The United States of America participated in an allied shelling of Libya over the weekend in execution of a U.N. Security Council Resolution that the civilians of Libya be protected against the brutality and occupation of the military regime. Intervention is such a difficult strategic and policy call. There is tragedy worth diverting, by military […]
Category: foreign affairs
A Lullaby
It’s bracket Monday, and, while I’d love to execute my first ever NCAA tournament song, including a rant about Florida at a 2 seed and jokes about Va Tech’s perpetually burst bubble, this site is committed to nonsense delayed (or maybe epitomized). The death toll in Japan has exceeded 10,000 but that figure likely has […]
A Regrettable Bonus: Tragedy in the Pacific
I’m happy to offer a third entry this week but not happy for the circumstances that prompted it. As you are likely aware, Japan’s east coast was hit by a devastating tsunami yesterday, propelled from the epicenter of an 8.9 earthquake some 230 miles offshore. Tens of thousands have been evacuated and hundreds are already […]
Live Request Thursday: La Jefa
I had a request from Christian Latimer to cover today’s story in song, which I was thrilled to oblige. One of the benefits of song blogging is the collaborative opportunities between the artist and the audience, which traditional musical composition has not largely allowed for. I think there is a lot more in this […]
Kid Fears
Of all the unrest in the Middle East, Libya’s has been the strangest. Momar Gadhafi was for me, as a child, the face of terrorism in the world. I remember the allegations of state-sponsored terror, including Pan Am Flight 1973, and our later air strikes against the dictator. In large measure, he disappeared from my […]
Cry Like Your Born
I think it is fairly difficult to appreciate the developments in the Middle East. As recently as 2009, Iran was able to put to rest well-supported and organized demonstrations against the credibility of its elections. These current protests, in Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Syria, Algeria, and now Bahrain are occurring in areas of the […]
Rube Goldberg of Riot
Riots broke out in Cairo, Egypt at the end of last week. President Mubarak dissolved the government. Calls for his resignation and immediate transition to democracy persist. Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt have all experienced similar unrest over floundering economies, failing labor, nepotism, and human rights abuses. The copy cat effect of successive protests might […]
Worse. Worser. Worst.
I was traveling again yesterday and scrambled late to make this happen. Take it easy on me. As a tribute to Keith Olbermann’s departure from MSNBC on Friday, I thought I would do a “Worst Person in the World” segment, the recurring feature on Olbermann’s show, which identified three individuals of increasing worseness (Worse, Worser, […]
MLK
To me there seemed this perfect confluence of events between the uprising in Tunisia and our commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. King led a march on Washington for jobs and freedom. The people of Tunisia have awoken their collective senses over exactly the same. Both civil rights movements have their martyr. In […]
How Can We Sleep?
Horrific flash flooding in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The river has risen above its banks to an extent not seen since 1974. It is anticipated that as many as 20,000 homes might be destroyed. I have family in Western Australia. Perth, specifically. They are nowhere near the disaster. But for them and the […]
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