Culture

This could be the single event that our grandchildren — well, the privileged ones who know how to read and have access to e-books and such — will know as the straw that broke the left wing’s back. No less of a historian than Rush Limbaugh declared…

Human Rights

Jazz legend John McLaughlin Plays Ramallah, Palestine to counteract Palestinian “Isolation”

Juan Cole

Jazz guitar legend John McLaughlin plays for Palestine (via AFP) The Palestinian territories are rarely a destination for jazz musicians let alone stars of an art form that is more at home in big cities such as New York and Chicago. Which makes the performance of jazz guitar legend John McLaughlin before a packed… […]

art and photography

George W. Bush Used Top Google Results For All His Paintings; Is he in Legal Trouble?

Juan Cole

You may have heard the recent stories about former President George W. Bush’s new exhibit of paintings of world leaders. There’s been plenty of chatter about the former President picking up painting as a hobby since leaving office. While many may have…

Culture

Pakistani Sufi Anthem: Jhule Lal Dam Mast Qalandar by Nusrat Fateh Ali

Juan Cole

Qawwali is the South Asian Muslim equivalent of African-American Gospel music. This particular song celebrates the thirteenth-century Sindhi mystic, Sayyid `Uthman Marwandi, known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177 – 1274 AD), a Sufi master of the Suhrawardi order. His epithet means “Red Royal Falcon, the wandering mystic.” He was one of four great masters at […]

Egypt

Will Russell Crowe as Noah help Egypt Separate Religion and State?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Darren Aronofski’s biblical epic “Noah” is already provoking controversy in the Muslim world, and has been preemptively banned in three Gulf states. Biblical figures, such as Abraham, Noah, David, and Jesus, also feature in the Qur’an, which sees sacred history as the serial dispatch by God to humans of messengers who remind […]

Islam

Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” video Decried as Blasphemous by Some Muslims

Juan Cole

Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” music video, set in ancient Egypt, has stirred controversy because of a scene where a man is struck down who is wearing a pendant with “God” (Allah) written on it in Arabic. An online petition decries it as blasphemous. Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks points out that in ancient Egypt […]

Lebanon

A-Pop & Hip-Hop: “Wild Ones” – Myriam Fares and Flo Rida

Juan Cole

“Wild Ones” by Myriam Fares & Flo Rida Last summer American rapper Tramar Lacel Dillard a.k.a. Flo Rida reprised his 2011 hit with Sia, “Wild Ones” with Lebanese pop star Myriam Fares singing Arabic lyrics as a counterpoint to his English-language rapping. Since Fares is singing an Arabic melody, which has different harmonics than the […]

Books

Wind Turbines don’t decline in Efficiency for 25 Years, contrary to Myth

contributors

(By James Ayre) Wind Farms Blow Away Old Criticism — Research Shows That Wind Turbines Remain Productive For Up To 25 Years (via Clean Technica) While wind energy has become an increasingly common development choice in recent years, there has been some criticism of the technology — of particular interest in that regard was a […]

Human Rights

False Dawn: The 35th Anniversary of Iranian Revolution

contributors

(By Farhang Jahanpour) The Iranian revolution succeeded exactly 35 years ago this week. After 37 years of rule, Mohammad Reza Shah left Iran on 16 January 1979, never to return. His nemesis, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had waged a campaign against him mainly from his exile in Najaf in Iraq for 14 years returned in […]