiction of Oklahoma courts. Family Rights Thousands of Muslim families, derived from diverse ethnic groups, domestic and foreign, live in various cities of Oklahoma. Some of these families are native to Oklahoma, and some have migrated from Muslim states, including Egypt, Palestine, and Pakistan. For centuries, U.S. common law has recognized marriages contracted in foreign countries. Accordingly, a marriage that is valid under the law of the state or country where it is celebrated is valid in Oklahoma unless it is repugnant to public policy. Under SQ 755, marriages contracted under the Shariah law of Egypt, Palestine, or Pakistan would no longer be valid because their validity will depend upon “considering or using” the Shariah law that SQ 755 specifically prohibits. For example, a couple married in Egypt will be unable to enforce their marital rights in Oklahoma because the Shariah marriage cannot be recognized under SQ 755. This invidious discrimination regarding the recognition of Shariah marriages will greatly impact the marital and family rights of numerous law-abiding Muslim citizens of Oklahoma. The non-recognition of Shariah marriages will also undermine the rights of children from these marriages who are born in Oklahoma. Scent of Bigotry While Oklahoma courts have been burdened with the impossible task of removing the Shariah law from the daily life of Muslim communities, SQ 755 spreads bigotry and prejudice throughout the state. Since 1995, when Timothy McVeigh, a U.S. army veteran, detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Muslims in Oklahoma have been singled out for unfair treatment and blatant discrimination. Muslim women have been denied jobs and drivers’ licenses for wearing the headscarf. A number of Oklahoma newspapers have detailed discrimination stories against Muslim men and women. Additionally, politicians, including Rex Duncan, a lawyer by profession, continue to stir hatred against Muslim citizens of Oklahoma. Duncan’s commentary on SQ 755 shows that the amendment is certainly focused on Shariah law and not international law. SQ 755 is an attempt to demonize the Muslim population in Oklahoma. Ironically, in an effort to ensure only the application of Oklahoma law and U.S. Constitutional law, SQ 755 itself violates Article VI, clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution’s mandate that all treaties and laws of the United States (including customary international law) be the supreme law of the land and binding on all state judges – notwithstanding any contrary state law. Fortunately, many Oklahoma residents, civil liberties and human rights organizations alike have recognized the unenforceability of SQ 755. A significant thirty percent of Oklahoma voters voted against SQ 755. We hope that the Oklahoma courts will find a way to discard SQ 755 from the fabric of the law. Jasmine Abou-Kassem is an attorney with the law firm of Polsinelli Shughart, P.C. in Kansas City, Missouri.
CounterPunch Print Edition Exclusive! CLASS WAR IN THE U.K. AND FRANCE Susan Watkins, editor of New Left Review, reports on Britain’s Tri-partisan Electoral Monolith and how the Slash-and-Burn Tory Coalition is picking up from where New Labour left off. Larry Portis reports from France on the mass protests and the shrivelling of Sarkozy. Peter Lee gives us an rivetting piece on the awful tragedy of China’s Yellow River.
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