A BAD RULE FOR VOTE-MONGERING

I have been very vocal against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the loot of the Middle East by the Western powers of Europe over Centuries and by our own oil tycoons in the not-too distant past, and the denial of freedom and a state of their own to Palestinians. As a Democrat, it is not easy for me to criticize a Democratic President I rooted and voted for, but I have criticized Biden too for tolerating the atrocities in Gaza. So, let no one accuse me of islamophobia or religious intolerance. As a Hindu, I would be equally opposed if this were a Hindu temple.

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This new rule in Minneapolis is bad in every respect and is more a vote mongering gesture than anythng else.

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1. A call for prayer should be a right in USA, but in these days does it have to be on a blaring set of speakers mounted atop a tower that disturb the peace and the beauty of silence that is already disturbed by so much noise pollution due to all kinds of traffic and electro-mechanical devices?

2. Today's Internet and wireless phones provide ample ways to make a call for prayer and reach those who want to be reached without disturbing others

3 What about my right not to be disturbed by unwanted loud blaring of devices irrespective of any religion and except to warn people of emergencies?

4. What about children, senior citizens, the sick and workers including doctors and policemen on call whose rest and sleep will be disturbed by loud noise?

5. The holy books of the religions were written when no such technology like loudspeakers existed and do not require such an onslaught on people's ears.

6. Are we going to have a competition in cacophony by competing religions as you see in every major town and city in India and other places?

7. Left alone, this runs the risk of increasing religious intolerance, and particularly against minority religions, and causing more division in this nation.

This rule is more than WOKE!!! It is dumb, stupid, and non-democratic in every way except perhaps to religious fanatics. I appeal to all moderate and progressive muslims to kindly stand up against this; your own school going children and old and sick will be impacted, and this will only increase the resentment towards Islam in general. It should be challenged in the courts and reversed at the earliiest opportunity. Point #2 above alone should show that its reversal will not curtail freedom of religion.

PEACE NOW !!!

Israelis protest for Peace.

While no one or nothing can justify the killing of innocent civilians, and our heartfelt sympathies for their families and the outrage for and condemnation of this terrible act should be strong and unequivocal, let us also remember that there are no winners in any war, especially among civilians caught in the cross fire.

This new violence has its genesis in Netanyahu's disregard for previous agreements as well as Trump's unwise backtracking of US policies that emboldened an already rabid Netanyahu and pushed Hamas to the wall. Biden's placing his own re-election concerns and the resulting kid glove approach to Netanyahu also compounded the problem. Indeed, there are more than two bloody hands and more than one continent responsible for this tragedy.

Let there be no more bloodshed, and let the call for immediate peace be made in the strongest terms with supportive action to curtail all violent participants.

One thing the Palestinian supporters in the US need to consider is if indeed things would be better or worse for Paletinians (and Israelis, and the USA too) with Trump in power. Will Kamala Harris make a difference, or better still can it be that she does not have to even bear that burden by Biden becoming more cognizant of the damage done and being done each day by the warring parties and by his own hemi-paresis (i.e., one sided paralysis)? PS: A person with paresis has muscle weakness, but can still move the affected muscles, albeit more weakly than normal. Paresis is also known as partial paralysis