Funny how three day weekends where you have to work Friday always leave you with more stuff you need to do rather than less. So here’s the Friday LinkSwarm on Monday.
LinkSwarm for July 8, 2013
July 8th, 2013Happy Independence Day!
July 4th, 2013To celebrate I contemplated the usual range of patriotic video, but just couldn’t stay away from this very NSFW paean to America from Team America: World Police.
Morsi Deposed, Millions Cheer
July 3rd, 2013The inevitable has happened. The Egyptian military has deposed corrupt, dictatorial Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi, suspended his Islamist-tainted constitution, and promised new elections. Adly Mansour, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, is Egypt’s new president.
There are coups and there are coups. Morsi was trying to pull the classic “one man, one vote, once” maneuver of turning Egypt into a one party Islamic state under his dictatorship. So intent was he on this goal that ignored trivial Presidential duties like reviving the economy and protecting the lives, liberty and property of Egyptians, with Copts and political opponents killed in the streets. This is a coup that increases, rather than decreases, the chance for Egypt to experience real democracy, still slight though it may be.
Hopefully the army will follow up on it’s promise of fair elections. The Green Laser Revolution continues apace…
Satan Calls Press Conference To Disassociate Self From Texas Democratic Party
July 3rd, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Austin, Texas: Today Satan, the Prince of Darkness and ruler of the infernal underworld, held a press conference on the Capitol steps to disassociate himself from the Texas Democratic Party.
“Last night, a bunch of pro-abortion supporters at the state capitol chanted ‘Hail Satan’,” said the Prince of Lies. “And, you know, all well and good. Any publicity is good publicity.”
“But I wanted to make one thing clear,” said the Angel of the Abyss. “In no way, shape or form am I, Hell, its many powers and principalities, or At His Satanic Majesty’s Request Industries Ltd., involved or associated with the Texas Democratic Party.”
“Sure, there’s a lot to like about the Texas Democratic Party,” said the Great Deceiver. “I’m totally down with the baby killing, I’m big on bankrupting future generations through deficit spending, I love breeding despair though intergenerational welfare dependency, and how could I oppose being soft on crime?”
“But, c’mon!” said the Son of the Morning Star. “I’m a man of wealth and taste! I’m hardly going to let myself be seen paling around with those pathetic clowns in the Texas Democratic Party!”
“If I were running the show, don’t you think I’d be able to get at least one Democrat elected statewide since 1994?” asked the Vile Tempter. “They used to own this state, but now these boobs couldn’t find their ass with both hands! I don’t want to be associated with that sort of incompetence.”
“If I’m going to come to Texas, I’m going to go to San Antonio to hang out with my heavy metal homies, because those dudes know how to party,” said The Great Serpent. “Plus I know a place that serves killer breakfast tacos.”
When asked if he was associated with the national Democratic Party, the Devil said “Wow, look at the time! I’ve got to wrap this up, I’m late for a beheading in the Sudan. But before I go, I just want to tell the reporters here that we’re always hiring good PR people for Hell, and we pay a lot better rates than MSNBC.”
Live Updates From Egypt
July 3rd, 2013If you want to follow what is likely to be Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood’s last day in power, a few live update sources:
Egyptian Military Confirms That Morsi Regime Is In Its “Last Hours”
July 2nd, 2013In other news, the Egyptian military has a Facebook page…
Egypt Update for July 1, 2013
July 1st, 2013The big Egypt news today, just in case you hadn’t seen it:
Some links:
In conversations with opposition politicians over the past six months, I have been struck by two things: their vehement hatred of the Brotherhood, and their inability to articulate solutions to the country’s problems. People speak in vague terms about social justice and democratic values. I have yet to meet a politician with a substantive plan to overhaul a system of food and fuel subsidies that eats up almost one third of the budget, or to reform the education sector, or to stimulate foreign investment….
After two years of watching politicians on both sides of the fence squabble and prevaricate and fail to improve their lives, Egyptians appear to be rejecting representative democracy, without having had much of a chance to participate in it. In a country with an increasingly repressive regime and no democratic culture to draw on, protest has become an end in itself—more satisfying than the hard work of governance, organizing, and negotiation. This is politics as emotional catharsis, a way to register rage and frustration without getting involved in the system.
Super Brief Post on Egypt
June 30th, 2013I don’t know what’s really going on in Egypt beyond the largest protests in the history of the world.
Your basic protest in the middle east doesn’t mean jack compared to guys with guns. But protests this massive change the scale of things. Mohammed Morsi isn’t popular with the army, which he hasn’t yet succeeded in Islamicizing. Protests this big are essentially giving the army the green light to take Morsi out.
Protestors have set fire to Muslim brotherhood headquarters, albeit incompetently, if this video is any judge.
Aim for the windows with the Molotovs, people, not the facade!
In addition to be an Islamist scumbag, Morsi has been a manifestly incompetent, nakedly-power-grabbing authoritarian. A lot of protestors are probably opposing the Muslim Brotherhood’s incompetence at governing rather than islamism per se. Michael Totten has noted that liberals (in the classical, Democratic sense) are a distinct minority in Egypt.
Oh, and all that “smart diplomacy” and speech-making from Obama? Thanks to his backing Morsi (with our tax dollars), Egyptians now hate us more than ever.
With demonstrations this massive, there are only three possible endgames in Egypt:
- Morsi steps down
- The army removes Morsi
- Civil war
Possibility #1 is unlikely, and Possibility #3 would likely be a bloodbath to make the Syrian Civil War pale in comparison.
So let’s hope Possibility #2 prevails. But I have no idea how likely that is…