I was on the floor by the coffee table in my grandmother's living room trying to discern the key moment in the fuzzy, low contrast image, a little jealous that this was taking place before I, as a four year old, had a chance to contend for first place honors on the moon. It seemed odd that they would go to all that effort to get people to the moon and stint on the broadcast home. So I didn't quite say it in the standard form, but you know that "we can send a man to the moon but we can't..." thing? I started that;) It was a regular habit of Rob, Jeff and I who started kindergarten that fall to construct a cratered half-moon surface in the playground sand.

I've squeamish about taking Al Jazeera reporting to heart but many of those, like you, whom I respect tune in and cite them. Maybe you could work up a post on reliable sources for Middle East news? I have Ricochet in the loop, btw:)

Addition: Some good backgrounders would be helpful too: Ottoman Empire & all.

How might the weak US response to Iran's Green Revolution fomenting trouble here? My second question requires a better diagnosis of the situation, but just what should we be doing with the current crisis & opportunity?