I’m writing this very brief message to let everyone know that agathopsis is returning to life. I haven’t developed the new mission statement yet, but when I do, I expect that it will involve activities I hope to pursue in the future. Retirement? Well, sort of… but I expect to be far more active than the old cliche indicates, so I won’t be hanging out any “Gone Fishing” signs soon.

In general, look for commentary here on domestic politics, U. S. policy in the Middle East, as well as Arabic translation, and organizational consulting. I invite you to share your comments.

I thought that I had grown used to mainstream media in the U. S. reporting from a pro-Israeli stance. Sometimes it’s subtle, these days it’s unabashed, a reportage that sounds more like the government-controlled media one finds in many controlled societies around the world. No, they don’t come right out and say, “We are for Israel!” It’s built into the editorial framework: how they ask questions; of whom; whether or not they follow up with challenging questions based on good prior research; whether or not they examine all sides of a question with equal diligence; and finally, what they train their cameras on. What moved me to talk about this is my frustration at watching CNN coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. I sent the following feedback to CNN:     Read the rest of this entry »