Notations On our World (weekend edition part II): On Turkey, @Malaysia, @BRICS & #Zimbabwe

Turkish Police @ Zaman HQ 

As our team just finished the latest on our #Americas watch, we have also been assessing our World over a very challenging 24 hours in our World which we will be assessing.

The first profound challenge we've been witness to has been the continued attack on Freedom of the Press in Turkey.    On orders of Istanbul Prosecutors, the Daily +Zaman Gazetesi was taken over by the police:

The world was witness to protesters being tear-gassed as the Police raided the offices.  It is part of a concerted effort by the Turkish Government to suppress decent under its' policy of fighting the separatist PKK since Mr. Edrogan abrogated the peace treaty with the Kurds.   It is an on-going developing story as we went to press.

Robert Mugabe with his Birthday cake 

Beyond Turkey, we had been assessing another country of focus this week:  Zimbabwe.   The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, turned 92:    

Our team agreed with the characterization by the opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change, that it was "obscene".   The cake was 92 Kilograms, 50 heads of Cattle were slaughtered and some 800,000 dollars was spent on the birthday celebration.    This is as the country continues to be suffering from a prolonged drought, civil servants cannot get paid and the estimated unemployment is around 80%.    Mr. Mugabe latest' antics was to nationalize the diamond mines--and his latest antics was to threaten a reporter by punching him to the ground for daring to suggest that he should retire.    We have also been assessing the latest out of Malaysia (a member of our "NASIIM" group we're studying) on the increased repression by the Malaysian Government as the corruption allegations against the Prime Minister continues to grow--there allegded corruption is now around 1.1 Billion Dollars.

One more focus for us has been @BRICS.      We have been assessing the student protests in India as we captured this by the NDTv's Barka Dutt:

  

This is also a developing story and his eloquence and bravery is quite remarkable.      This is a China is in the midst of the annual meeting of its' Parliament--The National People's Congress.   Most of the decisions have already been made--but what is remarkable is a tacit acknowledgement of what the Chinese Premier has said is the "New Normal"--a slowdown as cutbacks loom in State Enterprises and there seems to be a major overhaul of the top leadership in the country.     We are also continuing to assess how Brazil seems to be falling apart politically especially as former President Lula was detained especially as Rio 2016 is before us--and as Zika continues to take a profound toll on the Country.     South Africa is also in the midst of profound challenges as well as underscored by the protests against Jacob Zuma.

It is indeed quite a challenging World.......

Notations On Our World (WeekEnd Edition Part 1): On the latest on @GOP, @RealDonald Trump & Other Thoughts

As the United States was witness to Super Tuesday, Super Saturday was also held on Saturday March 5 2016 here in the United States.    Kansas, Maine, Kentucky, Nebraska along with Louisana voted in both Democratic and Republican Primaries.

Senator Cruz won Kansas and Maine and maintained some momentum on the delegate count.   Once again, Senator Rubio did not have a good night on all fronts as he apparently is betting on Florida as the Orlando Sentinel came out for him.   There was some analysis that said that Mitt Romney's speech somehow helped Senator Cruz as Senator Cruz underscored how he is fully prepared with his plan.   One interesting highlight of Senator Cruz' interview was his answer about nuclear accidents because his plans call for elimination of the Department of the Energy.   He said that such responsibilities will be transferred to other Federal Agencies as part of his quest to save 500 Billion Dollars.

The evening culminated with Mr. Trump holding an improtu news conference at one of his properties in Florida.   As he was being thankful to the people of Kentucky and Louisana, he continued with put downs for Senator Cruz by calling him a liar and by calling upon Marco Rubio to quit.   He called the Media the most dishonest people on the face of the planet and directly addressed the issue of Torture that he had called for and thereafter backtracked by noting that he would abide by the laws.  His rationale was   that #Daesh was not playing by the rules and as such Water Boarding and other illegal acts must be allowed to proceed.   He said he would "expand" the laws as some of the audience cheered him on.    He also talked about the Iran Deal and committed to getting to the bottom of the Levinson Case--who is still missing as he criticized the Iran Deal and how Iran got 100 Billion with nothing in return.    

During the same news conference, he touted his very large event in Florida.    The +The Sydney Morning Herald   reported on it:

Echoes of fascism as Trump demands pledge at rally

12:52pm | Analysis: As Florida rally reached a crescendo, Republican frontrunner told crowd to salute and vote for him "no matter what".

This is the view from the World on it.    In addition, someone asked about The Levinson Case.    He also touted the fact that he is self-funding his campaign.      What was interesting was how John Oliver de bunked the myth of Mr. Trump's comments that our team commented on.     Beyond the Media Put down and the comments at hand, what has been of concern is what Mr. Trump has said about people who have railed against him.      There have been reports that the Ricketts has been bankrolling an anti-Trump effort and Mr. Trump has said for them to "watch it".      He also had the same view towards The Speaker of the House earlier.    

Challenging times indeed......

The Friday Musical Interlude: Shakatak Plays Invitation

Welcome to Friday here in #Outsiders with this selection we've chosen from our artist of the week: Shatakak &   invitation: