Word: evens
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...shirt leaders know their popularity depends on fanning the flames of class rage. Even though some of their supporters are rich entrepreneurs who profited during Thaksin's rule, they have reached into the language of Thailand's feudal past and characterized the current political crisis as pitting the phrai against the amataya. Roughly translated, that's a conflict between the serfs and the aristocracy. Abhisit struck back on local TV: "Thailand no longer has [such] social classes. People are equal under the constitution, although they have unequal opportunities." But the underclass isn't convinced. "The poor work hard and contribute...
...global financial crisis and before his own populist reforms have had time to take full effect - would likely mean career suicide. Meantime, his reluctance to travel widely in Isaan - the impoverished northeastern farm belt where Thaksin's support is strongest - because of safety concerns makes Abhisit look even further removed from the very commoners he vowed to protect when taking office. On March 21, red-shirt protestors used gallons of their own blood to inscribe 70 meters of canvas in a gruesome display of protest art. One oft-repeated message: "The land is burning," a reference to the swidden fires...
...drafting a constitution for Libya, a move regarded for years by Muammar Gaddafi as unrevolutionary. "There must be an independent judiciary, and protection of the rights of people," Gebril says, pointing to postapartheid South Africa as a model. That would be a sharp departure from current-day Libya, where even the intellectuals who gather in Tripoli's cafés in the evenings, over water pipes and espressos, shy away from political talk. When I ask Saif how much personal freedom he wants for Libyans, he says without pause: "Everything, of course." Asked whether that includes the freedom to criticize...
Sending Mixed Messages Really standing up to Gaddafi will require confronting one of the strongest themes of his rule: opposition to the West. Despite the lifting of sanctions, Gaddafi's ban on things such as English signage remains. Even the street signs to Tripoli's international airport are in Arabic only. "In our cooperation with the U.S. and Europe, we are not serious enough, we send confusing messages," Saif says. (See "Gaddafi vs. Switzerland: The Leader's Son on What's Behind the Feud...
...have dubbed this generation the junior high generation. They love vampires, zombies, cartoons. They call home many times a day. Reading, even e-mail, is too demanding; they text people in the next room. Doesn't that sound like a 12-year...