islam doesn't speak, muslims do | "the ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr" – Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Jeff Sharlet over at The Revealer has been doing a series (1, 2, 3)of comments on LGF (if you know, you know why I’m not linking…. Jeff’s latest post really does highlight why this is a major story, and it needs to get picked up after the election cycle.
Jonathan of Head Heeb fame writes about a blogburst for Arrival Day, the day 350 years when Jews first came to America. Once more New York stands at the forefront of American history (sorry, needed a little bit of New York purity after being defiled by the RNC last week). I remember growing up in a religiously diverse neighborhood, and knowing what both a menorahand christmas tree were at around the same time; wanting latkes all year-round; having a small dreidel collection. One of my friends growing up was named David, a Russian Jew who I thought was cool because…
Our favorite beduouina has posted her life story. As many numbers as I throw at you about most Muslims are not Arab, nor are all Arabs Muslim (say hello to Edward Said, Hanan Ashrawi, and Tariq Aziz, to name a few), her own background gives a much sense of that reality. Just for the record, and for those of you who care about numbers: 6.3 billion people in the world (source) 1.3 billion Muslims in the world (no cited source, just the number that’s being bandied about right now) 300 million Arabs (source [projected from source]) ~5% of the world,…
Much to blog about in the news, including what John Edwards as VP might mean for democracy in America and the return of rights to Americans. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this Yankee is touring Australia right now. I’ll have some mosque pictures up, and hopefully some interesting information about Muslims Down Under, but other than that, I’ll be on the DL for a couple of weeks.
I don’t write much about the military, because it’s not something I know much about. I prefer to stick to policy. I rely on Dawnsinger and Father Jake to bring some of their experiences and knowledge to the table. I’ve recently run across two more blogs that deal much more directly with military affairs. One is Groundhog Day, although his coverage is more irregular. The other is Blackfive, who is dedicated to covering military concerns – and the Cubs. Blackfive is an admitted conservative, but he has recently welcomed lefties. I do believe it is possible criticize government policy while…
Two weeks ago I posted an open letter to Bush and Kerry. At the urging of the Velveteen Rabbi, I actually sent it – electronically – to both candidates. I thought I should give an update. I got an almost immediate response from the Kerry campaign, a canned letter that thanked me for writing, but that I should understand while they try to read everything they get, it may take weeks before anyone actually gets to my submission, and they may never respond. The Bush campaign never responded. They didn’t even bother with the automated message. I think that’s kind…
Demi posted something in comments that I really liked. Because it was so lengthy, and many respects quite independent of the original post, I asked her permission to move into the main area of the site. Here it is: I have been indulging in the same finger-pointing: at the president, at Rumsfeld, at any number of persons and entities. And it’s true, they are at fault. But I cannot shake the feeling that I am at fault as well, as is every individual that is part of a culture. Individuals comprise the culture, whether that culture gives rise to an…
Via Joho, I found a 2nd grade class that maintains a blog. They’ve got a question that needs to be answered. The teacher who thought of this idea, using a blog to teach, should get teacher of the year. The concept is great, community teaching in a really organic form. The question is about dinosaurs and the kings of the jungles. Help them out and do your teaching duty for the day. My thoughts in their comments.
I went to Dawnsinger‘s site today. Followed one of his links to Radio Free Blogistan. For those of you who don’t know, most of the islamicate collective are Apple fans, and we’ve been considering voting Sam I Am off the island for not having an iPod. Anyway, on RFB, I saw this link about news aggregators. I use NetNewsWire Lite, and so looked at Pulp Fiction. On his blog he had a question, that I wanted to share with you. Question: How do you feel about the statement: “Any god that would condemn me for seeking the truth isn’t worth…