Activism Archives

August 26, 2007

Corporate Islamofascism and Constituent Verbal Furballs

It is an accurate observation that the non-playful use of the term "Islamofascism" usually indicates that the written work which contains it emanated from some part of Idiotland, or has at least crossed its airspace. On the other side of the spectrum, to me anyway, in this day and age, once I see "corporate" used as a slur or with some kind of ominous overtone, a "here comes a rant from the other coast of Idiotland" reaction kicks in. ( I have yet to come across "corporate Islamofascism" but I am sure there is a rare neocon progressive out there nurturing it under ultraviolet light in a shoebox to use if say Wal-mart were to add Muslim prayer-time breaks for employees, although that would probably end up being "corporate dhimmitude".)

Continue reading "Corporate Islamofascism and Constituent Verbal Furballs"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 05:33 PM | Comments (1)

July 02, 2007

Ayn Rand Had Nothing to Do with it, OK?

I am a "classical liberal", a libertarian, or whatever it is. Brilliant, dumb, or neither, but just for the record: Ayn Rand had nothing to do with it, OK? Sentences like this just keep cropping up, though: "Ayn Rand, the Russian émigré novelist and philosopher who inspired more people toward a combined emotional/intellectual commitment to individual liberty than any other figure in the 20th century" or book titles like this: It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand. No, it didn't. Thank you. And "Objectivism" is stupid too.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 04:34 AM | Comments (9)

January 15, 2007

Boycotting Amazon.com over Carter book review?

The hummus is flying among many Palestinian sympathizers over the apparent posting of a full hostile review at Amazon.com's entry for Jimmy Carter's book, Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid. The review being challenged (Jeffrey Goldberg in Washington Post) does indeed look to me a bit overlong to have included in the normally short and favorable Editorial Reviews section, but the Goldberg review does follow an initial favorable one. I have no strong opinions on this, but a good noisy controversy is at minimum, fun to watch. (The petition opposing the posting of the hostile review, and calling for a boycott is here. I do suggest skepticism about current signature numbers 72 and 73, or thereabouts.)

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:20 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack