Protests in Egypt, pending doom of Mubarak

[oxcoug]

I guess that's one way of reading it. Another way would be to read it as saying that the MB is preparing for the possibility that Israel will attack the protesters in Egypt in order to keep the regime in place.

Tim, the chances of Israel actually intervening in that mess are about equal with the chances of SU decorating his office with Jimmer paraphernalia. No way, no how it's ever happening.

The MB has already pledged to shred Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and has a history of anti-Israeli incitement right up to the present day.

[byu71]

Is it a big deal or mean anything that the protest was supposed to have 1 million today and the estimate was 250,000 showed up.

[Maximus]

According to some reports there were 5 million + throughout egypt. All public transportation was shut down along with the internet, so great turnout.

[byu71]

According to some reports

Yea, according to some.

Let's see, Cairo has a population of 8 million, 1 tenth the population of the country. They turn out 250,000 or 3%. If they had the same participation througout the country of 80 million, the number would be 2.4 million.

I am not saying the number isn't huge. It is bad enough without the media doing their usual overhype.

[Maximus]

from an egyptian news service:

Cairo: 2 million and number growing
Alexandria: 2 million
Mansoura: Half million.
Ismailiya: Quarter million.
Port Said: 100 thousand and number growing
Alminya: 200 thousand
Suez: Quarter million
Sharqiyya: Quarter million
Fayyoum: 150 thousand and number growing
Almahalla: Quarter million
Manoufiya: 150 thousand number growing
Damanhour: Quarter million
Mahalla: Quarter million and number growing
Al-Arish: 100,000

Al jazeera also says more than one million in cairo alone:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...115442982.html

Cairo: More than a million people gathered in and around Tahrir Square
Alexandria: Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in the city
Sinai: Around 250,000 protersters rallied
El-Mahalla el-Kubra: Up to 250,000 people demonstrated
Hundreds of thousands also marched in Port Said, Suez, and Menya

[byu71]

from an egyptian news service:

Cairo: 2 million and number growing
Alexandria: 2 million
Mansoura: Half million.
Ismailiya: Quarter million.
Port Said: 100 thousand and number growing
Alminya: 200 thousand
Suez: Quarter million
Sharqiyya: Quarter million
Fayyoum: 150 thousand and number growing
Almahalla: Quarter million
Manoufiya: 150 thousand number growing
Damanhour: Quarter million
Mahalla: Quarter million and number growing
Al-Arish: 100,000

Al jazeera also says more than one million in cairo alone:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...115442982.html

Cairo: More than a million people gathered in and around Tahrir Square
Alexandria: Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in the city
Sinai: Around 250,000 protersters rallied
El-Mahalla el-Kubra: Up to 250,000 people demonstrated
Hundreds of thousands also marched in Port Said, Suez, and Menya

That is some pretty good participation in Alexandria, over half the population.

[Borderline Divine]

I wonder what it would take to get 2 million Americans into the streets?

Free chalupas?

[byu71]

I wonder what it would take to get 2 million Americans into the streets?

Free chalupas?

Didn't the leader of the Black Muslims get a million men to march.

What was the size of the Glen Beck crowd.

[LA Ute]

I heard this clip of Fareed Zakaria on Elliot Spitzer's show on CNN:

FZ: I think it’s not Iran. There does not seem to be a theocracy in the making here. The Brotherhood, even the Muslim Brotherhood, does not have the aspirations of the Iranians to create a kind of Islamic state. And it’s not Eastern Europe, because you don’t have these societies that are essentially Western liberal societies that have been clamped down on. Look, this is a messy Arab society which will have many, many difficulties. Look at Iraq and Iraq’s democracy. I do think, though, it is the center of the Arab world. It is the place that everybody in the Arab world looks to. So what happens in Egypt will have an impact.

ES: You said the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t have the aspirations to create a theocracy. Do they not have the aspirations? Or do they not have the power to do it at this point?

FZ: For the last thirty years or so, the Muslim Brotherhood seems to have moved in the direction of wanting to be a conservative, socially religious organization that wants to institute some greater element of Sharia. Now to understand what that means, a lot of that is social welfare stuff. Some of it is things like the veil. Some of it is court procedures in which unfortunately, women would have fewer voices. But it’s not some kind of totalitarian dictatorship. They seem to have accommodated themselves to the idea of democracy, and they have done so for decades now.

I am amazed. Zakaria is a well-educated man and a trustee of Yale University. His attitude looks like willful blindness to me.

[Borderline Divine]

Didn't the leader of the Black Muslims get a million men to march.

What was the size of the Glen Beck crowd.

I've always heard that the million man march didn't quite live up to the name. A name which was given before the event, not after.

Seems like I read something like 4-600,000 for Beck's rally, although reports varied widely.

In both cases months of preparation went into the events.

The turnouts in Egypt are (to me) that much more impressive because of the spontainious nature and the fact that you risk being teargassed or even shot for being in the streets.

[byu71]

I've always heard that the million man march didn't quite live up to the name. A name which was given before the event, not after.

Seems like I read something like 4-600,000 for Beck's rally, although reports varied widely.

In both cases months of preparation went into the events.

The turnouts in Egypt are (to me) that much more impressive because of the spontainious nature and the fact that you risk being teargassed or even shot for being in the streets.

They are impressive no doubt and Mubarek must have been doing some things pretty bad to have that much resentment build up.

I have said before and I will say again, I have no clue what should be done.

I do wonder though if he folds quick and the US makes him fold quick, good for the US in defending freedom and democracy, I guess. However, it might also show a large minority how to get what they want faster than going through the political process.

There is no process in Egypt it looks like, I mean in democratic countries like say England, France and even the good ole USA.

I am often amazed even here in little ole SLC how a thousand or less marchers in SLC get so much attention on the news.

[Borderline Divine]

Where the hell IS Mubarak anyway?

In Romania, Chow Chess Coo (I'm not even going to attempt spelling it) was known to be holed up in the palace, and that became the focal point of the protests. That fact also led to his demise at the hands of the mob.

And not to hijack the thread, but I feel like millions taking to the streets, work stoppages and rocks thrown IS a political process, one that has proven to be very effective throughout history, even recent history (see Eastern Europe).

[Tim]

Tim, the chances of Israel actually intervening in that mess are about equal with the chances of SU decorating his office with Jimmer paraphernalia. No way, no how it's ever happening.

The MB has already pledged to shred Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and has a history of anti-Israeli incitement right up to the present day.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Israel will intervene. I just don't think it's fair to read a simple statement in such a biased way. There are always many ways to read something... if paraphrasing, try exploring multiple possible meanings instead of the one that tells the best story.

[byu71]

Something must be going on that is perceived as being positive.

The market is up nicely and above Thursday's close. I have done nicely on options.



Note: Last sentence was to see if I could get Viking to use the F word.

[Tim]

In Romania, Chow Chess Coo (I'm not even going to attempt spelling it) was known to be holed up in the palace, and that became the focal point of the protests. That fact also led to his demise at the hands of the mob.

And not to hijack the thread, but I feel like millions taking to the streets, work stoppages and rocks thrown IS a political process, one that has proven to be very effective throughout history, even recent history (see Eastern Europe).

My bet is that he's at the Radisson Blu in Sharm El Sheikh... incredible off-season rates right now!