These 'spontaneous' Egypt uprisings.

[dennis tooth]

Noam Chomsky: “This is the Most Remarkable Regional Uprising that I Can Rememberâ€

[dennis tooth]

Digital Darkness: U.S., U.K. Companies Help Egyptian Regime Shut Down Telecommunications and Identify Dissident Voices

[dennis tooth]

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

Looks like the American blackwater chaps might have come to town! Cunts

[MokTheAfflicted]

The Egyptian government have come up with a plan to stop the riots.

 

They are calling on everyone to get in a car, honk the horn and chill out.

 

They are calling it "toot-n-kalm-doon"

[Gav]

The Egyptian government have come up with a plan to stop the riots.

 

They are calling on everyone to get in a car, honk the horn and chill out.

 

They are calling it "toot-n-kalm-doon"

 

You mean like this ??

 

[WaltonRed]

Its going to go off today even worse I fear

[Stu Monty]

I really hope that Mubarak doesn't get out and he ends up swinging from a lampost.

[dennis tooth]

They are marching to the palace if he doesn't resign, if he won't go peacefully then as we saw with Hodgson it may get messy. I just hope the big crowd doesn't come looking to our Kenny to unite them all.

[Guest davelfc]

I did warn you, these pyramid schemes always end in tears. (or is that tiers?)

[Stu Monty]

As we speak there are people in western goverments trying everything they can think of to put in place a plan so that the next govenrment looks after their interests and not the interests of the Egyptian people. The status quo with a new man would be preferable to them (Maybe the Vice President, chief of the "illegal renditions to Egypt" division of the war of terror). If a leader that represents the Egyptians were to get into the hotseat it would take about a month for him to become part of the axis of evil, a danger to stability and the leader of a rogue state.

[Baresi]

Egypt protests: Violence continues in Egypt as protesters take to streets for 10th day | Mail Online

 

The health and safety people need to tighten up with regards the headgear!!

[dennis tooth]

11:09pm The US Embassy in Cairo sent this statement to Al Jazeera. The video in question is at the bottom of this page - see 2:49am:

 

We have seen a video that alleges a US embassy vehicle was involved in a hit and run incident that injured dozens in Cairo. We are certain that no embassy employees or diplomats were involved in this incident. On January 28, however, a number of our US Embassy vehicles were stolen. Since these vehicles were stolen, we have heard reports of their use in violent and criminal acts. If true, we deplore these acts and the perpetrators.

.

 

Fucking Americans! Pathetic lies.

 

Trust them not to waste an oppotunity to run over some Arabs and get away with it.

[Guest Scaramanga]

Think you'll probably find this is the last thing the CIA want. What with the guys getting the boot being pretty tight with them. The new VP in Egypt was a big player in the rendition programme for the US.

 

Representative democracies are the last thing the US wants.

 

There's also the small matter of the military aid sent to Egypt every year and the subsequent support contracts and sales valuable to the US. You can see a good list here: DSCA -- Arms Sales Notifications

 

The US couldn't give a shit about Egypt, they just don't want another situation like with Iran when they flipped to a theocracy back in the 70's.

[Lurtz]

Islamatastic.

[Mustangt125]

.

 

Fucking Americans! Pathetic lies.

 

Trust them not to waste an oppotunity to run over some Arabs and get away with it.

 

The conspiracies never end :wallbutt:

[Stu Monty]

The conspiracies never end :wallbutt:

 

So you believe the diplomatic vehicle was stolen then?

 

Would you like to buy some magic beans?

[Section_31]

I think the internet is playing an increasing part in sowing the seeds of this kind of discontent, we saw the same in Iran a couple of years back. I don't mean so much as how it helps people organise demonstrations etc, but more in terms of how it helps spread views among people who would normally only be expressing their feelings to a few friends in a cafe.

 

It's like that with he GF, the GF has altered my perceptions on may issues and made me think differently politically, the same thing is happening en mass out there. It's quite clear that the net is the greatest threat to the traditional power blocks out there.

