Blogging the democratic revolution
Putin says Israel funded Yushchenko victory. I think Bloggledygook said it perfectly: Notable here is the implication that Putin doesn’t consider Russian aid and support to be foreign per se. Indeed. And I’m not sure how anti-semitic Russians are, but this might be aimed at mobilizing people against Yushchenko on the basis of distaste for Jews or Israel. It has been a mighty political tool in the past. Can anyone comment on this?
Discoshaman has got an update on Ukraine news for January 17th.
Reported here. As much as people are going to complain that Israel is not even giving Abbas a chance, after some rethinking over the past few days, I am going to have to side with Sharon on this. The Palestinian Authority simply cannot act against the militants because they do not have the capabilities to do so. Sharon is actually making a clear-cut distinction here between the terrorists and the Palestinians. The huge division between the Palestinian Authority, organizations like Hamas an Islamic Jihad, and the people is so great that the hyperplurality of it won’t permit the necessary conditions…
This article could have been written any time since the summer of 2003. Of course they’re going to try their hardest to screw with the elections. This isn’t anything new. And they make this foreign fighter issue seem like it’s new as well.
After going through the Human Rights Watch Report for South America, I turned to the section about Abu Ghraib. The article is called The Twisted Logic of Torture. How enticing. I begin to read… A warped and dangerous logic lies behind the Bush administration????????s refusal to reject coercive interrogation. Many American security officials seem to believe that coercive interrogation is necessary to protect Americans and their allies from a catastrophic terrorist attack. Torture and inhumane treatment may be wrong, they contend, but mass murder is worse, so the lesser evil must be tolerated to prevent the greater one. Yet, aware…
Eurasianet has published an article regarding the Human Rights Watch: 2005 World Report, and they sum up the situation in one well-written sentence: According to the rights advocacy group, all of Russia is effectively controlled from Moscow, elections in Belarus are laughable, abuse of prisoners is the norm in Uzbekistan, while Armenia and Azerbaijan are run by authoritarian regimes as the two countries continue their standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh. True. And this article focuses a lot on Russia especially, given that it is the main political body attempting to maintain control in the region. I’m going to go ahead and read…
Seymour Hersh from The New Yorker has reported that the U.S. is conducting secret operations in Iran. They are scouting for potential military and nuclear facilities; very necessary information for a future bombing run. The story makes extensive use of anonymous quotes, and as a journalist, that doesn’t bode too well with me. Like I said, I have no doubt that the U.S. is conducting covert operations, but anonymous quotes make me feel very skeptical. Let’s not forget about Jason Blair. Hersh quotes one government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon as saying, “The civilians in the Pentagon want…
The Kyiv Post has an editorial that makes a case against Tymoshenko and makes sthe case for its endorsement of Poroshenko. An interesting read with very good points, and definitely fair. They outline what Poroshenko has to do in order to be an effective Prime Minister, such as his business transparency and selling off Channel 5.
She’s a fiesty Nobel Laureate defying one of the cruelest totalitarian regimes of our day. But no, I won’t be adding her to the “Babes of Politics” section. Not that her doing this will mean too much. I can imagine it will infuriate the student resistance movement if she is imprisoned, but more importantly, it garners attention from the outside world toward Iran. The more human rights abuses getting focus in the U.S., the better the Iranian peoples’ chances at getting help.
I have been rather reluctant to cover this, given that it is being organized by the Communist Party. The real reason I’m more interested now, however, is because Veronica Khokhlova from Neeka’s Backlog is right in the middle of St. Pete with her digital camera. She spent some time at the rally and has written up a report from what she saw. Did I mention she took 55 photos? First, all those Nazi/Soviet/Communist/Che Guevarish trash – it’s repulsive, and dangerous, and if bringing down Putin means giving power to these people, I’d rather stay with Putin. Really, I don’t understand…
Picked up an interview between Jamie Glazov and Natan Sharansky, co-author of “The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror” via A Step At A Time If I remember correctly, this was the most recent book on President Bush’s reading list. This book is getting quite a bit of good press, and its right on the subject I like the most. I definitely have to get it. As for the interview, read it all.
Discoshaman has posted his Ukraine news roundup for January 16th. – Katerinchuk, from Yushchenko’s HQ, spoke today about the unprofessioanl nature of Yanukovych’s Supreme Court complaint. Remember, that this is coming from a partisan source. Here’s what he had to say: 1. The majority of the complaints are identical, regardless of their ostensible city of origin. They’re also mostly photocopies. 2. The “Tomes” of the complaint aren’t as Tome-ish as one might think — Tome #10 consists of 1 page, #3 – 9 pages, #6- 8 pages. . . 3. Most of the complaints center on alleged election-day “agitations.” One…
The shirts for my newspaper staff just came in this week. And they’re orange!
