SA@TAC - America's Egypt Problem

CrossTalk on Egypt: Power to People? (ft. Tariq Ali) 

Video of Cairo ruins as Egypt plunges into lawlessness 

Video of thousands on Cairo's Tahrir Square demanding Mubarak goes

'Tea Party founders corrupting America' 

Uncloaking the Koch Brothers, Tea Party 

Ron Paul: Cut Off All Foreign Aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, And All the Rest! 

Deadly Egypt Riots: Desperate Mubarak's Army vs People

'Egypt bullets made in US, ElBaradei success doubtful'

 

Goldman Sachs' Facebook Fraud 

 

Egypt riots: US playing both sides? 

 

Egypt protests baffle mainstream media 

Ron Paul on Egypt: U.S. Meddling Leads to Unintended Consequences 

  

Omar Suleiman and the Rendition to Torture Program

Stephen Soldz
Common Dreams
January 31, 2011

In response to the mass protests of recent days, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has appointed his first Vice President in his over 30 years rule, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. When Suleiman was first announced, Aljazeera commentators were describing him as a “distinguished” and “respected ” man. It turns out, however, that he is distinguished for, among other things, his central role in Egyptian torture and in the US rendition to torture program. Further, he is “respected” by US officials for his cooperation with their torture plans, among other initiatives.

Katherine Hawkins, an expert on the US’s rendition to torture program, in an email, has sent some critical texts where Suleiman pops up. Thus, Jane Mayer, in The Dark Side, pointed to Suleiman’s role in the rendition program:

Each rendition was authorized at the very top levels of both governments….The long-serving chief of the Egyptian central intelligence agency, Omar Suleiman,     negotiated directly with top Agency officials.  [Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt] Walker described the Egyptian counterpart, Suleiman, as “very bright, very realistic,” adding that he was cognizant that there was a downside to “some of the negative things that the Egyptians engaged in, of torture and so on. But he was not squeamish, by the way” (pp. 113).

Read entire article

Woman Responsible for NSA’s Military Operations Support Kills Children

Cryptogon.com
January 31, 2011

Update: 2009 Forum Post Indicates Julie Schenecker (Née Powers) Was Army MOS 97E: Human Intelligence Collector

97E: Human Intelligence Collector:

Major Duties: The Human Intelligence Collector (HUMINT Collector) supervises and conducts tactical HUMINT collection operations that include, but are not limited to, debriefings, interrogations and elicitations in English and foreign languages for positive intelligence and force protection information; screens Human Intelligence (HUMINT) sources and documents to establish priorities for exploitation; under CI supervision, plans and participates in counterintelligence and Force Protection Operations (CFSO).

Translates and exploits captured enemy documents, foreign language and open source publications. Prepares and edits appropriate intelligence and administrative reports; utilizes CI/HUMINT reporting and communications equipment; uses interpreters and manages interpreter/translator operations; conducts liaison and coordination in foreign language with host nation agencies; conducts analysis and performs briefings as required.

This 97E MOS now appears to be called Human Intelligence Collector (35M).
Via: 18th Military Intelligence Battalion Forum:

Parker Schenecker in Tampa
Postby pschenecker » Sat Aug 01, 2009 10:03 pm

This is Parker Schenecker, formerly 1LT Schenecker (Battalion S1 from 1987-88). Now, after a lot of years, and numerous oversights by the Army promotion boards, I’m COL Schenecker, the Deputy NSA rep to CENTCOM in Tampa FL. Have kept in touch with many folks from Munich (1986-90 for me, 1987-1992 for my wife, the former Russian 97E Julie Powers) over the years.

Just a recap for me. Came to Munich for duty as the Aide to the AAFES commander, BG EB Leedy…after that, I rolled over to the 18th as the S1, then went over to 66th as the HHC commander for a year; Greg Zellmer (now COL and taking command of 66th next summer) was my XO. Stint @ Huachuca as instructor and BN XO then back to Germany (Vilseck and Wurzburg). Other assignments, CONUS and Hawaii, then back to Germany in Ansbach as the Garrison commander. After 10 years in Germany, we certainly miss it! We get back as often as we can.

OK, during our time in Munich, I’ll recap come of the folks who were with us (86-90). BN Commanders (after McKay was sacked) were MAJ Mike Moak (deceased), LTC Arty Franzello (deceased), followed by COL (Ret)Tom Gandy (now @ Army G2). BN XOs were Mike Moak, followed by MAJ Bob Barrigan, followed by Barb Fast (now MG Barb Fast). BN S2 was LTC(Ret) Mark Knick. 

BN S3 was John Zellmer; assistant was Randy Luten. BN S4 was Gregg Potter (now BG Potter; EUCOM J2). IMO (S6) was Sam Boggs, followed by COL Rick Zoller. HHC Commander was Jeff Cleghorn. Other officers during that stint were COL Bryan DeCoster, Rob Fagan, Mike Hunter, LTC Bridget Rourke, Tony Pauroso (5th MI Cdr), Bob Beaver (5th MI Cdr), LTC (Ret) Rob Walter, Paul Muehlman, among others. Zak Szebunczek (sp?) was the Civilian Advisor.

We were all there during the “mutiny”; I’ll post a note in that forum with the details. I was the Adjutant during all that fiasco, so I had the details of the whole sordid affair…I can fill in the details on why the 18th became known as the “Love Battalion.”

Looking forward to catching up with folks from one of the best units in the Army…and certainly the best location for an assignment one could even imagine.

Parker Schenecker
Tampa, FL

More: Was Julie Powers Schenecker a First Sergeant?

Via: 18th Military Intelligence Battalion Forum:

Re: What do you not miss the most about the military?

Postby Julie Powers Schenecker » Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:30 pm
1SG McMillin’s white glove inspections of our barracks rooms.

He once told me that I couldn’t have my pink cannondale parked in my living room to which 1SG Mack replied, “that bike is worth more than your CAR, 1SG!”(the bike was allowed to remain inside)

…i do not miss Frank Wiswell ‘bleeding’ all over my carbon copy reports! And I certainly don’t miss the electric typewriters we had to use!!

Ladies, do we not miss the cobblestone on McGraw that trashed our heels of our pumps?

…i do not miss doing a urinalysis in front of senior females or getting taped(fat measuring tool) by SFC Sikorski.

