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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Baithak World Jul 01:InshaAllah, The World Acc. to Newspapers, Ways to Beat Depression, Intellectuals Silence, News & Views, Brodner, Szep, RealNews

When I still lived in Cairo, I went to apply for a visa to visit Uzbekistan, and ended up talking to the resident consul about religious culture in Egypt. Something was perplexing the Uzbek diplomat. "The other day," he told me, "I phoned an official called Mohammad. And I said, 'Is this Mr Mohammad?' But the voice at the other end, instead of saying 'Yes' or 'How can I help you', replied, 'Insha'allah'!" God willing, I thought, gigglin1g, my name is Youssef Rakha. "It is very strange. There are no insha'allahs about it. How could God will or not will that? It has already been willed. No one would dream of saying that in Uzbekistan." I was not about to disagree with the consul – and not only because I needed the visa. He had cited a particularly amusing variation on a common complaint of non-Egyptians. He was bemoaning the Insha'allah Syndrome. Even to a deeply religious mind, his incredulity would be easy to understand. InshaAllah: Where there's a will...Youssef Rakha


The cartograms below show the world through the eyes of editors-in-chief, in 2007. Countries swell as they receive more media attention; others shrink as we forget them. The world according to newspapers [thanks AA]


My therapist helped me to build a personalized "toolbox": a list of a dozen depression busters to direct me toward mental health, and an emergency lifeline in case I get lost along the way. I consult these 12 techniques when I panic, when I get pulled into addictive behaviors, and as armor in my ongoing war against negative thoughts. Here they are: twelve strategies to take us all to the promised land of recovery from depression.12 Ways To Beat Depression

I sent the Arab Imam several emails each followed by a phone call asking to talk to him about Darfur and its Muslim on Muslim violence which recently marked its fifth anniversary. Since my understanding is that the Koran directs Muslims to protect, defend and nurture other Muslims, no matter their race, I wondered what he, a Muslim and a man of God thought about it. The Koran I also know says that all Muslims are brothers before God. He never answered my messages. Pius Kamau: Arab Intellectuals' Silence

News & Views

Wesley Clark Stands By McCain Criticism
Huffpollstrology: Candidates' Horoscopes, Polls And More For July 1
Saleem Shahzad has said it well:Smoke and mirrors in the Khyber Valley
Poetry: Songs of a Season By Maureen N. McLane
The Island in the Wind By Elizabeth Kolbert & Powering Up



Wall-e Chaplin

Wall-e Chaplin. This weekend I caught Wall-e. Aside from the clear achievements in animation (or whatever you call this now), it's a powerful piece of social satire—I think, a fitting bookend to Modern Times. In that film, 72 years ago, Charlie Chaplin warned of a world in which machines will crush humanity. In Wall-e, the job is accomplished. Humans, who have turned the earth into a huge toilet, have turned themselves into flaccid non-entities. And the one vestige of humanity survives miraculously inside...a machine. Pixar and Andrew Stanton deserve all the kudos they will get for this Bush-era-perfect film. Brodner's Cartoon du Jour: Wall-e Chaplin





Doonesbury@SLATE

Paul Jay presents RealNews

Pakistan launches offensive
Khan: If it lasts longer than a week, Pak govt's offensive risks bringing Taliban's war to the cities view

Is Obama a conservative or a progressive realist?
Alterman and Escobar debate if Obama is a conservative politician or a progressive who knows how to win view

posted by temporal at 7/02/2008

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