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  • Locked thread
Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

Pleads posted:

Heaven forbid they add a few tens of billions of dollars to the trillions in debt to themselves they'll never pay back.

A lot of our debt belongs to China who, I suspect, have pretty strong feelings against our going into Libya given that they have been investing a lot of money there lately - especially in oil.

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Sarah Bellum
Oct 21, 2008
They love me! they really love me! ... what protests? Nope, no protests going on here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12603259

Brown Moses
Feb 22, 2002

Sarah Bellum posted:

They love me! they really love me! ... what protests? Nope, no protests going on here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12603259

They just covered this on the BBC News, the journalist who spoke to him seemed to think Gaddafi isn't really in touch with what's going on. I think he's not getting all the information about what's going on at the moment, or he's deluded.

Sivias
Dec 12, 2006

I think we can just sit around and just talk about our feelings.

Pleads posted:

Heaven forbid they add a few tens of billions of dollars to the trillions in debt to themselves they'll never pay back.

On this note, pay attention to the spring vote on the debt ceiling. There are 3 options for the US financial situation.

A) Raise the debt ceiling, going against the majority of republican's promises not to increase the 'Immoral debt accumulation'.

B) Balance the budget and start paying the debt down. (Not gonna happen.)

C) Default on our loans.


Military funding in Iraq and Afghanistan make up about 25% of our budget. 52% if you don't include mandatory entitlement programs such as Social Security and Healthcare. We're maxed out. If we default on our loans, the banks of the world will eat the debt and fall instantly into bankruptcy. Credit will dry up. The value of the dollar will drop with it. There is simply no way to afford larger military action without drastic, economically disastrous decisions.

Pleads
Jun 9, 2005

pew pew pew


^^^^ Your logic and doomsday prophecy is harshing my humour :mad:

Earwicker posted:

A lot of our debt belongs to China who, I suspect, have pretty strong feelings against our going into Libya given that they have been investing a lot of money there lately - especially in oil.

Yeah but that's not got anything to do with whether you WANT to spend more or not. Visa suspending my card doesn't make me stop browsing Steam for video games, ya know? Some people just have addictions, and for you guys it's spending large sums of money to invade/liberate resource-rich Arabs, while I like online FPS games set in the aftermaths of those military actions.

Actually with that correlation, I kind of hope the military goes in so in 5 years someone can call me a teamkilling human being in the streets of Tripoli.

Slantedfloors
Apr 29, 2008

Wait, What?

The Cheshire Cat posted:

Side question for those history buffs out there: Has Quaddafi ever faced resistance on the scale of what's going on in Libya right now? I'm curious if there's any way he might possibly recover from this or if it's a sure sign that he's finally on his way out.

Do you mean "Has the territory he controls ever been reduced to a pathetic, ever-shrinking, soon-to-be-gone rump-state propped up only by his own tribe and foreign mercenaries"?

Because no, he's never had that kind of trouble before.

Slantedfloors fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Feb 28, 2011

Patter Song
Mar 26, 2010

Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man.
Fun Shoe

Thrust On Moore posted:

Yeah, I... okay then.

Are you familiar with the Nation of Islam? It's no wonder he praises Scientology, they're both bizarre UFO cults. Nation of Islam believes that white people were the product of an evil alien scientist named Yakub.

Regular Muslims see NoI as not being an actual Islamic outfit (it isn't).

Sivias
Dec 12, 2006

I think we can just sit around and just talk about our feelings.

Pleads posted:

^^^^ Your logic and doomsday prophecy is harshing my humour :mad:

The thing about it is it's not a doomsday scenario. Empires come and go. You can't avoid it. Ottomans, Persians, Greek, Roman, British, French, German. Each thought they were unique and their reign would last forever and they were the most powerful the earth has ever seen.

Everything comes to an end and the world will always keep turning. What happens next will eventually just be another moment in the books of history.

The reason the second world war started was because everyone thought it couldn't.

The Cheshire Cat
Jun 10, 2008

Fun Shoe

Sivias posted:

The thing about it is it's not a doomsday scenario. Empires come and go. You can't avoid it. Ottomans, Persians, Greek, Roman, British, French, German. Each thought they were unique and their reign would last forever and they were the most powerful the earth has ever seen.

Everything comes to an end and the world will always keep turning. What happens next will eventually just be another moment in the books of history.

The reason the second world war started was because everyone thought it couldn't.

Originally, WW1 was called "The war to end all wars".

Slantedfloors
Apr 29, 2008

Wait, What?

Patter Song posted:

Nation of Islam believes that white people were the product of an evil alien scientist named Yakub.

Also, before the invention of White People, every one drove around in flaming flying saucers.

Cacatua
Jan 17, 2006

Brown Moses posted:

They just covered this on the BBC News, the journalist who spoke to him seemed to think Gaddafi isn't really in touch with what's going on. I think he's not getting all the information about what's going on at the moment, or he's deluded.

