http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog Free Middle East Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:03:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Wired is reporting (via WSJ) a plan by the Iranian government to block access to GMail. The service will be replaced by a government-run email site. This coming less than a month after GMail's switch to the HTTPS connection standard, which encrypts all messages and makes it harder for spies ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/iran-preps-gmail-firewall/226/? [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="271" caption=" "][/caption]     Soldiers in the Congo So much media attention is spent on Israel.  Is it deserved? Military conflicts around the world are surely newsworthy.  By taking media coverage as an indicator, it would seem that most of the world's military conflict occur in and around Israel...but ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/overtly-skewed-media-coverage/123/? The UN and the media's Obsessesive Compulsive Israel Disorder (OCID), is apparently affecting what everybody is interested in. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="64" caption="Google Icon"][/caption] Using the Google Trends service, it's easy to compare the popularity of different search terms over time. For example, you can compare the relative popularity of Coke vs ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/which-is-googled-more-israel-or-darfur/102/? Chapter One, Article One, Paragraph One of the UN Charter states the chief purpose of the United Nations: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/phased-plan-enshrined-on-un-hosted-website/90/? In the 1960’s, the USA faced similar challenges with oil as the world does today. Prices and demand were continually rising, forcing the USA to import oil from countries like Venezuela and the Persian Gulf states. President Eisenhower was cognizant of the geopolitical problems of importing oil ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/in-the-shadow-of-opec/61/? Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder that causes repeated unwanted and intrusive thoughts.  An OCD sufferer will engage in repetitive behaviors (compulsions) aimed at reducing anxiety caused by these thoughts (obsessions).  OCD is a chronic or long-term illness that can take over a person’s life, hurt relationships, and limit ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/obsessive-and-compulsive/24/? Following on from humiliating defeats in 1948 and 1967, in Oct 1973 Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel on what was the holiest of the day of the year for Jews -Yom Kippur.  They came close to marching their troupes into the streets of Tel Aviv and ... http://www.freemiddleeast.com/blog/free_middle_east/the-phased-plan/21/?