Blogging the democratic revolution
Following a disputed but highly publicized report that North Korea apologized to a Chinese envoy for its nuclear test, the hermit kingdom has decided to rejoin 6-way talks regarding its nuclear program. China, the United States and North Korea agreed in talks Tuesday to resume the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs “at a…
Recently, there was a Zogby poll that came out, claiming Hugo Chavez had a commanding lead over his opposition. Who paid for it is unknown, but Alek Boyd has a new item up indicating that the signs point to Hugo himself. After all, hasn’t Hugo set up phony polling firms of his own, for the…
Doctor Zin at Regime Change Iran has found a megatrend piece that’s so arresting it can’t help but make you stop and think. World oil prices right now are dropping like a stone. If they go below $50 a barrel and stay there, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are in…
Recently, two Russia blogs we admire, Sean????????s Russia Blog and Vilhelm Konnander????????s Weblog, have leveled harsh charges of anti-democracy at Kazakhstan, charges that unfortunately tell only half that country????????s story and fail to give a fair sense of the broader geopolitical context. The charges were apparently prompted by a recent comment by U.S. President George…
Lula By A Light Year – Brazil’s Lula landslides to reelection Source: AFP, via Yahoo! News Brazil’s incumbent President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva has cruised on to an easy victory in Brazil’s runoff election. He’s got more votes than he did last time and the total ballots aren’t even fully counted. With 94% of…
Our own dear Stefania Lapenna has published her first column for Townhall on the details of Cuba’s rising democracy movement. Cuba’s democrats realize deeply that there can be no ‘reform’ of Castro’s dictatorship in Cuba, there can only be change – more specifically – peaceful revolutionary change. That informs their tactics and as Castro withers,…
ANSWER Coalition anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan Source: Susan Forrest, Indymedia Los Angeles Today I went to the antiwar protests, over in Hollywood, to check out the scene. Compared to other antiwar rallies, this was small. It might have been put together hastily – I did not learn about it until yesterday. Still, ANSWER tends to…
Sean Gleeson suggests ten ways to do it and it’s one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time. Check out his hilarious post in this link here.
Boz at Bloggings by Boz has a good new set of the latest poll numbers, all of which give a good reading on the political temperature through the hemisphere. It’s a mixed bag this time. Or let’s just say there’s something for everyone. In good news, rightwing banana king Alvaro Noboa is continuing to kick…
When I say ‘Bolivian Infighting,’ which is what is going on over there, I don’t mean it figuratively – it turns out Evo Morales’ MAS party acolytes, or ‘Masistas,’ are literally fighting each other in the streets over who gets the government bureaucrat jobs. In other words, who gets to wear the Hush Puppies and…
First, some words from France’s resident tough guy, Nicolas Sarkozy: I would like to say one thing, in what is my conception of the Republic, security is the responsibility of the State, I am against militias, I am against the private ownership of firearms, and I????????m trying to make you think about that. If you…
Not long ago, I worked with a group fighting for East Timor’s independence. It was a rare time I actually had something to do with the political process instead of just watched. I organized demonstrations and painted signs and argued in meetings with UN officials. I fervently wanted East Timor’s independence from Indonesia. It was…
Last Wednesday, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro may have slipped into a coma. On Saturday, his sycophant, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, flew into Havana (scroll down), possibly to bid a final farewell to his Cuban master. And Brazil’s President Lula da Silva made a slip of the tongue last weekend, saying ‘when Castro was alive…’ forgetting…
PostGlobal hosted by the Washington Post poses a question for its readers that I think many here would find interesting to discuss: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said bread is more important than democracy, and he may be preparing to try to dissolve the Hamas-led Palestinian parliment. Does a leader have a right to bypass…
Vyacheslav Mizin and Alexander Shaburov are a pair of Russian artists who produce work such as the image above under the name ???????Dark-blue Noses??????? (???????????????????? ?????????????????). They have represented Russia at the Venice Biennale and shown widely in Russia and internationally. The Matthew Bown Gallery of London scheduled a show of their work for November…
Amid escalated confrontation with Russia and no perspective of things getting better there Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is apparently trying to guarantee himself and his ruling United National Movement (UNM) from surprises due to a possible Moscow involvement. Saakashvili asked the parliament to cut his term by several months and hold parliamentary and presidential elections…
Under Ceausescu and Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej regime (Dej was the political mentor of Ceausescu) 250,000 Jews have been sold by Romania. The German ethnics who held the Romanian citizenship were also sold to the West Germany. Aside from the financial transaction, Ceausescu asked Israel to smooth the relations of Romania with the United States. This…
The Culebra Cut stretch of the 50-mile Panama Canal Source: AFP Getty, via Houston Chronicle Panama’s great referendum on expanding the mighty Panama Canal, to accomodate two times’ as much ship traffic, is taking place today. 1.7 million Panamanians are registered to vote on the $5.3 billion upgrade, essentially a bond project to be financed…
What would a ‘colligation’ of all the free-market blogs in Latin America look like? As one big blog coming in from a feed? Luis Afonso Assumpcao of Swimming Against The Red Tide wanted to find out, so he set up an interesting new blog, compiling all the thoughts coming in from Miami Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela,…
Israeli President Moshe Katsav is currently facing charges for rape. Recently, an Israeli diplomatic delegation including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. An article from the Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted Putin as follows, speaking to the group: “?????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????! ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????? ?????????????????????????? ????????????????????! ?????????????????????????? ????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????! ???? ???????????????????????????? ????????…
Ranks are beginning to close on the question of Vladimir Putin????????s Russia in the West????????s pro-democracy circles. The question is no longer whether action is required but rather what action, how and when. Last week, Publius Pundit documented the importance of two watershed events in Russia, the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the onset…
The first Congress of the Independent Libraries organized by the Assembly to Promote Civil Society is underway across Cuba, and despite the brutal repression the librarians are facing. The Assembly to Promote the Civil Society is civil society coalition of 365 Cuban opposition movements that fight peacefully for democratic and regime change in the island….
StJacques over at Free Republic has translated a fabulous Chilean editorial from El Mercurio blasting the Venezuelan dictator as dangerous for Chile’s interests, right on the heels of Mexico’s blast at Chavez for his ego. Read it here.
They’re on something like Round 28 at the United Nations for the Security Council seat and pretty much getting nowhere. The deadlock continues to show the same wretched numbers, with Hugo Chavez at about 78 votes and Guatemala at about 108 votes, more or less. Same old score, round after round. Mexico, however, as it…
Aman Imani, an Iranian writing for The American Thinker, has an amazingly interesting article about just what Iran’s freedom fighters are facing as they stand down the mullahs – a parasitic class that feeds off of their society and demands to be king or kingmakers. It’s full of good local details and enlightens us about…