That's what the psychiatrist quoted in this article says:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/libyas-gadhafi-inside-head-madman/story?id=12999918

quote:

Jerrold Post, a psychiatrist who worked for the CIA for 21 years, said Gadhafi had a borderline personality disorder that caused a person to lose touch with reality during stressful times.

"We're hearing the paranoid, besieged language from him as he's trying to find an explanation for how his people who love him so could possibly turn against him," Post said.

That makes sense to me, actually. People with it can be prone to very, very extreme rages wherein all rational thought and action goes out the window.

Some people with borderline personality disorder can also display very extreme behaviour that they either later remember incorrectly or don't remember doing at all.

Edit: However, most people with BPD are more likely to damage themselves than others. I know a lot of people with the disorder who are very compassionate under normal circumstances. Gaddafi seems to be quite sociopathic on top of having BPD.

Cacatua fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Feb 28, 2011

Apology
Nov 12, 2005

by Y Kant Ozma Post

Petey posted:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/28/110228fa_fact_steavenson?currentPage=all

This 8 page New Yorker article on Tahrir Square, from their reporter who was embedded in there for weeks, is one of the best pieces of journalism I have read on Egypt and indeed in the New Yorker.

It's a bit too long to quote, but definitely read this.

It's usually a good idea to read anything Petey recommends for you.

The Moor Next Door is so droll sometimes:

quote:

@themoornextdoor
Kal
Now this is ... impolitic: http://is.gd/7wV94

And the link, translated by Google Chrome from French (Google is a lot better at translating French than it is Arabic or Persian)

quote:

Some ten thousand contractors who served in the fight against terrorism have been deleted from the ranks of the PNA disability "not attributable to service." These former soldiers say they are shocked to see the state restore the terrorists when he abandons them to their fate.


Yesterday they were hunting terrorists in the bush, and now they are abandoned to their fate. They fight against the State which has left the outskirts of the national reconciliation status. Them, they are deleted from the contracted military personnel of the National Popular Army (ANP) for disability after serving for years in the armed forces during the decade of terrorism. They will come back in battle to wrest recognition from the state as "victims of national tragedy."
From around the country to make their voices heard, some 500 contract workers held a rally ANP, yesterday, before the "Almighty" Department of National Defence. The fifth of its kind. They claim "the implementation of the memorandum promulgated by General Mohamed Lamari in 2003, which provided compensation to all victims during their military service.


Who amputated legs, hands, suffering from incurable diseases or suffering from serious illnesses and psychological disorders, these former soldiers, denounced "an outrageous injustice of a State responsible for dealing with those who gave their youth for the country does not collapse, "growls Hdjila Abdelhakim, speaking on behalf of his comrades. Aged 30 to 45 years, defeated look, but especially upset because the fate they received from the government, these former military challenge the country's authorities, calling for "a disability, a medical management, the Social Security and especially an official state recognition for services rendered to the country in battle against terrorists. "
Hamma, a native of Tebessa, a former contract worker is shocked. "I was the victim of an explosion during an ambush and I went out with a part of my body completely paralyzed. Stricken from the ranks of the army with a disability rate of 80%, I find myself with no status and I perceive a poverty allowance. How do you think I can support my family and support myself with that kind of money? "He dropped.

Hmm, that is...impolitic.

One of the people I've been following on Twitter is witnessorg. Here's a link to their website, it's really quite interesting:

http://www.witness.org/

witnessorg has provided quite a few splendid (and by splendid I mean ghastly) videos of events happening at all the protests.

If JP Morgan gets a controlling interest in Twitter some time in the future, do you think Twitter will still be as free as it is, or will there be roving hordes of moderators deleting posts and suspending accounts that dare to talk about more than Justin Bieber, the Oscars, and Lindsay Lohan's latest escapades?

quote:

A fund recently set up by Wall Street bank JP Morgan is reportedly trying to bag stakes in Twitter and Zynga, two of the hottest firms in online social media.

JP Morgan is aiming to take a minority stake in Twitter, the microblogging company, which could value the firm at more than $4bn (£2.46bn). It would value the firm, which has yet to make a profit, in line with its last round of funding in December. But the price is far below the $10bn offers Google and Facebook are believed to have discussed.

The bank is also believed to be interested in Zynga, the social gaming firm behind FarmVille and CityVille. Zynga is raising $500m in new funds from private investors at a price that is believed to value the firm at $10bn, more than 10 times its estimated 2010 revenues of $850m.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/28/jp-morgan-seeks-twitter-zynga-stakes?CMP=twt_fd

They can have Farmville and Cityville though. Got to promote capitalism the best way you can---by allowing the plebs to have the virtual wealth that they'll never be able to achieve irl.

An unconfirmed report out of Libya:

quote:

@feb17voices
Feb 17 voices
LPC from Zanzur: Al Arabbiya TV reports 2 cars of #Gaddafi forces attacked city of Az Zawiya, 3 Gaddafi thugs killed, rest retreated. #Libya

Of course, this is the type of report that simply can't be confirmed, and by the time there's a free flow of information coming out of Libya, this little story will seem like small potatoes compared to the atrocities we'll learn about in the future.

