So it's less than 48 hours away to the US presidential election 2020. Trump or Biden? In a "normal" presidential election, pre-Trump era, a 10-point lead in a final poll is nothing but a foregone conclusion. Game over. Khalas. But to quote John Kasich, former Ohio Republican-governor-turned-Biden-supporter, "these are not normal times." Nobody is taking the polls as seriously as before, especially after what happened in 2016. The polls are no longer as reliable or as believable as they used to be. Joe Biden could very well win the popular vote but end up losing the electoral college, just like Hillary four years ago and Al Gore in 2000. But 2020 is not 2016 . The Covid19 pandemic has shattered America's "invincible" image and exposed the failure of Trump's leadership. I mean, how do you explain statements like, "I take full responsibility, but it's not my fault"? That is "fascinatingly" one of the most Trumpi...

  The UAE-Israel "peace deal" is officially the worst Arab-Israeli deal since the Egypt-Israel peace treaty 1979 and Oslo Accord 1992.  Despite Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the UAE state media's best effort to frame the deal as an Israeli "compromise" - which is nothing but a big joke - the ground reality remains the same. Nothing changes. Israel has been and is still occupying West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967. There is nothing "historic" or "breakthrough" in this deal as claimed by President Trump.  It's all status quo for Israel, and nothing for the Palestinians. #FreePalestine

Just when you thought you have seen the worst from the Orange in the White House, he doubles down with more of his buffoonery. 5 years ago this would've been a satirical news headline from  The Onion   (a popular satirical website). But in 2020, it's the "new normal". His crazy idea to inject disinfectant to kill the  covid19  virus is officially the 'Brawndo moment' in American politics. (Note: Brawndo is the sports drink brand used in watering the plants in "Idiocracy" (2006). Netflix should consider airing this Trump-ish dystopian comedy to all subscribers) :p

"Bernie Sanders suspends presidential campaign" - BBC . So Bernie has officially suspended his presidential election campaign. What is the meaning of it?  Bernie's exit from the race means that Joe Biden would be the Democratic party's candidate against Donald Trump. And THAT is as good as handing over the 2020 election to the Orange in the White House.  Joe Biden is, I think, the worst Democratic candidate in 20 years; he is worse than Al Gore or Kerry or Obama or Hillary. All of these 'status quo' establishment Democrats lost against their respective Republican opponents, except Barack Hussein Obama who won twice (2008 and 2012). Biden has the least support among young Democratic voters in a generation. You don't win a presidential election without energising a key group of voters - in this case the youth votes - like how Trump did in 2016 by energising the purple state working class (those who previously voted Obama) and the rural conservatives. ...

Apart from books and coffee, I'm also quite a fan of maps. I grew up with a world map up on my bedroom wall. So it came naturally that I enjoyed and aced Geografi in school. But this map is a special one. It is not just a map, but a reminder. A reminder of the longest illegal occupation and subjugation of an entire group of people in modern history. A reminder of 'Al Nakba' or the depopulation (read: ethnic cleansing) of Palestinians from their towns and villages in 1948, followed by the occupation of East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza in 1967, until today. Donald Trump's latest decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would only make things worse for peace and stability. I mean things are already bad for the Palestinians. How long should the Palestinians be expected to live under the Israeli Military Occupation? Can we have a timeframe, at least? Or alternatively, can the Palestinians be given Israeli citizenship? Unfortunately, Israel is onl...

"The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation and Hope are Reshaping the World" (Anchor Books, 2009) I have read this remarkable work by one of France's leading scholars, Dominique Moïsi, 5 years ago. It remains as one of the best books on contemporary global politics in my collection. But nothing quite struck me of how spot-on his views were, until recently; namely the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of the far-right anti-immigrant parties across Europe, the global appeal of the IS terrorist group, the rise and the populism of the xenophobic Republican Donald Trump in America and most recently the British fear and anger behind #Brexit. To Moïsi, the three major global civilisations are represented by three important emotions; West; America and Europe (fear), Islamic (humiliation) and, India, China, East Asia and Africa (hope). It is grossly insufficient to only be focusing on Trump's racism and his personality alone without understanding...

We (America) have become an idiocracy. And it only took two and a half centuries - Joel Stein, TIME. This is not the first article that I have read about "Idiocracy" and the surrealism of American politics. In fact, I have tweeted something similar 2 years ago (Ha ha). But anyways, if there is one brilliantly stupid Hollywood movie that I'd like to recommend, it's "Idiocracy". It's just too stupid when I watched it a few years ago but the stupidity is becoming the new reality in American politics. The sci-fi comedy movie was set 500 years in the future but I think nobody expected the fictitious narratives to become reality too soon; 2016! I think I know what to ask Donald Trump if I ever get the chance to see him;  "Have you watched Idiocracy?"

TIME 2015 Person of the Year. It is without doubt, to my mind, that the 21st century Germany Chancellor, Angela Merkel is the equivalent of the visionary 15th century Ottoman ruler, Sultan Bayezid II, who welcomed thousands of Jewish refugees to Ottoman lands. While Bayezid II accepted thousands of Spanish Jews seeking refuge from the Spanish Inquisition 1492, Merkel has to date welcomed more than 100,000 Syrian refugees and is reported to take in a million more refugees. This is why history is very important. As George Santayana famously said, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it". Donald Trump is one good example.  His ridiculous proposal to ban Muslims from entering America is no different from King Ferdinand's decree to expel Muslims and Jews from Spain. Someone should really remind Trump and his fellow GOP supporters about the dark history of the Spanish Inquisition. I cannot imagine the kind of disaster if Trump becomes presid...