The Arab Spring

Tunisian women take a 'step backwards' Or to be more precise are struggling forward in spite of difficulties,best of luck to them.

Tunisia has a law which requires that every district have an equal number of male and female candidates. But apparently the parties are putting their female candidates at the bottom of the voting lists, making them less likely to get elected. So it a case of "one step forward, one step back."

Awww, that's pretty disappointing. I had heard that Tunisia was one of the few truly democratic countries post-Spring.

It's a process. You ain't gonna have European style liberalism in anything less than a decade or two. And that's for the best, in my opinion, because the growth shouldn't be rushed or it'll not stick.

Dude, the United States doesnt favor female candidates like that. If they actually pull this off, they wont have caught up with the West, they will have left us in their dust.

They'd be more like South Asia in that regard, which is good. Not everything has to be European style.

That said, I was more addressing the fact that there was disappointment that it wasn't perfect more than anything else...

Really? Where in South Asia do they do that?

Well Pakistan has reserved seating for women in Parliament which, for them, is quite something.

India already elects women on a level (that is, no rules forcing it) playing field nationally (not much, but significant, with 61 members in the Lok Sabha and 30 in the Rajya Sabha), but there was recently an attempt to make a third of all seats women exclusive, where it passed the upper but not the lower house. At the local level, there are quotas.

My point being, the trend in Tunisia is much like the trend there. Results, obviously, will differ country to country.

edited 1st Oct '14 12:24:22 PM by FFShinra

Didnt know that. Cool.

The latest territorial maps◊ paint a dire picture of the situation in Iraq and Syria.

While that's pretty bad I've got to admit that I didn't expect the Syrian Rebels to have that much territory left, I though they'd been almost totally swallowed up by IS and Assad by this point.

Not as long as they hold Aleppo.

Wait, how does the map show territories held by the Syrian rebels? Also how long do you guys think Aleppo can hold out,I mean it has been under siege for quite awhile.

The first one doesn't, being strictly about Da'esh's territorial extent; but the second is more comprehensive, including the various factional groupings involved in each country's respective conflict (explained in a multilingual legend below the image itself.)

As long as Assad doesn't encircle them completely, they have a chance. If they're encircled completely, then they are on a clock to break out. If they can't before they run out of supplies, men, or morale (as with Homs and some neighborhoods in Damascus), they'll surrender.

I thought they were already surrounded. So if the west gives them some backup the FSA actually stands a chance?

They're almost surrounded, but they still have one road left open, not counting any unofficial tunnels.

As for standing a chance, they stand a chance to maintain what they have now. It would take a lot more weakening (both practically and reputationally of Da'esh and a lot more commitment from the West before the part of the FSA we actually like can stand a chance.

Which is to say, a snowball's chance.

Oh, I don't know. They face an uphill battle, surely, but I dont think it's that dire. People have been predicting the fall of Aleppo for over a year now. Assad's advances slowed down once he couldn't use nerve gas on civilian neighborhoods anymore. Once the FSA builds up a supply of weapons and money they can buy themselves some allies.

That depends on the success or failure of Da'esh's current advance in the north....

And that success/failure largely depends on how Ankara responds.

In other Syria news, it seems pro-Assad supporters are protesting the government. The rare event is due to two bombings in Aleppo that apparantly killed 25 kids....

Ugh.

courtesy of ABC News

In Yemen, the Houthi have ordered the Finance Ministry to stop all pay except salary, flexing their muscles for the first time since seizing most of Sana'a.

edited 2nd Oct '14 8:24:33 PM by FFShinra

Those Fucking Basterds!!!! I suppose this was inevitable but still. They had their fun and now they throw him away like some dam toy.

Edit: In the same video they apparently threatened the life of one of the American hostages.

Also ISIS fighters have entered Kobani

edited 3rd Oct '14 1:43:09 PM by JackOLantern1337

It seems former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has fled to Ethiopia after he started getting targetted by the Houthi.

Either the reports were false and he wasn't helping them, or his help seriously just backfired. Not surprised if the latter. Saleh may have gotten his revenge against Mohsen, but he was never gonna come back.

Wasn't Saleh hiding in the UAE? How could the Houthis threaten him? And why Ethiopia of all places?

He had moved back to Yemen, I recall, after he was given immunity. He IS still leader of the General People's Congress party after all, so he needed to be in Sana'a to coordinate and meet and yadda yadda.

Of course, I'm sure he was only really there both to rub it in to the protestors who initially ousted him and to get his people back to power....or, failing that, revenge.

Now as to why Ethiopia, not a damn clue. Maybe it's a pitstop. Maybe they were the only ones to accept him in. After all, why would Ben Ali flee to Saudi Arabia of all places rather than, say, Algeria?

Curious, is that publication legit or no? If not, then nevermind to the whole thing.