Uzbekistan Update: Protestors Beaten, Taken Away

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 04, 2005 · 8:49 AM PDT

2005/05/04 · 08:49

Radio Free Europe is reporting that the small protest against the regime of Islam Karimov was broken up by police yesterday.

The protestors, many of them from rural parts of Kashkadarya Province, threatened to set up a tent city in the Uzbek capital for a long-term demonstration. But police encircled the demonstrators and a clash broke out. Several of the protesters were beaten and some were bloodied. They were then boarded onto buses and taken to an unknown location. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

The BBC reports a similar story.

...Eyewitnesses said they saw more than 100 plain-clothed officers pull up, stamp on the tents, beat the protesters and drag them into buses.

"I could hear the voices of women and children crying out for help," said one local resident.

Not word one from the U.S., outside whose embassy this protest took place. The Uzbek authorities are not known for being kind to dissenters.

There really isn't anything else to say. They tried, they failed, and now I imagine somewhere in Uzbekistan they are paying for it.

Uzbeks Beg U.S. for Democracy--PLEASE HELP

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 03, 2005 · 8:28 AM PDT

2005/05/03 · 08:28

There is a small, very small, protest in Tashkent today.

Why is this so desperately important? Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, a U.S. ally in the War on Terror (we bombed Afghanistan from bases there) and one of the worst dictatorships in Central Asia. President Islam Karimov has ruled with an iron fist, purging dissenters and consolidating power in his own hands.

But today--right now, in fact:

A small group of demonstrators has held an angry, illegal protest in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. (BBC story)

Here's what breaks my heart: they're holding it in front of the U.S. embassy. Read More

The Republicans Melt Down - a Freeper thread

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 31, 2005 · 9:25 AM PST

2005/03/31 · 09:25

I followed this as it happened, and it was stunning.

The reaction of the extreme right (as represented by the representative cross-section on FreeRepublic) to the death of Terri Schaivo and President Bush's subsequent statement was instant and furious. They got into a whopping fight with one another, and directed an intense amount of anger and frustration at the Bushes. I haven't seen them break ranks like this since before they took Congress in 1994. Here's what I saw:

(see below, if you dare delve into the minds of the freepers...) Read More

Bush on Schaivo: Eh.

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 31, 2005 · 8:49 AM PST

2005/03/31 · 08:49

Bush was supposed to speak about Terri Schaivo's death today at 11:30am, according to the three major news networks.

He did appear at that time, but spent only a few stumbling sentences talking about Ms. Schaivo and the culture of life. He didn't seem affected at all.

He then went on to ramble about intelligence reform. He said the word "nuculur" a lot, and then passed the buck to Charles Robb before beating a hasty retreat out of the room. There was a great shot on C-SPAN of the president scrambling away before anyone could ask him a question.

Bloody wretched coward.

Scores drop, kids suffer

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 29, 2005 · 6:45 AM PST

2005/03/29 · 06:45

I've cross-posted this at my own blog, but wanted to share it with you.

Overall mastery test scores in Connecticut declined in 2004, according to statistics released by the state Department of Education. Mastery tests are given to students in the 4th, 6th and 8th grade every fall; they test reading, writing and mathematics skills.

So what does this have to do with politics? An awful lot, actually. Read More

N.C. school district teaches kids to find Jesus by smell

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 21, 2005 · 8:45 AM PST

2005/03/21 · 08:45

In just another example of the ways in which religious idiots are taking over our country, an elementary school teacher in Fayetteville, North Carolina, had students learning from a creationist textbook that contains the following gems:

"God has a niche for each creature He has created, down to the tiniest microscopic being. He also has a niche for each person He has created. As Christians, we can trust Him to show us our niche in life -- where we fit into His plan for the world and for His kingdom."

SCENTS MAKE SENSE

"God's word tells us about a kind of odor only Christians have. 'For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ ...' (2 Corinthians 2:15). Paul goes on to say that Christians carry forth the fragrance of Christ wherever they go by the way they live; that is, they remind people of Him.

