mideastmessenger.com

 Brazilians and revelers celebrating carnival this year in Rio de Janeiro might be perplexed by the sight of something that belongs anywhere but the raucous bacchanalia that is carnival.
A float depicting the Holocaust is set to parade down the streets of Rio de Janeiro during Brazil’s infamously raunchy annual festivities.
Whose idea was this? The Unidos da Viradouro samba […]

PHOTO: Marjane Satrapi. flickr creative commons.
On Saturday I went to see Persepolis, a movie based on a graphic novel by a French-Iranian woman by the name of Marjane Satrapi. The book and the film are her autobiographical accounts of her departure from Iran after the Islamic Revolution.
It is up for an Oscar in the animated […]

During previews while I waited to watch Persepolis with some friends, one preview caught my eye.
It began with a woman I recognized as Nadine Labaki, a well-known Lebanese Arabic music video producer and stunningly beautiful woman dabbling in acting recently.
Sugar, water and lemon juice are thrown together into a pot and boiled. I knew immediately this was no recipe […]

President George W. Bush lied about Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was not stockpiling uranium. There was no al-Qaida-Iraq link. A non-profit media watchdog group went through and systematically counted how many false statements the Bush administration made before the invasion.
It’s been proven that people knew that before the war started, […]

On Monday, Israel launched a powerful satellite capable of spying on Iran, even at night and in cloudy weather.
Within two weeks Israel will be able to keep tabs on Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran says their nuclear program is peaceful. The U.S. and Israel disagree and think Iran is up to something more sinister.
Israel is the only nation in […]

Embattled Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is visiting Europe and is trying to do some damage control to his shifty image following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, his biggest rival. Bhutto was always a thorn in Musharraf’s side. The investigation of her death is incomplete, and the current Pakistani government is providing little insight into the […]

In recent weeks, fighters from various Palestinian military factions in Gaza, some governmental and some not, have exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers. This has led Israel to essentially seal off Gaza, and by doing so, almost putting a complete stop to supplies that can get in. Gaza is home to several refugee camps and is one […]

A recent AP story detailed the plans of Omar bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s 26-year-old son, to seek an understanding between Muslims and western nations.
The bin Laden clan hasn’t exactly been known for its efforts in promoting peace.
Omar bin Laden appears to be a far cry from his father’s extremist tendencies. Unlike the turban and beard […]

President George W. Bush dropped in on Egypt, the last stop on his eight day trip to the Middle East, on Wednesday.
One of the main themes of the visit was his persistent finger-wagging at Iran, and the encouragement of other countries in the Middle East to similarly wag their fingers at their neighbor.
Bush’s disapproval of Iran is nothing new. […]