Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

Egyptian blogger and political activist Mahmoud Salem, more commonly known by his online persona Sandmonkey, filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday, January 26th against the well-known and influential Salafi preacher Yasser al-Bourhami for the latter’s incitement of violence against Coptic Christians. While the details of this suit are still emerging, they deserve serious domestic and global attention: if methodically pursued, the case could form an important challenge to Egypt’s still-persistent culture of legal impunity for violence and discrimination against members of the country’s significant Christian minority.

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Sandmonkey’s lawsuit is significant because it holds the potential to draw long-overdue attention and accountability to the dangerous rhetoric and actions of the country’s emboldened Salafi zealots, and to the genuine threat they pose to Egypt's Coptic minority. It is also important because Mahmoud Salem is well-positioned to make this happen: he was one of the bravest and most vocal critics of the Mubarak regime at a time when his fellow bloggers were being tossed into prison, and since the revolution, he put his words into action with an electoral bid for parliament, albeit an unsuccessful one. His effort deserves support.

Greece will attempt to balance its budget by selling Parthenon timeshares.

In a move bound to leave many Greeks and scholars aghast, Greece's culture ministry said Tuesday it will open up some of the debt-stricken country's most-cherished archaeological sites to advertising firms and other ventures.

The ministry says the move is a common-sense way of helping "facilitate" access to the country's ancient Greek ruins, and money generated would fund the upkeep and monitoring of sites. The first site to be opened would be the Acropolis.

The great conservative bugaboo, Obamacare, is also far more moderate than its critics have claimed. The Congressional Budget Office has projected it will reduce the deficit, not increase it dramatically

"If you want to divide that $240,000 into the amount of hours spent, I think you would find that the per hour was probably not much at all, considering the work that had to be done." - Former National Education Association President Reg Weaver, explaining why he deserves his $242,657 annual pension from the state of Illinois. (October 23 Chicago Tribune)