Dome over the shrine of Habil, the Biblical Abel, forty-five minutes west of Damascus in Zabadani. This Old Testament son of Adam is considered a prophet in orthodox Islam, the first wasiyy or Successor amongst the Shiites, and the very manifestation of the light divine according to the Druze sect who administer this holy site.

Nazism has become the most convenient and abused metaphor applied to the baddies we don't like. Remember Rush Limbaugh's term 'feminazi' which he popularized in the 90s? As if university feminists were clandestinely stacking gassed bodies of males, heterosexuals, and Christians in the basements of America's colleges.

Hamidiyyeh Souk, the famous traditional market in Old Damascus, is all dressed up for the Mawlid al-Nabawi, the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammed. For the next couple months, mosques and private residents will be sponsoring commemorations of the Prophet's birth in which they recite the Qur'an, devotional poems and other religious works.

In religion news, the Gospel of Judas has appeared on the scene, one of the many original Gnostic gospels that didn't make the cut for the actual Bible. For centuries, Judas has played the role of the reviled betrayer whose evil deeds led to the death of Jesus. A similar role is played in Shiite Islam by Muwawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, who fought against Imam Ali and created the first irreparable rift in Islam. This is the resting place of Muwawiyah in Bab al-Saghir Cemetary in Damascus. Locals try to keep the location secret for fear that Shiites will vandalize his grave. You can't see it in this picture, but the word 'Lanat', or damnation, is spray-painted in large letters to the left of the door.

A number of American news outlets have been cheering Dr. Wafa Sultan's feisty appearance on Al-Jazeera a couple weeks back. The show featured Sultan opposite one Ibrahim Khouly, lecturer at the famous Egyptian Islamic university, Al-Azhar. Sultan characterized Islam as a medieval ideology pretending to compete with modern civilization. In America's imaginary Middle East, Sultan's performance caused a major disturbance in the Islamosphere. In the actual Middle East, it was barely noticed.

True to its reputation, Dubai is showcasing another of its over-the-top projects, the Ibn Battuta Mall, 'The World Under One Roof'. The mall includes six sections based on various destinations in the 14th century Ibn Battuta's travels: China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Andalusia. Maybe we should have a Marco Polo Mall or a Daniel Boone Mall?

Uncool things in the Middle East, as promised:

1) Conspiracy Theories: Arabs have conspiracy theories for everything. There must be some scientific psychological way to explain this kind of mass neurosis. Princess Diana was killed because the Queen refused to risk having Muslim grandchildren, for instance.

Apparently, the locals used to live in huts between the walls of the Crac des Chavalliers during the times when it wasn't occupied. I visited the castle on Syrian Mother's Day while I was staying in Homs, just a short hour or so microbus ride away.

A view from the world-famous Crac des Chevalliers an hour west of Homs, Syria. Originally built by the Kurds, the castle was occupied, built up, renovated, and used by various armies, from the Crusaders to Saladin to the Turks to the French.

In an idle moment, I was thinking: what would be my Top Ten list for the coolest things, and the uncoolest things, I've seen in the Middle East.

Particularly Cool Things, in no particular order:

A relic at the Church of Umzinar in Homs. Within the golden vessel you can make out what is said to be a girdle worn by the Blessed Virgin. Though the church was under heavy renovations, a steady flow of foot traffic came through while we were visiting, believers lighting votive candles and pleading intercessions on the way home from work or school.

A statue of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in academic mode, from the campus of Baath University in Homs. At one time ubiquitous, statues and pictures of the former president and his deceased son Basel are still quite common. Though images of Bashar al-Assad are seen in public, the government has largely abandoned the cult of personality approach and plays up more patriotic themes.

I love my country dearly. But, after years in the Middle East, after watching and listening to the devolution of post-9/11 American politics from afar, seeing the real-life affects of American foreign policy on the region day to day, it is rather like the love one would feel for a sibling with Tourette's Syndrome. America just keeps on farting and bellowing at the picnic table of the world community, and for all my love, my stomach turns and I wince.

Just spent one out of two scheduled weeks in Homs teaching at Baath University for the British Council. I am teaching IELTS test preparation, an international exam for people who want to study in or emigrate to English speaking countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia.

The Mosque of Khalid ibn al-Walid, revered by Sunni Muslims as a great warrior of early Islam who is said to have never lost a battle. He expired in his bed in Homs and was buried here. This is a great example of Turkish mosque-building, with the trademark domes. I have asked several people what there is to do in Homs. The response I usually get is, "Well, there's lots to do in Homs. You can visit the Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque, and then you can visit Hama," a more tourist friendly city a half hour to the north.

A barber shop at dusk in the old market in Homs. The British Council sent me up to Homs to teach test preparation at Baath University for two weeks. The difference between Damascus and Homs to me feels like the difference between Philly and Reading. The Homsi people are targets of the Syrian equivalent of the 'Pollack' joke, but in reality are disarmingly friendly and hospitable people.

