What triumph is there in these contradictory depictions of the "new" middle east?

Bloomberg wrote about "Arab superwomen" in graphic novels coming from Islamic-dominated regimes, whose authors unfortunately remain stuck on the very religion that's cast them into hellish lives:

It wasn’t Egypt’s police force that saved Layla from sexual assault, it was Qahera, a sword-wielding, female superhero in a long black hijab.

Groped by the comic strip’s villains, Layla’s hopes of police assistance are dashed when an officer castigates her for wearing inappropriate clothing -- trousers and a sweater. Back on the street, she’s confronted by another gang of tormentors and is saved only when Qahera appears, beating them with a stick and then stringing them by the scruff of their necks from the police station railings.

Qahera is emblematic of a new breed of Arab comic superheroine emerging as liberals and conservatives dispute the legacy of the 2011 uprisings. Young artists are focusing on as yet unresolved issues in the Middle East and North Africa, which have left male-dominated cultures largely intact.

“Female superheroes and leading characters show women filling the gender gap and highlight governments’ neglect of women’s rights,” said Lena Merhej, a Lebanese artist researching visual narratives at Jacobs University Bremen in Germany, in an interview. The new breed of comic characters “fulfill their dreams and aspirations for a better life.”

How can they get a better life when Islam will only make their lives horrible? If the heroine named Qahera wore a mask so the thugs wouldn't know her identity, that's fine enough, but wearing a long hijab - symbolizing belief in a religion whose name translates in English as "submission" only defeats the aspirations. By upholding such a horrific belief system, that only ridicules whatever good intentions the author supposedly has.

On a related note, there was an animated cartoon broadcast on Pakistani TV recently called "Burka Avenger", and legitimate arguments were raised about whether this is the right way to address the issue of Islamofascists who wish to deny women an education:

While the TV series is prompting dialogue about education and women's rights worldwide, the Pakistani public is just learning about it due to limited distribution. As news spreads, some are reacting reacting more strongly to her crime-fighting outfit of choice -- a burka -- than to her message. The burka is a conservative outfit that many view as a symbol of oppression.

Human rights activist Marvi Sirmed told Brennan she feels the cartoon wrongly glamorizes the burka, which she calls "a tool of oppression."

"[It is] a symbol of submission of women. It cannot be used as a tool of empowerment," Sirmed told Brennan.

I think she's right. If the character wore a ski mask outfit, that would probably be the best way to hide her identity. Wearing a burka or niqab, realistically speaking, makes it difficult to fight and even see ahead well. These graphic novels and cartoons may ostensibly have good intentions, but so long as they absolve the Religion of Peace of any blame for the oppression it's led to, that only ruins whatever messages they're allegedly publishing.

CBR's Brett White thinks diversity is far more crucial than good writing

The CBR contributor Brett White has fawned over the new Muslim character in the role of Ms. Marvel, and he says:

Contestants on "Check Your Privilege" are exclusively angry comic book fans hailing from the town of Yesterday who describe their favorite hobbies as buying comics that make them angry, trolling and just generally "bein' a hater." They have a tenuous grasp on gender and global politics -- a fact that only makes them yell louder -- and their life's ambition is "upping their snark game." This week's "Check Your Privilege" grand prize is the knowledge that you'll eventually have to explain your Internet presence to your ashamed children and watch popular opinion leave you behind! Now, let's play the "Privilege!"

This sounds like an attempt to obscure the real issues at hand, and maybe he should look at himself in the mirror to see who's got the tenuous grip.

This is a game that we thankfully -- yes, thankfully -- play with regularity nowadays. I say thankfully because that means that comic book companies are actually shaking things up from the status quo they've been operating under since the '60s. Marvel Comics has particularly shown a commitment to diversity that puts the competition to shame. Miles Morales, Captain Marvel, the all-female "X-Men" team and "Mighty Avengers" are just a few of the big initiatives that have gone a long way to make the 616 universe a much more inclusive place. Now we can add Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel, to the list. And no matter how angry I'm sure people are in every comment thread on the Internet, it's the right move.

