Muslim women break the fast of Ramadan. US soldiers have been taught by the military that civilian populations of Muslims are fair game for attack.

Future leaders in the United States armed services have been taught by the military that Muslims must be wiped out through “total war” before the terrorist threat to America is erased. In classes, they were told that the US needs to use “Hiroshima tactics,” killing not just soldiers, but entire cities and that civilian populations were fair game. It’s true that there are Muslims who hate us; it’s also true that there are Christians who hate all Muslims. Neither religion can boast the love for humanity that both faiths call for, but neither should be condemned as being all evil, either. The Pentagon has cancelled the classes, which were held at held at the Defense Department’s Joint Forces Staff College, but hundreds of young officers have been told that the official position of the US military is that Muslims are all terrorists, and that does real damage to our position in the world. If you want to turn more Muslims into terrorists, then treat all of them as terrorists. The problem here is that millions and millions of Muslims are peace-loving people who have no interest in killing Americans. The ones who hate us are led by hate-filled people, not by God. The same is true of Christians. If you are a Muslim child in a predominately Muslim country with no Christians among your circle of friends and family, you’re not likely to understand that most Christians don’t want to make war on you. We can be painted as villains because we are the unknown. Here in the United States, Muslims are in the minority. After 9/11, we tended to blame all Muslims for the actions of a violent minority and we punished those we knew to be followers of the teachings of the Prophet, Muhammad. But how many of us have spent time with people of the Islam faith? Until I covered religion for a newspaper in New York, I knew little about the faith, just what I could recall from a course in world religions I took many years ago. In 1993, I spent a day of Ramadan with the people of a small mosque in Chestnut Ridge, NY, and it turned out to be one of the most profoundly spiritual experiences of my life. I rose before dawn to eat breakfast and fasted all day, then broke the fast with my new friends at the mosque. The food was fabulous and the company even more so. After dinner, I spent the evening with the women, talking about faith and family, and it was there I learned the real meaning of sisterhood. The experience shattered my feminist delusion that women and men are really the same. We are different, but equal. Our two faiths are more alike than I had ever dreamed. We talked about God’s mercy and grace; we talked about our children and our hopes and dreams. We had much in common. As I rose to leave, one of the women called out to me. “I just want to tell you something,” she said. “The word Muslim means lover of God, and you, my sister, are Muslim.” I have never been paid a higher compliment. A few days later, as the story was about to go to press, a group of fanatic Muslims tried to blow up the World Trade Center. My editor asked me to call my Muslim friends and ask them about the truck bomb. “OK,” I said. “As long as someone calls a Christian and asks about David Koresh and the mayhem in Waco for the Easter story.” He didn’t think the two were the same. After all, Muslims are known to be violent. I pointed out the Crusades, the Inquisition and other well known examples of Christian violence, and he agreed to talk about how we might cover this without offending people. “We need to educate our readers that most Muslims are appalled by this,” he said. The solution was for me to call the Imam and talk to him about the violence in the city and allow him to condemn it, apart from the story on Ramadan. “These are not people who are inspired by Allah,” he said. “These are people who are inspired by earthly power.” The military officers who gave this class in genocide need to meet some of the Muslims I know, and the Christians who condone this hatred need to look into their own hearts to see the reflection of what they’re saying about their Muslim brothers and sisters.

Welcome to my new little corner of A World of Progress. Think of it as the bonus round for our AWOP Radio shows. (If the players fail to load, please try refreshing the page)

This week I am bringing you the music widgets from some of the great artists we have been talking to on the show. It’s like the AWOP Radio music festival!

Enjoy : )

On September the 4th we had The Honeycutters  in the studio for live music and conversation.

11/27/11 we welcome John Clark to the show.

We are looking forward to having Lyric in the loft with us in December!

11/13/11 Piratas De Dios joined us via phone from the Pirate studio in Ensenada Mexico

Please click on the little “F” in their players to become a fan and support these indie artists who have been so kind to support AWOP Radio. Tell ‘em AWOP sent you!

Our First Guest is Filmmaker Laine Causey who has written the next great Lesbian Love Story set in 1960s Texas. She’s headed to LA this winter to start Production on the Film. As there have been few Lesbian Love films and even fewer set in 1960′s Texas we can’t wait to hear about this story. Her Film Company, Magnolia Bay Films is based In Houston Texas.

