Day: September 2, 2010

Music

All That Jazz (at the Turkish Embassy) | Talking Points Memo

islamoyankee

Unbelievable history.  Two Turkish Muslims work for a Jewish man and bridge America’s racial divide through music. All That Jazz (at the Turkish Embassy) | Talking Points Memo. “As teenagers, both Ertegun boys had a passion for jazz music and became friends with many of the city’s musicians,” Ambassador Tan said. “In fact, just around the corner [from the Howard Theatre], Ahmet and his brother worked at a store, ‘Waxi Maxi’ with Max Silverman, the owner. It was out of this store that Ahmet began selling albums from his collection of thousands of jazz and blues records. When they closed…

Read More
Politics

The Case for Calling Them Nitwits – Magazine – The Atlantic

islamoyankee

The Case for Calling Them Nitwits – Magazine – The Atlantic. They blow each other up by mistake. They bungle even simple schemes. They get intimate with cows and donkeys. Our terrorist enemies trade on the perception that they’re well trained and religiously devout, but in fact, many are fools and perverts who are far less organized and sophisticated than we imagine. Can being more realistic about who our foes actually are help us stop the truly dangerous ones?

Read More
Intra-faith

CNN Middle East: Traditional lanterns light up the holy month of Ramadan

islamoyankee

(CNN) — Countless streets across the Islamic world are currently alight with ornate festive lanterns. Part of a tradition dating back over 800 years, the Ramadan lanterns, or “fanoos,” have become one of the most popular and enduring symbols of the month-long festival. Believed to have originated in Egypt — where the lanterns are most prevalent — it is almost impossible to know how the tradition began. Legends are numerous and varied, but one of the most popular features Egyptian Al Hakim Bi-Amr Illah who ruled over the North African Shiite Moslem Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century. He was…

Read More
Inter-faith

slacktivist: Please forgive me for the actions of extremists I have never met who commit acts of violence that I have never advocated

islamoyankee

slacktivist: Please forgive me for the actions of extremists I have never met who commit acts of violence that I have never advocated. As a white male Baptist, it is my duty today to denounce the violence perpetrated by Patrick Gray Sharp, 29, who yesterday attacked the police headquarters in McKinney, Texas, in a heavily armed but ineffectual assault involving a high-powered rifle, road flares, “gasoline and ammonium nitrate fertilizer.” I understand that this denunciation must be swift and unambiguous and that, in the absence of such denunciations made by and on behalf of every and all white male Baptists,…

Read More
Current Affairs

Orrin Hatch Supports the Constitution, not Park51

islamoyankee

Orrin Hatch Supports Building Of Park51: ‘I’d Be The First To Stand Up For Their Rights’. Hatch went on to add that as a legal scholar, “I have the tendency, when it comes to religious liberty issues, to always uphold the rights of legitimate churches… I just think that what’s made this country great is we have religious freedom. That’s not the only thing, but it’s one of the most important things in the Constitution.”

Read More
Charity

MuslimServe – Strive to Do Good Works

islamoyankee

This year, our Eid ul-Fitr celebrations will take place during the weekend of September 11th, a date that carries with it painful memories and deep sadness for all of us. While a small but increasingly vocal group of bigots will be staging public demonstration of their hate at Ground Zero and burning Qurans in front of a tiny church in Florida, we should take this opportunity to demonstrate who we are as American Muslims and organize activities that reflect the core values we cherish from our faith including mercy, compassion, service, and mutual understanding. “But [since] good and evil cannot…

Read More