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Military moves to take control of parts of Cairo
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Page 6: Politix
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Africa North
Dupe entry: Egypt and Tunisia usher in new era of food revolts
Posted by: Frozen Al || 01/31/2011 12:05 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


North African intifada
By Robert Spencer
Posted by: ryuge || 01/31/2011 03:15 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IMO, a military support based dictatorship is the most progressive form of government possible in the Muslim world.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2011 4:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Progressive government in the Muslim world is an oxymoron.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/31/2011 5:04 Comments || Top||

#3  ...they hated Mubarak for the uneasy peace he maintained with Israel. “Israel is our enemy,” one said flatly, explaining why she wanted Mubarak to go. Another added, “If people are free, they’re gonna destroy Israel. The country who controls the United States is Israel.”

Before Israel is destroyed, there will be enough radioactive dust in the atmosphere that we won't have to worry about global warming for a long, long time.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/31/2011 6:17 Comments || Top||

#4  How are water levels behind Aswan Dam these days?
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2011 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Next you be telling me, phil_b, that "negative numbers are not real numbers".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2011 8:13 Comments || Top||

#6  "negative numbers are not real numbers".

How can they be, g(r)omgoru, when they've got an i in them?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2011 9:01 Comments || Top||

#7  '-' is the mark of negative numbers

'i' is the mark of complex numbers
Posted by: Shereter Poodle9774 || 01/31/2011 10:35 Comments || Top||

#8  But negative numbers have an 'i' - right between the 't' and 'v'.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2011 11:18 Comments || Top||

#9  Actually the Square Root of negative real numbers are imaginary numbers and not real numbers.

Imaginary numbers also form part of complex numbers.

As I recall imaginary numbers are not real numbers - but real numbers are imaginary numbers. Which are often exprssed as a+bi where a and b are real numbers and i is the imaginary unit number (which as I recall is sqrt(-1).

Of course these imaginary numbers are not related at all to Climate Data, OBumble's job created (or saved) estimates, or CNN crowd estimates - those are fabricated numbers - an area of mathematics where no sane man has gone before.

(damn that was a long wayback journey to high school computer class....)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/31/2011 11:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Must not be that long a wayback journey, if they HAD computers in your high school.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/31/2011 12:50 Comments || Top||

#11  those are fabricated numbers - an area of mathematics where no sane man has gone before

Now I have to find a reason to quote that, Crazy Fool. :-)

Glenmore -- precisely. A small bit of math major silliness. Like the integral of ex.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2011 13:34 Comments || Top||

#12  Glenmore - actually they didn't. We had a keypunch machine (and coding forms) and would have jobs run up at the local university's 360/40 overnight and have printout sent back. I just had an assignment to write some functions to perform complex number math - without using the builtin 'complex' data types or functions. First I had to research what a complex number was.

I was never any sort of math major - I just found complex numbers interesting. Which is the only reason I understood the i reference.

Feel free to quote that TW.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/31/2011 14:01 Comments || Top||

#13  GLOBAL JIHAD = the "North African Intifada" will in LT even devol into the NORTH AMERICAN = PAN-AMERICAN, ETC. INTIFADA...

Except that it will be supported by MILTERR-CONTROLLED NUKES-WMDS + OTHER.

* ION NOT-NECESSARILY-UNRELATED, TOPIX > [IIRC Korea Herald?] ADMIRAL MULLEN: NORTH KOREA MAY HAVE NUCLEAR-CAPABLE ICBM WITHIN A DECADE, i.e. by 2020 + capable of effectively striking CONUS.

ISRAEL is repor worried = frightened about the "Jasmine" Protests in Tunisia + Egypt, etc. AS THEY SHOULD BE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/31/2011 18:54 Comments || Top||

#14  I was never any sort of math major - I just found complex numbers interesting.

To be honest, Crazy Fool, I ended up in math because I found out the hard way I wasn't clever enough for computers. It was only later that I discovered I was a very high-functioning non-math person, too, and even later that I realized my calling was to be a dilettante. ;-)

JosephM, if there ever is a real American Intifada, they'll get their fannies walloped. We don't take kindly to that kind of behaviour in these parts.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/31/2011 19:48 Comments || Top||

#15  ION NOT-NECESSARILY-UNRELATED, TOPIX > [IIRC Korea Herald?] ADMIRAL MULLEN: NORTH KOREA MAY HAVE NUCLEAR-CAPABLE ICBM WITHIN A DECADE

If the coal mines are filled with H20, where are you going to get the coal to launch them?
Posted by: KBK || 01/31/2011 20:43 Comments || Top||


Obama will go down in history as the president who lost Egypt
By Aluf Benn

Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as "the president who lost Iran," which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who "lost" Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled.

The superficial circumstances are similar. In both cases, a United States in financial crisis and after failed wars
What failed wars? Or does the writer mean President Obama pulling the troops out of Iraq before completely consolidating the victory there?
loses global influence under a leftist president whose good intentions are interpreted abroad as expressions of weakness. The results are reflected in the fall of regimes that were dependent on their relationship with Washington for survival, or in a change in their orientation, as with Ankara.

