January 20---Wear A Keffiyeh In Protest Day

January 20th is the day that Donald Trump is inaugurated into office. I say let’s make that day a ‘Wear a Keffiyeh Day’------a keffiyeh is an Arab headscarf----and while it is not necessarily a religious thing, it definitely speaks towards solidarity with our Muslim Brothers. There are many ways you can wear a keffiyeh---for example, you can tie it into a turban like I have done here with this Jordanian shemagh (a Jordanian keffiyeh). Or if you don’t want to be so bold, you can simply wear it as a scarf. There are youtube videos showing how to tie a turban.

You can probably find a keffiyeh at a Middle Eastern grocery store, or possibly an Army Surplus store. Or, if nothing else----just go buy a large square cotton cloth. For the women, they could wear a hijab, but while some Muslim women would see this as a symbol of solidarity with Muslim women, there are others that see it as a misguided support of the overly conservative policies of stricter sects. Not all Muslim women wear hijabs.

As a scarf, a keffiyah is really warm-----and there are many ways you can tie it too. Anyway, I thought this would be one way of making a statement against Trump’s xenophobic racism and islamophobia.

 

But I was told cultural appropriation was racist and offensive

 

Let me explain the difference here:

1.) The keffiyeh is not sacred, religious, or ceremonial, but is a utilitarian piece of dress. If you were living in the Middle East it would not be unusual for you to wear a keffiyeh to protect you from the elements, or even to blend in.

2.) I am suggesting it as a sign of solidarity, support, and as a form of protest against Trump's xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia. It is therefore not a costume, or intended to be used to mock Middle Eastern people. By the way, even in such a case, one should not wear a tribal headress as a sign of solidarity or other ceremonial items. For one thing, to do so would be stripping them of their purpose, significance, and their cultural context. If you were awarded an eagle feather in ceremony, that would be one thing, but even then unless you are Native, here in the US, it is illegal to have an eagle feather. Doing so would pose a legal risk for you and the Native that gave it to you (and unfortunately the law would weigh heavier on him or her).

3.) Middle Eastern culture is not in risk of cultural exploitation. For example, there are no caucasian artists pretending to be Bedouin and making Bedouin art to sell at an inflated price to unsuspecting tourists and collectors. There are certainly people faking Middle Eastern antiques and trying to sell them, but that is an issue of fraud not cultural exploitation.

 

I won't be wearing any of that on the 20th.

 

Fuck that. I am gonna wear a Sombrero as my sign of solidarity.

And it will go with my taco bowl.

 

im going to wear one sumo diaper style

might even find an adult sized pacifier


all in honor of the crybaby democrats of course

 

Only on hip forms can muslims Americans and foreigners come together in such a show of solidarity.

 

Mountain Valley Wolf, that is an excellent sentiment and in certain places what you propose would/could be seen for its intention. Here where I live, I would bet anything nobody would notice...or you'd get your ass beat. I'm IN the midst of red state luvin' inbred hicks that have no idea whatsoever what is going on, except that they "won".

More than that, I admire you not giving in and "moving on", as has been suggested by those with their little bitty minds making little inane suggestions. lol j/k well...really I'm not j/k...I'm more like #sorrynotsorry

I wish I really did think the reason they are luvin' the orange one is because their minds are little...but everybody that voted for and supported him can't be a moron...so I'm back to how baffling all of this is to me.

Those people I truly do admire think just as you do.

and in looking for "good things" about all of this - I'm glad to finally see people with open perceptive eyes.

 

If I'm going to make anything of it I'll be wearing this on the 20th.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=UHi0WqFY&id=C27E7745F54DFF43B577508A7674C12C08E67EF4&q=epic+trump+t+shirt&simid=607999763615122190&selectedIndex=0&PC=APPM

'MURICA!!!!!!

 

I have a Rezza I wore in Egypt (when I wasn't wearing a hard hat). When the desert hits 130F it's the only things to have on your head. I have a feeling a balaclava will be more practical if you happen to venture into DC.

