Blogging the democratic revolution
Alright guys, here’s my fair warning to you. I’ll be liveblogging my thoughts on the State Of The Union address tonight when it starts, and I figure I’ll liveblog the after-coverage also. It’s not like I have essays to write or anything! I am looking forward to the second half: foreign policy. Personally, while I am very keen on the domestic reforms coming up, I don’t think we’ve heard enough specifics for the rest of the world. My outlook is generally positive and optimistic though. If you want the more skeptical version of the liveblogging, make sure to check out…
Nathan is staying on the situation with the Kyrgyz Election Watch. Make sure to keep checking for more information. Seems like the government is playing the “civil war” card. That, of course, being a card they made up.
The Asia Centre for Human Rights has this overview of the situation in Nepal since yesterday. Here’s its suggestions: International community must act more decisively and swiftly, NOW, by freezing all assistance including military assistance to Nepal unless His Majesty King Gyanendra: – Lifts emergency and restores all democratic freedoms and institutions including the immediate release of all those who are detained following the dismissal of the Deuba government, restoration of communication lines, including mobile, internet, long distance calls, and opening of the Kathmandu International Airport and lifting ban on press freedoms; – Creates a national consensus process involving all…
Andy, who recently won first place for Best CIS Blog in the First European Weblog Awards, has his weekly Russia news roundup posted. Also, make sure to check out this other article about how millionaires in the opposition helped bring down the billionaires of the former Ukrainian regime. And how a similar event might be brewing in Russia.
John posts an article showing some poll results about Middle Eastern attitudes toward western democracy. An online poll was recently carried out by the Arabic website of Aljazeera satellite television, where well over 80 percent of voters said that they distrust ???????Western democracy”. The poll results simply restated the obvious. The query, of course, hardly meant to question ???????Western democracy??????? in its own right, but rather its imposition on the Arab world. Like John notes, the statistics may or may not be off. I remember when the Democratic Underground built up a huge list of online polls for its users…
Vitrenko, leader of the PSPU (“progressive socialists”), just announced that they will attempt to impeach Yushchenko by collecting signatures: According to her, Yushchenko was elected with the serious violations of the law and of European democratic standards, and thus he does not have a moral right to be a President. To speed the things up, her party is using its favourite public method: the collection of signatures. It is not clear whether the signatures collected by Vitrenko????????s party ???????against Yushchenko???????, ???????for Yanukovych???????, ???????for the referendum???????, ???????for Orthodox Christianity and the Union??????? will also be taken into account. And this is…
Via INBB, it looks like Tymoshenko is actually wiping the slate clean. No previous cabinet members or regional administers will keep their positions, and she has already tapped those that she wants for the positions. KYIV. Feb 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – None of the members of the previous Ukrainian Cabinet of ministers or heads of regional administrations will retain their posts, acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said. In an interview published in the Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth) newspaper, Tymoshenko said candidates for all Cabinet positions and heads of regional administrations have been found. “The government has been 100% formed, and…
I always forget to check INBB International Bulletin because I always go to the main website. But you need to make sure to visit it because Zed posts a Daily Burma roundup with news about the situation there.
David McDuff has posted his 8th installment of Going Back.
Discoshaman has his Ukraine update for 02/02. Yulia’s gaining steam, and the new opposition, well, isn’t really there yet.
I was taking a nap and woke up to images on the television of people rioting in the streets; behind the broadcaster’s words that “King Gyanendra of Nepal has just sacked the democratic government for failing to hold parliamentary elections and fight rebels.” Maybe it’s just years of training my fine intuition, but that just doesn’t seem like the right answer. Nepal was thrown into a dramatic crisis yesterday as King Gyanendra sacked the entire government, put the Prime Minister under house arrest and announced he was taking direct power into his own hands. Already reeling from a Maoist insurgency…
Nathan has posted a roundup of news concerning Central Asia. I’m such a whore for these kinds of things.
It’s a bad day for the independent media in Venezuela. The Chavistas are in an extremely ugly, confrontational mood and starting to lash out. Most disturbingly, Patricia Poleo, the fearless Venezuelan journalist whose home was raided last week, has just been indicted and charged with misuse of information. Miguel’s blog has additional background. But that’s not all – the tremendous Michael Rowan essay cited here a couple days ago, is now under attack by chavista minions who parrot the communist line of Hugo Chavez. This is a warning to this writer that they will come after him next. It’s getting…
Venezuelan writer Jorge Arena has an elegant essay on the emerging climate of fear in under Venezuela’s strengthening dictatorship on Daniel’s blog. Well worth reading for its thoughtful on-the-ground detail.
Alek also has fished up some laws Venezuela’s El Supremo seems to have broken in his toilet-mouthed TV chat about distinguished US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Read the whole thing here.
Alek Boyd provides some choice details about FARC narcoterrorists defending their great hero, none other than Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. By their friends do you know them!
There’s nothing a jackass communist tropical dictator likes less than ridicule. Go give some to Venezuela’s tinpot Hugo Chavez, in an awesome collection of photos over on Miguel’s blog.
Laurence found a cool sounding book a posted a review he found. It’s called “Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World????????s Last Dictators by 2025.” Twenty years wait? I’ll be an old by then. Speaking of which, I haven’t said much about myself, so before I hit the sack, how about making the comments for this post where you all guess my age?
Make sure to be checking out Crossroads Arabia; John is revving up the posting due to the oncoming municipal elections. I’ll leave this up to the experts.
I came across this awesome blog today called Window on the Arab World, and more!. It is done by a guy named Kirk H. Sowell, a specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs and a published author. Read his website, the information and commentary is awesome. To start, here is something cool I read: Just now I watched a segment on Al-Jazeera about the attack earlier today in Kuwait against foreigners. The commentator, a Kuwaiti named Ahmad Shiraf, was asked who was behind this, and he responded enemies of civilization who are encouraged by those who glorify terrorism, such as Al-Jazeera!!! The…
Discoshaman already has his first Ukraine update for February up! And things are looking bright for Tymoshenko.
Here’s a big shoutout to Babalu Blog, who just got a big mention on the front page of the Miami Herald. Congratulations! The more people who knows about your cause, the better.
Norman Geras is pissed at the Guardian’s editorial section. But honestly, it’s no use getting mad at people who can’t write.
John Hawkins has his own roundup of favorite quotes from blogs on the Iraq election. I’ve posted similar lists earlier on if you’re interested, just scroll.