Blogging the democratic revolution
To read some of the news, one might think the U.S. is the only place affected by the rise in world energy prices. After all, we are the world’s largest energy consumer (no value judgment, I add) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez often makes anti-U.S. statements expressly for the purpose of driving up prices, something…
I think property rights is rapidly emerging as a central revolution of our time in many areas. It touches even the United States, as the Kelo case demonstrates. Private property is the one thing communist regimes oppose. It’s also the key to freedom and the only basis for rule of law. And what a coincidence,…
Singapore threw into jail a couple of ethnic Chinese Internet posters who wrote derogatory remarks about their Malay countrymen. As I wrote here, this kind of thing goes on all the time, and I’ve seen it myself. But this time, the Singaporean government cracked down, swiftly and surely laying down its brand of justice, something…
Via Real Clear Politics, the Washington Post has an astounding article about a young rock band in Indonesia that is defying the vicious local Islamofascists by singing innovative songs against Jihad terrorism. Every time the terrorists threaten to blow them up, the youthful band comes up with a new song, calling it their next new…
The weekend’s terror attack on the Indonesian island of Bali was a monstrous atrocity. Does it have revolutionary implications? I think it does, because it’s closely aligned with Indonesia’s brave self-transformation into an authentic democracy in 1999. The terrorists who struck Bali were trying to destroy Indonesia’s fragile democracy – at a sensitive time. With…
The United States government could be readying up a drive to deal with Burma, one of the six main “outposts of tyranny” with one of the most repressive regimes in the world. To do this, it will be pushing for a referral to the United Nations Security Council, where at best we will be able…
Months after disbanding the parliament and initializing a state of emergency, the king of Nepal has promised elections. This is the part where we all laugh and snicker. Nepal’s royalist administration has repeated its commitment to restoring democracy in the country. But the announcement has been met with skepticism in Kathmandu. Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh…
Indonesia is at the boiling point with a whole string of frightening developments. Oil prices are going through the moon and the indonesian government, which subsidizes oil, is being crushed by those higher prices. That’s sent the miserable-anyway currency, the Indonesian rupiah, to its lowest levels in four years as capital flight takes off. Meanwhile,…
They’re so darn dumb. How does anyone get that dumb? Rule Number One: You DO NOT do drugs in Asia. Rule Number Two: You DO NOT transport drugs in Asia. Rule Number Three: You DO NOT associate with anyone who does drugs in Asia. Rule Number Four: You read the signs at airports, the ones…
The Maldives is a small archipelago country located just 500 miles south of India. To European tourists, it is a quaint, charming breath of fresh air that conjures up fantasies of sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, sun-filled days and moon-lit nights. The four star hotels are exquisite, the food likewise, and the locals sweeter than…
Singapore arrested two bloggers for making offensive-to-Islam remarks on their blogs, with charges of contributing to religious hatred. The de-facto state-controlled Singapore tabloid, The Electric New Paper, breathily noted that this pair also even was ‘said to contain vulgarities.’ In Singapore they have laws against that kind of thing. I am an ex-Singapore resident who…
Japan’s politics, like its economics, has been sclerotic for ages. Bureaucrats, comfy pork barrel politicians and socialism have kept that economy on ice for a long long time. Until now. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, an authentic revolutionary who is taking untold radical steps to shake Japan from top to bottom, reforming the giant postal savings…
The ongoing election fraud scandal surrounding President Arroyo is coming to an official close, as the opposition was not able to garner the 1/3 vote necessary to bring an impeachment trial to the Senate. The Philippine Legislature ended the impeachment process against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday, finally dismissing all three complaints against her….
The biggest argument I’ve made with regards to the political crisis in Nepal has been that the king’s taking of absolute power will drive the political parties and civil society into the arms of the Maoists, mostly because they are in opposition to the king. It isn’t that the pro-democracy parties agree with the Maoist…
RFE/RL has an interesting story on the rise of social unrest in China. Scarcely a month goes by without news coming from rural China of often-violent protests by locals over corruption, land-grabs, taxation, or environmental issues. The authorities are struggling to stem this rising tide of challenges to abuses that are probably inherent in any…
This piece was beautifully written by D.J. McGuire at the China e-Lobby, which is “dedicated to exposing the abuses of human rights, threats to American security, and attacks on general decency committed by Communist China, and to influencing American policy to ensure these egregious acts do not go unopposed.” Make sure to check him out….
According to a Chinese government report, income disparity and government corruption will cause instability throughout the entire country by 2010 if action isn’t taken. This would certainly coincide with anecdotal evidence of increasing large protests, in both size and frequency. China’s rapidly widening income gap has reached dangerous levels, risking social instability by 2010 if…
I was afraid this might happen. By suspending parliament and taking absolute power, Nepal’s monarch has effectively isolated and turned civil society against him. Now, it seems that the seven main political parties from parliament, which represent some 95% of the population, will be staging joint protests with the Maoist rebels against the king. Not…
Rumors are flying around Rangoon like mad, as word is going around that Than Shwe, the senior general of the military junta that rules Burma, has been possibly deposed by his number two. Everything is unconfirmed, but Burmese state media has not yet discounted any of the rumors, and Than Shwe isn’t to be seen….
The tyrannical government of Maldives is charging opposition MDP Chairman Mohamed Nasheed on counts of terrorism after he was detained last Friday. TVM and Voice of Maldives, the state-run media in Maldives, has announced that the Chairperson of Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni), is to be charged for terrorism. State run media said Nasheed…
It looks like hackers are taking shot at Burmese military junta websites. An interesting story, I think, of how pro-democracy forces can protest without being there. Aug 19, 2005 (DVB) – Burmese computer experts and hackers are increasingly targeting their attacks on websites owned by and related to Burma??????s military junta, State Peace and Development…
In a continuing sequence of improved bilateral relations, Russia and China are staging first-ever joint military exercises over the next eight days. Andrew Young takes a look at all of the dimensions, both charitable and provocative. Here is his conclusion: Geopolitical considerations are also important to this exercise, although less important than the practical Russian…
PREVIOUS POSTS, BACKGROUND: HERE LATEST PHOTOS: HERE, and HERE. It took nearly a week, but international NGOs and human rights organizations are starting to condemn the crackdown in Maldives. I’m rather surprised that they even know about it, given that Reuters gave up after its two token pieces toeing the government line. Reporter Without Borders…
Over 3,000 people staged a sit-in protest in Kathmandu demanding an end to the monarchy and the restoration of parliamentary democracy. My blogosphere buddy Jim Hoft has a roundup. The protesters on Tuesday squatted in the street at Basantapur Durbar Square for several hours and disrupted traffic. Demonstrators included members of the Peace Society of…
Mad Minerva posts a little bit of Asia democracy news regarding the creation of a 26 member Democratic Pacific Union. Taiwan’s President Chen said that the DPU should be used to bring the last 15 and the 39 Pacific rim countries into its democratic arc. Especially China. President Chen Shui-bian (????????????????????) yesterday called upon the…