The Eve of Destruction, The Art of Bellydance

Barack Obama
Pear & Herszenhorn
Rep Ed Markey

In Iran, just going outside to prayers on Friday can now be classified as political act, as the BBC reports: "Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani has called for the release of people jailed after protesting at the result of the recent election.
In his first Friday sermon since the vote, he also said large numbers of Iranians still doubted its result.
Outside, police fired tear gas at thousands of opposition supporters who were chanting slogans in support of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Chanting also broke out among some of the tens of thousands of people inside.
Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in streets near the university - the first public opposition demonstration for more than a week.
Many were wearing green bands on their heads or wrists to indicate support for Mr Mousavi, and some could be heard chanting "death to the dictator" and "Allahu Akbar" Of course, it's a new kind of prayer...

In Iraq, our old friend Iraq, this weekend will show how well the political factions from the government will allow the religious to celebrate. Hundreds of thousands of Sunnis come to Bagdad for a religious holiday, and if it can be done without US influence or help should prove to the ones pulling the strings that Iraq is now ready to be on its own. Except for the small glitches, as revealed by the BBC: "A roadside bomb targeting a Sunni tribal leader has exploded near the Iraqi city of Falluja, wounding him and killing three other people.
Naeem Saleh al-Halbusi is a local leader of the Awakening Council that has been supporting American troops.
The attack comes as hundreds of thousands of people have been streaming into Baghdad to visit a major shrine for a key Shia Muslim festival.
Such gatherings have in the past been frequent targets for attacks.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says the gathering represents the biggest test for the Iraqi security forces since US troops withdrew from the country's towns and cities at the end of June." And the US has to sit back while allies it had developed get picked off the map, by enemies who have used billions of US funds to buy the roadside bombs...

In Egypt, the problem is not Sunni and Shia, but to support the women who come from all over the world to learn bellydancing!: "Belly dancing is said to have been practised in Egypt since Pharaonic times and now it has caught on around the globe.
It is well-established in Europe and the US and has recently spread to Asia. This year dozens of dancers travelled from China for the Ahlan Wa Sahlan belly dancing festival.
"Because this is the land of dance, women have to come!" declares Raqia Hassan, the festival organiser.
"When she comes she can meet famous dancers and musicians. She can see the pyramids. Anyone who comes to Egypt one time, she cannot stop coming back." If you ever get to see a good bellydancing troupe, it can be an extraordinary experience. Truly, a great art to support.

late night jokes:

"President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor had her second day in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today. I guess they have to do that in order to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Her confirmation is pretty much a forgone conclusion, but even the leading Republican said the only way she would not be confirmed is if she had a meltdown, in which case she'd be named the governor of Alaska." --Jimmy Kimmel

"Of course, Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings are under way. It's interesting. Political experts say that if Republican senators attack Sonia Sotomayor too harshly, they could alienate Latino members of their own party. This may explain with Republicans opened every question with, 'As a huge fan of Santana.'" --Conan O'Brien

"More details are coming out about Judge Sotomayor. Apparently, she's a big New York Yankee fan. This is good news for the Yankees because they really need a strong lefty off the bench." --Conan O'Brien

"Yesterday, former President Bill Clinton said he supports gay marriage. However, Clinton still remains very much strongly opposed to straight marriage." --Conan O'Brien

"Speaking of former presidents, yesterday, former President George W. Bush released the final list of all the guests who stayed overnight at the White House when he was president. The most frequent visitor was someone known as 'The Wiggles.'" --Conan O'Brien

"You remember Dick Cheney, who was the Vice President for eight years with George W. Bush? And we didn't think much about Dick Cheney and then one day he goes hunting, boy, that changed everything. Well now it turns out that for eight years, Dick Cheney had a secret hit squad to assassinate al Qaeda leaders. And the team was unbelievable. Here's who was on the team: Lee Marvin; Jim Brown; John Cassavetes; Telly Savales; and Trini Lopez as Pedro." --David Letterman

"But the secret assassination squad, tough group of guys. To make the team, you had to survive a hunting trip with Cheney." --David Letterman

"Now here is the thing. Here are the two sides of this. The ying and the yang. Idea was we'd kill off al Qaeda leaders. That's the ying, I guess. The yang is completely illegal. But, listen to this. Before you make your judgment, before you decide, if it weren't for Dick Cheney and his secret assassination squad, Osama bin Laden would be alive today." --David Letterman

"Now, you know, there's a brand new audio tape from Osama bin Laden. You know what the guy does, like, every couple of months, he'll shoot out a new audio tape. It's just to irritate people and get them all worked up and stuff. Should really be stopped. But in the new tape, they know it's current because he talks about his ex-wife's new book that she's written about him. In the new tape, he says, 'Yeah, well, let me tell you something. If you'd be married to her, you'd be drunk all the time, too. You try living in a cave with that woman!'" --David Letterman

"Are you watching the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court? Are you watching those? Day two. Fascinating stuff. And, man, did you see it this morning? Had the place going crazy. She shows up and right off the bat, she opens up with 'I Dreamed a Dream'. Wow!" --David Letterman

"Then this was odd. Kind of awkward. When everybody calmed down, Clarence Thomas sent over a mojito." --David Letterman

"This happened yesterday at the White House. President Obama was talking to a bunch of people and he's using a teleprompter, tells him exactly what to say, they got the teleprompter, the things rolling by like that. All of a sudden, it overheats and explodes and crashes to the ground. The teleprompter. I read that, I said, 'Boy, I'm disappointed in this guy. What kind of a guy can't think and speak on his -- flip the card for me -- on his feet.'" --David Letterman

"I mean, you probably know what a teleprompter is, the machine that tells you what to say. In Bush's case, it was Cheney." --David Letterman

"I guess everyone is following Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Did you hear what happened yesterday? Her twin nephews fell asleep during the hearings. But in their defense, they were watching a Supreme Court confirmation hearing. What are you supposed to do? Root for it? Start the wave?" --Jimmy Fallon

"Sarah Palin's friends say they are worried about her because she looks frail and her hair is thinning. It's all part of her plan to run for president in 2012 as John McCain." --Jimmy Fallon

"Democrats want an investigation into a secret CIA program that was concealed from Congress by Dick Cheney. The program is so secret, Cheney could tell you about it, but then he'd have to take you hunting." --Jimmy Fallon

"President Obama's teleprompter fell to the ground and shattered yesterday during a speech on the economy. Wow, even speeches about the economy are crashing. That's bad. That's not good." --Jimmy Fallon

"Lauren Conrad -- star of 'The Hills' -- she topped the children's New York Times bestseller list with her book 'L.A. Candy.' As a result, the Department of Education has launched a new program telling kids not to read." --Jimmy Fallon

For her part, Sonia Sotomayor sat perfectly still as senator after senator after senator talked over her, at her, and down to her. Never, ever moving. In fact, at one point, she sat so still her body's screensaver came on." --Jon Stewart (Watch video clip)

David Letterman's Top Ten Signs Sonia Sotomayor Is Getting Cocky

10. Addressed senators with "Whaddaya say, meat?"
9. Spent the entire hearing updating her Twitter page.
8. Interrupted questioning to get fitted for her robe.
7. Turned surprisingly hostile when told, "No open containers."
6. Left early to tackle the case of Sotomayor vs. Applebee's riblets.
5. Started hitting on Clarence Thomas.
4. Kept referring to Al Franken as "Church Lady."
3. Phoned in from All-Star Game in St. Louis to see how the confirmation hearings were going.
2. Only answers she gave were "Maybe" and "How the hell should I know?"
1. Took the day off to go salmon fishing with Sarah Palin