Regimes supported

Juan Vicente Gomez, Venezuela, 1908-1935.
Jorge Ubico, Guatemala, 1931-1944.
Fulgencio Batista, Republic of Cuba 1952-1959.
Syngman Rhee, Republic of Korea (South Korea), 1948-1960.
Rafael Trujillo, Dominican Republic, 1930-1961.[citation needed]
Ngo Dinh Diem, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), 1955-1963.
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran, 1953-1979.
Anastasio Somoza Garcia, Nicaragua, 1967-1979.
Military Junta in Guatemala, 1954-1982.
Military Junta in Bolivia, 1964-1982.[citation needed]
Military Junta in Argentina, 1976-1983.
Brazilian military government, 1964-1985.
François Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier, Republic of Haiti, 1957-1971; 1971-1986.[citation needed]
Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay, 1954-1989.[citation needed]
Ferdinand Marcos, Philippines, 1965-1986.[8][9]
General Manuel Noriega, Republic of Panama, 1983-1989.
General Augusto Pinochet, Chile, 1973-1990.
Saddam Hussein, Republic of Iraq, 1982-1990.
General (military), Suharto Republic of Indonesia, 1975-1995.
Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire/Congo, 1965-1997.
Hosni Mubarak, Egypt, 1981-2011.
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Kingdom of Bahrain, 2012.
Saudi royal family, 2012.
Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan, 1991-2012.[10]
Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia, 1995-2012.[11]
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea, 2006-2012.[12]

>> ^blankfist:

@NetRunner, you have to understand also, I'm completely in favor of people having living wages and benefits. I think too often businesses take advantage of their workers. So we're in agreement. We're just not in agreement how we arrive there.

That is true about almost every argument you and I have.

>> ^blankfist:
Unfortunately with the amount of protectionism currently in place so many industries are forcing entrepreneurs out by making it difficult to compete against those companies already rooted in the industry (strict regulations, licensing, permits, taxes, and so on), and as a result competing is too expensive so the number of workers go up while the number of job creators goes down. Soon we'll all be working for Corporations.
That's what people like me want to stop. We won't change this trajectory by going down the same path we've been going down for the last hundred years. We have to face the facts that politicians are more willing to give attention to those with deep pockets than those with barely two nickels to rub together.

I agree with all of that.

>> ^blankfist:
The rich will always prevail within a human government, and no amount of legislation will change that. It hasn't in the past, and it won't in the future.

I'm not so sure they'll always prevail. We'll never have a perfectly egalitarian society, where no man ever rises above another, and I don't think we should. But monarchy and oligarchy should be able to be killed off, or at least sent into long periods of remission. To quote that guy who ran for President in 2008, and then disappeared, no one can stop millions of people calling for change. Just ask Ben Ali, and Hosni Mubarak, maybe even King George III.

My cure for creeping oligarchism is to push for changes in social norms to promote egalitarianism. I want people to realize that nobody's intrinsically superior or inferior to anyone else, that they are their brother's keeper, that we're all in this life together, we're only really different on the outside, etc., etc., etc.

I push for increased deference to basic human dignity and fairness for everyone. When I think I can get away with it, I say we should all love one another, and make sure to forgive people as often as possible.

In terms of politics, this translates into social justice. Not because I have any particular desire to compel people to do things they don't want to, but to at least put forward the notion that it's as wrong to let a homeless man starve as it is to kill someone in cold blood, and that if government can do things to stop the latter, it should also do things to stop the former.

If people would treat people who act purely on self-interest as being morally wrong instead of morally neutral (or even morally virtuous!), then things, big things, would change.

Anyways, I agree with you on protectionism being bad, and I agree all your examples are things that shouldn't be happening. I still don't think eliminating unions does anyone any kind of good, and I think it's antithetical to both of our belief systems, for the reasons I said.

Your video, Breaking News: Hosni Mubarak Steps Down!, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

As BF mentions, the yes vote is split. I'm seeking consensus. If you're absolutely set on no member names ever being mentioned or referenced in the Wiki - happy for you to start a new poll, with just two categories to clarify.

Also, feel free to take your rhetoric down a notch. I'm not your own personal Hosni Mubarak looking to keep the Sift people down.

Thank you very much!!

