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[speedpop]

For those uninitated, the past few weeks or so in the northern areas of Africa have been less than quiet to say the least. It started in Tunisia where a man by the name of Mohammed Bouazizi set himself alight in an act of self-immolation due to the treatment of him not finding a job and having to resort to selling fruit & vegetables illegally and the consequences of it. The government has been overthrown, the military stand idly by in the streets of Tunisia making sure things do not get out of hand, and the autocratic dictator of Tunisia flees to Saudi Arabia.

The "Tunisian Revolution" is being discussed here.


Yesterday, a man in Algeria has died due to self-immolation, echoing the catalyst to Tunisia.

And now today, an Egyptian has set himself alight in Cairo.


So where will this lead for the nations of northern Africa, in predominantly Muslim belief cultures? Will the aftershocks of Algeria and Egypt create instability? Or will the factors behind a lot of Tunisia's trouble in terms of internet censorship and corrupt government stay relatively confined in that country alone?

 

[MrHicks]

these dictatorships all over north africa and middle east will fall someday
medieval systems cannot survive in this modern world

they see with tunisia that revolt is actually possible and are giving it a try i guess

 

[Gareth Bale]

Why does the Western world always single out internet censorship as a major problem in these sort of countries?

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Why does the Western world always single out internet censorship as a major problem in these sort of countries?

To much pent up sexual frustration, they need porn to relax.

:/

Takes some mad courage to do that anyway.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Why does the Western world always single out internet censorship as a major problem in these sort of countries?

Maybe because it is a problem?


Also, what do you mean "these sort of countries"?
robertdowneyjr.gif

 

[Wes]

And another in Mauritania

A Mauritanian man set himself on fire in front of the West African state's presidential palace police officials said.

The man, described as a 40-year-old entrepreneur from a wealthy family, was protesting alleged government mistreatment of his tribe, police sources told Reuters.

Witnesses said he doused himself in gasoline while sitting in his locked car and set himself on fire before security forces and passers-by broke the car windows to remove him. He was rushed to hospital.

 

[xbhaskarx]

One dude setting himself on fire is all it takes to spark a revolution these days?

At least five people were killed in the Boston Massacre. And, you know, they didn't shoot themselves... they were actually killed by soldiers of the colonial power.

If that's all it takes I hope someone does this in Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe..... the list is getting too long, any purple country on this map would be fine.

 

[Steelrain]

Damn what a way to go.

 

[Dead Man]

One dude setting himself on fire is all it takes to spark a revolution these days?

At least five people were killed in the Boston Massacre. And, you know, they didn't shoot themselves... they were actually killed by soldiers of the colonial power.

If that's all it takes I hope someone does this in Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe.....

Notsureifserious.jpg

 

[Alx]

One dude setting himself on fire is all it takes to spark a revolution these days?

At least five people were killed in the Boston Massacre. And, you know, they didn't shoot themselves... they were actually killed by soldiers of the colonial power.

Suicide carries a much stronger message than being victim of a dictatorship. People being shot by the power in place is a display of the current strengths at stake, it generates fear of the authority and makes most people reconsider rebellion. Self-immolation is a gesture of desperation, and is so unnatural that it makes people think about how tragic their situation is.

 

[numble]

One dude setting himself on fire is all it takes to spark a revolution these days?

At least five people were killed in the Boston Massacre. And, you know, they didn't shoot themselves... they were actually killed by soldiers of the colonial power.

If that's all it takes I hope someone does this in Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe..... the list is getting too long, any purple country on this map would be fine.

This happens in China once in awhile...
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=self+immolation+china

 

[xbhaskarx]

And another in Mauritania

An "entrepreneur from a wealthy family" is not going to get much sympathy, he should've gone into the field of illegal vegetable selling.

 

[GaimeGuy]

One dude setting himself on fire is all it takes to spark a revolution these days?

At least five people were killed in the Boston Massacre. And, you know, they didn't shoot themselves... they were actually killed by soldiers of the colonial power.

If that's all it takes I hope someone does this in Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe..... the list is getting too long, any purple country on this map would be fine.

Ah the boston massacre. one could say that was the start of american yellow journalism. We haven't let up on our sensationalism since

 

[jorma]

Why does the Western world always single out internet censorship as a major problem in these sort of countries?

No, Internauts do that.

