COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, July 01, 2013

Muslim Brotherhood HQ stormed in Cairo; 16 dead in Sunday's protests




CAIRO: Egyptian protesters on Monday stormed the headquarters of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood after deadly clashes there between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi who hails from the group, an AFP correspondent said.

The building in Cairo's Moqattam district was set ablaze before people stormed inside and began throwing things out of the windows, as others were seen leaving with items including furniture.

Witnesses told AFP there were no Brotherhood members still inside the building, after they were escorted out by a group of people early on Monday.

16 killed in Sunday's protests

At least 16 people died in protests across Egypt on Sunday, including eight in clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, the health ministry said on Monday.

A further three people died in the central province of Assiut and one in each of the provinces of Fayoum, Beni Sueif and Kafr el-Sheikh.

One protester suffocated to death at the rally outside the presidential palace in Cairo and another died of wounds in the coastal city of Alexandria, the ministry said.

Egypt opposition gives Morsi a day to quit

Egypt's opposition on Monday gave Islamist Mohamed Morsi a day to quit or face civil disobedience after deadly protests demanded the country's first democratically elected president step down after just a year in office.

"We give Mohamed Morsi until 5:00pm (1500 GMT) on Tuesday July 2 to leave power, allowing state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections," the Tamarod movement said in a statement on its website.

Otherwise, "Tuesday, 5:00pm will be the beginning of a complete civil disobedience campaign."

In Cairo, the seat of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood from which Morsi hails was set ablaze before people stormed and looted it, an AFP correspondent said.

People were seen leaving with petrol bombs, helmets, flak jackets, furniture, televisions and documents.

"This is a historic moment. The Brotherhood ruined the country, so stealing from them is justified," protester Mohammed told AFP.

Tamarod — Arabic for Rebellion — is a grassroots campaign which says it collected more than 22 million signatures declaring a lack of confidence in Morsi.

It was behind Sunday's protests that saw millions of people pour onto the streets demanding his departure on the first anniversary of his inauguration.

As Morsi stood firm and insisted the only way forward was dialogue, calls for army intervention increased.

Tamarod urged state institutions to support the protesters, calling on "the army, the police and the judiciary to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds".

Opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi urged military intervention if Morsi refused to quit.

The army, which led a tumultuous transition after Mubarak, had already warned it would intervene if there was major unrest.

"The armed forces must act, because they have always been on the side of the people "which has expressed its will", said Sabbahi, who was third in the 2012 presidential election.

The best outcome would be for Morsi to go willingly, he added.

But Morsi's spokesman Ehab Fahmy told reporters: "Dialogue is the only way through which we can reach an understanding ... The presidency is open to a real and serious national dialogue."

Five people were killed in clashes late on Sunday and another person died overnight from injuries, a health ministry official said.

Television pictures showed the Muslim Brotherhood building in Cairo burning as people pelted it with petrol bombs.

Brotherhood supporters fired buckshot in a bid to repel the attackers, an AFP journalist said. Later, automatic weapons fire was heard.

In Tahrir Square, where hundreds of protesters spent the night, demonstrators blew whistles and chanted anti-Morsi slogans around tents.

Outside the presidential palace, hundreds of others staged a sit-in after the army estimated that millions had heeded the opposition call to protest.

Sunday's turnout — on the first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration — was described as the largest protest in Egyptian history.

"Long live the people," read Monday's headline in the independent daily al-Tahrir, while Al-Masry al-Youm called it the "June 30 revolution".

Anti-Morsi protests were held in the coastal city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta cities of Mansura, Menuf, Tanta and Mahalla, the canal cities of Suez and Port Said and the president's hometown Zagazig.

In Tahrir Square, protesters brandished red cards and Egyptian flags as patriotic songs played.

"The people want the ouster of the regime," they chanted, echoing the signature slogan of the 2011 revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak and eventually brought Morsi to power.

His supporters have staged counter rallies to defend his legitimacy and there had been fears of major confrontations.

But Sunday's anti-government protests eclipsed the loyalists' gathering in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood, which the army estimated attracted some 25,000 people.

Police and troops had deployed at key buildings nationwide, including at vital Suez Canal installations.

Hospitals also went on high alert as banks and most offices closed on Sunday, a working day.

Last week, eight people including an American were killed and scores were injured as rival demonstrators clashed.

Morsi, previously a senior Brotherhood leader, is Egypt's first freely elected president, catapulted to power by the uprising that ended three decades of Mubarak rule.

His opponents accuse him of betraying the revolution by concentrating power in Islamist hands and of sending the economy into freefall.

Morsi supporters say he inherited many problems from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to complete term which ends in 2016.

Any attempt to remove him would be a coup against democracy, they say.

