Middle East boiling.

[Akram]

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/20111984740173586.html

Egyptian citizens are quite uneasy these days. Everyone is feeling insecure especially with the sequence of attacks on Christians lately. After Alexandria blast a policeman opened fire on a train killing members of a Christian family.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011111201736189303.html

Before investegations even started the ministry anounced that he is mentally retarded
A "policeman" mentally retarded! How come he became a policeman in the 1st place!

[Sauron_Daz]

This may turn out to be a circle without end.. Israel kills Palestinians (and is supported by many western countries), so certain Muslims kill Christians, so more Muslims get killed or accused of something resulting in more Christian culling... etcetera ad infinitum.

[DIREWOLF75]

This may turn out to be a circle without end.. Israel kills Palestinians (and is supported by many western countries), so certain Muslims kill Christians, so more Muslims get killed or accused of something resulting in more Christian culling... etcetera ad infinitum.

Yeah thats the problem, each side only needs a handful of idiots to make the whole thing blow up.

Before investegations even started the ministry anounced that he is mentally retarded
A "policeman" mentally retarded! How come he became a policeman in the 1st place!

Heh... Thats actually a very stupid thing to do, go out with something like that to "muffle" reactions, its going to have the opposite effect!

[Akram]

Wow Tunis took us by surprise. You must see the national papers here.

Price raises are cancelled and talking about Mubarak's "economic stability" in Egypt.

[DIREWOLF75]

Wow Tunis took us by surprise. You must see the national papers here.

Price raises are cancelled and talking about Mubarak's "economic stability" in Egypt.

Think they took nearly everyone by surprise, had hardly heard anything about it until just a few days ago.
Interesting development. In many ways similar to how the eastern European states got rid of their dictators.

[Akram]

Today, 25th of January, was the planned date for Egypt-wide protests. Large numbers have benn able to gather although the security precautions and measures taken to disperse the crowds although nothing brutal till now.

I want to go but damn I think that I have to go to the doctor since I think that the anal fistula is coming back again.

[Edit] Went to the doctor and thankfully it was just hair follicule infection. I thought that the shaving was the problem but it turned out not shaving is the problem.

[Akram]

Twitter seems to be blocked and there is reports about using wireless scrambler, to limit protesters communications.

[Fuzz]

Just reading about the chaos, stay safe, Akram.

[Akram]

The problem with Alexandria that it has no power centers to protest against. More than 15,000 will stay the night in the streets in Cairo. The problem is that the protesters doesn't have direct focused goals, it wasn't until recently an public organization listed the main points.

Thanks Fuzz for your concern, but I'd be ashamed if I didn't participate into such critical moments.

[Sauron_Daz]

Newspapers here mention that people got killed in Egypt, so do take care!

[DIREWOLF75]

Just make sure to be careful if you do.
It will be dangerous. And its likely that the regime has had enough time to prepare for something to happen(if they didnt they´re bloody stupid, with emphasis on "bloody", one way or another).

If you get involved:
Dont let protests turn into riots, fighting or looting, if it does, leave and get as much people away as possible.
It only allows the regime to turn violent and gives police and military a reason to not refuse orders for violence. And they´re the ones with the firepower.

Control and communications is key. Any protest that can get the support or neutrality of enough of the military and police has high chances to succeed.
If the chain of command is gone or impaired, this is far more likely to happen.
Influence or control over media and as much of government as possible is essential for anything that isnt going down as a fullscale civil war.



Stay as safe as you can.

[Akram]

The protesters are trying very hard to keep it civil but the dirty tactics of using undercover agents to cause violence.

[Akram]

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/01/25/gamal-mubarak-reportedly-flees-egypt/

I wouldn't call it flee.

[Sauron_Daz]

No mentioning of his run here..

[Akram]

I went to join some fellow students at the college then head to the supposed gathering area, didn't find the students nor anyone at the main gathering area.

I think anywhere except the capital is ineffective.

[Akram]

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/20111268022914627.html

[DIREWOLF75]

Whoever is organising is doing it well, disappear whenever the police pops up, just to reappear and protest somewhere else.
Mobility warfare for the win.

[Akram]

It was ended yesterday in 10 mins when the police used 13,000 personnel and 200 armored vehicles in Cairo after the protests concentrated at El-Tahrir Square.

Extreme violence is still going on at Suez city. And after blocking Twitter ppl got angry and attacked government websites using D-Dos attacks, and are planning major protests after Friday prayers.

[Sauron_Daz]

I always wonder about that: policemen are citizens as well..don't they think for themselves, or are they opinionless or what..

[DIREWOLF75]

I always wonder about that: policemen are citizens as well..don't they think for themselves, or are they opinionless or what..

Normal human behaviour is to listen to authority. We´re a nice little pack animal in the end.

Furthermore, ever considered why uniforms exist? Its not 1st of all so that other people can see what you are, its to give the person wearing it a "work mindset".
It also helps making a person look like they have authority, as most people respond to authority. Mostly though the change isnt how someone looks but how they act because of how they feel they look.
Its related to why its not a stupid idea for UK soldier to have its showy, totally standing out, uniforms. Because looking impressive, even if its just totally fake, is a morale booster for the friendly side and scary to the opposition, even if it may not be scary in a conscious way.

And really, you´ve used another part of the answer to your question as your signature for a long time now.


Oh im quite sure the police have opinions and they probably try to think for themselves.
But they´re trained to handle things one way, and facing off with a hoarde of people is scary, so most likely they will react according to training, OR if the protestors have enough good things going for them, or the regime enough badness about it and they get a chance to think about it they may change sides, OR they might run away although thats least likely, OR they might panic and start shooting wildly.
Last thing was what happened in Tianamen square after some loonies among the protestors fired at the police and military, which sofar had done nothing worse than trying to make the protestors unheard by the surroundings by singing louder than they were shouting.