Happy First of May (Labor Day for most of the world)!!!! The Wobblies Live! If you do not know who the Wobblies were, you should!
The Armenian Parliament has rejected the bid by Nikol Pashinyan to become the country’s next Prime Minister, even though Pashinyan ran unopposed. Pashinyan was defiant as he called for a general strike to oppose the Parliament’s decision:
“We will block the streets, the airports, the metro, the railway, everything that can be blocked….If everyone participates in a total act of civil disobedience, this will be a total victory of the people of Armenia. Our struggle is a struggle of non-violence, it is a peaceful act of civil disobedience.”
Pashinyan’s party, Yelk (“Way Out”), only has nine seats in the Parliament of 105 seats, so he is bargaining from a weak technical position. But sentiment in the streets of Armenia seem to favor him overwhelmingly. We will see if the dominant Republican Party (which has 58 seats in the Parliament) will cede power. If not, then a snap election must be called in seven days according to the Armenian constitution.
Protests in Armenia
There have been many visits by military advisers from Israel to the US in recent weeks, and last week Gen. Joseph Votel, Commander of US Central Command, made a visit to Israel and met with Israel’s General Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. It was a curious visit since Israel falls into the US European Command, not US Central Command. But Votel went on to visit Syria and unquestionably he met with Israel’s military commanders to assess Iran’s growing influence in Syria and Iraq. The visits, coupled with Israeli attacks on Iranian military bases in Syria and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech on the Iranian nuclear program, suggest that something is brewing. The Iranians have stated that they will respond to any Israeli “aggression” against Iranian interests in Syria.
World Politics News 
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