I see why regular people are flowing across the US Border.  And I don’t blame them.  I really do wonder if this is the reason the Gubbmint has left the borders open [instead of the old saw about “Rethuglicans need cheap woooorkers"] Having a pressure cooker on one’s Border would be ...problematic.

Trouble is, the more regular, decent people who leave, the less pressure there is to control such Mad Max behavior.

...in Mexico, a drug cartel-connected trafficker claims fellow gangsters have kidnapped highway bus passengers and forced them into gladiatorlike fights to groom fresh assassins.

...The elderly are killed. Young women are raped. And able-bodied men are given hammers, machetes and sticks and forced to fight to the death.

...In the vicinity of the Mexican city of San Fernando, nearly 200 bodies were unearthed from pits, and authorities said most appeared to have died of blunt force head trauma.

Mad Max meets Fall of Rome with a sprinkling of Jihad Jonnie Comes to Town

*yikes*

Part 1

Part 2 [stay for the end—worth it.]

Having taken a week off [whaddya mean, “you were gone?” *whyIoughta...*] I’m skipping ‘round the InnerToobz trying to catch up.

Seems like the cat is out of the bag, the beanz spilled, and the obvious, well… obviouser:

The phrase “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants" comes to mind every time the Obama- Rice-Hillary combo is at bat.

ayyyyup.
Smart Diplomacy™.  Winning… for The Future.

The Governor having asked the WI teachers to pay a paltry contribution toward their own pension funds, [No.  A phat pension is not a “right."] seems to have sent their legisKlownz into an undisclosed location a Best Western “resort" scattering across the countryside.

Way to Win The Future, guyz.

At the very least Teh iWon threw a nice concert event thingie…

And can you envision Smokey Robinson with Sheryl Crow? If your answer is no, consider yourself lucky. ...

Nick Jonas, John Legend and Jamie Foxx? Please. No pipes, no chops, no fly zone.

...If “The Motown story is really a metaphor for life,” it doesn’t look as though it ends well.

Wincing.  for The Future

I keep coming back to this.

The Arabic administrator posted on the Arabic page an open question to readers: “What do you think we should give as a gift to the brutal Egyptian police on their day?” [Jan. 25, a national holiday celebrating the country’s widely reviled police force]

“The answer came from everyone: Tunisia Tunisia ,"

...In early January, this core of planners [the Revolutionary Youth Movement] decided they would try to replicate the accomplishments of the protesters in Tunisia who ultimately ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Their immediate concern was how to foil the Ministry of Interior, whose legions of riot police had contained and quashed protests for years. The police were expert at preventing demonstrations from growing or moving through the streets, and at keeping ordinary Egyptians away.

Successful in beating back the Alexandrian Mob for thirty years, using techniques successful for centuries.  Principle among those techniques is the Law No. 162 of 1958 [aka The Emergency Law, imposed during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and again after the assassination of Anwar Sadat] which suspends the right to demonstrate and allows the arrest of anyone at any time for any reason at the ruler’s pleasure and allows them to be held for indeterminate time without trial.]

"We had to find a way to prevent security from making their cordon and stopping us,” said 41-year-old architect Basem Kamel, a member of Mohamed ElBaradei’s youth wing and one of the dozen or so plotters.

“Youth groups,” “Youth wings,” youth, youth, youth.  Age 41. 

They met daily for two weeks in the cramped living room of the mother of Ziad al-Alimi. Mr. Alimi is a leading youth organizer for Mr. ElBaradei’s campaign group. ...

Those present included representatives from six youth movements connected to opposition political parties, groups advocating labor rights and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Labor Rights…

On Jan. 25, the first day of protests, the organizers from the youth wings of Egypt’s opposition movements created what appeared to be a spontaneous massing of residents of the slum of Bulaq al-Dakrour, on Cairo’s western edge. These demonstrators weren’t, as the popular narrative has held, educated youth who learned about protests on the Internet. They were instead poor residents who filled a maze of muddy, narrow alleyways, massed in front of a neighborhood candy store and caught security forces flatfooted.

