HOW-TO BOOK: You may have run into Reza Aslan, author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, while watching the Daily Show. Now you can see the professor of creative writing (at the University of California, Riverside) in person, talking about his newest book, How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror. Sounding a bit like John Gottman, Aslan says the best cosmic war is one that isn't fought; he says need to strip conflicts of their religious connotations and address the more earth-bound grievances that generate the cosmic mindset. more ›

Katelyn: I want you all to know that I take this issue very seriously, and as such I will be quoting all of you in my story. more ›

reports on his blog that state Sen. Joe Zarelli recently hosted right-wing Israeli politicians and others at a two-day conference down in Vancouver, to fan the flames of Islamophobia. more ›

Stefan Sharkansky at Sound Politics calls bullshit on a letter of condolence regarding the Jewish Federation shooting (which Sharkansky calls a "terrorist attack") that Jeff Siddiqui, a local Muslim leader, sent to the Jewish Transcript. This paragraph from the letter seems to particularly offend Sharkansky: more ›

Mark Bowden, author of the best-seller . Bowden has been touring for months, but he is still enthusiastic about this story, leaning eagerly forward onto his hands as he spoke. more ›

As a wise man once said: "Ohhhh, we're half-way there / Ohhh-oh, living on a prayer." On Wednesday, SIFF officially reached the half-way mark. But it's by no means all downhill from here. There's still tons more great films to see before the fest is through. more ›

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. more ›

ConWorks has been bringing some interesting acts into their renovated lobby/stage space. The diversity in the inaugural lineup is nothing short of impressive, ranging from jazz to electronic music, from those with followings to the more obscure. The primary issue thus far has seemed to stem from a strong lack of promotion. Perhaps the art crowd is in the know, but knowledge of this set of events has yet to really percolate into the public. ConWorks, if you're listening, get to work on that. more ›

Remember If All of Seattle Read the Same Book, the Seattle Public Library-sponsored event wherein, as you might guess, all of Seattle was encouraged to read the same book? (At the same time, no less.) more ›