“In the week since Saddam Hussein was hanged in an execution steeped in sectarian overtones, his public image in the Arab world, formerly that of a convicted dictator, has undergone a resurgence of admiration and awe,” the New York Times reports. “On the streets, in newspapers and over the Internet, Mr. Hussein has emerged as a Sunni Arab hero who stood calm and composed as his Shiite executioners tormented and abused him.”
Maria Leavey, RIP
Most readers probably won’t recognize the name Maria Leavey unless it’s by having read it sometime within the past 24 hours in the blogosphere, but suffice it to say that she’s passed away and the progressive community and the world as a whole will be poorer for it. I was going to write that it’s hard to explain exactly what role she played, but it’s hard in part because I’m not really sure what role she played myself. She was someone who would pop up now and again, setting something up or arranging something else. One time she stopped by the office with homemade cookies (delicious!) but more often she was the driving force behind meetings, though at least once she was the driving force behind the creation of some multimedia content. A tireless worker, in short, who rarely sought (or received) credit for her labors, but undertook them nonetheless.