Western powers have stopped doing that since they decided that it is more important to protect copyright holders.

 

[Minamu]

At the same time, a bunch of Swedish hunters, hired by locals via a travelling agency, get jumped by vigilantes in Tunis because they think they're with the old government because of the firearms they need to weed out the wild boar population... My dad was a part of that hunting group in November 2010 :S

 

[Slo]

I don't quite understand the gesture.

 

[snacknuts]

Viral marketing for a new RATM album?

 

[BitchTits]

I was thinking about the situation in N.Africa and the Middle East lately and pondered on if the internet is to the Islamic world, as the printing press was to medieval Europe?

 

[Veidt]

Heroes.

 

[Gareth Bale]

Maybe because it is a problem?


Also, what do you mean "these sort of countries"?
robertdowneyjr.gif

I'm half Algerian and have lived in/visted a lot of countries across North Africa and the Middle East. 99% of the internet censorship in these places relates to pornography. People in the Western world would have you believe it's purpose is suppress the population and keep a dictator in power... not every country is a democracy. Deal with it.

 

[NotWii]

I'm having deja vu

 

[Prine]

Man i thought Egypt were doing ok. I know their government comes under fire from Egyptians over ISrael but other than that, things seemed to be fairly stable. Guess not!

 

[speculawyer]

I came here to create this thread and GAF already beat me to it.

Four countries with self-immolation. Wow. That is scary. Well that is one way to spark a revolution.

 

[Souldriver]

these dictatorships all over north africa and middle east will fall someday
medieval systems cannot survive in this modern world

they see with tunisia that revolt is actually possible and are giving it a try i guess

And that is why we need a new Caliphate. Bare with me as I'm paging Zapages on this. I call it Zapaging.

 

[Zapages]

And that is why we need a new Caliphate. Bare with me as I'm paging Zapages on this. I call it Zapaging.

ROTFL... Thanks I needed that.

Man i thought Egypt were doing ok. I know their government comes under fire from Egyptians over ISrael but other than that, things seemed to be fairly stable. Guess not!

James Chen's voice. REALLY!!! hahaa Thank you for that laugh as well..

When you have a wonderful dictator like Mubarak there... [/sarcasm] What possibly could go wrong.

 

[MYE]

:/

Not the smartest way to make your point across, whatever that may be

 

[MrHicks]

gonna be hard to surpass the legend

 

[MYE]

^ fucking hell

*SHUDDERS*

 

[Veidt]

^ fucking hell

*SHUDDERS*

You didn't know about this? It's pretty famous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thích_Quảng_Đức

I bet al-qaeda is gonna dub this "Pagan sacrifice! Only suicide bombing is true martyrdom!"



Honestly though, I hope they don't try and be smart and fuck this up somehow.

 

[MYE]

You didn't know about this? It's pretty famous

Yeah, but i never saw pics.

 

[Jasup]

All it needed was one successful uprising.
It'll be quite interesting to see how things go from here. Whatever happens, this will change the political map of North Africa but it's still too early to predict how.

 

[dude]

The sad part is, after the revolution is done, the new government is probably going to be every little bit as bad as the last one, just like is was in Iran.

 

[snacknuts]

gonna be hard to surpass the legend

http://thoughtcatalog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/vietnamese_buddhist_monk_1963_622.jpg

Wow, I've never seen that picture in color before.

 

[leroy hacker]

It will be interesting to see what happens in Egypt. Mubarak is getting old so a vacuum of power could soon appear. On the other hand, the US has much more at stake there than in Tunisia, since Israel shares a border with Egypt and we pay the regime billions to stay at peace, so the US might not be as willing to just stand back and let things happen.

 

[Drkirby]

gonna be hard to surpass the legend

Was that taken in color, or redrawn, since it seems to be the same pose as the Black and white version.

edit: Seeing some pictures of a color cut out from old magazines, it seems it was taken in color. Wonder why the Black and White version is so common in this day and age.

 

[leroy hacker]

Was that taken in color, or redrawn, since it seems to be the same pose as the Black and white version.

It was recently colorized by someone:

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/ez1jk/i_coloured_the_burning_monk_photo_watcha_think_pic/

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Yeah, I was gonna say it looks like it was colored.