Adding a Pakistani to the list, yes, but a Muslim, no. Definitely not without being honest and transparent about the core beliefs of the Religion of Peace, which he hasn't referenced any more than any other mainstream news outlet.

He's also making a fool of himself by boasting about diversity while showing a disinterest in whether Marvel's shown a commitment to good storytelling. And by whitewashing the Religion of Peace, they're not. And how can this be diverse if they won't create Pakistani Christians and other non-Muslim protagonists as leads?

With Kamala Khan, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in Jersey City, Marvel Comics has shown yet again that it wants to include groups of the American population that have yet to be personally inspired by their heroes. Unlike previous Muslim superheroes, like Monet from "X-Factor," or Dust from various teen X-Books, the new Ms. Marvel has her own ongoing series and will bear a very prominent superhero moniker, one previously owned by Carol Danvers.

I'm not sure how just instantly launching a new character in her own starring book these days without even testing the waters to see if she'd become popular with a wide audience makes for good strategy. Birds of Prey only became an ongoing series after the success of a number of miniseries/specials that preceded it. And there's questions to be raised about whether most Muslims actually consider Marvel's heroes an inspiration. Yes, there may be some Muslims who actually read the creations of a company that was founded by Jews, but how many, really? And how many of them even develop respect for the racial background of the founders? White proceeds to say:

As a white dude, I can't really imagine the joy that the entire Muslim and/or Pakistani readership felt yesterday when they learned that after years of Marvel fandom they'd finally gotten a leading character of their own. But also as a white dude, I can't really imagine what's happening in the brains of other white dudes that makes them take to comment threads and partake in a round of "Check Your Privilege." What's going on, guys?

I'll address the haters for a bit: So "Ms. Marvel" won't feature a protagonist that looks like you. This is not a bad thing. It's not like they're taking away one of the white male books to make room for "Ms. Marvel"; Marvel didn't say, "We were going to keep 'Daredevil' going but 'Ms. Marvel's' taking his spot!" This book is not affecting your comic book buying habits at all. The only way it will is if you buy it, which -- maybe you should. This anger you're showing, hater, shows a fundamental lack of empathy and understanding for people that don't look like you. Isn't it crazy how comic books can bring this out of people? Yeah, it's true! Us white dudes find it super hard to understand the importance of having heroes that look like you or come where you come from because there are thousands of white male protagonists in all of fiction. Muslim readers now get one leading character in all of comicdom; chill out and be excited.

And I'll address this leftist apologist for a bit. Since when did I ask that the protagonist actually be like myself? What really offends me is that a religion whose beliefs include violence towards women is presented in a whitewashed POV without acknowledging its darkest corridors. And since the new girl doesn't dress exactly in the way a lot of totalitarian Muslim regimes do, I'm not sure the entire Muslim readership - assuming there even is one - will really care. Some might not even support having a girl protagonist rather than a boy at all.

I find it facinating he's being so distorting: without providing any clear evidence, he claims "haters" are against having a title with a woman in the lead. Absolutely not. Those of us with common sense do find it objectionable, however, to give a false portrait of a violent religion. Something he must be too scared to acknowledge. And why does he act as though a lot of the world's Muslims aren't white too?

And he's not the least bit disappointed that the new Ms. Marvel isn't of a more challenging background like Romanian or Armenian heritage? On that note, I'm curious if he'd say anything about such a premise if Marvel's editors actually greenlighted it.

Kamala's big debut in the New York Times is being criticized for including the character's religion in the headline, with people saying that it shouldn't be a big deal. These people are trying to sound informed and socially progressive while ignoring the actual truth of the situation: It's a big deal to have a Muslim superhero because our culture has made it a big deal. It's actually a shame that our media is still so homogenous that any deviation from straight white male-ness makes headlines -- but that's the reality of the situation.

Now isn't that rich coming from somebody who fits the category of "progressive"; in other words, a PC leftist. I wonder why leftists like him have no problem insulting a mainstream press that is on their side and isn't as homogenous as he's claiming. And he should look at himself in the mirror before telling people the dissenters are trying to sound informed. It's not our culture so much as it was a dishonest left-wing movement in the press and showbiz that made it a big deal for the wrong reaons.

