Free Republic

The rich heritage of Tunisia, maybe the only place where the Arab Spring stands a chance Modern-day Tunisians, more Westernized than most Arabs, see themselves as descendants of the great Carthaginian general who invaded Italy. The Arab Spring began in Sidi Bouzid, a small Tunisian town, at the end of 2010. In a desperate protest against the corrupt and oppressive government that had made it impossible for him to earn a living, food-cart vendor Mohamed Bouazizi stood before City Hall, doused himself with gasoline, and lit a match. His suicide seeded a revolutionary storm that swept the countryside and eventually...

President Barack Obama's last campaign was all about winning the presidency. Now his political supporters are throwing election-style house parties across the country to try to get people behind his economic stimulus plan. Obama's Organizing for America chief Mitch Stewart sent an e-mail to part of the group's e-mail list and urged them to tell their neighbors about the president's plan to save or create more than 3 million jobs. It's an early test for the ability of a network of political supporters to deliver Obama's re-election in 2012. "Join thousands of people across the country who are coming together...