BBC has an interactive photo of Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Food stalls, flag sellers, clinic and pharmacy, kindergarten, camp site, garbage bins and recycling bins...
These people do not need leaders, do not need a government.
Mitt "Mubarak is a monarch-type figure" Romney came in second.
From The Washington Times:
Texas Rep. Ron Paul has won the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2012 presidential preference straw poll of 3,742 activists, the chairman of the huge annual gathering of conservative activists announced on Saturday.
The poll, sponsored this year for the first time by The Washington Times, is seen as one of the earliest tests of grassroots popularity among the party’s dominant conservative wing, and Mr. Paul, who ran unsuccessfully for the nomination in 2008, has traditionally done well in the CPAC voting.
Here's the rundown:
Ron Paul: 30%
Mitt Romney: 23%
Chris Christie (NJ governor): 6%
Gary Johnson (former NM governor): 6%
Newt Gingrich: 5%
Michele Bachmann: 4%
Mitch Daniels (Indiana governor): 4%
Tim Pawlenty (former Minnesota governor): 4%
Sarah Palin (former Alaska governor): 3%
At least the Algerian government is doing exactly what the Egyptian government under Mubarak did:
Shutting down the Internet;
We know how that turned out for the regime; if anything, it further ignited wider protests, and hardened the resolve of the protesters.
But those in a government, despotic or otherwise, are very slow to catch on. (Isn't it, Madam Secretary of the US?)
Two things about Algeria that could make this uprising a bit more trickier for the West:
Algeria has a huge reserve of natural gas (8th largest), and also of oil;
Algeria shuts down internet and Facebook as protest mounts
Internet providers were shut down and Facebook accounts deleted across Algeria on Saturday as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were arrested in violent street demonstrations.Plastic bullets and tear gas were used to try and disperse large crowds in major cities and towns, with 30,000 riot police taking to the streets in Algiers alone.
There were also reports of journalists being targeted by state-sponsored thugs to stop reports of the disturbances being broadcast to the outside world.
But it was the government attack on the internet which was of particular significance to those calling for an end to President Abdelaziz Boutifleka's repressive regime.
Protesters mobilising through the internet were largely credited with bringing about revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.
"The government doesn't want us forming crowds through the internet," said Rachid Salem, of Co-ordination for Democratic Change in Algeria.
"Security forces are armed to the teeth out on the street, and they're also doing everything to crush our uprising on the internet. Journalists, and especially those with cameras, are being taken away by the police." President Hosni Mubarak had tried to shut down internet service providers during 18 days of protest before stepping down as Egyptian leader on Friday.
Mostafa Boshashi, head of the Algerian League for Human Rights, said: "Algerians want their voices to be heard too. They want democratic change.
"At the moment people are being prevented from travelling to demonstrations. The entrances to cities like Algeria have been blocked."
Drudge Report became one of the infamous alternative media when it started to go after Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Throughout the Bush Administration, it linked articles critical of the administration's policies. During the Obama Administration so far, it has linked articles critical of the administration's policies. It has a conservative leaning, but not "Neocon" Conservative.
But when the ordinary people of all walks of life and religions in Egypt rise up against the dictator heavily favored and supported by the successive US administrations that it's been critical of and these people successfully and peacefully throw him out of office, what does Drudge do?
Earlier, the headline screamed "Military Coup", which is now changed to "Military Takes Command". And it shows a picture of army tanks blocking the street, with a man in Islamic religious garb knelt before the tank to offer his prayers.
Huh?
Yes, there were men in religious (Islamic) clothes, but THEY WERE FAR OUTNUMBERED by people in ordinary, secular clothes. What Drudge Report tries to do is just a blatantly and patently false, cheap trick - to give the impression that the uprising was all about militant Islam agitation, and it ended with the military coup.
It must be extremely difficult to find a picture like Drudge has, among literally millions of photos taken throughout this Revolution and posted and shared all over the Internet.
Shame on you, Drudge. I am disappointed, so much so that I'm thinking of removing the link to Drudge Report from my blog. Aside from the links on Egypt, its headlines these days read more like a tabloid magazine (I guess it' just returning to the origin - Monika Lewinsky scandal...) and news is not fast.
The Egyptian Revolution in the eyes of Drudge Report:
The same Revolution in the eyes of Egyptians on the streets (now how many men like the one on Drudge can you spot?):
And when they knew they threw Mubarak (and Suleiman) out, they were shouting, singing, crying, dancing, jumping up and down...
Well. Will the US and the UK follow?
