Senator Harry Reid issued a statement on marriage equality that balances his religious beliefs with his liberal principles.
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aziz
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aziz
The culinary delight of Bohri food! (mmmmm)
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aziz
“Those bombings that took place in the Middle East were thought of as retaliation by the terrorists, and if we thought of what we did as retaliation, certainly we’re gonna find more retaliation from people in the Middle East. From terrorists specifically, I should say, because most Middle Eastern people are not terrorists… I think that another thing America needs to think about is our racism, racism that comes from the United States towards Muslim people and towards Arabic people. And that’s something that has to stop, and the United States has to start respecting people in the Middle East in order to find a solution to the problem that’s been building up over the years.” — Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (aka MCA)
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/20125813653185358.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount -
aziz
“The Holocaust has run like a river of blood through all my books,” Mr. Sendak once said, explaining that as the child of Jewish immigrants from Poland, the Nazi death camps were never far from his mind.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/maurice-sendak-author-and-illustrator-of-works-about-childrens-survival-dies/2012/05/08/gIQA8lXMAU_story.html?hpid=z1 -
aziz
@Goldberg3000 gives seven perspectives on the Israeli political revolution (Kadima joining Likud).
Though, I still doubt Israel will ever attack Iran, and if anything this new alliance makes it even more unlikely.
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aziz
The first underwater mosque, off the coast of Saudi Arabia?
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aziz
May the 4th be with you! Allah is the Force after all…
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aziz
also don’t miss Irfan’s classic post about Star Wars and Islam: http://almihrab.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/star-wars-an-islamic-perspective/
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Mohamamd
I like this Islamic Web site http://www.islammercy.com
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aziz
over recent years, @SalmanRushdie’s increasingly vitriolic persona has ironically come to share many of the same qualities as his detractors. His well-earned sense of injustice has hardened into a permanent state of self-righteousness which often makes him every bit as thin-skinned and easily offended as his critics.
http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-immeasurable-hurt-of-salman-rushdie-250496.html -
aziz
President Obama has yet to set foot in an American Muslim mosque since being elected. This may have electoral consequences in Michigan and Florida, key swing states for his re-election.
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Jo
and many American Jews ( just right of center) have commented that he never set foot in Israel. Poor guy. Crushed on all sides.(she said with tongue in cheek). Hope not
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aziz
Obama’s [Afghanistan speech] is indicative of the lack of seriousness to which the US has approached the subject of political reconciliation.
http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2012/05/the-problem-with-obamas-afghanistan-speech.html -
aziz
A primer on the candidates for the 2012 Egyptian elections, courtesy @CairoReview of AUC
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aziz
@SalamStock is a stock photography collection for the muslim niche – a mix between Flickr and istock.com. Aspiring photographers can share their content for free or sell their files with royalty-free licenses.
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aziz
A complete guide to Hipster racism at Jezebel: http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism
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aziz
Students at George Washington University disrupt talk by Michael Oren, hold up signs reading ‘Oren supports colonialism,’ and ‘What are you going to do with 30 billion?’
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aziz
Tom Friedman says we should be funding scholarships, not tanks, in the middle east. It’s a nice thought, but Abu Muqawama throws some cold water on it.
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aziz
One year later: looking back on the post-Osama bin Laden world.
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thabet
The post-Osama bin Laden world: where torturers and war criminals run free*.
*Applies only to torturers and war criminals on The Right Side. Those on The Wrong Side may face death either via a drone, or after protracted civil strife.
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aziz
regardless of the flaws in execution, and I’m with you on the need to cease the drone war (and I go further, I want an end to the doctrine of collateral damage itself) – isn’t there an objectively Right and Wrong side? I think we can agree that these sides exist, though defining them is probably trickier. AQ wants Right/Wrong to be Islam/West, neocons want it to be Civilzation/Terrorists, but neither narrative depicts reality acccurately enough. Im not sure what terms I would use for Right/Wrong, in a clinical sense. How would you define them? (assuming you agree they exist)
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thabet
Why do torturers and war criminals in the West (esp US, UK) — or our allies — go unpunished? Why are they not pursued with the same vigour as, say, torturers and war criminals who also happen to be our ‘enemies’?
