Mainly just bits from the media that I considered nice or interesting in some way. Unless stated otherwise, the quotes are from Reuters live coverage.
"We have done the difficult part. We have taken over the street," said protester Walid Abdel-Muttaleb, 38. "Now it's up to the intellectuals and politicians to come together and provide us with alternatives." - Well said! Long live the distribution of roles. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/01/us-egypt-idUSTRE70O3UW20110201)
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Google has launched a service people in Egypt can use to send Twitter messages without an Internet connection. Apparently you dial a phone number and leave a voicemail, which then becomes a Tweet. - Epic Google win. Whatever their reasons, I might even forgive them the China issues some time ago.
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"Pres. Mubarak has closed down internet, sms, banks, schools, universities, courts, now the trains in all of #Egypt.'Stability?'" - Says it all.
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Revolts in Egypt and Tunisia have struck a blow against al Qaeda's call to violence as a means of overthrowing autocratic governments, showing "people power" to be a more effective weapon, writes Reuters security correspondent William Maclean in a new analysis. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/us-egypt-alqaeda-idUSTRE70U3PM20110131)
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Political commentators expressed shock at how the United States as well as its major European allies appeared to be ready to dump a staunch strategic ally of three decades, simply to conform to the current ideology of political correctness. - What is this I don't even...Political correctness? Niiice. (And there are many more goodies to quote in this article... http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/us-egypt-israel-usa-idUSTRE70U53720110131 - Obama really has it hard, doesn't he? Nobody's ever content.)
Al Jazeera bellow:
There isn't exactly a lot of new information in this article, but you have to love the sharp irony: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/20112171917741164.html
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Amongst them is a 33-year-old Jewish Israeli woman who lives in Tel Aviv and works in education. When asked if anti-government protests - which began in Tunisia and have spread to Egypt, Jordan and Yemen - might erupt here, she answered: "We're far from it. And I say this in happiness and sadness."
She explained that watching events unfold in Tunisia made her value Israel's stability. But, she added, "I think the appropriate thing here would be a revolution."
Why?
What the interviewee calls Israel's "hidden dictatorships" - political wheeling and dealing that gives the religious right a disproportionate amount of power and allows the Jewish settlers to keep on building illegally.
She explained that watching events unfold in Tunisia made her value Israel's stability. But, she added, "I think the appropriate thing here would be a revolution."
Why?
What the interviewee calls Israel's "hidden dictatorships" - political wheeling and dealing that gives the religious right a disproportionate amount of power and allows the Jewish settlers to keep on building illegally.
While some Israelis have expressed concern that extremist groups could use the unrest in Egypt as an opportunity to seize control of the country, Nabat remarked: "I think the young guys with Twitter and Facebook won't let it happen. They aren't suckers."
A middle-aged Muslim housewife joined the conversation, adding: "I hope there won't be a mess here. That's all I hope."
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"It may not be tomorrow or a few months but I'm sure it is like dominoes. Before there was always an ideology - pan-Arabism or being an enemy of Israel. But now people are simply looking for their personal freedom, for food, education, a good life. The days of ideology are over." - I just wish he was right. (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/2011129132243891877.html)
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The first is the extent to which successive US administrations have consistently betrayed a lack of faith in the efficacy of America's democratic creed, the extent to which the US government has denied the essentially moderating influence of democratic accountability to the people, whether in Algeria in 1992 or in Palestine in 2006. The failure of the US to uphold its stated commitment to democratic values therefore goes beyond a simple surface hypocrisy, beyond the exigencies of great-power interests, to suggest a fundamental lack of belief in democracy as a means of promoting enlightened, long-term US interests in peace and stability. (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/201113191947648929.html)
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