In Which Egypt Takes Cues from Tunisia, and Loudly Demands Some Sense Up In Here

Hey, remember that thing I said about the Jasmine Revolution being important because of its potential for replication in other Arab states?

Yeah, this is happening. In Egypt. Right now.

Welp, in true I-told-you-so form, Egypt has erupted into "anti-government demonstrations" calling shenanigans on the past 30 years of "torture, poverty, corruption, unemployment," and uninterrupted rule by President Hosni Mubarak. Protests are raging in eight cities all over the country. Cops are using rubber bullets and tear gas to try and restore zen, and because Egypt has a standing ban on all gatherings without permits, anyone in the streets is liable for detainment. Isn't that just awesome.

Two civilians and a police officer have been killed. Thousands of folks in Arab countries are taking notice, and a small handful of ruling elites are probably booking passage to the Grand Caymans about now.

A protester with the before and after images of Saeed

Many of the Egyptians out in the streets are mobilized from the We Are Khalid Saeed movement that started on facebook (and here in meatworld) in 2009 after Saeed, an Alexandrian small businessman, was dragged from an internet cafe by cops and beaten to death in the street. The campaign posts the names of abusive cops, and acts as a watchdog and protest group against police and institutional brutality. It's also yet another reason why I wish I read Arabic.

Al Jazeera has an interesting twitter feed next to the first story linked above, fed largely by people involved with the protests (which there appears to be no shortage of). However, there are also reports that twitter and facebook have both been blocked by the Mubarak regime, who make it no secret that they hate all this techy bullcrap. They've got a special seat in hell reserved for dissident bloggers, too, which gives me the warm and fuzzies. It's so nice to be thought of...

Also to toss in the two cents of the resident superpower: Hillary Clinton is calling Egypt's government "stable".
I wonder if she heard that on Fox.