 

Growing up in California my take on "inbred hicks" is skewed by my experience. When I moved my family to Atlanta I expected weekly cross burnings, klansmen strolling about and cops beating black people in the streets. I haven't seen any of that, but I understand your perspective. Especially when I have visited Alabama (a word that's difficult to say without sounding "southern"). It's a beautiful place to look at, but eventually you have to deal with the locals. They usually call me a "Yankee" to my face because a California accent just registers as "outsider". I even had one refuse to sell me beer because the only ID I had was my passport. She kept saying "it has to be a driver's license" which is absolutely not true anywhere, but she had never seen a passport, so it surely had to be "evil".

As for inbreeding, the truth of that is that it's more prevalent in latitudes where people get snowed in for weeks at a time or where religious groups decry mixing with the outside world.

When we lived in Schenectady NY is saw a side of hick-ism I didn't expect. I rented a cruddy 3rd floor walkup near the GE plant as my contract didn't pay me at all unless I was actually on site. So I walked to work most mornings. I often walked with a group of IT guys from India (I know I know, but it's not a stereotype in this case). They were sharing an apartment so they could bank their per diem money. Which is why I rented a place for $300 a month. The morning after 9/11 I got a late start and the India guys were already a couple of blocks ahead of me. But as the locals drove by, they were yelling at these Indian guys from their cars. It was like every 3rd or 4th car that went by was yelling unintelligible but obviously hostile crap. The real eye opener was going to Wal-Mart later that afternoon. There was a line outside the store that snaked all the way in to the sporting good section. New Yorkers were loading up on guns and ammo. It was surreal.

 

I wrapped a scarf around my head once because it was cold, decided it looked cute so kept it on a while. I went to a little dive bar and was surprised at the hostility in the eyes of the bartender. She wasnt even looking at me like I was weird or had made a poor fashion choice, she was giving me the evil side eye

I wanted to shout, IT ISNT A HIJAB DUMMY, maybe slam my drink on the table, storm out

Jk

but seriously..people get weird about Muslim headdress, or anything that remotely resembles it

Anyways, this is a nice sentiment, i dont really understand the negativity towards it

And that Trump shirt Maccabee linked is the goofiest, ugliest shirt i've ever seen

 

I will be wearing a look of wide-eyed disbelief and subtle terror.

 

Well... I guess that has nothing to do with me, because I am an independent.


But the fact is, it doesn't matter if you are a democrat, republican, independent, or apolitical, or even if you support Trump, American and world history has shown that if you don't stand up against the racism, or the misogyny, the fascism, or even the way he exploits everyone with his money, then you are nothing more than a racist, misogynist, a fascist, or a dumb sucker.

I realized, even months before the election, that my disgust for Trump sounded just like that of Republicans for Obama. So I did step back and took a look at myself to see if I was being just like the Republicans when Obama won the election---you know, a crybaby. A good friend of mine who is a staunch Republican told me after the 2008 election that Obama was going to, 1.) take away our guns, 2.) institute Sharia law, 3.) collapse the economy, and 4.) turn America into a socialist state. He told me that he guarantees this will happen. So I wrote this down and promised that if it happens in 4 years I will praise him for being right and tell everyone how he had warned us. He thanked me and told me to watch and it will happen. After the 2012 election, I pointed out that none of it has happened yet, but he has 4 more years to make it happen, so I'll praise him if he is right in 2016. Now of course he hates when I bring the subject up.

But I still wondered, am I being the same way about Trump? I thought about it and decided that I was not, and this is why---

1.) I'm not a fanatic, and therefore I base my opinions on reality as close as I can understand it. I would not predict that Trump will turn America into a fascist state, or destroy our civil rights, or the rights of ethnic groups, or women's rights, or destroy the US economy through his idiocy and isolationism. Or even guarantee that he is Putin's Manchurian Candidate. But these things all worry me, and I'll be watching him. But I also know that he is a compulsive liar, that he is not very good at doing the things he says he will do, and that our government has safeguards built into it. I am sure that he will test those safeguards. But, in 4 years we can revisit these things and see what he did do. He may surprise me and be a great president---in which case I will praise him----unlike Republicans and my Republican friend who still will not acknowledge the good that Obama has done. In 4 years---I will be happy to respond to this very post about him.

