What is this water falling from the sky?

Some news from outside the Middle East is my focus right now after my return to the States (more on that later). My attention was turned to Myanmar (and like Jay Peterman, "it will always be Burma to me") where Virginia senator Jim Webb, a big part of Obama's ability to take that state, left this week for the remote capital of the country now dominated by a military junta that has created a cult of personality around the armed forces. His purpose? To free a CRAZY AMERICAN, which he did. Yes, John Yettaw may be an American citizen and veteran, but he has made it even harder for democracy advocate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to try to make inroads against the authoritarian Myanmar(an)(ese) military regime, as she has been given an additional 18 months of house arrest for letting in a visitor who swam across a lake and happened to be very ill.
It may seem like things are looking down for the junta, but things seem to be mighty fine. China continues to support them, and they have been partially legitimized by Webb's visit. Sure, the State Department said that nothing changes, but Webb still wants changes, especially with the elections planned for next year.
The elections are where the junta will learn their roll. Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to participate because she was once married to someone born outside of the country. Her National League for Democracy will still be able to participate, but she will have to watch from the sidelines as one of the most unfair constitutions comes into play, where the military can determine whether a coup is necessary (if the government isn't "democratic" enough). The Mon and Wa in the North are already planning to take up arms against the junta if the constitution comes into play since it will disarm the militias protecting these ethnic groups (and running an illegal drug trade on the hilly borders of China). The Burmese military usuall stays in the lowlands near Yangon or the worst-planned capital in the world, Napyitaw. I expect the junta to get some sort of air force with the help of the Chinese before implementing the constitution. If it does come to that, the US needs to seriously consider stepping in to protect these groups, and this will include having to take a firm stance with China on the matter.
In other news, the Israeli government (and Peace Now confirms this) has stopped giving permits to new settlements in the West Bank. This will make it so that permanent settlement will stop, but the IDF will still need to deal with groups like Youth for Israel, which likes to send in young religious Zionists to set up temporary camp on land in the West Bank, but are never too much for the IDF to handle.
Another big development comes with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Washington this week, where today he and Obama agreed to acquiesce to some demands from the Israeli government for the new Palestinian state. The question is whether other Arab states will also agree to the stipulation that the Palestinian state be demilitarized and the right of return be exchanged for monetary compensation. The next question will be Hamas, who look relatively moderate after dealing with a takeover of a mosque in Tunneltown, Gaza (Rafah) by the fundamentalist Warriors of God. This is still all relative, so I wouldn't bet my life savings on it (I would bet $10, if I can get some 10-1 odds, which makes me wonder, is there somewhere to bet on Middle East peace? Yessir).
And welcome the Swedish to the blood libel-style conspiracy fold. A Swedish paper claims that as part of the recent New York metropolitan area money laundering scheme, the IDF was killing Palestinians and selling their organs. They also have some testimony. This comes on the heels of the Romanian ova-trafficking claims, and don't forget what goes into matzah and hamentashen: that's right, the blood of your child! It's really sort of funny how this whole blood-libel thing works, because it is ALL PLAGIARISM (Even The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was.) So anyways, maybe finding something REAL and TANGIBLE will make things easier for you.

Finally, I'm back in the United States, and I have to say I am very sad, but there are just some things that are way better here (partial list: pickup basketball, DIM SUM, THAI FOOD, PRESENCE OF BURRITOS). But many of the people I met in Israel endeared the land to me and I can't wait to go back, and I am definitely considering making aliyah. This is also the first time I've spent more than a month abroad, and the shock of being back here was most evident in the jet lag, which lasted 4 days. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THAT? Anyways, I'm going to keep up the blogging about the Middle East while I'm here, maybe with some occasional reports from my friend Peanut.
UPDATE: Today was the first time I have seen rain in 2 months. I decided to go umbrella-less in order to get the full effect after having missed it for so long. Still, I'm pretty sure I'll get sick of it by the next time it rains.