like Fint said..
they are going from a tough Mom..
too Foster parents..
so they are 'free' now what..
in time they will be like the Russians..
oh the good old days..

Rika

While I really shouldn't engage with such a totally ignorant & idiotic statement, some forum dwellers might actually think you know what you are talking about. You don't. Their current unemployment rate is 9.4% according to the CIA fact book. And the rest is just plain stupid. Why don't you go back to PARF & spew your bile there where hate is appreciated & applauded.

Ian

Well I don't know about Normy being a closet conservative, but we know he is in the closet about something????


One can be very glad that Fint lives in the land of the free and the home of the brave or he might have to be pilloring himself for throwing rocks to gain his freedom...

Good thing you are here to school me.

I really don't understand how a personal attack is somehow germane to this or any discussion or why you would believe it would suffice as a rational argument...

Of course there is an entire generation of Egyptions (as typical to the middle east) that is very much underemployed. It would be incredibly hard to argue otherwise. I have seen it myself. Ever think that perhaps there might be more to the story than the "official numbers"...especially when the consider huge disparate groups." Sometime the ability to analyze the statistics/facts goes a lot farher toward understanding than just throwing out one number. The folks in the street were not 60 years old, employed merchants and government employees, it was people under 30. According to the Associated Press, almost half of all Egyptians live under or just above the poverty line, which the World Bank sets at $2 a day...pretty bad when the CIA Factbook indicates inflation is around 12.8%

According to Moneyweek:

"In Qatar and Saudi Arabia, 25% of 15-to-24-year-olds are unemployed. It is the same in Algeria and in Tunisia – where unemployed youths spearheaded the protests. And it is the same in Egypt. Egypt is the Arab world's most heavily populated country and one of its youngest: two thirds of the population are under 30. However, the young make up 90% of the nation's unemployed (the official rate is 9.4%, but the real number among the young is much much higher)."

According to CNN:

"Statistics show that 50% of men and 90% of women are still without employment two years after leaving college. It is also telling that 19.3% of the population live on less that $2 a day."

“The results revealed that the highest percentage of unemployed graduates with intermediate education level and university level and above increased by 94.3 percent of the total unemployed,” the report did reveal.

According to Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Sept 2010 statistics:

The percentage of unemployed young people aged between 15-29 years-old was at 88.8 percent of the total unemployed, and 53.2 percent for the age group 20-24 years, and 24.4 percent for the age group 25-29 years-old.

Unfortunately, I don't believe my vision of what constitutes freedom is the same as the typical Egyptian's. Although 59% say democracy is preferable to any other form of government, a democracy could be a very scary thing in a country where:

95%: Say it's good that Islam plays a large role in politics
20%: Think suicide bombings are sometimes or often justified
70%: Are concerned or very concerned about Islamist extremism in the world
only 61%: Are concerned or very concerned about Islamist extremism in the Egypt
54%: Believe men and women should be segregated in the workplace
82%: Believe adulterers should be stoned
84%: Believe apostates from Islam should face the death penalty
77%: Believe thieves should be flogged or have their hands cut off

Successor???
 

So,

There's not much out there in the news broadcasts about Amr Moussa; except that he will "quit his post as Secretary General of the Arab League within weeks". In other words he won't seek re-appointment when his current term ends in two months I think...

Amr Moussa - Former Egyptian Foreign Minister and said Mubarak loyalist paid a visit to the protestors in Tahrir Square in a 'show of solidarity'.

The UN apparently see Moussa as a viable alternative (huh - who cares what the UN thinks - toothless tigers)...

There is Mohamed ElBaradei of course...but somehow I think the people are looking for something else, something more, someone new...

On another note...a lot of these protestors who are indeed the 'unemployed youth' are out there cleaning up the Square and the City. Interesting that in everything I've read the younger ones (in their 20s) think it's time to go home and put their faith in the army, whilst some of the older protestors have vowed to stay camped in the Square until democracy is truly delivered...who is the more wise I wonder?

Its all going to circulate around what the army wants to do. As pointed out , tens of thousands of jobs are directly inside army businesses. Then there are all the other jobs dependent on the army for daily business. You have the old soviet trained leaders, and the up and coming western trained sub commanders. Those two groups have to work it out so there is positive change. They have been doing it the old way since the early 50's !

So how fast do you think that change will take place? Don't forget that the old ways include a lot of under table $ to get anything done < that won't change !

we live in interesting times

Yes Dave,

I can't see the hierachy of the military supporting any bid to bring Mubarak to trial as that will be like dropping a pebble in a pond - the ripple effect will catch a lot of them with their fingers in the pie.

ElBaradei probably has the right idea - no point in trying Mubarak - 'we just want the money back'. Good luck with that though...

U miss the point of what I said...If there were no freedom in the USA (the country U live in) you would be out throwing rocks (fighting for) for your freedom, then you would have to criticiize yourself or doing so. :)

Ask any American if they think that Christain ethics plays a positve role in politics. Ask Americans about the use of military power (airpower) in subduing an enemy. Ask Americans if they believe in the death penalty. As Americans if they think that criminals get off too easy. Ask if judges are too Liberal...

It is all in how you frame the question to fit the country. U might be surprised at the degree of sameness between the populaces.

Well, the army is certainly saying all of the right things at this juncture. They are promising free elections, maintenance of treaties etc etc. Maybe - just maybe - they can pull it off & be a nice caretaker for a fragile democracy (a la Turkey). But first, they have to get the streets clear & Egypt back to business.

Al Jazeera is now saying: "The highest-ranking figure in Egypt is now Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the country's defence minister and head of the supreme council."

Ian

...but 84% want to kill a person for converting to Christianity...

I am very proud of this generation of young people. We are not immune if we cannot provide a better economy and opportunities for them. This world of ours is interconnected in ways we could not dream about in the past and will fuel protests not just in the middle east.

Right now the flash mobs in the US are generally for entertainment. That will change. The social networks have changed the dynamic, putting the masses at a distinct tactical advantage short of Iranian style beat downs. We're seeing how the ME deals with this development in various ways. I think the anti-immigration reform Latinos were the first in the US. There will be more and they will intensify.

So far...it doesn't seem that different than the Iranian revolution. Let's hope the outcome is dissimilar.

They're just a bunch of folks trying to vote themselves into prosperity (even if Mubarak's billions were distributed to everyone, the long-term prospects aren't too good for those youngsters to keep working - just too many of them).

Reminds me of the US or any other democracy:
“A democracy is always temporary in nature: it simple cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority will always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.”

Parliament dissolved. Constitution in the garbage. Promises of a committee to develop a new constitution. The military has moved from the background to front & center. Democracy? Hmmm.

Meanwhile some objects were looted from the Egypt museum. Virtually unsalable due to their historic value. People can be scum. Bear that in mind when reading the paragraph above. :(

Ian

The Parliament was formed under Mubarak. The constitution was a sham (also created under Mubarak). A committee developing a new constitution is better than an individual developing a constitution and the military did not hide the fact that they were in charge upon Mubarak's departure. Politically there is no cause for alarm. Yet.

The people who stole the artifacts are indeed scum.

Well, well, well...

Hosni Mubarak 'depressed, fainting' as shock of being ousted hits health | Herald Sun

Next will be he is too ill to face any allegations etc etc.

I'd faint if I won the $80billion lottery too.