That protest was anything but spontaneous. How the organizers pulled it off, when so many past efforts had failed, has had people scratching their heads since.

...

The group publicly called for protests at those sites for Jan. 25… They announced the sites of the demonstrations on the Internet and called for protests to begin at each one after prayers at about 2 p.m.

But that wasn’t all.

"The 21st site, no one knew about,” Mr. Kamel said.

They sent small teams to do reconnaissance on the secret 21st site. It was the Bulaq al-Dakrour neighborhood’s Hayiss Sweet Shop, whose storefront and tiled sidewalk plaza—meant to accommodate outdoor tables in warmer months—would make an easy-to-find rallying point in an otherwise tangled neighborhood no different from countless others around the city.

The plotters say they knew that the demonstrations’ success would depend on the participation of ordinary Egyptians in working-class districts like this one, where the Internet and Facebook aren’t as widely used. They distributed fliers around the city in the days leading up to the demonstration, concentrating efforts on Bulaq al-Dakrour.

Again:

They were instead poor residents who filled a maze of muddy, narrow alleyways, massed in front of a neighborhood candy store

Those were the people chosen to be the front-line troops against the “brutal police.”

...four field commanders chosen from the organizers’ committee began dispatching activists ["poor residents"] in cells of 10. To boost secrecy, only one person per cell knew their destination.

In these small groups, the protesters advanced toward the Hayiss Sweet Shop, massing into a crowd of 300 demonstrators free from police control. The lack of security prompted neighborhood residents to stream by the hundreds out of the neighborhood’s cramped alleyways, swelling the crowd into the thousands, say sweet-shop employees who watched the scene unfold.

While the police were surrounding and dispersing the other, well-publicized gatherings, these “poor residents” from “a maze of muddy, narrow alleyways” went un-noticed.

The other marches organized at mosques around the city failed to reach Tahrir Square, their efforts foiled by riot-police cordons. The Bulaq al-Dakrour marchers, the only group to reach their objective, occupied Tahrir Square for several hours until after midnight, when police attacked demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The people who evaded the police and the “Emergency Law” to occupy the square were the peasants organized by guys in their 40’s.

I’m also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity—jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight.

...And above all, we saw a new generation emerge—a generation that uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for a government that represented their hopes and not their fears; a government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations.

What is the pay-off—and to whom—of Teh Narrative of The Youth?
[esp the “well-educated ‘youth’ who 1] are literate 2] are internet/technology savvy?]
---

Bone-US Question:

What would happen if a crowd of a group of actual back-woods, redneck, American peasants [real folks—not like Teh iWon Elites™ paint the TeaPartiers] gathered in DC to demand an end to government over-regulation?

What will happen when a crowd of young, tech-savvy stuuuudents gathers in DC to demand the “right” to free food/housing/clothing/medicine/iPhones?

In testimony scheduled Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper ... is expected to defend how the intelligence community tracked the revolts that have swept through two major American allies in the Arab world, toppling the leader of Tunisia and threatening the regime in Egypt...

Yeah—Helluva job, Clappy.

Here, Lady Diane Feinstein, Head of the Intelligence Committee, explains it all for you:

"It’s very real that we do not understand.”
I think that’s a fair statement, LadyDi.

Here’s another weird twist:

[Wael Ghonim, a Google executive] “Ghonim’s tears have moved millions and turned around the views of those who supported (Mubarak) staying,”

Google, again?  hm…

And the Headline of The Day:

Lt. Col. Cabangbang killed an Abu Sayyaf leader, southern Philippines on Tuesday

And the “Hello, YouTube” Moment of The Day:

From the U.S. Department of State‘s Arabic Media Hub comes news that America’s top diplomatic agency will be sharing America’s foreign policy goals with the Arab world in their native language. The move comes as DOS hopes to widen its audience amid growing unrest in the Middle East and growing favor for social media outlets such as Twitter.

