December 2010
16 posts
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WatchMerry Christmas from Syria!
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Being an American in Syria can be hard, but not...
In this series I’ve been talking about how my home government is making life for me in Syria a lot more difficult and costly than it needs to be. First of all, they only allow the Washington, DC-based Embassy of Syria to issue visas to American citizens. Because I was living in the UK, this meant I had to express FedEx my passport at great cost and inconvenience — and as bad luck would...
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WatchA week ago I was sitting on this patio catching some rays, trying to tan myself out of the “United Kingdom pale” hue I’ve become. Now, this. Our apartment has very poor heating, leaky windows, and, adjacent to the floor facing the patio, a gaping hole in the wall. This is the coldest cultural experience ever endured.
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Random thoughts on freedom
Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com writes:
People often have a hard time believing that the terms “authoritarian” and “tyranny” apply to their own government, but that’s because those who meekly stay in line and remain unthreatening are never targeted by such forces. The face of authoritarianism and tyranny reveals itself with how it responds to those who meaningfully...
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WatchI made this video so that my friends and family could hear the sound of an oud, as I’m sure many of them have never heard or seen one before. I certainly hadn’t until I moved to Syria! The instrument is kind of like a guitar but fretless and quieter, and you pluck the strings not with a pick but with a long, flat, narrow piece of plastic.
Here are some detailed photos of the...
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In light of the US State Dept declaring...
State Department Press Statement, Dec 7 2010:
U.S. to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011
The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such...
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Juan Cole: Top Ten Middle East Wikileaks... →
Source: Informed Comment
1. The British government’s official inquiry into how it got involved in the Iraq War was deeply compromised by the government’s pledge to protect the Bush administration in the course of it.
2. Afghan President Hamid Karzai routinely pardons drug dealers and corrupt officials.
3. Karzai’s brother, Ahmad Wali, is called a corrupt drug dealer. He is chief of the...
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Book review: Juan Cole's "Engaging the Muslim... →
Source: Electronic Intifada
Cole steers the conversation away from what Mahmood Mamdani has called “Culture Talk” — i.e., the tendency to seek cultural causes for political effects, especially, the tendency of Western analysts to pathologize political violence and look for its causes in the teachings of Islam. He shows terrorism as a fringe phenomenon, analogous to white...
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Being an American in Syria can be hard, but not...
In my previous post I explained how the most frequent concern I’ve absorbed about being a foreigner in the Middle East — that is, over my personal safety — is not really a problem here in Syria. “Ahlan wa sahlan! Welcome!” Syrians say enthusiastically when I tell them that I’m American; ironic or not, their words are everything but threatening. I’m offered...
Beck v. Assange, or Fiction over Fact →
Glenn Beck and Julian Assange represent two options for the American state of mind. Beck is a charlatan who preaches an alternate reality that affirms the untested, ahistorical and prejudicial assumptions and feelings of millions of Americans.
These are voting citizens who know little of what lies beyond their neighborhoods, but know absolutely how they feel. Beck tells them that their feelings...