Gaddahfi continues to bomb bases outside of Benghazi:

quote:

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- A Libyan military jet bombed a base in eastern Libya on Monday, as embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi fought to hold onto his regime.

The base is about 90 miles south of Benghazi, a stronghold of government opponents. Some bases in the area have fallen into the hands of protesters as more members of the military have abandoned Gadhafi's regime and joined demonstrations.

Several soldiers told CNN they switched their allegiance after refusing to use weapons against peaceful demonstrators.

There was no immediate word on the results of the attack.

Pro-Gadhafi forces have also tried to attack a radio station in Misrata, a city controlled by protesters, a witness said. A military helicopter has tried to land a couple of times in the past three days with soldiers on board, but opposition gunfire kept them away, the witness said.

The international community launched new efforts Monday to pressure Gadhafi to halt the violence.

http://www.aina.org/news/20110228113719.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I know this isn't about the Middle East, but it does give an idea of the quality of the reporting on any given subject inside the United States:

quote:

MONDAY, FEB 28, 2011 12:55 ET
New York Times punk'd by anti-union plant
Sulzberger! Find me a Wisconsin union guy who agrees with the governor -- and to hell with the facts!
BY KEITH OLBERMANN

AP/The News Tribune, Peter Haley
Hundreds of demonstrators stand on the steps of the Washington State Capitol to protest against unions and in favor of the effort to end collective bargaining on Saturday in Olympia, Wash.
This originally appeared at Fok News Channel, a blog launched last week by Keith Olbermann
Few news stories better spoke to the destruction of union solidarity and the realization that even those public employees collectively bargaining in Wisconsin were going to have to give something back, than the New York Times’ piece a week ago tomorrow titled "Union Bonds In Wisconsin Begin To Fray."

The by-line was shared by no less than Arthur G. Sulzberger, the son of the publisher and official carrier of the Times' family name. The piece ran prominently on the front page. Sulzberger himself interviewed the main ‘get’ in the piece. Beyond the mere reporting was the symbolism of the Times -- even the sainted liberal media Times -- throwing in the towel on the inviolability of unions, conceding that an American state could renege with impunity on a good faith contract with anybody, and that maybe the Right is right every once in awhile.

Problem is, A.G. Sulzberger’s featured disillusioned unionist interviewee…wasn't in a union.

JANESVILLE, Wis. — Rich Hahan worked at the General Motors plant here until it closed about two years ago. He moved to Detroit to take another G.M. job while his wife and children stayed here, but then the automaker cut more jobs. So Mr. Hahan, 50, found himself back in Janesville, collecting unemployment for a time, and watching as the city’s industrial base seemed to crumble away.

Among the top five employers here are the county, the schools and the city. And that was enough to make Mr. Hahan, a union man from a union town, a supporter of Gov. Scott Walker’s sweeping proposal to cut the benefits and collective-bargaining rights of public workers in Wisconsin, a plan that has set off a firestorm of debate and protests at the state Capitol. He says he still believes in unions, but thinks those in the public sector lead to wasteful spending because of what he sees as lavish benefits and endless negotiations.

"Something needs to be done," he said, "and quickly."

Compelling, damning, overwhelming words, and from such a source!

Except the source, Rick Hahn, now admits that while he worked in union factories, he was never, you know, in a union per se. So why did the Diogenes of the Times, Mr. Sulzberger, believe he had found his honest union man? Because Hahn "described himself to a reporter as a 'union guy.'"

And yes, Hahan/Hahn’s deception, intentional or accidental (and if you noticed the multiple spelling, yes, Mr. Sulzberger of the Times also got the guy’s name wrong) sat out there in the alleged newspaper of record for four days, during which nobody bothered to correct the sloppy, destructive reporting of the Family Heir. When they finally did, editors buried it inside.

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/28/olbermann_nyt_wisconsin/index.html

And now we know what happened to Keith Olbermann as well; he's writing his own blog:

http://foknewschannel.com/

I think it's a good plan for him.

If you don't like what someone is saying, just "disappear" them:

quote:

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) -- Iran on Monday arrested opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi as well as their wives, according to an opposition news website. It comes just a day before a planned protest.

The Kaleme website reported that Mousavi and Karoubi were arrested on Monday and taken to Heshmatiyeh jail in Tehran, the Iranian capital. Their wives, also opposition figures, were also arrested.

Officials did not immediately confirm the arrests, and there was no mention on state-run media.

Earlier this month, the four opponents of the government had been removed to a "safe house" which officials said was for their own protection, although they were not officially arrested. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran condemned the move, calling it an enforced disappearance under international law.

"The four prominent people have been disappeared; they are being held incommunicado in an unknown location, a severe breach of Iranian and international law," Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Campaign, said on Saturday. "Given the lynch mob-like calls for their execution by numerous Iranian politicians and clerics, there is reason to be deeply concerned for their safety and well being."

