He will become known as 'Bashar the Butcher'

Accolades for Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I dreaded starting this book as it sounded just so traumatic and creepy.  But, it was a page turner, beautifully written, and well worth putting aside feelings of horror and dismay at the subject matter.

Crackdown in Syria

Just a year ago, my husband, son, his girlfriend, and I ate falafel sandwiches near this square in Damascus


.

 The above video is from this article from the Los Angeles Times.

You can also find more videos from Syria at this link.

The Pain and Horrors Begat by Apartheid

I listened and sobbed.  People are remarkable.

Listen to this show on KUOW:
Forgiving my daughter's killer
Ginn Fourie’s daughter was killed in an attack by the African People’s Liberation Army (APLA) in Cape Town in 1993. After nearly a decade of agonising grief, Ginn eventually met the man who masterminded the shooting, former APLA commander, Letlape Mphahlele. In their own words, they explain how they’ve forgiven each other over the past.
Link - Lyndie Fourie Foundation
Link - The Forgiveness Project

In fact, this whole show on 10 May on KOUW Presents is excellent.

As the sands shift........

Saudi Arabia is taking preemptive action amidst change and unrest in the Middle East.  Unsure of its future relationship with the US, it is looking to diversify its supply chain by reaching out to.....China!  See/hear this story from NPR.  Ah,  opportunistic China.

Iran Demands Syria Free Dorothy Parvaz....

Now this is an interesting development

Iran has been strangely silent throughout the unrest in Syria.  D. Parvaz was born in Iran.....

D. Parvaz is Missing in Syria

Former Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter is missing.  She landed in Damascus last Friday, 29 April, and has not been heard from since.  There is a Facebook page dedicated to information on her.  A former colleague, Joe Copeland has written a story in the online newspaper, Crosscut.  Call the Syrian Embassy in Washington, DC, tweet, and email: (202) 232-6316 ext. 139 or send an email to as1@syrembassy.net. A Twitter campaign uses the hashtag #FreeDorothy. 

 

The beginning of the end has begun in Syria

May the people of Syria prevail.
More bloodshed in Dara'a
Crackdown and sanctions
Witness describes crackdown
Iran's hypocrisy and silence

The Horrors & Terror of being a Woman in Pakistan

Pakistan high court frees five accused of retaliation rape

"In a ruling seen as a setback for women's rights in Pakistan, the country's Supreme Court on Thursday freed five men accused of gang-raping a woman on the orders of a village council."

By Alex Rodriguez

Los Angeles Times

KHALID TANVEER / AP

Mukhtar Mai said she feared the men she accused will seek vengeance against her and her family.

Related

 For the full article, click on the linked headline above.

What more can be said about this abomination......

Hyperbolic reviews cause subsequent deflation

The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this book very much, but was disappointed only based on the hype it had received in the literary press. Some of the images are haunting and will stick with me and I thought the idea of the Deathless Man was an interesting device.

Ronald Singer: In Memoriam, Five Years On

How timely and appropriate.  There was an interesting article in The New York Times on Friday 15 April, titled "Phonetic Clues Hint Language is Africa-Born".  A biologist from New Zealand has used the model of DNA analysis that has shown the likely spread of humans out of Africa to the rest of the world to look at the origin and dispersal of language in much the same way.  What would have pleased my father, Ronald Singer, about this is the showcasing of  Southern Africa, a region he researched and felt strongly about:  that the most important information about early humans would be found here.  Details of his research can be found in this Memoriam written by Paul Dechow.  Ronald Singer's last work, on Peers Cave in Fish Hoek, South Africa,  is currently being edited by Jay T Stock and Curtis Marean.

A glimmer of good news from Lesotho

One dedicated person can make a difference.  With some help, she can blaze a trail of good news!  An article in Sunday's New York Times profiles Dr.Grace Phiri, a pediatrician committed to saving children in Lesotho from HIV/AIDS.  She now has help from several physicians from USA, who, with grant money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, do good work.

Spring, again

                                                      A new flower in springtime
                                                      The Mason bees arrive
                                                      A gentle nudge, a reminder
                                                      Ah, Ariel, a soughing, a sigh.

Deserts Attract/Encourage Quirky Individuals

A recent trip to Palm Springs, California included excursions to several places that were excellent examples of "only here could this exist"!  These were: Cabot Yerxa's Pueblo in Desert Hot Springs and The Edward-Dean Museum in Beaumont.  More along the lines of normal were Moorten  Botanical Garden in Palm Springs, The Palm Springs Art Museum (especially interesting is an exhibit of architect Donald Wexler's work:  he is the father of Palm Springs desert style homes and buildings), and Joshua Tree National Park, where you can see the San Andreas Fault. 

San Andreas Fault

Joshua Tree

Cabot Yerxa's Pueblo

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss

by Edmund de Waal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a fabulous book!  A book about family, history, achievement, accumulation, and loss.  It is both personal yet a story to which anyone can relate.  It is full of insight, reflects hard work and dedication and how we become obsessed in pursuit of ideas, things, stories, and answers.

Thoughtful Pieces of Writing

The eminent thinker and sociologist, Daniel Bell, died in January.  Very early on in his intellectual explorations he realised the bankrupt nature of Communism and ideologies in general, yet was able to study and understand the social needs and underpinnings of societies/communities and why they need ideologies.  Mark Lilla has written a thoughtful and touching elegy in memory of his mentor in the current issue of The New York Review of Books.

Speaking of ideologies: The online news aggregator, allAfrica.com, reproduced an essay titled 'Manyi and Manuel-Why Apartheid Didn't Die' by Leonard Gentle.  This essay is wonderful in showing how people manipulate ideas and language to suit the circumstances and what a complex subject this is.  The article originally appeared in The South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS), an excellent forum for the discussion of difficult topics.

A Winning Outfit from the Paris Collections!

From left: Chloé, Christian Dior, Chanel, Hermès

 

The Chanel number is actually something an ordinary human could wear!

A Double Sided Quotation....

The Financial Times of London's reporter, Alec Russell, had dinner with Morgan Tsvangirai and reported on this difficult-to-arrange event.  It was quite depressing!  Tsvangarai actually said "Mugabe is very human" and interesting to work with!  Are these quotes from a man desperate to survive and hang on until the dictator finally dies?  A man so weakened and worn down by having to deal on a daily basis with a nutcase?  It does not bode well, in the short run, for the opposition in Zimbabwe.   Sigh.

A Story of Pain and Suffering in Libya

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Short listed for the Booker, this emotionally searing book about a boy in Libya in 1979, sets the stage for what is happening today. The author, Hisham Matar, has an essay  in the Weekend FT (25 Feb 2011) and an opinion piece in the NYT, 9 March 2011.  Gideon Rachman, of the FT, has an interesting article on fiction as a route to political truth, discussing Matar's book along with several others: J. M. Coetzee and Aravind Adiga.

A delightful new voice in fiction

The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah


My rating: 5 of 5 stars




Such a poignant story. Beautiful writing