tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post7944955946284481559..comments2024-03-26T00:37:34.943+01:00Comments on Venezuela News And Views: ¿Seguira el silencio de la MUD sobre la masacre Siria?Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12128609182544333477noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-15945935715545663982012-05-31T19:22:03.492+02:002012-05-31T19:22:03.492+02:00It appears 10% of committed believers in change ar...It appears 10% of committed believers in change are the tipping point for the mainstreaming of ideas:<br /><br />http://www.livescience.com/15231-belief-opinion-shift-majority-minority-10-percent.html<br />("Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities" is the original paper in case you want to go to the source.)<br /><br />Apparently, revolutions work that way too, says Szymanski, who has been looking at the numbers in Tunisia and Egypt. So the ditto "oh, but the vast (and silent) majority of XXXX are moderates!!!" points out a dangerously complacent irrelevancy. Unfortunately, when it comes to bad ideas, it's the same thing: 10% genocidal extremists were enough for genocide (in Rwanda just 2.8% were directly involved in the killings).<br />Syria may be different, though, and the regime is busy spreading false reports of atrocities against minorities for a reason. The Egyptian elections in two weeks could be a factor ('Christians Should "Convert, Pay Tribute, or Leave," Says Muslim Brotherhood Presidential Candidate?', at least 25% Salafists in Egypt) or the Russians could broker an armistice...LThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10506645156280694428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-53518295500601867202012-05-28T17:12:05.188+02:002012-05-28T17:12:05.188+02:00Perhaps the opposition is reluctant to take a stro...Perhaps the opposition is reluctant to take a strong stand against Assad because Chavez could then condemn them for being the lackeys of the Americans.<br />firepigettefirepighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158275219887987252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-50833090469699067372012-05-28T14:40:14.556+02:002012-05-28T14:40:14.556+02:00Polarization in Venezuela resembles polarization i...Polarization in Venezuela resembles polarization in Syria (see the numbers below). I wonder if this has any significance:<br /> <br />Not that anybody in Syria expects a quick solution to the crisis in which a mosaic of different interests and factions are battling to control the country. "My picture of Syrian society is that 30 per cent of people are militantly against the government, 30 per cent are for them, and 40 per cent don't like anybody very much," said a Christian in Damascus. A diplomat said people are much more polarised than six months ago into pro-government, anti-government and "what I term the anti-anti government, the people who dislike the regime, but equally fear the opposition". The government has been exploiting this by targeting its non-violent opponents "so they can say it is a choice between us and guys with long beards. People want change, but they are frightened it might be for the worse".<br /><br />Conversations with liberally minded critics of the regime in Damascus reflect these differences. "If I made even the most peaceful protest I would be immediately arrested," said one woman in frustration. "The exiled opposition leaders have not developed a serious plan to reassure the minorities [Alawites 12%, Christians 10%, Druze 2%, Kurds 9%], though they are the main supporters of the government," added a businessman whose business is collapsing, forcing him to live off his savings.LThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10506645156280694428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-3234649488884823252012-05-28T05:55:50.039+02:002012-05-28T05:55:50.039+02:00To put you at ease. This is my government we are ...To put you at ease. This is my government we are talking about and I am allowed to judge it according to the standards of the country, admittedly already quite low.<br /><br />It has been the strategy of chavismo through the past 14 years to blame someone else or to hide behind the "they did it first", which is in both case the lame excuse of those who have no arguments.<br /><br />In the case of Syria, Iran and Libya there is international consensus that is only ignored by a handful of country, a dozen maybe, none of them being a paragon of democracy and freedom. Thus Chavez is embarking Venezuela in a task which is frowned upon by the international community and I do not mean only Europe and North America alone. Even Argentina and Brazil have distanced themselves from these pariah regimes and even the ALBA support is less warm than the one of Chavez.<br /><br />Upon such premises rest the first charge against Chavez and his minster of oil, Ramirez. Contrary to Sweden, Chavez has a choice. Had Sweden stopped sending iron t Germany it would have been promptly invaded. The Swedish government tried to keep its population safe, the Venezuelan government is trying to implicate it. There is a difference.<br /><br />In the XXI century no one is allowed to paled ignorance without suffering the consequences.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12128609182544333477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-40678762062246067862012-05-28T05:10:08.262+02:002012-05-28T05:10:08.262+02:00I find this to be an interesting topic. Can you ...I find this to be an interesting topic. Can you blame Chavez for the deaths of innocent civilians, many children included, in Syria? This scenario has many historical parallels.<br /><br />First, were the Iranians to actually develop a nuclear bomb, and then unleash one or two on the world, can you logically blame Vladimir Putin for the catastrophe? It was he, after all, who OK'd the use of former Soviet nuclear technology on a request from the Mullahs in Tehran.<br /><br />Second, could you blame the American government for Saddam Hussein using poison gas on the Kurds during the 1980's? Many women and children died horrific deaths as a result. Who in the US government was responsible for lax export controls which allowed these nasty chemicals to find their way to Iraq?<br /><br />Third, and from a historical perspective, could the Swedish government be held accountable for the deaths of tens of millions of people during the Second World War? It was their huge and precious iron ore deposits located north of Stockholm which continually, and uninterupted, found their way to the production lines of Krupp and Thyssen factories throughout the Second World War, allowing for the production of thousands of new tanks and artillery pieces for the Wehrmacht. Without those iron ore deposits, there could never have been a 1941 Russian invasion and the horrific deaths which ensued. Are the Swedes guilty? Should they have pause as to what is written in their history books?<br /><br />Anyway, an interesting topic......Dr. Faustusnoreply@blogger.com