RSSNovember 2006 Archives
November 22, 2006
A Thanksgiving Narrative (warning: America-centric stuff)
I will abuse my journal privilege to republish something I wrote from years ago, as a contemplation of US Thanksgiving. Since it was written in 1999, an official memorial to what it tells of has been underway, as it should. It is a long narrative, hopefully written interestingly enough to hold the passing reader. It has no direct Mideast relevance per se, but it may provide a reflection on the complexities of the general inhumanity made permissible by war, cultural prejudice, civil conflict, and military administration.
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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 05:54 PM
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Filed Under: American Culture
November 20, 2006
Lunatics expel least-crazy for brain malfunction: neoconservative latest
I love the political self-centeredness of this comment: "[Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn)]: 'If Rumsfeld had been out, you bet it would have made a difference . . . 'I'd still be chairman of the Judiciary Committee.' ' But that's not the importance of this Washington Post article. What is noteworthy, is the chutzpah of the neocons, that messianic war cult (I used to think I was overboard in that description but I've reverted since) of Right bolsheviks who blame Bush now for not properly executing their vision. (Specter, by the way, is not a neocon; his comment is just merely too good to miss quoting.) I mean it's like a bunch of lunatics excoriating their most recent member for being irrational. Ken "Cakewalk" Adelman dissing Bush for stupidity on Iraq??!! As they said in anti-McCarthy times, have you no shame sir?
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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:20 PM
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Filed Under: American Culture
November 17, 2006
Friedmania: A RIP tide for the guru of the marketplace
It is a dark day in classical liberal, that is (American) libertarian, that is (free market) conservative land. The Messenger of economic liberty, Milton Friedman, is no more. Not surprisingly, he was an admired figure of yours truly but as I never studied him in detail I cannot comment on all. But his fundamental view that economic liberty is the root of political liberty shouldn't be overlooked. Among classical liberals, he had attained a saint-like status -- although there is no truth to the rumor an African Finance Minister once touched his ledger and double digit inflation throughout the consumer sector was healed. For the MENA-minded, more below on the late monetarist and libertarian's view of Iraq.
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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:31 PM
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November 15, 2006
Eddie Said: Speaking Ill of the Dead
The late Edward Said helped turned me into a reassessor of the Near East and its people. No, not Orientalism, which I only (pretended to) read a few years ago. It was more the outcroppings of common sense amidst the lefty hyperintellectual verbiage - the Edward Said who was basically saying "quit calling me camel jockey, and give me my home back, and evaluate people's behavior as you would your own." One finds this in Covering Islam (which did influence me) and various parts of his writings over the years. Along now comes an author to trash Orientalism, with Said dead and all. Michael Dirda from the Washington Post summarizes the allegations, selected below.
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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:45 PM
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Filed Under: Egghead Stuff
November 13, 2006
Muslims in USA: Abdo book reviewed
The Washington Post gives a nice review of Genevieve Abdo's recent book examining the attitudes and status of the American Muslim community. He seems mystified, however, that someone might actually think Irshad Manji, a Muslim dissenter (whatever that means), is a self-promoting phony. Nonetheless, on the broader issues, Abdo argues, and Dirda agrees, that the Muslim community is beset by both a desire to be more engaging (and the opportunity is stronger in America than Europe) and a desire to withdraw into a cocoon of disengagement, retrogression, and perpetual taking offense.
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:20 PM
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Filed Under: American Culture
Surely skinny Maya: Inaugural post and beggar's quest for an English transliteration
Although I might qualify as a white-guy "Arabist" I am not a fan of Arabic music, and am a provincial American white boy in taste. In fact, one cultural thing America and Egypt have in common, I like to note, is their national artistic treasures: we have Moby Dick the novel, they have Umm Kalthoum, the singer. Both are remarkably similar in that they are both essentially about endlessly boring exercises in whaling. But I had a nice experience while putting in a CD of the Syrian group Kulna Sawa which strives to incorporate jazz and rock in their style. I found an Arabic folk song so cool (at least in how they do it) that I took the hands off the wheel to clap hands and even pretended to sing along phonetically. Below I request someone to provide me a phonetic transliteration.
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 07:21 PM
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Filed Under: MENA Culture
