If you were to read the New York Times (both Times Wire and the published OnLine edition) 24 h a day as I do you would learn the USA stands on the brink of financial catastrophe thanks to the Tea Party brinkmanship. You would also see that every day there are blogs, OpEd articles, Editorials and more expressing very asymmetrical views on the three nation triangle, Iran, USA, Israel.
The two subjects really overlap since in Iran, many of us see the Ayatollah holding his subjects hostage, and in the USA we see the Tea Party holding the President hostage.
Keeping up with these two subjects takes considerable time and composing comments on both takes even more time, especially since this has to be done while remembering that the NYT reviewers work on US Eastern Time, not Central European Time.
I am assembling all of my comments so I do not have time to add more Somali Stories just now. Tomorrow I will be at the Red Cross and once again I will try to persuade one of the gang there to tell me a story. Here's hoping. Stay tuned.
Larry
Monday, September 30, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Somali Stories
On September 24, 2013 the New York Times published an article by James Ferguson, author of an important book about Somalia. The first sentence told us the sorrowful tale about a young Somali-American who grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This young man had gone to Somalia to join al Shabab and there he blew himself up. The Times article is: The West Need Not Fear Its Young Muslims @ http://nyti.ms/1fei0ke
The article led New York Times readers including me to submit 100s of comments, most of them about Somalis and/or muslims. In my comment I name some of my Somali friends. I think the world should know about some of these friends and I cannot wait any longer to begin trying to tell their stories. (They are either not ready to tell them or they do not have time.) I do not have so much time either since I always have manuscripts to review and translations to begin (for Swedish medical researchers) but I can begin by introducing you to one Somali friend in America. There will be more.
I begin very simply. We are in Winooski, Vermont in June 2013. If you happen to be there some time stop in at Banadir Market-Halal Meat and tell Abdi that Larry sent you.
I only see Abdi once a year when I am in Burlington, Vermont and we do not have much time to talk but little by little I am learning his story. The only part I am telling you here and now - 7:54 AM in Linköping, Sweden - is that he shows what an individual who is determined to "make it" and is willing and able to work extremely hard can accomplish.
He created his own store Banadir Market where the people who live here can buy various kinds of food that are, let's say, a part of their identity. If one part of that identity is that they are muslim, then they can visit Abdi to purchase meat that is "halal", the equivalent of Jewish "kosher". I mention this comparison because I lived for forty years in Brighton, New York where kosher foods were readily available.
Now I have to start working. A little later I will add the URL to the New York Times story and to my comment.
I hope you will comment here or send me an Email.
Larry
The article led New York Times readers including me to submit 100s of comments, most of them about Somalis and/or muslims. In my comment I name some of my Somali friends. I think the world should know about some of these friends and I cannot wait any longer to begin trying to tell their stories. (They are either not ready to tell them or they do not have time.) I do not have so much time either since I always have manuscripts to review and translations to begin (for Swedish medical researchers) but I can begin by introducing you to one Somali friend in America. There will be more.
I begin very simply. We are in Winooski, Vermont in June 2013. If you happen to be there some time stop in at Banadir Market-Halal Meat and tell Abdi that Larry sent you.
I only see Abdi once a year when I am in Burlington, Vermont and we do not have much time to talk but little by little I am learning his story. The only part I am telling you here and now - 7:54 AM in Linköping, Sweden - is that he shows what an individual who is determined to "make it" and is willing and able to work extremely hard can accomplish.
He created his own store Banadir Market where the people who live here can buy various kinds of food that are, let's say, a part of their identity. If one part of that identity is that they are muslim, then they can visit Abdi to purchase meat that is "halal", the equivalent of Jewish "kosher". I mention this comparison because I lived for forty years in Brighton, New York where kosher foods were readily available.
Now I have to start working. A little later I will add the URL to the New York Times story and to my comment.
I hope you will comment here or send me an Email.
Larry
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Barack Obama On The Brink
Barack Obama is on the brink of implementing the most fateful decision of his presidency. He has decided to rain rockets down on Syria but awaits a vote in the US Congress.
I have been raining comments down on the NYT Comment Reviewers for the past several days and today 3 September have submitted three such, all on this article
I have been raining comments down on the NYT Comment Reviewers for the past several days and today 3 September have submitted three such, all on this article
Debating the Case for Force
by the New York Times Editorial Board.
The short URLs are obtained by requesting the Times to Email the article to yourself.
Although the first was submitted last night (US Eastern time), September 2 none have been accepted as yet.
Other important Times articles published in the print edition today, September 3, are not set up to take comments so I have referred to them in the comments submitted.
If one or more comments are accepted I will write more.
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