Hysterical Headlines (Funny or Absurd) for March 6th
Bottom Line: These are the daily doses of nonsense in the media and my hot takes on them...
Muslims ‘are very misunderstood today’ — this Florida college will try to change that - Miami Herald
Excerpt: Florida International University is getting a spanking new center dedicated to all things Muslim. Philanthropists Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer, longtime supporters of Middle Eastern studies and other programs at FIU, just donated $2 million to make this educational facility a reality.
“For a peaceful and harmonious planet we must understand all its people,” said Mohsin Jaffer, a physician and voluntary clinical assistant professor at the school. “We have to become familiar with their cultures, faiths and concerns. Muslims make up one fourth of the total world humanity and sadly are very misunderstood today.”
Hot Take: I hate to dose this woe is the Muslim community thing with cold water for a moment but let me walk you back to a pre-9-11 era. Did Americans ask for acts of terrorism to be carried out? Did subsequent acts around the world by Al Quieda, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS etc. being carried out in the name of the caliphate come because we sadly still misunderstood them? Or is Islam when practiced under Sharia law simply evil (you know unless you feel women are inferior and shouldn't have equal rights and homosexuals should be stoned to death)? I'm willing to have that debate anytime you want to make it btw.
Truth is most people are generally pretty ignorant about their own faith let alone others. But here's the thing. I once was generally ignorant about Islam aside from surface level knowledge from studying world religions in college, but I haven't been in the wake of 9-11. Having read the Koran and studied sects of the religion over the past 15+ years I realized I'd become more versed in aspects of Islam than my own religion. So, here's the thing. Non-Muslims didn't invite acts of terror or the caliphate to be carried out on them. It's not their fault if there's a healthy degree of skepticism after everything they've been subjected to for simply living their lives. And btw, just because it isn't reported on doesn't mean terror attacks aren't occurring daily across the world. In the past 30 days alone here are the stats:
During this time period, there were 167 Islamic attacks in 25 countries, in which 953 people were killed and 1026 injured.
It's just easy to keep it out of the headlines when it happens in undeveloped country. Stop playing the victim and take care of your own house and get back to me when you've succeeded.
The six most outrageous things Trump said at the annual Gridiron Dinner - CNBC
Excerpt: President Donald Trump poked fun at serious issues dogging his administration on Sunday, including staff departures and the ongoing Russia investigation.
On North Korea
As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that's his problem, not mine,"
Jared Kushner
Before I get started, I wanted to apologize for arriving a little bit late. You know, we're late tonight because Jared could not get through the security."
VP Mike Pence
"I really am very proud to call him the apprentice. But lately, he's showing a particularly keen interest in the news these days. He starts out each morning asking everyone, 'Has he been impeached yet?
Jeff Sessions
"I offered him a ride over, and he recused himself. What are you gonna do?
White House resignations
"So many people have been leaving the White House. It's invigorating since you want turnover. I like chaos. It really is good. Who's going to be the next to leave?
On the New York Times,
Which Trump has repeatedly criticized as fake news, the president said "I'm a New York icon. You're a New York icon. And the only difference is I still own my buildings."
Hot Take: That's amazing material! Leave it to the typical media opposition to suggest that's it's irresponsible to joke about matters that are so serious. Remember when Obama would go on an entertainment show or sing or tell jokes at the annual press dinner. He was brilliant, and it was all appropriate, but heaven forbid Trump engage in levity... Here's the irony and it just recently dawned on me. There's a lot of what Trump does and says that's tongue-in-cheek. Not unlike Rush Limbaugh. Like Rush - you'll commonly have people that don't get the humor and aren't able to separate the serious from the not-so-much. That's part of Trump's appeal.