Sunday, August 21, 2011

The People United Will Never Be Defeated

Boy, am I behind in the world news area. Arab Spring has pressed on through the Summer and our Libyan sisters and brothers are close to freedom. Following most of the world's bigwigs giving Gaddaffi (or Qadaffi or Khaddafi or however the hell they're spelling it now) the symbolic finger, old Mo firing off a missile, lots of fights, not a few deaths, he's going down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/22/libyan-rebels-push-into-tripoli

Syria isn't quite as far to the finish line, as Assad continues to show his ass.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/21/syrian-president-assad-addresses-nation

Egypt and Israel made up after Israel killed 3 Egyptian soldiers:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/08/20/2011-08-20_egypt_keeps_israel_envoy.html

Things are looking hopeful in several African countries, as sexual violence and rape are finally being frigging addressed, starting with the Republic of Congo:
http://www.insidevoa.com/media-relations/press-releases/Children-of-Rape-Highlighted-on-VOA--Citizen-Global-Website-127966603.html

Norway held a lovely memorial for the July Murders and PM Stoltenberg made a simple, dignified speech with no oiliness at all (I love stoic determination on the side of good and nobody does it like a Viking):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/21/norway-memorial-oslo-victims
and several singers are taking up "My Little Country"
http://heleneshome.blogspot.com/2009/02/great-songs-ole-paus-mitt-lille-land.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg-YQsXNfeo

My old friend Wayne continues to intrigue:
http://wayneingmoments.blogspot.com/2011/08/operation-liberation-message-from.html

Maybe I'm too old to go right to despair anymore, but things are looking better. It isn't, hasn't been, nor will be easy; good things are never easily gained. It's a violent world. Very sadly, some things must be fought and died for, still. It doesn't seem right and was not the way I thought the world would be when I envisioned the future in 1973. Then again, I didn't think I'd be alive now either. My friends and I thought we'd be dead before the 80s were over. A lot of us fulfilled that prediction, in the AIDS epidemic.

Wow, that started out so cheerful!

1 comment:

annieoatcake said...

I wish I had your optimism, Laura... maybe it's just how I'm feeling today :-/

I read this in The Big Issue Magazine and it made me smile;

Prize for the wittiest riot tweet goes to 'Sally Can't Dance' who wrote: "Turkish and Asian groups have stood up to & chased off rioters. Bloody immigrants. Coming over here, defending our boroughs & communities."