I have just violated one of my principles: I will discuss US politics at a public forum. Over the past 12 years that I have lived in the US, I have, quite honestly, become increasingly afraid of saying things publicly. The leap from not linking baseball to "hating america" is too easily made. So, I have kept my mouth shut - other than snide remarks and rants on my Facebook profile. Once, when I said that I was deeply moved by the deaths of Iraqis someone, a friend, a liberal, said that I aimed at at her because her half-brother had been killed in Iraq. Recently, on different occasions, two friends, both liberals, were offended by my "god bless america" posts. In these posts I rarely made direct comments. I often simply posted items which reflected this society I call home... If truth be known, I very often share on FB the links I receive on these two lists (LBO and Marxist). Anyway, I am now stepping out, as it were, as part of my "service" to the university community where I teach: I have agreed to take part in a panel discussion on the mosque at ground zero.
While I have not given this much thought, as a scholar/academic/whatever, these are some of my honest thoughts:
A. The Mosque should not be built for these reasons
1. It would suggest that ISLAM, as an essentialised entity (discounting the range is Islams), had everything to do with the attacks on the World Trade Centre; that the attacks were written in the Quran or Hadith. I believe it was a violent and brutal attack for social (political) and historical reasons. (I may have to rethink/rephrase this)
2. Building the Mosque is provocative in the same way as telling people not to sing the US national anthem at a baseball match (or going to a kosher/halal market and insisting that they sell you bacon )
3. BOTH THE ABOVE HAVE TO BE SEEN IN THE FOLLOWING CONTEXT: I really don't care where people build their churches, as long as it does not involve breaking down people's homes, displacement of people etc.... I really don't give a toss
4. I guess what I am saying is good luck; you have better chance building an icon of consumer capitalism on the site. Help me flesh out these thoughts, if you're so inclined....
Thanks!
Ismail
Ismail Lagardien Department of Politics and Public Administration
Elon University Elon, NC 27244
Tel: +1(612) 227-5037 (Personal)
________________________________ From: Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Tue, 14 September, 2010 17:26:02 Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Paglia on Gaga
On 9/14/2010 1:53 PM, Dennis Claxton wrote:
>
> Here's hoping this collection is saved:
>
>http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-music-man-20100816,0,4425495,print.story
>
>
> Collector doesn't want these tracks in the trash
>
>
> "The collection is worth $3 [million] to $4 million, I'd guess. But a half
>million will allow me to breathe easier," Greshenz said. "I'm not setting a
>deadline, but my ability to pay the rent will determine it. I can go another
>couple of months. I don't want this collection to be taken over by trash bins."
If Greshenz is so interested in saving the music in his collection, why are the only options buying the whole collection or putting it in the bin? There are thousands of record enthusiasts who would buy these records if they didn't have to buy all 400,000! I just don't get what's so important about "keeping the collection intact". Granted, it's a huge number of records, but the collection has no intrinsic meaning or value as a collection to anyone except Greshenz.
Miles ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk