There are so many things I keep wanting to blog about when I get a spare moment, but the absurd workload at my current gig–at the moment I’m trapped in the belly of a surreal disorganized, understaffed, and high-pressure government technology project in downtown DC; it’s no fun to be a requirements analyst in an organization that has zero internal communication other than criticism for when you fail to read people’s minds–combined with the domestic chaos of having a newborn... Read more
This just in from The Onion: TEHRAN—As the […] election approaches, hard-line conservative religious radicals and fundamentalist Islamic extremists are stepping up their disparate campaigns. "It’s up to the people: Does the future of Iran lie in the hands of the far-right extremists or the far-far-right radicals?" said Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the hard-line Guardian Council that recently banned thousands of moderate candidates from the election. "Will the old-school clerics win, or is the country ready for a new... Read more
[I goofed and left out the link to The Guardian article in question, so I’m reposting it with the correct link included.] The latest dispatch from the Most-Muslim-problems-aren’t-uniquely-Muslim Department: This 1998 article in The Guardian discusses the prevalence among Albanian Christians of Lex Talionis-style tribal justice. Such ugly vendettas and blood feuds often are sometimes wrongly associated with Islam by observers. [HT: Justin Raimondo of AntiWar.com] Read more
Thanks to Zahir‘s link to a Palestinian rap site, I came across the the group Dam ("blood" in Arabic) and their thought-provoking anthem, "Meen Irhabi?" (Who’s the terrorist?). To watch it, click the link at the bottom of this page (the video helpfully includes English subtitles). Given its origins as a voice for the downtrodden and marginalized and the fact that young people everywhere are basically forced to see the world through American eyes, it should come as no surprise... Read more
A bon mot from G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy (which I’ve been listening to, since it’s conveniently available in MP3 format) concerning scriptural interpretation and rationalism: "Everywhere we see that men do not go mad by dreaming. Critics are much madder than poets. […] Though Saint John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators." Many Muslims would take this observation as a witty vindication of the kneejerk literalism... Read more
I see that while I’ve been blogging about dancing aliens and even surreal social problems (namely, the mistreatment of domestics by imaginary cartoon characters), Shabana’s obviously been having Deep Thoughts. Check out her thought-provoking post on "Literalistic Wahhabistic Sufism". Read more
Speaking of intertexual experiments with pop culture icons (see my previous post on "The Superfriends and multiculturalism"), some genres just aren’t meant to be mixed. While sci-fi purists might find Star Trek intellectually and artistically wanting–let’s face it, with the exception of the occasional allegory about contemporary affairs (e.g., the episodes that criticized America’s involvement in the Vietnam war), most of STOS’s plots were if truth be told formulaic and devoid of the speculative spark that inspires real sci-fi; the... Read more
Am so busy at the moment that I’m having trouble matching my socks, much less finding the time to blog, so these snapshots will have to do for now. (See Shabana’s blog for more.) Alhamdulillah. Once again I’m reminded of how much I have to be grateful for and how the greatest of blessings are often the most seemingly mundane: love, health, and family and friends. Suffice it to say that she’s stolen my heart and changed my world. With... Read more
Shabana reported yesterday on our jihad against the conventional wisdom in a medical establishment that seems more interested in keeping doctors’ weekends open for golf than providing their patient medical care that is personalized to her needs, legitimate desires concerning her body and birthing experience, and the medical specifics of her pregnancy. We received the full court press, with 3 different doctors trotting out every imaginable argument to scare us into inducing labor a week before her due date, despite... Read more
Those of you who grew up, as I did, watching "The Superfriends" will get a real kick out of this Flash animation of this brilliantly creative (not to mention downright intertextual) skit by Filipino comedian Rex Navarrete. It’s called "MARITESS vs the SUPERFRIENDS" and it casts some light on American race relations through the Superfriends’ relationship with Maritess, their Filipino maid. [HT: Jeff Yang at SFGate.com] Even if you’re not familiar with this beloved classic cartoon, if you’re an immigrant... Read more
Akram's Razor
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In