Thousands Protest Against Government in Yemen

This NYT story hits the nail on the head without even trying to. While the military in Tunisia (though small) is considered impartial and professional, that is not the case at present in Yemen. While huge protests may be occurring, the tell here is the reportage of President Salih's Sunday press conference (where he apologized if he had ever made errors, as only God is perfect), where he promised to "raise salaries for the army, by approximately $47 a month, and denied reports that he is preparing his son as his successor."

The average monthly salary in Yemen is about $200.00 USD.

Yemeni Uprising?

Actually, No. This is no more than a tempest in a teapot.

Yemen Spotlight

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes ran a great story on Yemen, entitled "Yemen & The War on Terror." You can either watch the video or read the transcript of the story. (I want to thank my mom for calling and letting me know!)

The National also ran a story on Yemen today, where the author asserts that the real problem Yemen faces is "rapid resource depletion and a speedily expanding, underemployed population." This is not new news, and the article pretty much regurgitates a lot of what Yemen followers already know, but it is important to keep this type of story in the news until the general populace in the West finally comes to understand why Yemen is truly "in the spotlight."

The Yemen I Know

I was really glad to see Secretary of State Clinton making a trip to Sana'a, Yemen -- especially as the country is getting so much bad press in the Western media for the last year and a US Secretary of State hasn't been there in 20 years. As Nasser Arrabyee (a really great blogger/journalist about Yemen events) reported, Mrs. Clinton said her view of Yemen was changed after actually visiting Yemen. I think that would be the case for any Westerner. In light of that, I wanted to share this article Dan sent me from the Yemen Observer: "Yemen as Experienced by a Westerner Studing Arabic." It's a really nice anecdote about a largely understood country.

Probation inquiry shifts to Legislature

Here's a great story on patronage politics in my home state of Massachusetts. The story itself has a lot to reveal, but the comments on the story are actually more revealing. One commenter remarks that this story "will be interesting to watch..... until it disappears," meaning no one will pay the piper (and I agree) and things will be swept 'neath the rug. And quite a few posters take issue with the law firm that intends to represent the "Great and General Court of Massachusetts." The relevant quote follows:

Frongillo’s law firm, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, has agreed to work for free.

“The requests are for documents,’’ Frongillo, a former federal prosecutor, said yesterday. “It’s possible at some point the US attorney would want people to testify about those documents.’’

Frongillo, who heads the Boston litigation practice of the large international firm, said the law practice agreed to waive its usual fee “out of civic duty’’ and in recognition that the state’s budget crunch has caused widespread program cutbacks.

Many people are outraged - regardless of budgetary constraints on the MA House & Senate - that an expensive law firm (and lawyer) with obvious ties to the public sector would do pro bono work for the Legislature (laughingly out of "civic duty") while residents in true need of legal representation in this state go wanting. I agree.

UNICEF's Representative in Yemen Speaks

The Washington Post publishes his rebuttal to an earlier editorial.

Daniel Martin Varisco shares his thoughts

This past Monday, a 30+ year scholar on Yemen made the case that Yemen is not a Terrorist Factory. Varisco shares the widely held educated view on Yemen, which is that the "Western World" needs to spend more resources creating opportunity in Yemen, not on aiding and abetting the Saleh regime through military appropriations. As his final paragraph suggests, "If we focused more on improving the lives of ordinary Yemenis -- teaching Yemeni engineers how to better use their rapidly diminishing water resources, for example -- there would be no refuge for the homeless terrorists who feed on hate, and millions of Yemeni citizens would have reason to hope."