"Could someone find Christ by the scent trail you are leaving behind you?"

Well, I certainly smell something. Read More

Joe Lieberman on Social Security

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 19, 2005 · 8:59 PM PST

2005/03/19 · 20:59

Because this diary is being written late at night on a Saturday on the east coast, I doubt very much that most will see it. I will post it regardless.

There have been a lot of harsh words said on this site regarding my state's junior senator lately. Joe Lieberman has, with some justification, become the poster child for all that is wrong with the Democratic Party. He badmouthes other Democrats, he cozies up to the administration, he doesn't toe the party line and he has voted against the wishes of most here on several crucial occasions. Yet there is one thing for which we can count on Senator Lieberman: opposition to private Social Security accounts. Below, you will find excerpts from an email sent to me from the senator's office, in response to an angry email I sent him some time ago: Read More

Bush to Northeast: Screw You

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 16, 2005 · 5:47 AM PST

2005/03/16 · 05:47

BRAC Committee Suspiciously Lacks a New Englander
(cross-posted on my blog, but well worth sharing here)

So here's the list of people President Bush has nominated for the Base Realignment and Closure committee:

-James H. Bilbray of Nevada
-Philip Coyle of California
-Harold W. Gehman Jr. of Virginia
-James V. Hansen of Utah
-James T. Hill of Florida
-Claude M. Kicklighter of Georgia
-Samuel Knox Skinner of Illinois
-Sue Ellen Turner of Texas

Notice something? No, you're not just missing it. There really are people on this board from every part of the country except the Northeast. Read More

RINOs, bunker mentality and Hitlery: Analysis of a FreeRepublic thread

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 15, 2005 · 12:51 PM PST

2005/03/15 · 12:51

I check in on the wingers over at FreeRepublic (otherwise known as "IronicTitle.com") from time to time, just to see what the mood is on the other side. Today I ran across a thread about John McCain, which led to some insight on my part about the character and mental state of those who have made themselves our enemies. Since none of us can speak with the paranoids who inhabit that place directly, I decided to present my findings and questions to you instead, in the hope that they'd be useful in our ongoing battle.

Analysis below the fold. Read More

Protest Power: The Years of Peaceful Revolution

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 05, 2005 · 6:19 PM PST

2005/03/05 · 18:19

I imagine that very few of you know what is happening right now in a Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan? you might ask. Where is that?

Kyrgyzstan is a small mountainous republic bordering China. Its history as an independent state following the breakup of the Soviet Union is achingly familiar: poverty, ethnic strife, broken institions, corruption and the ominous return of Russian soldiers. The same man has held the presidency there since the end of the Soviet era. From time to time, elections are held, but the government always wins. The elections are frauds, of course, but the people seem to by and large accept them. Until now. Read More

Gov. Jodi Rell (R-CT): Civil Unions OK

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 02, 2005 · 4:35 AM PST

2005/03/02 · 04:35

This is great news, and means that Connecticut will almost certainly become just the fourth state to recognize legal unions between gay couples:

Gov. M. Jodi Rell endorsed the concept of civil unions for same-sex couples Tuesday, adding to the momentum building behind the gay-rights measure.

"I don't believe in discrimination of any sort, and I want people to have equal rights and equal opportunities," Rell said.

Rell, believe it or not, is a Republican. Read More

Historical Antecedents of the Blogs

Shashalnikya

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday February 27, 2005 · 9:06 AM PST

2005/02/27 · 09:06

I'm relatively new.
I am becoming more popular; my readership grows with each year.
I am shrill, partisan and usually poorly edited.
I am replacing more traditional news sources.
Anyone who has the proper equipment may, and does, publish me.
My publisher is also my editor.
My truthfulness is often called into doubt.
I often publish slander and outright lies.
I am playing a major role in the major ideological and social conflict of my time.

What am I?

(answer below the fold) Read More

Newer
Older

RSS