The Quiet Phase in Iran

Green popping up in unexpected places and life on the ground in Tehran...

And on the 13th day Michael Jackson died. Voice of America and BBC Persian are back up, if intermittently, and we crowd around like the rest of the world for the latest news. It is almost a relief. Being a full-time revolutionary is hard work, difficult to sustain. Seeing the non-stop coverage, the obvious distraction of his passing, we grimly joke that Michael was a martyr for the cause. At least he had the decency to delay his death until the worst violence had already passed....

Every young person I see I wonder, What were you doing three weeks ago? Who were you then? I look for signs of subversion. A girl wears a green headscarf. A kid shifts gears in his Kia Pride with an arm encased in a green cast. What does it mean? Together, in a crowd, the color green added up to something. Alone, spread apart and without context, they are just moments of coincidence. [Salon.com]

The White House Kitchen Garden

Michelle Obama's garden is producing lettuce, peas, eggplants and all sorts of other good things. As this article in Salon argues, she is just bringing more visibility to a movement that has been growing for some time. Americans are starting to be more interested in where their food comes from, how its grown and in cooking it themselves.

The Europeans have been doing this for a long time, as evidenced by the Slow Food movement and popular demonstrations around food policy.

I'm missing my garden plot while I'm on vacation. I hope my lettuce will not have bolted by the time I come home, but I'll be so excited to see the progress of my tomatoes and green beans.