Law & Order: SVU - S15E17 - More Anti-Muslim Tropes & Support of Police Misconduct

Most people will remember Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S15E17 Criminal Stories because Alec Baldwin is the guest star. As always in the Law & Order franchise, there is a gruesome crime which forms the background for the episode. In this case, an Indian Muslima named Heba is raped by her brother's corporate bigwig boss and colleague in his office after a charity dinner in which she volunteered. She lies and claims that men shouting anti-Muslim slurs raped her in Central Park. Because of Heba's lies, the case against the perpetrators weakens. Alec Baldwin's character is a reporter, and he publishes a story about the bigwig's father's influence in publicizing Heba's initial lies to the police. Some of the jurors read this story, and the judge declares a mistrial.

Umberto Eco: Ur-Fascism and Heresy

My local book club read Umberto Eco's In the Name of the Rose. While the book itself is a mixed bag through which I struggled (which is not an indictment of the novel, since I struggled through Moby Dick as well), there's a remarkable chapter about the origin of heresy. If you don't want to read the novel, it's worth borrowing it off the library or bookstore shelf and turning to Second Day, Chapter Nones (p. 196). Here are some highlights of the dialogue between William of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk.

The Trials of Muhammad Ali - Free Streaming Online Until May 4

"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was." Watch @MuhammadAliDoc online through May 4th: http://t.co/GTyXrYfboo #TrialsofAli
— Independent Lens|PBS (@IndependentLens) April 15, 2014

The Trials of Muhammad Ali

Börgen Episode 23 "The Right Shade of Brown" and the Issue of "Integration"

I watch Börgen on Link TV. In season 3, the series's protagonist Birgitte Nyborg decides to leave her party, The Moderates, because it agreed to support a law which would allow the government to deport immigrants for minor offenses. In episode 23, "The Right Shade of Brown," the founders of her new party, The New Democrats, are discussing who should represent The New Democrats in a TV forum on immigration. They decide they want an actual immigrant to represent them. The first condition they place is that the immigrant must be a Muslim, not an Inuit from Greenland, since Muslims are the problem in immigration/integration. Then they decide it can't be an Indonesian or an Ugandan, because they don't look "Muslim."

Interview with Composer and Pianist Malek Jandali

I purchased the album "Emassa (Homs) by Malek Jandali, and I came across an interview he gave to the Chapel Hill, North Carolina public radio station. He's also on Twitter!

@NPR interview @DukeU @Ibishblog clarifying how Assad dictatorship is connected to corrupted NGOs in our U.S. Capital http://t.co/C6CALQndQB
— Malek Jandali ♫ ☮ ♥ (@MalekJandali) March 31, 2014

Interview with Maud S. Mandel, author of "Muslims and Jews in France: History of a Conflict"

Joseph Richard Preville conducted an interview with Professor Maud S Mandel on her book Muslims and Jews in France: History of a Conflict, and it was published in IslamiCommentary.org on March 31, 2014. You can also listen to an interview from March 21, 2014 from a Memphis, Tennessee radio station. I have not read the book.

Interview with Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, author of "A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations"

Joseph Richard Preville conducted an interview with Professor Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (Twitter) on his book A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations: Us and Them Beyond Orientalism, and it was published in IslamiCommentary.org on January 20, 2014. I have not read the book. H/t

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam on his book "A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations: Us and Them Beyond Orientalism" http://t.co/RUXh7B28hX
— bint battuta (@bintbattuta) March 25, 2014

Minority Report Law? Cheney’s 1% Preemptive Doctrine of Prosecution and the Case of Ziyad Yaghi

Satyagraha911.org conducted an interview about the case of Ziyad Yaghi, a Muslim US citizen victim of the "War on Terror." The interview covers Ziyad's background, trial and imprisonment. Laila Yaghi, Ziyad's mother, Dr. Mel Underbakke of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms and journalist Siraj Davis participate in the interview.

Minority Report Law? Cheney’s 1% Preemptive Doctrine of Prosecution and the Case of Ziyad Yaghi... http://t.co/pbhprQigQt
— siraj davis (@sirajdavis) March 23, 2014