MIDDLE EAST HEROES
What scares the hell out of most of us is that the forces of resacralization - both Christian and Muslin - are making such apparent headway without, it would seem, any apparent resistance. We need what Marcuse called a "great refusal". Oh sure, we see vestiges of resistance on the Western side, but it often looks to us from way over here that the debate in the Middle East is stilted.

Then along comes a video like this Aljazeera interview with Wafa Sultan that gives you hope that maybe things aren't quite as monolithic and hopeless as we fear.

Check out her bio.

Then, too there's this website called ALTMUSLIM that seems to take the liberal notion that all sides should be discussed. Here you can see the give-and-take debate that really is going on.

Check out their piece on Evin Prison in Iran.

Or,their piece on Comic Book Realities.

Another brave soul is Ibn Warraq, critic of Islamic fundamentalism and author of a recent book "Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out" and "How to Debate A Muslim"

The Australian Broadcasting Company has an online Radio Interview with him.

Comment is free: Plus ça change in Cuba

WHAT NOW FOR CUBA?
Since Fidel Castro was forced to undergo serious surgery and transferred all his powers to a group of senior ministers led by his brother Raúl in August 2006, Cuba has confounded those who predicted the collapse of the system without the supreme leader in charge. Now the agenda for the future must be to prove they can resolve some of the economic issues that the grand old man, now a semi-retired revolutionary who now longer appears in public, either could not or would not address.
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Whythe Holt)

The Sleuth

HOW "QUAGMIRE" TAPE CAME TO LIGHT
The now famous Dick Chaney "quagmire" tape, which has gotten over half a million views on YouTube, may well have remained buried in the archives for another decade if it hadn't been for that one C-SPAN producer, an affable young Irishman named Emmanuel Touhey.
(WASHINGTON POST)

Rovian Ways: Comment: The New Yorker

HE DID IT HIS WAY
Before Karl Rove joined Bush full time, he had maneuvered himself into a position in Texas that was about as close as it is possible to get to being an old-fashioned political boss. The state, thanks in part to his efforts, was solidly Republican, and candidates at every level of elective office—the governorship, the congressional delegation, the state Supreme Court, the legislature—begged him to consent to be hired by them. If he agreed, he would run a typically ruthless and hyper-organized campaign, and usually win.
(THE NEW YORKER, unearthed by Mediabistro)

The War | PBS

SERIES TO PREMIERE HERE
The University of South Alabama is hosting the showing of a one-hour preview of the Ken Burns documentary "The War."The documentary explores the changes World War II brought to four U.S. cities, among them Mobile.USA Archives provided Burns with more than fifty images for the Mobile portion of the series. Some of those images will be on display for extended viewing during the event. Burns is expected to appear and take questions from the audience. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

8:00 p.m.

The Mitchell Center

University of South Alabama

EDUCATE THYSELF
What do you do to keep yourself educated about some of today's major issues? Yeah, I know, some subscribe to the Double Bill Theory: it's either O'Reilly or Maher for them. It's always worth checking out Reuters, BBC, Aljazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, Granma, and the alternative press. You might also consider adding these to your informational fare:

IRAQSLOGGER
This site is really a font of information on the Iraq war.

(Suggested by Arthur Madden)

LIVE LEAK
Iraqslogger seems to rely heavily on these guys, with good reason. This is YouTube, but for real.

MEDIA MATTERS
These are the guys that Fox hates. Enough said. (They are the actual flip-side of Fox and very doctrinaire Democrat but they always raise issues worth considering.)

ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
These guys are really fighting the good fight for some pretty ethereal - but hugely important - issues

Americans are Flocking to a Hi-Tech Creation Museum Where Man and Dinosaurs Frolick Happily Together - CommonDreams.org

OR NOT!
The Museum of Natural History in New York this is not. Welcome, rather, to the Creation Museum, a $27m facility that opened in May — to a veritable onslaught of enthusiastic visitors — on a 49-acre site in northeast Kentucky close to Cincinnati. There is no shortage of references to Darwin, whose teachings about evolution most of us are familiar with and more comfortable accepting. But the clear purpose is to demolish not celebrate them. You get the idea of where you are also when you learn that the folk behind it are the founders of a fundamentalist Christian ministry called Answers in Genesis.
(COMMON DREAMS)

village voice > people > Ask a Mexican!: Want to Stop Immigration? Go Pick Strawberries Yourselves. by Gustavo Arellano

PICK IT YOURSELF
So want to save America from the Aztlanistas? Head for the fields and groves, wrap a bandanna around your face to fend off the pesticides, and start picking. And make sure there are no bruises on the fruit, lest the foreman dock you an hour's pay.
(VILLAGE VOICE)

BarackObama.com | Join Barack at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

MASSAGING THE MEDIA
The Barack Obama campaign's latest gambit is interesting. As a contributor to his campaign, I got an email inviting me to participate in a Ponzi-like raffle scheme: they pay for travel and tickets to meet Barack and be part of the studio audience when he's on The Daily Show next week. All you have to do to win? Recommend someone and hope that s/he wins the opportunity and you, as the referrer, get to go along.

In an apparent reference to Stewart's jibes' at the Obama "dinner with the candidate" promo, the letter goes on to say:

We can't guarantee that Jon Stewart won't make fun of us for giving away these tickets or you for getting them -- but hey, it's about bringing more people into our movement.

CIA, FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits | Technology | Reuters

GHOST WRITING SPOOKS
People using CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison, according to a new tracing program.
(REUTER'S, unearthed by Mediabistro)

Patti Davis: At the Airport, You Better Smile - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

KEEP ON SMILIN', OR ELSE!
“Specially trained security personnel” will be watching passengers for “micro-expressions” that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country. These agents, who may literally hold your fate in their hands have been given a lofty, Orwellian name: "Behavior Detection Officers.
(MSNBC, unearthed by Brent Gourley)

Political hip-hop at SOB's

COMO SE DICE "BLING"?
Springing from a variety of U.S. and Latin American cities, the international coalition of Puerto Rican, Chilean, Mexican and African-American artists performing at New York's SOB's Grita/Say Something show share similar concerns, reflected not only in their combative lyrics but also in their community activism.
(NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

The News and Tribune - UPDATE: Murphy resigns political posts; cooperating with police in apparent criminal investigation

ONE BIG CLOSET
On July 7, 33-year-old Glenn Murphy Jr. was elected chairman of the venerable Young Republican National Foundation. Last week, however, Murphy sent out a strange e-mail announcing his resignation, explaining that a "life-altering" business deal had arisen and, after praying with his family, he had decided to pursue this new business opportunity.In fact, as bloggers soon made public, Murphy had been accused of what is called in Indiana "criminal deviate conduct," a class B felony. After his election last month Murphy said he hoped to double the organization's membership by November 2008, hoping to be the "mouthpiece" for tens of thousands of Young Republicans across the country".
(NEWS-TRIBUNE, unearthed by Tom Cooksey)

The US Air Guitar Championships

IT DON'T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN'T GOT THE STRINGS
Oh sure, if you were in New York City today you could go to the Museum of Natural History or the Guggenheim, maybe take in a Broadway show. But why would you pass up your chance to go to the United States Air Guitar finals? Reigning champ Hot Lixx Hulahan will take on 14 challengers in a fierce musical competition involving absolutely no instruments. As an apertif, there’s Satanicide, the mock metal act known for its very real stage-diving. By the way, make sure you get yourself one of those cool (polyester) "official air ware" tractor caps with the US Air Guitar logo on it.
(Suggested by NEW YORK TIMES)

In China, a high-tech plan to track people | CNET News.com

CHINESE USE HIGH TECH TO TRACK CITIZENS
Following a directive from the Chinese government that all large cities apply technology to police work, at least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along Shenzen's streets and will soon be guided by sophisticated face recognition computer software. In Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by an American-financed company will be issued to most citizens. Data on the chip will include not just the citizen's name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord's phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China's controversial "one child" policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.
(C/NET NEWS, unearthed by Slashdot.org)