From Pariah to the Pinnacle: U.S. Women’s Soccer Goalie Hope Solo [TIME]

sidenote: this game was only the second soccer game i’ve ever watched in my life (the first was last summer’s Ghana v. Uruguay world cup game) but this, like that one, convinced me soccer is one of the most fascinating spectator sports EVER. ready to be hooked. this sunday makes three? ::::

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By SEAN GREGORY

U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo grabs the ball and falls on Brazilian defender Rosana during the quarterfinal match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on July 10, 2011, in Dresden, Germany

There are your standard long flights, like trans-Pacific hauls from China to Seattle. Then there are horrifically long flights, like the trans-Pacific haul from China to Seattle that Hope Solo took in September of 2007.

Hillary Clinton Gives Green Light for Israeli Attack on Gaza Flotilla [ElectronicIntifada.net]

to quote manal “…bish”

In comments yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to lay the ground – indeed almost provide a green light – for an Israeli military attack on the upcoming Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which will include the US Boat to Gaza.

Among the passengers aboard the American boat will be 87-year old Kindertransport survivor Hedy Epstein, and author and poet Alice Walker. In all it is expected that about 10 ships, carrying 1000 people from over 20 countries will take part.

Islamophobia and the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Debate [TIME]

Muslims pray during the 'Islam on Capitol Hill 2009' event at the West Front Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on September 25, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong / Getty Images

Opposition to a proposed mosque near Ground Zero swelled into a furor this week after its planners on Aug. 3 passed the last municipal hurdle barring them from building it. New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg spoke passionately in defense of the project. “Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans,” Bloomberg said in a speech that day. “We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else.”

Bloomberg’s predecessor didn’t agree. The former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, claimed that the project, which is partially intended to be an interfaith community center, would be a “desecration,” adding that “decent” Muslims ought not object to his opinion. Other GOP politicians and talking heads who have far less to do with the events of 9/11 — or, for that matter, New York — have joined the chorus, arguing in some instances that a mosque near Ground Zero would be a monument to terrorists.(See the moderate imam behind the “Ground Zero mosque.”)

For American Students, Life Lessons in the Mideast [NY Times]

William Zeman (shown in May), an American student studying in Cairo, also worked at the Daily News Egypt, an English-language newspaper.

Cairo

AT first glance, they seem like typical American college students on their junior year abroad, swapping stories of language mishaps and cultural clashes, sharing sightseeing tips and travel deals. But these students are not studying at Oxford, the Sorbonne or an art institute in Florence.

Instead, they are attending theAmerican University in Cairo, studying Arabic, not French, and dealing with cultural, social and religious matters far more complex than those in Spain or Italy. And while their European counterparts might head to Heidelberg, Germany, for a weekend of beer drinking, these students visit places most Americans know only through news reports — the West Bank, Ethiopia and even northern Iraq. No “Sex and the City” jaunts to Abu Dhabi for this group.

Florida’s Modern Day Slavery

Grand Prize Winner of YouTube’s “Project: Report”

“Follow the story of Joseph Dieune, a Haitian migrant worker who visited the United States to make money for his family back home.

Learn about issues of discrimination against illegal immigrants and explore the life of a small agricultural center located just south of the city of Miami.”

Click here to watch the runner-up videos from YouTube’s Project: Report.

The Wednesday Womp: Shady Reporting…

…why? why would they even report on this? is this really the point of the news??? they had noooothing more pressing to inform their viewers about?? and it’s interesting how the black female reporter so obviously tries to dissociate. and the amateur sketch…really? the whole report is a fiasco. i mean the rachetness of everyone looking for leprechauns is funny and the woman suspecting a crackhead- hilarious… until you realize the message this news station must be sending its viewers. sooo over all the misreporting and irresponsible journalism.

-peace.pace.selam.

Racist Roots of Arizona’s Immigration Law [The Rachel Maddow Show]

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there is, obviously, a lot to be said about Arizona’s ridiculous law, but I thought this would be a good post to start with. gotta love Rachel Maddow…

-peace.pace.selam.

Say Bye Bye to Bananas: A trailer from [Fader] an article from [NY Times]

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Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility. Can he beat the giant, or will the corporation get away with it?In the suspenseful documentary BANANAS!*, filmmaker Fredrik Gertten sheds new light on the global politics of food.

Learn more at http://www.bananasthemovie.com

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Yes, We Will Have No Bananas

By DAN KOEPPEL

Published: June 18, 2008

ONCE you become accustomed to gas at $4 a gallon, brace yourself for the next shocking retail threshold: bananas reaching $1 a pound. At that price, Americans may stop thinking of bananas as a cheap staple, and then a strategy that has served the big banana companies for more than a century — enabling them to turn an exotic, tropical fruit into an everyday favorite — will begin to unravel.

The immediate reasons for the price increase are the rising cost of oil and reduced supply caused by floods in Ecuador, the world’s biggest banana exporter. But something larger is going on that will affect prices for years to come.

That bananas have long been the cheapest fruit at the grocery store is astonishing. They’re grown thousands of miles away, they must be transported in cooled containers and even then they survive no more than two weeks after they’re cut off the tree. Apples, in contrast, are typically grown within a few hundred miles of the store and keep for months in a basket out in the garage. Yet apples traditionally have cost at least twice as much per pound as bananas.