And I certainly don’t miss the annual walk home from the starck bier fest!!
Julie Powers Schenecker

—End Update—

According to the St. Petersburg Times article below:

Parker Schenecker met Julie Powers in Munich, Germany, where they were both stationed in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

She worked as a Russian linguist for the Army, collecting intelligence for European agencies by interviewing refugees coming from the Eastern Bloc, said Tim Fredrikson, who served with her.

Was Julie Schenecker a CIA or NSA officer who was attached to the Army Intelligence unit? Or, if she was in the Army, what was her rank?
Via: St. Petersburg Times:

Julie Schenecker was sick of her teenage children talking back to her, police say, so last week she bought a .38-caliber pistol and planned their murders and her suicide.

She shot her 13-year-old son Thursday evening after driving him home from soccer practice. Then she walked upstairs and shot her 16-year-old daughter in the back of the head as she did homework, an arrest affidavit states.

With their blood on her clothing, the 50-year-old mother remained at the Tampa Palms house all night. Police didn’t arrive until the next morning, after Schenecker’s mother called them from Texas, worried because she couldn’t reach her daughter, whom she believed was depressed.

Schenecker admitted killing her children, Calyx Schenecker, 16, and Powers Beau Schenecker, 13, police said. She showed no remorse.

Though Schenecker cooperated Friday, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said no explanation could help people truly understand why it happened.
“She did tell us that they talked back and they were mouthy,” she said.

The children’s father, Army Col. Parker Schenecker, 48, was informed Friday that his wife killed their children, McElroy said. He is stationed at Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base and was in the Middle East.

Neighbors said they have seen police cars at the home at 16305 Royal Park Court before, though not often.

The Department of Children and Families said it investigated the family about two months ago after getting a complaint. The tip was determined to be unfounded and the case closed. Spokesman Terry Field said he couldn’t elaborate.

Several out-of-state family members declined to comment Friday, but neighbors and school officials described the children as bright, polite and athletic.

“Calyx was a very sweet girl, always soft-spoken, always quiet — a real sweetheart,” neighbor Seema Jain said. “I just can’t comprehend why this has happened to them.”

• • •

Parker Schenecker met Julie Powers in Munich, Germany, where they were both stationed in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

She worked as a Russian linguist for the Army, collecting intelligence for European agencies by interviewing refugees coming from the Eastern Bloc, said Tim Fredrikson, who served with her.

He was a rising intelligence officer who had graduated cum laude with a French degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where the school yearbook is named the “Calyx.”

In Munich, Julie organized and coached a volleyball team of officers, said K.C. Dreller, another intelligence officer who worked with her.

“She was super good at it,” said Dreller, 49. “I imagine she was super good at everything she did. Anybody that was in that field was a Type A personality.”

The couple married and had two children, Calyx in Germany and Powers, who went by “Beau,” in Honolulu.

The military family moved a lot, and Parker Schenecker studied at several military schools, including the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College, according to a 2010 bulletin on distinguished alumni, published on his high school’s website.

The newsletter also said he became a colonel in 2006 and was mainly responsible for the National Security Agency’s support to military operations.

About three years ago the family landed in Tampa.

Parker is assigned to U.S. Central Command’s intelligence directorate and has worked for CentCom for more than two years, said Lt. Col. Mike Lawhorn, a spokesman. He was on a temporary duty assignment overseas the past few days.

Julie Schenecker, no longer in the Army, stayed home with their children. She took shifts driving in the neighborhood’s King High School car pool and often referred to the struggles of parenting in seemingly light-hearted Facebook posts.

On May 7, a friend wrote, “Happy Mother’s/Hallmark day to all the mothers.

You are more brave than I. Not sure how you do it, but glad you do.”

Julie responded: “some days, not sure how we do it, either!! ”

On Sept. 23, a friend posted on his profile: “Hold yourself to a higher standard than anybody else expects of you.”

Julie commented: “i needed that advice today — have a 16 yr old daughter!”

• • •

Beau attended Liberty Middle School and played soccer. The young teen could often be found playing basketball, street hockey or other games with friends in the cul-de-sac.

Calyx was in the 10th grade in the pre-International Baccalaureate program at King High. She was a talented artist, took part in speech and debate and formed a Harry Potter fan club.

Principal Carla Bruning described her as an excellent student who was popular, sweet and enthusiastic.

“She was a great kid, the kind you would want to clone,” Bruning said.
Gary Bingham, who coached Calyx in cross country and track, called her “the fastest freshman I ever had.”

She was quirky, he said, a girl fascinated by bugs and funny-looking leaves on the running trails. She was easy-going and bubbly — smart, too.

At track practice Thursday afternoon, Calyx, a distance runner with long legs, decided to also give hurdles a try.

“She went over a hurdle and fell face first,” Bingham said. “She got up just laughing.”

Bingham expected to see his runner again at a 5K race today. Instead, he consoled his track team Friday and thought of Calyx’s father.

“He leaves here with a family and comes back with nothing,” Bingham said.

• • •

The scene Friday morning was ghastly. Beau was still in the van, Calyx by the computer. It didn’t look like they struggled. “The children never saw it coming,” McElroy said.

Inside the house, police found a detailed note that explained how their mother planned to kill them, then herself. As they processed the scene, the department’s Critical Incident Stress Management team was on hand to counsel the investigators, all parents.

Schenecker told police she shot her son in the head “for talking back to her” as she drove him to soccer practice, an arrest affidavit states.

About 3:30 p.m., authorities led her from Tampa police headquarters. She wore a white, plastic outfit, the type given to suspects when their clothing is seized as evidence.

She did not answer questions from reporters and mumbled to herself as deputies escorted her into the Orient Road Jail.

She shook uncontrollably, and deputies took her to the medical unit to be screened, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Larry McKinnon.

Deputies planned to monitor her around the clock.

Israel urges world to curb criticism of Egypt’s Mubarak

Barak Ravid
Haaretz
January 31, 2011

Israel called on the United States and a number of European countries over the weekend to curb their criticism of President Hosni Mubarak to preserve stability in the region.

Jerusalem seeks to convince its allies that it is in the West’s interest to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime. The diplomatic measures came after statements in Western capitals implying that the United States and European Union supported Mubarak’s ouster.

Israeli officials are keeping a low profile on the events in Egypt, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even ordering cabinet members to avoid commenting publicly on the issue.