The street revolts in Tunisia and Egypt show that the United States can do very little to save its friends from the wrath of their citizens.
America's general weakness clearly affects its friends. But unlike Carter, who preached human rights even when it hurt allies, Obama sat on the fence and exercised caution. He neither embraced despised leaders nor evangelized for political freedom, for fear of undermining stability.

Obama began his presidency with trips to Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and in speeches in Ankara and Cairo tried to forge new ties between the United States and the Muslim world. His message to Muslims was "I am one of you," and he backed it by quoting from the Koran. President Hosni Mubarak did not join him on the stage at Cairo University, and Obama did not mention his host. But he did not imitate his hated predecessor, President George W. Bush, with blunt calls for democracy and freedom.

Obama apparently believed the main problem of the Middle East was the Israeli occupation, and focused his policy on demanding the suspension of construction in the settlements and on the abortive attempt to renew the peace talks. That failure led him to back off from the peace process in favor of concentrating on heading off an Israeli-Iranian war.

Americans debated constantly the question of whether Obama cut his policy to fit the circumstances or aimed at the wrong targets. The absence of human rights issues from U.S. policy vis-a-vis Arab states drew harsh criticism; he was accused of ignoring the zeitgeist and clinging to old, rotten leaders. In the past few months many opinion pieces have appeared in the Western press asserting that the days of Mubarak's regime are numbered and calling on Obama to reach out to the opposition in Egypt. There was a sense that the U.S. foreign policy establishment was shaking off its long-term protege in Cairo, while the administration lagged behind the columnists and commentators.

The administration faced a dilemma. One can guess that Obama himself identified with the demonstrators, not the aging dictator. But a superpower isn't the civil rights movement. If it abandons its allies the moment they flounder, who would trust it tomorrow? That's why Obama rallied to Mubarak's side until Friday, when the force of the protests bested his regime.

The street revolts in Tunisia and Egypt showed that the United States can do very little to save its friends from the wrath of their citizens. Now Obama will come under fire for not getting close to the Egyptian opposition leaders soon enough and not demanding that Mubarak release his opponents from jail. He will be accused of not pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hard enough to stop the settlements and thus indirectly quell the rising tides of anger in the Muslim world. But that's a case of 20:20 hindsight. There's no guarantee that the Egyptian or Tunisian masses would have been willing to live in a repressive regime even if construction in Ariel was halted or a few opposition figures were released from jail.

Now Obama will try to hunker down until the winds of revolt die out, and then forge ties with the new leaders in the region. It cannot be assumed that Mubarak's successors will be clones of Iran's leaders, bent on pursuing a radical anti-American policy. Perhaps they will emulate Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who navigates among the blocs and superpowers without giving up his country's membership in NATO and its defense ties with the United States. Erdogan obtained a good deal for Turkey, which benefits from political stability and economic growth without being in anyone's pocket. It could work for Egypt, too.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/31/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He is starting to look more and more like jimmah.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 01/31/2011 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Bush lost Egypt in the same way he 'lost' Iraq.

'Lost' in leftspeak meaning facilitating the removal of a dictator.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/31/2011 0:56 Comments || Top||

#3  IIRC PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > AFRICA'S BIG AWAKENING, + BIG TEST AHEAD FOR AFRICA'S BRAVE NEW WORLD [Redrawing of Colonial Euro-made borders].

Maybe POTUS BAMMER can adopt one or more Son(s)from Africa like MADONNA + BRADGELINA???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/31/2011 1:50 Comments || Top||

#4  As long as he doesn't manage to go down in history as the president who lost USA.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2011 4:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Give him time g(r)om. I'm sure he's working on it.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/31/2011 7:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Threfore the use of the word manage.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/31/2011 8:08 Comments || Top||

#7  AP prints dumbest statement of the day.

Oil prices spiked 4.3 percent Friday on fears that the Suez Canal might be closed. Roughly 3,500 oil tankers a year plus thousands of other cargo ships travel through the canal on their way from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the canal was shut down for eight years. A closure today would add 6,000 miles to trips as ships detour around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Those trips would risk the threat of attack by Somali pirates.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/31/2011 10:54 Comments || Top||

#8  In a sense that would be good, THEN the Navies of the world would clean out that particular swamp.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/31/2011 18:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Both of the PAK Political Opposition + RED CROSS are warning that PAKISTAN could face TUNISIA-STYLE TROUBLES.

Whether it does or does not, POLITICAL JIHAD = RADICAL ISLAM'S HAND IN PAKISTAN = AFPAK, + CENTRAL ASIA IS LIKELY TO BE STRENGTHENED.

What is happening in North Africa + Mideast will ripple through MUSLIM ASIA, + NON-MUSLIM ETHNIC REGIONS.

See also

* DAILY TIMES.Pk > EGYPT UNREST SHAKES ARAB WORLD, UPSETS US POLICY.

