Revolution

[Michael Scally MD]

Libyan Rebels Say They Have Retaken Ajdabiya After Night of Airstrikes
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/world/africa/27libya.html

Rebels in Libya seized Ajdabiya on Saturday, witnesses said, succeeding in an effort to retake a key town in the east following another night of allied air strikes against forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

US considers more firepower to hit Gadhafi forces
US considers more firepower to hit Gadhafi forces

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Libyan rebels reclaim Brega
Libyan rebels reclaim Brega - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Rebels battling Moamar Gaddafi's regime say they have retaken the eastern town of Brega just hours after recapturing the strategic city of Ajdabiya in eastern Libya.

Libyan rebels take back strategic oil town of Brega in westward push
Gaddafi's forces ousted with help from international airstrikes as rebels edge toward refinery complex at Ras Lanuf
Libyan rebels take back strategic oil town of Brega in westward push | World news | guardian.co.uk

Brega, the main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell to rebels after a skirmish late on Saturday, said Ahmed Jibril, a rebel commander manning a checkpoint on the western edge of town. "There are no Gaddafi forces here now, the rebels have Brega under their full control, it is free."

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Rebels push towards Gaddafi stronghold
Bin Jawad is the latest town to fall as Libyan rebels' rapid advance west takes them closer to Gaddafi-held Sirte.
Rebels push towards Gaddafi stronghold - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Libyan rebels are moving westwards towards a possible showdown with government forces loyal to the country's embattled leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Opposition forces backed by coalition air strikes have already seized control of the key towns of Bin Jawad, Ras Lanuf, Uqayla, Brega and Ajdabiya in a rapid advance along the coastline.

Meanwhile, the next town in the rebels' path, Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, was reported to be under attack by coalition warplanes for the first time late on Sunday, according to Libyan state television.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Libyan rebels claim seizing Sirte
Fighting ongoing as opposition continues westward push, with pro-Gaddafi forces shelling rebels near Nofilia.
Libyan rebels claim seizing Sirte - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Libyan rebels are claiming to have captured the town of Sirte, the home of embattled Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Shamsi Abdul Molah, a spokesman for the opposition's National Council, told Al Jazeera that opposition forces had moved into the city at approximately 1.30am last night (local time).

"[They say that] they found it an unarmed city. They had no problem getting in there, they did not encounter any resistance," reported Sue Turton, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Benghazi. Celebratory gunfire was head in Benghazi, the opposition's stronghold in the east of the country, as news filtered in of the taking of Gaddafi's hometown.

Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify the report, and the Reuters news agency has quoted a witness in Sirte as saying that the city is still under government control.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Libya's foreign minister flees to Britain
Moussa Koussa arrives in the UK as international pressure mounts on embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya's foreign minister flees to Britain - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, has defected to the United Kingdom, the British foreign ministry has said.

The ministry said in a statement that Koussa had arrived at Farnborough Airport, in the south of England, on a flight from Tunisia on Wednesday.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Revealed: Gaddafi envoy in Britain for secret talks
Exclusive: Contact with senior aide believed to be one of a number between Libyan officials and west amid signs regime may be looking for exit strategy
Revealed: Gaddafi envoy in Britain for secret talks | World news | The Guardian

Colonel Gaddafi's regime has sent one of its most trusted envoys to London for confidential talks with British officials, the Guardian can reveal.

Mohammed Ismail, a senior aide to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, visited London in recent days, British government sources familiar with the meeting have confirmed.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Thousands demonstrate in Tahrir Square
Thousands demonstrate in Tahrir Square - CNN.com

By Ivan Watson and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, CNN
April 1, 2011

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Cairo's famous Tahrir Square on Friday, as part of an effort by liberal activists to revive their movement after a series of perceived political set-backs.

Dubbed the "Friday to Save the Revolution," the rally is an effort to show opposition to a recent proposed law which would criminalize protests. It is also an effort to re-assert the youth movement which drove former president Hosni Mubarak from power.

Many liberal activists fear they have been side-lined since Mubarak's February 11 overthrow by Egypt's ruling military council and by more politically-experienced Islamist groups, well disciplined after operating for decades in secret while facing harsh persecution.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdL4pEkFf-A"]YouTube - Gaddafi's daughter vows her father will not step down[/ame]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen - Democracy: Free MP3 Download
Ever heard this song? Listen to the words.
Be happy to send you the .wav file so you can catch all the nuances.

"Democracy"

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8

 

[Michael Scally MD]

McCain urges recognition for Libyan 'heroes'
Senator calls on US to recognise Libyan opposition as the legitimate government of the war-torn country during visit.
McCain urges recognition for Libyan 'heroes' - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Senator John McCain, one of the strongest proponents in the US congress of American military intervention in Libya, has called on Washington to recognise Libyan rebels' transitional council as the true voice of the Libyan people and transfer frozen assets to them.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Yemen president 'agrees Gulf plan to resign'
Aide to Ali Abdullah Saleh says leader has agreed to step down under a 30-day transition plan after weeks of protests.
Yemen president 'agrees Gulf plan to resign' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Yemen's embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to a deal by Gulf Arab mediators that would lead to a transition of power in the country after weeks of anti-government protests.

Tariq Shami, a presidential aide, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the president had agreed in full to a proposal from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) for him to step down.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

syria 30.4.2011
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRxwF0FVD-0"]YouTube - syria 30.4.2011 ??? - ?????? - ????? ??? ???? ? ?????? ? ?????[/ame]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

THE MAY 4 SHOOTINGS AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: THE SEARCH FOR HISTORICAL ACCURACY
http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm

On May 4, l970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The impact of the shootings was dramatic. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. H. R. Haldeman, a top aide to President Richard Nixon, suggests the shootings had a direct impact on national politics. In The Ends of Power, Haldeman (1978) states that the shootings at Kent State began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration. Beyond the direct effects of the May 4th, the shootings have certainly come to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Vietnam War era.

