Inspiration - Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei?

Watch Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei? on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Weekly Reading List [9.14.12]

Egypt...

• Protestors scale US embassy wall in Cairo over prophet 'insult' (+video)
• Islam's Black Flag Flies over Egypt
• As of Wednesday Egypt Muslim Brotherhood called for nationwide protests outside mosques on Friday against anti-Islam film. [UPDATE: The Muslim Brotherhood said in an online message Friday morning that it was “canceling” its call for a nationwide protest against the offensive video and would bring only a “symbolic” demonstration to Tahrir Square.] Matt Wahsniedler pointed out that the "focus is on Libya, but should be on Egypt. Libyan government has weak forces and apologized. Morsi/Muslim Brotherhood has a huge military and has called for more protests"
• I read that the Muslim Brotherhood (party of the current President) is avidly engaged in double-talk. In English they called the embassy attack "irresponsible" and separately in Arabic called it "Egyptians rising up to support the Prophet"
• Obama administration disavows Cairo apology
• Egypt, Hearing From Obama, Moves to Heal Rift from Protests 

Libya...

• US official dies in Libya consulate attack on consulate in Benghazi
• Remembering U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens (video)
• Statement by the President on the Attack in Benghazi
• Official statement from Libyan government regarding Benghazi consulate attack 
• From the Washington Post - Libya consultate attack came after militants joined protestors - Senior intel official: "US spy agencies had seen no intelligence indicating such an attack was coming" 
• In Libya, Chaos was Followed by Organized Ambush Official Says
• Moments of Truth in Libya and Egypt

Yemen...

• Slideshow of attack on US embassy in Yemen by Khaled Abdullah from Reuters - reut.rs/QWVaMb
• A couple of interesting background articles on the political situation in Yemen over the past year - An American Teenager in Yemen: Paying for the Sins of His Father? & A New President and an "American Sheikh" Deal with Post-Seleh Yemen
• Turmoil Over Contentious Video Spreads to Yemen and Iran

Political Rhetoric...

• Romney doubles down on embassy criticism 
• Free speech vs. reverence for Muhammad: Can they coexist?
• Blasphemy riots: less about theology, more about power plays
• Updates on Rage over Anti-Islam Film (great moment by moment analysis and updates)

In other news....

• Did you know that China's Vice President Xi Jinping has been 'absent' for the past 12 days, and has abruptly canceled appointments with various foreign dignitaries who were there to see him (including Secretary of State Hilary Clinton). Check out this article - China silence on Xi Speculation Contrasts with Past Denials
• Somali election: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud elected as President & Somalia's newly elected President,  Hassan Sheikh Mohamud survived an assassination attempt form Al-Shabab that killed 8 people. 

Weekly Reading List [9.9.12]

Now that both conventions have come to a close, I thought I'd put up speeches from each conventions major speakers. Let's compare their values, and platforms side by side. Where do you stand? Do you really think that the party you most closely align yourself with will actually be able to fulfill their lofty goals and ambitions? Or are you fed up with all this already?

1. Paul Ryan

2. Joe Biden

3. Michelle Obama

4. Ann Romney

5. Barak Obama

6. Mitt Romney

7. Condoleeza Rice

The Wall Street Journal has also compiled videos of all their speeches and posted them here, in case you'd rather watch them.

Personally, after watching the two conventions, I have to say, I may not agree with the Democratic platform and their views on the role of the government. However, I walked away feeling ridiculously inspired, and uplifted and excited about the future. Their tone was vastly different from the Republican conventions. I should be upfront, I love Joe Biden. It would be hard for me not to like his speech and Obama is just a great orator.

I think in this election (as in the last) presentation and marketing is half the battle. The Republicans are still behind the eight ball (in my opinion) they need to step up the marketing and branding. They can't just shout that Obama is the devil and dragging us down, they need to inspire and light the way. I think Obama may beat them again just with slogans, videos, and genuine use of social media. The Republican convention still seemed 5 years behind the times.

I also couldn't help but notice, that the Republican convention was filled with white caucasians; while the Democratic convention was filled with white's and blacks, and hispanics, and the old and the young. Republicans, need to expand the base. The last census told us that white caucasian american's will be the minority by 2050. If they can't engage the rest of the country they will have no place in politics. Or they will be overrun by extremist groups, which might be worse.

Weekly Reading List [9.4.12]

1. @Global_Bearings "[CHART] @NYT US surges ahead of others as arms supplier to developing world; 79% of global total in 2011 - pic.twitter.com/Tks0JKmX"
Here's a link to the full NYT article - www.nytimes.com

2. @danatgu "If your reading FP's #AfricaRising slideshow, just go ahead and read McKinsey's excellent growth report too: bit.ly/Pz8wyN (will download PDF).
Here's a link to the original Foreign Policy article "Lions on the Move"

3. @Washingtonpost "Iran and North Korea sign technological cooperation agreement, deepening ties wapo.st/OIUkWN" & @MicahZenko "US intel officials said they have no evidence Iran's leaders have decided to take the final steps toward a weapon." nyti.ms/TQo42y

4. @blakehounshell "RT @JacksonDiehl: My column today focuses on major foreign policy differences between Obama and Romney wapo.st/OJRygm

5. @sarahkendzior "The Peace Corps has now been kicked out of every Central Asian country except Kyrgyzstan pik.tv/en/news/story...

Something fun...because today feels like a Monday...

@LettersOfNote "In 1970, as Willy Wonka was being filmed, director Mel Stuart sent a fascinating progress report to the producer: bit.ly/T2c0gS

Weekly Reading List [8.23.12] - Back from vacation

1. Slugfest 2012: The Making of The Atlantic's September cover - As campaigns heat up, I find the marketing side of it all very fascinating. All the propaganda, from both sides, as well as what newspapers and magazines put out to create the drum beat of election season.

2. Mitt Romney to Todd Akin: Just Quit Already & The Complicated Politics of Abortion - More campaign coverage

3. China Spends to Boost Economy & China's Tianjin city plans $236 billion investment programme & China Confronts Mounting Piles of Unsold Goods - We often think of China as being more robust and economically sound, it's interesting to read that they are also using stimulus plans to grow their economy. Better to do it before your in the hole, I suppose, but interesting none-the-less.

4. Risks of Syrian Intervention Limit Options for U.S. & The Public-and private- reasons the U.S. isn't arming Syrian Rebels & Syria's Mutating Conflict - More of the same, unfortunately.

5. New Biorefinery Finds Treasure in Starbucks' Spent Coffee Grounds and Stale Bakery Goods - With 1.3 billion tons of food dumped in landfills around the world each year, scientists test new "biorefinery" idea.

The Healing That Comes

A Blessing

I know how long

you have been waiting

for your story to take

a different turn,

how far

you have gone in search

of what will mend you

and make you whole.

I bear no remedy,

no cure,

no miracle

for the easing

of your pain.

But I know

the medicine

that lives in a story

that has been

broken open.

I know

the healing that comes

in ceasing

to hide ourselves away

with fingers clutched

around the fragments

we think are

ours alone.

See how they fit together,

these shards

we have been carrying:

how piece to piece

they make a way

we could not

find alone.

(via The Painted Prayer Book)

Mars...

Today Curiosity landed on Mars. Wow. 

This is another great video - combining the video above and the actual observation room with all the engineers and scientists as the landing was happening.