Blogging the democratic revolution
I almost missed it. Coming Anarchy is hosting this week’s carnival of revolutions, chock full democracy goodness.
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…
Protestors in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, seek a bigger piece of the oil pie. Trouble in Lago Agrio as the troops move in to protect the oil wells. Ecuadorean oil workers try to fix a vandalized pipeline in the Amazon jungle. SOURCE: Reuters Strife has engulfed Ecuador again, with thousands of protestors in two northeastern provinces…
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…
The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), known for its civil unrest and terrorist tactics from countries ranging from Syria to Turkey to Iran, has declare a truce with the Turkish government after the prime minister promised to resolve the problem through more democracy — meaning, trying to help the Kurds out in their demands. I think…
Voting opened in the ethnic Somali region of Ethiopia, while a partial re-run vote was held in other districts where irregularities were too high back in May. Not that it matters, at this point. JIJIGA, Ethiopia — Voting in eastern Ethiopia ended peacefully Sunday, as elite forces, pro-government militia and police patrolled streets to secure…
Our friend Jim GatewayPundit has a good Zimbabwe news and blogger roundup, including a link to a new film about dictator Robert Mugabe’s ‘clear out the trash’ campaign that has left hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans in the informal sector homeless and suffering. See it here.
The Cuban dictator was lying in wait for about three months, silently, stealthily, like a shark in stilling water … and then the brutal tyrant moved. Friday the Monster At Our Gate confiscated the land and house of the homeowner who lent it to Cuba’s fearless civil society democrats who riveted the world with their…
Oh, yes. Mubarak has his official election campaign website up, in English, complete with an “email the president” feature. Click here to let him know what you think about him. As for me, I’ve written him a poem: Roses are red Violets are blue Babes in bikinis Look better than you But that’s probably a…
Perhaps another confirmation of what we may see in the future of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah promised Condoleezza Rice that the kingdom would be sufficiently liberalized to hold national elections within 15 years. Saudi King Abdullah promised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a series of reforms that could give the desert kingdom an elected government…
I kid you not. Here they are, in Cologne, Germany, for the World Festival of Youth: Oh Benedict! You’re so dreamy!
In an extreme sign of victory, Colombia’s vile communist narcoterrorists are suddenly apologizing for their latest murders, the killings of two priests and two others. Over 40 years, they’ve killed countless priests, journalists, businessmen, housewives, children and others. But this is the first time they are “sorry.” A strong hand against terror is withering the…
In the new era of revolutions, tyrants often are reluctant to send troops in to shoot when the millions of people roll into the streets demanding justice. They don’t want CNN’s cameras on them and 20-year war crime trials in the Hague to follow. That’s one reason why the whole world has seen a democratic…
Ecuador is a basket case about to blow. It’s likely to get yet another a new president before U.S. Labor Day. And with its sudden oil production shutdown and troop dispatch, it’s also the leading news story moving world financial markets, hitting stocks and oil prices Friday. Just see the Top Ten leader here. No…
Looking for beautiful women in bikinis? Try Monterrey. Definitely don’t look in Saudi Arabia. Check out the latest summertime fashion in Riyadh. Hat tip to Light Seeking Light. Click here for the rest of this tantalizing assortment of swimsuits. UPDATE: Now here we go. The Religious Policeman does a mock interview with the Saudi Minister…
In our latest showing of theatre performances from around the world, Robert Mugabe will be performing “I didn’t get what I wanted, so I held a fraudulent election and changed the constitution,” followed by his exquisite and complex personal rendition of “How to be a leftist dictator.” The latter will be reproduced cinematically as a…
After local and provincial officials chose new members for half of the country’s Senate, the constitutional court set in stone the date of the country’s next presidential elections. President Nazarbaev’s term runs dry in the beginning of 2006, but elections weren’t expected until December of that year — over a year from now. But the…
Since gain independence in 1962, Burundi has been ruled by the Tutsi minority, but the Hutu majority rebelled against the government in 1993 when its first democratically elected leader, a Hutu, was assassinated by Tuti paratroopers. Since then, ethnic warfare has ravaged the country and lands around it like Rwanda, culminating in the deaths of…
Back in the 1980s, Nicaragua’s Sandinistas engaged in a communist campaign of mass murder against the innocent Miskito Indians on Nicaragua’s north Atlantic coast. The Miskito were peaceful people who lived in a strategic spot coveted by Cuban troops who were making inroads into Nicaragua as the region slid into civil war. Cuban troops wanted…
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…
This is something that has been lingering on my mind for the past few days, as it has really gotten more attention than usual in the media and certainly isn’t something we usually think about often in U.S. politics. There was a piece just published in the Wall Street Journal, which prompted Rush Limbaugh to…
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…
Something from Val over at Babalu blog. I think she’s trying to tell us something. See it here.
Even with the winner a foregone conclusion, the unprecedented multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt started today. The official campaign period for Egypt’s landmark presidential election opened Wednesday. Ten men, including sitting President Hosni Mubarak, are vying for the presidency in the country’s first multi-candidate election. The three leading contenders for the presidency all scheduled rallies…
And they’re off! There is exactly one month before parliamentary elections are held in Afghanistan, meaning that official campaigns between some 6,000 candidates for 249 assembly seats and and positions in 34 provincial councils are now underway. An essential element to any successful election, free media coverage, is present in large quantities and will be…