Opponents insist calls for his resignation are aimed at restoring the revolution's cornerstones of democracy, freedom and social justice.

47 comments:

  1. Egypt under the Pharoahs had gotten its philosophy, so their myth went, in the form a a white bull from the east, that is to say, from the land of my niece, India. The iconography is exactly the same. As it is too in some of the sand paintings from our Southwest. The seven steps. In our Southwest in the form of a corn plant.

    A deep mystery. Is the old perennial human urge fighting now with Islam from the wilds?

    bpos

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    1. May the old ways prevail.

      bpos

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    2. .

      And the voice of the Turtle is heard in the land.

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    3. Sitting firmly astride history, yelling "Stop!"

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    4. Quirkian Turtles all the way down but the voice of the Baboon rejoicing with the coming of the morning Sun and a higher form of being.

      bpos

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    7. .

      As you said a few weeks ago with regard to my experiance with the draft,

      Hohohohohoho -

      What wonderful bullshit!!!



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    8. An AMERICAN was murdered in Egypt by the Moslem Brotherhood.

      The Moslem Brotherhood is our ally. And the MURDERED an American.

      Is there no JUSTICE?

      The Egyptians receive BILLIONS in military weapons and aid. They have their hands out for debts to be erased, loans to be given, special treatment to be afforded.

      And they murder our CItizens, they even charged in absentia Ray Hood's SON!!!

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    9. The Israeli military murdered 34 US sailors and wounded 174 more.

      Some claim the Israeli are US allies, regardless.
      The Israeli receive billions in US aid, regardless.

      That the US pays billions to both Israel and Egypt, simply egregious.

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    10. 23MAR2013
      Israel Apologizes for Murdering American Citizen, No Charges Filed

      Yesterday just before U.S. President Obama was to get on Air Force One and take off back to the USA from his 4 day trip to the Middle East, he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer a “rapprochement” or what is called an apology for the merciless attack on a humanitarian aid ship that killed 9 including young American Citizen Furkan Dogan.

      The Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, was in international waters on its way to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza when Israeli gunship helicopters dropped military commandos on board killing and wounding the peace activists.

      Yesterday, in a small building at the Israeli airport, Obama and Nentanyahu made the apology conference call to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and spoke for 20-30 minutes.

      It’s been nearly three years since the Mavi Marmara flotilla pirate-esque murder incident in May 2010 with no indictments, investigations or convictions.

      Almost 3 years ago on 3 June 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed the death of American Citizen Dogan and said U.S. officials had met with DoÄŸan’s father to express their condolences. Clinton said, “Protecting the welfare of American citizens is a fundamental responsibility of our government and one that we take very seriously. We are in constant contact with the Israeli Government, attempting to obtain more information about our citizens.

      And that’s all that was done for this murdered American Citizen.

      Fast forward to today and we have a confirmed admission of guilt by Israel and an apology for the murder by its leader. Now What?

      Well, I do know that in our country, when someone murders another person, we arrest them, file indictments, and put them on trial. Once found guilty, they have the choice to apologize; some do, some do not. Either way, they go to jail and must pay for their crime. Apology is good for their soul but it does not absolve them from being punished and sent to jail.

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    11. Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American peace activist and member of International Solidarity Movement (ISM) from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) armored bulldozer in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip

      The US continues to give aid and comfort to the Israeli, as we do the Egyptians.

      The two countries, they meet the Equivalency Standard.

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    12. Rachel Corrie, aka pancake lady....

      Committed suicide by bulldozer.

      Raised wrong and foolish she died throwing herself under a dozer protesting the leveling of a terrorist's house.

      Let's all raise a glass for the dead pancake and all the dead that rat has offed....

      Just how many civilians have you murdered rat?

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    13. Naw, rat, we havent arrested YOU for all those civilians you murdered...

      Meets the Equivalency Standard dont ya know..

      How many Indians did you have to kill to steal their lands?

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  2. Asking for Something Other than Papa's No.

    bpos

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  3. .

    BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei — Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he was taken by surprise Monday when European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton questioned him here about reports that the United States conducted electronic monitoring of E.U. offices and computer networks.

    “I honestly hadn’t heard about it. I hadn’t seen any of those reports,” said Kerry, who has spent the last several days immersed in shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East. He arrived here Monday morning, after an all-night flight from Israel, on the last stop of an eight-nation tour.



    :)

    Un-friggin-believable.

    No doubt he was busy working out the seating arrangements for the big PA/Israel negotiations.


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kerry-in-brunei-faces-european-anger-of-snowdens-nsa-disclosures/2013/07/01/b223aeb8-e247-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html

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  4. .

