sweepthesunshine: Rockstar Links&Things

dazzled: kari-shma: photoholic: Cherry Tree (via CATeyes)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:02:24 -0700

kari-shma:

photoholic:

Cherry Tree (via CATeyes)

Terry » Archive » Telling Other People Exactly what You Think: A Tip Sheet to Make Your Online Commentary Really Count

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:52:39 -0700

Terry » Archive » Telling Other People Exactly what You Think: A Tip Sheet to Make Your Online Commentary Really Count: ‘These are scary times. Without asking your permission, Muslims are daring to write articles, create films, develop radio programs, and produce art that unabashedly celebrates the complex and textured role Islam plays in their lives. They say Islamic feminism is alive and well; that they’re perfectly capable of saving themselves thank you very much, that they aren’t a monolithic lot, and their identity as Muslims isn’t their only influencer. Concerned? Enjoy the tip sheet below and tell those people exactly what you think. After all, who needs thoughtful, community building dialogue anyway?’

Ten things wrong with the President of France’s wanting to eliminate the burqa.

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:14:04 -0700

lawful: continuum: coitusandcopouts: subtlecluster: sexismandthecity:

1. Mandating how women should dress is mandating how women should dress, whether it is a mandate to wear a burqa, or a mandate not to wear one. When a man tells a woman how to dress, it’s paternalism and subjugation one way or the other.

2. Plus, as Dori points out, a man telling a woman that too much of her body is covered, and that she needs to expose more of it to his view, is pretty weird. How much modesty is too much? How much exposed flesh is enough to satisfy Sarkozy?

3. A Christian man imposing rules of dress upon Muslim women does little to actually foster the kind of gender equality he claims to be advancing.

4. Sarkozy talks as though there is no “subjugation of women” among the non-Muslim denizens of France. As though France is a wonderland of gender equality. According to WikiGender: “Compared to other countries, France has always been rather late in adopting gender equality as a goal and designing policies to achieve it.” So why suddenly all this concern for a certain subset of French women, who just randomly happen to come from a community hated and feared by many in France?

5. What other items of clothing does Mr. Sarkozy disapprove of? Do they also happen to correspond to certain disfavored, marginalized communities?

6. Any attempt to “eliminate” burqas in France will only serve to further marginalize the women who wear them. Burqas, for some women, represent a compromise. Some individuals believe women are not supposed to be seen in public, or be looked at by men outside of the family. In this extreme view, women would be entirely confined to the house and removed from outside society unless they can put on a burqa and go out. Eliminating the burqa for these women would mean eliminating their access to the world. Better conditions for such women require a little more work than outlawing a piece of clothing.

7. Eliminating burqas in France would not mean that women’s oppression in Muslim communities would end. It would simply be a cosmetic change that would do nothing to actually work with communities and empower French Muslim women to achieve equality. It is a measure that ignores all nuance and avoids all honest work to actually tackle the heart of the problem.

8. All this “eliminate the burqa” talk fits just a little too snugly with the popular “Islam oppresses women” meme that Christian Westerners like to toss around, particularly when they are trying to frame a “War of Civilizations”.

9. Also, doesn’t this just come off as a cheap attempt at burnishing his Women’s Issues credentials while effectively only harassing a marginalized, already-persecuted minority? And doing little to nothing to further true societal equality for all women in France?

10. What real issues do French women, and French Muslim women in particular, actually face that Sarkozy is completely avoiding by diverting attention with this stunt? Why randomly target French Muslims now?

Via the czech

"I’ve had some of my best conversations with strangers, she said, because they have no idea who..."

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:40:31 -0700

“I’ve had some of my best conversations with strangers, she said, because they have no idea who they’re dealing with.”

- StoryPeople: No Idea

writinggirl2writingwoman: booktumbling: “I have to write...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:56:21 -0700

writinggirl2writingwoman:

booktumbling:

“I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them.”

Haruki Murakami

[Y: reminds me of these lines from Kahlil Gibran -

Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper,
That we may record our emptiness.]

towards (via Scarlet Pimp)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:43:33 -0700

towards (via Scarlet Pimp)

kameelahwrites: dmha: Dalia Ziada: Can a comic book about MLK...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:39:23 -0700

kameelahwrites:

dmha:

Dalia Ziada: Can a comic book about MLK change the Middle East?

“Last year, I — as North Africa Director of the American Islamic Congress — proudly worked on editing and publishing the Arabic version of “The Montgomery Story” Comic Book. Publishing such a book in Egypt was a challenging story of overcoming many obstacles over the course of almost four months. Thousands of copies of the Arabic version is now distributed all over the Middle East. Last week, I received a notification from my colleagues at AIC-Boston office that a Vietnamese activist group got inspired by our idea of translating the comic book into Arabic and they translated the comic book into Vietnamese and published it to inspire young people there. I also, knew that the comic book was translated and published in Spanish. Among all these pleasant news, I received an email alert today that the famous academic website: History News Network published this interview with me about publishing such an important historical book for Arabic readers. I am really happy!”

