So is Qadhafi responsible for Lockerbie or isn't he? Seems like opinions were different sometime ago.

* In a world of perception management(the world we live in) - it doesn't matter if he was responsible or not(I'd wager my money that he wasn't) . What matters is the perception of world events, not what actually happens. Lockerbie was likely held over his head - and the recent decision to release the purported bomber likely had an amount of subterfuge to it.

Are citizens across the Arab world protesting by the hundreds of thousands or aren't they? Are most Arab leaders Despots or no? Is thinking that their citizens are reacting to some Machiavellian plot concocted by Western governments and the illegal State of Israel any more helpful than thinking that they are reacting to the Suns recent hyperactivity? Guess, we'll have to wait and see.

* Despot or not - at the gut level - citizens are reacting to increased food prices and the end to subsidies for things they need to survive. Despots can survive a long time if at least a portion of the population can eat - people act out of self preservation instincts. Likely what we are seeing are events that are naturally born from a grass roots struggle combined with outside manipulation. Trading one form of despotism for a more 21st century version is similar to trading a Bush for an Obama - substantively how this plays out is more important than the cosmetic calls for change. How the vacuum is filled is of utmost importance to the discussion.

I guess its easy to think that people cannot act on their own for their greater good unless they are manipulated by some overlord with a vested interest; if that has been ones only experience. But revolutionaries have been dying in the streets of the 3rd Worlds for decades, so to a 3rd World'r it is the behavior of the 1st Worlds citizens thats remarkable, and not in a good way.

* People can act for their own greater good, but to disregard how revolutions, rebellions, etc. can be gamed IMO is just naive and dangerous at this point of history. I'm only speaking from a well-founded sense of distrust about the perception of what is going on - what in the past 10 years would cause a thinking person NOT to be questioning? I'm not suggesting I have come to a conclusion as to what I am bringing up or that I am right - I'm just speaking from my gut to add to this discussion. If I come off as "conspiratorial" to suggest people be extra vigilant when deciding whether events are what they are claimed to be, then so be it.