Africa's February may be a landmark month ...

Bahrain's streets flooded with protesters 

Egypt's revolution, still tenuous, still dangerous, appears to not be the only such hot spot in Africa and the Middle East. Yemen and Iran, Libya and Algeria, Bahrain and beyond. Twenty protesters killed in Libya, others last night in Bahrain.

In Yemen, pro and anti-government protesters liven the debate.

The spillover from such unrest is likely to be global and significant. Bahrain looks to be troublesome as protesters demonstrate peacefully and riot police attack them. Deaths and injuries, lying government, haves and haven'ts, privileged and the voiceless.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Hardline Iranian lawmakers called on Tuesday (15 FEB) for the country's opposition leaders to face trial and be put to death, a day after clashes between opposition protesters and security forces left one person dead and dozens injured.

Iran protests continue to grow as thousands

of Iranians gathered in several Tehran

locations to participate in a

solidarity rally with Egypt and

Tunisia, officials said.

Speculations over what it all means floods the news. The collapse of stable circumstance, we're warned by some means the rise of radical Islamic regimes. The turmoil in Bahrain perhaps threatens the security of the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet based there. The Islamic brotherhood in Egypt will perhaps undo years of progress. Dire warnings abound. Few mention that people who've been deprived a voice in their own country's destiny are being given a chance. People who have been robbed by their governments are given a chance to change things. People who have been unfairly imprisoned will be able to breath freely, at least for now.

Notice in the photo, in Iran, protesters participate in solidarity rally with Egypt and Tunisia. Against Mubarak!

Friday morning, Feb 18, thousands in the square in Cairo, strikes continue, and the death count in Bahrain is up to six.

Such upheaval never goes smoothly or quickly.  Recovery will take decades, at least.

Regardless of the outcome, at least for now, some are achieving a little freedom, a little justice, and perhaps most important, a little hope.