Blogging the democratic revolution
Another crazy report, just like a lot of the bunk charges that come out of Human Rights Watch. Great name, great mission. Terrible follow through. LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Nearly two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, women there are no better off than under the rule of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the…
A sly man by the name of Tony let me know about his blog today, called Across the Bay. This is not a paid advertisement — I could only be so lucky — but this blog is of special note because it is totally about Lebanon. Here is a little bit about the author: Ph.D….
Drudge has posted many fantastic excerpts from President Bush’s speech today in Brussels, which reads fantastically. “The alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security in a new century. Our robust trade is one of the engines of the world economy. Our example of economic and political freedom gives hope…
For some reason, JerseyGOP has Yulia Tymoshenko has their 80th Babe of the Week. This is not surprising to most of us why she would be up there, but I am posting this because there are pictures.
Do I ever say how much I love news roundups? Yes, quite often. Even though I have many posts on Lebanon already, Arthur Chrenkoff offers a fantastic multi-dimensional roundup of his own!
For those who don’t know, the Jackson-Vanik Act was basically an embargo that restricted trade between them and the United States. I’ve written McCain about this and I’m glad to see something happening. From the Action Ukraine Report: WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Representatives Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos today introduced…
Bill Rice thinks that the joint declaration on Taiwan by the United States and Japan was timed just right. What is amazing about the event, is its timing. US Diplomacy of old would have kept such a meeting until after China had given the message of displeasure to the North Koreans. On another level, the…
I’m upgrading WordPress, so temporarily there should be some problems, like the website not working. Should be working soon though. UPDATE: IT WORKED! Maybe soon now I can do a redesign of the website. Very cool. DONE: Alright, this is what I’ve come up with so far. Feel free to make suggestions! As for me,…
Thomas L. Friedman makes an eye-opening personal account in the Houston Chronicle regarding the rules Syria plays by, namely, none: When Syria’s Baath regime feels its back up against the wall, it always resorts to “Hama Rules.” Hama Rules is a term I coined after the Syrian army leveled ???????? and I mean leveled ????????…
Nathan’s weekend edition is up, and PORA is tranforming itself into a permanent think-tank. Vladyslav Kaskiv is one of the leaders of the Pora movement, whose demonstrations ???????? often laced with biting humor ???????? became a memorable feature of those exuberant winter days. Pora drew its inspiration from pro-democracy youth movements in Serbia and Georgia…
I have been telling you all about Radio Free Nepal the past few days, and they have been an invaluable source of information. And like any good source of information, they have pictures: Arrests made during the democracy protest earlier. It is so hard to get a good idea of what is going on in…
There are two noteable articles on Lebanonwire that I noticed. The first is that Chirac is being accused of aiding the opposition. BEIRUT, Feb 19 (AFP) – Lebanese Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad accused French President Jacques Chirac Saturday of encouraging the opposition during a visit to pay condolences after the assassination of former premier…
I was just passing by C-Span2, and they had George Soros on talking about his book, The Bubble of American Supremacy, something I will probably not be buying. However, we was talking extensively about the Open Society Institute, something I find more valuable than his political leanings in the United States. When asked why he…
Regime Change Iran’s daily briefing is up. New satellite intel shows that Iran is building an underground tunnel just north of the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) at Esfahan. It appears too big to be only for storage. It might be intended to house production facilities for some uranium conversion processes.. Iran already has about 500…
Discoshaman has posted his news roundup and promises a more full one tomorrow. Out of the links was an editorial in the Kyiv Post regarding the reprivatization reviews: The process of reviewing shady privatization deals, recently announced by President Viktor Yushchenko????????s administration, makes us a bit nervous. It????????s true that some recent ???????privatizations??????? of valuable…
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia posts an article from Arab News written by a woman that counters arguments against women’s suffrage. Last week, Raid Qusti wrote yet another article about women and elections. This was not the first time he tackled the issue, making it clear to all of us, again, that he agrees with…
Courtesy: RFN Radio Free Nepal has a roundup of news out of the country for today. The King has, again, cut the lines of communication, though it seems that service is coming back sporadically. The protests for Democracy Day have also been thwarted. The situation doesn’t look to be getting better soon.
I was just made aware of this website created by Marcin Skubiszewski, a man from Poland who participated as an election observer in Ukraine during the December 26 rerun. This website deals with his experience, including his impessions of the voting process and any irregularities that occurred. It is very detailed in all regards, and…
Sweet: BEIRUT, 19 February 2005 ???????? The opposition parties in Lebanon declared an ???????uprising for independence??????? yesterday and called for the pro-Syrian government to step down so that a new government can be formed to oversee a Syrian military pullout. This escalated a war of words following former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri????????s assassination on Monday….
In another installment of my series “Crazy People,” some of the people who comment on Maidan topics are rather creepy and unintelligible. While I like Maidan itself, one guy got rubbed the wrong way — a little too easily — when I wouldn’t compare Iraq and Ukraine. Start at the top and read downward. Let…
Bill Rice has posted his impression that America’s move toward idealism in foreign policy is indeed a realistic approach. I’m apt to agree. In the long term, trying for big dreams like freedom, democracy, and conquering tyranny are much more pragmatic, even incomplete, than simply settling for good short-term relations with “friendly regimes.”
In particular, some executives of YUKOS and MENATEP testified to the Senate, a huge blow to Putin in a hearing that is entitled “Democracy in Retreat in Russia”: The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing yesterday (February 17) on “Democracy in Retreat in Russia.” The star witnesses were Steven Theede, the embattled…
Regime Change Iran’s news briefing is up, with quite a few items that are easily missed otherwise.
There are a couple of more reactions to the events on Lebanon that I thought were worth reading. The first comes from Ali at Free Iraqi: It seems that the horrible crime that took place in Beirut won’t go unpunished. Despite the continues allegations of the Syrian and Lebanese government and the crocodile tears their…
John Burgess posts what first seems like a pretty insignifcant story: JEDDAH, 18 February 2005 ???????? The Labor Ministry????????s recent decision to postpone for another three years the Saudization of taxi business infuriated Saudis working in the sector who have now sought the intervention of higher authorities. The drivers complained of the losses they said…