Books and Ports
First off, my college roommate (a Pakistani expatriate who grew up in Dubai) has some interesting insights into the way the port furor has been portrayed in the UAE. The most significant comment, in my view:[E]very story written about this condemns America for essentially "racial profiling" and wanting to ban the ports because of a general distrust towards Muslims. The argument is that if a German was involved in a terrorist act in the US, then the US would not ban BMWs.
Also, theswantower has been guest blogging on Tobias Buckell's blog (though, as of this writing, I'm having problems getting to his site). The most significant piece of information she's dumped there is that the University of California Press is having a big sale. I'm currently drooling over a number of books there, and I haven't even gotten through a third of the "less than $10" books on their site. I despair.
Also, theswantower has been guest blogging on Tobias Buckell's blog (though, as of this writing, I'm having problems getting to his site). The most significant piece of information she's dumped there is that the University of California Press is having a big sale. I'm currently drooling over a number of books there, and I haven't even gotten through a third of the "less than $10" books on their site. I despair.