One of Karroubi's neighbors reportedly told the Campaign last week that there were no security forces present on Karroubi's street. "I am certain that they are no longer inside their home. All the windows are broken and nobody is home," his neighbor, who was not identified, said.

The reported arrests come just a day before a planned protest on Tuesday, called for by Mousavi and Karoubi. They called for protests to be held each Tuesday until they would be released from their safe house.

(Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

http://channel6newsonline.com/2011/..._medium=twitter

Oh, Iran, when are you going to learn :(

A translation of Saif Al-Islam's speech today (Warning: LOUD):

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-563254

Apology fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Feb 28, 2011

Ireland Sucks
May 16, 2004

Brown Moses posted:

British forces have been asked to develop plans to impose a no-fly zone on Libya, David Cameron has just told Parliament.
"Step 1: Send a carri- oh. whoops"

Cacatua posted:

Edit: However, most people with BPD are more likely to damage themselves than others. I know a lot of people with the disorder who are very compassionate under normal circumstances. Gaddafi seems to be quite sociopathic on top of having BPD.

Men with BPD tend to be prone to violence towards others but I wouldn't be that quick to medicalise the guy: for most of his life he has had to get up and wrestle over whether he would spend his days rolling in oil money or lording over a nation with an iron fist. Suddenly out of nowhere everyone in his country wants to kill him and his and his families life is pretty much over. Denial has got to be the most predictable reaction.

Ireland Sucks fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Feb 28, 2011

Ireland Sucks
May 16, 2004

quote not edit you know the drill

MothraAttack
Apr 28, 2008
It looks like within the past 24 hours Gaddafi has made a concerted attempt at punishing the opposition, with failed assaults of Zawiya and Misrata, and an attempt to bomb ammunition depots in the east that also evidently failed (due to incompetence or sabotage). Gaddafi must really hate the opposition radio in Misrata, since it has been the target of attacks at least 2 or 3 times in the past few days.

Unconfirmed reports also suggest that opposition forces in Zawiya have branched out and overrun a Gaddafi checkpoint in Jeddain. Rumors are also that the feared Khamis Brigade was behind the assault on Zawiya earlier, but this can't be confirmed. Khaweldi's security brigade is allegedly positioned in Sorman (pop. 36,000), giving it fast access to either Zawiya or Ghadames.

I've found this this twitter account to be generally pretty timely and fairly accurate:
http://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi

Edit: Also reports circulating that Gaddafi is employing his foreign intelligence chief to open a dialog with the eastern rebels, and that a mission has been sent to Benghazi. Unconfirmed quotes from Gaddafi's deputy foreign minister suggest that this is some sort of last chance for the rebels to negotiate.

Brown Moses
Feb 22, 2002

More like last chance for Gaddafi. He might find it a bit difficult to pay some of those mercenaries now:

quote:

The US appears to be intensifying efforts now to turn the screws on Gaddafi regime.

In the last hour the US Treasury has said that $30bn in Libyan assets have been blocked.

The US military has meanwhile said that naval ships are being moved closer to Libya in case they are needed, although commentators are saying that this does not necessarily mean that military action is imminent.

Bit more delusion from Gaddafi:

quote:

Some more lines have come out from that interview (left) with Muammar Gaddafi.

He called Barack Obama is "a good man", but added that the US president appeared to be misinformed about the situation in Libya.

"The statements I have heard from him must have come from someone else," Gaddafi said. "America is not the international police of the world," he added.

Brown Moses
Feb 22, 2002

Bit more news on the situation in Tripoli:

quote:

A Pakistani engineer in Tripoli has been telling BBC Pashto that the situation in the capital is anything but normal. "You can neither get out of Tripoli nor you can enter. There is a little bit of traffic on the road but all the markets are closed. You can't get food and water."

quote:

The engineer says bread is the only food that can be found in Tripoli. "It costs two to three Dinar ($1.5-3.5) and you have to wait for three hours in a queue to get it."
I'm sure the cash Gaddafi was handing out is going to make those prices rise rapidly as well. It's not going to stay calm in Tripoli for long once the bread runs out.

Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

Is it known where Gaddafi physically is right now?

I'm kind of imagining a scenario where the anti-Gaddafi forces finally take Tripoli, storm a bunker and find a guy that looks just like him, wearing his robes and everything, and either kill or or hand him over to the UN for war crimes trials and then celebrating for a couple hours before the real Gadaffi gets in front of a camera in Samarkand or something. "Surprise! Still alive!"

Brown Moses
Feb 22, 2002

He was interviewed today in Tripoli by the BBC, Sunday Times, and some other US news organisation. I think as far as Gaddafi is concerned everything isn't that bad, so he doesn't need to go anywhere yet.

