Arabian peninsula = Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Leb¬anon, Oman, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

MERS is the viral infection that's causing severe respiratory disease in lots of folks over there. There have been just a few cases in the US, starting in May. I'm wondering if military personel are coming back sick? Apparently pretty much all of the camels on the Arabian peninsula have this virus. We don't know if it causes chronic infections, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did, considering what we are learning about viral DNA mingled with our own.

Just yesterday I finally stopped ignoring the Middle East and looked up a few things. Like who is Shia and who is Sunni. And who has nukes and where. And what exactly an Islamist is. It was....a useful exercise. Anyone else out there taking an interest in this juncture of history? I'm ready to be educated.

It just seems to me, after one *ok a fraction of one* day of looking into it, that the majority Sunnis in most of the Middle East have been supremely frustrated trying to deal with their less conservative, more secular Shia neighbors. And it seems clear to me that America has at least attempted to enact a separation of church and state, even though those words do not appear in the constitution. It was in the First Amendment to the US Constitution that Congress was to "make no law respecting respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". As wikipedia points out, lots of nations have this idea in their code, and there is a great range of shades of gray in its execution. Here in America we do fairly well, but nowhere near a perfect score. For one thing, the constitution has no control over the states and what local laws might be passed. Which may be how we have gigantic crosses along Interstate 5 in Washington State. Not so different from other places, where religion is supposed to guide personal and political life. Here we seem only able to elect Christian presidents. We like to think that we are above it, but we are surely not.

So I know I am rambling and I will call it quits. If you have an opinion about what is the crux of what is going on--in Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia or any other involved party, feel free to comment and tell me! I'm building a mind map.

**Created Syria tag.

Ahmadinejad actually carried out a “personnel revolution” to change the composition of his Cabinet of Ministers. In that sense, we can agree with the interpretation of Middle East Institute President Evgeny Satanovsky, who said that Ahmadinejad had “made preparations for an internal coup by changing the format of power,” which shows that the clergy has lost influence in the country. Many experts believe that the top brass of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the leadership of the Basij militia, which is headed by Ahmadinejad, could now take power in Iran. Incidentally, that may create an extremely favorable context for the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear problem at the talks scheduled for late January in Istanbul. If they actually succeed in achieving the breakthrough everyone expects in Iran’s relations with the rest of the world, Salehi will have a real chance of gaining a firm foothold on his new position.

This article was originally in Russian and I found it here on his LJ journal_neo. While the translations are sometimes a little difficult for me to follow, he usually gives a completely different perspective than what you find in the US or British media.

He makes a good argument for the use of nuclear power to limit the burning of fossil fuels. And he paints the US opposition to this effort as a selfish gambit to keep the world hooked on oil. There's a translation of his speech here.

The Daily Dish (Andrew Sullivan) is tracking the events starting with this post. I got a sense of what is going on from his posts, and you can too if you want, before the corporate news delivers their milquetoast spin. It's not pretty, or safe. The chant you hear repeated in this clip translates to “I will kill, I will kill, those who kill my brother!”. The Green Revolution protestors seem to be organized, and to be obstructing both security forces and the Baseej militia. There are indications that the rebellion strives to remain non-violent. Some police are refusing orders to fire on the protestors. But still the bloodshed is increasing. It appears that Mousavi may have been martyred. The videos reveal that no matter how awful the violence becomes, the people are determined to document their situation and reveal the barbarism to the world. The internet is changing things. Back in 1979 there was no such information transfer. Ashura (the holiday) has a theme of resistants to tyranny to the last drop of blood, and it seems to be a driving force in the timing of this rebellion.


If the link above, to the beginning of the Daily Dish coverage of this event, has failed to work, try this one: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c45669e201287683b7d8970c

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/26/2455293.htm
Lots of Christains are mighty miffed, but once again I find myself agreeing with this man's criticisms of imperialist powers today, and with his hopes for the future of humanity.
( direct quotes from the ABC articleCollapse )

I don't think the TV guy has much of a clue, but maybe you do.
Thanks to rinku for keeping me up to date.