Blogging the democratic revolution
I came across this awesome blog today called Window on the Arab World, and more!. It is done by a guy named Kirk H. Sowell, a specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs and a published author. Read his website, the information and commentary is awesome. To start, here is something cool I read: Just now I watched a segment on Al-Jazeera about the attack earlier today in Kuwait against foreigners. The commentator, a Kuwaiti named Ahmad Shiraf, was asked who was behind this, and he responded enemies of civilization who are encouraged by those who glorify terrorism, such as Al-Jazeera!!! The…
Discoshaman already has his first Ukraine update for February up! And things are looking bright for Tymoshenko.
Here’s a big shoutout to Babalu Blog, who just got a big mention on the front page of the Miami Herald. Congratulations! The more people who knows about your cause, the better.
It looks like a total of 489 felons counted so far were allowed to vote in the Washington state elections. That’s higher than than the amount of votes that the fishy third hand-recount afforded to the Democrat candidate for victory. Pretty messed up situation, and sadly, the real winner may never be known. The government doesn’t owe either of the two candidates anything — not even victory. They owe the people what they are paid to do, and make sure that the people’s rightful choice is elected. How hard is it, honestly, for the government to fulfill its basic duties?
Norman Geras is pissed at the Guardian’s editorial section. But honestly, it’s no use getting mad at people who can’t write.
John Hawkins has his own roundup of favorite quotes from blogs on the Iraq election. I’ve posted similar lists earlier on if you’re interested, just scroll.
I hope Bloggle doesn’t mind too much, but I just had to post this in full: Jack Chirac told president Bush in a phone conversation that “The participation rate and the good technical organization of the elections were satisfactory.” Say what you want, but the famous silver-tongued French certainly know how to gussy up a phrase, don’t they? I can see Jack making the moves on one of the tarts on the Champs d’Elysee, running a hand through his thinning pate, leaning in to fill his Gallic nostrils with sweet Parisian parfum, and whispering, “Ah mademoiselle, your lips are quite…
Almost missed this other post by Nathan. Looks like he is keeping up with elections in Kyrgyzstan. More power to him; I certainly have to sleep at times! Lots of links and quotes and commentary. Check it out. I’ll try to find more information in the coming days as well. UPDATE: Russia obviously has a large interest in maintaining the status quo. Good article for some good information, though.
Nathan writes on the upsurge of protests from democratic movements in Central Asia, much greater than they were just a year ago. It’s really good.
Discoshaman has his Ukraine update for 01/31. Read the rest too, he has some interesting thoughts going around. UPDATE: David Geisen has one too.
Andy posts an interesting article relating how revolutions that pull through usually have the help of the capital’s mayor. After observing that the Orange Revolution in Ukraine may never have happened without the support of Kiev’s mayor they go on to argue that, if Putin wants to keep his job, he really needs to keep Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow, on his side. True. And I’d venture to say, however, that in a totalitarian state as big as Russia, just about everyone Putin thinks he has under his thumb will bail on him when the going gets too rough.
Dan McMinn has two good articles up well worth reading. The first is on Yushchenko’s legacy and the other is a historical profile on Kuchma.
Mohammed ponders the victory over the terrorists, and what must now be done to use this victory to its greatest advantage. If anything, they can take some notes from Ukraine on how to direct that kind of energy.
John is reporting on good press in the Arab media post-Iraq elections: This New York Times article is a surprisingly positive one about both the Iraqi elections and the way in which Arab media covered them. Of particular interest is the coverage of the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network, The daylong reporting of the election process, details on the personalities and almost step-by-step guides to the voting were a significant departure from what the Arab news media has produced in some time. Perhaps the most ambitious effort came from Al Arabiya, which had eight satellite trucks broadcasting from across Iraq, as well…
I hadn’t mentioned it yet give the situation in Iraq, but Yushchenko and Saakashvili were nominated by Senators McCain and Clinton for the Nobel Peace Prize. I got the info via: Blog de Connard. I found it pretty interesting though, since McCain is my senator. I checked out his website and… sure enough. I thought that was pretty cool so I sent him a little e-gram telling him how pleased I was. Here’s the letter: Dear Nominating Committee: We are writing to nominate for the Nobel Peace Prize two men who have exhibited an extraordinary commitment to peace: Georgian President…
Already, David McDuff has posted Part 7 of his Going Back series.
Chrenkoff has posted his next installment of good news from Iraq, but you might need a few hours to read it all. And that is definitely a good thing.
Freedom House finds in an 89 page study that the Saudi government is distributing hate literature within the U.S. through mosques. WASHINGTON, DC, January 28, 2005- Freedom House????????s Center for Religious Freedom released today a new report exposing the dissemination of hate propaganda in America by the government of Saudi Arabia. The 89-page report, ???????Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques,??????? is based on a year-long study of over two hundred original documents, all disseminated, published or otherwise generated by the government of Saudi Arabia and collected from more than a dozen mosques in the United States. Here’ the…
I thought this picture needed its own post… Via Jeff Jarvis
David McDuff has posted the next installment of his Going Back series, part six.
Chrenkoff has posted his part 3 of E-day news. And he promises the “Good News From Iraq” roundup tomorrow.
We had already witnessed one sign that North Korea????????s totalitarian system is dissolving, even as its leaders boast of owning nuclear weapons to deter their enemies. ???????It????????s just like the Berlin Wall,??????? Pastor Douglas Shin, a Christian activist, said by telephone from Seoul. ???????The slow-motion exodus is the beginning of the end.??????? In interviews for this article over many months, western policymakers, Chinese experts, North Korean exiles and human rights activists built up a picture of a tightly knit clan leadership in Pyongyang that is on the verge of collapse. Some of those interviewed believe the ???????Dear Leader???????, Kim Jong-il,…
While the New York Times spews Molotovian propaganda for land reform in Venezuela, Miguel’s got some AUTHENTIC reporting about what a terrifying disaster it’s becoming, a serious maelstrom of murder, violence, bloodshed and thuggery. This is a must read, the important truth from the blog trumping the flowery ‘Imagine’ picture written up about in the ever-diminishing-in-credibility New York Times.
I was reading the comments from Iraq the Model and noticed the sweet presence of visitors from other lands fighting oppression in their own distant countries. I loved the greetings from the Chinese and Venezuelan names. Word is spreading to every corner on earth,. And the reality is, their time for freedom is going to come too. We are all in this together. And we all share in Iraq’s joy. Miguel’s got a beautiful short item up in his Venezuelan blog, well worth reading.
Usually John Hawkins does this sort of thing, and he probably will come Monday, but I figured I’d get a jump on it. Now, we all know about the Democratic Underground. It’s basically a breeding website for the far-left socialist type, where they can masturbate each others’ conspiracy theories and nonsensical elitist egos. On such an important day, what do you think their topic of discussion will be? That’s right, how we should never have been there in the first place. From the main post: 9. Again on the Iraqis aren’t stupid note: they KNOW this election is a sham.…