As the season slowly moves from spring to early summer I thought it about time to reflect on what has been a some what turbulent, ney chaotic 2011 parts I and II. Part I, or the cold bit seemed to be puddling along quite nicely for at least a fortnight before all hell, that's the Muslim version, broke lose.
The Tunisians decided that they'd had enough and told their president of 23 years that they would like the beatings and oppression to stop and if at all possible they'd like a say in how things were run and if he didn't like it they would send him home to his mummy in very small pieces that resembled Turkish delight. After a short struggle Ben Ali thought long and hard about the icing coated sugar after dinner fancy and took his suitcases stuffed with everyone else's cash and booked himself a one way ticket to Costa Del Despot or Saudi Arabia has it's commonly known.
Now, not to be outdone and seeing what was possible, just about every general populous in every Muslim dictatorship in the area and a few a bit further a field as well decided to get in on the act. I'm not religious in anyway in fact if you have read any of my blogs you'll know what I feel about the 3 pre-eminent Abrahamic religions. All of which are based on the same old testament, a cracking read for the more vicious and vindictive of you by the way. But haven't we been in a war of terror or a Jihad, depending on what side your on, where the way in which we live our lives in the West (freedom of speech, religious tolerance, freedom of expression and equality) were the root of all evil. Now it seems half the Muslim world has decided that you know what this fairness and a right to be heard isn't actually all that bad and we would like a bit of the action. I don't think these guys are mucking around either as anyone willing to take on tanks with sticks, stone and the odd land cruiser really really would like some change.
Funny enough your friendly despotic leader is quite fond of his cushy number that was either handed to him by his dad or brutally rested from the dying hands of the former maniacal ruler and they have resisted to differing levels. Egypt was in comparison to the other reasonably bloodless, Yemen they had riots and someone shot the president with a rocket launcher, guess where he went for medical treatment, yep Saudi Arabia, the country where woman can't drive cars or go out on their own. King Hamad he's been running over people in armoured cars and shooting them in the street, never mind the 3 month state of emergency. Libya is now in a full civil war because Muammar Gaddafi thought that shelling woman in the street and snipers on every roof was a reasonable response to placards in Tripoli. In Jordan protests lead to the King sacking the government and god only know what's going on in Syria, but whatever it is it ends up with lots of dead people on cell phones.
Perhaps it was the work of one of the gods as not to be outdone the others got involved as well, in the east we had a flood in Australia, an earth quake in New Zealand and then another in Japan. In the west Brazil had the mother of all mud slides, America had the worst tornados in years. Iceland got covered in ash again and not to be out done mount Puyehue (I can't pronounce it) had a go as well.
Maybe there is a god, maybe there are many, but what ever the answer is I think we have been very naughty and we need to get our house in order.
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