Really a lot of stuff going on in MENA right now, it’s almost impossible to keep up. Key countries:
Libya – la terre brûlée: Looks like on the cusp of civil war, as Ghadaffi is responding with extreme violence to the protests. The Libyan government is using the airforce to strafe and bomb the protests; Libyan ambassadors around the world are resigning their posts at the embassies. There’s not much official word yet apart from warnings to citizens of other countries to leave Libya immediately. You can follow what we know on twitter’s #libya hashtag.
- All connections have been cut.
- Hundreds flee Libyan clashes; go to Egypt
- N. Africa, Mideast protests – State Dept to U.S. citizens: Get out of Libya
- The uncertainty, rumors from #Libya are evidence of how effective media blackouts can be, even in a digital age.
- Scenes of Egyptian protests were uplifting, while scenes of Libyan protests are just heartbreaking.
- Airplanes are flying over us now.
- Libya protests analysis: ‘For Muammar Gaddafi it’s kill or be killed’
- In Libya, Protests Become Civil War as Gaddafi Reportedly Orders Loyal Military Units to Fire on Their Own Comrades. Some of the videos coming out are horrifying, not linking them here but you can easily find them on twitter.
photo by a7fadhomar@flickr
Bahrain: Seems to mostly be in between protests — there’s a pro-government demonstration today (I think) and another anti- later this week. Hashtags on twitter to follow: #bahrain, #lulu (anti-govt), #fateh (pro-govt) and #feb1. It’s looking to me like the regimes are trying to make their own use of social media to counter.
- Doctors for peace, Bahrain Lulu Square Protests, Feb 19th
- Stunned U.S. urges Bahrain to show ‘restraint’ after bloody crackdown
Oh, and about that word, “restraint”: Show Restraint. What is this? Telling the protesters to show restraint [and stop protesting] seems just a bit different from telling the government to show restraint [and stop killing the protesters]. The only ones who need to “show restraint” are the regimes!
Yemen: On twitter, try hashtag #yemen
Of course, each of these countries differ in significant ways: what exactly their regime consists of, what exactly they are protesting over, how exactly their regime is responding, but the scope of activity in this region is unprecedented.
For following these and other protests (Morocco, Iran,Palestine, Algeria, Kuwait, etc), try Al Jazeera (English), and CitzenTube, which is curating collections of video clips from all of these areas. (I don’t know to what extent these clips are translated into or subtitled/captioned in English.)
Then the US protest in Wisconsin. Wow. Try the #wiunion hashtag.
- 12 Things You Need to Know About the Uprising in Wisconsin
- Capitol Chaos: Could Union Bill Be Passed Separately Tuesday?
- Wisconsin Union Fight Is Really a 15-State GOP Power Grab
- Astonishing: WI governor threatened to call out National Guard against the protesters. Stand in solidarity against Walker’s radical proposal and threats – sign the open letter.
- Public Wisconsin workers earn less in total compensation than private
- What the Wisconsin “Budget Repair” means in numbers
- Love the cartoon on this page, too: Wisconsin Democrats: ‘Gov. Scott Walker Is a Dictator’
- And Krugman weighs in Wisconsin Power Play
And some privacy stuff: Government employer asks man for Facebook login during job interview. They wanted his password… not just looking at his facebook account’s public info, but to log IN.
And is the GOP about to revisit the sins of the past? Memories of 1995 shutdown haunt GOP
And just for fun: Feast Your Eyes: Where Are the World’s Coffee Drinkers? Though I wish we could tell what Mexico’s numbers were!