Edward E. Curtis IV: Five myths about mosques in this country
Wed, 09/01/2010 - 10:04 — Dave Culver
- Through their mosques, U.S. Muslims are embracing the community involvement that is a hallmark of the American experience. In this light, mosques should be welcomed as premier sites of American assimilation, not feared as incubators of terrorist indoctrination.
- Top 10 myths about Islam
Edward E. Curtis, IV, Minneapolis Star Tribune | MN
In addition to spawning passionate debates in the public, the news media and the political class, the proposal to build a Muslim community center near ground zero in New York has revealed widespread misconceptions about the practice of Islam in this country -- and the role of mosques in particular.
1) Mosques are new to this country.
Mosques have been here since the colonial era. A mosque, or masjid, is literally any place where Muslims make salat, the prayer performed in the direction of Mecca; it needn't be a building. One of the first mosques in North American history was on Kent Island, Md.: Between 1731 and 1733, African-American Muslim slave and Islamic scholar Job Ben Solomon would regularly steal away to the woods there for his prayers -- in spite of a white boy who threw dirt on him as he made his prostrations.
Related:
This Is Not a Recovery
Fri, 08/27/2010 - 16:18 — Dave Culver- This isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact.
- GDP Revised Down: Economy Grew At A Much Slower Pace Than Previously Thought.
- Tax Jujitsu: Why Democrats Should Propose a “People’s Tax Cut”.
- Jobless? Your leaders are at ease with that.
Paul Krugman, New York Times | NY
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Thomas Sklarski
What will Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, say in his big speech Friday (August 27) in Jackson Hole, WY? Will he hint at new steps to boost the economy? Stay tuned.
But we can safely predict what he and other officials will say about where we are right now: that the economy is continuing to recover, albeit more slowly than they would like. Unfortunately, that’s not true: this isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact.
The small sliver of truth in claims of continuing recovery is the fact that G.D.P. is still rising: we’re not in a classic recession, in which everything goes down. But so what?
US Forces in Iraq Shift to Long-term Occupation
Wed, 08/25/2010 - 12:04 — Dave Culver- Adil E. Shamoo, a professor of ethics, writes in What You Will Not Hear About Iraq, "Iraq has between 25 and 50 percent unemployment, a dysfunctional parliament, rampant disease, an epidemic of mental illness, and sprawling slums. The killing of innocent people has become part of daily life. What a havoc the United States has wreaked in Iraq...
- Iraq: Torture. Corruption. Civil war. America has Certainly Left Its Mark
- The occupation of Iraq isn't over - it's being rebranded
Debra Sweet, The World Can't Wait
Sunday (Aug 22), the Associated Press reported "Baghdad - An American solider was killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq on Sunday, the U.S. military said, marking the first American fatality since the last combat unit in Iraq pulled out of the country."
As the "last" combat brigade left Iraq, President Obama prepares to give a major speech next week. He probably won't claim victory; that would be laughable. He will claim that the U.S. is taking responsible action, now that the Iraqis are ready to "step up" and run "their own" country. This is the same plan the Bush regime had, but framed and re-branded, Obama-style, to cover a thoroughly illegitimate occupation.
