Vox: I Drove 14,000 Miles in Search of What Americans Have in Common

Now, not all disagreements between us are civil; not everyone I met on my travels was kind. Some enthusiastic Trump supporters told me, "Obama should go back to where he came from" and other bigoted remarks—but these were few and far between. The vast majority of conservative folks were choosing between begrudgingly voting for Trump or not voting for president at all. And some had come over to team Hillary Clinton. Even a woman I'll call Georgie, from Mobile, Alabama, who said she had been an early and dedicated "Trumpette" had lost all enthusiasm for the man—though she still planned to tick his box come November. What had been the moment things turned? "I don't know. He just kept talking," she told me.

There is undeniable hatred out there, undeniable ugliness that has been stirred up by this election—we saw some of that at Trump's rallies, and see some of it now in the frighteningly frequent reports of hate crimes and harassment. But these atrocious acts are committed by a small, but very vocal, minority, and do not represent the totality of the 47 percent of voters who picked Trump. [...]

According to the latest data from the United States, just over 58 percent of eligible Americans voted, meaning turnout has not dropped relative to recent presidential elections. Still, over four in ten of us declined to participate despite both parties proclaiming this the most important election of all time. More people did not vote than voted for either candidate. [...]

Even on social issues like LGBTQ rights, there are signs that Americans are more united than we typically think. Many conservatives I spoke to on the redder side would prefer that our legal unions (and I say "our" because I'm gay) be called civil, not marriage, but still, they thought our relationships deserved legal sanction and protection, which is not nothing. [...]

It seems to me that more than anything, what makes the divisions between us so stark is that we hear different narratives, are making decisions and assumptions based on entirely different sets of facts. Some people blame this divide on websites that spread hoaxes through social media, others blame partisan cable news—and there's certainly merits to both claims—but the country's media has always been somewhat split along party and regional lines. That is unlikely to change anytime soon.

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The Huffington Post: How to construct a liberal Islam

But, given all the debates and negative propaganda about Islam’s nature, a fundamental question that is worth studying is: Can we construct a liberal Islam? As I explain below, I believe we can because I believe Islam is a reformable religion, and completely compatible with secularism, i.e., separation of mosque from governance, and respect for human rights. In a previous article I explained why inventing a democratic Islam is an urgent issue. The reasons for inventing a democratic Islam also make it imperative to invent a liberal Islam.

Some people believe that the problem of “radical Islamic terrorism” has a military solution. But, this is false, because “Islamic terrorism” is only one interpretation of the Islamic teachings that several governments in the Middle East, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, support directly or indirectly by providing the terrorists with arms of funds, believing that it serves their national interests. The Sunni Muftis, particularly among the Salafi/Wahhabi sect, together with some Shiite Ayatollahs, advocate a harsh and violent interpretation of the Quranic teachings. Over the course of their presidential campaigns, Donald Trump and Ben Carson illustrated Muslims as dangerous animals. The promises and slogans against “the radical Islam” and Muslims made by Trump throughout his campaign, if realized, could lead to the growth of radicalization among Muslims. The true solution is in demonstrating to the vast majority of Muslims who are moderate that there are also secular and liberal interpretations of the Islamic teachings that, in fact, are more compatible with the true spirit of the Quran. This is vital to worldwide peace, as well as the national interests of the nations that are hurt by Islamic terrorism. [...]

I now describe the sources in the Quran and the Sunnah [The Prophet’s traditions] that can be used as the pillar of a liberal Islam. How the theological details of such a reading of the Quran and the Sunnah are or must be is beyond the scope of this article. But, the Islamic sources that I describe support liberal values, such as pluralism, justice, freedom, tolerance, the inherent dignity of human beings, respect for pacts, and commitment to the wisdom of each era’s elite.

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Atlas Obscura: Corpse Brides and Ghost Grooms: A Guide to Marrying the Dead

In some societies, it’s possible—with a few caveats. Posthumous marriage—that is, nuptials in which one or both members of the couple are dead—is an established practice in China, Japan, Sudan, France, and even the United States, among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The procedural and legal nuances of each approach vary wildly between cultures, but here is an overview of how to tie the knot with someone who isn’t quite alive. [...]

According to Chinese custom, older sons ought to marry before their younger brothers. If an older brother should die unmarried at a young age, however, there is a solution that keeps the social order intact: ghost marriage. In China, and among the Chinese in Taiwan and Singapore, ghost marriages are performed to address a variety of social and spiritual ills. Chief among these are the desire to placate the restless spirits of those who go to their grave unmarried. “Ghosts with families are liable to direct their discontent within the family circle,” writes Diana Martin in Chinese Ghost Marriage, “and it is here that ghost marriage becomes operative.” [...]

Most ghost marriages are conducted to unite the spirits of two departed souls, rather than wedding a dead person to a living one. Though it may seem harmless to conduct a postmortem ritual designed to make two ghosts happy, the practice of matchmaking dead men with worthy ghost brides has occasionally resulted in criminal depravity. In March 2013, four men in northern China were sentenced to prison for exhuming the corpses of 10 women and selling them as ghost brides to the families of deceased, unmarried men. The women’s bodies were intended to be buried alongside the dead men, ensuring eternal companionship. [...]

France is the rare country in which it is explicitly legal for a living person to marry a dead one. Article 171 of the French civil code—the laws by which the country is governed—states that “the President of the Republic may, for grave reasons, authorize the celebration of the marriage where one of the future spouses is dead.” 

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Motherboard: What Will the Trump Administration Do to Porn?