It is the fourth anniversary of the ZUBR Belarus opposition movement on the 14th. Complete with pictures. On, and on the 10th, the Georgian Parliament voted in support of Mikhail Marynich, an opposition leader who has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment. I love it when democratic movements support each other, even if it’s just spiritually.
Just yesterday, there were only 18 tents erected. That has grown to 50 tents and 8000 people. Of course, that’s nothing. This comes on the heels of the Supreme Court agreeing to investigate to Yanukovich’s complaints today. In response, Maidan is collecting evidence of falsification of complaint allegations by Yanukovich.
It seems there is some rumblings over secrecy in Georgian privatization. And for good reason, because when this happens in third world countries, there tends to be large-scale embezzlement. Well, it happens at the UN too, but that’s another story… Some independent analysts disagree. The lack of public information–and public knowledge–about the sales underway can only complicate attempts to evaluate the government????????s performance, warned Dato Narmania, a privatization expert at The Association of Young Economists of Georgia. Yes. Transparency in government is very, very important, because it allows the people to not only make better decisions, but to give more…
So is named a huge, seven page article at Transitions Online. Read the whole thing. I went in rather skeptical, but all of my points of contention were addressed. In fact, I think it covers just about everything. One thing I don’t agree with was the need for at least a little bit of pluralism in the system for it to happen. With some covert organization, anything is possible. I believe that the more these regimes react negatively to the spread of political and civil liberties, justice, and morality, the quicker they will incite a revolution all by themselves. Oppression…
As seen here. “I don????????t have any doubt that parliament will support my candidacy if Yushchenko will propose it to the parliament,” Tymoshenko said. And due to a written agreement with Yushchenko, she’ll have no problem getting the nomination either. Nice to hear. But there was something I found somewhat misleading about the article: Some critics have suggested that naming Tymoshenko, a Western-leaning former deputy prime minister, to the premier????????s job could deepen the division between western and eastern Ukraine, a rift vividly exposed during the election. “A rift vividly exposed”? You mean, the all of 18 tents set up…
Pejmanesque is where I saw it first. The article is here. This report is heavily contradicting initial stories of “the most transparent ÄelectionÅ in modern Arab history.” Now that I think about that statement, it probably was more transparent than previous elections. But that doesn’t erase the mass fraud. “This proves that what happened is very serious and it must not happen again,” said Dwaik, the commission’s deputy chairman. “These pressures and threats lessened the degree of the integrity of the election, even though overall it was free and fair.” Serious indeed, when 46 members of your commission resign over…
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia has a suggestion for an article that is simply must read. I’m inclined to agree.
CNN has definitely been putting out some strange headlines. It must be the lack of things going on in the world, as obviously demonstrated on this website. Here is the first one about his reading list, and I think I’ll find myself at Barnes and Noble picking up a copy of “The Case for Democracy” now. My favorite article, however, was about how President Bush like to make up nicknames for people. It makes me wonder if he actually called Vladimir Putin as “Pootie-Poot” to his face. Then again, if I met “Pootie-Poot” face-to-face, I might just end up calling…
Israel earlier decided to cut off all ties with Abbas due to recent militant strikes in Gaza. Being sworn in today, Abbas will have a lot to handle. Many people are calling what Israel is doing a blockade to the roadmap for peace. I don’t think so. I think this is a test for Abbas to see if he is really worth his weight in salt. “You do what you promise to stop the suicide bombers, and we’ll leave you alone.” That sounds fair to me. Talk is cheap, but if Abbas shows action, then we’ll be getting somewhere.
Here’s the story. Looks like, instead of the opposition trying to create instability, it would be the government trying to disenfranchise the resistence by making accusations before any honest investigations are made. It very well could have been opposition forces, but then again, what is a political office to the government when they are seeking re-election?
And now a week later, it seems that the protesting has not let up. A little surprising; I thought it would have been dispersed much harsher. The government doesn’t really need to react though. They’ll possibly grant Roza Otunbaeva her ability to run… but that won’t change that most of the major media in the country will be favoring the current administration. With that kind of advantage, granting the opposition a small personal victory in exchange for a large political victory is priceless. I mean, then they can claim that the elections were fair and open, and that they have…
A very rare occassion, The Argus notes, that President Karimov of Uzbekistan will give an interview. Apparently, however, the leader holds a firm grasp of the potential for democracy and what it will do to his government if the people are unsatisfied. This is a good thing for the people of a nation to realize, but… The Argus notes correctly: At the same time, his firm grasp on the situation is problematic. He has appraised the situation, come to the conclusion that people force governments out of office when extremely dissatisfied, and looked for ways to stave off such a…