For those who read Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox during their childhood, or thereafter, Wes Anderson’s adaptation is definitely a fantastic take. Written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox isn’t exactly a childhood classic as much as it is an adaptation for the more mature audience. Filled with the platitudes, aesthetics and deadpan [...]

It’s fairly interesting to note the number of corruption cases that seem to have made headlines in recent months. This past year in fact has arguably been one of the most corruption-laden years in recent Jordanian history. From Basem Awadallah being accused of human trafficking and his subsequent resignation, to Sahel Majali being involved in [...]

U.S. Department of State NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION 38. Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in [...]

Fellow Jordanian tweeps are tweeting (spontaneously) the “Top 50 reasons living in Jordan Rocks”. Thought I’d post it up just as a mental break from all the cynicism and the daily realities that can make you forget how great Jordan really is…

The following are a series of interesting quotes from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech on global Internet freedom. In light of what’s been happening in Jordan recently over initial moves by the government to regulate the Internet, and in the process censor free speech, I thought the following excerpts were of some relevance [...]

Haven’t done one of these posts in a while but it’s been a long first three weeks of the new year, and a lot of depressing news that’s enough to make a person want to… But what better timing than this to have something to pick one’s spirits up. Ok Go, the band that gave [...]

This is just a quick note to readers of The Black Iris or anyone else who may stumble on this blog, to take some time (about 5 minutes) to give to Haiti if they haven’t done so already. If you’ve noticed, I’ve put up a link to the International Medical Corps, which is a great [...]

A few days ago we were all surprised to learn that a ruling from Jordan’s Supreme Court decided to include “websites” as subject to the country’s notorious Press & Publications Law. The reason bloggers, technologists, activists, journalists, free thinkers and anyone with a half a brain and a beating heart has been up in arms [...]