From Reuters (2/11/2011):
* Any assets of Mubarak, associates frozen immediately* Freeze applies for three years - foreign ministry
By Catherine Bosley and Oliver Hirt
ZURICH, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Switzerland has frozen assets that may belong to Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down as president of Egypt on Friday after 30 years of rule, the foreign ministry said.
"I can confirm that Switzerland has frozen possible assets of the former Egyptian president with immediate effect," spokesman Lars Knuchel said soon after Mubarak bowed to 18 days of mass protests. "As a result of this measure any assets are frozen for three years."
He did not say how much money was involved or where it was.
Assets belonging to Mubarak's associates would also be targeted so as to limit the chance of state funds being plundered, the ministry said. Mubarak and his associates would be prevented from selling or otherwise disposing of property, notably real estate.
In recent years, Switzerland has worked hard to improve its image as a haven for ill-gotten assets.
It has also frozen assets belonging to Tunisia's former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, ousted by popular protests last month, and Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down after an election which the outside world says he lost.
A snippet I saw on Al Jazeera's Live Blog for 2/11/2011:
6:54pm ElBaradei speaks to Al Jazeera:We need to rebuild the Egyptian culture and intellect
Mr. ElBaradei, with due respect... Haven't you been watching how these Egyptian protesters have been behaving for the past 18 days?
They have been showing to the world how civil, intelligent, resourceful, and determined they are. What better way to show the "Egyptian culture and intellect"?
Note to Egyptians: You do not need Mr. ElBaradei to "lead" you. You've been doing great.
Huh?
Mr. Drudge, your site is slipping. Have you allowed your site to be hijacked by some Gen-X neocon and/or Zionist editors?
From Zero Hedge:
And with Al Arabiya reporting that Omar Suleiman has also stepped down
Al Jazeera Live TV said that even the news readers at the Egypt's state TV were smiling.
Al Jazeera headline. More soon.
I knew something happened when all the stocks on my screen started to jump (except of course, gold and silver stocks - thank you JPMorgue).
(Update)
Hosni Mubarak resigns as president (2/11/2011 Al Jazeera)
Egyptian president stands down and hands over power to the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces.
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.
Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.
Earlier, massive crowds have gathered across Egypt, including hundreds of thousands of protesters in and around Cairo's Tahrir [Liberation] Square, calling for Mubarak to stand down.
Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital also marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.
Watch and hear the crowd in loud celebration in Tahrir Square with Al Jazeera Live Feed.
Egyptians wanted their country back, they're finally getting it back. THEY'VE DONE IT!
Now please don't ever lose it again.
Nice summary at Al Jazeera (2/10/2010):
January 25 - Day 1
Protests begin in Egypt on the day Barack Obama, the US president, gives State of the Union address to Congress.
Obama did not mention Egypt but did refer to protests in Tunisia, saying the US "supports the democratic aspirations of all people".
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, gave the first high-level US response to the Egypt protests, saying: "Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people."
January 26 - Day 2
Obama did not mention Egypt in prepared remarks during a visit to Wisconsin, as Egyptian police fought with thousands of people who defied a government ban to protest.
Richard Gibbs, the White House spokesman, said "Egypt is a strong ally" when asked whether the US still backed Mubarak.
Clinton urged Egyptian authorities to not prevent peaceful protests and not block communications.
anuary 27 - Day 3As protests spread, Joe Biden, the US vice president, calls Mubarak an ally on Middle East peace efforts, saying: "I would not refer to him as a dictator".
Obama, in a YouTube interview, says reform "is absolutely critical for the long-term well-being of Egypt".
January 28 - Day 4
The White House, in the strongest US reaction so far, said the country would review its $1.5bn in aid to Egypt.
"We will be reviewing our assistance posture based on events that take place in the coming days," Gibbs says.
Officials later said no such review was currently planned.
Obama spoke with Mubarak after the Egyptian president, in a televised statement, called for a national dialogue to avoid chaos.
Obama said he urged Mubarak to undertake sweeping reforms "to meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people".
January 29 - Day 5Obama met his national security team on Egypt, as Mubarak dissolved his government and picked intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as vice president.
PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, tweeted that the Egyptian leader "can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat".
January 30 - Day 6
Clinton, on television talk shows, dodges questions about whether Mubarak should resign but brings the term "orderly transition" into the official US message for the first time.
"We want to see an orderly transition so that no one fills a void, that there not be a void, that there be a well thought out plan that will bring about a democratic participatory government," Clinton tells Fox News Sunday.
January 31 - Day 7
Obama dispatched Frank Wisner, a former US ambassador to Egypt, to tell Mubarak privately that he must prepare for an "orderly transition" of power.
Publicly, the White House continues to call for democratic reforms but would not be drawn on Mubarak's fate. Gibbs said: "We're not picking between those on the street and those in the government."