Tweeting under the account “USAbilAraby,“ which means ”USA in Arabic,” the State Department’s first entry announced that Washington recognizes the “historic role” of social media in the Arab world. “We want to be in your conversation,” it said.

What could go wrong?

The 76-year-old ex-Fort Worth [Former Texan Mary Thornberry] nurse spent more than a week keeping intruders out of her Cairo apartment as violent protests happened outside.

“I had a knife, a nice sharp knife so I would make jabbing motions to them and there were times ... that I would make unladylike comments,” Mary Thornberry said in a phone interview on ABC News’ “Nightline” Thursday.”

A friend of mine on the phone suggested that I boil a kettle of hot water and so, every so often, I would threaten with a kettle of hot water. ... I also had my walking cane and my rolling pin, OK ... so I tell everyone that’s my armory.”

Thornberry said the force of the crowd involved in the pro- and anti-President Hosni Mubarak demonstrations down her street seemed to burst into her building’s foyer.

“A lot of these hoodlums got to my floor and stayed the night there,” she said. “They tried to get to my apartment where I live. They made a lot noise, voices, and pounding on my door and incessant jabbing their fingers on the doorbell.”

...Thornberry, who used to live in Forth Worth, Texas, moved to Cairo in 1996. She received her graduate degree in Egyptian history.

Ginger Butler… has a fiancé in Cairo named Hisham.

She also has friends in Seattle and Olympia, and between them they started the series of events that led to Thornberry getting the help she needed.

...Mary and Hisham were connected by phone in Cairo. He went and got her out of the apartment and escorted her to safety.

Forward into the 70’s! Led by an oooold man who “hasn’t much time.”

Brown’s “small is beautiful” mantra...

Brown has tossed some of the flashier trappings of the state’s top office in part because of his age, maturity and experience in the office, experts say.

The 72-year-old Brown underscored those strengths in his 2010 gubernatorial drive launch on the Internet, when he looked directly at the camera and told Californians that “at this stage in my life” he wasn’t looking to a future political campaign but to secure California’s future, said Joe Trippi, Brown’s campaign-ad strategist.

“He’s giving you, up front, an explanation on why he needs to do it; he doesn’t have time to screw around,” said UC Irvine political scientist Mark Petracca.

...Petracca said. “He’s of a particular age where time is more precious - and I think it makes people take you more seriously."

...or not

Also gone from the governor’s office is the boardroom table, with a wooden picnic table now in its place.

..."After a while you want to leave,” [Brown] said, “depending upon the strength of your posterior."

Bet he didn’t use that particular word… but he did use these:

“When democratic ideals and calls for the right to vote are stirring the imagination of young people in Egypt and Tunisia and other parts of the world, we in California can’t say now is the time to block a vote of the people,” Brown said in his first State of the State address in nearly 30 years.

He said the budget has tough choices but that the people “have a right to vote” on the package.

Gee… Thanks

“If you are a Democrat who doesn’t want to make budget reductions in programs you fought for and deeply believe in, I understand that,” he said. “If you are a Republican who has taken a stand against taxes, I understand where you are coming from. But this time things are different. In fact, the people are telling us—in their own way—they sense something is profoundly wrong. They see that their leaders are divided when they should be decisive and acting with clear purpose.”

No matter what he says, no matter what he does, remember, Jerry Brown fully supports AB32, aka Global Warming The Final Solution, which will gut the entire CA economy, encourage producers to flee the state and leave the real estate to the Reconquistas. 

ok—gut it further.

First, remember that these areas are the ground zero, so to speak, of 20 years of illegal immigration. There has been a general depression in farming — to such an extent that the 20- to-100-acre tree and vine farmer, the erstwhile backbone of the old rural California, for all practical purposes has ceased to exist.

