Yom Ashura

Annemarie Schimmel was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, commentator on Islamic literatures writing in English. Her works are magisterial, and very diverse. I’ve discovered one of her articles on-line, and it’s about the marsiya tradition. Her translations are just beautiful. I wish they had also included the original texts.

It looks like Captain Yee will not be charged with anything. The fifth column brush that was getting ready to paint the entire Muslim community should not be rinsed and ready to be put away. However, if you read the article, you know it’s just poised over the canvas. The choice to not prosecute Yee was not based on the lack of evidence of his guilt, but because it would be a national security risk to reveal the evidence, so they are just going to put him back on active duty. I can’t wait to come back through the looking…

The New England Patriots are undefeated, the Red Sox just completed one of the most memorable comebacks in baseball history and are champions, and just today, Slate has put Kerry ahead of Bush in the Electoral College leading into Tuesday’s election. For the first time in months, I am optimistic. I have hope. I know there is ambivalence about Kerry, but I like the man. He has convinced me over the course of the past few months that he is a good man, he is thoughtful, and will act with great care and consideration before pursuing a course of action…