But wait, you’re probably saying to yourself right now, how can Trump be bad for porn? This is, after all, a man who was featured in a softcore porn video and appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine; a man who happens to be married to a former nude model. Surely those aren’t the actions of someone hellbent on cracking down on the adult industry, right?

Throughout Trump’s campaign, as he was signing anti-porn pledges and representing a party with a national platform declaring porn to be a “public health crisis,” commentators suggested he was probably just pandering to his base rather than expressing a deeply-held belief. Even in the wake of the election, an experienced adult industry attorney assured me there was no way a Trump administration would come after America’s pornographers. [...]

And Pence is just the tip of the iceberg. Other transition team members include Edwin Meese of the infamous Meese Report, the Family Research Council’s Ken Blackwell, and, of course, Rudy Giuliani, who spent his tenure as mayor cleaning up Times Square (i.e. driving out all the porn theaters). “Take anybody who’s been named to the transition team or has been floated as a [cabinet member] and [search for] their name with pornography," said Michael Stabile, the Communications Director for adult industry advocacy group the Free Speech Coalition. The results aren’t pretty.

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Jacobin Magazine: Not One Less

The national one-hour industrial action, followed by a massive street protest, was called in response to rising violence against women. Using the hashtags #niunamenos, #paronacionaldemujeres, and #vivasnosqueremos — “not one less,” “women’s general strike,” “we want us alive” — it was planned in less than six days in response to the brutal murder of Lucía Pérez, a teenager who was drugged, raped, and tortured before being killed in the coastal city of Mar del Plata.

But the strike also put a broader set of demands on the country’s agenda, and its echoes are now visible across Latin America. It participates in the new Purple Tide — so named because feminist groups identify with that color — a movement attempting to address capitalist patriarchy.

In the last month alone, twenty-three women have been murdered in Argentina, demonstrating an obvious uptick in gendered violence. But the movement wants to address the issue beyond the narrow limits of law enforcement. The first mass action against gender-related crimes took place in June 2015 where organizers put forward a list of demands to the state and citizens designed to confront patriarchy at all levels. [...]

A little-discussed aspect of these marches, for example, is that participants are making many work-related demands. Argentinian women — like women everywhere — have higher rates of unemployment and informal employment and take on 76 percent of unpaid domestic work. According to the country’s official employment numbers, women work, on average, two hours more per week while earning 27 percent less than men.

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Politico: The new Putin coalition

Vladimir Putin, it used to be said not long ago, had no friends. His invasion of Crimea and meddling in eastern Ukraine made him persona non grata in mainstream Europe and America. Asia saw little value in Russia’s no-growth economy.

These days the Russian leader is on a roll. Without having to backtrack on anything of substance (or territory) in Ukraine, there’s renewed talk of lifting the sanctions imposed in 2014. Putin was always a celebrity, and a source of support, for Europe’s far-right parties, which are themselves on a roll. And now unabashed fans of his in conventional political parties are taking office or rising in the polls.

Soon enough, the West may have its own Putin caucus. Here’s how it’s taking shape:

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Bloomberg: Brexit Means Fewer Poles Interested in Work Abroad, Study Shows

With about 1 million Poles already working in the European Union’s second-biggest economy, the number now considering leaving the ex-communist country to labor abroad has dropped by more than a third following the U.K.’s vote to leave the bloc, according to a study published Monday.

Only 12 percent of people working in the country of 38 million are considering emigration, a record low and drop of 7 percentage points from the previous survey in March, according to the poll concluded in September by Work Service SA, a recruiting and human resources company.

With U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government giving no clear indication of how foreign workers will be treated after her country leaves the EU, enthusiasm among Poles and other nationals from the EU’s poorer eastern members for working in the U.K. has fallen. A rise in attacks against foreign workers has also chilled enthusiasm. In Poland, record low unemployment of 8.3 percent and wages that rose 3.6 percent in October from a year earlier have given employees more reasons to stay home, even as economic growth slows.

“Instability in Europe amid Brexit and a lower sense of security may be factors driving down the amount of Poles that consider emigration,” Maciej Witucki, chief executive officer for Work Service said in an e-mail. “Even if Poles are aware of weaker macroeconomic data, they’re choosing to stay rather than risk emigration.”

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The Guardian: Support for the EU on the rise since Brexit vote … even in the UK

Support for the EU has risen across Europe, including in the UK, since the British people voted to leave.

Pro-EU sentiment has grown in five of the six largest member states, according to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation. These were the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Italy. The only large state to see a fall in support for the EU was Spain.

“The looming Brexit seems to have been the best advertisement for the EU,” said Aart De Geus, of the Bertelsmann Foundation, Germany’s largest NGO. [...]

Across the EU as a whole, 62% want their state to remain a member, up from 57% in March. Researchers contacted more than 10,000 people in all EU countries.

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Los Angeles Times: Germany buys Thomas Mann's former Pacific Palisades home, averting demolition

The home, built in 1941 and designed by modernist architect J.R. Davidson, had been listed this summer for just under $15 million. Sitting on a flat lot measuring almost one acre, it had been labeled a tear-down.

But the prospect of bulldozing the secluded five-bedroom home generated protest. An online petition called on the German government to save the home, describing it as a monument to German exiles in California and resistance to the Nazi regime.

The mansion ultimately was purchased for $13.25 million, according to the listing page.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the residence symbolized “a home for many Germans who worked toward a better future for their country, paved the way for an open society and laid the foundations for common transatlantic values,” according to a statement posted by the German consulate in Los Angeles.

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