Read entire article

Satire: Obama tightens the public belt, loosens the TSA belt

Gonzotown
January 31, 2011

The following text was edited out President Obama’s ‘State of the Union’ address this past week and leaked to Gonzo Town via our secure Gonzo-leaks server. Sources inside the beltway believe that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had made the executive decision to scrap large sections of the previously approved speech because of “strong personal feelings” about placing further risk upon the President’s tender approval ratings.

Deleted text:

“Now… I know. That a lot a-you folks are work’in hard. I know… I know. It ain’t easy- work’in three jobs. Raise’in three kids. I know. I got two of my own… and a wife. And a cat. 

This economy has seen Michelle’s and my own personal net worth drop by 15%. It hurts. I know. It does. But what hurts even more? Nothing. So you gotta get used to it…

But, let me be clear on this. In times of austerity… You cannot… have your cake. And, eat it- too.

There’s been alot of people talk’in bout Rahm and will he run for Mayor of Chicago. Truth is, he ain’t gonna win. Unless he converts to Irish. I’ll be glad to see the back of him- when he goes. 

But let’s be fair. That’s not what I came here to talk about. No. I wanna talk about something else. 

Now… A lot folks. Are make’in noise… bout those enhanced pat-downs… at airports. Now I know. I fly all the time… I do. 

And the last… thing… anyone wants… is an overweight, middle-aged, stranger… on minimum wage… this guy wants me to take my belt off. Try’in to cradle the family jewels… before his lunch break. Now… I don’t like it- any more than the next guy. I don’t.

Now, I know… I fly all the time. But imagine if we had a high-speed, train network. Then you wouldn’t, have to worry… about your children… being groped, by a gang of deputized amateurs… with no hope, and no future.

Now let me be clear…”

END TEXT

The previous deleted text was in fact revised by Gibbs, and transformed into the following section of the President’s State of the Union speech:
Obama makes joke about TSA pat-downs in his final draft speech approved by Robert Gibbs this week.

Hillary Clinton says U.S. not pushing for ouster of Egyptian President Mubarak

Paul Richter
The Los Angeles Times
January 31, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday called for Egypt to move toward “real democracy” but also made clear that the United States was not demanding that embattled President Hosni Mubarak step down in the face of continuing demonstrations.

In a series of television interviews, Clinton also eased slightly off the administration’s threats on Friday to yank Egypt’s billions in aid, saying such a step was not now under discussion.

Clinton spoke warmly of the Egyptian military as a “respected institution” and advised it to help move the country from its current unrest to an “orderly transition.”

Read entire article

Cashless Society: ‘Facebook Nation’ unveils its new currency

 Patrick Henningsen
21st Century Wire
January 31, 2011

The 21st century has certainly witnessed a progression towards a ‘cashless society’, but social networking giant Facebook are taking things a step further, throwing their hat into the ring with the introduction of a new compulsory monetary policy that will initially govern its share of the multi-billion dollar online games industry.
Imagine a virtual world where all goods and services are to be offered, bought and paid for by a new virtual-local form of electron currency. Facebook will be piloting such a scheme for their multimillion dollar online games market. As of July 2011, every social game developer on Facebook will have to offer the social network’s “virtual currency credits”.

According to a recent news release from Marketing Week, “Over the next five months developers will have to implement credits as a payment method within their games”. The games industry already accounts for 70% of the virtual goods transactions on the site.

According to Facebook, the social networking corporation are not insisting that their new online currency will be the only payment method available to users, and in exchange for their cooperation game developers will offered incentives if they use Facebook dollars exclusively. Compensation for compliance will apparently include early access to product features and premium promotion on their site, including promotion on the games dashboard and of course, premium ‘smart’ ad targeting.

What appears on the surface to be a simple online marketing tool to help consolidate a niche market share on the world’s largest social network, has in fact much more far and reaching consequences for hundreds of millions of users.  What Facebook have effectively achieved here is nothing short of a huge “game changer” in terms of envisioning a world without cash.

Foreshadowing of things to come

In 2011, it is a social reality that most people you know are, in one way or another, citizens of the Facebook Nation. The corporation’s success in capturing a near global monopoly of membership to their online platform has now given it the ability to dictate an economic mandate to both producers and consumers, in effect, controlling both the upper and lower loops of their virtual economy. This is an incredible position of power, but one which should come as no surprise to any economic student of monopolies. A severe lack of choice in the world of online communities has unwittingly(or not) positioned Facebook in the rolls of banker, retailer and governor.  It is certainly a trend worth noting at this stage, and one which may one day have real consequences for its members and their various cyber passions.

By issuing its own form of “virtual currency credits”, it is essentially creating its own money supply that may one day be the defacto currency for all transactions for goods and services that fall within the borders of the social network. This puts Facebook into a position of exception economic leverage. With any new form of ‘national’ currency- in this case, it’s the Facebook National currency, also comes the possibility of fluctuation in currency exchange rates. With this centralisation of power also comes the ability and means to control and even inflate the value of its currency in terms of supply and demand. This can also reflect itself in the value of all goods and services whereby the paying online community would have no choice but to comply to any new user monetary policy decrees or changes in value imposed on producers and users. One only has to look at their recent announcement to realise that this is indeed already the case.

A Brave New World: the cashless society

As the virtual community and virtual economy begin to replace the real ones, trends forecasters and futurists can begin to imagine a world where morning newspapers are replaced by online news, local markets are replaced by online supermarkets, community fundraising events are replaced by web fundraisers, fun fairs are replaced with online games and greasy spoon cafés are replaced by internet cafés. In case you haven’t been paying attention, in so many ways- that day has already arrived. Welcome to the virtual world. As we spend more and more of our time interfacing with this new world, we will invariably be performing many more monetary transaction there too.

Aside from the obvious differences in a cashless society- a world where  no notes and coins are ever physically held by the owner, there are also a number of other not so nice realities which citizens will be forced to accept. Chief among these are legitimate concerns that a cashless society would make “retailer resistance” aka choosing independent shops, buying direct or supporting local markets over mega supermarkets and national retail chain stores… nearly impossible. In addition to retailer resistance, cash ensures some level of anonymity on the part of its owner. Not so in cashless world, as electronic currency and transactions are and will always be recorded, track, analysed and in some cases- suspended. 

