Tuesday, February 8, 2011

1. Egypt - continues to dominate the news. The demonstrations continue, the pro-Mubarak side has emerged (why they are "pro" is a good question), Mubarak himself seems to be hanging on, there are some signs of "normality" - banks open etc., and everyone has an opinion about the Muslim Brotherhood.

• The Dangers of Taking Events in Egypt at Face Value - By David Pryce-Jones - David Calling - National Review Online
• Freed young leader energizes Egyptian protests
• BBC News - Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak's concessions rejected
• BBC - American Frei: Historic revolutions shed light on Egypt unrest
• Muslim Brotherhood to meet Egyptian vice president; protests continue - CNN.com
• Charles Krauthammer - Toward a soft landing in Egypt
• The Weekend Interview with Natan Sharansky: Democracy's Tribune on the Arab Awakening - WSJ.com
• Egypt’s Bumbling Brotherhood - NYTimes.com
• Dangerously underestimating the Muslim Brotherhood

And whatever you think of Henry Kissinger, I think he makes a very good point to Charlie Rose:

2. Social Media's Role In A Revolution (cont'd) - Evgeny Morozov's Net Delusion: Social media are tools for oppressors, not just activists. - By Torie Bosch - Slate Magazine

3. Multiculturalism - gets a failing grade in the UK, as apparently it did in Germany - British PM says multiculturalism has failed, Muslims must integrate into British society - Jihad Watch. See also - Works and Days » The Middle East and the Multicultural Nightmare - what will be said soon in North America?

4. Devious - Sorry, but I do not believe that this can be taken at face value - Palestinians want Church of the Nativity recognized as UN heritage site. And on a related note - Dutch FM: Recognition of Palestinian state does no good

5. The Great Communicator - President Reagan would have turned 100 years old on February 6. 2011. The date prompted a variety of articles about his place in history. Here are a few to ponder:

• Robert Fulford: A late president’s greatest victory Full Comment National Post
• Ronald Reagan: Would America have been better off without him? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
• Ronald Reagan was the master

6. Human Rights Gone Amok! Rex Murphy at his best - Rex Murphy: Human rights meets their match: The microwave oven Full Comment National Post. Also see this wild story - 6-year-old blackballed over baggie.

7. Internal Tensions - Cancelled debate highlights tension among Canadian Muslims Holy Post National Post

8. Keeping Focus - Lebanon: Lebanon is a more urgent matter than Egypt - latimes.com

9. Emptying The Vault - various links on various topics I have saved but never posted for whatever reason:

• Is Judaism a race? Ask Israelis - Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel News
• What do anarchists want from us? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine
• Want to be Closer to the Kotel? There’s an App for That – The Shmooze – Forward.com
• Racist Right and the silent Center: Stop delegitimizing Zionism Blogs
• Jewish Ideas Lately: The Hamas-Fatah two-step
• RealClearWorld - How Much Anti-Semitism Is Too Much?
• Where a good Jew is an anti-Zionist Jew
• Zombie » Human Rights Imperialism: Leftist Satire or Moral Collapse?
• The conscience of a Jewish conservative

10. You Don't Say! The Rosett Report » UN and U.S. Double Standards: Egypt vs. Iran and "The State of Human Rights at the United Nations" - UN Watch

11. Super Bowl Sunday I - The Super Bowl was Sunday. In my view the "good guys" won - after overcoming all kinds of injuries not just during the regular season, but in the game itself. When the game was really on the line in the fourth quarter - especially on that late 3rd down and 10 when Aaron Rodgers fired a 31 yard strike to Greg Jennings - Green Bay came through, and Pittsburgh didn't.

Green Bay is the prototypical old school NFL team - the only one, I believe, that is community owned. Pittsburgh is a similar team, and while it is not community owned, I believe that the Rooney Family has owned it for a very long time (with 6 Super Bowl victories to show for it).

Here is a story about the AFL that came to rival the old established NFL, resulting eventually in a merger and the creation of the Super Bowl played between the winners of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The Other League - by Marc Tracy Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life - and yeah, there were Jews involved.

12. Super Bowl Sunday II - I hate the hype, I hate the way that almost every performer who sings the national anthem has to turn it into some sort of personal signature song (PS - memo to Christine Aguilera - easy on the lipstick, girlfriend), and I hate the half-time show.

I always hope for a well-played game that is close to the end and is decided by the players, not the officials. Oh, I sometimes, I love the commercials - like these ones from Sunday: