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September 28, 2010

Islamophobia

This is a goodish article on anti-Muslim discrimination in the US. One aspect I find particularly incomprehensible:

"In America right now, there are intense concerns about many issues -- immigration, the faltering economy, the interminable wars" and the erroneous belief, held by many Americans, that the first nonwhite president is Muslim, said Akbar Ahmed, a professor of Islamic studies at American University.

Do people really feel increased hatred of a group when a (supposed) member is in a position of authority? Why? Wouldn't it make equal sense to believe that, if a Muslim is running the country, they can't be all bad? Or is Obama evidence that a vast Islamic conspiracy is poised to overrun the US, enslaving Christians and probably eating their babies?

September 19, 2010

Worldwide embarrassment through photoshop fail

It might constantly be getting easier for newspapers to doctor photos, but it's also getting easier for blgogers to call them on it. Latest victim, Al-Ahram, found photoshopping a picture of Middle-East negotiations in Washington to place Egyptian president Mubarak more prominently. And since the only thing the internet loves more than a picture is an established institution getting egg on its face, news of the photoshop has reached corners of the internet which would otherwise have had not the faintest interest in Egypt.

[via drugoi]