With the introduction of a cashless society, citizens are also likely to lose their identities associated with national currencies like American Dollars, or British Sterling. But as they lose one identity, they will most certainly gain another. In this way, Facebook has taken the lead in supplying a monetary identity to its client citizens in the form of its ‘virtual currency credits’.

Perhaps one day we may also see ‘Apple Credits’ or ‘Nokia Kroner’ as mobile device transactions creep further and further into our economic routine. Either way you slice it, it is an incredible amount of power and influence which an elite clique of corporations now have over large sections of the global population.

As we have seen with the online games developers and their customers, resisting the Facebook marketplace is no longer an option, as it has already defined policy within the boundaries of its massive virtual community- even mandating what form of money can be used within the Facebook Nation. The decree is simple and clear, “if you are not in, you are out.”

Sen. Schumer on the Three Branches of Government

Mubarak May Flee to Israel, Not Saudi Arabia

Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet.com
Monday, January 31, 2011

Aljazeera is reporting that its sources indicate Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak will flee to Israel. It was earlier speculated that he would take refuge in Saudi Arabia.

 

On Saturday, the Saudi monarchy voiced support for Mubarak and his brutal police state and criticized the Egyptian people for attempting to get rid of the authoritarian thug who has ruled the country under the iron grip of martial law since October of 1981. Mubarak assumed the presidency after the assassination of his predecessor, Anwar El-Sadat.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud characterized the popular rebellion as “malicious sedition” and said the relationship between Mubarak’s regime and the Saudi regime represent a U.S.-allied Arab bulwark against Shi’ite Iran.

Britain catapulted the Ibn Saud monarchy to power in the 1920s under the excuse of protecting Muslims who were British subjects. In fact, the religiously austere Sauds were put in power at the behest of British Petroleum.

On Friday, an unnamed Israeli minister voiced his confidence that Mubarak would remain in power. “We believe that Egypt is going to overcome the current wave of demonstrations,” he told Time Magazine. “I’m not sure the time is right for the Arab region to go through the democratic process.”

Sources:

Mubarak’s planning exile to Tel Aviv, Aljazeera, January 31, 2011.

Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, Clive Leatherdale, Frank Cass & Company, p. 326.

Israel: Mubarak here to stay, Press TV, January 29, 2011.

Corporate US Media’s Woeful, Sanitized Egypt Coverage Amounts To Censorship

Anti-government mass uprising? What anti-government mass uprising?

Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
Monday, Jan 31st, 2011

While the ailing dictatorship government in Egypt is busy rounding up and arresting Al Jazeera journalists in an attempt to control the release of footage and accounts of the mass uprising going on throughout the entirety of the country, the disgraceful corporate American media has once again shown itself to be just as strictly regulated in terms of the content it provides to viewers.

In Britain and Canada anyone interested in following the mass unrest in Egypt can simply turn on the television and tune into the English version of Al Jazeera, which has round the clock reports and uninterrupted live footage from journalists on the ground in Cairo and around the rest of the country.

The channel has been running and offering its content worldwide since 2006, yet unless you live in certain parts of Ohio, Vermont or Washington, D.C., you cannot even access the channel in the US, because the cable carriers are not interested in allowing you to see it.

Occasionally, if you are lucky, Fox News, CNN or MSNBC might break away from reporting on some mindless fluff to show you a short loop of some footage that appeared on Al Jazeera English a few hours previously.

This corporate censorship has resulted in a two-and-a-half thousand percent increase in web traffic to Al Jazeera’s website, where it is broadcasting a live stream.

This is the only place in America that you will see continuous live footage from Egypt – an utter disgrace, but no surprise whatsoever, given that the major US networks are all wholly or part owned by mega corporations comprising the military industrial complex.

As noted by Salon.com, during the time that President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party headquarters was torched and set on fire, Al Jazeera had a live feed and an opposition party leader on the phone responding to the events. Meanwhile, Fox News waited to conclude an in depth feature on anchor babies, and then switched to an interview with John Bolton, who said words to the effect of “those darn muslims are up to no good again”.



“A bit earlier, Al Jazeera reported on what could be live ammunition fired by police outside the heavily guarded radio and television building. And Fox went live to Chicago, where two men tried to rob a Brink’s truck.” notes Alex Pareene.

MSNBC went one better by conducting an interview with Dan Senor of The Council on Foreign Relations live from a luxury elite hideout in Davos. There’s some straight up unbiased geopolitical analysis for you.

Any other reporting on Egypt that airs on US cable news consists of repeating loops of the same few minutes of footage with similar paid for and owned “analysis” slapped over the top.

Of course, in the past when Al Jazeera has covered the Iraq and Afghanistan wars a little too in depth for the liking of the US government, it has become the target of US bombs.

In the absence of having any actual facts, the written media has remarkably decided to defend the dictatorship in Egypt, with The LA Times noting that “Egypt and its President Hosni Mubarak are strong US allies in a region rife with anti-Americanism” and the New York Times adding that “the downfall of Mubarak could pave the way for Islamist radicals eager to increase their clout in Egypt”.

Once again, the “free press” at is hard at work keeping Americans in the dark.

Related video: Alex Jones: Corporations, US Government Run News Media

The Internet Kill Switch – One Of The Favorite New Tools Of Tyrannical Governments All Over The Globe

Related: Egypt’s Internet Kill Switch: Coming To America

The Economic Collapse
Jan 31, 2011

This past week was a perfect example of how the “Internet kill switch” is rapidly becoming one of the favorite new tools of tyrannical governments all over the globe. Once upon a time, the Internet was a bastion of liberty and freedom, but now nation after nation is cracking down on it. In fact, legislation has been introduced once again in Congress that would give the president of the United States an “Internet kill switch” that he would be able to use in the event of war or emergency. Of course there would be a whole lot of wiggle room in determining what actually constitutes a true “emergency”. The members of Congress that are pushing this “Internet kill switch” bill want the U.S. to become more like China in this regard. In China, the Internet is highly controlled, highly regulated and highly censored. In fact, China has shut down the Internet in entire regions when they have felt it necessary. So what Egypt did in shutting down the Internet this past week is not unprecedented – but it was quite shocking.

Organizers of the protests in Egypt had been using the #Jan25 hashtag on Twitter and had been communicating with each other via Facebook, and so the Mubarak regime thought that they could significantly derail the protest movement by shutting down the Internet.

