Blogging the democratic revolution
Patriotic Australians, perhaps like this recent Miss Universe, will march for democracy in their bikinis Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to Sexy Saudi Swimwear Source: PubTV Enraged at the local mullahs’ medieval declaration that unveiled women are ‘uncovered meat,’ thousands of angry Australians will march on their mullah mosque Saturday to protest that declaration … in their bikinis. Somehow, you can’t get more Australian than that. They’re patriots. Aussies live for the beach, party like sailors, and some of them probably don’t ever wear anything else except bikinis. Mullahs, of course, are not pleased, so they’re coupling up with their…
On September 8, 1999, several hundred pounds of explosive detonated on the ground floor of a nine-story apartment building in the southwestern Moscow neighborhood of Pechatniki. 94 people were killed and 150 wounded. Five days later, a second building was leveled, this time on Kashirskoye Highway, again in the southern region of the city. In the collapse of the eight-story structure, 118 people were killed and 200 wounded. Almost immediately, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would undertake a second massive military assault on the breakaway province of Chechnya, even though the Chechen rebels did not take responsibility for…
Voting around Caracas on Sunday. These photos were taken by a pool of 38 citizen journalists who documented the electoral process. Their fascinating slideshow can be found at this Flickr site, here. Hat tip: Venezuela Today Venezuelans went to the polls today to decide who their new president would be. The polls are closed, except that the army is said to be re-opening some by force, to bus in Chavista voters from the hillside slums. One exit poll, from a government-linked polling firms, the San Francisco Bay Area leftist one called Evans-McDonough, is dutifully leaking out, saying Chavez easily leads,…
Based on who I’ve talked to, here is the latest reading of what is believed to be likely to happen Sunday. It pretty much makes sense – on Monday, we can see how it stacks to reality. 1. Markets went hog wild Friday and one source tells me it’s because the markets are pricing in a Manuel Rosales victory over Hugo Chavez. Internal polls put Rosales five to 10 points ahead of Chavez. None show him behind and there is very high optimism in the Rosales camp. (I remember the high optimism pre-recall referendum so I am cautious about that.…
Venezuela is staring down D-Day, the great final election of a year full of Latin American elections, beginning this Sunday. At stake: Will Hugo Chavez be thrown out of power by his own people? Right now, the polls are mixed, with Chavista polls saying Chavez has a wide lead, and Opposition polls saying Manuel Rosales, his challenger, has a small lead. Besides that, there were the vast avalanchas, showing tremendous commitment from the opposition. The fate of the entire hemisphere – and whether we will have Iran-style nuclear issues directed at the states, from Iran’s ally, Hugo Chavez – hinges…
Final Thoughts Before the Elections By Alex Beech Political marches induce hope in the best cases, and hysteria in the worst. During the referendum, I noticed how a march can beintoxicating – to see all those people in one place, to feel the energy. But at the end of the day, millions stay home, and you never know how those millions are going to vote in the privacy of their voting booths. There is a reality Venezuelans who oppose Chavez need to face if we’re going to move forward as a nation, and that is that Chavez may win on…