Read the Article here

This is really interesting and is my first time hearing of such comic being done. I am looking forward to reading it.

for information on Dalia Ziada click here

بوہت آلہ کیا خوب کاریگری ھے

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:35:00 -0700

ayeshaaz:

Indictransliteration

I LOVE IT!!

[this is SO awesome - especially because the first word with which i tested it was ‘theek,’ and it spelled it perfectly in urdu, whereas it spelled ‘teekh’ wrongly. GREAT SUCCESS! yet another tool i can use in my ‘theek/teekh’ warS with a certain ridiculous misspeller. -y]

Facebook | Saud Inam’s Photos - Random Stuff (Part 3) [via...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:23:00 -0700

Facebook | Saud Inam’s Photos - Random Stuff (Part 3)

[via the incomparable 2Scoops! with whom i get to hang out in DC in a WEEK. yay! -y]

keep being awesome! (via passiveaggressivenotes) [this made me...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:05:43 -0700

keep being awesome! (via passiveaggressivenotes)

[this made me laugh…and the resulting comments, even more so. -y]

just a wee plant .. in a big big world (via 50Deeeeee)

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:03:46 -0700

just a wee plant .. in a big big world (via 50Deeeeee)

"One time I was standing on a corner in Chicago & a man stopped his car & asked for..."

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:31:37 -0700

“One time I was standing on a corner in Chicago & a man stopped his car & asked for directions to a place I knew & I said that’s too easy, ask me something harder & he yelled & said he wasn’t playing games kid & then he drove off & I think about him sometimes & wonder if he ever got there.”

- StoryPeople: Kid Games

IMG_0266 (via ~FurSid) [yellow doors and shutters! be still, my...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:48:46 -0700

IMG_0266 (via ~FurSid)

[yellow doors and shutters! be still, my heart. -y]

You're allowed to have jitters.

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:27:30 -0700

Pep talk: Nervous traveller? I understand. Everybody wants you to be as comfortable as possible, so if you need to take some medicine, or close your eyes, or breathe into a paper bag, do your thing! You don't have to act brave or tough (you are brave and tough in plenty of situations) you just need to take care of yourself as best you can.

Today remind yourself: I'm allowed to have jitters.

[reminding myself of this ahead of time, since i have a couple of trips coming up in july. i love traveling to places (and window seats and ice-cold cranberry juice on planes), but no matter how disgruntled i get at having to unwrap and re-do the headwrap at every damn security point, and no matter how much i fear that the airlines will lose my luggage containing all my favorite clothes, and no matter how much i dislike airports without free wifi, the only thing that makes me jittery about flying is when the plane reaches a certain altitude and my ears start popping like crazy - so much so that it makes me double over in pain and brings me to tears every single f*cking time. and for a girl who hates admitting vulnerabilities and refuses to cry in front of people, well, this is tough. so, here's me reminding myself, IT'S OKAY. I'M ALLOWED TO CRY. -yasmine]

Really? (via elziard)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:45:56 -0700

Really? (via elziard)

Bush Goes From Pennsylvania Ave. to a More Simple Life in the Lone Star State

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:02:12 -0700

Bush Goes From Pennsylvania Ave. to a More Simple Life in the Lone Star State: [ha! i’d been wondering what he’s up to now. -y]

salonika: Pakistan were crowned the ICC World Twenty20 champions...

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:58:00 -0700

salonika:

Pakistan were crowned the ICC World Twenty20 champions after a convincing eight-wicket win against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

[yeeeuhhh, boyyeee! i don’t follow ‘kirkut’ and don’t really know jack about it - other than what i learned from Lagaan - but it’s refreshing to see happy photos come out of Pakistan. i especially got a huge laugh out of Ali Khurshid’s facebook status this morning: ‘IGNORE US NOW, BASTARDS!!!’ nicely done, motherland. -y]

But I don’t want to write a love song for the world

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:34:11 -0700

But I don’t want to write a love song for the world

Coke Studio: Aik Alif - Saieen Zahoor & Noori (Live) (via...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:52:40 -0700

Coke Studio: Aik Alif - Saieen Zahoor & Noori (Live) (via StY1o)

Mes Aïeux - Dégénération (English Subtitles) (via...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:46:00 -0700

Mes Aïeux - Dégénération (English Subtitles) (via tragiedia)

[i’m pretty much totally in love with this. via the rockstar, ZB. -y]