Sivias
Dec 12, 2006

I think we can just sit around and just talk about our feelings.
^^^ For some reason when you said that I imagined Gaddafi as a quarterback in the super bowl. It's 4th and long. His team is down 5 points with no time on the clock. He needs to make this pass.

The hike.

He shotguns back... searches for his receiver. And notices the most beautiful of butterflies wafting above the field and decides to watch it.

Oh, he also has no offensive line. He's so hosed.

Furious Mittens
Oct 14, 2005

Lipstick Apathy

Brown Moses posted:

More like last chance for Gaddafi. He might find it a bit difficult to pay some of those mercenaries now:


Bit more delusion from Gaddafi:

Well, at least he's on the right track when he says "America isn't the international police of the world". Now if only we could get some of the people inside the United States ruling powers to realize the same thing, but there's money to be made in perpetual war so that won't go far.

The Cheshire Cat
Jun 10, 2008

Fun Shoe

Sivias posted:

^^^ For some reason when you said that I imagined Gaddafi as a quarterback in the super bowl. It's 4th and long. His team is down 5 points with no time on the clock. He needs to make this pass.

The hike.

He shotguns back... searches for his receiver. And notices the most beautiful of butterflies wafting above the field and decides to watch it.

Oh, he also has no offensive line. He's so hosed.

Also the entire stadium crowd hates him and wants him to die.

(They represent the rest of the world)

roundmidnight
Jul 9, 2010
Gaddafi is JaMarcus Russell, complete with syrup and skittles.

Furious Mittens
Oct 14, 2005

Lipstick Apathy

roundmidnight posted:

Gaddafi is JaMarcus Russell, complete with syrup and skittles.

I was going with Brady Quinn, but this works too.

cioxx
Jul 14, 2001

I keep thinking how harder the job of protesters is getting with each succeeding revolution. Those regimes aren't sitting still and learn from the mistakes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

The Cheshire Cat
Jun 10, 2008

Fun Shoe

cioxx posted:

I keep thinking how harder the job of protesters is getting with each succeeding revolution. Those regimes aren't sitting still and learn from the mistakes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

At the same time though, it just energizes the protesters more, because they can point at all those other countries and say "They fought for their freedom and won, now it's our turn."

Slantedfloors
Apr 29, 2008

Wait, What?

cioxx posted:

I keep thinking how harder the job of protesters is getting with each succeeding revolution. Those regimes aren't sitting still and learn from the mistakes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

They're not really "learning" from the other regime's mistakes, they're just blindly flailing out and trying to intimidate the protesters so they can grab some breathing room. They've all used the exact same pattern for quelling protests and unrest for decades, but it's only now that they're realizing those preparations are worth dick-all if their citizens actually want them gone.

The Cheshire Cat posted:

At the same time though, it just energizes the protesters more, because they can point at all those other countries and say "They fought for their freedom and won, now it's our turn."
Also this, with a focus on Egypt. Egypt is basically the lynchpin of the Middle East - where it goes, everyone else follows. They've been the most powerful Arab state since post-colonialization (and before, technically) and are by far the most influential. Other authoritarian states in the region have always been able to rely on their people not doing much overthrowing, just because Egypt hadn't done it first as an example. Now that the Egyptian people have overthrown their dictator, everyone else in the region are realizing their own dictator doesn't have a fraction of the power of Mubarak, and the dictators ae freaking out.

Slantedfloors fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Feb 28, 2011

Apology
Nov 12, 2005

by Y Kant Ozma Post

Furious Mittens posted:

Well, at least he's on the right track when he says "America isn't the international police of the world". Now if only we could get some of the people inside the United States ruling powers to realize the same thing, but there's money to be made in perpetual war so that won't go far.

Broken watch, etc.

Seems like it might be spreading to Gaddahfi's only remaining buddy in Nicaragua:

quote:

Facebook Brings Nicaraguan Youth Together Against President Ortega in “Virtual March”
Published at 1:35 pm, February 28, 2011


Photo Credits: Cyber Activismo en Nicaragua
Friday, thousands of Nicaraguan youth activists came together to protest President Daniel Ortega’s reelection bid.
Around 16,000 young people, following in the footsteps of Egypt’s revolutionaries, joined forces to create the largest demonstration against Ortega’s rule in well over a year.
But what was so unique about this “march” was that it was all done on Facebook in what is being called a “virtual march.” All day, activists joined what Time called the “cyber revolt” named “Marcha Virtual en Nicaragua!!!!” The protest involved the “marchers” changing their profile photos to certain protest images, and setting all of their statuses to ““Our Heroes and Martyrs Didn’t Fight and Die to Replace One Dictatorship with Another!”, “Down with Mubarak, Gaddafi, and Ortega!” or “No to Idolatry!”

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews..._medium=twitter

I'm not renaming my twitter list to Middle_East_Africa_South_America_New. Twitter won't let me use that many characters in the title.