That’s from Victor Davis Hanson’s article on CA—a must read—where I also found this:

"If a man takes no interest in public affairs, we do not commend him as quiet but condemn him as useless.”
--Thucydides, Peloponnesian Wars

The army said on Monday [1/31/11] it would not use force against Egyptians staging protests demanding President Hosni Mubarak step down…

It said “freedom of expression” was guaranteed to all citizens using peaceful means.

Is that in Egypt’s constitution?  Cuz it’s sure not in its history…

"The presence of the army in the streets is for your sake and to ensure your safety and wellbeing. The armed forces will not resort to use of force against our great people,” the army statement said.

“Your armed forces, who are aware of the legitimacy of your demands and are keen to assume their responsibility in protecting the nation and the citizens, affirms that freedom of expression through peaceful means is guaranteed to everybody."

WTH did that come from?!?

The International Monetary Fund stands ready to help riot-torn Egypt rebuild its economy, the IMF chief said Tuesday as he warned governments to tackle unemployment and income inequality or risk war.

IMF = “Social Justice” Hm… Learn something every day…

Overall, according to the IMF managing director, widening imbalances across and within countries were sparking tensions that threaten to derail the fragile global economic recovery—and could even spark armed conflict.

No ideology; no cries of “Freedom!”; no calls for “God’s Law”; no blathering about “rights of the people”—just economic disparity and lack of JobsJobsJobs.

Makes about as much sense as this:

The IMF boss [shouldn’t that be “Boss”?] called anew on China to adjust its exchange rate in its own economic interest, but said he disagreed with critics in the United States and elsewhere who want a rapid revaluation to the yuan.

He said the US government itself should not have a problem financing its massive debt, and downplayed fears over Japan’s debts after a downgrade last week by Standard & Poor’s.

erm… whaaa?

"These global imbalances put the sustainability of the recovery at risk, ...

oh.  ...

Egypt’s armed forces chief of staff Sami Enan could be an acceptable successor to Hosni Mubarak because he is perceived as incorruptible, a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday.

...date and place of birth as 1948, in Cairo, and says he was trained in both Russia and France as well at a military academy in Egypt.

He held senior roles in air defence before being appointed to his current job in 2005…

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a telephone conversation with Enan on Sunday in which he urged restraint from Egypt’s military, but at the same time praised the “professionalism” of Egypt’s armed forces…

Enan and more than 20 other Egyptian officers were in Washington for long-planned talks when the unrest broke out in Cairo and other cities. They were attending the Military Cooperation Committee, an Egyptian-U.S. body that is chaired by Enan and Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Sandy Vershbow.

As a result of the situation at home, Enan cut short the mission and flew home.

Kamel El-Helbawy, a prominent overseas cleric from Egypt’s main opposition movement [has been a] member [of Islamic Brotherhood] since 1952, Helbawy has long been a prominent member of the Brotherhood’s overseas thinkers, working in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Britain.

In the mid-1990s he served as the Brotherhood’s spokesman in the West, and helped create the Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Association of Britain.

So he’s the IB spokes-imam. 
["Kamel"?~?  rly?]

Helbawy said new Vice President Omar Suleiman could be an interim leader but not a long-term successor to Mubarak.

So that’s IB’s timeline…

Helbawy said of the Brotherhood’s role: “The Brotherhood is now forming a part of this coalition led by ElBaradei, so they are no longer working for their own private agenda. They are working in a coalition with ElBaradei."

And then... ?

Aaaaand in other [completely unrelated, I’m sure] nooz:

King Abdullah of Jordan, a close U.S. ally, on Tuesday replaced his prime minister after protests over food prices and poor living conditions, naming a former premier with a military background to head the government.

Arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the southern Gabes region of Tunisia...

“What astonished me was that there were police not far from the synagogue,” added Perez, who is also head of the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, the oldest synagogue in Africa.

]]>