Sinfest

[Sam the Eagle]

What?, who?

Okay, for those whose heads were deep in the sand, this is the name of the poor bloke who overturned Tunisia by setting himself on fire. By himself the fella just wanted to earn some modest living having to stop his studies to feed his family(1).

Since late Dec, protests were going on and on in the country. At first usual suspects were rounded up and shot, it wasn't enough, protest were not ideological but based on food/money, so they started spreading further and further into the country. Police repression was (still is apparently) constant, armed forces were lot more reluctant (this was important as it prevented a bloodier repression and forced Ben Ali's hand). Internet played a huge part too, my own view is the power that be lacked sufficient resources to prevent it, as other countries (ex: China) can lock out communication as required. Foreign powers kept out of the issue; supporting Ben Ali would have created too much local unrest (ex: there are about 600.000 in Europe( link in French supporting the uprising would mean cutting privileged connections with Tunisian ruling class, friend for some...The downfall will be interesting.

Back to our story.

Yesterday, following the footsteps of great leaders like Nicolae Causcecu, former pres. Ben Ali decided it was time to leave the country.

Now what?.

And the reason for the head in the sand comment.

Out of all North African countries, Tunisia differs mostly given its average level of education and it's apparent distaste of religious fundies (for now). Ignoring the whole matter is of course out of question, having a blunt hand into that country's future course can backfire tenfold. IMHO, it's too early to tell, even if signs shows the country will settle down democratically after a while.

A very interesting side effect will be how other countries will react to internet' use to forment unrest and revolt, thinking Egypt and Algeria who ruling class is as old as Ben Ali. And should those countries fall down, it's a lot more likely that the upcoming regime will be fundamentalist leaning, or at least very religious.

Last but not least is the overhaul in the way western countries will react or even support current Mediterranean regimes whose main claim to authority be 'it's us or it's teh fundies'..

We're living in interesting times.

Most of the links I'm finding to support this are in French, pity.
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Meu aerobarca esta cheoi de enguias

[Willem]

Al Jazeera has been on this since the beginning, unsurprisingly. Maybe they have something interesting?

I'm not overly optimistic, anyway. Ben Ali left the country, but one of his associates took over and the violence didn't stop. Short of a few small freedoms, I could easily see the dictatorship surviving.

But hey, maybe not, eh?
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attitude of a street punk, only cutting selected words out of context to get onself excuse to let one's dirty mouth loose

[Fnorder]

Some interesting but perhaps too optimistic commentary. I'd be more cautious, and wait until the dust settles.

[WheelsOfConfusion]

Released a few days prior to the overthrow, a jailed blogger and Pirate Party member has become the new State Secretary for Youth and Sport.

[Him]

Tunisian anger at "Unity Government"
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"Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice. " - Thomas Paine

[Him]

Thank you Anonymous from tunesians living in germany (engl. subtitles)
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"Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice. " - Thomas Paine