Mega Links Post (Updated Below)

All the random stuff I've enjoyed over the past week.

The New Yorker reports on the last days of the Shah of Iran's rule. Sorry for being 30 years too late with this but its worth reading, if only for this quote on co-education from a cleric:

I want to separate the schools of learning from the schools of flirting.

More Iran stuff from Foreign Policy which lists ten movies that will help you better understand the country.

I hope Pakistan's performance tomorrow isn't as bad as this pun in The News:

Opponents 'Afridi' of Shahid

Here's how you piss off an Australian cricketer (no, the word convict was never mentioned).

Gear up for Wimbledon and rue Nadal's absence by listening to this fantastic BBC documentary on the greatest match ever played (link will only work for one week).

Ever wondered how a tennis player's grunt compares to a lions roar? The Times lets you know.

By now you must all have watched Obama swat a fly. But have you seen Stephen Colbert's response to it?

And another example of something that would be incredibly annoying if done by George W. Bush yet seems so cute when Obama does it.

Quote of the week comes from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's lawyer:

"He does not need people to bring him women," Niccolò Ghedini told the newspaper Corriere della Sera. "It's seems a bit over the top to think that Berlusconi needs to pay €2,000 [£1,700] for a girl to go with him. I think he could have them in large numbers for free."

Warning to anyone recently married: Don't read this piece in The Atlantic.

Pray the Pakistani cricket team makes this a great weekend.

UPDATE (from Ahsan): Thanks to Bubs for giving me the motivation to put up some of my own links, which I've been very lazy with.

You remember how George Bush didn't even know who Musharraf was before he got elected? Well, here's reason 327671609ednuhndaiu0180389 Obama is cooler than Bush: dude is dropping Jinnah's name. Not only do I have no doubts whatsoever that Bush doesn't who Jinnah was, but I am also sure that when Bush hears the term "Jinnah" he automatically thinks "tonic".

You've heard of F My Life but have you heard of My Life Is Desi? (Link courtesy reader Wasay)

Steve Walt has an IR guide to parenting. This has to be the greatest passage ever written:

And once the kids are mobile, you learn about another key IR concept: the window of opportunity. You're feeding or changing Kid #1, and Kid #2 makes a bolt out the front door, just like North Korea tested a nuclear weapon while we were busy with Iraq. Or you're in the middle of a crowded department store and they each decide to head down different aisles. The potential complications of a multipolar order were never clearer the first time this happened to me.

I don't even want to imagine what a bait-and-bleed strategy looks like with child-rearing.

The Washington Post fires one of its only real journalists -- you know, the type who actually feels the need to investigate and challenge authority, rather than be subservient to it. They absolutely do not fire the partisan hack who continues to write trash.

Speaking of the establishment media in the US, a NYT reporter escapes from the Taliban with another Pakistani journalist by, uh, scaling a wall:

Mr. Rohde told his wife, Kristen Mulvihill, that Mr. Ludin joined him late Friday night in climbing over the wall of a compound where they were being held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan. They found a Pakistani army scout, who led them to a nearby army base, and on Saturday they were flown to the American Bagram military base in Afghanistan.

“They just walked over the wall of the compound,” said Ms. Muvihill.

But they left one guy behind (their driver), who is now in all probability having AK-47s shoved up his ass as retribution. Seriously, why didn't they take him with them? I mean, I'm happy for the two who got away and their families, but that drives is now FUCKED.

Hey, good news: some people from Buner are going home. Well done to everyone involved -- the NGOs, aig agencies, the people themselves and yes, the government. Kudos.

I had a few others, but I've forgotten now. Oh, and one more thing: no preview of the final from me, because I'm too lazy/have nothing to say. But I will live blog the shit out of it, rest assured.