Ready for Spring!

The day of Arcade's 40th Annual Winterfest celebration was one of the snowiest, windiest we've had. It lived up to it's name. It was very appropriate for Winterfest. There were even snow sculptures this year, the first time they've had those in 5 or 6 years. That was good to see.

Now, however, I am ready for the end of winter weather. As much as I really do like snow, I'm just tired of the very cold winter we've had. More days in the teens or below than I remember for a while. But it has been pretty to look at.

Tunisia, then Egypt, perhaps Libya shortly. What next?

On Saturday, January 15, a day after Tunisia's president was forced into exile by massive street demonstrations, the Middle East was still reeling, with calls for copycat protests reverberating across the Internet, in cafés and on street corners as far afield as Jordan and Yemen. For the first time in the history of a part of the world long calcified by autocratic rule, a dictator had been forced from office by a popular revolt, and it was all broadcast live on television

On February 11, 2011, Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak resigned after weeks of protest in Cairo and other cities. People gathered in Tharir Square in Cairo and refused to leave until Mubarak stepped down, which he finally did. He had been in charge of Egypt for 30 years. I heard it said that 2/11 was like our 9/11 (but only in the sense that things took a life-changing turn on that day, I would say)

How it looks like a similar revolt of the people is happening in Libya to force Col. Moammar Gadhafi to step down. He has been in power since a bloodless coup in 1969. It's hard to tell today how the protests will turn out.
Feb 14, 2011, three days after the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, calls went out on Facebook for peaceful demonstrations in Libya against Gadhafi.
Feb 16, Roughly 200 protesters took to the streets in the coastal city of Benghazi to show support for lawyer and human rights activist Fathi Terbil, according to witnesses. The government announced it was nothing serious.
Feb 17, State-run media reported that the government released 110 political prisoners and that a committee would be convened to consider major changes to the government. Calls were posted on websites for a "Day of Rage" on what is the five-year anniversary of an incident in which security forces killed at least a dozen protesters.
Feb 19, Protests continued to turn violent, however the death and injury toll is unclear. Witnesses said protests have erupted in cities across the country.
Feb 21, Early Monday morning, Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi appeared on state television to warn demonstrators that if their protests do not subside, the country could fall into a civil war. Late this afternoon, The Arab League announced it will hold an urgent summit Tuesday about Libya, Egypt's official news agency reported.

Then there's Wisconsin, where the governor is trying to end collective bargaining of the state's public employees. Massive protests are going on there as well and the Democratic legislators have left the state to prevent the legislature from having a quorum to pass the bill that would enforce this.

To me, the demonstrations in Wisconsin by the affected people and their supporters, don't look a whole lot different from the protests in Tunisia, Egypt & Libya. They are all protesting for what they consider their rights which the government is either trying to take away or not recognizing. Hmm. Wonder what state might be next.