Cairo, Tahrir, Nov. 20

IMG_9120.jpg, a photo by Mosa'aberising on Flickr.

This guy has made his appearance at Occupy Wall Street too! Here. And here.

#ows kufiyas #39.4

Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

This photo is up on the New York Times homepage right now (9:15 a.m., EST, November 14). It illustrates an article about the problem of "noise," both from Occupy Wall Street drumming sessions, and World Trade Center construction, of NYC residents living near Zuccotti Park. Note the blue kufiya. Yeah.

Iconic Occupy Wall Street w/ 'V for Vendetta' Mask

You've probably seen this before, it has been reproduced multiple times. I can't even find the original source. If someone knows, I'd like to give credit, if possible.

Kufiya affectation, courtesy shirt woot vs. New York magazine's OWS kufiya

Shirt.woot launches a new original t-shirt design every midnight(central). This shirt design came in third in the Hipster Animals derby.

Along with a posted commentary (October 10), which included these lines:

"Personally, I’m sick of all these button-down mainstreamers giving me static about my scarf. “It’s September,” they say. “It’s basically still summer,” they say. “You can’t possibly be cold,” they say...“What’s wrong in your brain that makes a cheesy, affected fashion accessory seem more important to you than your physical comfort?”

Affected? Pshuh! “Dude,” I always want to say (before deciding to just sneer at them with silent disdain instead), “35% of the surface area of my body is neck. A scarf is essential for maintaining my core body temperature, OK?”

That’s right. Scarf life, y’all. Recognize.

On days when I wear a keffiyeh, though, that’s totally affectation, I’ll give you that."

More tongue-in-cheek hipster bashing. But then there's this. Is this "affected," shirt woot?!

Even New York magazine's cover story (October 24), which the image above thematizes, is much more positive than shirt woot, which tries to be cool. Although it does so in a kind of abashed, rather apologetic, but hopefully post-irony tone: "The Kids Are Actually Sort of Alright." Dude, seriously, let this sixties-era geezer tell you: these kids are way better than alright. Viva #ows.

I really, really, like that the person on the cover wears two, mixed-together scarves: an American flag scarf (we are reclaiming our country!) and a kufiya (we are inspired by the Arab spring and maybe, just a bit, by Palestine).

New York Times math: a growth of 275% is 'more than doubled'

Check out this headline from today's New York Times, reporting on the fact that the top 1% of the US population has seen their income grow by 275% between 1979 and 2007, according to a study by the CBO.

And then check out this one, from today's Huffington Post, reporting on the exact same study.

Which do you think is correct? A growth of 275% is more "nearly tripled" than it is "doubled," no? Is the Times trying to tamp down our anger? (The income of poorest fifth of the population rose only 18% during the same period, while the rise of the three-fifths of people in the middle of the income scale was just under 40 %.) Is the Times unconsciously biased in favor of the 1%, who own the paper?