February 1 - Day 8The state department orders the departure from Egypt of nonessential US government personnel and their families.
Obama made a statement that he spoke with Mubarak after the Egyptian leader pledged not to seek re-election.
He said he told Mubarak that "an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now".February 2 - Day 9
The White House condemned the violence in Egypt and said it was concerned about attacks on peaceful demonstrators, following the bloodiest day of protests.
US officials were vague on whether Obama's call for an immediate transition of power meant the Washington wanted Mubarak to step down before the September elections.
February 3 - Day 10
The US condemned attacks on journalists. Obama told the US National Prayer Breakfast he is praying "that a better day will dawn over Egypt".
Republican senator John McCain suggests the US should consider suspending aid to Egypt's military.
The US Senate passes a bipartisan resolution calling on Mubarak to transfer power to an inclusive caretaker government.Clinton calls on the Egyptian government and opposition "to begin immediately serious negotiations on a peaceful and orderly transition".
February 4 - Day 11
The White House called for "concrete steps" toward an orderly transition but again stopped short of demanding Mubarak's immediate resignation.
"Having made that psychological break, that decision that he will not be running again, I think the most important thing for him to ask himself ... is how do we make the transition effective, lasting and legitimate," Obama said.
"And my hope is ... that he will end up making the right decision."
February 5 - Day 12
Clinton said the US backs a transition process led by Suleiman, and that it must be given time to mature.
"The principles are very clear, the operational details are very challenging," she told a security conference in Munich, adding that radical elements may try to derail the process.
Wisner said it is "critical" that Mubarak stay in power for the time being to manage the transition.
"We need to get a national consensus around the preconditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes," Wisner said.
The state department and White House quickly disavowed his comments, saying Wisner spoke in a private capacity.
February 6 - Day 13
Obama said Egypt "is not going to go back to what it was" and tells Fox News he is confident an orderly transition will produce a government that will remain a US partner.
Clinton said Mubarak had responded seriously to US calls for constitutional change, chiefly through his pledge not to run for president again.
She said she will not "prejudge" a bid by the Muslim Brotherhood to enter Egypt's political process.
February 7 - Day 14
"Obviously, Egypt has to negotiate a path and they're making progress," Obama said.
Crowley, acknowledging doubts about the credibility of the transition process, said: "Our advice would be: test the seriousness of the government and those who are participating to see if it can deliver."
Gibbs said: "The United States doesn't pick leaders of other countries."
February 8 - Day 15
Biden spoke to his Egyptian counterpart by telephone, setting out steps that the country must take in the face of unrelenting protests against Mubarak.
Biden spoke to Suleiman, stressing US support "for an orderly transition in Egypt that is prompt, meaningful, peaceful, and legitimate".
Washington set out four steps the Egyptian government must take, including an end to harassment of protesters and journalists and the immediate repeal of an emergency law allowing detention without charge.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said Egypt's military had behaved in "an exemplary fashion" by standing largely on the sidelines during the demonstrations.
February 9 - Day 16
In a sharp escalation of rhetoric, the US government said that Cairo had failed to reach even the "minimum threshold" for reforms in Egypt.
Gibbs said "The [Egyptian] government has not taken the necessary steps that the people of Egypt need to see. That's why more and more people come out to register their grievances."
"What you see happening on the streets of Cairo is not all that surprising when you see the lack of steps that their government has taken to meet their concerns."
Gibbs also criticised the steps taken by Suleiman who is tasked with coming up with a transition plan for Mubarak.
"The process for his transition does not appear to be in line with the people of Egypt. We believe that more has to be done," said Gibbs.
Ahmed Abul Gheit, Egypt's foreign minister, lashed out at the White House for imposiing it's "will" on its Arab ally.
February 10 - Day 17
Noting that he's watching "history unfold" Obama says that he's still hoping for an "orderly and genuine" transiton.
He did not, however, comment directly on reports that Mubarak might be stepping down.
It's way above Obama's "pay grade". About the only one thing I've found to be less unpleasant coming out of his administration these days is his mouthpiece, Robert Gibbs. The smirk seems to have been mostly wiped off his face since the Egyptian uprising started. He started to speak with some substance, unlike his phony-sounding boss. Alas, he is to depart soon, just when he finally gets it right.
Here's the intraday chart of Apple (AAPL). Just gradually drifting after all-time high of $360, the stock suddenly flash-crashed.
From Fortune:
Something happened to Apple's (AAPL) share price Thursday afternoon that has investors still scratching their heads.
The stock, which had been sailing along near its all-time high of $360 a share, started to drop at about 1 p.m. Then, at 1:39, it collapsed, falling from $355 to $349 in the space of four minutes.
