Uzbek President Ignores End of Term

Islam Karimov

Uzbek dictator...I mean...president Islam Karimov's term expired today, and nothing happened. The day passed without incident, not surprising considering that no election had been held to choose a new president. Karimov looks to be exploiting and obscure provision in the Uzbek constitution which states that elections are to be held in December of the year that the president's term ends. Mr. Karimov's term technically ended in 2007, so no elections have to be held until this December - which means that Karimov gets another full year in power before standing for "re-election" (which he will probably do). I cant say I'm particularly surprised by this move, but I do find it somewhat amusing to watch the world's despots come up with more and more creative ways to legitimize their power grabs.

Click here to read an AP report on the subject.

Uzbekistan

Tags: Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan, Uzbek , Central Asia , Eurasia , Former USSR, Democracy

PERSONS OF THE WEEK: Dec. 31, 2006 - Jan. 6, 2007

You don't always have to be a great political leader to rock the world. You don't have to be popular or widely respected either. You do, however, have to have determination, grit, and motivation. The football team from Boise State University exhibited all three of those qualities last Sunday, when they completed an undefeated season by beating the heavily favored Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. None of the experts gave the Broncos a chance to win the game, even though they had a better record than the Sooners. After all, Boise State played in the not-so-heralded Western Athletic Conference (WAC), while Oklahoma played against "higher quality" opponents in the storied "Big Twelve" Conference - there really was no comparison. Luckily, such elitist psychobabble was soundly put to rest when the blue-collar Broncos shredded the blue-blooded Sooners.

I could spend all night talking about the ramifications the game had on the college football world, but this isn't really about football. Boise State didn't inspire the nation because of their proficiency with a leather ball - they inspired a nation because they proved that "little guys" really can conquer the world. We're always being told that only the rich and good-looking can succeed, but the truth is that anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it. Boise State refused to believe the hype, and the rest of us should learn a lesson from that.


P.S. I hope that you will all join me in cheering on the Florida Gators in tomorrow's "national championship" game. If they beat undefeated Ohio State, Boise State will be the only unbeaten team in the country - and a lot of people will start using the phrase "the national champion Boise State Broncos".

Tags: Boise State, College Football, Broncos, Person of the Week, Football, Sports

Person of the Week - 2006 Year in Review

As we ring in what will hopefully be a prosperous 2007, let us take a look back at some of the people who rocked the world in 2006. So, without futher ado, here are the names of those who earned this blog's Person of the Week award over the past year.

Click on any name to read their Person of the Week Column

Jan. 1-7: Ariel Sharon - Israeli Prime Minister
Jan. 8-14: Samuel Alito - Supreme Court Nominee
Jan. 15-21: Michelle Bachelet - Chilean President-Elect
Jan. 22-29: Stephen Harper - Canadian Prime Minister-Elect
Jan. 30 - Feb. 5: Anders Fogh Rasmussen - Danish Prime Minister
Feb 6-12: Jimmy Carter - Former U.S. President
Feb. 13-19: Zhang Dan - Chinese Figure Skater
Feb 20-26: Ismail Haniyeh -Palestinian Prime Minister-Elect
Feb. 27- March 4: Alexander Kozulin - Belorussian Presidential Candidate
March 5-11: Thaksin Shinawatra - Thai Prime Minister
March 12-18: Alexander Lukashenko - Belorussian Dictator
March 19-25: Alexander Milikevich and Alexander Kozulin - Belorussian Opposition Leaders
March 26-April 1: Jill Caroll - American Jounalist, Hostage in Iraq
April 2-8: Gyanendra - King of Nepal
April 9-15: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - President of Iran
April 16-22: Pope Benedict XVI
April 23-29: Adam Kidron - Music Producer (for his Spanish "Star Spangled Banner")
April 30-May 6: Patrick Kennedy - Rhode Island Congressman
May 7-13: Shimon Peres - Isreali Deputy Prime Minister
May 14-20: George W. Bush - U.S. President
May 21-27: Milo Đukanović - Prime Minister of Montenegro
May 28-June 3: Xanana Gusmao - East Timorese President
June 4-10: The tipster who gave up Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi
June 11-17: Karl Rove - U.S. Political Strategist
June 18-24: Evo Morales - Bolivian President
June 26-July 1: Ehud Olmert, Amir Petetz, and Gilad Shalit - Israeli Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and soldier kidnapped by Hamas.
July 2-8: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - Defeated Mexican Presidential Candidate
July 9-15: Hassan Nasrallah - Leader of Hezbollah
July 16-22: Newt Gingrich - Former Speaker of the U.S. House
July 23-29: Condoleeza Rice - U.S. Secretary of State
July 30-Aug. 5: Fidel Castro - Cuban Dictator
Aug. 6-12: Ned Lamont - U.S. Senate Candidate (D-CT)
Aug. 13-19: John Mark Carr - Pretender to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey
Aug. 20-26: Mike Brown - Astronomer, "Planet Hunter"
Aug. 27-Sep. 2 - Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - Defeated Mexican Presidential Candidate
Sep. 3-9: Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - British Prime Minister and Chancellor
Sep. 10-16: Pope Benedict XVI
Sep. 17-23: Sonthi Boonyaratglin - Thai Coup Leader
Sep. 24-30: Mark Foley - Disgraced Former U.S. Congressman (R-FL)
Oct. 1-7: Mike Gallagher - U.S. Radio Talk Show Host
Oct. 8-14: Kim Jong Il and Ban Ki-moon -North Korean Dictator and U.N. Secretary General-Elect
Oct. 22-28: Barack Obama - U.S. Senator (D-IL)
Oct. 29-Nov. 4: John Kerry - U.S. Senator (D-MA)
Nov. 5-11: Jim Webb - U.S. Senator-Elect (D-VA)
Nov. 12-18: Steny Hoyer - U.S. House Majority Leader-Elect
Nov. 19-25: Alexander Litvinenko - Poisoned Former KGB Agent
Nov. 26-Dec. 2: No Award
Dec. 3-10: No Award
Dec 10-16: No Award
Dec 17-23: Meles Zenawi - President of Ethiopia
Dec. 24-30: Gerald Ford - Former U.S. President

Persons of the Year: Mahhoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar al-Assad, and Hassan Nasrallah - Leaders of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah

Thank you all for taking this journey with me, and I hope that we will continue it together in the year to come.

PERSON OF THE WEEK - Dec. 24-30, 2006

Sorry for being late with this weeks choice. This was probably the biggest no-brainer in the history of Person of the Week, and I am glad to have been able to give this award to this man at least once. I am not going to write a lengthy column eulogizing President Ford - I've already done that, and so has every other conservative blogger worth his salt. However, I would be dishonest if I chose anyone other than our late, great 38th President as ConservaGlobe's Person of the Week.