Anonymous Syrian Defends Asma Assad!

Syrian First Lady Asma Al Assad has had a bit of a bad rep as of late, but an anonymous Syrian blogger comes to her defense; Hate crimes are on the rise in America; Whose voice are we hearing in the Arab Spring? ; Social Media Update: What's the latest; Mad Men YouTube Game revisited.

Is Asma Assad a wronged party in spite of the scandalous Assad E-mail leaks? Asma still remains the international woman of mystery.

Syrian Comment [2]

“In Defense of Asma al-Assad,” by an Anonymous Syrian

Once considered a diamond in the rough (she did marry the president of Syria after all), Syrian First Lady, Asma Al Assad, has become a bit of reviled figure. But is she more Eva Peron than Marie Antoinette? This Syria-centric blog puts to light this anonymous defense of Asma, saying that she has done more than she is given credit for.

Jaraad [3]

Why hate groups and hate crimes are in the rise?

In light of the recent and tragic death of Shaima Al-Awadi, this U.S.-based Middle Eastern blogger puts a light on a very dark subject: Hate crimes. Hate crime and hate groups are very much a reality in the land of the free. Besides discussing the reasons behind such crimes, he shows statistics of the growing phenomenon. "It amazes me how the land of enforced zero-tolerance law, democracy, freedom and political correctness is still exposed to hate crimes. Such place should have the lowest number of hate crimes. However, what is good about the US is that it is the land of numbers and statistics as well."

Jadaliyya [4]

Threads of Narrating the Arab Spring

Even within revolution, the issue of voice is a major one. This article discusses a forum that took place in the American University in Cairo, which discusses the important issue of voice and participation in the Arab Spring. "The reference to Edward Said spoke to some of the questions that hover around narrating the revolution. Because Edward Said is not here, does it make the revolution any less “his”? The contributions, the “before” of the revolution, are perhaps not a simple before, but rather a part of. And those who are no longer with us and can no longer narrate: who narrates their stories? Who speaks in the name of the martyrs who cannot narrate for themselves?"

The Next Web [5]

This week in social media: celebrations, sexism and sharing Facebook passwords

Social media is a constantly changing animal, so we all like to keep tabs on what's going on- you know, to stay relatively relevant. The Next Web have gone and highlighted what went down this week, from controversy over companies and universities asking for Facebook passwords from prospective employees/students to sexism in the social media sphere.

Jazarah [6]

Mad Men’s 8-bit YouTube Game

Al Bawaba has already reported on this on a previous Blog Roundup. As excitement mounts for the return of Mad Men, one clever comedy YouTube channel made this fake (but well done) Mad Men Video game. It even comes with stills and commentary for those unconvinced to stream the video.