Thursday, October 13, 2011

Why the Rich Are Getting Richer: American Politics and the Second Gilded Age [Review of "Winner Takes All Politics"]

Increasing inequality in the United States has long been attributed to unstoppable market forces. In fact, as Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson show, it is the direct result of congressional policies that have consciously -- and sometimes inadvertently -- skewed the playing field toward the rich.

ROBERT C. LIEBERMAN is Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Columbia University and the author of Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67046/robert-c-lieberman/why-the-rich-are-getting-richer

The war on error [On Christopher Hitchens]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6a9b5a94-e449-11e0-b4e9-00144feabdc0.html

Via Wajahat

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Robert Reich: THE SEVEN BIGGEST ECONOMIC LIES

Nice and concise:

http://robertreich.org/post/11329289033 (see the video)

The President’s Jobs Bill doesn’t have a chance in Congress — and the Occupiers on Wall Street and elsewhere can’t become a national movement for a more equitable society – unless more Americans know the truth about the economy.
Here’s a short (2 minute 30 second) effort to rebut the seven biggest whoppers now being told by those who want to take America backwards. The major points:

Muslim woman removed from flight after security heard her say 'It's a go' on her phone

http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2011/10/11/muslim-woman-removed-from-flight-after-security-heard-her-say-its-a-go-on-her-phone/

"The Crisis of Vernacularity"

Sometimes, when reading, I like to type out a passage to help me think about it a bit more...and of course, reference and have for the future...and share with others :)
For black intellectuals such as [C.L.R.] James and [Stuart] Hall, the engagement with vernacularity not only marks the coming to and deployment of popular consciousness, but also signals a (or sometimes the) major transformation in their work. It constitutes the moving away from one mode of intellectual production in the direction of another. Vernacularization entails the relinquishing of certain privileges, guarantees of access, academic status, and credibility in order to assume a decidedly different set of historical responsibilities. Vernaculization is never a historical inevitability; it is, rather, the direct consequence of a moment of intellectual crisis. It is that conjecture when black figures, recognized by the dominant culture as conventionally trained and active intellectuals, confront in their work an incommensurability between their occupation in the academy (or the arts world) and their experience as minority spokespersons, a tension between the kind of work they are producing and the consequence it is having (or, failing to have) in the world. The crisis is fueled not by a fear of being silenced, but the prospect of a dual insignificance: excessive or extraordinary successful interpellation, on the one hand, and a complete severing of the links between the black intellectual and his or her originary community, on the other hand.
-What's My Name (2003) by Grant Farred, pg. 22. 

Bang San Thai, San Francisco, CA (Guest: Imam Zaid Shakir) - Sameer's Eats



http://youtu.be/S_GuyqCw_2k

via ZTwist

Spiral Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective Jul 14, 2011 - Oct 23, 2011

http://www.studiomuseum.org/exhibition/spiral-perspectives-african-american-art-collective

Going to with my class today in sha Allah

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia

November 01, 2011–Permanent Installation

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2011/new-galleries-for-the-art-of-the-arab-lands-turkey-iran-central-asia-and-later-south-asia

Glenn Greenwald: Can OWS be turned into a Democratic Party movement?

http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/11/can_ows_be_turned_into_a_democratic_party_movement/singleton/
As Robert Reich recently pointed out, OWS and the Democratic Party are not exactly natural allies given that “Obama has been extraordinarily solicitous of Wall Street and big business” and that “a big share of both parties’ campaign funds comes from the Street and corporate board rooms.” As Naomi Klein explained after speaking to the protesters, the reason they are out on the street rather than working for the DNC or OFA is precisely because they concluded that electoral politics or working for either party will not address the issues motivating them; part of what they’re protesting is the Democratic Party.
via Omer and Stephen

Chris Hedges smacks down Kevin O'Leary [© CBC]



http://youtu.be/jQzq_WbH4E0

Sunday, October 9, 2011

(Video) Chris Hedges Shares His Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street



http://youtu.be/uz5RxhahHK0 via truthdig

Muslim Community Mourns Loss Of "Minaret" Founder Mohammed Abdul-Munim

http://www.ny1.com/content/148625/muslim-community-mourns-loss-of--minaret--founder

Slavoj Žižek Speaks to Occupy Wall Street

http://www.observer.com/2011/10/slavoj-zizek-speaks-to-occupy-wall-street/

Tariq Ramadan: Neither an Arab Spring nor Revolutions

http://www.tariqramadan.com/Neither-an-Arab-Spring-nor.html

"Understanding Islam" 8 part series by Abdal-Hakim Murad available on youtube

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXoLwyelxOg
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmJgoGBQ0k8
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv_wKR9hoK4
4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ_lXtzrEp0
5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbvG4KffgSI
6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylx7bDbEA3U
7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc-oWwGUM6I
8) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAON3F3B0wc

The Forgotten Anniversary: 10/7 and America's Longest War by Faiz Ahmed

Please read:

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2823/the-forgotten-anniversary_10-7-and-americas-longes

Tawakkol Karman

Tawakkol Karman's Moral Vision: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/10/tawakkol-karmans-moral-vision.html

Also see: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/nobel-peace-prize-johnson-sirleaf-gbowee-karman.html?_r=1

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/10/2011107172033851656.html

via Prof. Dabashi

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sahar-taman/tawakul-karman-nobel-peace-prize-laureate_b_1001166.html via Tarek

Koch and N.Y.U. Clash Over Terrorism Report

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/nyregion/nyu-report-on-terrorism-prosecutions-draws-criticism.html?_r=4