Live: Al Jazeera coverage of Egypt’s growing revolution

[WakeUpAndLive]

This was another speech dictated by the State Department. There's no acceptable Imperial Stooge to take his place right now, so Misner was sent to tell him to stay and attempt to diffuse the protests with b.s. and threats until he can hand off to the CIA-VP.

My thoughts exactly....GO EGYPT!

[Joe Hillshoist]

Well I wish I was in Tahrir, seems,
I can see it in my dreams
We will stand so righteously
freedom and my friends and me

Apologies to St tom, but thats been in my head since I woke up this morning.

I was surprised they didn't march to the Palace yesterday, perhaps it wasn't the smartest move, then again, if some reports are to be believed 5 million people on the street (Iranian state TV), nearly a third the population of Cairo. I can't see how you could organise a march that big once people were there.

Sharif Kouddous is saying that the sqaure is unlike anything he has ever seen, people are organising medical services, rubbish collection and recycling, someone is organising a football tournament to keep people from getting to bored.

there is street theatre happening and more political art than he has seen in his life in Egypt.

He's interviewed by Rachel Maddow here:

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/1/mi ... racy_now_s

most of the tweeple ( ) I've been following are rejecting Mubarak's speech and treating him like a joke. The footage from the square is mind blowing - so many people. All in one place and easy to control I spose, but it seems like they aren't on their own either. Seems like across Egypt there are people who will join them.

[Joe Hillshoist]

BTW Has anyone used the term "open source state" before?

[vanlose kid]

military open fire

??

[vanlose kid]

crackdown coming

Mubarak's speech was a statement of intent

[vanlose kid]

gunfire in Alexandria

mil moving

[vanlose kid]

they've let the pro Mubarak groups onto the square in Alexandria it seems

[vanlose kid]

BTW Has anyone used the term "open source [society]" before?

No State, Joe. No World Order for me.

*

[vanlose kid]

"calm" again. sort of.

*

[nathan28]

gunfire in Alexandria

mil moving

Obama to speak in one hour on Egypt. Last chance prove he is anything but a servant to established power everywhere regardless of the depth and hatefulness of its abuses

[vanlose kid]

10.22pm GMT:CloseLink to this update: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/201 ... #block-103 There are two tanks on the scene and no police, and the images are of men hurling stones and much running. A tank is slowly circling between two groups of pro and anti Mubarak protesters, it seems, trying to herd one group back but it isn't doing much good.

More gunfire can clearly be heard, in the air it seems, assuming it's the army that is doing the shooting. Al-Jazeera's correspondent on the scene in Alexandria said she had to duck when the burst of gunfire went off.

The violence seemed to break out about 10 minutes ago, sparking scenes of panic.

10.20pm GMT:CloseLink to this update: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/201 ... #block-102 Scenes of violence on the streets of Alexandria, with al-Jazeera showing some sort of violent confrontation between two groups – and now there are bursts of gunfire.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/201 ... #block-103

*

[Joe Hillshoist]

BTW Has anyone used the term "open source [society]" before?

No State, Joe. No World Order for me.

*

Open source society is a better buzzword I agree.

I'm looking for a term tho, cos what i seem to "see" in Egypt is people fulfilling the roles of government while trying to oust their govt, and thats an awesome thing to see. It kind of defeats the whole reality tunnel that someone needs to be "in charge".

***

Different reports coming out of Alexandria, some say thugs firing on protesters, others saying military firing into the air to deter thugs.

I'm sus too, and think they should have marched Tues, that this plays into Mubarak and thee regimes hands but then there are more people on the street than ever before, and there are old people and kids in the crowd now. If the military were to turn on the protesters now it would start a civil war and the protesters would probably win. Millions of angry people on the street...

Maybe thats the plan. If that happens it could destroy the unity and togetherness and lead to a full on conflict.

Perhaps Mubarak wants to scorch the earth before he goes.

[vanlose kid]

AJ: mil went on high alert in Cairo; took on flak jackets etc; pro Mu protestors chanting "with life with blood we are for/protect Mubarak".

*

...

Maybe thats the plan. If that happens it could destroy the unity and togetherness and lead to a full on conflict.

Perhaps Mubarak wants to scorch the earth before he goes.

without violence in the streets there can be no crackdown, so, what to do?

*

[Sepka]

Not since the Neo-Cons were riding high have I seen such absolute and unquestioning faith in the power of democracy to transform the arab world.

It's worth remembering that Egypt's current military government is the result of a CIA-backed effort to overthrow a longstanding and stable (albeit unpopular) monarchy in 1952. Then, as now, the idea was that democracy would surely flourish once the autocrat was removed - that's what the vast majority of the Egyptian people wanted, after all. That's how we ended up with Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak. That's how we ended up with Khaddafi in Libya, and with the military junta in Iraq - all came to power as the result of pro-democracy revolutions.

Why does anyone think this one would be different?

[23]

I suggest that you may using a misnomer.

This is not a pro-democracy revolution. Instead, this an anti-authoritarianism revolution.

From my careful listening to the comments of the revolutionaries on AJ, I do not detect a pro-democracy theme. I do, however, detect an anti-authoritarian one.

The nonnegotiable demand that Mubarak must go, is more reflective of the latter than the former.

This is an important distinction to make, IMO. Because it signals the paradigm shift that I earlier alluded to.