Oman is still working hard towards achieving freedom and parity:

quote:

Oman protests spread, teargas fired

BY JASON BENHAM AND SALEH AL-SHAIBANY, REUTERS FEBRUARY 28, 2011 2:31 PM

Omani protesters cheer during a demonstration calling for jobs and reform in Sohar, more than 200 kms northwest of Muscat, on February 28, 2011, a day after police killed at least two as the turmoil rocking the Arab world reached the normally calm Gulf sultanate.
Photograph by: Karim Sahib, AFP/Getty Images
SOHAR, Oman - Demonstrators blocked roads to a main port in northern Oman and looted a nearby supermarket on Monday, part of protests to demand more jobs and political reform that have spread to the sultanate's capital.

A doctor said six people had been killed in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police on Sunday in the northern industrial town of Sohar. Oman's health minister said one person had been killed and 20 wounded.

Hundreds of protesters blocked access to an industrial area that includes the port, a refinery and aluminum factory. A port spokeswoman said exports of refined oil products of about 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the port were unaffected.

"We want to see the benefit of our oil wealth distributed evenly," one protester yelled over a loudhailer near the port. "We want to see a scale-down of expatriates in Oman so more jobs can be created for Omanis."

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Oman+protests+spread+teargas+fired/4355904/story.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

For more jobs to be created for Omanis, they'll have to stop using slave labor, of course:

quote:

Oman is a transit and destination country for men and women, primarily from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, most of whom migrate willingly to Oman as domestic servants or low-skilled workers in the country’s construction, agriculture, and service sectors. Some of them subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude, such as withholding of passports and other restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, long working hours without food or rest, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. Unscrupulous labor recruitment agencies and their sub-agents at the community level in South Asia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may coerce or defraud workers into accepting work in Oman that turns out to be exploitative and, in some instances, constitutes involuntary servitude. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report]

http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Oman.htm

And humanitarian aid simply can't get into Tripoli:

quote:

The fragile security situation in and around the Libya capital of Tripoli has made it too dangerous for international aid agencies to assess the need for medicine, food and other supplies there, the United Nations has said.

"The major concerns are Tripoli and the west where access is extremely difficult because of the security situation," Valerie Amos, the UN humanitarien chief, told Al Jazeera on Monday.

"There are reports that between 600 and 2,000 people have already been killed in Tripoli. We don't know the absolute accurate number because we haven't got people there who are able to do assessments ... we've seen some horrific pictures of what is happening and we really want to be able to go in to help people in the time of need."

Amos also called on countries neighbouring Libya to keep their borders open so refugees can continue to flee.

As of Monday morning, an estimated 61,000 had fled into Egypt, 1,000 to Niger and 40,000 to Tunisia, according to the UN, which said there was concern about water and sanitation for the refugees.

Libya also borders Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan.

The few UN workers who were based in Tripoli left when it became unstable.

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/2011228191419265337.html

If you've ever been truly hungry, then you know what it's like for some of these people. If you have a few extra bucks, please donate them to a charity that fights world hunger, or one that provides medical care to people in underprivileged countries. Perhaps someone who knows more about charities than I do can suggest a few. I seem to be a bad picker when it comes to charities.

And a little about the ladies :quagmire: :

quote:


Ehsan ZaffarPolicy Advisor, Lawyer, Co-Founder Los Angeles Mobile Legal Aid Clinic
Posted: February 28, 2011 02:31 PM

The Revolution Isn't Over for the Women of Tahrir Square

2011 did not witness the first Egyptian revolution. After all, Egypt's Tahrir ("Liberation") Square earned its name from some other struggle. For Egypt, this liberation came in the 1920s when men, women, Muslims, Christians, the young and the old from across the land rallied to drive the British out of Egypt. They succeeded in no small part due to the role Egyptian women played during the 1919 revolution. It was then that 300 women demonstrators led by Hoda Sha'arawi took to the streets raising the crescent and the cross to symbolize national unity and denounce British occupation.

Four years later, Sha'arawi called for a demonstration, the first of its kind, for the foundation of the first Egyptian Women's Union. But shortly following independence the inspired demands of these same women for equal rights and political representation were denied by the ruling Wafd party. Following the joyous tumult of Egypt's recent revolution, this scenario is playing itself out again. Though women played a critical role during last month's protests, their future as stakeholders in Egypt's political process is being marginalized.

Throughout the weeks leading up to Mubarak's resignation, women were widely visible on TV reportedly comprising 50% of the protesters. Many mothers, confident of the movement's success and the crowd's intentions, brought their daughters to Tahrir Square to witness history. Women from all walks of life slept, worked and defended protesters alongside their male counterparts in Tahrir Square. Bloggers like Asma Mahfouz inspired thousands of young men and women to initially march on Tahrir Square and activists like Mona Seif and Gigi Ibrahim, both women, continued to inspire hundreds of thousands with their acts of courage. Outside Egypt, journalists like Mona Eltahawy led an international media campaign widely credited for helping Americans and American media outlets understand realities on the ground.