As for a "big debut", that's only because the liberal media thinks it's oh-so important, as though it hadn't been done already. But after a while, all the fuss they're making about it is only bound to drift away.

Maybe I'm a bleeding heart liberal (maybe?), but I'm incredibly excited for this book. I'm excited to read G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona's take on what being a superhero means to someone who isn't a white man, or even a white woman. I'm excited to learn more about this culture that I know very little about. You can make your ignorant "keep politics out of comics" argument all you want, but the truth is that comics are where we learn a lot about other cultures. I truthfully don't know how okay I would have been with my gayness if I hadn't had decades of X-Men comics preaching tolerance -- at times specifically mentioning homosexuals -- ingrained in my brain. Cultural awareness is incredibly important, and reading stories about different cultures are where the seeds of empathy and understanding flourish. If you know nothing about people of the Muslim faith outside of how the media has portrayed them since 9/11, I bet you'll be surprised by what you read in "Ms. Marvel." You might even be able to relate to her!

He doesn't think he's a bleeding heart liberal? How strange. And I don't think homosexuality was ever explicitly brought up as an issue in X-Men until the turn of the century, so I don't see what he's driving at. It wasn't until the 90s that LGBT activists started trying to hijack the X-Men in their push to require everyone to accept poor mentalities. But if he really believes in his lifestyle, and wants to know more about Muslim culture, then I don't suppose he'd care to ponder that many Muslims are homophobic in ways that Judeo-Christian dissent can't even hold a candle to? And, maybe he'd even like to study some of the Koranic verses condoning violence against gays and lesbians?

Diversity is important in comics, and it's so important that it's not going anywhere. If it wasn't for Marvel editor Sana Amanat's own personal experiences growing up as a Muslim American, "Ms. Marvel" might not be here today. The Marvel editors might have never even thought to introduce a character like this if they all came from the same basic background. That's what's so cool about diversity and story telling; different people tell different stories, and it baffles me that some readers want to put up arbitrary restrictions on storytelling potential. Amanat's childhood experiences are just as worthy of exposure as mine -- and mine can be seen in dozens of sitcoms and movies already. I want a new story, and I'm excited to read one.

If he really wanted a new story with diversity, he'd pine for one about Arabs and Pakistanis from non-Muslim backgrounds. Amanat's "experiences" are bound to be more like taqqiya.

Did we learn anything on this week's round of "Check Your Privilege"? I hope so, but I also have a feeling we'll be firing up the spinning wheel when-not-if Marvel unveils another character created to give an underrepresented group a voice (trans*, asexual, an incredibly long list of ethnicities). But if this imagined game show goes hand in hand with the ongoing diversification of comics, then I'm glad to keep hosting it.

All we learned is that White is one very dishonest left-wing ignoramus. I've got a feeling that if he did learn about the contents of the Koran, he wouldn't even say a word, which would make him a coward and suggest he's decided Muslims get the pass he wouldn't give to Judeo-Christians. So why is he wasting his time lecturing us?

Nazi-Like Golden Dawn, and Far Left Party, Would Win Greek Elections, Were They Held Today

Europe:

A regular Slog source late last night furnished me with updated opinion/voting behaviour research carried out secretly by senior political players in Greece. Astonishingly, the study has the Far Right Golden Dawn Party in first place, followed closely by the Leftist Party Syriza. 

As I predicted last month, the attempt by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to frame neo-Nazi Party Golden Dawn in the case of the murder of a young Leftist has backfired. 

The last poll from this source had GD in 2nd place. The Party has now taken over the top spot. Between 25-29th of October, 1,423 Greeks were polled about their voting intentions. Golden Dawn scored 22%, followed very closely by Syriza. New Democracy (the governing Party in Coalition with PASOK) came a very poor third. Men and older respondents are significantly more likely to vote Golden Dawn than women and the young. 

Two Golden Dawn members were murdered last week, after the Poll took place. It is likely that this will have strengthened rather than weakened sympathy among traditional Greeks for the Far Right Party. The Slog has been travelling into, out of, and around Greece since last March. 