It has been widely reported that approximately 88 percent of the Internet in Egypt was shut down at one point.  Jim Cowie, the chief technology officer of an Internet monitoring firm known as Renesys, described on his blog just how complete and total this Internet shutdown in Egypt actually was….

“Every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy, and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world.”

So how was this all done?  How could such a large section of the Internet be taken offline so rapidly?  Well, a recent article on MSNBC described how it works….

According to David Clark, an MIT computer scientist whose research focuses on Internet architecture and development, a government’s ability to control the Internet depends on its control of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the private sector companies that grant Internet access to customers.
“ISPs have direct control of the Internet, so what happens in any country depends on the control that the state has over those ISPs,” Clark told Life’s Little Mysteries in an e-mail. “Some countries regulate the ISPs much more heavily. China has in the past ‘turned off’ the Internet in various regions.”

Whenever the subject of Internet censorship comes up, China always seems to be involved in the conversation.  China has more Internet users than anyone else in the world, but they also have the tightest controls.

The Chinese government is absolutely obsessed with “maintaining order” and it has shown that it will go to extreme lengths to quell dissent.

For example, the government of China cut off the entire Xinjiang region from the Internet for nearly a year after civil unrest erupted there in 2009.

The Chinese government is so sensitive to political dissent that they even began censoring the word “Egypt” on a number of micro-blogging websites this past week.
A recent article posted on Raw Story explained what happened….

On the sina.com and sohu.com sites, the Chinese equivalents of Twitter, which is censored in China, a query with the word “Egypt” returned the response: “According to the laws in force, the results of your search cannot be given.”

Isn’t that bizarre?
Nothing like that would ever happen in the United States, right?
Well, don’t be so sure.

Last year, U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman made the following statement to CNN’s Candy Crowley….

“Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too.”

That statement should chill you to your bones.
U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman wants Chinese-style Internet censorship to come to the United States.

In fact, as mentioned above, legislation that would give the president of the United States an “Internet kill switch” has been introduced in the Senate once again, and in fact it has already been approved by a Senate panel.

The legislation has bipartisan support, and it is being pushed this time by Maine Senator Susan Collins, who is a ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

This bill, S.3480, is entitled “The Protecting Cyberspace As A National Asset Act of 2010“.  It would create a brand new government agency (as if we needed more of those) known as the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications.

This new agency would be given extraordinary power over the Internet – including the power to completely shut down the Internet for 30 days.
Collins insists that this new law is necessary because it would enable us to protect the Internet against “cyber threats” before they could cause serious damage.

While that may sound good on paper, the reality is that giving the government an “Internet kill switch” would create opportunities for tremendous government abuse.
Wired recently ran an article that detailed some of these concerns….

A congressional white paper (.pdf) on the measure said the proposal prohibits the government from targeting websites for censorship “based solely on activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Oddly, that’s exactly the same language in the Patriot Act used to test whether the government can wiretap or investigate a person based on their political beliefs or statements.

Of course we all know how that turned out.

It has been revealed time after time after time that the U.S. government has been investigating large numbers of people based on their political beliefs.
The Internet is a great way for people to express and share their political thoughts and ideas, but it is also providing a way for governments around the world to watch and track dissenters.

For example, major news websites in China now require users to register their true identities before they are able to leave any comments.  This enables the government to be able to identify (and potentially deal with) anyone that does not express the “right” views.

In the same manner, the Obama administration is now proposing the introduction of a “universal Internet ID” for Americans.  The program is being touted as “voluntary”, but how long do you think it would be before a whole host of government agencies started to use these universal Internet IDs to watch, monitor, track and control the Internet activities of tens of millions of Americans?

The following is a video news report from CBS News about these new universal Internet IDs….



So where does all of this Internet censorship end?
Well, the truth is that it is only going to get tighter and tighter as the years go by.

Eventually you will probably need a government-issued license to put up websites such as this one, and in fact someday you will probably need a government-issued license before you can even log on to the Internet.

So enjoy this era of relatively unlimited Internet freedom while you can, because it is rapidly coming to an end.  Tyrannical governments all over the globe are realizing that in order to maintain “control” they must place a much tighter grip on the flow of information on the Internet.

If you live in the United States or another nation where there is still at least a limited amount of liberty and freedom, it is going to be important to let your representatives know that you do not want Internet censorship and you certainly do not want any sort of an Internet kill switch.

Liberties and freedoms are incredibly precious, and once they are taken away they are very difficult to get back.

As Egypt goes offline US gets internet ‘kill switch’ bill ready

Related: Egypt’s Internet Kill Switch: Coming To America

Ben Grubb and Asher Moses
The Age
Jan 31, 2011

As Egypt’s government attempts to crackdown on street protests by shutting down internet and mobile phone services, the US is preparing to reintroduce a bill that could be used to shut down the internet.

The legislation, which would grant US President Barack Obama powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet, would soon be reintroduced to a senate committee, Wired.com reported.

It was initially introduced last year but expired with a new Congress.
Senator Susan Collins, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that unlike in Egypt, where the government was using its powers to quell dissent by shutting down the internet, it would not.

“My legislation would provide a mechanism for the government to work with the private sector in the event of a true cyber emergency,” Collins said in an emailed statement to Wired. “It would give our nation the best tools available to swiftly respond to a significant threat.”

The proposed legislation, introduced into the US Senate by independent senator Joe Lieberman, who is chairman of the US Homeland Security committee, seeks to grant the President broad emergency powers over the internet in times of national emergency.

Full article here

Globalist Stooge ElBaradei Prepares To Hijack Egyptian Revolution

Won’t get fooled again? Zbigniew Brzezinski tells Mubarak to step down

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, January 31, 2011

Zbigniew Brzezinski has called for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down as globalist stooge Mohammed ElBaradei prepares to act as the pied piper for a revolution that has been hijacked by the global elite.



Speaking with fellow CFR member Christiane Amanpour, Brzezinski told ABC News’ This Week that Mubarak must be convinced by “outside advice” that “It is in his interest as well as in Egypt’s interest that he goes and that he sets in motion a process which facilitates that.”

Although Brzezinski warned of a “global political awakening” during a CFR meeting last year that threatened to topple the existing international order, it is unsurprising that Brzezinski is calling for the ousting of Mubarak despite the fact that he has been a dutiful servant to the new world order elite.

It became known in Brzezinski’s globalist circles at least three years ago that Egypt was teetering on the edge of revolt and that another political entity would fill the inevitable vacuum of power if the elite didn’t get ahead of the game.

That’s why the American Embassy trained rebel leaders to infiltrate opposition groups from the very beginning, as the Telegraph revealed on Saturday.
The geopolitical maneuverings of the US military-industrial complex don’t take away from the fact that the revolt in Egypt is driven by genuine grievances relating to spiraling food prices, high unemployment, policy brutality and the grass-roots drive to unseat a 30 year dictatorship.

However, if they allow globalist carpetbagger Mohammed ElBaradei to seize power, demonstrators are ensuring that their actions are in vain and ultimately worthless.

Addressing protesters in Cairo yesterday, ElBaradei demanded Mubarak step down and promised “change within days”.

“You are the owners of this revolution. You are the future,” ElBaradei declared. “Our essential demand is the departure of the regime and the beginning of a new Egypt in which each Egyptian lives in virtue, freedom and dignity.”

Egyptians may be the owners of the revolution, but the owners of ElBaradei himself are busy hijacking that revolution by installing a puppet that will be just as compliant with Egypt continuing as a globalist client state as Mubarak has been for the past 30 years. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Won’t get fooled again?
ElBaradei serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, who on Friday issued a press release protesting the decision on behalf of Egyptian authorities to place ElBaradei under house arrest.

International Crisis Group is a shadowy NGO (non-governmental organization) that enjoys an annual budget of over $15 million and is bankrolled by the likes of Carnegie, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros’ Open Society Institute. Soros himself serves as a member of the organization’s Executive Committee.

In other words, this is a major geopolitical steering group for the global elite.
The fact that their man ElBaradei is being primed to head up the post-Mubarak government should set alarm bells ringing in the ears of every demonstrator who is protesting in the name of trying to wrestle Egypt away from the clutches of new world order control.

Indeed, even Mubarak himself is now seemingly catching on to the understanding that his usefulness to the global power elite has run its course, remarking during a national address Saturday that the protests were “part of a bigger plot to shake the stability and destroy the legitimacy” of the political system.

ElBaradei is the central figure in a long term plot to subvert and steer the outcome of a revolution that the global elite knew was coming three years ahead of time. Although his installation as puppet president may see political freedoms temporarily restored as a symbolic gesture, Egypt’s destiny will still be firmly under the control of the same parties that have pulled Mubarak’s strings for the past three decades.

Sham Afghanistan-style rigged elections will ensue where the Egyptian people are given the false decision of choosing between two globalist-controlled puppets. The international media will hail the event as a momentous occasion for democracy in the Middle East and broadcast endless images of purple fingers, but the true legacy of the revolution will be eviscerated and Egyptians will eventually realize that they were the victims of a cruel deception.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show. Watson has been interviewed by many publications and radio shows, including Vanity Fair and Coast to Coast AM, America’s most listened to late night talk show.

Kill Switch: Obama Administration Fears Egypt-Style Revolt In U.S.

Obama decries Internet shut-down in Egypt while his own administration prepares to enact same draconian powers to crush dissent during times of political upheaval in America

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, January 31, 2011

The Obama administration is busy attempting to pass legislation that would give the President a kill switch for the Internet in the United States while at the same time decrying Egyptian authorities for shutting down the Internet in a bid to deflate the unfolding revolution against Hosni Mubarak. The reason is simple – the government fears an Egypt-style revolt occurring in the U.S. and wants to block access to the world wide web if and when it happens.



Chicago radio host and occasional Alex Jones Show guest Mancow Muller called it right during an appearance on Mike Huckabee’s show this weekend.

“It’s in all the newspapers, ‘Ohblahblah’, we’ve got to free up Twitter, we’ve got to free up the Internet and Facebook for these poor Egyptians – this is the President that let Wikileaks and all of this stuff happen,” said Mancow.
“They create the problems and we react to fear — the the four letter f-word that controls the masses and they offer the solution, “they” being the government. This is the President that wants the kill switch for the Internet….he wants a kill switch.”
“They fear….social networking, Twitter, Facebook, all of this stuff, but oh, no, we must have it in Egypt, but we don’t want to have it in America.”

Mancow also pointed out how Egyptians were rioting over an economic fallout that has led to crippling tax hikes, wage reductions and spiraling food prices, a similar situation to what is unfolding in America, making reference to how Illinois state authorities recently agreed to hike taxes by a whopping 66 percent.

As we have illustrated, despite invoking supposedly genuine security concerns, the only time governments have resorted to shutting down the world wide web is when they feel the need to crush legitimate dissent against the state.

Indeed, at the height of the Stuxnet worm attack, the crisis was cited as another reason why cybersecurity legislation giving government control of the Internet was necessary. It later emerged that the Stuxnet virus itself was created by the US and Israel to target Iran’s nuclear program.

The Communist Chinese government is now blocking searches for the word “Egypt” on social networking websites in China, reflecting “the government’s fears that the protests in Egypt could whip up unrest in China.”

Sina.com public relations officer Ma Taotao confirms that Chinese searches for Egypt are blocked on its instant messaging site, Sina Weibo.
Ma says the company itself did not make the decision, but is only following the “relevant Chinese laws and regulations.” He gives no details and does not say which government department is responsible. He says he does not know how long the restriction will be in force.

The authoritarian Chinese government routinely blocks Internet access when it wishes to derail organized protests and marches, a telling lesson for Americans given the fact that cybersecurity guru Senator Joseph Lieberman openly admitted that the goal of the new kill switch in the U.S. was to mimic the Chinese system of Internet censorship.

“Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too,” Lieberman told CNN’s Candy Crowley last year.

However, China’s “war” is not against foreign terrorists or hackers, it’s against people who dare to use the Internet to express dissent against government atrocities or corruption. China’s system of Internet policing is about crushing freedom of speech during times of political upheaval and has nothing to do with legitimate security concerns.

It’s a system concentrated around state oppression of any individual or group that seeks to use the Internet to draw attention to political causes frowned upon by the authorities.

