Did Admiral Fallon resign?
Our own igNobel Prize.
Iran's election: hardliners stack the deck.
A Saudi Shaikh's Last Tango in Riyadh, not in Paris...dommage.
Bob Dylan's Arabian Tambourine Man.
Donkeys of Palestine: Hamas asses vs. Fatah asses.
                                                                         

Fallon Falls:           Dana Perino Falconer

Admiral William Fallon, Commander of US forces in the Middle East (Central Command), has ‘resigned’ today, apparently less than one year after his appointment. Fallon had publicly contradicted Bush administration policy on Iran, warning of a possibly disastrous strategic mistake in attacking Iran.

Mr. Bush had also said repeatedly that he takes the opinions of his military commanders in the field seriously (Mr. Cheney never served, so he can’t be considered a military commander, not in the field). In the unlikely event of an attack on Iran, we can expect other resignations, like that of Defense Secretary Gates as an example. Rush Limbaugh will not waver, however, he will definitely remain in his bunker somewhere in Florida.
Aljazeera and some other Arab media in the Gulf have headlined the resignation, others have ignored it.

Iranian Elections:
The parliamentary elections in Eyeran are close. It looks like the conservative mullahs have already stacked the decks so that they can retain control. They have done so by disqualifying many moderate or reformist candidates. Nowadays many Middle Eastern regimes have become quite creative in having a ‘voting system’ and still clinging to power. I believe that even the Emperor Caligula, had he been an Arab or Muslim leader, would have contrived to win popular elections- he may even have managed to get his horse Incitatus elected.

On the other hand, the last time Iran was controlled by a reformist president and a reformist parliament was probably in 2002- that was when Mr. Bush decided to add the country to the “Axis of Evil”, an asinine term thought up by one of his speechwriters who soon after resigned and told everybody that he had coined the term- he still boasts of it.

The New Middle East’s Own Nobel Prize:
Last weekend, the King Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman al-Saud International Prize for Islamic Services was awarded to, you guessed it, His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman al-Saud. When will the King of Sweden ever win a Nobel Prize?

                                                    
Tango Arabiano: 
 
No, he only looks like him                                                                                             

Hey Mr. Tambourine Shaikh, play a song for me…..
I'm not sleepy and there's no place i'm goin' to...

Interesting take on dancing, Islam and history in a story from Saudi Arabia. Shaikh Abdulmuhsin al-Obeikan, a famous top counselor at the Saudi Ministry of Justice, was spotted playing the daff (tambourine-like small drum) and dancing at a wedding. He has been criticized by some fundamentalists who are more fundie than he is.
Mr. Obeikan has retorted that playing the daff/tambourine is not unmanly, that it is more of a man’s ‘thing’ than a woman’s- so it was not his inner woman rebelling behind the burq'a. He also stated that the Prophet and his Sahaba, early companions, also were known to attend functions where the daff was played. 

Overall, the padre is right of course. It is good to have some fun in a drab place. Besides, if you've got it, why not flaunt it.
Still, I suspect it was that famous Shaikh's Last Tango in Riyadh, sans Maria Schneider of course.

Jackasses of Gaza:   A Hamas ass or a Fatah ass?
Elaph reports today that Gaza Palestinians have organized a protest march for the donkeys of the sector. Apparently there are many of them over there. They have recruited jackasses (donkeys) to protest the blockade imposed on the sector. It is not clear if the jackasses belong to Hamas, in which case they would be fundamentalist asses, or if they secretly lean toward Fatah, which would make them corrupt asses.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com