Libya Update

I've been focus very heavily on Wisconsin lately when there's actually a more pressing round of protests out there.

Libya is the country in the Middle East where the protests have really taken off, though unfortunately it is also the country where the most protesters are dying. President Omar Qaddafi has actually ordered his troops to fire live ammunition at the protesters, resulting in a body count of over 100. He then ordered those same troops to kill certain disloyal factions within the army who would not fire on unarmed civilians. The troops burned their barracks down.

Meanwhile, the protests only escalated. Some cities have actually been captured by the pro-democracy protesters, resulting in a situation similar to a civil war. Qaddafi, meanwhile, was going on a tangent about how the Protesters were all on hallucinogenic drugs, garnered from a foreign source. The president's rant was nearly incoherent at times, but he made perfectly clear the fact that he would not voluntarily leave the country any time soon.

Unfortunately, with the UN's recent resolution to not intervene in the conflict, the protesters are alone in their fight to force out the raving lunatic. I wish them huge amount of luck in their quest for democracy.

• Meanwhile, overseas gas prices have been soaring thanks to the middle east unrest.
• In China, a Planned "Jasmine Revolution" was put down by security forces who arrested several of the organizers of the protests, leaving the attendees to mull about at the protest site.
• Protests in Bahrain and Algeria continue, though they are receiving substantially less coverage thanks to the happenings in Libya.
• Wisconsin protests continue unchanged. Governor Walker still refuses to negotiate with unionists.

Updates

• The Patriot Act passed the Senate yesterday. President Obama is expected to sign it soon. Then we will continue living without our fourth amendment rights.

• Democrats and Tea Partiers have also worked together to try to block $3 billion worth of defense spending which would only serve to increase our debt and make John Boehner look good. Seems like the libertarian Tea Party candidates finally realized the republican talking point about "smaller government' is really just a false facade.

• Bahrain, a tiny middle eastern island nation, has had the most successful protests. Citizens have crowded into an important city square in a demonstration reminiscent of Egypt's protests. Earlier today, they were attacked by riot police while camping there overnight. I wish them luck in their attempts to truly change things.

• The BBC have put out an amazing interactive map of the Middle East protests, proving once again that they are far superior to US stations.

• Wisconsin has had its own protests. over 10,000 have gathered at the State capitol in order to object to the radical cuts proposed by the state's republicans. if only my state would do the same...

• Justin Beiber on general politics: “I’m not sure about the parties. But whatever they have in Korea, that’s bad.” And people wonder why I hate this kid.

• Unfortunately I have no Vlad comic for my followers this time, but here's something amusing

Egypt

Egypt is in the midst of a struggle to overthrow a militaristic dictator in order to ensure a brighter and more hopeful future for the everyday citizen. Factors that prompted this uprising range from Wikileaks and Tunisia to the fact that the quality of life gap between the rich and the poor has been growing so rapidly.

Protesters have gathered in Tahrir (Liberation) Square and have demanded that President of 30 long years, Hosni Mubarak, step down from power.

The protests started on January 25th and have swelled in numbers up to today, when nearly 2 million people are gathered in central Cairo in pursuit of a common goal.

Some are worried about the local Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, taking power afterward, however those fears are baseless as the next leader has been selected to be Nobel Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, a former UN official.

Al Jazeera has been the biggest coverer of the story, with other news networks simply mentioning it only as far as they believe will get them ratings. Al Jazeera's coverage of the story can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish

or here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Here's a video update from Al Jazeera's youtube page

Update: 4:05 EST, President Mubarak promises not to run in the next Presidential Election, Vows to "die on Egyptian soil" and not flee the country like Tunisia's President. The protesters are not buying this and are now chanting "Go Away, go away!"