Free Republic

China tries to stamp out 'Jasmine Revolution' By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press 40 mins ago BEIJING – Jittery Chinese authorities staged a concerted show of force Sunday to squelch a mysterious online call for a "Jasmine Revolution" apparently modeled after pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.

While part of the current unrest in Wisconsin is driven by local issues, new information has been uncovered indicating an orchestrated attempt to stir up 'worker protests' not only in Wisconsin but in at least a dozen states. The coordinated effort is part of a 'revolution' spearheaded in part by a group called 'Heartland Revolution,' a Kentucky-based political action organization. The group was first envisioned by a Kentucky Democrat, John Waltz, who announced his candidacy in 2009 to oppose 2-term Republican Geoff Davis for the 4th Congressional District. Waltz was defeated in the November 2010 midterm elections but embarked on...

The early weeks of 2011 have been marked by a surge of protests in the Middle East and North Africa have now overturned two longstanding autocratic regimes, in Tunisia and Egypt. However, the wave of democratic protests have not been contained to the Maghreb, even if the entrenched regimes of the Gulf and Levant do not appear under immediate threat. One country being watched very closely by Washington is Jordan, which ranks as one of America’s staunchest allies in the region. Jordan looked an unlikely target for the kind of social unrest found elsewhere in the region, with a more...

Tipping Point (in .pdf format and I'm not going to bother converting it to a word document so you'll have to use the link to read it)

<p>Poland's foreign minister warned Belarus' autocratic president on Wednesday that he is at risk of being overthrown by his own people if they decide to follow the example of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt.</p> <p>"Soon a jet plane will have to be kept on standby in Minsk," Radek Sikorski said, referring to the capital of Belarus.</p>

A multimedia feature with classic audio excerpts from interviews with leading US, Israeli personalities over last two decades. Either scripts and active content are not permitted to run or Adobe Flash Player version 10.0.0 or greater is not installed. Get Adobe Flash Player JPost.com is happy to launch its new “JPost Classic” segment, a weekly multimedia feature showcasing classic audio excerpts from speeches and interviews with top thinkers and decision makers. In this inaugural clip from 2001, the former New York Times executive editor and columnist, A.M. Rosenthal foresees the spectacle of angry protesters now unfolding from Tunisia to Egypt...

More than just "Obama's Fault"... he helped plan it! Many have doubted that Barack Obama was on top of the situation in Egypt as he asserts... myself included.  And I was wrong, he was RIGHT on top of it- alas, on the side of the revolutionaries! Fact is, he's been playing his typical double-game, hedging his bets like the duplicitous scoundrel that he is- Wikileaks cables regarding Obama Administration policy in Egypt betray the fact that they've been plotting with opposition leaders to overthrow Hosni Mubarak for years... this despite the fact that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood dominates the opposition...

It seems to me that the catalyst for the huge amount of unrest in the region of the world was the surge in food prices. One of the things that the wheat market has been watching and anticipating has been Egyptian wheat purchases. They are one of our largest buyers of wheat and there was talk that began last week and continued earlier this week that Egypt was going to be forced into buying a good deal more US wheat in an attempt to make sure that there was sufficient supply for one thing and that they could snag it...

It is Europe's autumn of discontent. All across the continent, people are taking to the streets to protest the austerity measures of their governments. The governments have to cut for a simple reason: They are broke. They no longer have the money to sponsor the kind of padded lifestyles to which their citizens have grown accustomed. This in turn makes the citizens angry -- so much so that they are willing to turn their countries upside-down in order to obtain benefits their governments simply cannot provide. In France, where the deeply unpopular President Sarkozy is trying to raise the retirement...

While Europe shows promising signs of coming out of its socialist stupor, America is at risk of sliding down the slippery slope of socialism. Europe's financial crisis can no longer be ignored. Recent unrest could be a harbinger of darker things to come as Europe struggles to get its economic affairs in order. Decades of socialist and quasi-socialist policies have led many European nations down the primrose path of economic implosion. Despite the obvious failures of socialist policies in Europe, it is apparent that left-wing policymakers in this country are obstinately clinging to the failing European model. Obama has staked...

There have been riots already in 25 countries says the International Labor Organization. And Spain might be next considering there are plans for a general strike this week protesting government policies. So what does the ILO recommend? Same old, same old: The ILO recommends three policies for a jobs-led recovery:• Active labour market policies including work-sharing that target vulnerable groups such as young people, and training.• A closer link between wages and productivity gains in surplus countries to boost demand and job creation.• Financial sector reform to ensure savings are channelled to productive investment and the creation of more...

Violence erupted in the Bangladeshi capital as thousands of garment workers protested over a government-backed wage increase that fell short of demands. Police said protesters blocked traffic and burned cars in Dhaka. It comes after officials said on Thursday that the minimum monthly wage would rise to 3,000 taka ($43), up from 1,662 taka. However, some labour unions had called for a wage of 5,000 taka.

Why China Is The Mother Of All Grey Swans

N.Korea Distributes Rice from Military Storage Food prices in North Korea have stabilized because the regime took the emergency measure of distributing rice stored for the military, a high-ranking South Korean government official said Thursday. The Unification Ministry told the National Assembly on April 13 that the price of rice in North Korea was around 20 won per kilogram right after the botched currency reform late last year but soared to 1,000 won in mid-March. In early April, the price dropped to 500-600 won. At the time, experts predicted that the lean season in April and May coupled with the...

A Kyrgyz opposition leader claimed on Wednesday that the official government has resigned and that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has left the capital Bishkek, but there has been no official confirmation.

BANGKOK — Thousands of anti-government demonstrators clashed with Thai police and military troops trying to prevent them from leaving from the capital's commercial district Tuesday to stage protests elsewhere in Bangkok. The demonstrators pushed against police lines and pelted the riot squads with eggs and plastic water bottles along a tree-lined boulevard near the Four Seasons Hotel. Protest leaders have defied a government order to vacate the commercial heart of Bangkok as they try to pressure Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to relinquish power. They vowed Tuesday to stage convoys through 11 main city roads the administration has declared off-limits to...

Are you truly independent? Do you have the skills? Can you hunt, grow a garden, can food, sew-knit, live off the land? Are you ready? Do you possess the "lost" skills? Our family is ready. In obama's words, "bring it on". Once the economy collapses, I'll be here longer than the liberals and their pampered lives.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it will soon execute nine more convicted rioters in connection with unrest that erupted after the June presidential vote, a senior judiciary official was reported as saying.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Police detained up to 100 anti-Kremlin protesters, including leading opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, in central Moscow Sunday, despite an appeal by rights group Amnesty International to let the rally go ahead. Hundreds of people gathered to protest against what they say is a long-running Kremlin campaign to dismantle the constitutional right to peaceful protest, one of the few avenues open to Russia's weak and fragmented opposition. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, is leader of the opposition group Solidarity and one of the toughest critics of the Kremlin and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. At a similar rally...