Surfing the Casbah & Maddow on Afghanistan

Well... I've just settled down in a nice new cottage in Santa Barbara, CA, to finish my book. I am finished with the book proposal and will be selling that soon. As for the manuscript, I am over 60% done. I am talking with a certain production company (that's name is best left from this post) about turning Surfing the Casbah into an Ipad book, loaded with multimedia and pictures. I'll say more on this when the time comes.

Now... for the grit. I think people who have been watching The Rachel Maddow Show get that she is more than just another talking head; she is a avid academic who understands The Situation in the rarest of terms: A liberal who sees the opportunity to develop a technocratic democracy that respects basic human rights, etc., but fully understands how hard (if not impossible) this would be to do.

In this video Maddow comes to terms that the American version of government is nowhere near what Afghans want... or let me just say this: What we think is right is not what Afghans think is right. And the ones who agree (like Karzi) only agree because of self-interest and a long period of waiting tables in NYC.

Afghans are not Americans. I highly recommend watching this video... it is the Realist Argument from the Left, and quite interesting.

Update: Now shocking video in Hebrew... what Bibi really thinks about America.

Syria outlaws the Veil @ public schools

The brutish truth is that I've never cared too much about The Veil Issue. I've always considered it a worthy cause, but something better left for activists who give an honest damn... frankly, this world is so doomed that the worlds do-gooders must pick Their Issues in order to be affective. That's just the mean-old truth.

So anyway, my point is that it's not just France that doesn't like the face-covering Veil... it is also the Syrian Arab Republic, a nominally socialist & secular autocracy (and I recommend you read the full post on this over at the LA Times blog, Babylon & Beyond).

AND while we could end this post here, why not raise the other issue: If the US & Europe are looking for secular and stable countries in the Middle East, look no further than counties like Jordan and Syria. They might not be "democratic," but what the hell? A state economy that trades with Our Free Market (and promotes stability and growth) should be fine by Washington's book--right?

Update: 56% of Americas support an Israeli strike on Iran.

America VS France: The Veil Ban

France seems to be more concerned about keeping it French--no face-covers for Muslim women.

America seems to be more concerned about keeping a little thing Civil Liberties--Muslim women are still allowed to cover their faces, even though (probably) just as many Americas are against it as French.

Amazing.

FUN or WAR: What makes more money for the Levant?

OH BOY did I have a sinister thought last night before I went to bed... yikes!

So here's how it went down: I was checking the March 14-friendly Lebanese news site NOW Lebanon when I saw this feature on summertime in Beirut. For anyone who has been to Lebanon (not in wartime) this list will seem familiar: traffic; near-naked girls; Arabs from the Gulf; crowded beach--and Sweet Lord, the list goes on.

But what got my thinking was The Other Thing that impacts the Lebanese summer: What Hassan Nasrallah says about war with Israel. (If war breaks out summer is canceled.)

So here was my sick ponderance: What makes more money?

The tourist economy in Lebanon takes in more people than in the Lebanese state itself--everything from hotels, to clubs, to buying a Pepsi in Baalbek. (Even the goddamn journalist who wrote the NOW Lebanon feature is supported by The Summer Economy.) And then, of course, you can add up all the tourism, etc., that Israel receives in the summer months.

So if war breaks out... well, all of this is lost. BUT, it is replaced with arms, usage of the military and a whole flurry of re-arming that occurs after the war.

So just on a HUGE, macro level, what grosses more $$$: A Levantine summer of FUN or WAR?

Maybe it's not that simple. But maybe it is. Maybe what grosses the most money is a savage mixture of the two; the vicious BUILD & DESTROY cycle might be the most profitable formula known to man. Just never mind the human toll.