"Fascism", in its current hyphenated repackaging, gets bandied about quite a bit these days. So, it may surprise you to learn that the populist appeal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad depends in part on a Persian concept, "gharbzadegi" ("weststruckness" or "occidentosis") whose roots are located in an Iranian adaptation of Martin Heidegger's proto-fascist concept of "The Darkening of the World" by the intellectuals Ahmad Fardid and Jalal Ali Ahmad.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 10:26 AM on November 23, 2007 (32 comments)

Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 10:48 PM on November 12, 2007 (29 comments)

Zahra al-Azzo was murdered by her brother last January in a horrible, but all-too-common Syrian honor killing. Public outcry at her murder is growing.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 5:06 PM on September 25, 2007 (22 comments)

Flickr pulls the trigger on the Old Skool. The Old Skool takes the bullet badly.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 10:19 AM on January 31, 2007 (147 comments)

"I've lost my heart."

Peace activist Bassam Aramin reacts to the murder of his daughter, Abir.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 6:29 AM on January 27, 2007 (34 comments)

In preparation for today's announcement of the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, Sen. Barack Obama has been giving well publicized speeches on the role of religion in American political life. Though faith remains a deeply divisive force in the American political scene, Obama seems to be positioning himself at the forefront of a major political realignment, one which has his opponents more than a little uneasy.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 3:57 PM on January 16, 2007 (181 comments)

I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 8:11 AM on January 9, 2007 (43 comments)

Archaeology in Israel has long been politicized. Perhaps never more than in recent years, when minimalist critiques of the Biblical Kingdom of David have found a ready audience in Muslims eager to deny a historical connection between modern Jews and the land of Israel. Even sober, scholarly discussions of chronology inevitably resonate with political implications.

So it should come as no surprise that the Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar's recent announcement that she may have discovered the foundation of King David's palace_pdf in an area south of the Haram al-Sharif was funded, in large part, by the Ir David Foundation_flash/sound and the neo-conservative Shalem Center.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 11:08 AM on December 7, 2006 (17 comments)

"My cancers are so bad that I think I've arrived at the end of the road. What a pity. I would like to live not only because I love life so much, but because I'd like to see the result of the trial. I do think I will be found guilty." -Oriana Fallaci
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 9:35 AM on September 15, 2006 (47 comments)

"For ordinary books are like meteors. Each of them has only one moment, a moment when it soars screaming like the phoenix, all its pages aflame. For that single moment we love them ever after, although they soon turn to ashes. With bitter resignation we sometimes wander late at night through the extinct pages that tell their stone dead messages like wooden rosary beads."
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 12:56 PM on April 8, 2005 (6 comments)

Pope John Paul II has had a heart attack. Soon, the College of Cardinals will assemble to choose his successor. Even in death, however, this pontiff will exert extraordinary control over the process, having elevated an unprecedented number of clerics to this body.

The choice of Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of Havana, would continue John Paul II's legacy of opposition to communism and totalitarianism. Another frontrunner is the socially conservative Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze. Arinze would continue John Paul II's cultural legacy while recognizing the demographic reality of modern global Catholicism. Also mentioned as a frontrunner is Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, a strong proponent of third world debt relief. Progressives would welcome the elevation of German Cardinal Walter Kasper, an advocate for religious tolerance and pluralism, or the moderate Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a frequent stand-in during the Holy Week ceremonies. Conservatives favor Columbian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos. Hoyos shares the Pope's traditionalist vision of a church at odds with modernity. But the smart money, is on Dionigi Tettamanzi.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 8:44 AM on April 1, 2005 (228 comments)

MU QT [via S/FJ]
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 11:43 PM on January 12, 2005 (23 comments)

In the past several years, some prominent Western scholars of South Asian religions have been subjected to extraordinary criticism and unprecedented attacks because of their apparent disrespect for Hindu culture. Whether another instance of post-colonial academic politics or a troubling sign of the rising impact of Hindutva on academic freedom, it isn't just the study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that is becoming polarized.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 10:25 PM on December 22, 2004 (24 comments)

Metababy is still resting. But if you can tolerate a near interminable lag, betamaybe appears open for business.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 5:13 PM on December 15, 2004 (8 comments)