I have no idea if the one who created me placed me among the good in paradise or the hideous in hell. A cup, a sweetheart, and a lute are cash enough for me and credit toward heaven for you. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 94
Syrian Civil War Kills 160, Spills over onto Lebanon, Turkey; Will US Intervene?
Fighting on Monday in Homs and other Syrian cities left some 160 dead on Monday, and, ominously, Syrian troops fired into Lebanon and Turkey, killing 3 persons. The Syrian crisis has escalated into a civil war, and now it is threatening to involve Syria’s neighbors. The Syrian military attacked the town of Rastan near Homs […]
“Smile” – Tamer Hosny and Shaggy’s Feel-Good Arabic Music Video
Egyptian singing star (“the King of Pop”) Tamer Hosny, a late convert to the Egyptian revolution, and Shaggy released this music video, entitled “Smile” a couple of months ago and it is still in ART’s Top Ten. Since the amount of Smiling, kindness and generosity that goes on every day in the Arab world is […]
Omar Khayyam (93)
I am a sinner, where is your acceptance? My heart is dark, where is your light and clarity? If you grant me paradise because of my obedience, that is just a salary. Where is your grace and charity? Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 93
Advancing is Perfection (Gibran)
From Kahlil Gibran, “The Vision,” available at Amazon.com.
US Pentagon Trained Iranian terrorists in Nevada: Hersh
For those who missed this this weekend. The intrepid Seymour Hersh reports at the New Yorker that the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) of the US military gave members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK or People’s Holy Jihadis) training in signals intelligence at a facility in Nevada during the Bush era. The MEK was then […]
What We Lost in Iraq and Washington (Van Buren)
Peter van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com: Left Behind What We Lost in Iraq and Washington, 2009-2012 By Peter Van Buren People ask the question in various ways, sometimes hesitantly, often via a long digression, but my answer is always the same: no regrets. In some 24 years of government service, I experienced my share of […]
All Hell is still Breaking Loose in the Arab World, Television is just not Reporting it
5. Several center-left parties in Tunisia have formed a centrist party for the next election. The Progressive Democratic Party only got 16 seats in parliament, despite being a popular party, and it is determined to improve its electoral position. 4. Omar Suleiman, the former head of Egyptian military intelligence, has thrown his hat in the […]
Liberty without Thought: Kahlil Gibran
From Kahlil Gibran, “The Vision,” available at Amazon.com.
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