Welcome to Libya...

January 17th, 2011. Today is the fourth day of rioting and protest across several cities in Libya. The frustrations of the Libyan people over a failing government subsidized housing plan for the poor has spilled out onto the streets of Beida, the third-largest city in Libya, Darna, Zuwara, Zawiya, Tajoorah, Bayda, and Benghazi. It seems that after the successful revolution in Tunisia, people across the Arab world are getting similar ideas. There have been reports of activists in Libya breaking into and taking over hundreds of housing units. The Libyan people are certainly angry. Muammar al-Gaddafi
has issued statements over his grief at the fall of Ben Ali's regime in Tunisia. Many speculate he fears a similar occurance in his own country. There has been rumors of mass internet censorship accross the country, and it has been confirmed that YouTube.com has been censored in order to suppress protest videos such as these ones. There has been little media coverage of the events in Libya. Do the Libyan people want a democracy? Will they fight for it as hard as the Tunisians? Only time will tell.