Mosby
Mosby's JournalAn Academic Is Fired Over a Medieval Painting of the Prophet Muhammad
On Nov. 18, Hamline University’s student newspaper, The Oracle, published an article notifying its community members of two recent incidents on its campus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one indubitably homophobic and the other supposedly Islamophobic. Both occurrences were placed under the same rubric as “incidents of hate and discrimination.”
Islamophobia — which involves hate speech against Islam and Muslims and/or physical violence or discrimination against Muslims — has indeed proven a blight in the United States, especially after 9/11, the rise of the militant far right and the recent political empowerment of white supremacy.
The “Islamophobic incident” catalyzed plenty of administrative commentary and media coverage at the university. Among others, it formed the subject of a second Oracle article, which noted that a faculty member had included in their global survey of art history a session on Islamic art, which offered an optional visual analysis and discussion of a famous medieval Islamic painting of the Prophet Muhammad. A student complained about the image’s inclusion in the course and led efforts to press administrators for a response. After that, the university’s associate vice president of inclusive excellence (AVPIE) declared the classroom exercise “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.”
Neither before nor after these declarations was the faculty member given a public platform or forum to explain the classroom lecture and activity. To fill in the gap, on Dec. 6, an essay written by a Hamline professor of religion who teaches Islam explaining the incident along with the historical context and aesthetic value of Islamic images of Muhammad was published on The Oracle’s website. The essay was taken down two days later. One day after that, Hamline’s president and AVPIE sent a message to all employees stating that “respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.” The essay’s censorship and the subsequent email by two top university administrators raise serious concerns about freedom of speech and academic freedom at the university.
https://newlinesmag.com/argument/academic-is-fired-over-a-medieval-painting-of-the-prophet-muhammad/
Abbas thanks Qatar for using World Cup to push Palestinian cause
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Qatar and its emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, on Sunday, for using their position as hosts of the World Cup soccer tournament to promote the Palestinian cause.
The call came moments after the close of a weeks-long tournament in which Palestinian flags featured prominently on the pitch, in the stands, and around Qatar’s bevy of soccer-related festivities, much of it part of what appeared to be a conscious effort by Doha to advocate for the Palestinian national struggle on the world stage.
Abbas congratulated Qatar on its “great success” hosting the tournament and said it “brought pride to our souls and the souls of our Arab nations,” he told Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in the call, according to the official PA news site WAFA.
Abbas also thanked Qatar for the “support provided during this occasion to Palestine, presenting the Palestinian cause to the world in an unprecedented way.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-thanks-qatar-for-using-world-cup-to-push-palestinian-cause/
Is Abbas politicizing the World Cup?
This isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I think intl soccer is toxic.
I don't like or watch soccer, so I never could understand all the violence. There is nothing like that with American sports, basketball, football, baseball fans don't hit the streets to throw down with the opposing fans while the cops look on. There was just a street fight between whales and England fans before the actual world cup game no less. It didn't make sense to me, especially since I didn't know whales people don't like englanders. I thought they were all Brits, silly me.
What I realized while watching the riots in Paris, though, is that international soccer tourneys represent an extreme form of nationalism where the teams are a proxy for the country, and in Morocco's case, Pan Arabism and Islamism.
Nationalism is frowned upon especially overseas, and yet in Europe and S. America soccer is wildly popular, all based on hyper nationalism. Didn't the Brazillians, after loosing a "big" game, kidnap and lynch the team golie? Seems like an unhealthy activity IMO.
Tomorrow Morocco and France are playing in the world cup. I hope Paris survives.
Eta:
Morocco’s showdown with France carries complex political baggage
For a lot of people from the Middle East, Africa and the broader decolonized world, the Moroccan team is “fighting a symbolic war,” argued Monica Marks, a professor of Middle East politics at New York University’s campus in Abu Dhabi. It’s one that taps into “a lingering sense of insult,” she said, “a collective wound to their pride and history” that rankles to this day.
The mushrooming of support for Morocco has touched on various forms of “Global South” solidarity. There is the Pan-Arab jubilation that has followed the Moroccan team throughout the games in Qatar, underscored by the ubiquitous embrace of the Palestinian flag as an emblem of a broader sense of Arab togetherness and struggle. There is African pride for the continent’s pioneering trailblazers at the World Cup and Amazigh, or Berber, pride felt by those rooted in North Africa’s indigenous traditions and cultures. And there is also a groundswell of Muslim excitement for a squad that habitually kneels in prayer after a match.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/13/morocco-france-world-cup-history-politics-baggage/
Anyone see an article like this before the world series? Super bowl? No?
