The begin of the end?

Is the light finally at the end of the tunnel or is it another oncoming train?  The fact Syria supposedly agreed to the Arab League brokered deal means what?

This deal claims that all violence must stop now. All tanks must be withdrawn. All prisoners freed, foreign journalists are allowed in and so are foreign observers. Yeah. Exactly. Like things will just change with the signing of a document overnight. Doesn't look like out on some streets things have changed much.

We heard through friends from Homs that everything broadcast on Syrian TV is a lie, and that whatever you do hear coming out of Syria though the LCC and other activists, it's actually ten times worse.  I was saddened to hear it but not surprised.

I'll be praying that what this deal means is that the end is near and Bashar doesn't want Gadaffi's end. While I still think he should have be tried at The Hague, Gadaffi did ask for it. He said he'd hunt down all those against him even if he had to Shiber, Shiber! Biet, Biet! Dar, Dar! Zenga, Zenga!  but seriously he said something that he'd search inch by inch, alley by alley, apartment to apartment, Villa to villa and kill them one by one if he had to.  It's not surprising that given that speech, he was asking to be killed.  But I digress..

Libya finally rid of Gadaffi!

I didn't quite believe it this morning, but now I am starting to believe it. Gadaffi is dead and he was found alive hidden in a drainage pipe.  The rebels have spray painted on the pipe "Here was found the rat Gadaffi" a reference of how he called the Libyan people rats.

Apparently this is where dictators go in their last hours. Under ground. It seems that Sadam Hussain was also found hidden in an hole under a two room mud hut.  Who's next Assad or Saleh? Syria or Yemen?

He's having a moment of clarity - mark the calendar.

For some reason I stumbled into a news bit about Charlie Sheen today and I was surprised. I guess either he's gotten some treatment for this drug addiction or he's in a downswing from bi-polar disorder but when last interviewed by Jay Leno, he agreed he would have fired his ass as well! 

It could also be that he's just seen  what's left of his bank account after months of excesses and publicity stunts and wishes he had his job back!!!

Now will there come a day where Gadafi has a moment of clarity and admit he really screwed up?  That I seriously doubt.

Same with Bashar Al-Assad. I doubt he'll  ever admit he really screwed up by unleashing his thugs on the people of Syria. Today the death toll has risen fast, 46 and counting. Why? Because Russia is still selling arms to Syria and the UN's sanctions aren't enough. 

I'm More quiet

For most of this year I've been very verbose, but I think I finally said most of what I had to say because I'm struggling to find things to blog about

First of all let me congratulate the Libyan rebels, who have made it to Tripoli. Let's hope it means they are finally rid of Gaddafi and now can build a new Libya.

I wish it were so for the Syrians, who had to listen to Assad's 4rth speech, which didn't say anything new. In fact the reaction to the speech seemed to encourage the waving and throwing of shoes. To use the terms the Syrian's used they called it a slipper speech and encouraged people to throw their slippers. Whatever the point was they were throwing their footwear at their leader which I understand is a great insult.  That's what Assad gets for hiding the truth before the UN's arrival in key cities in Syria. Let's hope those wonderful Homsi's will find a way to protest in front of the UN delegation.

I actually left the house this week-end and went skating at the Lachine Canal. I managed to skate from 32nd avenue all the way to 55th avenue and back.  Sadly hubby was not able to follow me in this endeavour. He only managed from 32nd to a little bit past 36th avenue after which he was in too much pain.

Arab summer going on.

Just because I haven't written about Syria or other hot spots in the Middle East doesn't mean I haven't been reading the news. Things haven't improved, Assad is continuing to be a butcher.  Interesting observations from the US Ambassador to Syria.

No one ever fires on the people holding 'mnhebak' or Pro-Assad demonstrations.  He also noted that if his embassy and the French embassy as well as his residence was stormed by demonstrators, it's because the government allowed the people to get that close. Generally they are heavily guarded. Embassies of other countries were not swarmed.  Just pointing out a fact.

In Yemen the people don't want Saleh back. In fact even the US is trying to get him to sign the GCC brokered deal in which he steps down within a month in exchange for his freedom from prosecution.  He still hasn't signed. The Yemeni want to be rid of him and they keep protesting to back their point. Even if there is a calm in Yemen it certainly isn't over.

Gadafi is losing ground slowly in Libya, but he's not seeing it.  He's made suggestions that he was going to take the war to Europe. Thankfully at this point, this is just a fantasy. He's not going to let go without more struggle. The US backs Russian mediation in Libya. Hopefully this will help them achieve peace and rid themselves of Gadafi.

