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Total number of comments: 5 (since 2013-11-28 16:38:30)

Frank

Showing comments 5 - 1
Page: 1

  • Muslim-Americans, Heartsong Church, Celebrate Thanksgiving Together in Memphis
    • Frank LeFever 11/26/2010 at 12:11 am

      That's the kind of church my mother and father would be at home in and active in were they still living.

      One quibble, because of the ambiguity of English syntax: "...bigotry and religious rancor fanned by the hateful in New York..." could be read as an indictment of New Yorkers, so I would prefer to say, "bigotry and rancor fanned by hateful people who traveled to New York to do this."

      Opinions on the proposed "community center cum mosque" varied among New Yorkers, but in general the "outrage" increased the further people were from the epicenter. There's a lot of "live and let live" in NYC. Also, a lot of muslim cab drivers, small shop-keepers, halal fast-food pushcarts, college students, and fellow-passengers on subways and buses.

  • Ahmadinejad Pledges to Protect Lebanon
    • Frank LeFever 10/15/2010 at 5:44 am with 1 replies

      Sensa, as a Christian Lebanese, do you think Iranian support for Hezbollah's protecting Lebanon from Israel is likely ever to be so atrocious in its manifestations as Israel's support of Lebanese Christian onslaught against Palestinian refugees in Lebanon? Cf. link to en.wikipedia.org

  • Maddow on Manhattan Mosque
    • Frank 08/28/2010 at 9:05 pm

      Tom, the site for the new Community Center (for use by everybody, including Christians and Jews), which includes a space where muslims can pray, is not on the Ground Zero site, nor is it "next to it". Surely by now you have had a chance to see the aerial photo and the street-level walk-through video posted at the Huffington post. I am active in The New York Academy of Sciences, which IS "next to" (or across the alley from) "Ground Zero", and from its headquarters on the 40th floor of the (redesigned & re-built) WTC-7 building I have often looked down into the pit (in which nothing much is happening). I also pass by or near the Cordoba site, among that neighborhood's "Gentlemen's clubs", bars, betting parlor, fast-food shops, discount retail stores, etc.

      There are big-bucks financial institutions nearby (some much closer than Cordoba), whose operations probably cause more deaths of US citizens and others than the 9-11 attackers did.

      The purpose of Cordoba is primarily to improve relations among people of all faiths in NYC, and especially that neighborhood. Improving relations among people in the boondocks and backwoods might be a little beyond its reach.

  • Bolton was Contradicted by Bush on Iran's Bushehr Reactor
    • Frank 08/19/2010 at 2:48 am with 3 replies

      Many people assume that the US is serving Israel's purposes, but Chomsky argues (persuasively, I think) that it is the other way around. I have "always" thought (well, for the past 40 years or so) that this was true from the beginning, and US interests deprived Israel of an opportunity for partnership with its neighbors in a very productive regional economic system. However, Chomsky suggests that the US had no "special" interest in Israel (one of many players in the region) until 1967, when it struck a powerful blow against Arab secular "leftist" development. Israel became increasingly useful to the US not only in the mid-east but also in South Africa and in South America: link to alternet.org

  • Kurdish General Again Insubordinate, Angles for US to Remain in Iraq
    • Frank 08/15/2010 at 11:14 pm

      "Someone who knows (his) stuff" says "...either you’re ignorant of the fact that the Zebaris are historic foes of the Barzanis or you know for sure on the basis of some reliable source that the general is indeed a member of the KDP..."

      Apparently at least one Zebari reconciled enough with his "historic foe" to not only join but become a leader in the KDP: link to kdp.se

      Is this Hoshia Zebari the same as Hoshya Zebari, the Iraqui Minister of Foreign Affairs?

      I realize Wikipedia is not a scholarly source, but for what its worth it gives an approximate date for General Zebari's joining the KDP (1979) and says he was awarded a medal, "Barzani Award (the highest Kurdish Award)": link to en.wikipedia.org

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