We routinely see calls for indictments against the Syrian or Sudanese regime for war crimes; but even the mildest of criticisms of Israel is met with derision. Iran is denounced as ‘medieval’ and in violation of ‘international obligations’ wrt human rights by the same politicians who will appear smiling on camera with the House of Saud.
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aziz
free water and electricity: Al Qaeda embraces civic duties and courts hearts and minds in South Yemen.
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aziz
of course, it isn’t doing them much good: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/01/poll-many-muslims-in-mideast-pakistan-have-poor-view-of-al-qaeda/
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thabet
Also according to Pew, al-Q seems about as popular in the regions polled as the US…
That should tell you something.
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aziz
not really. Love/hate of the US is basically irrelevant – its driven by perception towards the IP conflict, towards imperial legacies, western history, and of course local islamist propaganda. AlQ’s declining popularity is relevant because it is declining – as purveyors of the propaanda themselves, its quite significant that they have squandered all their good will. Their claim to legitimacy was accepted at face value when it was theoretical, but now that people have had a chance to tase their actual rule they are repulsed.
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Arwi
Love/hate of the US is driven by “perceptions” of the IP conflict, imperial legacies, western history and Islamist propaganda. So drones killing civilians, tellig lies to make war on Iraq, shock and awe, Guantanamo, torture in Abu Ghraib, the presence of US troops,, etc. are not factors.
Strange that attitudes towards the US are driven by “perceptions” rather than experiences, when any number of places in West Asia have experienced US actions directly.
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aziz
I didnt say that attitudes were driven by perceptions of the US, I said they were driven by perceptions of the IP conflict.
I dont think its accurate to lump all US actions into one category either. Afghans and Iraqis alike will are not unanimous in their judgement of our actions there (as evidenced by eth very real angst in both places amongst the public about our impending withdrawal).
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Arwi
The popularity of Islamist groups has been in based in the provision of social services. The strange thing to me is that the US doesn’t draw the support away by providing better services. The aftermath of the Pakistani earthquake was an ideal opportunity.
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aziz
I dont think its that simple. Providing “services” isnt as easy as dropping off a load of supplies here and there – it requires building an infrastructure and then active governance. As much as lefty critics compllain about the cost of war, the cost of such services would be massively greater (especially because unlike soldiers, the civilian workforce required would be much more vulnerable and tempting an effective a target).
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aziz
Vandals daubed “Death to Christianity” on a Jerusalem church Monday in the second such attack in the holy city this month, police said. The words “Price Tag,” a slogan used by ultranationalist Jewish settlers, were also scrawled on the walls of the Baptist Narkis Street Congregation in a quiet residential neighborhood in Jewish west Jerusalem.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/20/us-israel-church-vandals-idUSTRE81J0CU20120220 -
aziz
CBS’ 60 Minutes had a fantastic segment on how the Israeli occupation is driving Christians out of the Holy Land. The report has earned CBS the ire of the Israeli government – even before it aired.
There’s a petition setup to thank CBS for their courageous reporting, as well.
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aziz
A Palestinian Christian group, Kairos Palestine, has denounced Amb. Oren’s attempt to silence CBS:
http://www.kairospalestine.ps/?q=node/1
In this inaccurate and manipulative text, Oren… blames the plight of Palestinian Christians on oppression at the hands of Palestinian Muslims — rather than at the hands of the illegal Israeli occupation itself, as is our reality.
We add our voices to several other recently published responses that have emphasized this reality and the ways in which Oren’s op-ed attempts to mask it. Indeed, contrary to his assertions, Christian persecution is caused mainly by the occupation that systematically degrades all Palestinians, restricts our movement, confiscates our land, devastates our economy, and violates our rights — including the very basic right to a decent life.
