This was written as part of a response to Martha Nussbaum’s opinion piece found here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/veiled-threats

I’d like to share my personal view on the burqa (face mask) controversy. My views are not based on the black-and-white, binary, false dichotomy presented too often by both supporters of the face-mask ban and those who wish to defend the garb.

Continue reading 'The Burqa/Niqab ban controversy'»

…apparently, Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante. [with Wikipedia Links & Mouse-over Tags]

It’s got 103 of the most interesting figures of history juxtaposed together, and in some cases, interacting with each other, in a timeless image. From Bill Gates to Plato, Bruce Lee to the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II, Margaret Thatcher to Audrey Hepburn, Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein, Sigmund Freud to Jack Kevorkian, Albert Einstein to Che Guevara, Charles Darwin dressed as Noah, to Osama Bin Laden and the 72 Houris. Check it out!

Originally painted by three Chinese artists: Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An, in 2006; oil on canvas.

Came across this beautiful, articulate and talented Iranian-Canadian singer and activist, Nazanin Afshin-Jan:

and a *MUST WATCH* interview with her from AlJazeera English:

If you haven’t seen this yet, here’s your chance It’s a well researched critical analysis of this current hot-button issue.

Aafia Siddiqui VS (Jews, Zarina Mari, Shazia Khalid and others) by Anas Abbas

A British MP has caused some controversy by publicly stating that profiling of Muslims is to be expected in the light of recent events:

He said: “I think most people would rather be profiled than blown up. It wouldn’t be victimisation of an entire community.

What I like is that Muslim organizations and Muslims with influence are starting to finally speak up in mainstream society, bringing up important issues like the fact that many of the terrorist attacks happening in the world today are being committed by Muslims, and in the name of Islam.

What I don’t like is firstly that things have actually come to this, and secondly that profiling based on race or religion could really backfire. First of all, this opens a whole can of worms in terms of who is Muslim and who isn’t. Is it based on name? On one’s parents’ religion? What’s next? Requiring people to put their religion or religious background on their passports? Like what was done to Jews in Soviet Russia? And how hard would it be for someone to bypass such a superficial system of checks: a change of name, a change of outfit?

I do think that people of certain names, backgrounds, looks and ages will, and it could be easily argued, should, be scrutinized more than the mostly superficial checks that airline passengers are subject to. However, I think the issue needs to be approached intelligently, to find efficient solutions (and there have to be many complementary solutions, there really is no one simple magic answer), that precisely and successfully help identify and quarantine those who intend to use public spaces as personal, fatal soap boxes. We could start by hiring people of higher and more sophisticated educational backgrounds to screen passengers, and we could invest in providing training to airport personnel to better understand things like body signals, psychology, etc.

All of which leads me to wonder if perhaps we’re headed for this.

Your thoughts?

Have you ever said, “I’m not gay, but…” or “I’m not bisexual, but…” as a disclaimer before expressing how much you are attracted to someone of the same gender as you?

If you are progressive, liberal, and you stand for LGBT rights, have you ever wondered why you need to give a disclaimer like that before expressing feelings that might qualify you as being bisexual?

I have.

First of all, as a bisexual woman (I prefer the term queer) who has been in relationships with both men and women, and who is in a happy, long-term relationship with a woman, I find it hurtful when some of my friends still qualify their own sexual desires for people of the same gender by first separating themselves from people like me. There’s nothing wrong with being heterosexual, but there is something very wrong with being heterosexist, which is the idea that heterosexuality is the default, natural, normal thing to be, and that it’s a black or white area with no variations.

If you are telling someone how you support gay rights, you don’t need to keep qualifying that with “I’m not gay or nothing, but…”. Similarly, if you are telling people that you are bi-curious, or attracted to someone of the same gender, then those of us who have put our lives on the line to be honest about sexuality, would appreciate it if you could stop talking about this matter like it’s a hot potato that you are willing to support in passing, but not willing to own, even when you yourself have feelings that would qualify you as bisexual.

Continue reading '“I’m not a queer or nothing, but…”'»

From Funny Or Die!

Gus Porter gets mauled by a bear, but he won’t let the socialist Canadian health care fix him up, so he’ll hike back to America.

Terry Eagleton is suffering from the racism of otherwise-liberal privileged, white, westerners too afraid to speak up against barbaric religious practices and beliefs.

That state is not too bothered about what you believe, as long as it does not thwart the right of others to their beliefs.

<snip>

There should be laissez-faire in the realm of belief, just as there should be in the marketplace.

So nice of a person coming from white, western privilege to allow for such cultural relativism for us lowly colonial subjects. It’s a good thing he’s not, say a woman in Swat, or a young girl in Mississauga, who are being flogged and even killed for not following the beliefs of their parents and their communities.

So nice that he doesn’t have to live in Muslim ghettoes even in the middle of a Western city and has to follow a script made up for his life by everyone except himself.

So nice of him to allow for the subjugation of people like me because he’s too afraid of not appearing “liberal” enough to his dead, white, male mentors.

Solipsism becomes him.

A long but highly insightful conversation between acclaimed authors Salman Rushdie and Irshad Manji on the nature of belief, Islamism, the history of Islam and Quran, and what to do in a world full of crazies on both the Islamist side and the racist westerner side. Rational, thinking people of all varieties will enjoy this video… please watch in full, it’s worth it. Intelligent comments are welcome.

There’s been so much negativity surrounding Sarah Palin’s VP candidacy, I thought I’d try and find something to thank her for….
————————————–

Thank you, Sarah Palin
for taking women – and men -
back a few notches so fast
we all got whiplash.

Thank you Sarah Palin for proving feminism right;
For showing that men and women are truly equal.
That women can be just as stupid
as the stupidest of men.
Like the men running the country
for most of the past decade.
And of course, Condi too.

Thank you Sarah Palin,
for flashing your girly smile,
and throwing back that silly Northern twang;
Your beauty queen charms warm the limp, lonely hearts
of Bill O’Reillys and Karl Roves everywhere.
Thanks for being the prettiest beard
for frustrated Republicans still in the closet.

Thanks Sarah Palin for charging rape victims
for their own rape kits, while preaching to us all
the joys of cherishing our rape babies.
Because life is precious -
until hunting season, that is.

Thank you Sarah Palin for helping intelligent women
realize they are intelligent first, women after.
Thanks for helping smart men appreciate
smart women more than ever before.

Thanks Sarah Palin for making George W. Bush
look educated by comparison.
Thanks for making Cheney look saner -
at least he shoots at things at close range and
doesn’t make couch covers from their bodies.

Thanks Sarah for not blaming us mortals for climate change -
None of us was around 6,000 years ago
when you believe the Earth was created…
How could we know what caused climate change?

Thanks Sarah.
For everything you do.
With everything you say,
you are a reminder
for every girl and every woman
of the choice inside each of us.
The choice…
to be a smart, savvy, self-aware human being
or to be
just another jackass, with lipstick.

~Kiran Mehdee, 1 October, 2008