While I am surprised by the size of the Golden Dawn revival, I am not remotely surprised by the confrontation now boiling up between the Hard Left and the Hard Right. 

Middle class and skilled working class Greeks talk openly about the possibility of Civil War and/or a military putsch. Senior professional and other well-off Greeks still seem to be living in a bubble – as are the bureaucratic and political classes.

Anti Israeli “BDS Movement” Putting Yellow Stickers On Israeli Products

From Ynet:

Remind you of anything?

“Long before a nuclear deal was in reach, the U.S. was quietly lifting some of the financial pressure on Iran”

Eli Lake, longtime security analyst, and the LEFT OF CENTER, Daily Beast

All of this surprises NO ONE who has watched Obama as president. In fact he can reach an agreement in which a dangerous and religiously racist power whose very leader has threatened to kill one of our major allies, FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS, but he cannot reach an agreement with Americans who happen to be REPUBLICAN?

He can purposefully deceive the American people about their HEALTH CARE in order to win an election, but he must achieve this deal with the MULLAHS while telling Americans again THIS IS GOOD?

All we can do is hope Israel is determined to remain free to exercise their own judgment and action against existential enemies, and in doing so push forward REAL FREEDOMS in this world.

IMAGINE THIS WORLD WITHOUT THE MULLAHS.

Iran

Hezballah (and their actions in THIS HEMISPHERE)

HAMAS

Oil and it price worldwide

Sanctuary for terrorists who mean HARM to the american people

The Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran’s new president in June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva or the historic phone call between the two leaders in September.

Rouzbeh Jadidoleslam/AP

While those negotiations now appear onthe verge of a breakthroughthe key condition for Iran—relief from crippling sanctions—began quietly and modestly five months ago.

A review of Treasury Department notices reveals that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.

On Wednesday Obama said inan interview with NBC Newsthe negotiations in Geneva “are not about easing sanctions.” “The negotiations taking place are about how Iran begins to meet its international obligations and provide assurances not just to us but to the entire world,” the president said.

If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan

One way Obama has pressured Iran is through isolating the country’s banks from the global financial sector, the networks that make modern international commerce possible. This in turn has led Iran to seek out front companies and cutouts to conduct routine international business, such as selling its crude oil.

In this cat and mouse game, the Treasury Department in recent years has routinely designated new entities as violators of sanctions, forcing Iran to adjust in turn. In the six weeks prior to the Iranian elections in June, the Treasury Department issued seven notices of designations of sanctions violators that included more than 100 new people, companies, aircraft, and sea vessels.

Since June 14, however, when Rouhani was elected, the Treasury Department has only issued two designation notices that have identifiedsix people and four companiesas violating the Iran sanctions.

When an entity is designated as a sanctions violator it can be catastrophic. Banks and other investors almost never take the risk of doing business with the people and companies on a Treasury blacklist because of the potential reputational harm and the prospect they could lose access to U.S. financial markets.

“Sounds like Obama decided to enter the Persian nuclear bazaar to haggle with the masters of negotiation.”

A Treasury spokesman contacted by The Daily Beast said the effectiveness of sanctions should be measured by their results and not the number of entities designated. (A White House spokesman declined to comment, directing inquiries to the Treasury.) The Treasury spokesman also said that the significant financial pressure on Iran in recent years changed the calculus of the country’s leaders and led to the election of Rouhani, who is a former nuclear negotiator and is considered more moderate than his predecessor.

“In the months since the Iranian election we have continued to pursue our unwavering goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the spokesman said. “We have not let up on vigorous sanctions enforcement one iota. This includes new designations of sanctions evaders as well as other steps to address potential sanctions evasion.”

But the enforcement of sanctions, experts said, is very different than the process of designating new violators. To start, sanctions enforcement means the levying of fines or other legal measures against those people and entities already designated by the Treasury Department as a violator.

MEANWHILE…

Iran will not agree to halt its nuclear enrichment rights under any deal with the West, according to the country’s lead negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran makes no deal over its right,” Zarif toldreportersafter daylong negotiations with the West in Geneva over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, according to Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency.

Zarif’s insistence on Iran’s right to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear bomb, comes as Western sources suggest that a nuclear deal could be reached as early as Friday.

