Yemen and Mark TwainismsAs Mark Twain said – Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
Sort of reminds me of some of the news reports on Yemen. I am sure not all is perfect but is the cup half full or half empty?
Here is what SABA has reported – different from some of the other news wire feeds.
Massive rally in Sana'a backs President Saleh's initiative
[01/March/2011]
SANA'A, March 01 (Saba) - Hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered on Tuesday at Tahrir Saquare in the Capital Sana'a backing up President Ali Abdullah Saleh's initiative for continuing dialog in order to prepare a comprehensive national dialog, rejecting all forms of chaos, vandalism and violence.
The rally emphasized the need to strengthen the national alignment in order to preserve security, stability and public interests as well as supporting principles of the national and constitutional legitimacy.
The march, attended by State Minister and Capital Mayor Abdul-Rahman al-Akwa'a , a number of parliamentarians ,members of Shura Council and leaders of political parties and organizations carried the national flags and banners that strongly condemn chaos, violence and strife, stressing the importance of cooperation in all efforts for the success of the comprehensive national dialog.
The banners read "no to the makers of crises and agitators," "no for troublemakers, regionalism and sectarianism,'' ''with our blood we sacrifice ourselves for Yemen.''
The participants in the march chanted slogans denouncing the acts of chaos, violence and destruction that happened in Aden governorate, rejecting the return to the Imamate and separation eras and stressed they will remain faithful to the principles of the revolution, unit and democracy.
I see that Yemen is not the only nation with a discrepancy in news reports.
Here is what JS Mineset reported, regarding Tanzania where Jim Sinclair’s company has holdings.
Dear Friends,
Tanzania is a multi-party parliamentary democracy. The latest game in the media is to select the next country that might face a call for the end to a dictatorship. As such, any speculation on politics has brought various news services into play in an attempt to break the story - whether it's accurate or not.
In a glaring example of inaccurate reporting, an unsubstantiated article published by an online intelligence service has been picked up by wire services.
In an effort to determine the actual facts, I asked Mr. Joseph Kahama, a corporate associate based in Tanzania, to check out the situation and report back to me. The following is his report:
Dear Jim
As a result of your inquiry, I took the liberty to research the conditions and here is the methodology used and the findings:
I have spoken to four credible sources in Tanzania in the last half hour and none of them have seen or heard of anything of the sort (demonstrations or attempts at the same) happening, as is the case in the Middle East!
All four credible sources that I conversed with live in different areas of Dar es Salaam and are from different social and economic backgrounds. The findings, according to their opinions, was that there has not been a single demonstration or an attempt to do the same.
What happened is the usual public political meetings that are held by the democratically constituted opposition parties as well as by the ruling party that forms the Government. These gatherings or meetings are perfectly legal and take place frequently, and usually on the weekends when people are not at work. This weekend was no different.
If there is any talk about an attempt to stage demonstrations, it is an exaggeration and possibly an agent of an opposition party trying to gain publicity.
Tanzania is peaceful and no illegal or mass demonstrations are currently taking place or have been attempted or planned.
Respectfully,
Joseph Kahama
All of this brings me back to another of Mark Twain’s quotes;
Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish.
P10