Štulic

Popular uprising in Tunisia, while being globally insignificant, seems to have triggered a tsunami throughout the Arab world, especially in countries with totalitarian regimes like Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, all considered to be close US allies in the Middle East.

The lack of proper democracy and freedom of speech in all these countries for decades, the constant oppression of their people and the opposition throughout the years, never seemed to bother much any of US administrations, let alone if compared to the "axis of evil" Iran, Afghanistan or North Korea.

Well the people are finally waking up over there, being sick of having an oppressive US puppet government tell them what they can or can't do is proving to be a short-lasting game.

For me totally unexpected, but I'm pretty sure recent events if they further escalate, could change the whole picture of the Middle East, if not more.

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Štulic

Update: Egyptians brace for Friday protests as internet, messaging disrupted - CNN.com

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farmergiles

For sure those places have plenty to protest about. Things are kicking off in Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Tunisia.
Wonder if anything will happen in Saudi Arabia?

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Cultivate a stoic calmness

stoneric

Maybe it will spill over to the u.s.

~1~

Eat the rich...

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zerodown

Thats what I've been saying to a lot of people for a long time, we shouldn't rely on the internet as a tool to change anything, the internet should be used for communication and self education in my opinion, but nothing important. Because the internet can be shut down with the push of a button and the enemy is in control of said button.

There have been raids on houses with computers that were used to run protest organizations.

Forget the internet, talk to your neighbors.

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We have to learn to unlearn
Its not contradiction, its amendment
Not everything we see is reality
Not everything we hear is the truth
Not everything we're taught helps us grow
~Cultura Profetica

"La locura se lleva en la cabeza y las drogas en los bolsillos"
~Roberto Iniesta

stoneric

Anyone notice how the u.s. reacted to the Egytian protests? We seem more concerned about mother israel than any democratic reform, hypocrite bastards that we are.

~1~

The 'net is the news paper of today, no different than before only you can get to millions of people a lot faster. Information is the biggest threat to a despot government and those who want to over throw a despot government will find and spread that word whatever it takes, underground or out in the open, whatever it takes.

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John F. Kerry

you know, if the people in iran protest, and the people in egypt protest, and the people in jordan protest, and the people in iraq protest, and the people in pakistan protest....

i guess my question is just....it seems pretty clear that this isnt about politics or the political regime because they all have different kinds of regimes.... i think its much more about economic stagnation, frustration, and add in the radical islamic elements that always try to stir things up in the mid east.... ok, ill admit, i cant get in the mind of a protester on the streets of egypt...but , what does the average egyptian really want? do they want a democracy? do they want better job opportunities? do they want cheaper goods? do they want shria law?

even in europe , france and britain , and greece, there have been huge violent protests recently.... and those places dont have dictatorships...

so i just think its more randomly directed frustration at the overall economic picture than a real full circle assesment of what they actually want and how to best acomplish it.

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Nasa under Obama

AfroHorse

good point

in the future, im sure theres a possibility of the the internet being shut down, and instead we'll only be able to use it to visit predetermined government/shopping/bs news websites

even then, hackers will still probably get the better of it

The Rev

To say that the Internet is unimportant as a tool for change is like saying that Gutenberg's printing press was unimportant in the same way.

The printing press made huge amounts of information available to far more people than ever before. The result was the transition from the Dark Ages into the Renaissance, a global powershift. We now have a tool in the internet which allows instant communication between any two or more people anywhere on the planet. We have a tool which allows individuals, not just large corporations, to be heard by millions. We have a tool which makes government and corporate secrecy virtually a thing of the past. In short, it makes information free on a level that is orders of magnitude above what Gutenberg made possible with his printing press.

To call such a tool insignificant is incredibly short sighted.



The Rev

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Dr. Nick Nasty

the world peasantry is starting to get pissed. crazy times ahead.

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OldMan&TheWeed

Is this the Eastern Block in 1989, or Iran in 1979?

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Nintey-three percent of what I say is brilliant, factual information and seven percent is complete bullshit. Have fun deciding which is which.

Purd Hupley

Not insignificant as much as we shouldn't rely on it to be there. They were able to cut off the Net in Egypt because there are only 4 or so providers. A few more than that in Dubai and Saudi, I'd imagine. I'd figure the only people who could get to the outside world via the net would be folks with dishes.

In totally agree with it being a huge leap forward in disseminating information, but it's worthless if you can't access it.

Štulic

There are more then 80 different internet providers in Egypt BTW.

Nonetheless where there's a will there's a way. Without Internet, Egyptians find new ways to get online - Computerworld

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The Rev

I agree. The thing to remember is, there is alot of business done on the Internet, and that amount is growing at a fantastic rate. And the more it grows, the more detrimental it is to those in power if they fuck with it. Beautiful how things work, isn't it?



The Rev

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Štulic

Interesting article on Aljazeera: President Obama, say the 'D-Word'

US appears to shy away from talk about democracy in Middle East, despite historic anti-government rallies in ally Egypt.
by Mark LeVin

It's incredible, really. The president of the United States can't bring himself to talk about democracy in the Middle East. He can dance around it, use euphemisms, throw out words like "freedom" and "tolerance" and "non-violent" and especially "reform," but he can't say the one word that really matters: democracy.

How did this happen? After all, in his famous 2009 Cairo speech to the Muslim world, Obama spoke the word loudly and clearly - at least once.

"The fourth issue that I will address is democracy," he declared, before explaining that while the United States won't impose its own system, it was committed to governments that "reflect the will of the people... read more

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Cerebro

it seems oprah might have been wrong about this guy

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Snowmayne

Well he obviously doesn't want to show his cards until the outcome is finalized, publicly at least.

Some interesting stuff from wikileaks though dating back to 2008.

Cable Viewer

This all corresponds with what was released from the Uk

Egypt protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising - Telegraph

Who knows though, is this all just disinformation or are we really attempting to cut ties with Mubarak and help put new people in power in the Middle East, and how does this correspond with Tunisia.

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We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

Cerebro

this bit made me lol

XXXXXXXXXXXX asserted that this plan is so sensitive it cannot be written
down. (Comment: We have no information to corroborate that
these parties and movements have agreed to the unrealistic
plan

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