"Jordanian State Security Court.....Their lawyer had said the six young men never called on anyone to convert to Shi’ism…… He said the young men were merely explaining their descendants from the family of the Prophet, as the historical documents indicated....."
No wonder I am having a hard time in my quest for humor in Jordan. It used to be a “search” but now it is a “quest” (an inglorious one) for Jordanian humor...... << MORE >>

A Torturer Exchange program. ""The return of torture is especially distressing since Bahrain showed the political will a decade ago to end this scourge," said the report by Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director. The Sunni-ruled state ended torture of detainees in the late 1990s, but resumed the practice in December 2007 amid street demonstrations by majority Shiites, the report said…………Shiites complain they are discriminated at every level....."
The well-dressed soft-spoken potentate dude you meet, the one reeking of sweet fragrances, is probably the one giving the orders....... ... << MORE >>

"Although His Majesty has had some 150 wives, he belongs to a most ascetic Moslem sect, the Wahabis,and his courtiers explain: "Our King has never had more than four wives at any one time."....Standard paid Ibn Saud $1,156,400 when he granted the concession and agreed to pay $165,000 yearly....."
They have speeded up in terms of production and prices of crude, but slowed down..... ... << MORE >>

" Police said the charges against the men, as well as at least 10 other leading members arrested in the provinces, were for engaging in banned political activity - a standard government charge used against the group......" ... << MORE >>

"Thain brokered Merrill's sale to Bank of America as the credit crisis peaked in the fall of 2008,.... In early 2008, just as Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was preparing to slash expenses, cut thousands of jobs and exit businesses to fix the ailing securities firm, he was also spending company money on himself, senior people at the firm say...."
I may have been maligning the potentates of the Middle East too much here. ...... ... << MORE >>

"Republican darling Sarah Palin said Sunday that "it would be absurd" for her to rule out running for president and that she would consider a 2012 bid if she thought it would be right for America. The former Alaska governor and one-time Republican vice....."..... ... << MORE >>

"Yediot Ahronot reported Saturday that two Israeli missile ships passed through the Suez Canal en rout to the Red Sea on Thursday morning. The sources said the ships are expected to reach the Persian Gulf within the next four days......" ... << MORE >>

"Internet down in Iran ahead of opposition protests. Iran said on Sunday its Internet connections will remain slow this week due to technical problems, ahead of anticipated protests by opposition supporters....."
Like Don Corleone, I don’t believe in coincidences...... ... << MORE >>

"Salehi said Tehran's nuclear reactor produces medical radioisotopes for about a million Iranian nationals who need them for treatment for cancer and other serious diseases. .....Iran to Begin Enriching Uranium for Medical Reactor. Ahmadinejad ordered the production to begin but officials have not yet given a date....." ... << MORE >>

"Governor of Baghdad Salah AbdelRazaq told the throng that ‘we will start a campaign to find all Baathists and fire them from government departments……We will not allow this plot to have them to run…..”……..”
the Iraqi capital has sure come a long from since the days when Saddam had appointed his uncle and father-in-law as governor. Khairallah Talfah was a former army man and, oddly, a former teacher with pro-Nazi and fascist tendencies, like all Baathists...... ... << MORE >>

Sarah and Mahmoud on the road to Argentina.
But then again, if you pay $550 for a mediocre dinner and a lousy speech, you can afford it in the higher national interest of saving yourself a hundred thousand or even a million dollars of taxes.......also watched Ahmadinejad with a small videocam ...... That was when my new fatwa, for post Super Bowl activation, took shape: the two of them...... ... << MORE >>

Not Ike, not D-Day. "Other experts think the insurgents will filter out of Marjah or ditch their weapons and return to being the farmers they are in civilian life, content to wait for the departure of U.S. troops, set by President Barack Obama to begin in July 2011. The Taliban "will take an awful lot of casualties" if they fight, said a former senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan who requested anonymity to speak candidly. "But I would lean towards them backing away from the punch. Their long term strategy is to run out the clock."......"...... ... << MORE >>

"The prototype of this aircraft ... completed all radar evading characteristics considered by us," he said. "We are evaluating the data.....".... ... << MORE >>

Not excatly Wasilla. "The mayor of a small coastal town in northern England has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing women's underwear. Ian Stafford, 59, mayor of Preesall and Knott End in Lancashire, pleaded guilty to four counts of breaking and entering, the Daily Mail reported. "I feel deeply ashamed at the whole scenario because I have hurt people who have been excellent friends -- I could not wish for better....."..... ... << MORE >>

"It’s not a secret how to fix this country, argued Mohammed al-Asaadi, a media consultant who sat in with us: “We need a revolution against the status quo. We need to build capacity, institutionalize the rule of law and build a culture of ownership and responsibility.” Added Murad Hashim, the Al Jazeera bureau chief....."
Friedman forgets to mention the elephant sitting and defecating in the room: the 32-year dictatorship of one man, one family. Friedman is too polite, as he usually is, to put his finger on the source...... ... << MORE >>