China has exercised its power to shut down the Internet, something that Lieberman wants to introduce in the U.S., at politically sensitive times in order to stem the flow of information about government abuse of its citizens. During the anti-government riots which occurred in July 2009, the Chinese government completely shut down the Internet across the entire northwestern region of Xinjiang for days. In several regions, the authorities completely cut off the Internet for nearly a year. Major news and discussion portals used by the Muslim Uighurs in the area remain blocked. Similarly, Internet access in parts of Tibet is routinely restricted as part of government efforts to pre-empt and neutralize unrest.

Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are all banned in China and even sanitized government approved versions of these websites are now being shut down for long periods of time so that they can “remove all politically sensitive content under orders from Chinese internet authorities”.

Web censorship in China intensified after a micro-blogger began to expose the fact that many government officials, executives and judges had lied about obtaining degrees from prestigious universities. The government responded to the embarrassment by ordering websites to temporarily go into “maintenance” mode while they removed the pertinent material. What this has to do with fighting a “war,” as Lieberman claims, is anyone’s guess.

The Chinese system that Lieberman wants to bring to the United States is not only about censoring material critical of the state, it’s about identifying those who post it and thereby creating a chilling atmosphere that discourages others from exercising free speech in fear that they might be the next victims of the thought police. News websites in China now require users to register their true identities in order to leave comments.

This move towards abolishing Internet anonymity and creating a virtual ID card is a key centerpiece of Lieberman’s cybersecurity agenda.
This strategy revolves around, “The creation of a system for identity management that would allow citizens to use additional authentication techniques, such as physical tokens or modules on mobile phones, to verify who they are before buying things online or accessing such sensitive information as health or banking records.”

Only with this government-issued “token” will Internet users be allowed to “able to move from website to website,” a system not too far removed from what China proposed and rejected for being too authoritarian.
The examples of Egypt and China in shutting down Internet access to quell dissent against the state tell us everything we need to know about the motivations behind this odious policy and why it has no place in America, a supposedly free country.

While Obama criticizes Egyptian authorities for shutting down web access to disrupt protesters, his own administration prepares to launch a fresh attempt at instituting the exact same powers in America, which as recent history clearly demonstrates, represent tools for tyrannical regimes who wish to silence legitimate political opposition.

Cairo: Anger starting to focus on Israel, US

MELANIE LIDMAN,
JPOST
Jan 31, 2011

CAIRO – Saturday’s optimism on the streets of Cairo for imminent political change gave way to anger on Sunday, as thousands of demonstrators became increasingly frustrated with the lack of response from major world leaders, especially the US.

During the main protest on Sunday in downtown Cairo, one man painted a 20- meter-long message in flowing Arabic cursive that echoed across the square: “Go Away, Mubarak, you are from the Americans, and you’re working for them!”

Egyptians understand that the world is waiting to see if President Hosni Mubarak falls to popular pressure before major leaders decide which side to support. But this is infuriating the demonstrators, who realize that six days of unrest have not accomplished their goal and that they need united international pressure in order to topple the almost-30-year incumbent.

The protests have lacked a clear leader to unite them and provide an alternative to Mubarak, and demonstrators are beginning to focus their wrath not just on Mubarak and the country’s widespread corruption, but also on the United States and, to a lesser extent, Israel. They blame Israel and the US for supporting a government because it is convenient for them, not because it is good for the Egyptian people.

Full article here

Anonymous Internet Users Team Up To Provide Communication Tools For Egyptian People

Craig Kanalley & Jake Bialer
Huffington Post
Jan 31, 2011

“Internet not working, police cars burning,” sent out one Egyptian. “Today marks a great day for Egypt,” sent out another.

These messages weren’t coming from mobile phones or computers, but from an amateur radio sending out Morse Code somewhere amidst the chaos in Egypt.
The Egyptian government’s efforts to limit communications within the country has triggered a wave of activism from an international group of free speech activists on the Internet called Telecomix.

Organizing using chat rooms, wikis, and collaborative writing tools, this largely anonymous group has worked to inform Egyptians about their communications options while receiving incoming messages from them. Telecomix has previously worked on free speech efforts in Tunisia, Iran, China and other countries who have tried to censor or block parts of the Internet.

Egypt has been identified as a “top priority” for Telecomix on one of its network sites, We Re-Build. It has a wiki set up as a one-stop shop with the latest chat rooms and resources for the ongoing efforts.

There are roughly 20 extremely active members, 50 active and some 300 total including lurkers, according to chat administrator Christopher Kullenberg from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Full article here

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

Aluf Benn
Haaretz
Jan 31, 2011

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.
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 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.
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.

Full article here

Egypt’s military moves to take control of parts of Cairo

Edmund Sanders
LA Times
Jan 31, 2011

The show of force is seen as a sign that the army may be preparing to crack down. Thousands of protesters defy a curfew to gather for a demonstration that ends with an appearance by Mohamed ElBaradei, who promises ‘change is coming.’
Egypt’s military moved more aggressively Sunday to take control over parts of the capital, but the sixth day of unrest ended with increasing questions about how much longer President Hosni Mubarak could withstand calls for his resignation, including an electrifying demand from opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei that he step down to “save the country.”
Just hours after fighter jets buzzed overhead and a column of tanks tried to enter Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, thousands of protesters defied a government-imposed curfew to gather in a peaceful nighttime demonstration that culminated in the dramatic appearance by ElBaradei.
The opposition leader, who earlier in the day won a political endorsement from Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood, promised protesters through a megaphone that “change is coming in the next few days.”

Full article here

Florida Judge Rules Obamacare Unconstitutional

Tom Brown
Reuters
Monday, January 31, 2011

(Reuters) – A judge in Florida on Monday became the second judge to declare President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law unconstitutional, in the biggest legal challenge yet to federal authority to enact the law.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, ruled that the reform law’s so-called “individual mandate” went too far in requiring that Americans start buying health insurance in 2014 or pay a penalty.
“Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void. This has been a difficult decision to reach, and I am aware that it will have indeterminable implications,” Vinson wrote.
He was referring to a key provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and sided with governors and attorneys general from 26 U.S. states, almost all of whom are Republicans, in declaring it unconstitutional. The issue will likely end up at the Supreme Court.
Full story here.