ARTIC > GRIA's Barry RUBIN = EGYPT may turn out to be the BIGGEST DISASTER [bigger-n-worser] FOR THE US SINCE THE FALL OF THE SHAH OF IRAN + 1979 ISLAMIC REVOLUTION.

And its NOT over yet.

* CNN + FOX NEWS this AM > Analysts are watching to see iff EGYPTIAN PROESTS will spread to SYRIA.

* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > AMERICA'S FRAGILE ARAB DOMINOES.

* SAME > THE US MORAL CONUNDRUM IN EGYPT.

* SAME > PERILOUS CHOICES FOR EGYPT'S MILITARY, which still enjoys historically high public veneration as a Mil, State Institution at a time of MAXIMUM PERIL FOR IT + EGYPTIAN NATION VEE ON-GOING ANTI-MUBARAK = "JASMINE" MASS PROTESTS.

* TOPIX > THE ALTERNATIVE IS ISLAM.

"ALL POLITICS IS A COALITION" + "POLITICS IS WARFARE BY OTHER MEANS", as the Old Sayings go.

Hence

* ABOVE SCOPE = IIUC, IOW MAINSTREAM = POPULAR ISLAMIC CRIES OF "FREEDOM/DEMOCRACY NOW" could easily devol = become perverted into WORSE, RADIC ISLAMIST/SHARIA-LED TOTALITARIANISM.

E.g. ROBESPIERRE + PRE-NAPOLEON JACOBIN FRANCE. LENINISM-VS-TROTSKYISM-VS-STALINISM, ....@ETC.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/31/2011 20:52 Comments || Top||

#10  3am...
Posted by: Pappy || 01/31/2011 23:04 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Judge Rules ObamaCare Mandate Un-Constitutional
A U.S. judge today ruled that the federal health-care law was unconstitutional, handing a preliminary victory to Virginia and bolstering the case of Florida and 19 other states that have filed similar challenges.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, in Richmond, Va., sided with Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who argued that the state's residents could not legally be forced to buy health insurance.

Actually it was 27 states out of Obama's 57 states that are in the lawsuit.
Posted by: Spanky Hupavigum3028 || 01/31/2011 15:14 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Dupe entry: Friends of 0 Get Waivers from Obamacare
If you would like to know what the White House really thinks of Obamacare, there’s an easy way. Look past its press releases. Ignore its promises. Forget its talking points. Instead, simply witness for yourself the outrageous way the White House protects its best friends from Obamacare.

Last year, we learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had granted 111 waivers to protect a lucky few from the onerous regulations of the new national health care overhaul. That number quickly and quietly climbed to 222, and last week we learned that the number of Obamacare privileged escapes has skyrocketed to 733.

Among the fortunate is a who’s who list of unions, businesses and even several cities and four states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee) but none of the friends of Barack feature as prominently as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Surprise, surprise! Even more shocking -

More than 500 of the 733 waivers, we now know, were granted in December but kept conveniently under wraps until the day after the president’s State of the Union address.

You have to hit 'Page Down' about five times at the link to get to the editorial.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/31/2011 06:29 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Pat Condell’s American Islamophobia and an Austrian MP’s stand– quotes and comments.
Pat Condell has produced another straight talking video looking at the claimed ‘Islamophobia’ in America. Claimed, because evidence for it is sadly lacking, not that this will deter the likes of CAIR and their enablers and bleeding hearts from shrieking ‘Islamophobia’ at every turn. Others are also speaking out such as Austrian MP Ewald Stadler.

Pat notes that:

‘what happens in America matters to the entire free world.’

Posted by: tipper || 01/31/2011 07:50 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
55[untagged]
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2Govt of Sudan
2Commies
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2Taliban
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Shabaab
1Pirates
1TTP

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2011-01-31
  Military moves to take control of parts of Cairo
Sun 2011-01-30
  Mubarak names VP, raising succession talk
Sat 2011-01-29
  Saleh Accuses Al-Jazeera Channel of Serving Zionist and Terrorist Groups
Fri 2011-01-28
  At least 1,000 arrested in Egypt protests
Thu 2011-01-27
  Tunisia issues arrest warrant for ousted president Ben Ali
Wed 2011-01-26
  Three dead in Egypt protests
Tue 2011-01-25
  Egypt protesters clash with police
Mon 2011-01-24
  Bomb explodes in Moscow Domodedovo airport (DME), double digit fatalities
Sun 2011-01-23
  Nato Airstrikes Kill 10 Insurgents in Afghanistan
Sat 2011-01-22
  Hidalgo Police Chief Dies, 3 Cops Hurt in Car Bomb Explosion
Fri 2011-01-21
  Suicide Blasts Rock Karbala, 50 Dead Nationwide
Thu 2011-01-20
  15 dead in Iraq suicide attacks
Wed 2011-01-19
  Nigerian troops given shoot to kill orders in Jos
Tue 2011-01-18
  Al-Turabi arrested in Khartoum
Mon 2011-01-17
  Prosecutor submits Hariri assassination indictment


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