I think its simpler that the author claims.
Republicans hate liberals more than they hate black people. The entire platform of the republican party is "owning the libs". The fact that walker is stupid, pliable, and susceptible to conspiracy theories is just the cherry on top, they would have voted for a mushroom if it meant beating Warnock.
The author exaggerates republican support for walker stating:
This is factually untrue, Georgia by my estimation has in the neighborhood of 8.2 million eligible voters, and in the runoff 3.5 million people voted, so only 43% voted, slightly less than half of them voted for Walker, so maybe it's not as dire as he makes it sound. Democrats still have turnout issues that need to be fixed.
One that prevents Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
And restrictions on the development of cruise missles.
Israel has always been a bystander to the international community's efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA of the UN has been trying and often failing at inspections and enforcing UN resolutions about Iran's nuclear program. They have been in violation of UNSC resolutions for decades, including the JCPOA.
Israel's leaders view Iran and it's nuclear aspirations as a true existential threat. They tend to respond militarily to threats like that.
PSA - what to do when your pulled over
https://twitter.com/InvokeTheFifth/status/1560640266255486976Ice Cream Is Better for You Than a Multigrain Bagel, New Study Suggests
A new study from Tufts University in Massachusetts suggests that ice cream is a healthier choice than a multigrain bagel and other foods like saltine crackers.
In the research, experts at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts developed a "Food Compass" to rank any type of food from 1 to 100 based on nutrition; the higher the number, the healthier the food.
When comparing foods, the study gave an ice cream cone with nuts and chocolate ice cream a 37, while a multigrain bagel with raisins received a 19 and saltine crackers a 7.
https://people.com/food/ice-cream-is-better-for-you-than-a-multigrain-bagel-new-study-suggests/
The data:
https://sites.tufts.edu/foodcompass/research/data/
😀
This kid understands that it's just a game.
I'm sure he's as competitive as the rest, but it's refreshing to see this kind of sportsmanship from kids.
https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1557060790846382080
ETA - https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/09/little-league-sportsmanship-pitch-oklahoma-isaiah-jarvis/
How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire
Mike Esposito still won’t say who gave him the tip about the records. But on July 14, he went public with an explosive claim.
In a sometimes halting video posted to the YouTube channel of his Phoenix record shop, the ‘In’ Groove, Esposito said that “pretty reliable sources” told him that MoFi (Mobile Fidelity), the Sebastopol, Calif., company that has prided itself on using original master tapes for its pricey reissues, had actually been using digital files in its production chain. In the world of audiophiles — where provenance is everything and the quest is to get as close to the sound of an album’s original recording as possible — digital is considered almost unholy. And using digital while claiming not to is the gravest sin a manufacturer can commit.
There was immediate pushback to Esposito’s video, including from some of the bigger names in the passionate audio community.
Shane Buettner, owner of Intervention Records, another company in the reissue business, defended MoFi on the popular message board moderated by mastering engineer Steve Hoffman. He remembered running into one of the company’s engineers at a recording studio working with a master tape. “I know their process and it’s legit,” he wrote. Michael Fremer, the dean of audiophile writing, was less measured. He slammed Esposito for irresponsibly spreading rumors and said his own unnamed source told him the record store owner was wrong. “Will speculative click bait YouTube videos claiming otherwise be taken down after reading this?” he tweeted.
But at MoFi’s headquarters in Sebastopol, John Wood knew the truth. The company’s executive vice president of product development felt crushed as he watched Esposito’s video. He has worked at the company for more than 26 years and, like most of his colleagues, championed its much lauded direct-from-master chain. Wood could hear the disappointment as Esposito, while delivering his report, also said that some of MoFi’s albums were among his favorites. So Wood picked up the phone, called Esposito and suggested he fly to California for a tour. It’s an invite he would later regret.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal/
The "chemical imbalance" theory never had empirical support.
Most clinicians have known this for decades, but succumbed to the medicalization of mental illness because of money.
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