The day part of the Internet died: Egypt goes dark

[giblets]

The president of Yemen is supposedly going to say the same thing.

[Whoha]

Just as I would be correct in deducing that the Nazis preferred a world that would be oriented in a fashion more beneficial to Germany.

That is why they supported the MB after all.

[Dinner]

"Mainly just protesting unemployment"? Unemployment in Egypt is only ~10%. So I don't think that's the driving force here.

That's the official rate which, like in the US, is a complete lie. Also huge numbers of people "work" in made up government jobs where they don't actually have any responsibilities or do anything other then read the newspaper and drink coffee in exchange for around $1 or $2 per day. It's completely economically unproductive and designed just to be "make work". Hell, there are almost no traffic lights in most of Egypt because Mubarak wants to hire traffic cops to stand there all day directing traffic; that's how desperate they are to pretend unemployment isn't massively out of control. They need to seriously reform their economy to deregulate it and fire most of the unproductive government workers Mubarak has spent 30 years hiring for next to nothing just so he can claim unemployment isn't as bad as it really is. Yes, this means in the short run unemployment will go up as useless oafs get canned but as businesses are privatized, the number of government workers decreased, and deregulation allows for a real market economy to develop them the economy will recover. Even better when it recovers it will actually be on a solid footing. The really thorny issue is going to be when subsidies for gas and food get phased out, and they will have to be phased out, because they encourage blackmarketing (buy gas for $0.30 per gallon then stand on a street corner selling it for $4 per gallon) and it eats up a huge amount of the government's budget. Also there is absolutely no need for Egypt to have a standing military of 800,000 other then to lower unemployment artificially so get rid of most of them too so taxes can be lowered to encourage real economic growth and so the remaining budget can be redirected to actual development (like paving roads, putting in stop lights, improving schools, building highways & mass transit, etc...).

[Dinner]

It looks like Mubarak has figured out the military won't do his dirty work for him so he's unleashed goon squads on the protesters to beat and stab people. Mubarak "supporters" armed with billy clubs and knives are attacking peaceful protesters. I'd bet money that this is Mubarak's last gasp where he deliberately tries to start violence hoping to disrupt protesters and so he can claim they're the cause of violence when in fact the protesters have been remarkably peaceful for almost a week until Mubarak's goon squads showed up and started beating and stabbing people to death. No doubt Mubarak, who caused the violence, will now claim he needs to stay in power to end the violence. This is classic dictator type stuff.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41383377/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Mubarak is now reportedly using paid thugs in an attempt to put the protests down and save his dictatorship.

[SlowwHand]

Have you entered the Mubarak pool?

[MOBIUS]

It looks like Mubarak has figured out the military won't do his dirty work for him so he's unleashed goon squads on the protesters to beat and stab people. This is classic dictator type stuff.

That's because he's spent the last week stuffing the top jobs with senior military figures.

Game over till September.

[Wezil]

Moby needs to lose his Oracle status.

[Dinner]

Yemen's dictator has also been facing mass protests and one day after Mubarak promised not to run again, trying to play for time, Yemen's dictator is promising the exact same thing.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2045703,00.html

You just know that if the protesters accept that fake promise and go home then the very next day the regime's police forces will swoop in and arrest all the key leaders and many of the rank and file protesters. Then, after most of them have been locked in dark dungeon, the dictators will announce they've changed their minds and will continue their dictatorships.

[SlowwHand]

Blood in Cairo square: Mubarak backers, foes clash

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press – 2 mins ago

CAIRO – Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak charged into Cairo's central square on horses and camels brandishing whips while others rained firebombs from rooftops in what appeared to be an orchestrated assault against protesters trying to topple Egypt's leader of 30 years. Three people died and 600 were injured.

The protesters accused Mubarak's regime of unleashing a force of paid thugs and plainclothes police to crush their unprecedented 9-day-old movement, a day after the 82-year-old president refused to step down. They showed off police ID badges they said were wrested from their attackers. Some government workers said their employers ordered them into the streets.

Mustafa el-Fiqqi, a top official from the ruling National Democratic Party, told The Associated Press that businessmen connected to the ruling party were responsible for what happened.

The notion that the state may have coordinated violence against protesters, who had kept a peaceful vigil in Tahrir Square for five days, prompted a sharp rebuke from the Obama administration.

"If any of the violence is instigated by the government, it should stop immediately," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

The clashes marked a dangerous new phase in Egypt's upheaval: the first significant violence between government supporters and opponents. The crisis took a sharp turn for the worse almost immediately after Mubarak rejected the calls for him to give up power or leave the country, stubbornly proclaiming he would die on Egyptian soil.

His words were a blow to the protesters. They also suggest that authorities want to turn back the clock to the tight state control enforced before the protests began.

Mubarak's supporters turned up on the streets Wednesday in significant numbers for the first time. Some were hostile to journalists and foreigners. Two Associated Press correspondents and several other journalists were roughed up in Cairo. State TV had reported that foreigners were caught distributing anti-Mubarak leaflets, apparently trying to depict the movement as foreign-fueled.

continued:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

EDIT: More escalation.

CAIRO — Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak unleashed their fury on the media Wednesday, beating and threatening journalists who were covering fierce battles between pro- and anti-government crowds in central Cairo.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists accused the Egyptian government of orchestrating attacks on reporters in an attempt to deprive the world of independent information about the unrest. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said "infiltrated policemen" had joined the assaults.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The new Vice President of Egypt is going to be making a statement today. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[SlowwHand]

CAIRO (AP) — Automatic weapons fire pounded the anti-government protest camp in Cairo's Tahrir Square before dawn on Thursday in a dramatic escalation of what appeared to be a well-orchestrated series of assaults on the demonstrators. At least three protesters were killed by gunfire, according to one of the activists.

Hours after the shooting ended, the army, which protesters have criticized for failing to intervene to protect them, moved four tanks to clear a highway overpass from where supporters of President Hosni Mubarak had continued hurling rocks and firebombs onto the protesters.

Mubarak isn't just not endearing himself to the protesters, he's looking pretty bad all over the world.

[Elok]

Whee! It's like a crappy little Egyptian Tienanmen Square!

[Wezil]

Mubarak isn't just not endearing himself to the protesters, he's looking pretty bad all over the world.

He has earned the rope.

Protesters are now calling for him to stand trial.

[BeBMan]

Well, right now they say here in the news despite the clashes today the protesters "retook" the square again. This isn't over yet.


Meanwhile: Algerian pres signals possible end of the state of emergency in his country

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12359750

I'm still waiting for Libya and Syria to do something.

[Wezil]

It was over last weekend when the police forces (today's thugs) melted away and the military openly stated they would not fire on the people.

It's just a question of when Mubarak (and others) realise this.