    Egypt’s military gives Morsi ultimatum


    Army says it will intervene in 48 hours if the government does not “meet the demands of the people.”


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/?reload=true

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  5. .

    President Obama said he and his family were 'deeply humbled' by their visit to the Robben Island jail where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years

    :)

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    1. I don't get it. Why wouldn't they be deeply humbled?

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    2. .

      We are talking Obama. The idea he would be 'humbled' by anything is absurd.

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    3. .

      Michelle? I'm pretty doubtful.

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    4. .

      His daughters?

      Come on, they are two young teen-age girls. I suspect while he was staring out the window, they were still texting about their lunch with Bono.

      Merely, my opinion, of course. And I have been called cynical before.

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    5. Come on, Quirk. You don't have to love the man, but this continual, and total, demonization is nuts.

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    6. .

      Please, tell me what I have said that isn't true.

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    7. .

      I asked the same question of those who were on me for dissing Bush. When there was something good to say about Bush, I said it. I praised him for attacking the AIDS epidemic in Africa for instance.

      The same with Obama. I praised him for his initiatives on student loans. I praise him for his light footprint approach to war although I still might object either to his justification for actions like Libya or specific policies like 'signature strikes'.

      I praise the man when I can. I just don't see that many opportunities for it. You attack my 'total demonization' of the man yet ignore it when I do praise him.

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    8. Well, this, for example:

      "We are talking Obama. The idea he would be 'humbled' by anything is absurd.

      ."

      This is not only unlikely; it is something that is, obviously, beyond your ability to know.

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    9. .

      This is not only unlikely; it is something that is, obviously, beyond your ability to know.

      Obviously my comment above that "the idea that Obama would be 'humbled' by anything is absurd" is subjective and beyond my ability to "know" just as your comment that my view is unlikely is also beyond your ability to know. It too is subjective.

      Is there some hyperbole in my comment possibly, but then, possibly not.

      When I view Obama I think of the Emerson quote:

      “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”

      I view Obama as being too self-centered to be humbled by anyone or anything. I believe in his mind any set-back can be blamed on another and that no accomplishment by another would actually make him feel "humbled".

      His favorite words are "I", "me", and "we" (royal sense). We see it in his speeches, we see it in his actions. He (like most politicians) is an egoist and has no problems blaming every shortfall on those pesky minions below him. He dissemilates at every opportunity with answers strait out of the McNamara playbook. It requires a painful parsing of his words to determine exactly what he is saying or, in many cases, what he is not saying. That's why 'trust' is often difficult.

      To believe that Obama was 'humbled' by being in the same cell as Mandela requires that we 'trust' what he says. Just as we have to trust him when he said he was moved by his experiance standing in the Door of No Return in the African 'Slave Fort', the same slave fort most historians agree was never used for the housing and transport of slaves.

      Obama feeling humbled? Heck, as I recall Bill Clinton used to be able to cry on cue.

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    10. .

      "...dissimulates..."


      It's hell when the old brain can't keep up with the fingers.

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    11. You stated, "We are talking Obama. The idea he would be 'humbled' by anything is absurd."

      No matter how distasteful you find someone, the idea that they might feel humbled by "something" being "absurd" seems, well . . . . . . . .

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    12. The key word there would be: "anything."

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    13. .

      In my usual spirit of conciliation, I will continue my attempts at thinking of 'anything' that would possibly induce humility in Obama.

      With regard to his saying he was humbled by standing in the prison cell Nelson Mandela was housed in, my comment remains a wry and sardonic

      :)

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  6. .

    It's July 1, 2013. Only 2 1/2 years to the election.

    You have to wonder if there's already a committee planning Hillary Clinton's presidential inauguration festivities for 20 January 2017. According to the political rumor mill, she's not only running, she's unbeatable.

    In the past month alone, a "grassroots" movement readyforhillary.com has started a natianal finance council and selling T-shirts and other campaign basics. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri has formally endorsed Clinton, calling her the "best to lead this country forward". And House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California all but endorsed Clinton for president in an interview with USA Today last week, saying she would definitely win if she ran. Nevermind that the election is over three years away.

    When Clinton joined Twitter in mid-June, she might as well have made her candidacy official. BuzzFeed Politics called it a clear move to appeal to young voters, her biggest weakness from her last campaign. She already has over 578,000 followers. That may seem small for a celebrity, but keep in mind that she's only made seven tweets thus far.


    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/01/hillary-clinton-2016-speculation-danger

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    1. 3 1/3 years to the election (don't make it worse than it is.) :)

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    2. .

      3 1/3 years to erection in the case of Chris Matthews.

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  7. .

    Syrian government forces pounded Sunni Muslim rebels in the city of Homs with artillery and from the air on Sunday, the second day of an offensive to expand loyalist control over Syria's strategic centre, activists said.