[Byrnie]

I think the internet is playing an increasing part in sowing the seeds of this kind of discontent, we saw the same in Iran a couple of years back. I don't mean so much as how it helps people organise demonstrations etc, but more in terms of how it helps spread views among people who would normally only be expressing their feelings to a few friends in a cafe.

 

It's like that with he GF, the GF has altered my perceptions on may issues and made me think differently politically, the same thing is happening en mass out there. It's quite clear that the net is the greatest threat to the traditional power blocks out there.

 

I agree with all that. This says a lot too.

 

[YOUTUBE]necfW5Dj5UQ[/YOUTUBE]

[piscinin]

I think the internet is playing an increasing part in sowing the seeds of this kind of discontent, we saw the same in Iran a couple of years back. I don't mean so much as how it helps people organise demonstrations etc, but more in terms of how it helps spread views among people who would normally only be expressing their feelings to a few friends in a cafe.

 

It's like that with he GF, the GF has altered my perceptions on may issues and made me think differently politically, the same thing is happening en mass out there. It's quite clear that the net is the greatest threat to the traditional power blocks out there.

 

Think so?

 

The western power block has always embraced a free press unlike your average dictator. They don't fear it, why do you think that is?

 

As an aside. The two most effective uses of the internet I've seen to mediate power have been Obama's presidential campaign and a weird app an Israeli friend of mine has which auto-notifies him whenever a poll, phone-on, social media buzz item is published that pertains to the middle-east. It can auto-vote for him, or he can click on details to get a bulleted list of talking points.

[Phoenix]

Good luck to them. I hope the rest of the arabs follow.

 

Every person should have the right to self determination.

[Phoenix]

I'm all in favour of democracy but last time I checked, democracy was entirely incompatible with theocracy.

 

And how did it become a theocracy? (i presume you are referring Iran).

 

I guess Mosadegh was too democratic for the CIA and British interests.

[Stu Monty]

Think so?

 

The western power block has always embraced a free press unlike your average dictator. They don't fear it, why do you think that is?

 

As an aside. The two most effective uses of the internet I've seen to mediate power have been Obama's presidential campaign and a weird app an Israeli friend of mine has which auto-notifies him whenever a poll, phone-on, social media buzz item is published that pertains to the middle-east. It can auto-vote for him, or he can click on details to get a bulleted list of talking points.

 

Like the situation with Wikileaks where they have embraced it by shutting down anything connected to it? Like the situation with Barclays where the legal system is employed to stop knowledge of the banks' tax-dodging activities to reach the public? The extent to which the press is actually free is very debatable. You don't need to do too much studying of its behaviour to see how obedient and supine the mass corporate media is. Humans will always act in their own self-interest and it is very rarely in the interest of a journalist to make an enemy of the powerbase of the world.

 

Your point also suggests that the dictators aren't agents of the western power block, which they are, and therefore further proof that they don't actually embrace the idea of a free press.

[dennis tooth]

Think so?

 

The western power block has always embraced a free press unlike your average dictator. They don't fear it, why do you think that is?

 

As an aside. The two most effective uses of the internet I've seen to mediate power have been Obama's presidential campaign and a weird app an Israeli friend of mine has which auto-notifies him whenever a poll, phone-on, social media buzz item is published that pertains to the middle-east. It can auto-vote for him, or he can click on details to get a bulleted list of talking points.

 

Not to step on Secs toes but I want to at least part answer that. In a system such as what we currently have, they have to support it, they can't stop it if they are interested in self preservation and if you can't beat it join it. However, if we had the same situation as in Egypt with so many people descending and self organising in the capital access would be cut. They only want their own 'version' of 'freedom', witness what happens to Assange, the internet in this country is censored, whatever scale, you either censor or you don't all the time sites are banned. The law is catching up each year and gaining momentum on the internet. One of our provider companies, Vodaphone was the one cutting access, not the government interestingly who could only make the request.

Same way you don't have real free speech with our laws although there is a lot you can say. I would go further than that though as they make use of it and it actually becomes an excellent tool of control and surveillance, pervade sites like facebook and twitter to record millions of peoples every thought and movement, spread the mobile phone craze to the masses and follow them. You could never dreamed of doing all this without mass networking, everything done can be tracked. They might not stop a revolution, 99% happen so fast that advance warning signs will give them a chance to survive it.

