#occupy #ows #p2 #p21 #tlot #tcot #teaparty #union #iww Syrian government sets date for elections; opposition calls it ‘parody of democracy’ http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-government-sets-date-for-elections-opposition-calls-it-parody-of-democracy/2014/04/21/7c1a1585-5707-4e2e-a5f7-d4436be41ef9_story.html Syria set a date Monday for a presidential election widely expected to cement President Bashar al-Assad’s increasingly confident position at the helm of the war-torn nation. The opposition immediately dismissed the announcement of the June 3 vote as a “farce.” It came just hours after two mortar shells exploded outside parliament, killing five people according to state television, and underscored the challenges of holding an election in a country wracked by constant violence...