Different flavor, same results

While Bashar al-Assad doesn't appear to be the same kind of crazy as Gadafi, the results are very similar. These are 2 despots that won't take criticism from it's own people and thinks that shooting to kill any opposition is the good way to run a country. 

Sure everyone agrees with you most of the time, most people would agree to anything with a gun shoved against their head. Also love their spreading of false information. In Libya it's Al Qaeda that's behind the revolts, in Syria, it's people from other countries who want to destabilize their country.  It's not their own people who want change, democracy and freedom, how unthinkable!!!!

I mean why give the people the right to peaceful congregation?!?! They might actually have an opinion!

The Lebanese march on for Secularism

Yesterday there was more protests in Lebanon for  secularism. I hope the protests encourage change. Things have gotten even nastier in Libya. It's amazing what Gahdafy will do to stay in power, including lying and killing his own people. What a crazy despot!


The Canadian government is warning Canadians to get out of Yemen so things are getting ugly there too. Saudi Arabia have forbidden any protests calling it un-Islamic. I doubt Mohamed, peace be upon him, ever thought that peaceful protests are a problem. But what do I know?

I'm thinking this year will not be a good year to travel anywhere in the Middle East. Too much likelihood of protests and civil disobedience. I don't disagree with either, but I know when you go to protest anything can happen too.

Apparently it's ok to fire on unarmed women...

At least that's what they did in the Ivory Coast. Gahdafi has someone rivalling him for the biggest douchebag in Africa at the moment. The regime of Laurent Gbagbo refuses to go away though he was not re-elected 3 months ago.

In a country where usually it's the woman's marches that reign in the army, this time they fired on unarmed women killing at least 6 point blank. The women marching had assumed that the army would be too ashamed to fire on women. They were wrong.

Gbagbo is right up there with Gahdafi firing on unarmed civilians instead of listening to common sense.

Libya, things getting uglier by the day

At first both the rebels and pro-Gahdafy people were saying no outside world intervention in Libya. "It's our country, let us figure it out."  Today some of the rebels are starting to say they may need outside help to get rid of Gahdafy. It seems that he is well entrenched in Tripoli and the surrounding area and removing him may prove more difficult then the rebels can handle. Fears abound that Libya will become the new Somalia.

I hope not. I also hope things improve around Somalia and that piracy decreases in the high seas. People keep saying that others are idiots to go sailing near Somalia, but one must realize that if you're going to use the Suez canal you have to pass in the gulf of Eden and this is where Somalian pirates are hijacking ships. This is a high traffic shipping route.

Still I hope the levelheadedness the rebels have shown in Libya prevails and that they succeed in ousting Gahdafi and establishing some form of democratic system truly run by the people. It would suck if instead the country descended into civil wars for years on end.

Crazy Crazy Crazy Muammar!

I saw it on a sign by a woman protesting in Libya. Crazy crazy crazy Muammar...

Well he's gotten to be fairly delusional. He still thinks his people loves him. Most of his country is united against him. How does he not see it?

Someone I was reading was saying Gadafi is so used to "yes men" that it would seem ludicrous for him not to have the support. He is so out of touch, it's not even funny.

Let's hope he stops killing his own people and wakes up and smells the coffee.. because his days are numbered.

Gadafi still holds on.

I'm still in support of the people in Libya. Here's hoping they manage to get Gadafi out.  An article I read last night had me giggling. They were saying that the press find Gadafi's name problematic because there isn't one official way to write it in English. One article said 'Newspapers would rather write about Beiber because his name is easier to spell'.

One thing for sure, a co-worker just had to tell me about Justin Biebers new haircut and if it wasn't enough, I had to hear it on the Buzz this morning. Yes I was shocked that Pete Powers would discuss Justin Bieber, but there you have it.

I'm going to work well aware of the things important in the world! {Sarcasm off}

And King Abdullah of KSA is no longer like Schrodinger's cat, as he is alive and well and has just returned to Saudi Arabia. I wonder if the people will protest there too. The King and all possible replacements are all getting on with age.

You go people of Libya!

The unrest in the Arab world and north Africa has reached Morocco the last few days which is surprising some people as the economic situation in Morocco isn't as bad as other countries in the middle east. However Moroccans want change too apparently.

The country where the government is being the biggest asshole has to be Libya. I mean the army shooting with real bullets on mourners?  How to encourage more people to protest, fire on unarmed civilians that are burying their dead. 

You go people of Libya. I hope as a reward you will gain the right to an elected government, but no matter what happens not much can be worse then all those years of being ruled by Gaddafi!