Remind you of anything?
That’s the way to do it.
I am endlessly impressed with the general strike that is presently taking place in Egypt. As far as I can tell it is the most successful effort since the similar efforts to return Chavez to power after he was kidnapped in a dubiously funded militant coup. In terms of removal rather than re-reinstatement it draws to mind the general strike called by unions that prevented the Kapp Putsch from lasting.
In some places the bravery of the strikers has been truly striking and on one occasion a continued resistance was issued to the police by workers who remained firm and fierce in their resistance instead of relenting and dispersing, as is the standard and entirely respectable response to truncheons and tear-gas.
Having acted without the involvement of the previously seemingly only alternative, the Muslim Brotherhood who are one of the rare organisations that make the Egyptian status quo seem tolerable. They have thus changed the nature of this as a choice between totalitarian brutality and theocratic domination of the nation to those options and a third which consists of workers which desire basic liberties. This is an intentionally non-sectarian movement which is attempting to topple an autocrat via largely peaceful means. By which I mean it has involved retaliation when attacked by police in places but otherwise engaged in only the symbolic destruction you can view above.
This is not a region that I know a vast amount about but this is certainly a pleasing development. Apparently similar events are unfolding in Haiti and hopefully this year may be ended a good deal more freely than it began. We are still, however, waiting upon the “official” results for the Zimbabwean election. If the results have been fiddled so as to trigger a run-off then I fear Mugabe will simply not tolerate defeat, especially given his recent activities with regards to ordering his “Veterans” onto the streets.
Let us hope that Zimbabwe can somehow finally draw together as firm an opposition as Egypt has.
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On a lighter note this is our 444th post. I am not much of a sentimentalist but somehow I considered this a fitting point to note. I shall make all efforts to make the 555th as well, and perhaps make it something even more cheerful by posting up some Daft Punk to mark the occasion.
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