He's Out! Mubarak is OUT!

[Q9]

Quote:
That's questionable, especially considering that Mubarak had ALL the elections completely rigged. Term limits are useful, but they aren't as great as they're made out to be. Re-election causes a LOT of trouble.

Personally, I like the idea set down in the Confederate Constitution (don't kill me, please), that is, a SINGLE six-year term for a president. That greatly reduces the incentive to pander to special interests for re-election, and the term isn't taken up by preparations for the next election.

Once again, however, I must state that I'm kinda worried about the Egyptians. Most, if not all, true revolutions have only led to more dictators. Then again, this was non-violent. I'm praying for them, and the Tunisians, too.

 

[1shelby1]

So just what is 3way chili-Egyptian style? I've had fuul and more when I was in Egypt.I had tears in my eyes for the people.Democracy is messy,but it's better than the alternative.Middle East is changing,the young people will now have a chance for employment,marriage, or not but at least investing in their future. And the young are over 50%of the Egyptian population-and technology has shown them what other countries enjoy.The military is a conscription of all Egyptians-so it's a slice of the population-and a good majority were trained in the U.S. and exposed to our country.All of the children I met in Cairo and Alexandria wanted to speak English with me-they were charming and so eager.How many children do you meet here that want to speak to someone in another language(or can).
I wish the Egyptian People the best-I'm still rooting for them!

 

[Q9]

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

I can't help but feel optimistic about this now.

 

[welsummerchicks]

3 way Egyptian chili -

Start with layers of:

Spaghetti

Rice

Beans

Chunky vegetarian chili made from fresh tomatoes, but add a WHOLE lot more garlic!

Top with onions fried to a crispy golden color!

But ... we already started our dinner tonight(Butternut squash lasagne with fresh sage and ground hazelnuts, roux-based sauce with bay leaf, and mozarella mixed with param-regg cheese), so we will have to stay up late making Egypt style chili, while we watch the party in Freedom Square!

Some of these young Egyptians have never even known a life without Mubarak. I tell ya, this is a different kind of people, these young people go to church with the 10% Christian minority and defy the extremists to harm them. This is a different sort of people.

I know, I know, this is not the end of their troubles - it's just the start of a new beginning....party on wayne!!

 

[Q9]

Quote:
I know - this is what gives me hope. Christians and Muslims don't need to agree (I know I certainly don't agree with Islam!), but they don't need to HATE each other. That incident told me one thing: the old Middle East is on its way out. Will this mark the beginning of an era of freedom - religious and otherwise - or will it result in something else? Nobody knows.

 

[Smittenroade]

When you have a revolution so unorganized, unfocused and without a leader to take power, your just asking for another Akmadenijad to jump in and take the reigns. If they get through this with a "stable" democracy it will be thanks to the egyptian military. Good luck with that Egypt!

 

[Royd]

Quote:
I would disagree with that...They are focused, thanks to new technology. They want the freedom to be who they want to be. I'm sure there are many of them who get really tired of pulling out the prayer rug, five times a day, and praying to Mecca, and listening to the same boring cry, from the minaret, along with all the other heavy handed regulations, tied to the predominant religion.

The only way that societies, like that, can continue, is under the heavy hand of tyranny and brainwashing.....Look at North Korea/South Korea. I can guarantee you, there's no internet, cellphones, Ipads etc. on the street, in NK. If it were possible to inject that technology, instantly, into that society, within a year, that tyrannical government would be destroyed, from within.

The irony of it all, is that our government, now wants control of internet content.....Hmmmmmmm....Pretty scary, for someone who, supposedly, believes in freedom.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Most of these young folks learned what they want to be by going to school in the United States! This didn't start yesterday.

And actually, there are leaders and they are rather organized. How else do you think they pulled this all off - not just a huge gathering, but successfully reacting to Mubarak's goons and attempts to justify emergency control?

AND simply have those older men organized to walk up behind all those Muslim 'Botherhood' boys, right on cue, all together, and simply and quietly, pin their arms down with their own hands, so they couldn't throw rocks?

You see, not one of them is going to defy someone their father's age - a dozen old men can do what a thousand thugs could never do.

I thought of another side of this - tourism becoming much easier in Egypt. I wanna see the sphynx, before someone shoots off more of her nose!

The middle east is changing - rapidly. The world never stands still, and things never stay the same. Nor are all these countries the same or even similar.

That's a big mistake Americans make, they think of that whole region as some sort of unity, 'over there', 'all those people' and all crazy extremists with some sort of weird quasi-religious agenda. It's not. Especially with the young folks growing up with an education!

Extremists get their power over people out of poverty and hopelessness and ignorance of history. You give a kid a decent education, you teach him history especially, and a chance to be something and a few like minded friends, and they don't fall for it.

It's not possible to keep people down in the name of some fake religious agenda forever. Sooner or later they wise up that they're being given a line of BS.

The country faces a heck of a bumpy road now, and many pitfalls. But God bless them and keep them, safe from harm.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
I would disagree with that...They are focused, thanks to new technology. They want the freedom to be who they want to be. I'm sure there are many of them who get really tired of pulling out the prayer rug, five times a day, and praying to Mecca, and listening to the same boring cry, from the minaret, along with all the other heavy handed regulations, tied to the predominant religion.

The only way that societies, like that, can continue, is under the heavy hand of tyranny and brainwashing.....Look at North Korea/South Korea. I can guarantee you, there's no internet, cellphones, Ipads etc. on the street, in NK. If it were possible to inject that technology, instantly, into that society, within a year, that tyrannical government would be destroyed, from within.

The irony of it all, is that our government, now wants control of internet content.....Hmmmmmmm....Pretty scary, for someone who, supposedly, believes in freedom.

But it's for SECURITY!!!

I have to take back everything I've said about the uselessness of Facebook - it essentially caused the overthrow of two seperate governments!

"Any society that would give up a little liberty for a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin

 

[welsummerchicks]

I am fine with my government watching what goes on on the internet with bird dog software, which is what is going on/will go on/has been going on for 30 or more years.

How bird dog software works, is basically, just like a bird dog that goes zig zagging across a field looking for signs of birds. It pays absolutely no attention to 'non bird messages'.

It doesn't read individual messages. It looks for patterns of words.

If a consistent pattern emerges, it watches for where those messages come from, and such.

I think it's fine. With the huge volume of traffic, it's the only way to find the bad guys. THe volume of data is pretty incomprehensible - I'll leave it at 'very big - a lot'. There is absolutely no way to go through all of it. So they don't.

Your chicken correspondence is safe.