https://twitter.com/itsJeffTiedrich/status/1607029604954275841

In case you haven't visited LBN yet:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143011707

https://twitter.com/itsJeffTiedrich/status/1607054446105616385

On Nov. 18, Hamline University’s student newspaper, The Oracle, published an article notifying its community members of two recent incidents on its campus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one indubitably homophobic and the other supposedly Islamophobic. Both occurrences were placed under the same rubric as “incidents of hate and discrimination.”

Islamophobia — which involves hate speech against Islam and Muslims and/or physical violence or discrimination against Muslims — has indeed proven a blight in the United States, especially after 9/11, the rise of the militant far right and the recent political empowerment of white supremacy.

The “Islamophobic incident” catalyzed plenty of administrative commentary and media coverage at the university. Among others, it formed the subject of a second Oracle article, which noted that a faculty member had included in their global survey of art history a session on Islamic art, which offered an optional visual analysis and discussion of a famous medieval Islamic painting of the Prophet Muhammad. A student complained about the image’s inclusion in the course and led efforts to press administrators for a response. After that, the university’s associate vice president of inclusive excellence (AVPIE) declared the classroom exercise “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.”

Neither before nor after these declarations was the faculty member given a public platform or forum to explain the classroom lecture and activity. To fill in the gap, on Dec. 6, an essay written by a Hamline professor of religion who teaches Islam explaining the incident along with the historical context and aesthetic value of Islamic images of Muhammad was published on The Oracle’s website. The essay was taken down two days later. One day after that, Hamline’s president and AVPIE sent a message to all employees stating that “respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.” The essay’s censorship and the subsequent email by two top university administrators raise serious concerns about freedom of speech and academic freedom at the university.

https://newlinesmag.com/argument/academic-is-fired-over-a-medieval-painting-of-the-prophet-muhammad/

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Qatar and its emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, on Sunday, for using their position as hosts of the World Cup soccer tournament to promote the Palestinian cause.

The call came moments after the close of a weeks-long tournament in which Palestinian flags featured prominently on the pitch, in the stands, and around Qatar’s bevy of soccer-related festivities, much of it part of what appeared to be a conscious effort by Doha to advocate for the Palestinian national struggle on the world stage.

Abbas congratulated Qatar on its “great success” hosting the tournament and said it “brought pride to our souls and the souls of our Arab nations,” he told Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in the call, according to the official PA news site WAFA.

Abbas also thanked Qatar for the “support provided during this occasion to Palestine, presenting the Palestinian cause to the world in an unprecedented way.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-thanks-qatar-for-using-world-cup-to-push-palestinian-cause/

Is Abbas politicizing the World Cup?

I don't like or watch soccer, so I never could understand all the violence. There is nothing like that with American sports, basketball, football, baseball fans don't hit the streets to throw down with the opposing fans while the cops look on. There was just a street fight between whales and England fans before the actual world cup game no less. It didn't make sense to me, especially since I didn't know whales people don't like englanders. I thought they were all Brits, silly me.

What I realized while watching the riots in Paris, though, is that international soccer tourneys represent an extreme form of nationalism where the teams are a proxy for the country, and in Morocco's case, Pan Arabism and Islamism.

Nationalism is frowned upon especially overseas, and yet in Europe and S. America soccer is wildly popular, all based on hyper nationalism. Didn't the Brazillians, after loosing a "big" game, kidnap and lynch the team golie? Seems like an unhealthy activity IMO.

Tomorrow Morocco and France are playing in the world cup. I hope Paris survives.

Eta:

Morocco’s showdown with France carries complex political baggage

For a lot of people from the Middle East, Africa and the broader decolonized world, the Moroccan team is “fighting a symbolic war,” argued Monica Marks, a professor of Middle East politics at New York University’s campus in Abu Dhabi. It’s one that taps into “a lingering sense of insult,” she said, “a collective wound to their pride and history” that rankles to this day.

The mushrooming of support for Morocco has touched on various forms of “Global South” solidarity. There is the Pan-Arab jubilation that has followed the Moroccan team throughout the games in Qatar, underscored by the ubiquitous embrace of the Palestinian flag as an emblem of a broader sense of Arab togetherness and struggle. There is African pride for the continent’s pioneering trailblazers at the World Cup and Amazigh, or Berber, pride felt by those rooted in North Africa’s indigenous traditions and cultures. And there is also a groundswell of Muslim excitement for a squad that habitually kneels in prayer after a match.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/13/morocco-france-world-cup-history-politics-baggage/

Anyone see an article like this before the world series? Super bowl? No?

Republicans hate liberals more than they hate black people. The entire platform of the republican party is "owning the libs". The fact that walker is stupid, pliable, and susceptible to conspiracy theories is just the cherry on top, they would have voted for a mushroom if it meant beating Warnock.

The author exaggerates republican support for walker stating:



This is factually untrue, Georgia by my estimation has in the neighborhood of 8.2 million eligible voters, and in the runoff 3.5 million people voted, so only 43% voted, slightly less than half of them voted for Walker, so maybe it's not as dire as he makes it sound. Democrats still have turnout issues that need to be fixed.