Internet In Egypt Shut Down...

[Trishntek]

daratheresa quoted:

"The regime's shock troops have certainly used "white weapons" - knives and other sharp objects, chains or other bits of metal that can maim - but there are also reports that they have used propane gas tanks, Molotov cocktails, tear gas and possibly even live ammunition."

By the use of the words, "shock troops" they would not be implying Egyptian Military,,,, or would they?

[daratheresa]

daratheresa quoted:

"The regime's shock troops have certainly used "white weapons" - knives and other sharp objects, chains or other bits of metal that can maim - but there are also reports that they have used propane gas tanks, Molotov cocktails, tear gas and possibly even live ammunition."

By the use of the words, "shock troops" they would not be implying Egyptian Military,,,, or would they?

no. military is just standing there, not intervening. not helping. not doing anything. they (mubarak supporters/employees/plainclothes police) infiltrated the crowd of peaceful protesters and just turned all of the sudden and started fucking people up left and right.

military has sworn that it will not attack the protesters at all anymore, and so far they've stuck by that. but at the same time they can't help, either.

*edit cuz i type gud, too. i'm going back to that grammar thread now.

[Trishntek]

Good! I'm just concerned about untruth or half-truths being reported without vetting.

[gyre]

Nightline doing a full hour tonight.

Media repression makes egypt look worse.

[Elderberry]

Actually, this is precisely what our constitution is set up to prevent and that Eisenhower warned us about--and for good reasons. Let's hope this friendship between the army and the people doesn't have any unintended consequences--for the people.

JK

i know.

but there are days when i'd like to see it ALL burn, just to see what would rise up out of the ashes.

(not really meant as an anti-government statement, more of an anti-everything statement.)

Learn to call it "Dada" and you might get an art grant next year.

I suppose saying something like "I'm going to watch extra porn tonight to show my solidarity for my egyptian brothers" is really, really uncalled for.

I didn't thin girls enjoyed watching porn.

JK

[Trishntek]

i know.

but there are days when i'd like to see it ALL burn, just to see what would rise up out of the ashes.

(not really meant as an anti-government statement, more of an anti-everything statement.)

Learn to call it "Dada" and you might get an art grant next year.

I suppose saying something like "I'm going to watch extra porn tonight to show my solidarity for my egyptian brothers" is really, really uncalled for.

I didn't thin girls enjoyed watching porn.

JK

Trish is a foody and watches her "porn" on the cooking channels. Only in America will you find entire networks dedicated cooking and eating,,,, makes me scratch my head. I'd rather watch news all day than observing well-fed folks filling their pie-holes and throwing it down their necks. You do know that food is just SHIT WITH BENEFITS,,,, right?

Anyway,,,,, that is her "porn" and she actually prefers to watch me watching what, JK, you and I might refer to as PORN. TMI sheeeesh,,,,, I'm so bad,,,,, and my consequential interactivity with said source of entertainment

edit: I must say though,,,,, Bitchin' Kitchen is pretty much as close to a burner's cooking program you will see. Speaking of bitchen,,,, we do have Duke's Bitchin' Burgers here in Ventura. An unsolicited plug of general information,,,, and will hold off commentary on the quisine and accoutrements of said establishment.

ahhhhhhhh fuck it,,,, i gotta go to bed,,,, zzzzzzzzzz

[cowboyangel]

Best part about this all is Israel IS SHITTING BRICKS!

Rightfully so!

I will be the first to tell all and anyone, there is no challenging the hackers of "ANONYMOUS"!

It will only be a HUGE FAIL!

right on bro! anonymous rocks! The internet is far too fucking big and dispersed for any asshat government to shut down.

[can't sit still]

There is a lot of ass-kicking going on;
http://blacklistednews.com/10-Shocking- ... 5/Y/M.html

[can't sit still]

There are huge questions floating around about just how far the revolutions will spread. Egypt first blew up in the 1977 bread riots;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Egyptian_Bread_Riots
PART of the current mess is because of rising food prices. Egypt had borrowed lots of money to subsidize food. Same for other countries in the Middle-East. There is a lot of excitement about revolution taking hold in neighboring countries;
http://www.rense.com/general92/atlast.htm
But, what about food? Assuming there was corruption and it will all go away,,,, will this free up enough money to feed everybody? What about the birth rate? What about competition with the East?
Suppose they install an egalitarian GOV. Will this resolve employment problems?
It's going to be very difficult to raise the standard of living.

The Egyptian army is generally populated by members from the ranks of the poor.... like most countries. The protesters were generally from the ranks of the poor. The rich generals told the army to fire on their poor countrymen [at the orders of israel]] and the poor soldiers refused,,,, preferring to shoot their officers instead. This is where the whole plan broke down. The soldiers were given the option of murdering their countrymen or disobeying orders.
Just as Tunisia proved to be a "roadmap" AND an object lesson, Egypt showed the roadmap to be a successful strategy. If the poor soldiers side with the poor protesters, en masse , the officers can't very well punish all of them. The worst that they can do is to confine them to barracks during the protests. That wouldn't work out too well either.
If the generals, the israelis or the Americans pick up guns and start shooting, that would set off the infantry. Another bad idea.
Now that the rank and file see a good strategy, I expect it to be used even more. This won't bring jobs and food but, it will give the people some new hope.