WikiLeaks founder plans major leak if his website is shut down permanently

AFP
Jan 31, 2011
WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday detailed a plan to release a deluge of secret documents should the whistleblower website be permanently shut down.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” Assange said his group had a “system whereby we distribute encrypted backups of things we have yet to publish.”
“There are backups distributed amongst many, many people, 100,000 people, and all we need to do is give them an encrypted key and they will be able to continue on,” he said.
The WikiLeaks founder, who is currently under US criminal investigation over the leaking of hundreds of thousands of secret military reports and diplomatic cables, said the key would only be released as a last resort.

Prominent Former Egyptian MP and Presidential Candidate: The Looting of the Cairo Museum Was Carried Out by Government Employees

Washington’s Blog
Jan 31, 2011
As I noted earlier, there have been many reports that the looting in Egypt has been carried out by agents provocateur.
There have also been widespread rumors that the looting of the Cairo Museum, and the damage to several mummies, was carried out by government agents.
On Friday, Al Jazeera reported:

Egyptians – some armed with truncheons grabbed off the police – created a human chain at the museum’s front gate to prevent looters from making off with any of the artifacts.Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the would-be looters only managed to vandalise two mummies, ripping their heads off. They also cleared out the museum gift shop.

Dr. Hawass wrote:

I found out that one criminal was still at the museum, too. When he had asked the people guarding the museum for water, they took his hands and tied him to the door that lead to the gift shop so that he could not escape!

In other words, at least one of the museum looters was captured.
Today, the Sydney Morning Herald reports :

The former presidential candidate Ayman Nour, who is the leader of the Tomorrow Party, said he had seen unequivocal proof that many looters were thugs backed by the regime.”We have been able to identify these men as members of the Interior Ministry. We have seen their ID cards,” he said.
”They are working to make chaos, to make people afraid of the protesters.”
Mr Nour said it was highly suspicious that the police were suddenly nowhere to be found.
Adding to the chaos was the escape on Saturday of thousands of prisoners from the Wadi Natrun prison north of Cairo. Prison officials said inmates overwhelmed the guards. There were reports some guards abandoned their posts during the protests.

Nour was an Egyptian MP, leader of an Egyptian political party, and former presidential candidate.

10 Things That The Egypt Riots Can Teach Us About What Happens When Society Breaks Down

The American Dream
Jan 31, 2011

The rioting in Egypt is perhaps the biggest single news story so far in 2011.  The pace at which Egyptian society has been transformed over the past week has been absolutely breathtaking.  A few months ago, nobody would have ever dreamed that there would be huge riots in the streets of major Egyptian cities calling for the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.  But it has happened, and now Egypt will never be the same again.  So what does the future hold for Egypt?

Well, many are hopeful that this revolution will bring about a better government in Egypt and a better way of life for average Egyptians.

Personally, I am not nearly so optimistic.  In fact, I believe that there is a great danger that an even more repressive government could take the place of the current regime.  But in any event, there are important lessons that the Egypt riots can teach all of us about what happens when society breaks down.  Societal collapse is often a very messy, very violent affair.  Someday if the global economy completely implodes, we may see economic riots erupt all over the world (including inside the United States) and we all need to get prepared for that.

So far more than 100 people have died during the rioting that has rocked Egypt over the past week.  Other reports put the true number of dead much higher.  Scores of shops and businesses have been looted.  There have been dozens of rapes.  Groups of citizens have formed vigilante groups to protect their own homes.  These are the kinds of things that happen when society breaks down.
But could such a thing happen in the United States?  Of course it could.  Just remember what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Imagine what would happen in this country if a disaster on an even larger scale happened.  What any of us be truly safe?

In a previous article, I detailed some of the things that all of us can do to get prepared for the collapse of society.  Unfortunately many Americans will never start to prepare until it is far too late.

But for the rest of us that are willing to learn, there are some things that have happened during these Egypt riots that are important lessons for all of us….

#1 When society breaks down, people look for whatever weapons they can find.  Over this past week, abandoned police stations throughout Egypt have been stripped of their arsenals by looters.

#2 When society breaks down, nobody is safe.  Average Egyptians “armed with sticks and razors” have formed vigilante groups to protect their homes from the crazed looters that have emerged during the rioting.

#3 When society breaks down, you better protect your women and children.  At least 60 rapes have been officially reported since the rioting began.  The unofficial number is surely far higher than that.

#4 When society breaks down, criminals do not fear the law.  There are reports that at least 4 prisons have been attacked and that thousands of convicts have escaped into the streets.

#5 When society breaks down, authoritarian governments begin hoarding food.  The Telegraph is reporting that governments throughout the Middle East and North Africa have started stockpiling huge amounts of food in response to all the rioting that has been going on.

#6 When society breaks down, food shortages can happen shockingly fast.  As commerce has been brought to a standstill in Egypt, serious shortages of some of the most important basic food staples are starting to be reported.  Many families in Egypt only have enough food to be able to survive for a couple more days.

#7 When society breaks down, respect for personal property goes out the window.  All over Egypt shops and businesses are being broken into and totally looted.

#8 When society breaks down, mobs will start doing some of the most stupid things imaginable.  According to Egypt’s top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, looters broke into the Egyptian Museum during the rioting “and destroyed two pharaonic mummies”.

#9 When society breaks down, it always creates a “power void”.  The Obama administration is calling for an “orderly transition of power” in Egypt, but there is absolutely no guarantee that is going to happen – especially in a nation that has no history of legitimate democracy.

#10 When society breaks down, often outside influences are involved.  The individual being touted as the new “leader” of the protest movement in Egypt is Mohamed ElBaradei.
So exactly who is Mohamed ElBaradei?

Well, Paul Joseph Watson of prisonplanet.com describes him this way….

ElBaradei serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, who today issued a press release protesting the decision on behalf of Egyptian authorities to place ElBaradei under house arrest.
International Crisis Group is a shadowy NGO (non-governmental organization) that enjoys an annual budget of over $15 million and is bankrolled by the likes of Carnegie, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros’ Open Society Institute. Soros himself serves as a member of the organization’s Executive Committee. In other words, this is a major geopolitical steering group for the global elite.

Well isn’t that convenient?
Let us hope that the protests in Egypt result in some positive changes being made for the Egyptian people.  But let us also understand that those with their hands on the levers of global power are going to try to direct events in a way that benefits them.
In any event, one of the main things that the rioting in Egypt has taught us is just how rapidly society can change.  Will someday we end up seeing scenes in the United States similar to the ones that we have witnessed in Egypt over the past week?….