crop-dusting pot?

I was talking to A at work today (which has improved now that I cut my hours down to half). On the subject of the Middle East crisis, I suggested we use crop dusters to spray Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon with narcotics. A was not impressed. That pretty much ended a good conversation on the regional politics. Then he went home.


Err, this is awkward. Reported by New York Times:

The United States has 25,000 nationals in Lebanon. Its evacuation plans
have moved more slowly than those of some other countries.

Other strong points of the US response to the crisis has been offering evac services at cost, providing loans for people who need them. Spain is ferrying their people for free.

In today's "I'm still alive" email to my parents I threw in a joke about how I have dysentary (I don't). They didn't get it. Dad offered to look up doctors here, mom warned me to take antibiotics and eat cooked vegetables. I sat in Amman with solid stools and got hummus.

I will be honest with you. FoEME did not accomplish anything today. We sat in the office watching TV, reading newspapers and checking Internet updates all day. I got in late and left early. It's hard to push coexistence when Lebanon, Israel, Gaza and Iraq are all burning at the same time.

I took this chance to pursue my research, which has changed from "how does FoEME function with Hamas in power?" to "How do FoEME and other regional organizations function when the political situation goes to hell?" I interviewed the people in the office about what they think - apparently they have a battle mode. In this time, they take a lower profile, focus on local environmental issues, and catch up on paperwork. If the situation is still terrible in two or three weeks, they will start being more public and again focus on saving the shared regional environment.

This morning I started my Arabic lessons. Just taking an hour and half twice a week is giving me some confidence in speaking with other people in Arabic. I think it also gives me some street cred - i.e., I may be near-mute, but hey, I am trying.

If I am to measure my success here in terms of cab experiences, tonight was a good one: I took a ride home at 11.30 PM. At 11.45, the driver points to the meter and tells me the results don't count because it's midnight. I told him, that is garbage, it's not midnight, and I am paying the meter price, end of story (more or less, in Arabic). He grumbled and took me home anyways.

In news of brazen social encounters - I saw an American eating hummus at Hashem's today (btw, excessive hummus = horrible gas, glad I am living sort-of alone). After staring at him for around ten minutes, I asked him if I could join him. He was in for three days. We wound up meeting some Jordanian guys who talked to us a bit about the news and about their Palestinian backgrounds. One definitely, and maybe all three of them, wanted to see Israel washed into the sea. I nodded and asked some questions about the logistics of that one - not many plans.

On the subject of hope and pleasure, please check out this story, from either the Israeli or the Lebanese press.

I meet tomorrow with a Jordanian correspondent to Gaza. I want to ask this guy, O, about how Palestinians in Jordan and in Gaza feel about cooperation with Israel over the environment. As in, when tribal connections are stacked up against environmental realities of devastation, which influence will be more powerful?