In reply to this comment by Krupo:
I *promote this *quality vid. Hmm, not sure if I've tried that combo before. Love the change in the text as they realized he DID step down. Funny delay.

Also *history in the making.

>> ^siftbot:

Post cannot be double-promoted by Duckman33 because Duckman33 is the original submitter.


Boo!

Straight from Al Jazeera's news ticker:

Egypt army says won't use violence against citizens staging protests against President Hosni Mubarak.

From Wikipedia:

The 2011 Egyptian protests are a series of street demonstrations, protests, and civil disobedience acts that have been taking place in Egypt since 25 January 2011. The demonstrations and riots began in the weeks after the successful Tunisian uprising, and many protesters are carrying Tunisian flags as a symbol of their influence. Specific grievances have centered around legal and political as well as economic issues: police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections, corruption, restrictions on freedom of speech, high unemployment, low minimum wages, insufficient housing, food price inflation, and poor living conditions. Mohamed ElBaradei, seen as the most likely candidate for an interim presidency, called for the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak as a possible objective.

As of January 29, at least 95 protester deaths had been reported (27 in Suez, 23 in Alexandria, 45 in Cairo), along with 10 policemen. 750 policemen and 1,500 protesters have been injured. The capital city of Cairo has been described as "a war zone", and the port city of Suez has been the scene of frequent violent clashes. The Egyptian government has attempted to break up and contain protests using a variety of methods. Anti-riot police groups have been responding to areas with shields, rubber bullets, batons, water cannons, tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition. For the most part, the protest response has been non-lethal, although there have been fatalities. The government turned off almost all Internet accessand imposed a curfew, claiming that minimizing disruption from the protests is necessary to maintain order and to prevent an uprising of fundamentalist Islamic groups.

International response to the protests has generally been supportive with most governments and organizations calling for non-violent responses on both sides and peaceful moves towards reform. The protests have captured worldwide attention due to the increasing integration of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms that have allowed activists and onlookers to communicate, coordinate, and document the events as they occur. As the level of publicity has increased, the Egyptian government has made increasing efforts to limit internet access, especially to social media. On the eve of major planned protests on Friday, 28 January, a nationwide internet and mobile phone "blackout" began, though before dawn the following morning it was reported that the blackout for cell phones had ended.

Turkey is turning into a Islamic figurehead state? What's the basis of that comment or your proof? Turkey's Constitutional court bans and bars any financing of parties that are anti-secular and it's military is constantly warning against any move towards anti-secularism.

AIPAC's influence in US politics is very large. The problem is in the US house and senate. The same situation has occurred consistently, when the Mossad used EU passports to carry out an assassination, there was alot of noise made but all that happened was the UK kicked the Isreali ambassador. Which is the equivalent of slapping someone's hand.

Not to mention the large contingent of the US voting public that believes that the US must always assure the existence and survival of the state of Israel.

Overall Obama's hands are in effect tied. To simply level all the criticism on him is unfair the problem is far deeper ingrained in US politics. Look at the right wings response to this event, they believe Israel had full right to do what it did.

Egypt at the same time is bought out by the large US aid provided to assure the tyrant Hosni Mubaraks existence. Who at anytime can claim that he is barring the Muslim Brotherhood power, though with El Bardei in the picture and now officially endorsed by the opposition this situation has momentum for real change. Though obviously the US will not allow democracy to take place and push for free elections in Egypt.

What cannot be stressed though is that Israel just managed to push away the only Islamic ally it had in Turkey.

Hosni Mubarak has been in power for over 20 years now, tolerated and supported by the US through its "he's a son of a bitch but our son of a bitch" foreign policy. The US sends almost the same amount of monetary aid to Egypt as it sends to Israel.

So much for fostering democracy around the world.

Egypt has the longest running "State of Emergency rule" for 27 years.

Hosni Mubarak promised light steps towards democracy back when Bush was about bringing freedom and shit to the Middle East.

But Hosni Mubarak effectively convinced the US that democracy will bring the wrong kind of democracy, like the election of Hamas in Palestine. Never mind that he is basically keeping a choke hold and only pushing more people into extremism, the American administration was convinced.

Furthering the continued rule of despotic and oppressive dictatorial regimes in the Middle East. Hosni Mubarak is currently breeding his son for continued rule.