Cynthia Mckinney Gaza Aid Ship Rammed by Israeli Patrol Boat 2008 [CNN]

Make no mistake, last week’s attack was no first time offense for Israel; the IDF is no stranger to attacking Palestinian aid ships. This first video is of former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia Mckinney rattling off, in true Mckinney form, on CNN about what happened to her and the crew aboard her ship in 2008. The second video is an absolute MUST watch. If you aren’t a Mckinney supporter, you will be. No one goes harder than Mckinney, in a realm where it matters most. Makes me wish I knew who she was back in 08 when it was votin’ time. dddaaammmnn gina.

-peace.pace.selam.

Bone Marrow Transplants: When Race Is an Issue Read [TIME]

the last sentence of this article reads “”We can save each other.” …got me wondering why we think its okay to not endure a little inconvenience or even a little pain to save someone else’s life? why is that idea okay? when did that idea become okay??

-peace.pace.selam.

By CHRISTOPHER SHAY

It started out as an average April day, but as Dermot Tatlow drove home, he received a call that would lead to a global campaign to save his son’s life. When he heard the bad news, he knew immediately what his family was up against. “I pulled over and took a deep breath,” Tatlow says. “We thought we were out of the woods.” Tatlow’s 4½-year-old son, Devan, had relapsed. After 17 months without needing any treatment, a routine biopsy showed Devan’s cancer had returned. “Our worst fears were realized,” says Tatlow.

Devan would need a marrow transplant. The prospect of going through chemotherapy for a second time and needing a transplant is daunting to anyone, but it’s especially harrowing if — like Devan — you’re of mixed race. Multiracial patients often have an incredibly hard time finding life-saving marrow matches. When Devan, whose father is Caucasian and mother is part Indian, was first diagnosed with leukemia, his family did a search of the international marrow registry that contains over 14 million donors and came up empty. “We knew there was nothing out there for him,” Tatlow says.(See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2009.)

Woodstock: A Moment of Muddy Grace [NY Times]

BABY boomers won’t let go of the Woodstock Festival. Why should we? It’s one of the few defining events of the late 1960s that had a clear happy ending.

On Aug. 15 to 17, 1969, hundreds of thousands of people, me among them, gathered in a lovely natural amphitheater in Bethel (not Woodstock), N.Y. We listened to some of the best rock musicians of the era, enjoyed other legal and illegal pleasures, endured rain and mud and exhaustion and hunger pangs, felt like a giant community and dispersed, all without catastrophe.

Ghanaian Drum Master Yacub Addy meets the Great Wynton Marsalis at “Congo Square” in New Orleans

On April 23, 2006 a historic new composition was premiered in New Orleans – “Congo Square”, co-written by Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis. Presented in historic Congo Square for a wildly enthusiastic crowd, it was intended by it’s creators as spiritual support for the Crescent City’s recovery from the ravages of Katrina. The ground-breaking work, which combines Ghanaian percussion and vocals with jazz forms, was performed by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Yacub Addy and Odadaa!. Part of the opening selection is currently being used by HBO in it’s promo for the new series “Treme”.

The historic Congo Square is the only place in America where African slaves were allowed to perform their own music and dance in the 1700s-1800s. It established the roots of American music by providing a means for African music to enter and mingle with American forms.

BASTARDS OF THE PARTY

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An awesome documentary that traces the history of LA gangs back to their inception after the breakup of the Black Panther party, through their struggles of temporary peace and lasting, senseless violence. Definitely a must watch.

you can also catch the full film at freedocumentaries.org

enjoy!

-peace.pace.selam.

How AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Runs Our Nations Capital

Jonathan Kessler’s quote 3 minutes and 56 seconds (3:56) to 4 minutes 15 seconds in (4:15), i find pretty disgusting; worse, terrifying. wow. sad that so many of the students, these “future leaders,” were willing to travel on an all expense paid trip funded by and listen to hours of seminars hosted by a group whose ideals they probably know nothing about, urging them to chose sides on an issue so complicated and important and of which they are most likely oblivious. i was at the UC Berkeley senate meeting when the bill to divest from companies funding crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli Defense Forces was passed. the student body president has since vetoed the bill. i guess AIPAC really does run the nation.

thanks for the heads up Huda.

-peace.pace.selam.

Our Lady of The Bronx [Fader]

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Every year, the Bronx-based lowrider bike club the Firme Rydaz make a pilgrimage devoted to La Virgen de Guadalupe on December 12, her Feast Day. They walk their bikes and a heavy, huge, handmade effigy of the Virgin from their neighborhood in the Bronx, hundreds of blocks to 14th street at the cusp of midtown Manhattan. Filmmaker/photographer Carlos Alvarez Montero documented their somber journey in his moving short documentary Our Lady of the Bronx tracking them through the New York frigid air and showing the beauty of two Mexican traditions—one five centuries old, the other mere decades new—where street culture intersects with religious devotion. As they make their way to offer flowers and sing happy birthday to La Virgen in a cathedral, the film depicts an act of deep love for an icon who not only symbolizes Catholicism, but represents Mexico, while illuminating the divides and diversity throughout New York City.

Read more from the Fader.