Iran: Protest that refuses to die The Guardian 29 December 2009 It is fruitless to speculate whether a tipping point has been achieved by Iran’s burgeoning opposition movement. But after the weekend’s protest marches in which at least eight people and probably many more died, we do know that the movement is both exceptionally resilient […]
Iran Roiled, Crowds Burn Banks, Police Station Chanting against Theocrat Khamenei But No Revolutionary Alternative YetInformed Comment Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religionby Juan Cole Monday, December 28, 2009 The BBC is reporting that clashes are continuing into Monday morning between protesters and the regime security forces in Tehran and perhaps other cities, […]
I think we learned something about the impact of our Iraq misadventure while we visited Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s modern history couldn’t be more complicated, having contained Iraq, Syria, the West Bank, and parts of Saudi Arabia at one time or another in the last fifty years. When we invaded Iraq, many upper […]
Standing on Mount Nebo in Jordan where Moses first saw the "Promised Land" on the other bank of the River Jordan and Dead Sea, I could make barely out Jerusalem in the distant hills with Jericho in between. It was monotonous desert to the horizon. A few days before, we had flown from Cairo to […]
Well got back from Egypt and Jordan at 11:55 PM last night – 5 minutes of Christmas at home. An amazing journey, to be sure, and I’m sure I’ll post a sampling of the infinite photo archive in my wife’s Nikon. But this morning, savoring the first cup of real coffee in three weeks, I […]
We have the right President. The only real question, “Do we have the right country?”
Jet lag is a real thing. We took turns having a mind today, maybe by tomorrow, we’ll have two again. Egypt has most of the antiquities, and most of those that can be moved are in the Cairo Museum where we spent much of the day. The famous mask of Tutenkhamen is just a piece […]
Well I can connect to the Internet from Cairo, but can’t seem to connect to FTP to upload pictures, so words will have to do. Cairo is a flat, sandstone colored place. Every building is painted the same color [or "was" – a lot are faded]. There are minerets dotting the horizon in all directions, […]
Socialist thugs are better at creating private sector jobs DailyKOS by Jed Lewison Dec 04, 2009 In light of the good news in today’s jobs report, here’s something that the Republican loons who call President Obama a socialist thug should wrap their minds around: since 1959, the average private sector job growth under four-year Democratic […]
This is what the leader of the Republican Party had to say today. I wonder what "The real solution to unemployment is get government out of the freaking way" and "President Obama and Plugs Biden should resign" actually means? I sort of get "We Blinded You with Science" [Climategate refers to the emails stolen from […]