John Clark is our second guest. He and his wife Mary Ann are down in Tampa Florida working hard to support the Occupy Movement. We will talk to them about Occupy, but also talk to John about his music and how his music has contributed to Social Justice Issues and Causes. He has written some great songs including one called “What We Came Here For” that is dedicated to the Occupiers. We will be playing some of his tunes and talking social change!

Don’t forget to visit our shop and support our adventures in grassroots Progressive internet radio!

This week we visit with Laffy, one of our favorite women bloggers, from Political Carnival and the Nicole Sandler Show. Laffy joins us to talk about politics, blogging and blunts… not that kind of blunt! This kind. She is a regular on the Nicole Sandler show and we are super excited to have her spend some time with us. Be sure and follow her @Gottalaff on Twitter.

What can I say about Nell Minow? I met her on Twitter after I posted a link to her Dad’s famous “Vast Television Wasteland” speech. You should follow her too @nminow

• Daughter of Newton Minow former FCC Chair who delivered the famous “Vast Wasteland of T.V. speech  
• The SS Minow from Gilligan’s Island was named after her father.
• World class movie critic writing essays and commentary at her  Movie Mom blog
• Expert in corporate governance. Robert J Elisberg has surmised “I’ve long suspected that the seven most terrifying words to a corporate executive are, “I have Nell Minow on Line Two.” given that she once recommended her own father be dismissed from a Board of Directors because he missed too many meetings.

How’s that for a great line up. Don’t miss it!

Here is the live stream show link–> Listen Live Sunday 7 to 9 Eastern.

This week we feature our great new segments Kitchen Table Politics with Momma Politico and The 99 Report with Allie McNeil. We are getting some really good feedback from listeners on these segments, so don’t be

shy, tell us what you thing about them too! It’s been quite a week and the ladies will be covering everything from #Occupy Oakland to the ground game in Ohio that took down the Koch funded attack on labor.

Our special guest this week is Pirate Larry of the band Piratas de Dios. Not only is he a talented musician he is also into the politics of currency and will be talking to us about money : ) Who doesn’t like to talk about money?

We will be taking listener calls so give us a ring and tell us what’s on your mind!

Check out our previous shows from right here.

Poor Herman Cain. All this trouble and he didn’t even get any. Curse of the Perv, Herman.

Miss our show last week? Not to worry here are the last 5 episodes!

This week’s live show link—> November 6th

We have a great show for you this Sunday! The Mad as Hell Doctors, Dr’s. Paul Hochfeld and Mike Huntington will be joining us for their second appearance on the show! Please check out the great work they are doing to make single payer healthcare a reality for all Americans. They have a site, but don’t miss connecting with their vibrant community activism on Facebook. Tell them you heard them on AWOP Radio!

Want to know about the healthcare crisis and why we have one? Don’t miss the film collection at the mad as Hell Doctors site. Spend some time watching these short documentaries and you will have a better understanding of the issues and reasons we are facing a third world  healthcare crisis in modern America. Knowledge is power.

We are a small group of Oregon-Based doctors who care.

We believe there is only one way to control costs, one way to remove profiteering from the system, one way to reclaim the care of our patients, and one way to be sure everyone is covered: we must replace our current pay-or-die system and with a comprehensive, publicly financed, privately delivered, Single Payer system that puts people first.

Our moment to take a stand for Single Payer is NOW. We may not have another opportunity like this in our lifetime. Please support this unprecedented road trip to real health care reform.

It’s Momma Politico and kitchen table politics! She will be running down all the biggest stories of the week!

Allie McNeil brings us the 99 Report from the ground at #OccupyCleveland

Please take a moment to check out her blog where she works tirelessly to make sure no more families ever have to lose a son because they can’t afford healthcare.

We are also excited to welcome David Swanson of the Site “Let’s try Democracy” to our #OCCUPY panel! David is a Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, creator of ProsecuteBushCheney.org and Washington Director of Democrats.com, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, Voters for Peace, and the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, and chair of the Robert Jackson Steering Committee.

In addition to being an activist, David is the author of “War Is A Lie” and “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.” He blogs athttp://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online activist organization http://rootsaction.org.

This week we talk Kitchen table politics with Momma Politico and we will get the 99 report from Allie McNeil R.N. She is helping with the medical care needs of #occupycleveland.

As always, we appreciate your support of our grassroots progressive radio show and invite you to share us with your friends and followers.

You can set reminders for the show and find all our social media links at our live show page —> 10/30/11 Livestream

Check out our previous 5 shows from right here.