Matthew Hogan | Comments (15)
May 4, 2008 03:31 PM
Desperately performing CPR on an Aqoul, pre-Aqoul, and an Aqoul personal journal tradition, an open belated new month thread for general comments, etc. Given that the Site Goddess and Demon respectively are in professional life heavy hyper-activity, I'll set it up. All may have at it below, with no guarantee...[
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Matthew Hogan | Comments (2)
May 2, 2008 05:33 AM
Bahrain's possible new ambassador to the US has interesting demographics. Not all that amazing if one is familiar with the region outside of stereotypes and post-1948 tensions. Still the background of the former legislator(-tress?), if legislating is what the Shura Council does, might cause some to be unduly surprised. MANAMA,...[
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Matthew Hogan | Comments (13)
April 23, 2008 02:43 AM
Al Qaeda says an Israeli conspiracy didn't do 9/11. And, it adds, Iran started the Israel conspiracy rumor. Is that itself a conspiracy rumor?...[
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Matthew Hogan | Comments (10)
April 23, 2008 01:15 AM
Belaboring, distatefully, the last general subject area, we turn to Jimmy Carter's statement that Hamas was ready to accept Israel at some point in some way. Hamas itself seems to disagree. To me, it appears to be a conflict of spin. Hamas will not, for ideological reasons, recognize Israel but...[
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Matthew Hogan | Comments (74)
April 2, 2008 01:37 AM
It being a little quiet around here what with all of us busy and/or lazy, I thought I'd spice it up by going against the usual, and quite healthy, distaste of most Aqoul principals towards wading into the Israel-Palestine morass. Especially as there are anniversaries and such coming up. Anyway,...[
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The Lounsbury | Comments (3)
March 26, 2008 05:52 PM
I have (as our site authors can verify) a draft on the issues of dating a month - an indictment of my writing time - on this issue (generally), but sadly this has to wait for more free time. At the same time this is a hot and frankly useful...[
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The Lounsbury | Comments (0)
March 22, 2008 12:47 PM
The Americans increasingly shrill tantrums about doing business with Iranstrike me as entirely self-defeating. Rather like the Cuban sanctions, they are likely merely to give the regime a foreign enemy and scapegoat an excuse on which to hang the consequences of its own economic incompetence. Never mind they are likely...[
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Matthew Hogan - May 9, 2008 12:26 AM | Comments (10)
Filed Under: Islam & Politics
, Levant
, MENA Region General
, Political Development
, Religious Minorities
, Society & Culture
, Terrorism
An open thread for discussion of Lebanon at the crossroads . . . again. And who'd have guessed Nasrallah would provide the fireworks for Israel's 60th anniversary? Followup full posts from our expert team are welcome and encouraged, with removing the horrid tasteless lyrics allusion-pun above from its lead position as added incentive.
The Lounsbury - May 7, 2008 04:46 PM | Comments (1)
Filed Under: Business, Private
, Economic Policy
, MENA Region General
If you follow MENA news (and indeed news generally) rising food prices, coupled with rising petrol prices, have provoked for the first time in years serious concerns about food availability to the poorer segments of the population. And demos and riots. And when mass demos occur in the Middle East and North Africa, fear of regime stability gets in the air. Serious challenges for a region where the emerging free(er) markets are yet fragile. Nevertheless, the FT's arty today, Mideast reels as hunger outgrows oil earnings is bothersome.
Perhaps the lead is what is the most irritating:
For years, food policy in the Middle East and North Africa was very simple: hydrocarbon exports paid for carbohydrate imports.
A quote that then segues into issues of the non-oil exporters. My irritation is always raised when all MENA is written about as if it were the Gulf. This is not merely sloppy, it leads people, even Sr. persons, to dangerously misconstrue developments.
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Books & Media
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dubaiwalla | Comments (6)
Our readers are doubtless already familiar with the allegation that the Bush Administration made an epic mess of Iraq. But what exactly did they do wrong? Rajiv Chandrasekaran explores this in his account of the year and a bit immediately...[More]
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eerie | Comments (47)
Well, here it is. After much haranguing by Matthew and Lounsbury, everyone finally gets to hear what I think about Ayaan Hirsi Ali's memoir, Infidel. When I started the book this past summer, I forced myself to read it with...[More]
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Journals
The Lounsbury - May 8, 2008 05:21 PM | Comments (1)
Filed Under: Biz - Private in MENA
, Jazeera-Arabia
Alberto Verme, Citigroup’s London-based co-head of global investment banking, is expected to announce on Thursday that he is moving from London to Dubai....[
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eerie - May 11, 2008 01:14 AM | Comments (2)
Filed Under: Random Notes
I have returned, just in time to clear the creeping weeds and undergrowth in the back. Not much to say, work has consumed much of my time, and the rest has been spent having inane conversations, staring blankly at my...[
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Matthew Hogan - March 12, 2008 11:55 PM | Comments (5)
Filed Under: Rants- General
I had a moral nightmare the other night while asleep. It was Kermit the Frog. He was singing that song about it not being easy to be green. And he sang it to its conclusion about acceptance, and the wonders...[
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