We are particularly troubled by Oren’s attribution of migration within the Palestinian Christian community to ill-treatment by Palestinian Muslims. This damaging analysis wilfully ignores the underlying political oppression that afflicts Christians and Muslims alike. In the case of Bethlehem, for instance, it is in fact the rampant construction of Israeli settlements, the chokehold imposed by the separation wall, and the Israeli government’s confiscation of Palestinian land — largely Christian-owned land in the Bethlehem area — that has driven many Christians to leave.
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aziz
Piece in Ha’aretz about Oren’s continuing efforts at propaganda and using teh Christian community as a political prop:
In 2006, Qassis conducted a survey of Christians who live in the occupied Palestinian territories, and, he says, the vast majority said their desire to emigrate was linked to the lack of security and stability they feel under Israeli rule. Less than 1 percent spoke about being afraid of Muslims.
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aziz
a great story: Muslim and Jewish students join to celebrate art.
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aziz
There’s a new website for the book, I Speak for Myself Volume 2: All-American. I am proud to be a contributor to this collection of essays, and you can read bios of all the 45 contributors at the new site. Check it out!
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aziz
Photo gallery: Muslims praying in amazing places: http://islamicsunrays.com/muslims-praying-in-amazing-places/
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aziz
Things in Syria continue to deteriorate – the best source is Al Jazeera’s live-blog and of course following Andy Carvin on Twitter.
Leaning towards fake, but still investigating. RT @blakehounshell: What’s the consensus on this Syria buried alive video? Fake?
— Andy Carvin (@acarvin) April 26, 2012
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aziz
Russia is siding with Assad and France is siding with the opposition. Syria is becoming a Gordian Knot. All the more reason not to get too involved militarily yet.
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aziz
Anti-Mubarak graffiti in the new Call of Duty video game:
Though, the game setting seems to be Somalia?
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aziz
Did Egyptian Islamists really try to legalize necrophilia? The Muslim Brotherhood vigorously denies it on their official Twitter account:
@Ed_Husain necrophilia discussion is disgusting & never happened, another dirty trick for distraction instead of focusing on real issues
— Ikhwanweb (@Ikhwanweb) April 25, 2012
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aziz
Svend White’s awesome blog Akram’s Razor moved to Patheos! They are building quite a nice stable of content over there.
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aziz
A muslim girl’s teammates wear hijab in solidarity. Really inspiring!
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aziz
Johnny
DeppWard became the pirate Captain JackSparrowBirdy and converted to Islam… in the late 16th century. -
aziz
The Associated Press has won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the NYPD spying scandal.
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thabet
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aziz
I think the question of whether or not to engage in intervention is a good debate we need to have (every time the question arises). But I find the taxpayer-dollar angle to be a red herring. Let’s be honest and admit that no one gives a crap about taxpayers’ expenses, aside from Ron Paul.
Anyway, the cost of the Libyan intervention was barely one Instagram’s worth!
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thabet
Err, I don’t see anyone having this ‘debate’ now. They’ve all moved onto Syria.
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thabet
“Let’s be honest and admit that no one gives a crap about taxpayers’ expenses”
No, not really. Not at a time when shrill voices tell us we must curb public spending for the greater good because we can’t afford it any more.
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aziz
Domestically speaking, here right now we seem to be winning the debate. The attempted murder of Medicare and Social Security has been thwarted, though vigilance is still required. Medicaid is still vulnerable since by design it’s half funded from the states, and so conservative legislatures can do more damage (example: Texas).
I dont know enough about teh situation in the UK, frankly. I do know that if we had a VAT like you folks did, we’d have no problem funding our social programs at all.
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Jo is discussing. 
Mohamamd, and 
thabet, and 
Arwi, and 
Jo 4:36 pm on May 14, 2012 Permalink |
Lets hope so