Yet today, not one of these strident female champions of the Egyptian Revolution have a seat on the newly formed constitutional committee. Even before the protests, female political power and representation in Mubarak's Egypt was unsubstantial and token at best. For years the Mubarak regime suppressed female political participation and spread a culture of fear and distrust throughout Egypt. Despite the movement's call for reform, female participation in the committees and leadership of the revolution is shockingly disproportionate to their presence during the protests.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ehsan-zaffar/the-revolution-isnt-over-_b_828651.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Come on, Egypt. They helped you, they took the same risks of getting shot or hit in the head with a rock, they got tear-gassed right alongside you, and they took the added risk of being brutally raped, the least you can do is give them a seat at the table :mad:

Ham
Apr 30, 2009

You're BALD!

Apology posted:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ehsan-zaffar/the-revolution-isnt-over-_b_828651.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Come on, Egypt. They helped you, they took the same risks of getting shot or hit in the head with a rock, they got tear-gassed right alongside you, and they took the added risk of being brutally raped, the least you can do is give them a seat at the table :mad:

Article's got quite a few things wrong:

- In 1919 it wasn't really a revolution and it never achieved independence from the British

- None of the people on the constitutional amendment committe are "strident champions of the Egyptian Revolution", male of female. They're old constitutional supreme judges and law professors, not some people off the street writing whatever comes to their mind.

- Mubarak's regime never suppressed female political partcipation or spread fear about it, in fact they went as far as to declare that a large portion of the people's assembly (equivalent to the congress in the US) must be female which basically marked certain districts "female-only", so only female candidates could run in these districts. Plus they've had several female ministers throughout the years.

Patter Song
Mar 26, 2010

Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man.
Fun Shoe

Slantedfloors posted:

Also this, with a focus on Egypt. Egypt is basically the lynchpin of the Middle East - where it goes, everyone else follows. They've been the most powerful Arab state since post-colonialization (and before, technically) and are by far the most influential. Other authoritarian states in the region have always been able to rely on their people not doing much overthrowing, just because Egypt hadn't done it first as an example. Now that the Egyptian people have overthrown their dictator, everyone else in the region are realizing their own dictator doesn't have a fraction of the power of Mubarak, and the dictators ae freaking out.

On one level, this is accurate, but on another level, Mubarak's degree of control in Egypt is dwarfed by the level of control that, say, the Saudi Royal Family has in the KSA. Also, for a variety of factors discussed earlier, Egypt was actually one of the Arab countries most susceptible to a successful revolution. The Gulf States don't want to give their slaves the wrong ideas, the Iranian regime has proven able to cow protestors through overwhelming violence, Lebanon is too fractured and complex... (I sure hope the people of Lebanon prove me wrong)

Xandu
Feb 19, 2006


It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.

Monkeytime posted:

From CNN's Mideast blog:


This comes around the same time this morning that Clinton seemed to rule out direct military action in Libya. I would assume this repositioning and (presumably) heightened state of alert is just in case Ghaddafi decides to send Kamikazes against the Sixth Fleet, bombs Malta, or does something equally unlikely.

The way she's been speaking, I think the US and EU are likely to continue increasing pressure on Gaddafi over the next week. Naval forces could be the basis of a no-fly zone.

edit: The US military is also the best equipped to deal with a humanitarian crisis.


The Cheshire Cat posted:

Has that ever stopped the US in the past?

Side question for those history buffs out there: Has Quaddafi ever faced resistance on the scale of what's going on in Libya right now? I'm curious if there's any way he might possibly recover from this or if it's a sure sign that he's finally on his way out.

There was a coup attempt in the early 90s, but nothing of this scale.

Xandu fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Feb 28, 2011

Ewan
Sep 29, 2008

Ewan is tired of his reputation as a serious Simon. I'm more of a jokester than you people think. My real name isn't even Ewan, that was a joke it's actually MARTIN! LOL fooled you again, it really is Ewan! Look at that monkey with a big nose, Ewan is so random! XD
Not seen this mentioned in the thread, but one of the Hercules that was involved in the second (of two) RAF evacuations came under small arms fire and was damaged yesterday.

The BBC's Frank Gardner says on Twitter:

Im told the group who fired on the RAF rescue Hercules yesterday mistook it for a regime plane and have apologised

Slantedfloors
Apr 29, 2008

Wait, What?

Patter Song posted:

On one level, this is accurate, but on another level, Mubarak's degree of control in Egypt is dwarfed by the level of control that, say, the Saudi Royal Family has in the KSA. Also, for a variety of factors discussed earlier, Egypt was actually one of the Arab countries most susceptible to a successful revolution. The Gulf States don't want to give their slaves the wrong ideas, the Iranian regime has proven able to cow protestors through overwhelming violence, Lebanon is too fractured and complex... (I sure hope the people of Lebanon prove me wrong)

I don't doubt that the level of control exercised by some other Middle Eastern states is greater than Egypt (the Gulf states and Syria, especially) or that all circumstances are exactly the same, just that the methods they've used to protect their interests are working off the same blueprint the Mubarak regime's. Which as it turns out, were worth sweet gently caress all in the face of the entire country wanting Mubarak out of power.