 

[A.R.K]

these dictatorships all over north africa and middle east will fall someday
medieval systems cannot survive in this modern world

they see with tunisia that revolt is actually possible and are giving it a try i guess

Not until the western governments stop supporting them under the table for their own interests...they will never fall, thats the sad truth. Why are some countries invaded for so called removing the dictators and so many others just let be when worse atrocities are committed in those countries.

 

[MrHicks]

Not until the western governments stop supporting them under the table for their own interests...they will never fall, thats the sad truth. Why are some countries invaded for so called removing the dictators and so many others just let be when worse atrocities are committed in those countries.

yea
the US being all buddy buddy with saudi arabia is disgusting

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

yea
the US being all buddy buddy with saudi arabia is disgusting

Especially with the regional conflict in Yemen.

 

[Jackson50]

So where will this lead for the nations of northern Africa, in predominantly Muslim belief cultures? Will the aftershocks of Algeria and Egypt create instability? Or will the factors behind a lot of Tunisia's trouble in terms of internet censorship and corrupt government stay relatively confined in that country alone?

The prospects of such revolutionary fervor spreading is tantalizing. Nevertheless, we must be realistic. These governments are incredibly resilient. Their ability to deflect, assuage, or, if necessary, defend their regime with violence should not be discounted. Furthermore, they will be especially acute and deft after the developments in Tunisia. I would be excited if such fervor spread and precipitated change; however, I do not foresee it. Yet I hope I am proven erroneous.

 

[A.R.K]

The prospects of such revolutionary fervor spreading is tantalizing. Nevertheless, we must be realistic. These governments are incredibly resilient. Their ability to deflect, assuage, or, if necessary, defend their regime with violence should not be discounted. Furthermore, they will be especially acute and deft after the developments in Tunisia. I would be excited if such fervor spread and precipitated change; however, I do not foresee it. Yet I hope I am proven erroneous.

No need to for any deep analysis here. In these countries, a human life is worth less than that of an animal. And that should tell you all how much there is a chance these events will impact any of these governments.

The western governments are to be equally blamed or more for their support for these types of dictatorships through out the 3rd world. On one hand they would say 'its an internal affair of the country and they can't do any thing' and on the other hand invade and kill thousands of innocent when they have their interests. Its sick.

 

[raphier]

One dude setting himself on fire is all it takes to spark a revolution these days?

At least five people were killed in the Boston Massacre. And, you know, they didn't shoot themselves... they were actually killed by soldiers of the colonial power.

If that's all it takes I hope someone does this in Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe..... the list is getting too long, any purple country on this map would be fine.

"A thousand deaths is a statistic,but one death is a tragedy."

 

[radioheadrule83]

Was that taken in color, or redrawn, since it seems to be the same pose as the Black and white version.

edit: Seeing some pictures of a color cut out from old magazines, it seems it was taken in color. Wonder why the Black and White version is so common in this day and age.

Its a stunning job... it seems the car was white though... I didn't realise it was actually caught on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr5S3b2j-lw
actually I'm not sure if thats the same incident or if its maybe a film depicting it... looks pretty real though...

Insane bravery

 

[Kurtofan]

gonna be hard to surpass the legend
]

It's not a contest FFS.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Ancient Carthage is coming back for another run at the top!

In all seriousness though I applaud any individual who is willing to put his/her life on the line to make things better for his/her fellows. I don't know much about the internal politics of Tunisia (other than than basics), but I hope the new government is at least an improvement over what they had before.

 

[Parham]

Was that taken in color, or redrawn, since it seems to be the same pose as the Black and white version.

edit: Seeing some pictures of a color cut out from old magazines, it seems it was taken in color. Wonder why the Black and White version is so common in this day and age.

An individual on Reddit colorized the photo a few weeks back.

 

[speedpop]

Its a stunning job... it seems the car was white though... I didn't realise it was actually caught on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr5S3b2j-lw
actually I'm not sure if thats the same incident or if its maybe a film depicting it... looks pretty real though...

Insane bravery

Crazy to consider the fact that he kept the cross-legged prayer pose until his body succumbed to the flames and collapsed.

 

[Solaros]

edit: Seeing some pictures of a color cut out from old magazines, it seems it was taken in color. Wonder why the Black and White version is so common in this day and age.

Because everything is black and white these days.

 

[Zenith]

yea
the US being all buddy buddy with saudi arabia is disgusting

they were reasonably buddy buddy with Tunisia until public perception shifted.