Back online!

Well, hello there. For the past 17 days I've been unable to access this blog, whether for technical reasons or political ones, I don't know. My good pal Margaret has done a couple postings for me from the USA, and I hit a net cafe a couple days ago. But that's all behind me now. I hope. Great!

Let's review recent developments:

1. Musharraf has resigned as Chief of Army. (In theory, good; in practice, so what? He's amended the Constitution--y'know, the one he suspended--so that he can't be prosecuted for anything he's done as President, nor can he be deposed.)

2. Moosh has also announced elections on January 8. (In theory, good; in practice, hmm. The opposition parties are discussing whether to take part, or to boycott. The fear is the elections will be rigged, quite a likely scenario. If they are, and the opposition contests them only to "lose," they will be contributing a veneer of credibility to Moosh's "victory." Whereas if they don't participate at all, the elections will plainly lack credibility from the get-go.)

3. Some people are still in jail for protesting the emergency. (Bad)

4. Other people are out of jail and/or house arrest, including Benazir, Asma Jehangir, and Imran Khan, while Nawaz Sharif has returned from exile--again--and is being allowed to stay this time. (In theory, this is all good, but see #2 above. Apart from Asma, these are all politicians, and they may or may not contest the election anyway.)

5. Pakistan is getting absolutely demolished by India in the ongoing cricket series. (Very very bad, both in theory and--especially--practice.)

6. Uzee saw bee-eaters on the front balcony the other day. (Very very good.)

There is, in theory, the chance that I will be appearing on National Public radio's "All Things Considered" program in the weeks ahead as part of some sort of "books and holidays" series of broadcasts. I don't know much about it, but stay tuned. In the meantime, you can amuse yourself with my article on Forbes.com if you haven't already(see the entry below) and also Uzee's blog with its numerous interesting articles (address on the sidebar). And of course, don't forget the poll at the bottom of this page!

Next time: a little bit about Monster, 1959.