Kenan Malik: *Blurring the line between criticism and bigotry fuels hatred of Muslims and Jews.*

This leads him, among other things, to reject the term "Islamophobia", for slightly different but related reasons:

It is for this reason that I have long been a critic of the concept of “Islamophobia”; not because bigotry or discrimination against Muslims does not exist, but because the term conflates disapproval of ideas and disparagement of people, making it more difficult to challenge the latter. It is, in my view, more useful to frame such intolerance as "anti-Muslim prejudice" or "bigotry". The issue, though, is not one of wording; what matters is less the term employed than the meaning attributed to it.

The term I coined is "antimuslimism". I reject it because of a category error: bigotry is not a phobia. A phobia is a mental disorder; we cannot blame people for having a phobia. We can and should blame people (including ourselves) for bigotry. Thus, paradoxically, calling bigotry "phobia" lets the bigots off the moral hook.

I agree with his point that the choice of meaning is more important than the choice of word. But often an article uses the word without explanation, assuming the reader knows what it means. In those articles, the choice of word is the core of the article's communication about the meaning intended.

Another gem from the article:

Anti-Zionism is not necessarily antisemitic; but it can be, and too often is. The answer is not to label all expressions of anti-Zionism as antisemitic but to call out the latter, while acknowledging the legitimacy of the former.

I should comment that criticism (however strong) of actions of Israel is not necessarily anti-Zionism.

Rhiannon Giddens rejects the idea that genres of music belong to certain groups and that others should be excluded from playing them.

For music, and for everyone, we must reject the idea that "cultural appropriation" is something bad. That view is wrong, regardless of which group's rights are being attacked.

(satire) *[Senator] Mitch McConnell Donates Body To Lobbyists For Research.*

The US has for decades spent far more on roads than on public transit. In the past that was unfair to Americans in cities. Now it's resisting efforts to minimize climate disaster.

An interview with a leading campaigner for legalization of MDMA and its use for therapy.

I dislike the part that tries to validate the idea of "spirits" as something other than a metaphor, because there is no way those can exist; it can only be an instance of confused thinking.

That doesn't invalidate the beneficial results of the therapy, or the arguments for legalization.