Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Noticing the Violence

2311 GMT: An activist with extensive contacts in Damascus has given EA these videos, reportedly showing protests "in Shahbandar square in the heart of Damascus just a few meters from Sabaa Bahrat square," approximately here. There are, according to the activist, only 500 meters between the squares.

Protests in the center of Damascus are always significant, and this appears to be a significant protest, in a significant area.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Teenager's Death for the New Year

Claimed footage of the moment that Bahraini security forces opened fire today on the funeral procession of 16-year-old Sayed Hashim (see 1530 GMT)

See also Bahrain (and Beyond) Opinion: Does Sayed Hashim's Death Matter?
Happy New Year: 10 Predictions for 2012 --- From US Election to Syria to No War With Iran to EA WorldView
A Resolution for a 2012 WorldView: A Global Community Built On Communication, Not Conflict
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protesting, Filming, Dying

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2115 GMT: Video from Bahrain today of security forces chasing a young man and finally shooting at him:

2100 GMT: 1954 GMT: A mass demonstration in the Qosour section of Homs in Syria denounces the "Tyrant who murders his own people":

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Happy New Year: 10 Predictions for 2012 --- From US Election to Syria to No War With Iran to EA WorldView

A Reliable Prediction? Right to Left: Tunisia's Ben Ali, Egypt's Mubarak, Libya's Qaddafi, Yemen's Saleh, Syria's Assad, Iran's Khamenei

See also A Resolution for a 2012 WorldView: A Global Community Built On Communication, Not Conflict
Happy New Year: Rap News Presents #Occupy2012

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President Obama will call on the international community to intervene in Syria. He may not be the loudest public voice, but he and his team will be working the diplomatic backchannels in Europe and the Middle East hard. He wants to avoid war in Iran, but not so secretly, he is rooting for the domino theory to hold with the fall of the regime in Tehran. He will sell more arms to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to pacify their unease with his policies, while preparing a backup plan if there is no movement in the Islamic Republic.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protesting, Filming, Dying

1934 GMT: Two Syrian opposition parties have signed an agreement in Cairo, promising to unite against Assad. The interesting part of the agreement - the two parties, the Syrian National Co-ordination Committee and the Syrian National Council, are committed to resist international intervention. But as Al Jazeera points out, many in the opposition are in favor of intervention:

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests Beyond the Observers --- Set 2

Halfaya in Hama

Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests Beyond the Observers
Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Futility of the Observers?

Deir Ez Zor

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests Beyond the Observers

March to Assi Square in Hama

See also Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests Beyond the Observers --- Set 2
Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Futility of the Observers?

Bab Amro in Homs

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Futility of the Observers?

2049 GMT: There are impressive videos pouring in, and along with eyewitness reports, they show that protests continue into the night across Syria. So far, one of our favorite videos shows a protest taking place, almost completely in the dark after power was cut, in Khirbat al Ghazalah, Daraa. But perhaps the best-lit video shows a large protest in Irbeen, an important suburb of Damascus, and is posted by the Coalition of Free Damascenes For Peaceful Change:

2044 GMT: Two videos claim to show the moment security forces opened fire on protesters in Daraya, a Damascus suburb:

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The Real Net Effect: The Strange Cases of The Cyber-Hoaxers in Syria and Uzbekistan (Doherty & Kendzior)

Tom MacMaster, the real "Gay Girl in Damascus"On July 28, 2011, a 32-year-old Uzbek woman studying in Munich named Gulsumoy Abdujalilova joined Facebook, except she didn't. Then, earlier this month, after horrific abuses from the Uzbekistan government, she tragically and spectacularly took her own life, except she didn't, because she had never existed in the first place.

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Syria Special: Observing the Observers --- Evidence of The Abuses in Homs

Residents of Homs show observers the body of a 5-year-old child killed by gunfire

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Looking at the evidence of the last two days, witnessed by the observers on the ground, the situation in Syria is unsustainable. This evidence clearly implicates the Assad regime, but regardless of who is at fault, this situation is clearly a humanitarian disaster. Contrary to earlier statements by Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, nothing about what we have posted above is "reassuring."

To borrow from the Latin phrase, "who is watching the watchers?" As it turns out, thanks to the citizen journalists, the Arab League will now find it very difficult to create their own narrative without mentioning these scenes.

And as these amateur videos spread through the media, the Arab League is likely to feel more international pressure to finally act to end the crisis in Syria.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Will Arab League Observers Make a Difference?

Protesters in front of the headquarters of the ruling Ba'ath Party in the Syrian capital Damascus last night

See also Syria Special: Who is Observing What, and What Will Happen When They Finish?
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Pounding Homs

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2108 GMT: Citizen journalist Khaled Abu Salah confronts the head of the Arab League observers, Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi:

Another video of the chaos and gunfire surrounding the observers in Bab Sbaa in Homs:

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