Jackson State killings

The Jackson State killings occurred on Thursday/Friday May 14–15, 1970, at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in Jackson, Mississippi. A group of student protesters were confronted by city and state police. The police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve.[1] This happened only 6 days after National Guardsmen killed four students in similar protests at Kent State University in Ohio, which first captured national attention.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings"]Jackson State killings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Also, see: JACKSON STATE MAY 1970


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswXJX6X-ow"]YouTube - Ohio-CSNY[/ame]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Syrian army defectors step up offensive
Syrian army defectors step up offensive - FT.com

By Roula Khalaf in London, Abigail Fielding-Smith in Beirut and Michael Peel in Abu Dhabi

Syrian army defectors vowed on Friday to launch more attacks on regime targets, dismissing fears of growing civil conflict and insisting that the country’s rulers understood only force.

Colonel Riad al-Asaad, chief of the Free Syrian Army, which has gained prominence by publicising its views on YouTube and claiming responsibility this week for an attack on a military facility, said the collapse of an Arab League plan for reconciliation in Syria had encouraged his forces to go on the offensive.

Speaking by telephone from his base in Turkey at the end of a week of escalating pressure on the Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, the colonel told the Financial Times that defections from the regime’s military had multiplied as the door to Arab diplomacy had begun to close.

“We gave some time for the regime to respond to the Arab League peace plan but instead it intensified its repression so we had to adopt the same tactics and show that we can hit them and in places where they least expect it,” the colonel said. He said the Free Syrian Army now had “thousands and tens of thousands of members”.

The army’s efforts to become a leading anti-regime force are complicated by the consternation they have caused among Syria’s political opposition, with some leading figures this week warning that the uprising should remain peaceful.

Col Asaad said his group was in contact with political opposition groups, including the umbrella Syrian national council.

But he maintained that the politicians were mistaken in believing that the Syrian regime would be toppled without a military struggle. “They’re a gang, they came to power through force and they stayed in power through force. They think Syria is a farm and the people are animals. They only understand force.”

Col Asaad said the Syrian regime was weaker than it appeared. He acknowledged, however, that the Free Syrian Army needed international help, though not military intervention, to pursue more vigorously its campaign against the regime and create an area of safety for defectors.

“Yes we want a buffer and no-fly zone and Syrians have the same right to be protected as others so they can get rid of oppression,” he said. “We ask the international community to stand with the people.”

The Free Syrian Army first popped up in a YouTube video released in July in which Col Asaad and six other soldiers announced their decision to defect. The group developed a Facebook page, and made claims about their capacities which analysts dismissed as exaggerated. The group was seen until recently as “sitting in Turkey, taking as much credit as they can,” said one western diplomat.

But attacks on regime targets have increased rapidly since the Arab League threatened to suspend Syria last weekend. Operations have taken place throughout the country in the past week, with 34 soldiers reported killed in the south-eastern province of Deraa, a major intelligence complex attacked near Damascus, and rocket propelled grenades fired at a ruling party building in the north-western province of Idlib.

Observers said the incidents showed that armed resistance in Syria had rapidly become more organised – though whether the Free Syrian Army is behind all the activity and whether it is even a coherent force are still open to question.

One activist, who asked not to be named, said the group’s units were a diverse mix of independent armed opponents of the regime and defected soldiers. Wissam Tarif, a researcher with the campaign group Avaaz, said some independent armed groups were passing on information to the Free Syrian Army, enabling them to claim responsibility for their attacks – a trend that the western diplomat said could turn them into a “franchise”.

Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said the behaviour of the Assad regime had provoked people into taking up arms against it. “I think there could be a civil war with a very determined and well-armed and eventually well-financed opposition that is, if not directed by, certainly influenced by defectors from the army,” she said.

However, she said it was important that the Arab League and Turkey take the lead in organising the international response because they carry more weight in Damascus than “those of us who are pretty far away”.

Diplomats said it was difficult to get any hard information on how big the Free Syrian Army was. “It could be anything from a couple of thousand to 15,000,” said one British official, who added that while no high level defections had been seen “there seems to be consistent mutiny taking place.”

Col Asaad, together with other people who have fled Syria, remains in a camp administered by the Turkish authorities. The Turkish foreign ministry helps arrange requests for meetings with him.

But Ankara insists that it does not know how many of the 8,000 Syrians in such camps are defectors from the Syrian armed forces and adds that it has no relationship with the Free Syrian Army, or indeed much knowledge of whether the self styled rebels’ claims are true.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIccZsURyLc]Jefferson Airplane - Wooden Ships - YouTube[/ame]

 

[james2012]

And Egypt and Libya are about to go fundamental. Ever watch a woman get whipped because she was caught...gulp...driving? God forbid. My predication: Obama's "Arab Spring" is about to come back and bite him in the ass. Revolution? How about two countries (so far) who are going to kill and hang homosexuals, beat women, and enforce draconian Islamicist laws on everyone? The Arab Winter approaches and Obama is not going to be able to talk himself out of this screwup.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

And Egypt and Libya are about to go fundamental. Ever watch a woman get whipped because she was caught...gulp...driving? God forbid. My predication: Obama's "Arab Spring" is about to come back and bite him in the ass. Revolution? How about two countries (so far) who are going to kill and hang homosexuals, beat women, and enforce draconian Islamicist laws on everyone? The Arab Winter approaches and Obama is not going to be able to talk himself out of this screwup.