Blogging the democratic revolution
(Disclaimer: I’m in a heavy-OT zone today, and do not have the time to write this up with the care that it deserves, but the issue needs to be raised, because the “common wisdom” is beginning to accrete in a dangerous direction.) Bosnia has brought up Serbia on war crimes. Yes, the entire nation. This…
The declaration of a state of emergency, the possibility of a military coup, and the rising chance of mass street protests are all challenges to democracy in the Philippines. After twenty years following the original People Power Revolution, it’s high time that all of the country’s stakeholders begin to respect the rule of law. Especially…
After so many complaints that the United Nations Human Rights Commission is host to some of the most abusive human rights violators on the planet, one would think that the United States is being hypocritical by opposing planned reform at the UN for scrapping it and creating a new Human Rights Council that’s more effective…
Source: The Nation It’s getting bad again in Thailand. The Bangkok Post says the crisis is deepening. The opposition to billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, led by rival media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul, is giving Thaksin till Saturday to resign or they will chase him out. About 50,000 demonstrators filled the streets Sunday, and another 25,000…
This would be a completely irrelevant toss-off post except for its potential significance. The MDF (Hungarian Democratic Forum) is raising some eyebrows with a couple pieces of news lately. It needs to, because as discussed before, the MDF is in a fight for its life when it comes to parliamentary representation. If it cannot make…
Take that, Hugo Chavez! Colombia has chosen freedom and prosperity over dependency, isolation and handouts! A free trade pact was signed this morning with the U.S.! It was one long hard tough slog in negotiations, but President Alvaro Uribe and the U.S. Trade Representative finally came to common ground after lots of give and take,…
A Chavista women’s collective in a small city called Los Teques in Venezuela recently sent this letter to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and some of his key minions. If this is Chavista, then we are ALL Chavistas. Their fascinating statement highlights the growing popular opposition to the corruption, the thievery, the bureaucratization and the barbarism…
President Bush has once again renewed his moral support of the Iranian people and their aspirations to total freedom. This time, it seems, he’ll do more than merely talking about freedom; he pledged economic aid to the Iranian freedom fighters and those who risk their life by taking to the streets against the regime. It…
Our dear friends, Darsi Ferrer, his wife Yusnaimy and other freedom fighters are keeping to help poor Cubans by directly visiting them in their favelas.Dari’s wife, Yusnaimy, even risked to be thrown in jail along with two Czech women for talking to ordinary Cubans about their daily problems. Czech model Helena Houdova also contributed to…
The sweeping victory of Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary election has the Bush administration and foreign policy experts on their toes. Isn????????t democracy supposed to be what frees the entire region from tyranny? That????????s how the meme goes. Yet fairer elections in Egypt gave one quarter of the seats to the Muslim Brotherhood, and now…
President Gloria Arroyo has announced a state of emergency in the Philippines following the thwarting of a coup plot. Somewhat ironically, today is the 20th anniversary of the original People Power revolution that overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos. MANILA (Reuters) – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared emergency rule in the Philippines on Friday after the military…
The blogosphere has been abuzz about the bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Iraq, one of holiest shrines in Shia Islam. Of course, news reports always labels shrines as one of the holiest shrines, but it’s definitely true this time. This one is at the top. The attack was so profoundly felt by Shia Muslims…
Alek Boyd at VCrisis and Daniel at Venezuela News & Views alert us to a new Chavista propaganda offensive against some of the best reporting on Venezuela coming out these days. It looks like Venezuela’s attacks on the free press do not stop at its water’s edge, but extend to any media anywhere in the…
If it weren’t sketchy enough that this is the second opposition leader assassinated in Kazakhstan within the past three months, the head of the government intelligence agency has resigned. He did so because several of his officers were implicated in the murder and have confessed, or so the story goes! ALMATY, Kazakhstan ???????? Kazakhstan’s intelligence…
My eyes are practically filled with tears of joy on this news. Something our Salvadoran and Honduran and Nicaraguan friends have been PRAYING for for years has really happened … A-G-A-I-N-S-T … A-L-L … O-D-D-S!!!!! If there is a such thing as miracles, this is it. Thousands of undocumented workers from war-torn El Salvador and…
Two big developments on the truly revolutionary idea of free trade extending from the North Slope all the way to Tierra del Fuego. Colombia is on the edge of signing a free trade pact with the U.S., according to Rob Portman of the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The pact, if they can reach the finish…
Rumors flying for months about a military coup in the Philippines may just have turned out to be true, as an investigation has led to the finding of 16 officers planning to overthrow the government. MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine army has questioned at least 14 lieutenants and sergeants linked to a plot to unseat…
Putin has okayed the return of the Sarospatak Library, seized by the Nazis and then by the Russians in WWII. Of course, this raises some eyebrows over the larger repatriation issues, even if the Russian official media feel the need to demonstrate that no new repatriation precedents are being set with the move. Given this,…
This is not a piece of news, however some may find it interesting.The Truth and Justice Alliance ????????D.A has introduced a new fiscal policy to eliminate, or at least reduce the tax evasion, corruption and eventually poverty. The rate of 16% applies to both personal and corporate income. To my knowledge Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine,…
The prominent Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque, leader of the Assembly to Promote the Civil Society, is harassed by Castroite mobs led by the State Security on a daily basis. She was released from prison back in 2004 for health problems, yet since months she is again a prisoner; the only difference is that now…
Iran is dangerously close to producing a nuclear weapon and igniting a region-wide arms race. It could be within a couple of months or a couple of years. Nobody knows exactly how much time is left, but the day that Iran goes nuclear is one that many hope will never come. The thought of a…
Alek Boyd has another bombshell on the details of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s family fortune and all its offshore accounts. Using the offices of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Chavez has a sprawling network of bank accounts spread through Panama, Europe, Brazil and other places, amounting to billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth. What, you may…
Is Venezuela running out of oil? This Bloomberg article certainly suggests it, and if so, it’s an earmark of a communist regime. There’s no such thing as a communist regime without shortages. Russia the breadbasket ran out of wheat. Cuba the sugar king ran out of sugar. Vietnam the rice bowl ran out of rice….
Right under the news radar, the U.S. and Colombia are hashing out their last differences for the free trade pact that will create confidence and prosperity on an untold scale for already star-performing Colombia and will enrich and enliven the U.S. with the bright and brilliant side of Colombia from its private sector, not its…
Every dictator dreams of consolidating power into the ‘dictator for life’ designation and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is no different. Today he’s announced he’s set to change the constitution to his liking, which would mean he would no longer be limited to two terms, but to as many as he wants. As many unlimited terms,…