[daratheresa]

Now that the rank and file see a good strategy, I expect it to be used even more. This won't bring jobs and food but, it will give the people some new hope.

*applause*

i think hope is one of the key things in all of this.

[can't sit still]

Sadly, this article makes a lot of sense. Reportedly, both Tunis and Cairo were centers of sharia-compliant interest-free Islamic banking. The 2 revolts were used as an excuse for the central banks to take over the interest-free banks;
http://www.puppet99.com/?p=126

[can't sit still]

From Egypt:

Ezzedine Choukri Fishere:

Over the last few weeks, we Egyptians were in a collective roller-coaster: falling mercilessly from the heights of exhilarating hope into the abyss of deep fear, often many times during the same day. We asked ourselves: are we going to pull it off and rid ourselves from the suffocating authoritarianism? Is it possible, just by marching over Liberation Square, to overthrow a system of repression that caged our minds and souls for decades? Would we finally be able to climb out of the dark hole in which we were kept and walk the earth, free men and women? And if we can do this by standing up for our rights, can't we improve our collective lot in other areas as well?
While we were asking ourselves these questions, Israel's prime minister came out in support of President Mubarak, and I wondered whether Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to accelerate Mubarak's downfall by embracing him publicly. But then I realized that a good deal of American constituencies, worried about Israel, started to swing in favor of keeping the regime in place. I wrote to a number of Israelis and Americans whose opinions I trust, asking them what they thought of Netanyahu's position. Although many of them agreed that his statement was inappropriate, they concurred that the opinion he expressed was shared by the majority of those concerned about the future of Israel, especially in the United States. This sentiment is what really worried me.

I accept self-centeredness, but within reasonable limits. I do not expect Israel and its American supporters to think of the welfare of Egyptians first, and I long ago reconciled myself to expect an ‘Israeli angle' on every regional foreign policy issue. To a certain extent, this is how all peoples operate: thinking how the plight or fortune of others impacts on their own fate. When it comes to the concern for Israel, a concern rooted in a deep sense of threat, I'm willing to show more understanding. But there is a fundamental difference between thinking of those we love first, thinking of those we love only, and not thinking at all. Suggesting that the American position over Egypt's revolution should be conditioned by its impact on Israel's freedom of action belongs to the latter two categories.
First, Egypt's revolution has been about Egyptian affairs only, with almost no reference to foreign policy. No one was chanting death to the US or to Israel. The dominant themes were related to freedom, social justice and dignity. Egyptians who took to the streets in millions were expressing their rejection of an ossified regime which ignored their concerns for decades. It is somehow miraculous that no one tried to capitalize on the ‘Palestinian cause' or ‘anti-American' sentiments. People ignored these issues; why Israeli leaders injected themselves into the story and brought undue attention upon themselves is a mystery to me.
Second, even if the Egyptian revolution posed serious questions to Israel, is it conceivable to quell the voices of eighty-five million people and practically enslave them in order to avoid facing these questions? Shall we then support those who ordered security forces to shoot at protesters at will, killing three hundred Egyptians in two days? And how many are we prepared to kill in order to keep an unpopular ruler in place -- and for what aim? If the only answers to these questions entail supporting the moves of a right-wing government in Israel to keep a couple of isolated settlements or annex a couple of square kilometers in the West Bank, then we're talking about something morally reprehensible indeed.
Third, preemptively antagonizing a whole population is nonsensical. Policy towards Egypt is too important to be based on prejudice and stereotypes. What is happening in Egypt is not a replica of 1979 Iran or Hamas in 2006 (if its comparable to anything at all, Iran in 2009 would be the closest case). The Egyptian revolution is in large part the making of a generation that for too long suffocated under the garb of old men running Egypt according to archaic rules. Those who took to the streets do not want violence or vendetta; they want to be part of the modern world. They express a deep desire for renewal, and are doing so in peace and in diversity.
Egypt is witnessing a complete re-birth. The millions who marched to overthrow Mubarak want to revamp a hitherto sclerotic and dysfunctional public arena. This is good news for both the Arab World its neighbors and partners. Obviously there are risks involved for the US and for Israel, including a possible populist turn that would aim to fill the ‘dignity deficit' caused by Mubarak's perceived complicity with the American-Israeli agenda in the region. But these risks must be addressed with or without a revolution. In fact, this dignity deficit weighed heavily on Egyptian foreign policy during Mubarak's reign and often reduced its margin of maneuver. Modernizing Egyptian politics will necessarily address the duplicity underwriting much of its foreign policy, especially in regards to Egypt's choice of a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and its cooperation with the US, thereby allowing for far greater flexibility in its foreign policy. Egyptians want a pluralistic political system, a modern economy, an inclusive social system and a thriving cultural life. Achieving this requires integration in the world, not a fight with it; making Egyptian foreign policy more representative will make it more dignified and more reliable, not more aggressive.
Ultimately, the rebirth of Egypt is about making Egypt a normal country with normal politics and comprehensible policies. It is a reason for celebration, and if I were in the shoes of those who care most for Israel, I would whole heartedly wish Egypt Mazal Tov.