The debate over Iran’s enrichment rights has been a key sticking point for negotiators on both sides.

U.S. lawmakers and the Israelis argue that Iran will continue its nuclear weapons work if it retains the right to enrich uranium. The Iranians say they will not give ground on the issue.

Zarif’s remarks indicate that Iran could be getting most of what it wants in the deal. He and other officials have praised the talks and the progress each side is making

VIEWS CONTINUE DECLINE. WHY? Data.healthcare.gov views of Market Premium Estimated Rates TODAY, 11-9:

Data from HERE

Idiocracy

SPEW ALERT! SPEW ALERT!

Proof positive of idiocracy — at Northeastern Illinois University:

More information HERE.

More proof of idiocray (hat tip to Bloviating Zeppelin):


"Mizled"? Are you kidding me?

At the University of Florida, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. Please take a moment to look at the list of distinguished alumni of Omicron Delta Kappa.

Case Of Missing Teen Reopened After 10 yrs --- Police Reveal She Was Sexually Abused By More Than 100 Men Before 2 Muslim Pedos Chopped Up Her Body & Put It In Kabobs

From the Halal Pork Shop:

A murdered schoolgirl who vanished ten years ago was sexually abused by as many as 100 men in the run-up to her death, it emerged yesterday. Charlene Downes, 14, had been a victim of child sex gangs in Blackpool, many of them centred on takeaway restaurants.

Yesterday it was claimed that her parents turned a blind eye to the some of the abuse which is alleged to have taken place in the family home.

In 2007 two business partners were tried for murdering Charlene and disposing of her body using a mincing machine, before putting it into kebabs.

However, a jury failed to reach a verdict and a retrial collapsed. Iyad Albattikhi and Mohammed Reveshi later received six-figure compensation sums for false imprisonment.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

(WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES)CANNIBALISM LEADS TO 20 CASES OF FATAL DISEASE KURU AMONG SYRIAN JIHADIS

WTF?

Janelle Vaesa, an expert on health behavior, published an article in September this year in which she referenced our report on the one Syrian rebel who ate a man’s lung and on the other who barbequed a man’s head. She forewarned that an extremely rare and 100 percent fatal disease, called kuru, will arise due to this barbaric practice:

If Syrian rebels are reportedly barbequing their enemies’ heads and eating hearts on video, are they putting themselves in danger? … Kuru, also known as the “laughing disease,” can be transmitted from person to person [when they] engage in cannibalism due to prions in the brain.

Her warning is now coming to fruition. As first reported by Arabian news source Zaman al-Wasal and by Orient News Television, there are between eight and 20 cases of kuru in Syria, which, as doctors have confirmed, can only result from eating human flesh.

Two of the infected were sent from Syria to a hospital in Ghazi Antab in Turkey for further examination and were subsequently transferred to another hospital in Germany. One of the two is now dead, since kuru is 100 percent fatal.

Kuru is contracted primarily from eating human brains, as reported by the New York Times:

Kuru is a very rare disease. It is caused by an infectious protein (prion) found in contaminated human brain tissue.

Kuru is found among people from New Guinea who practiced a form of cannibalism in which they ate the brains of dead people as part of a funeral ritual.

READ MORE 

Denmark: "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE RELIGION THAT REFUSES TO RENEW ITSELF" --- POLICE INVESTIGATE DEATH THREATS AGAINST 18 YEAR OLD MUSLIM POET

From the Halal Pork Shop:

Yahya Hassan was about 10 years old when cartoonistKurt Westergaardattracted passionate criticism from Muslims world-wide with his cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as his turban. It ran in a Danish newspaper.

Hassan – the 18-year-old son of Palestinian immigrants who are Muslims – is now creating his own brand of controversy in Islamic circles and elsewhere with a new book of poetry that was published in Denmark last month. The writing student’s self-titled book contains around 150 poems, many of which are severely critical of the religious environment he grew up in.

