Mubarak, Egypt, the Arab World and the so-called White Revolution

2011 has taken a surprisingly turn for the worst with regards to old African dictatorships. Alright maybe not 'dictatorships' as such but the oligarchs who ran Tunisia and Egypt since the height of the Cold War have been overrun by enthusiastic and revolutionary people, reminiscent of Europe at the fall of the Soviet Empire. I presume they have been known all this time by those in charge as the 'rabble', the 'peasants', the 'unwashed masses'. Well, take that old corrupt statesmen, democracy just kicked your arse!

Leaving aside the fact that the term democracy has evolved every day since antiquity, it is a breath of fresh air coming from an otherwise tormented continent. With Sudan in the middle of a divorce, the 'White Revolution' that has swept (or is sweeping) through the Arab world has suddenly made the Middle-East more exciting than the usual 'Iran hates Israel's guts' story. Let's not forget Iraq, if they play their cards right we could have Iraquis dictating (democratically!) the terms of a serious peace deal in the area if Egypt goes tits up.

On the subject of 'White Revolution', I disagree with the term. 'White' is historically the colour of royalty, the French flag has white in the middle to symbolise power is flanked (controlled) by the blue Assembly and the red People (or something to that effect). In the UK we had a 'Golden Revolution' which saw a swift and successful transition of power to the people (somewhat) with very little blood spilt (again... somewhat).

I think Egypt is experiencing it's own Golden Revolution, but that's just my opinion...

It's a new dawn, it's a new day (2)

Originally this post was called 'Lifestyle Changes', but the topic related so well to my previous post's title I felt compelled to add a '2' on the end.

The New Year is, let's be honest, a human fabrication. Yes the Earth has gone around the sun and I guess it's our pagan past that arouses this need to celebrate this celestial passing of time. But it gives us the chance to break habits, to welcome this new phase in our planet's vast history by changing the way we do things. Especially monotony, boredom, weight gain and so...

I was caught by surprise last night when my girlfriend and I decided to get a cat. I am 24 years old, I've traveled around the world and not thought twice about dramatically altering my lifestyle. Now I'm getting a cat. The comforts of my childhood, contrasted with the poverty of student life, have made me an unemployed man in his mid-twenties who lives off his girlfriend and generous parental donations. Now I'm getting a cat. How indeed this is a new dawn!

The feeling seems to have spread across the world; I mean the feeling of pride that something is changing, but surprise that the change is quite as dramatic. Sudan is loosing it's bottom half; Tunisia has lost it's reputation for stability; I'm getting a cat.

It's all the same. Isn't it?

It's a new dawn, it's a new day

Today, Monday 17th of January, is the most miserable and depressing day of the year. How this came about I don't know but I do know it gives us the chance to make today a good one. I've just bought a new coffee table and am enjoying it with, surprise, a coffee and my laptop. Unemployment isn't hitting me as badly as many people in this country; my girlfriend was lucky enough to walk into a job, obviously doing a science at university was a good idea, I instead went for an Arts degree. I learned to write, somewhat well I think, and I learned to think for myself, hence this blog. See, we can think positive today.

It is raining, cloudy, windy. So much so that Radio 1 was commenting on the weather as I drove through it, giving me the impression they were nearby, which is what I like about England. We are all close to each other; this blog post probably doesn't make much sense, and I've probably lost many readers by this stage. A positive way of looking at this ramble of paragraph after paragraph is that I now know I need to work on my writing structure.

Saying I have always written is one thing, but actually writing will help you improve dramatically. Yes I know, maybe my earlier posts are better, but I am trying to find my flair, my muse, my style. Should I write about the news? or myself? does anyone really care? What about wit? or linguistic aptitude? Should I put a capital letter after a question mark? or not?

A bloke on the news said that on this miserable day we should try breaking our routine, baking a cake, reading our favorite book, cleaning the house REALLY well... instead I am going to go about my day as usual, I'm not saying I enjoy unemployment, but I'm practicing my writing skills to one day make a living out of them.

Here's a cheery note from Africa: the South Sudanese leader, Salva Kiir, has urged his people to forgive North Sudan for the war which ruined his people's lives in decades of war. I'm not going to say he's a saint just yet, but I would vote in favor of him getting a Nobel Peace Prize.

Staying positive isn't that difficult.

Sudanese Referendum

So far 640 votes have been counted, with 97% voting for secession from the North. Of course during the first few million counts of the US election in 2008, Obama was loosing by quite a margin!

Sudanese Freedom?

While Sudan has for generations been synonymous with either civil war or Darfur, 2011 is seeing the potential for a very democratic separation of the South from the North. Amid the violence, fear, drought, famine and religious intolerance, South Sudan has managed to kick enough force to become it's own country; well that's if the referendum goes to plan. So far so good but once the vote counting is done there will still be the matter of (in no order of importance) forming a government, choosing a name for the country ('Kush' is a favorite), getting international recognition, resolving the oil crisis which will presumably emerge when northern Sudan blocks negotiations over the fate of Abyei.

Putting the word 'freedom' in front of 'Sudanese' was just too tempting!

Let's stick with 'South Sudan' for the moment

As exciting news comes out of Africa (which can only be a relief), BBC correspondent Andrew Harding writes this fantastic sum-up to the day:

'What a day! Three parts euphoria, two parts earnest determination, a discreet but unmistakable twist of doubt, and a gut-busting side-order of unreasonably high expectations.'

I couldn't have put it better myself Andrew.




see his blog at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/andrewharding/2011/01/sudan_votes_optimism_abounds.html