I agree completely, I think the notion that the Tunisians, who I'm sure still recall the rumors during their uprising that Libyan special forces were helping Ben Ali's secret police, would take in Qaddafi is ridiculous. I don't even think the Tunisian government would allow Qaddafi to come through as a transit point to another destination.
Also, while Hugo Chavez might be buddy-buddy with Qaddafi, I don't think the Venezuelan people will be too keen on a war criminal setting up shop in their country.
Very interesting that Kairouan isn't lit up since they are known for their carpets, although those are supposed to be hand made, so perhaps that doesn't count as a factory?
I'm not sure what the map counts as factories, but the north has a lot of olive oil production and wine production, as well as some pottery places. The southern part of the country is more industrial and has mines for phosphorus (pretty sure it's phosphorus, could be something else).
Sfax's position should be noted here, as it is the 2nd largest city in the country, it is mostly working class people since it has no large tourist draw. It is also the place where massive protests occurred on the Thursday of the main week of protests (when Ben Ali fled on Friday during the general strike and mass protests in Tunis).
I just got done chatting with a friend in Tunisia and he characterized the protests as "the revolution" to bring down Ben Ali. He said that the country was under curfew and humvees were patrolling the streets. He also said that the government was trying to hold onto power by shooting protesters because the entire country is against the government. Furthermore, he heard that Ben Ali's family had fled the country and the chief of the army was replaced by the chief of intelligence because he refused to order the army to put down the protests.
A big part of this story is how people are organizing over social networks in order to coordinate. My facebook news feed has been exploding over the past week with videos of the protests and pictures of the dead.
I hope this story starts to gain traction in the US media, I think this could be the big push that makes Tunisia a democracy (is the 4th wave far off?). The country is already secular and western, the only thing left is the authoritarian government.
I think it's fascinating that Washington mentions atheists as ok in his letter while Locke on the other hand says in his Letter on Toleration that atheists should not be tolerated on the basis that they are liars (in a hat tip to Hobbes' Leviathan in a way, since atheists would be liars since they have no fear of punishment).
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I agree completely, I think the notion that the Tunisians, who I'm sure still recall the rumors during their uprising that Libyan special forces were helping Ben Ali's secret police, would take in Qaddafi is ridiculous. I don't even think the Tunisian government would allow Qaddafi to come through as a transit point to another destination.
Also, while Hugo Chavez might be buddy-buddy with Qaddafi, I don't think the Venezuelan people will be too keen on a war criminal setting up shop in their country.
Very interesting that Kairouan isn't lit up since they are known for their carpets, although those are supposed to be hand made, so perhaps that doesn't count as a factory?
I'm not sure what the map counts as factories, but the north has a lot of olive oil production and wine production, as well as some pottery places. The southern part of the country is more industrial and has mines for phosphorus (pretty sure it's phosphorus, could be something else).
Sfax's position should be noted here, as it is the 2nd largest city in the country, it is mostly working class people since it has no large tourist draw. It is also the place where massive protests occurred on the Thursday of the main week of protests (when Ben Ali fled on Friday during the general strike and mass protests in Tunis).
I just got done chatting with a friend in Tunisia and he characterized the protests as "the revolution" to bring down Ben Ali. He said that the country was under curfew and humvees were patrolling the streets. He also said that the government was trying to hold onto power by shooting protesters because the entire country is against the government. Furthermore, he heard that Ben Ali's family had fled the country and the chief of the army was replaced by the chief of intelligence because he refused to order the army to put down the protests.
A big part of this story is how people are organizing over social networks in order to coordinate. My facebook news feed has been exploding over the past week with videos of the protests and pictures of the dead.
I hope this story starts to gain traction in the US media, I think this could be the big push that makes Tunisia a democracy (is the 4th wave far off?). The country is already secular and western, the only thing left is the authoritarian government.
I think it's fascinating that Washington mentions atheists as ok in his letter while Locke on the other hand says in his Letter on Toleration that atheists should not be tolerated on the basis that they are liars (in a hat tip to Hobbes' Leviathan in a way, since atheists would be liars since they have no fear of punishment).