His book has been a surprise strong seller since it hit the relatively small Danish market Oct. 17, with 32,000 copies being sold in about two weeks. The publisher, Gyldendal, says books of poetry in Denmark are lucky to hit 500 copies. In televised interviews, Hassan has been anything but tempered in his comments about what he views as a culture of hypocrisy underpinning Denmark’s Muslim population. His words have prompted arguably the largest debate on religion in the small Scandinavian nation since the Westergaard cartoon.

Like Westergaard, Hassan’s safety is on the line.

After reciting one of his poems, titled “LANGDIGT,” or “LONG POEM,” (he writes in capital letters only) on a Danish television station a few weeks ago, he received 27 death threats and police are investigating what they perceive as the most serious ones.

“There’s something wrong with Islam,” Hassan, a self-proclaimed atheist, says. “The religion refuses to renew itself.” It needs a “reformation.”

His poems carry titles like “CHILDHOOD” and “DISGUSTED,” dealing with issues like the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, child abuse, and the interplay between violence and religion. Profanity and vivid analogies help carry his work.

A translated excerpt from “LONG POEM:”

“You don’t want pork meat,
may Allah praise you for your eating habits, 
you want Friday prayer till the next Friday prayer,
you want Ramadan till the next Ramadan, 
and between the Friday prayers and the Ramadans, 
you want to carry a knife in your pocket, 
you want to go and ask people if they have a problem, 
although the only problem is you.”

Hassan’s biggest complaint seems to be with his own peer group. “There is a massive group of Arabs – Muslims — – that commit crime on a big scale. They steal things, they sell stolen things, or they deal hash. But how can you call yourself a Muslim if all this is forbidden?”

Michael Stürzenberger of Germany’s Freedom Party quotes leading muslims in the public square

Tommy Robinson: Racist, Bigot, Or Hero?

How Is Dressing As Seal Team 6/Killing Bin Laden Racist?

Lincoln, Nebraska: Muslim Man Attacks Relative With Crowbar In Anti-Gay Hate Crime

What we need in this country is more Muslims

From the Journal Star: 

A 20-year-old man allegedly attacked a relative with a crowbar Thursday evening because she’s marrying a woman, Lincoln police said.

Ahmed Mohammed Tuma, 5312 Tipperary Trail, and a friend went to the woman's home near 27th and O streets about 5 to confront her about being engaged to a woman, said Officer Katie Flood.

“He feels this is a disgrace upon their family,” Flood said.

Police believe religion motivated Tuma, who is Muslim, Flood said.

"as many as 52 million Americans could lose or have lost old insurance plans”

The McClatchy Newspaper group (not exactly a right wing center of political thought):

Even as President Barack Obama sold a new health care law in part by assuring Americans they would be able to keep their insurance plans, his administration knew that tens of millions of people actually could lose those their policies.

“If you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep your plan. Period,” Obama said as he pitched the plan, the unqualified promise he made repeatedly.

Yet advisers did say in 2010 that there were large caveats and that anyone whose insurance plan changed would lose the promised protection of being able to keep existing plans. And a report in 2010 said that as many as 69 percent of certain employer-based insurance plans would lose that protection, meaning as many as 41 million people could lose their plans even if they wanted to keep them and would be forced into other plans. Another 11 million who bought their own insurance also could lose their plans. Combined, as many as 52 million Americans could lose or have lost old insurance plans.

Some or much of that loss of favored insurance is driven by normal year-to-year changes such as employers changing plans to save money. And many people could end up with better plans. But it is not what the president pledged.

Obama insisted anew Thursday that the problem is limited to people who buy their own insurance. “We’re talking about 5 percent of the population who are in what’s called the individual market. They’re out there buying health insurance on their own,” he told NBC.

But a closer examination finds that the number of people who have plans changing, or have already changed, could be between 34 million to 52 million. That’s because many employer-provided insurance plans also could change, not just individually purchased insurance plans

Administration officials decline to say how many employer-sponsored plans could change. But those numbers could be between 23 million to 41 million, based on a McClatchy analysis of estimates offered by the Department of Health and Human Services in June 2010.

Obama aides did acknowledge around the time the law was enacted in 2010 that some people could lose their coverage if their plans changed after the law was passed.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/07/207909/analysis-tens-of-millions-could.html#storylink=cpy