Is that supposed to make us feel better? It sure doesn't seem to be working with the UN (gasp!)
Well, at least now there is a working model for Israel to follow. Actually, they could just drive all of their "Palestinians" into Syria.
The Nika Riots of Byzantium. Stadiums come in handy, the ultimate in crowd control.
On January 13, 532 a tense and angry populace arrived at the Hippodrome for the races. The Hippodrome was next to the palace complex and thus Justinian could watch from the safety of his box in the palace and preside over the races. From the start the crowd had been hurling insults at Justinian. By the end of the day, at race 22, the partisan chants had changed from "Blue" or "Green" to a unified Nίκα ("Nika", meaning "Win!" or "Conquer!"), and the crowds broke out and began to assault the palace. For the next five days the palace was under virtual siege. The fires that started during the tumult resulted in the destruction of much of the city.
Justinian, in despair, considered fleeing, but his wife Theodora is said to have dissuaded him, saying, "Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss. Never will I see the day when I am not saluted as empress."
The rioters regrouped in the Hippodrome. Imperial troops attacked. Gathered together and with no route open to escape the stadium, about thirty thousand rioters were reportedly killed.
Where is the _resident? Oh yeah, out campaigning. Who will he blame this one upon?
Syria is working up to a major and typically Syrian slaughter and our own kenyan president will be quietly or maybe not so quietly satisfied that Assad is “taking care of business.” That is the one chapter of the “Arab Spring” that we should be supporting and, of course, we are once again on the other side. We support and apparently triggered the insurrections in the other Arab states that appear to be Islamist uprisings against more or less secular governments. In Syria the uprising is against the pro-Iranian government and therefore our own government supports its Iranian ally.