2.) I worked a long career in the Stockmarket, and I do know Trump. At one point I worked for a firm that had done business, unfortunately, with Trump. I know people who have unfortunately done business with Trump. I know a very sucessful business owner whose company unfortunately did business with Trump. Trump is from New York, and yet New Yorker's hate him---there is a very good reason for that. I know what a bad businessman he is. I know how he treats other people. I know how he takes care of himself.

3.) I know my economics---very well. In fact, I was paid big money to make economic, business, and market forecasts, and my forecasts were very good. I would say that the economy under Trump is fairly unpredictable, but the risks are pretty scary.

4.) I know my history, including political history. I am well traveled and have been in countries run by dictators, and megalomaniacs. I even have a book in my personal library that is a compilation of Fascist and National Socialist speeches and writings----and I have used that to point out the parallels to Trump. But you don't even need to be that smart to see the problem here----Trump has pointed it out directly to all the bozos that mindlessly support him----he has praised the governing style of numerous dictators on numerous occaisions and stated that he admires them for that. And then, like so many of those very same dictators, he points out that he is the Law and Justice president and that only he can bring about law amd justice. COME ON PEOPLE, OPEN YOUR EYES, THIS HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES IN MANY COUNTRIES, AND THAT LAW AND JUSTICE MEANT THE END OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS! How can everyone be so stupid????!!!!

5.) There are so many scary red flags about Trump-----beginning with his refusal to share his taxes. And it only gets worse from there, for example, the issue with Russia just grows and grows. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN TRY TO SEPERATE HIMSELF FROM THESE PROBLEMS. He is like a kid that just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and yet still denies every bit of it-----but then inadvertently incriminates himself by talking about how delicious the cookies were-----he's not even smart enough to play along with the lie of his denial!

6.) Not only does he have a history of racism and misogyny, it is openly expressed in his speeches, and the people and groups that support him, and even the people he is trying to appoint!

And for him, you would wear a keffiyeh as a diaper and put a big pacifier in your mouth. It's a free country---it's your choice-------I just hope someone gets a picture of it for history to judge later.



Seriously though-----I really do hope I can come back to this post in 4 years and say, "Wow! He really did surprise us didn't he. We were so worried but he turned out to be a really good president..."

But right now, I am not just a simple crybaby because my person did not win the election----Hell---I would've gladly taken Romney, or 4 more years of Bush, over this guy. So I will be watching Trump closely, and speaking out all along the way when I see threats to our freedom, our civil liberties, or our position as a Global Super Power (and I shouldn't have to defend that---I should be the one speaking out about how we are oppressing this country or exploiting that one, I never expected that we would have someone in power so stupid that I would have to stand up for it... PEOPLE---THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE THAT WE ARE USED TO IS FOUNDED UPON OUR POSITION AS A GLOBAL SUPERPOWER! Whether we have a good economy or a bad economy---we have some incredible control over that economy. The rest of the world, and all their Central Banks, have to respond to what we do. It really doesn't matter too much to us what China, or Russia, or the European Union does. But in their case, they have to watch closely what happens here, because we shape the global economy more than anything or anyone else. Once you start labeling America's foreign influence as globalism, and try to turn inward, you risk breaking that influence down at a time when many countries would like to replace the US dollar as their reserve currency and as the global currency. If that happens then America will never ever be great again. The problems will start at the gas pump and escalate out of control. (Just think, as crazy as Putin is, wouldn't you think that somewhere in that crazy head of his, set on as much global domination as he is, that he would love to undermine America's global position, and even have the crazy hopes of one day placing the Ruble as the Global Currency-----that sounds incredibly crazy, you know, like a Simpson's episode a few years ago that joked about Trump becoming president and destroying our economy...).)


So I will protest on January 20th. I will protest for everything that I see him do as a threat. And history will determine if I didn't need to do that, or if protestors like me kept him in line, or worst case, that at least protestors like myself did not go along with the crowd when Trump turned out to be a very bad stain on our history. I'm not a crybaby. I'm a hippie, and I never did, and never will, have to compromise my morals. I'll stand up. (You can wear the diaper.)

 

What was the alternative? Hilary who said of Julian Assange "Can't we just drone this guy"? (He is ensconced in the Ecuadorian embassy in central London,MY city...)You had two terrible candidates.I was wanting Bernie.The whole thing is really pretty sad.

And what's so great about self-righteous Muslims anyway.As the French novelist Michel Houellebecq said,Islam is the stupidest religion.

 

Here is an example of it being used as a scarf---though this one to is a bit bold. This is how the bad guys on the TV show, Continuum, wore them on the first two episodes-----later their cause did not seem so bad, and by the 2nd season it seemed almost noble, but...





Maybe in your area people would want to wear it more inside the jacket, and tied so that it is just like any other scarf----I don't know. I wear it all the time as a scarf---sometimes like this----but other times just like any scarf because it is so warm in the winter. I also have the black and white Keffiyehs that I will wear. Otherwise there are 3 or 4 scarves that I bought in Paris that I will wear if we are going out on the town, or I have to dress up.

 

Here's another one in the same style.

(Can you tell that I am fighting the flu or some kind of bad cold in these 2 pictures?)

 

We all know Trump is a BUG but he’s also the duly elected President. If he fails like we know he will in two years the democrats will take over both the house and senate

BTW his first news conference was like WWE Monday Night RAW - dislike him or not it was a funny as all hell.


Hotwater

 

Yes------but that's just London, its not an American city... (I'M JOKING! I love London actually. I have had so much fun every time I've gone. Ideally I would spend many of my days there (flying to and from via Ryan Air while I live in Nice. I mean, seriously----there are no topless beaches in London, certainly not on the Thames, and even down in Brighton---but just a simple walk away from many of the Apartelles in Nice, and you have a beach full of Page 3 girls! Seriously now...)

By the same token, what is so great about self-righteous Christians? And actually I think the Anti-science spread by American fundamentalist Christians is by far more stupid than Islam. If you study Islam you would find that it is a beautiful religion, and just as loving as Christianity, no more violent than Christianity, and more related to Christianity and Judaism than few people would care to admit.

In fact the Kabbalist (Jewish) and Sufi (Muslim) traditions are, in my opinion, deeper and more mystical, than the Christian mystical traditions, and have certainly stood the test of time much better.

But all 3 are religions, and therefore subject to dogma and fanaticism. Their followers too easily become reductionist, and that leads to political problems: Crusades, jihads, resettlements to expand a promised land----racism, xenophobia, etc. What about the civil war between the Protestants and Catholics in Ireland?

I disagree with religion---with the institution. I am a spiritual person. But I understand that a lot of people get a lot of value out of their religion. I also understand how similar so many religions are. Parts of the Old Testament is shared in all 3 religions. Then there are similarities to Hinduism and Buddhism---in fact all religions rise from an ancient but universal indigenous understanding of the universe.

Therefore I have always stood up for everyone to believe in what religion speaks to them. Religion is a very big part of one's culture, and the connection to one's ancestors. The problem is not really religion, but racism and xenophobia. We should not be fighting religions----we should be fighting racism and xenophobia.

 

Actually----that is the one good thing about Trump, he is so damn funny!!!

I don't even know if a room of genius comedic writers would have come up with anything as funny as the 2016 election.

Imagine if it had been a movie instead of real life.

I have said this before, but years ago I lived in the Philippines, and that is what I loved about Philippine politics----it was so funny, with the ego's, and the hypocrisy, and lies... I couldn't wait to open the morning newspaper to learn the latest. And the idiocy and hypocrisy was so obvious. I always felt sorry for the Philippine people that they were stuck with that pathetic excuse for a government. But, damn it was funny.

I think we stooped as low as the Philippines in the 2008 and 2012 elections. Trump took it to a whole new level for 2016. At least we have SNL, The Daily Show, and other programs to help us laugh. The Filipinos had to figure it out for themselves, and I think they were so used to it that they probably didn't even notice. But me----I would laugh so hard every morning reading the newspapers...