One Year Today: A Man Caught Fire, A Region Went Up in Flames

The day that sparked a whole Arab revolution.

As the Arab Spring marks its first birthday, one Jordanian blogger ponders the implications it has had on her home country. It seems that the bridge between loyalty and change is difficult one, covered in thorns.

"We love the security and tranquility of our country, and personally I like to see that last. We, however, are not living in an oasis."

One Jordanian blogger believes that the state of things can be improved through two very small steps: 1) Making public education coeducational, 2) Making public education secular. But does everybody agree?

"In my simplistic mind, we can potentially see quick, efficient, and easy improvements in our country by changing two things in our public education system."

"You don’t always get to pick who you hang out with," remarks Ivy from Beirut. And as far as she is concerned, that is very true of that rare breed of person: the girlfriend of a boyfriend's best friend.

"This sick puppy has put you on a pedestal so high the only way for her to ever feel better about herself now would be to take you down."

Reposted from the Ma'an News Agency, a report has come up that Israeli settlers, named the "Hilltop youth", have gone across Jordanian borders and possibly occupied a building on Jordanian territory. This is in retaliation to the Jordanian attitude towards the renovation of a footbridge to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.