Grey Wool Knickers

These are my links for February 23rd from 12:22 to 13:45:

• Reform in Saudi Arabia | Tiptoeing towards reform | The Economist - The Economist on changes afoot in the kingdom of the two holy shrines, and an Ikea outlet (thanks to Angry Arab for the jab)
• Faculty shortages leads to registration nightmares | AUC Caravan - AUC spends all this money to move out to the desert, ostensibly so that it will have more space for an expanding student body, but now it has no money to pay enough teachers to instruct the students. That's AUC for you.
• Janitors dine on litter, while thousands for student free food went unused | AUC Caravan - The AUC Caravan keeps up its solid reporting
• Khan al-Khalili: Neo-Terrorism and the Gaza Effect? - "I'd also guess that the bombing came in response to the Egyptian government's tacit support for the Israeli campaign against Hamas in Gaza in December and January. The radicals had been repressed, penetrated, tapped, imprisoned, watched. They had made deals. There hadn't been a bombing in Cairo for some time. But my guess is that for a few of them, Gaza was a deal breaker." I like Juan Cole better when he doesn't guess.
• Daily News Egypt - STUDENT PROTEST DEMANDS END TO SECURITY PRESENCE ON CAMPUS - Sarah Carr reports: “For the first time the Muslim Brotherhood has taken part in a protest where demonstrators were holding up pictures of Gamal Abdel Nasser — who imprisoned and killed MB members — and called for the removal of [President] Hosni Mubarak and his government,” the commentator said. “This was previously a red line for the MB — it’s the first time it happens.”
• Can Egypt bring Cleopatra’s palace back to life? - "The water down there isn't just difficult to see through, it's poisonous. And the designs put forward at the moment are for an underwater Disneyland, not a place where people will learn about heritage. If these corporate sponsors want to build a sunken theme park then fine, but don't try and pass it off as a serious archaeological endeavour."