I have been so caught up in things both public and private that I just couldn't believe how much time has passed since my last posting. The private will remain private, it was both good and bad. However the public events are almost beyond belief.
Who would have thought that in a matter of a few weeks the Mid East and Northern Africa would be a whole different place than it had been for centuries. Centuries? Well the names changed over time, the weapons and specific threats changed but for the most part for millennia the area from Jordan all the way to Tunisia remained under one kind of dictatorship or the other. Pharaohs, tribal chiefs, kings, military strong men ruled a vast area united by similar language, religion and in later decades, oil and feelings varying from distrust to outright hatred of the only democracy in the region.
And the changes have been - for the most part, Libya excluded - peaceful pressure exerted by hundreds of thousands of under 30's - hoards of young people who have found out about the rest of the world through the new technology. And, did you notice it was not only men- thousands of women joined the protesters. Somehow that really surprised me since the 'usual' demonstrations in the Mid East and other Muslim countries seemed to be all male. I am wondering if the men have finally realized that women are people also? Or has the Internet and it's related technology exposed women in these Muslim countries to a whole new world and they are demanding their share?
So far the changes seem for the betterment of the people of the countries involved, and hopefully for the world at large. What I am now wondering is if the 'interim' governments will follow through with promises or will we soon see just another repressive wave of governments? In the meanwhile, stay tuned to CNN along with me.
