Newsround linkup: Memorial Day Weekend
May. 26th, 2008 12:26 amA bit too late to be posting a newsround, but I'm going to be busy tomorrow with a bbq/picnic and helping my baby brother with his chemistry homework (on boxing, yay!). Enjoy:
- In Bradley's Shadow, LA City Councilman Bernard C Parks vs state Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas for retiring Supervisor Yvonne B Burke's position. I've already started seeing the Parks signs copping up in Carson, but none of Ridley-Thomas. BTW the Bradley refers to Tom Bradley, the second Black mayor of a major US city. Don't know much about LA politics, but it's certainly interesting to see the comparisons still being made.
- Similarly, LA Weekly's recent article Yvonne Burke's Crumbling Kingdom wonders what will remain of Burke's legacy, and reminds the mess with King/Drew Medical Centre could have been lessened with her direct input.
- The Times I Didn't Get Married, an unexpected consequence of California's recent gay rights ruling. Should people rush to the altar only to have the ruling repealed later, or just wait it out? Says Robin Rauzi, '... would you want your marriage put to a statewide popular vote?'
- Standard Operating Procedure, the book co-written by filmmaker Errol Morris (who made the subject matter into a documentary with the same name), is out. As the reviewer notes, this book becomes about the lawlessness rampant in Iraq seeping into Abu Ghraib.
- The Dalai Lama warns after the Olympics, the Chinese government plans to 'swamp' Tibet with planned ethnic Chinese settlements
- Young refugees in Greece staged a hunger strike to protest the filthy conditions of their reception and shined a spotlight on underaged human trafficking. Interestingly, the mayor of one of the Greek islands absorbing the asylum seekers blames the influx on the US and the UK for starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Remember my recent post on David Miliband's appearance on the Charlie Rose show? Looks like the success has gone to his head. The Times claims Miliband is trying to carve himself as the frontrunner for the Labour leadership, following the recent abysmal performance of the party in recent elections (of course, The Times IS a Conservative paper; draw own conclusions here).
- So, I was telling![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
parlance today about how I have an illogical dislike of Australians. I jokily moaned about their ability in sports, and that annoying accent of theirs. But really what I dislike is the seeming acceptance of xenophobic beliefs. Of course not all Australians are xenophobic, having grown up with more than a few, but when the BBC reports a town is fighting against the construction of an Islamic school I'm not surprised. Among the milder arguments against the school: "If you introduce 1,500 Muslim people to the town they'd be a majority. And that's not what this town is about." Said a man in his 70s, "In 1983, in the streets of London a parade by Muslims chanted incessantly 'If we can take London, we can take the world'. Don't let them take Camden." Of course he started out by saying, "Can I just say this without being racist or political?" FAIL.
- Part of IHT's special report on Generation Faithful, Young Saudis Ask Where Is The Love pulls aside the veil and exposes the country's youth's pursuit of love and romance. Instead of love before marriage as in the West, it is love after marriage. What's interesting is how similar the attitudes are (minus the loaded notion of honour in Middle Eastern culture) in Conservative Christianity. The first link is from the point of view of the young men. This article, Love on Girls' Side of the Saudi Divide is depressing in its description of the social isolation of young women.
- At Home In The Dark, novelist Susan Straight writes about her love of noir fiction. Superb :D
As it's Memorial Day, I'd also like to give thanks to the sacrifices made by soldiers. I may not always agree with the reasons, but I'm very aware it's their choice to serve that allows our freedom.
- In Bradley's Shadow, LA City Councilman Bernard C Parks vs state Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas for retiring Supervisor Yvonne B Burke's position. I've already started seeing the Parks signs copping up in Carson, but none of Ridley-Thomas. BTW the Bradley refers to Tom Bradley, the second Black mayor of a major US city. Don't know much about LA politics, but it's certainly interesting to see the comparisons still being made.
- Similarly, LA Weekly's recent article Yvonne Burke's Crumbling Kingdom wonders what will remain of Burke's legacy, and reminds the mess with King/Drew Medical Centre could have been lessened with her direct input.
- The Times I Didn't Get Married, an unexpected consequence of California's recent gay rights ruling. Should people rush to the altar only to have the ruling repealed later, or just wait it out? Says Robin Rauzi, '... would you want your marriage put to a statewide popular vote?'
- Standard Operating Procedure, the book co-written by filmmaker Errol Morris (who made the subject matter into a documentary with the same name), is out. As the reviewer notes, this book becomes about the lawlessness rampant in Iraq seeping into Abu Ghraib.
- The Dalai Lama warns after the Olympics, the Chinese government plans to 'swamp' Tibet with planned ethnic Chinese settlements
- Young refugees in Greece staged a hunger strike to protest the filthy conditions of their reception and shined a spotlight on underaged human trafficking. Interestingly, the mayor of one of the Greek islands absorbing the asylum seekers blames the influx on the US and the UK for starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Remember my recent post on David Miliband's appearance on the Charlie Rose show? Looks like the success has gone to his head. The Times claims Miliband is trying to carve himself as the frontrunner for the Labour leadership, following the recent abysmal performance of the party in recent elections (of course, The Times IS a Conservative paper; draw own conclusions here).
- So, I was telling
parlance today about how I have an illogical dislike of Australians. I jokily moaned about their ability in sports, and that annoying accent of theirs. But really what I dislike is the seeming acceptance of xenophobic beliefs. Of course not all Australians are xenophobic, having grown up with more than a few, but when the BBC reports a town is fighting against the construction of an Islamic school I'm not surprised. Among the milder arguments against the school: "If you introduce 1,500 Muslim people to the town they'd be a majority. And that's not what this town is about." Said a man in his 70s, "In 1983, in the streets of London a parade by Muslims chanted incessantly 'If we can take London, we can take the world'. Don't let them take Camden." Of course he started out by saying, "Can I just say this without being racist or political?" FAIL.- Part of IHT's special report on Generation Faithful, Young Saudis Ask Where Is The Love pulls aside the veil and exposes the country's youth's pursuit of love and romance. Instead of love before marriage as in the West, it is love after marriage. What's interesting is how similar the attitudes are (minus the loaded notion of honour in Middle Eastern culture) in Conservative Christianity. The first link is from the point of view of the young men. This article, Love on Girls' Side of the Saudi Divide is depressing in its description of the social isolation of young women.
- At Home In The Dark, novelist Susan Straight writes about her love of noir fiction. Superb :D
As it's Memorial Day, I'd also like to give thanks to the sacrifices made by soldiers. I may not always agree with the reasons, but I'm very aware it's their choice to serve that allows our freedom.
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