Syrians stage rare protest at trial of rights activists. This is big. Not a protest in Lebannon against Syrian Occupation, but rather, one in Syria against SYRIAN occupation. Assad's regime is crumbling beneath him. He is clearly not his father. He simply does not have the ability to hold it together. I suspect he is more of a titular head at this point than it appears. There are a good many party members who have much to lose if Assad falls. Syria, like antebellum Iraq, is run by the Ba'ath party. In both cases, they are run by a class of thugs who raid the country for their own well being and position. They are accustomed to wealth and privildge and are not going to give it up without a fight. Syria is going to be well and truly surrounded. Lebannon and Iraq are going to be very good peer models for Syria. The regime can no longer control information. Without that control, the center cannot hold. Assad's regime will be gone within a year.
Quarantine 2008 has ended
Fair warning: possibly graphic post and not for the squeamish. So it all started Friday night. Wife and I had a long day (as usual) and had finally finished with dishes, laundry and the rest of the normal daily grind. The baby had been fussy most of the day and had spit up here and there. Mostly we thought it had been switching from formula to milk which can sometimes cause this type of thing. By the time kid #4 rolls around you tend to let these things slide. If this were #1 we'd have called in a medivac at the first sign of vomiting in a 1 year old. He finally calmed down and we got him off to sleep. We watched a bit of The Wire and retired (very) late. About 10 minutes later #2 wakes up crying complaining of a stomach ache. I ask if he has to go to the bathroom and he says no, it's not that. His stomach really hurts. OK, into my bed and I'll get the heating pad for a bit. We get him settled and he calms down. Knowing that he tends towards the dramatic, I s...
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