Protests Spread Beyond the Arab World

CNN is reporting this morning that the protests that began in Egypt have now spread to other countries. In Bahrain, calls for a constitutional monarchy have grown to become a demonstration against the royal family itself. Iranian anti-government protests have rapidly escalated in violence. Rioters in Libya have begun demanding the release of political prisoners while in Yemen, student-lead appeals for university reform turned into a rock-throwing clash between government supporters and detractors.


However, this ground swelling of activism is not restricted to just the Arab world:

Uganda: Unrest in the capital city of Kampala broke out when it was learned that Russian model Irina Shayk would be the on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition over local favorite Brooklyn Decker.

Canada: Since Sunday, unrest has been growing across the world's second largest country after national treasure Justin Bieber did not win the Grammy for Best New Artist.Canadians are urged not to buy any CD's of winner Esperanza Spalding.

Paraguay: Protesters have taken to the streets after national broadcaster ParaVT dropped reality TV show "Keeping Up With the Kardasians" from their line-up. President Fernando Lugo has appealed to the citizens for calm by promising make Season 1 on DVD available for free through a national account on Amazon.

Taiwan: The sudden appeal of "McWeddings" in Hong Kong has brought about a surprising call to re-integrate with Mainland China in order to participate in the inexpensive "burger and fries" ceremonies.

Belgium: The DVD release of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's most recent film "The Tooth Fairy" has sparked riots at Blockbuster outlets in Brussels and Antwerp as film fans urge the former wrestler to return to action movies. "A nation with heroes like Jean Claude Van Damme know all too well the heartache of a film star who turns his back on his milieu and resorts to banal family comedies," said Prime Minister Yves Leterme. "I call upon The Rock to star in The Scorpion King III or Doom II or even Walking Tall 2: Walking Taller."

Sparta: Exercise fanatics in this normally quiet Greek region have taken to the street demanding that personal trainers in North America stop using the term "The 300 Workout". Oiled-torso men wearing loincloths and not much else have been seen swinging kettle balls and doing jumping lunges in an effort to claim this grueling fitness program is theirs alone.