a thread about the civil unrest in egypt (& elsewhere in 'the region' if necessary)

lol

i mean there's a lot of vying for position among the internet commentariat: who is the realist of all kind of thing

and the point is, it's me, the super-hard-headed types are all like 'hey, the new regime might not be that much better than the old one', which, 1) duh, 2) i guess it *could* be worse but the same was true of the english/american/french revolution so stfu (yes the english had one), 3) who's being the pollyanna here? what perfect transition to utopia can you hold up as a comparison?

xpost

the EU/outside actors get hated on for sticking their noses in, hated on for being ineffective. iirc the story is it's 'all germany's fault' for recognizing croatia's desire to break away from greater serbia. idk.

Hated on for sticking their noses in and THEN being ineffective, I think

you couldn't make it up. title of saif gaddafi's phd? "the role of civil society in the democratisation of global governance institutions"

https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1187568

― lex pretend, Monday, 21 February 2011 22:52 (Yesterday) Bookmark

I work at LSE library, and we regularly get people asking for this. I think we turn them down- its in closed access...

This is his conclusion, via my friend with said access - and it's unbelievably bad, written in the style of a precocious fresher:

'On the basis of the analysis in this thesis, is it now possible to answer the question that is the sub-title of this thesis-can we democratise global governing institutions by creating structures that move civil society 'from soft power to collective decision-making?' I believe that the evidence presented in this thesis suggests that the collective decision making approach has real potential and deserves further examination.'

If you turn in something like that, do you still pass?

"And if you grant my son his doctorate it's absolutely amazing how many ways we won't plot to have you killed!"

http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/

Lord Desai reveals that he examined Saif for his PhD, entitled the Role of Civil Society in the Democratisation of Global Governance Institutions. “I was an examiner with one other for this PhD at the university,” said Lord Desai. “I grilled him for two hours on it — there was no suggestion he hadn’t written it himself. We were struck by how idealistic it was. We said it was not realistic and needed some realpolitik in it.”

Of his former student’s performance on Libyan TV, Lord Desai added: “I was disappointed by the speech because he was not behaving as if he had had an LSE education.”

"And if you grant my son his doctorate it's absolutely amazing how much money you and your oil companies will be able to make... and can we have Megrahi back too?"

That ideologues, nationalists or islamists get hold of these movements is my big fear. Eastern Europe had sufficient time & institutions to stop that happening, not sure how true that is in the Arab world.

This seems a rather, er, rosy view of what happened in the Balkans and Nagorno-Karabakh in the wake of '89!

1554: "Libya wants chaos, beards and turbans", says Col Gaddafi, according to the live translation.

Gaddafi barking at his people now... He won't step down, that's for sure. "I'll be a martyr, like my father, if necessary"

Col Gaddafi says he will not leave Libya, he will die on Libyan soil

Well, if you insist, I'm sure it can be arranged

Protestors are on drugs attacking police stations like mice

This is really two-doctors-and-a-social-worker level BATSHIT INSANE.

... don't forget the Ukranian nurse

when was that UN speech he gave that lasted like two hours?

Yeah, pull up a chair this might go on for some time

I'm sure the restraints she's been putting him in are... uh, not straitjackets, knawamsayin'? xpost

listening to this I can't help thinking that a lot of people are going to loose their lives

Yeah unless the army go "fuck this", it looks like a prelude to full-on civil war.

I would also be worried that he is going to take hostages.

now saying he has nothing to resign from.

"if you love gaddafi, go out and secure the streets"

uhhhh. revolution, you are understanding it wrong

i realize this guy's been insane for a long time, but WOW, he's not making any sense

I can't seem to see Al-Jazeera live. BBC News 24 is showing Hague. Stop showing Hague!

the al jaz interpreter keeps doing these massive amazing sighs in gaddafi's pauses

there was a point at which he said "means nothing! means nothing!" and i'm still not sure whether that was a direct translation of gaddafi's words or whether he'd just given up and resorted to meta-commentary

Do I need to download something for the AJ site? Not used it before but I don't think I can listen to Hague's monotone anymore.

just threatenin' the death sentence on pretty much everyone now

should be fine, its just overloaded right now

xpost

xp i don't think so, i didn't and it works - http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Every line is a different shade of batshit, especially when he gets onto his "the kids are all drunk and on drugs" theory.

BBC News works fine but cuts away from the speech from time to time to preserve viewers' sanity.

Okay, I've got sound. This'll do.

yeltsin? china? wtf

The quotes would be hilarious if he weren't actually threatening to kill every protestor.

There was a good piece in the Evening Standard (honest) yesterday about the unfortunate habit of turning brutal dictators into comic figures - concentrating on the kitsch decor and absurd rhetoric rather than the crimes. I am certainly not immune to this.

"Hitler has only got one ball..."

Göring has two but very small,

Did he actually say "Do you want us to be like Somalia"???

did he just actually blame canada?

He's gone too far now

haha, interpreter changeover on al jaz like linespeople at wimbledon

ha, and al jaz has just given up the ghost. "we're going to come back to this and analyse what he said when he's finished"

On the basis of the analysis in this thesis, is it now possible to answer the question that is the sub-title of this thesis

i'd pass him just for knowing so many words in the dictionary that ends with "-is"

Psychoanalysemorelike

basis analysis thesis is that is this thesis electrolysis nowaysis

I always thought it was funny that Qaddafi never promoted himself above the rank of colonel. so modest, that guy.

There was a good piece in the Evening Standard (honest) yesterday about the unfortunate habit of turning brutal dictators into comic figures - concentrating on the kitsch decor and absurd rhetoric rather than the crimes. I am certainly not immune to this.

― DL, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 11:34 AM (43 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

feel like this is all abt people not knowing ~what evil looks like~

Shootings confirmed again on the streets of Tripoli.

Also apparently Algeria has just lifted its 19-year state of emergency? No idea what that actually entails on the ground.

they turn the sirens off

Was in Peal Riv Mrt yesterday and in the basement there are repros of Mao posters for your kitch consumption enjoyment. O_o