I would be remiss in not urging you to read my friend and colleague Michael Totten's lastest entry on his blog, entitled, "The Woman Who Blew Up the Arab World." It's about Faida Hamdi, the Tunisian police officer who slapped Mohamed Bouazizi, whose later self-immolation set off the events we've now come to call the "Arab Spring." Except Ms. Hamdi was neither a police officer, nor did she slap Bouazizi. Yet this creation story has nonetheless taken hold. 

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One would think that a major newspaper or magazine would have interviewed the woman whose actions allegedly sparked the domino-like fall of regimes across North Africa. Yet it was left to an independent journalist like Michael—whom I'm honored to call a friend and colleague—to root out this important story on his own. Michael is one of the most underappreciated foreign correspondents out there; read his story and see why.