Hindi/Urdu Word #6:

‘kamina’

Emphasis on the i as a long e sound.

A bad word connoting a deplorable idiot and jerk.

Ex: Don’t be such a kamina!

Stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination

Rather than focus on persuasion techniques to alter attitudes, promising strategies that employ psychology’s rigorous empiricism aim to reduce modern and institutional racism by changing discriminatory behaviors:

Recategorization of schema (mental shortcuts our brains take because we constantly encounter so much information in the world) into larger categories to reduce stereotypes and prejudices. For example, expanding the category of “Muslim” into a larger umbrella of “American.”

Controlled processing to train ourselves to suppress and go beyond its ingrained societal stereotypes and mindfully learn tolerance. Some scientists argue that we all learn our cultural stereotypes, but some develop the ability for controlled processing. An example of such training is to examine an office environment and consider how a handicapped person might work in that space.

Improve intergroup contact in order to undermine prejudice attitudes. History has illustrated this is only productive under certain circumstances: the groups interact on equal status; people have one-on-one contact with members of the different groups; they cooperate and not compete; and they interact in a helpful social climate where authority or the norm encourages contact. Past examples of intergroup exchange, such as initial desegregation in public schools and in the United States Army, lacked such conditions; however, potential for heterogeneous groups to work together for a common goal in harmonious environment exists today for sports teams, coworkers, and classmates.

Hindi/Urdu Word #5:

‘chalo’

Emphasis on the short a sound. ‘Ch’ as in ‘chirp’ and ‘lo’ as in ‘low.’

Means let’s go (command).

Ex: New York chalo. Let’s go to New York.

I nearly spit cornflakes onto the keyboard…

when I read this. Love it. She doesn’t even hide her swipes at McCain.

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:

“I would say that he is well-equipped — physically, mentally and politically,” adding that she “wouldn’t resist” a Bush-style back rub from the Land of Lincolner [Barack Obama].

http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/23/merkel-obama-well-equipped-for-the-presidency/

Reality Has a Well-Known Liberal Bias

“Like all respectable newspapers, the [Boston] Globe is sometimes accused of having a liberal bias.” – The Lonely Planet, Boston.

Let’s just face it, the truth is leftist.

McCain is wildly offensive.

We laugh off Bush as ignorant as a way of coping . But there is really no excuse for this…or should I say these:

Just last week, McCain repeatedly referred to Czechoslovakia, a country that hasn’t existed since 1993.

Asked by Diane Sawyer whether the “the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent,” McCain responded: “I think it’s serious. . . . It’s a serious situation, but there’s a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I’m afraid it’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border.”But as ABC’s Rick Klein noted: “Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. Afghanistan and Pakistan do.“

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/mccain-owns-first-foreign_n_114013.html

An untapped means to unity

FM, not quite an Obama supporter yet, is at least looking forward to a day when the President interrupting TV programming with a Special Report is welcomed rather is annoying because “you unexpectedly get to look at a nice looking man.”

Obama has no Muslim problem

In light of two Obama volunteers avoiding hijab- wearing girls in Detroit, I hear repeatedly the famous line from Seinfeld and questioning why Barack doesn’t say “not that there’s anything wrong with it.” Those people haven’t paid attention to Obama’s speeches. Admittedly, his dealing with rumors in a calm, respectable way isn’t cable newsworthy and got little play. But when you attack, know your facts.

In Boston, Massachusetts, I heard Sen. Barack Obama defend Islam and Muslims-and personally thanked him for his comments. He opened the topic of the insidious rumors falsely questioning his faith by first stating they were an insult to Islam and to Muslims. He stated that they were not just insulting and disrespectful of a religion, but a people. It was a clear defense of Islam. In Columbia, South Carolina, he also defended Islam in my presence at his South Carolina primary eve rally. On CNN’s Compassion Forum, he also spoke clearly about Islam.

The choice in November can’t be clearer for Muslim women. Obama’s speech in Albuquerque, New Mexico to working women reaffirmed his feminist credentials. He also values civil liberties as a constitutional law scholar, peace, and ending the inhumanity at Guantánamo Bay. Such resonate with both Muslim men and women.

I can’t agree with the girls in Detroit’s decisions to go to the media. Harming Barack — someone they support — doesn’t help the Muslim American community or its interests. I’d rather see Guantánamo’s prison closed then have token symbols of Islam visible in campaigns.

As someone who has been to dozens of Obama events, I’ve come to realize that the numerous volunteers working in any capacity are not handheld. They are supervised by staff, but especially at the now-huge scale of Barack’s national events since South Carolina, there is scope for volunteers to do as they wish.

In canvassing, they could violate the law and stuff mailbox with literature (their candidate’s or opponents). In phone banking, especially from home, they can say he anything to their recipients. A volunteers own personal agenda, or what they thought was good judgment but wasn’t, as illustrated here but also when a Clinton volunteer in Iowa forwarded the rumor — laced e-mails. Giving grassroots volunteers such trust represents the Obama campaign’s “new politics.” He has a million volunteers, there was trouble with two.

Furthermore, thousands of people attend his televised rallies. No one has a right to stand behind him on stage. These girls’ friends were asked and they asked if they could also.

How many hijab-clad women surrounded McCain? The Muslim community’s decision to go for Bush in 2000 and 2004 was disastrous. Let’s not saddle ourselves into another administration… unless the term ‘Islamofascism’ sounded good to you the first time around, and you want your leader ignorant of the differences between Shias and Sunnis.

Obama’s story reads very much like many American Muslims’ stories. Many of us are first, second, and third generation immigrants and we are still outsiders in America. Obama is the son of an immigrant and very much follows the similar trajectory of eking out a comfortable identity in America like many immigrants, people of color, and/or Muslims do. Let us benefit from someone with those experiences.

If numerous op-eds should be penned about the rumors about Obama’s faith, let them consider stopping being Muslim a “smear.” Obama is reaffirming his Christian faith more aggressively than Muslims would like; however, consider that the rumors about his faith were bundled with attacks on his patriotism. Saying he is Muslim wasn’t damaging as in itself, but combined with lies about disrespecting the flag and such successfully drew fear in many American voters.

We should be most concerned about the ease with which unpatriotic is superimposed upon Muslims, and how both attacks function as a guise for racism against Obama.

Hindi/Urdu Word #4:

‘khaana’

Emphasis on the first syllable, kha as in Khan.

Means food.

Ex: It’s khaana time. (It’s food time.)

McCain the Hypocrite

A fabulous quip from DailyKos…the Republicans have to be called out on their hypocritical moral posturing.

Oh really?

Mr. McCain, who with his wife, Cindy, has an adopted daughter, said flatly that he opposed allowing gay couples to adopt. “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption,” he said.

Do you think McCain came to this conclusion during his affair with Cindy, or after he left his wife and three children to marry her?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/13/123015/383