Update

So it's still six weeks until my return to Morocco, but as at least a few of my American friends still check in here periodically, I thought I'd at least link to others' coverage of relevant news. Recently a newsweekly in Arabic published a supposedly critical editorial and had all copies seized and destroyed, while the editor and op-ed writer were hauled into court and threatened. Actual translation of said article available here: eatbees.com

So yeah, I usually try to play up the good things about my adoptive home - it is a place I love most of the time - you still can't ignore that things like this do indeed happen. Censorship is still an issue. The monarchy might be modern, but it is absolute. This is why I have a hard time with some of the pie-in-the-sky democracy stuff...which I swear I'll get back to soon enough.

Further commentary on the Nichane incident available here: Long Way Home