“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Twitter popularity tests conservative Gulf

Yahoo – AFP, Wissam Keyrouz, 1 February 2013

AFP/Mohammed al-Shaikh - Customers are seen browsing Twitter messages
 on their smartphones at a coffee shop in Manama, Bahrain, on January 29, 2013

Twitter's unmatched platform for public opinion is emboldening Gulf Arabs to exchange views on delicate issues in the deeply conservative region, despite strict censorship that controls old media.

The authorities have been attempting to limit the damage by handing out jail terms to some whose tweets have been deemed offensive in the Muslim states, including in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

But the popularity of the microblogging website has even extended to princes, ministers and other high-profile officials who are eager to express their opinions, sometimes even upsetting their own governments.

"Twitter is being used by the governments and elites (in the Gulf) as much as it is used by ordinary people," said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, an academic in the United Arab Emirates.

An avid tweeter himself, the professor of political science said the site "provides a wide platform for free expression without any restraints," acknowledging such space "could cause a headache for the authorities" who control most other media.

Islamists and liberals -- especially in Saudi Arabia -- exchange blows over a plethora of subjects in the virtual arena, while some tweeters who use pseudonyms have become popular for their insights into the ruling class.

Prominent among these is @Mujtahidd, or The Diligent, whose tweets about developments in the Saudi royal family have attracted his account more than 912,000 followers.

Mujtahidd's identity remains secret.

Saudi internet surfers are seen checking
 their Twitter accounts at a coffee shop in 
Riyadh, on February 9, 2012.
One of his latest tweets was a claim that Saudi Arabia was "backing the French military campaign in Mali (against Islamists) with $6 billion in the form of an arms deal".

Saudi Arabia has not made any official comment on the situation in the African nation.

High profile Dubai police chief, General Dhahi Khalfan, also has used Twitter to mount a fierce campaign against Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Through his @Dhahi_Khalfan account, which has more than 362,000 followers, he accused the party of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of plotting against his country.

The opposition also used Twitter and Facebook extensively to mobilise anti-government protests in Bahrain, where a month-long uprising in 2011 was initiated by the February 14 Revolution cyber group.

Activists provide real-time Twitter feeds on clashes with police during protests that continue in the archipelago despite a heavy-handed crackdown in March 2011 that quelled huge rallies.
The Bahraini interior ministry responds with its own statements on Twitter.

"The level of freedom of expression furnished by Twitter is not available anywhere else," said Abdullah, the professor.

But using this margin of freedom has landed some tweeters in jail as authorities do not take criticism lightly.

Kuwait has jailed two Twitter users for two years, while dozens are being tried over messages deemed insulting to the emir, while imprisoned Saudi tweeter Hamza Kashgari awaits a trial that could send him to the gallows over postings seen as apostasy.

Kuwaiti youth activist Hamad al-Olayan (2nd R) walks out of the Justice Palace
 (courthouse) in Kuwait City, on November 3, 2011, after he and fellow activist
 Tareq al-Mutairi were questioned for allegedly making remarks on their Twitter
accounts deemed offensive to the status of the Gulf state ruler

Abdullah said the "huge number of offensive and obscene tweets" had upset many people -- and not just governments.

Kuwaiti commentator Saad al-Ajmi, who previously served as a minister of information, said governments should not panic over the impact of social media networks and should use them as a "gauge for public opinion".

"Such windows (of freedom) opened by new channels of expression can't be closed," said Ajmi, also an ardent tweeter.

In figures, three million people in Saudi Arabia, representing 12 percent of the kingdom's population, have Twitter accounts, according to a report by The Social Clinic, a Jeddah-based consultancy.

Women represented 45 percent of tweeters in the ultra-conservative kingdom where women face strict social constraints, are not allowed to drive and have to cover themselves from head to toe in public.

Activists found in Twitter an open platform to promote women's rights, with the hashtag #women2drive and Facebook group of the same name giving a huge publicity boost for a campaign to allow women to drive.

Similarly, many prominent Saudi preachers are active tweeters with one cleric, Mohammed al-Arifi, attracting 3.8 million followers -- the most in the Gulf region.

Tweeters in Saudi Arabia post about 50 million messages on the network each month, helping Arabic to become the fastest-growing language on the blogging site.

"It is permissible to demand rules that regulate (Twitter) because there are many offences," said Abdullah, adding that "laws should not be rashly prepared, nor be tough, and should go through parliaments".

Elected parliaments enjoying strong legislative powers hardly exist in the Gulf monarchies and sheikhdoms, where most councils are either fully or partially named by the rulers, and their powers are limited.


Related Article:

The Internet - The first Worldwide Tool of Unification ("The End of History")
" ... Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.... "

" ... I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy. For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?... " Read More …. "The End of History"- Nov 20,2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

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