Night(mare) in Tunisia for Longtime Dictator

Tunisia is a Mediterranean country in North Africa.  Back in 2007, Tunisian citizen-journalists and bloggers had documented the tourism/shopping sprees of the dictator's wife aboard the presidential plane to Europe and global fashion capitals. (H/t Global Voices)

In 2010, the TuniLeaks website was set up to post (WikiLeaks-released) U.S. Embassy and State Department documents candidly describing the Tunisia dictatorship.

Fascinating photo of dictator Ben Ali visiting the hospital bed of the desperate young man who set himself on fire in Dec. 2010 -- the young man didn't live long enough to learn that his act led to the overthrow of Ben Ali after nonviolent protests.

Amid the protests, Tunisian rapper El General put out this widely-circulated music video attacking Ben Ali and urging folks to join the protests. El General was arrested for it. Soon after, the dictator fled. (H/t to Steve Zunes.)

Dizzy Gillespie performs his classic jazz tune "Night in Tunisia," first recorded in 1944.