E-Letter From Jordan

One of Fryanegg's gaming friends has been living in Jordan for a short while now. I am not too sure what he is doing there (I think he is learning Arabic) but he sends updates from time to time. Here is an e-mail out-lining his thoughts about the Jordanian day of Independence.

Happy 25th of May. Got the day off for the Jordanian day of
independence. And while July 4th conjures up hallowed images
of George Washington, Redcoats, and the Revolutionary War, May 25th,
1946 was essentially the day that the war torn British
decided to give up their mandate on this dry and dusty Ottoman backwater,
and hand the keys to the local Bedouin Hashemite luminary,
King Hussein the First. But pomp and fireworks
being beloved as they are, you simply must have a party. So a
toast to the stalwart two million Jordanians, and their guests the three million
Paletinians and the million combined Egyptians and Iraqis.
They lie huddled against the trickling Jordan River, and can reap only
harvests of salt from a barren sea, while staring incredulously at the
lands of their neighbors, whose deserts spew forth an idiot's
fortune. Their government pointlessly curses the Prodigal Israelis
for the theft of their land while yelping to the West like
forgotten pets for the love and the dinner they believe is
theirs. Their despotic leaders occasionally manage righteous snarls toward
us, menacing to release imaginary holds on the
"Do-It-Yourself" terrorism that so frightens the pillars of
democracy. Their religion, once flourishing and temperate, looks
backward to its humble origins and casts them in the
rigid interpretations of those who believe themselves threatened by
men in baseball caps and women in sleeveless blouses. So here's
to sixty more years of the same. Al-Urdun, Al-Awalan.

This might have been the part where I apologized to my hosts for
belittling their country. But after a reread or two, this is all
essentially true. I of course hold quite severe opinions on the
Israelis but it's sure as heck not like the governments of the Middle
East are pursuing any progressive policy on it. Anywho, thanks
for reading.