    They said rebels defending the old centre of Homs and five adjacent Sunni districts had largely repelled a ground attack on Saturday but reported fresh clashes and deaths within the city on Sunday.

    The offensive follows steady military gains by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militants, in villages in Homs province and towns close to the Lebanese border.

    Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, said Assad must halt his "brutal assault" on Homs. Gulf countries, which back the rebels, urged Lebanon to stop "parties" interfering in the Syria conflict, a reference to Iranian-backed Hezbollah.


    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/30/syria-rebels-homs

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  8. To all those that bemoaned that Egypt was "Lost", that the Islamoids were large and in charge, never to be displaced, reality bites their ass.

    The Egyptian Army, the US security partner, is still the force to be reckoned with, in Egypt.

    As long as the Muslim Brotherhood played by the rules, the Army would stay in the barracks.
    A reasonable situation, after an election.

    As the elected government begins to lose control of the streets, the Egyptian military still will not fire upon the people of Egypt, whether the be Muslim or Secular.

    The Army has given a 48 hour countdown for the government to solve the challenges or ...

    The US, it seems, still has a good partner in the Egyptian military.

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    1. Not a bad analysis. We should get something for what we pay for.....

      after all....

      I'm thinking a return of the old Egyptian gods might be better, but Quirk says I'm nuts.

      But he doesn't know his stuff, he just thinks he knows his stuff.

      bpos

      bpos

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  9. The whole thing is simply another of the endless enactments of the old "Myth of the Two Brothers", here now in Egyptian form, always fighting, disputing here in 'time and space' over nothing, but at one and at peace behind the scenes.

    Duality is the shits.

    Meanwhile in more important news got an email from my niece.

    bpos

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  10. Livni warns of EU boycott if peace with Palestinians isn't reached
    Justice minister warns that failure to make progress in peace process with Palestinians could affect Israeli economy...

    Justice Minister Tzipi Livni warned Monday that a failure to make progress in the peace process with the Palestinians could have implications for Israeli exports.

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    1. The EU SHOULD boycott all Israeli goods as well as those on this blog that hate Israel so much.

      Please make sure you do not use any technology, medical devices, do not eat food produced there or use any cell phone or computer that uses Israeli innovations or inventions.

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    2. Why would anyone think that the EU would boycott those on this blog that would support an EU boycott of Israeli goods, it is simply a nonsensical statement.

      Your English writing skills, anoni, are as bad as quot's were.
      You should either get a refresher course in English, or get back in ESL classes.

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    3. This coming from you? One who cannot spell, talk or not stop committing crimes?

      Sorry, Charlie, tricks are for kids.

      BTW, Want to thank you for your public admission of hacking into the FBI's confidential files with your mole.


      Delete
  11. (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has applied for political asylum in Russia, a Russian official said on Monday, but President Vladimir Putin said he was not welcome unless he stopped harming U.S. interests "as strange as that sounds coming from my lips".

    Wikileaks activist Sarah Harrison, who is travelling with Snowden, handed his application to a Russian consular official in the transit area at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport late on Sunday, Kim Shevchenko, a consul at the airport, told Reuters.

    The Los Angeles Times, citing an unidentified Russian Foreign Ministry official, reported that Snowden had met Russian diplomats and given them a list of 15 countries where he wished to apply for asylum. Foreign Ministry and Kremlin officials declined immediate comment on the reports.

    Putin, speaking eight days after Snowden arrived at a Moscow airport where he is believed to remain, repeated that Russia had no intention of handing him over to the United States, where he faces espionage charges.

    "Russia has never given up anyone to anybody and does not plan to. And nobody ever gave anyone up to us," Putin said.

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    1. :) Just when you think you've heard it all.

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    2. The older I get, the more I think that, although his solution was flawed (deeply,) Karl Marx correctly identified the problem.

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  12. The US is in contact with our Security Partners, in Egypt.

    WASHINGTON: General Martin Dempsey, the top US military officer, called the chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces on Monday morning, a US defense official told Reuters, without providing details on the conversation.

    The call by Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Egypt's Sedki Sobhi came the same day that Egypt's armed forces handed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi a virtual ultimatum to share power.

    Egypt's military gave feuding politicians 48 hours to compromise or have the army impose its own road map for the country.

    The United States has close ties with Egypt's armed forces, providing $1.3 billion a year to the country in military aid. The Pentagon declined to speculate on the Egyptian statement earlier on Monday and what it meant for the country's future.

    "We're not entirely sure what's going to happen one way or the other in the next 48 hours, so I wouldn't engage in any kind of speculation," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Top-US-military-officer-calls-Egyptian-counterpart/articleshow/20868249.cms

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