Inauguration!

To all Yanks reading: Yeah Obama! In just a bit I will go upstairs to watch the ceremony on CNN. We're all pretty psyched, even though around and about there isn't much talk about it (and forget about MLK Jr. Day - I needed a reminder myself).

The news here across the board has been far more focused on Gaza - to be expected from a Muslim country, even one that has close ties to the U.S. and European supporters of Israel. Let's see if I can do this in a balanced way:

First of all, the news footage they show here, from my American perspective, tells a whole lot more of the truth than the sanitized, eight-second loop of night-goggle video that we usually see in the U.S. Shots of children crying get immediate preference - but you also get a no-holds-barred look at the rubble, the injuries, shots of soldiers, civilians, and aid workers. They have green screen maps for the bomb sites or clash points that make it look like they're announcing the weather.

THAT SAID, you can tell right off that the news is biased. All of the reporting, for this invasion at least, has come from within Gaza or elsewhere in Palestine, nothing from inside Israel and no nod to the injuries or damage on that side.

In the end, my opinion of the whole thing is not what matters - and even without posting anything about the invasion, the news, or Israel I've already gotten a troll-tastic commenter. I'm abroad to learn and observe. So now that I've merited it a bit more, go right ahead. I'm psyched about the inauguration today, and as the Moroccans say, safi (that's enough, that suffices).

Let me know how you all are celebrating!