Political Discussion Megathread

[Lukipela]

Or so I'd hope. We used to have one of these and it was interesting at times.

Is anyone following the Tunisian revolution? Following a guy setting himself on fire, a remarkably bloodless revolution has swept the country, ousting the dictator and his family. It's not all over yet, as many of his strong party members remain, but it is something that inspires hope. Other dictators in the regions, such as the Egyptian and Algerian ones.

Of course, it is also embarrassing for the EU in general and France in particular, since we've been backing these dictators for ages. Americans aren't the only ones with questionable friends!

[Dabir]

I've been reading the sudden flurry of newspaper reports, and apparently Ben Ali was the sanest of the lot, and practically the only one who didn't put up with Islamism. Journalism claims that the variety of Islam in Tunisia is more tolerant than in, say, Saudi Arabia.

[Gekko]

Unfortunately I use the same gentleman rules for Star Control as the gentleman rules at our old chess club. Don't talk about:

1. Obscene matters
2. Gossip
3. Politics

On my political background, I support the pirates. That's all.

[Lukipela]

I've been reading the sudden flurry of newspaper reports, and apparently Ben Ali was the sanest of the lot, and practically the only one who didn't put up with Islamism. Journalism claims that the variety of Islam in Tunisia is more tolerant than in, say, Saudi Arabia.

Meh. We've been cuddling a lot of dictators in north Africa under the premise that they are better than islamists. Turkey makes that look like a bit of a flawed concept nowadays IMO.

On my political background, I support the pirates. That's all.

I certainly sympathise with them. Not much else to do in Somalia if you want to feed your kids. Though they'd probably rather make their living without scaling supertankers.

[Shiver]

Unfortunately I use the same gentleman rules for Star Control as the gentleman rules at our old chess club. Don't talk about:

1. Obscene matters
2. Gossip
3. Politics

You broke this rule so hard a few weeks back.

[Eth]

What about Sweden? Didn't they just pass a law against saying that your religion's teachings are true or something like that?

[Lukipela]

What are obscene matters anyway?

Also Eth, I've not heard about that. And I live in Sweden. Any links?

And we have a terror attack in Moscow. 31 dead at the airport. Could be Chenyans again, it usually is. They were really screwed over by having oil, the poor buggers.

[Ziper1221]

What are obscene matters anyway?

Well, Gekko started by saying "I'll probably make the channel descent [sic] into an awkward silence."

[Eth]

Also Eth, I've not heard about that. And I live in Sweden. Any links?

I guess it was actually a few years ago.

[Starcruiser]

I'll expose myself to flame and say I'm a Trot.