Manama, the capital of Bahrain, has changed since last time I visited a few years back. Though the island has reached the end of its major oil wealth, it still makes a lot of money from oil refining and finance. Parts of Manama are starting to look a lot like Dubai, with over-the-top building projects like this sprouting up along the beachfront.

Bahrain is apparently becoming a regional hub of Formula One racing, with the race season kicking off from the island state tomorrow. Everything in Manama from the moment you step off the airplane is covered in Formula One ads and memorabilia. The hotel we stayed in was filled with racers and their crews by the time we left.

An artisic rendition of the events of Ashura, from the back-alleys of Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The population of Bahrain is over 70 percent Shiite, though ruled by a Sunni minority.

We just got back from a five-day jaunt to Bahrain, an Arab island nation in the Persian Gulf. The British Council sent me out there for training and the family came along. The trip reminded us of so many things we loved and hated about living in the Persian Gulf - the conspicuous consumption, the glitzy wealth, the staggering blend of cultures, languages, foods, clothing, the exotic fragrances, the juxtaposition of unimaginable wealth and bitter poverty, the rugged chivalry of the Gulf Arabs and the awkward way in which their traditions translate, or don't translate, into the postmodern world.

Spring dawns over Damascus. We've had awesome balmy sunny days in the 60s the last week or so. Sibki Park in Shaalan, with the rustic and majestic Qassioun Mountain rising in the background. I walk through this park to work every day.

Al-Jazeera today is playing up the retaliatory attacks against Sunni targets in Iraq. This, the anchors seem to suggest, is the real crime, but they give nary a reference to the hard and brutal realities of life as a religious minority in the Middle East. Al-Jazeera has a conservative nationalist Arab Sunni Muslim audience to play to in much the same way that Fox News has a conservative nationalist white Christian audience to play to. Both leave out key facts that would make their viewers uncomfortable and play up facts that will get their viewers' juices flowing. There also seems to be some noise in the blogosphere asking why Iraq's Shia Muslims would react in this violent way. It was just a building after all.

The big story on all the Arab news channels today is the bombing of the Askariyain Shrine in Samaraa, Iraq. The reason it is big news is because more than any other event since the launch of the occupation, this one has the power to ignite an honest-to-god civil war in Iraq. That would be bad.

Death notices like this one are pasted all over the public space of Damascus. The notices inform people of the time and location of funeral ceremonies and ask the believers to pray for the deceased. This one happens to be for Mustapha Aqqad, esteemed son of Syria, and his daughter Rima, who were killed in a terrorist attack in Jordan a couple months back. Though Aqqad was known in the West for his work on the original 'Halloween' slasher, he was loved throughout the Middle East as director of 'The Message', an epic about the beginnings of Islam.

Here's an example of Adnan's work in Arabic calligraphy, verses from the Quran.

The markets here are filled with tacky art. The vast abundance of popular artwork comes in the form of tasteless renditions of the famous ayat al-kursi or Verses of the Throne from the Quran which people hang over their livingroom couches, place on their desks, or hang from their rearview mirrors. The verse itself is amazingly beautiful, but it's a shame Middle Easterners take it so lightly as to render it in much the same mode as an Elvis-on-black-felt portrait.

These are Shias observing Ashura in Pakistan a couple years ago. They are taking cover because they are under gunfire attack by their 'fellow' Muslims. Every year, scores of people are killed for observing Ashura, violence which to me is infinitely more blasphemous than a bunch of silly cartoons published in a third-rate European country. In Iraq alone, over 200 people have been killed on Ashura the last two years. Today, a suicide bombing in Pakistan killed at least 27 during Ashura rituals.

I know several guys named Osama. None of them are the infamous Osama, and each of them are kind and gentle guys. The name Osama is a storied and noble one, meaning 'lion', and it is a shame it has been corroded by association with the Big Nasty.

From a reader:

Well I am Danish, I have work colleagues from Denmark, Iraq, Serbia, Ukraine etc. I don't understand a word about scapegoating, I don't understand why an independent newspaper that happens to be placed in Denmark, (could be placed anywhere in this new global world), should cause me and everybody else living here to pay for an article they print. Until today no one bothered to read that article here, now it is history. Does it feel good to burn our embassy, should we all do mutual suicide or what - before someone is satisfied? It is not my newspaper, it is in fact as much yours in this global world. Hope most people prefer heaven before hell on this earth - we only have this one.

My sincerest sympathy to you and your country for this offense. This is simply way over the line. But isn't this exactly what so many people want right now? I mean conflict, the great Clash of Civilizations? Isn't the intention of these cartoons and the nearly constant anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from European and American media and politicians to stoke hatred and justify violence? On the Muslim side, it seems people are just as eager for conflict, a chance to even the score in the post (or is it neo-) colonialist era. This fiesta of fist-pumping all over the Arab and Muslim world is a chance for many to express their rage and hatred, justified or no.

Walking the streets of Damascus, you see a lot of automotive gems. Until recently, there was a 100% tax on the purchase of cars, real incentive to keep old tigers like this one running for a long time.