A released FAA investigation describes how in October last year, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) deliberately landed his plane on a closed runway, and then caused the plane to "hop" over terrified construction workers and their vehicles. More recently, Senator Inhofe has taken to the Senate floor in praise of his friend (and friend of C Street), deposed Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo. [Previously, previously]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on Apr 13, 2011 - 81 comments

Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma.
posted by homunculus on Dec 9, 2007 - 32 comments

Risking all: the Burmese jokers who laugh in the face of danger. In Burma (Myanmar), comedians are targets in the junta's war on words. [Via BB.] [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Oct 17, 2007 - 23 comments

"Dictatorships are not hamstrung by the preferences of voters for, say, a pervasive welfare state," says Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute. Unless we abandon welfare programs, he suggests, the free world might be overwhelmed by the staggering efficiency of free-market totalitarianism. Is it just me, or have conservatives been waxing poetic about the benefits of dictatorship lately?
posted by verb on Jun 1, 2007 - 94 comments

Some good news! The greatest problem Africa faces is bad government. When the President of Togo died earlier this month, the constitution dictated that power should go to the head of Parliament, until democratic elections could take place. The army expressed their regret that this couldn't happen, since the head of Parliament was out of the country. This was due to the army closing all the borders. They instead gave power to the ex-President's son, and altered the constitution to remove any reference to presidential elections. Now, it looks like progress is being made through protest and peer-pressure.
posted by Pretty_Generic on Feb 22, 2005 - 9 comments