It makes people feel free, free enough to voluntarily go on facebook and post pictures of themselves and their families. Name, rank, serial number?

Free range chickens are still being farmed for meat, both battery and free range they think the world of the farmer, who as far as they are concerned they would starve without, so they rationalise it, like a hostage rationises her kidknappers actions, their opinion is that the farmer is kind and is there to provide their food every day and make the best of their bad condition.

 

Waits a day though in which they will face a revision of that belief and by then it is too late.

[Section_31]

Think so?

 

The western power block has always embraced a free press unlike your average dictator. They don't fear it, why do you think that is?

 

As an aside. The two most effective uses of the internet I've seen to mediate power have been Obama's presidential campaign and a weird app an Israeli friend of mine has which auto-notifies him whenever a poll, phone-on, social media buzz item is published that pertains to the middle-east. It can auto-vote for him, or he can click on details to get a bulleted list of talking points.

 

I think there's a big difference between the media and the net. The media 'tells' people things, very often it's bollocks or biassed to a large extent. The net is people sharing thoughts and information with each other.

 

Also, it allows a message to reach a population which doesn't have a totally free press. A Russian cop caused a storm in his homeland last year by going on YouTube and pleading with Putin to crack down on corruption. There was no way he could have got that message out via the Russian press i dare say.

 

Dymovsky decided to post video appeals on the Internet in part due to pressure that had started to be exerted on him at work following his unsuccessful attempt to raise his concerns during an anunual TV call-in program with Vladimir Putin in 2006.[10] During the program, Dymovsky had submitted a question to then-President Putin, asking when outrages would end in the Novorossiysk militsiya. The question, which had been recorded, was never broadcast.[11] According to Dymovkiy, when his work learned of his call, heavy pressure began to be exerted on him; this pressure was so severe that when the Presidential Administration called him back with regards to his claims, he did not dare to testify.[11]

 

In his video appeals to Prime Minister Putin, Dymovsky claimed that corruption was endemic in the militsiya and that practices such as accusing innocent people in order to meet official crime detection targets and taking money to frame innocent people were widespread.

 

The first part of Dymovsky's video appeal has been watched on YouTube more than 725,000 times.[12][13]

 

Dymovsky was fired from the police force soon after posting the videos. His YouTube messages prompted a wave of videos from other Russian police officers describing corruption and the framing of innocent people.

 

 

He has since been arrested on 'fraud' charges.

 

[YOUTUBE]R4vB2a15dOU[/YOUTUBE]

[piscinin]

Not to step on Secs toes but I want to at least part answer that. In a system such as what we currently have, they have to support it, they can't stop it if they are interested in self preservation and if you can't beat it join it.

 

.....

 

Waits a day though in which they will face a revision of that belief and by then it is too late.

 

Yeah me and you are in the same place. I know nothing about Egypt but as far as the western power block are concerned, the "free" press isn't feared because they don't need to control the medium because they already control the boundaries of the message.

 

By the way you say if you can't beat it join it, I say, if you can't beat it, exploit it. Every so often a piece of dissension will be broken off re-packaged, sprinkled with a little bit of motherhood and apple pie and then sold back to you at a premium. Environmental dissension becomes Free Range chickens only $1/lb more; Electric car only a $5k premium etc. What a fucking system; commoditizes dissension. Scary.

 

And you're right Stu but this "corporate-controlled media" bogey man is a distraction. It implies an asymmetry that I don't think exists. The media and the corporates are two peas in a pod engaging in a symbiotic relationship. And anyway the means of defining the boundaries of the message goes far beyond that. It's built into your education system for example, which over here at least I couldn't distinguish from one of Huxley's hatcheries. When I did my MBA it was obvious to me that if it had come during my formative years, I wouldn't be able to have this conversation now anymore than Newton could countenance Schrodinger's cat.

 

And that was where I was going with the question to section. Until you can liberate the landscape of the message; the internet will just be a powerful re-enforcing feedback loop.