If Egypt can come out of this a successful democracy, I really don't see this wave of protests burning out until the various autocracies start making massive reforms or collapse entirely. Egypt is just too influential in Middle Eastern politics for it to be some kind of weird isolated pariah democracy in a sea of dictatorships. Unrest and demands for political freedoms will start bleeding into other countries by sheer cultural force.

Slantedfloors fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Feb 28, 2011

moosepoop
Mar 9, 2007

GET SWOLE
Slightly :nws: :nms: video with Gaddafi as the theme :haw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLZUWfC0L8Y

I love tonetta :swoon:

Spacedad
Sep 11, 2001

We go play orbital catch around the curvature of the earth, son.

Heintron posted:

Slightly :nws: :nms: video with Gaddafi as the theme :haw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLZUWfC0L8Y

I love tonetta :swoon:

A work of art.

Ham
Apr 30, 2009

You're BALD!
Let the floodgates open! Habib Al Adly, former Minister of Interior and responsible for the Egyptian police, prisons and internal security forces was arrested several weeks ago and they've begun interrogating him pertaining to the events taking place between the 25th and 28th. His forces were the ones that opposed the protesters in Egypt from Jan. 25th till the 28th, killing over 300 and wounding thousands then mysteriously disappeared from the streets and prisons the evening of the 28th which caused massive chaos and looting.

So far, here's what he said:

He denied giving the order to open fire on the protesters, saying he gave his assistants on the field (police and central security commanders) broad authority to do whatever they think is appropriate to deal with the situation as they were out in the streets while he was not, and that the responsibility for the deaths lies upon these commanders, saying "I didn't call every officer to tell them to open fire!"

And in regards to the decision to open all the prisons nation-wide (prisoners in Egypt numbering tens of thousands, most of them in for rape, murder, theft or something similar) he says that the decision came from many leaders and officials in the NDP (National Democratic Party, Mubarak's party) and they demanded he cause chaos and terror in the country so the protesters would "go home".

He's also confirmed he received orders from one of the key leaders of the NDP to remove the protesters by any means necessary including shooting everyone, hiring thugs (what we saw in the camel battle) in order to kill the protest movement.

Ironically, the attorney general's office interrogated Habib Al Adly's assistants first and they defended their former minister and said the order to open fire came from low-level officers on the field, but after Habib's statement they've changed their testimonies and they're saying Habib ordered them to open fire on protesters and to open the prisons.

Herstory Begins Now
Aug 5, 2003
SOME REALLY TEDIOUS DUMB SHIT THAT SUCKS ASS TO READ ->>

Sivias posted:

The thing about it is it's not a doomsday scenario. Empires come and go. You can't avoid it. Ottomans, Persians, Greek, Roman, British, French, German. Each thought they were unique and their reign would last forever and they were the most powerful the earth has ever seen.

Everything comes to an end and the world will always keep turning. What happens next will eventually just be another moment in the books of history.

The reason the second world war started was because everyone thought it couldn't.

It's worth pointing out that the Egyptians kept a single civilization/empire going for 2500 years.

Sivias
Dec 12, 2006

I think we can just sit around and just talk about our feelings.

The-Mole posted:

It's worth pointing out that the Egyptians kept a single civilization/empire going for 2500 years.

They were also the first and only game in town - until Rome popped up.

sweeptheleg
Nov 26, 2007

Slantedfloors posted:

They're not really "learning" from the other regime's mistakes, they're just blindly flailing out and trying to intimidate the protesters so they can grab some breathing room. They've all used the exact same pattern for quelling protests and unrest for decades, but it's only now that they're realizing those preparations are worth dick-all if their citizens actually want them gone.

Also this, with a focus on Egypt. Egypt is basically the lynchpin of the Middle East - where it goes, everyone else follows. They've been the most powerful Arab state since post-colonialization (and before, technically) and are by far the most influential. Other authoritarian states in the region have always been able to rely on their people not doing much overthrowing, just because Egypt hadn't done it first as an example. Now that the Egyptian people have overthrown their dictator, everyone else in the region are realizing their own dictator doesn't have a fraction of the power of Mubarak, and the dictators ae freaking out.

Actually I would say they may be learning.

The initial protests were all met with violence, and that violence(especially deaths) is what catalyzed the revolutions. Seeing your countrymen stand up for you, then be killed for you makes you a lot more likely to stand up and snowball things.

There was some other country that started using crowd control gear rather than weapons. I guess thats good, but it will stop the protests from becoming revolutions IMO.

Again its hosed up, but you have to break some eggs to make an omelet or whatever.

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Paddyo
Aug 3, 2007

Sivias posted:

They were also the first and only game in town - until Rome popped up.

The Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Sumerians, etc. would like a word...

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