..."The selling is not normal just for negative news," wrote Bullish Cross' Andy Zaky in an e-mail. "There was a huge spike where dollars were being skipped in the selling. I saw Apple tick from $351.70 to $349.00 within seconds. There's something else. The selling was not normal. That's for sure. It wasn't orderly. Take a look for yourself."
The Fortune article cites rumors that Steve Jobs is back in the hospital, but according to this Wall Street Journal article, he seems to be just fine.
'Ts the bots, algo bots...
A wonderful youtube video linked at Al Jazeera. Just look at these Egyptians, who "are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country", as the song says.
(Translation of the song at Al Jazeera) "I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back.
"All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country.
"The sound of freedom is calling, in every street corner in our country, the sound of freedom is calling..
"We will re-write history, if you are one of us, join us and don't stop us from fulfilling our dream. "
After 17 days of "rallying", you would think AP should know it doesn't look like "tens of thousands" of protesters but rather "millions".
Maybe their reporters are banned from viewing Al Jazeera...
A revelation from Robert Fisk's latest (2/11/2011):
Last night, a military officer guarding the tens of thousands celebrating in Cairo threw down his rifle and joined the demonstrators, yet another sign of the ordinary Egyptian soldier's growing sympathy for the democracy demonstrators. We had witnessed many similar sentiments from the army over the past two weeks. But the critical moment came on the evening of 30 January when, it is now clear, Mubarak ordered the Egyptian Third Army to crush the demonstrators in Tahrir Square with their tanks after flying F-16 fighter bombers at low level over the protesters.
Many of the senior tank commanders could be seen tearing off their headsets – over which they had received the fatal orders – to use their mobile phones. They were, it now transpires, calling their own military families for advice. Fathers who had spent their lives serving the Egyptian army told their sons to disobey, that they must never kill their own people.
Thus when General Hassan al-Rawani told the massive crowds yesterday evening that "everything you want will be realised – all your demands will be met", the people cried back: "The army and the people stand together – the army and the people are united. The army and the people belong to one hand."
And the cowardice and hypocrisy of the West, as Fisk has been pointing out in his reporting:
The events of the past 12 hours have not, alas, been a victory for the West. American and European leaders who rejoiced at the fall of communist dictatorships have sat glumly regarding the extraordinary and wildly hopeful events in Cairo – a victory of morality over corruption and cruelty – with the same enthusiasm as many East European dictators watched the fall of their Warsaw Pact nations. Calls for stability and an "orderly" transition of power were, in fact, appeals for Mubarak to stay in power – as he is still trying to do – rather than a ringing endorsement of the demands of the overwhelming pro-democracy movement that should have struck him down.
I cannot agree more.
After being assured by the Army that Mubarak would go, the protesters in Egypt were in for a surprise. President Mubarak vows to stay in office until September, and declares he will not bow to "foreign pressure".
Ooops, Obama, you screwed up by flipping and flopping, and didn't say what would have mattered when it would have mattered, and said things that were totally unnecessary (like this morning's speech).
Here's a picture of angry protesters in Tahrir Square with shoes. (We know what those shoes signify, don't we?) (posted by @LaurenBohn via twitpic, from Al Jazeera Live Blog Feb 11, 2011)
According to Al Jazeera, there will be an unprecedented number of Egyptians taking to streets come tomorrow. They are already heading to the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis.
In the meantime, Zero Hedge reports:
EGYPT SECURITY HQ IN RAFAH ATTACKED BY ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE
The Egyptian Revolution is getting "hot", starting to resemble Paris 1789 and Bucharest 1989.
Finally seeing the potential of much bigger turmoil and oil supply disruption out of Middle East, the US stock market futures are down right now. Dow futures -37, Nasdaq -6.75, S&P500 -4.70.
Obumbum is mischaracterizing the Egyptian Revolution, saying it's the young people who are forefront of this "historic" movement. Huh?
Hard to believe he actually watches Al Jazeera's coverage that shows people of all ages.
Obama seems to be thinking more of his upcoming 2012 presidential campaign - young (and gullible) people in forefront again of his re-election campaign.
Absolutely nothing new. Wait and see. Why bother speaking?
All eyes on Egypt via Al Jazeera mostly, I assume. Will Mubarak finally go?
(Here's the live link at Al Jazeera.)
From Al Jazeera Live Blog for February 10, 2011:
7:12pm
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reports that people around her in Tahrir Square have a strong sense of anticipation - people believe their moment has come.
7:02pm Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, says: "The president is watching the same thing you are. I don't know what the outcome will be."6:49pm: Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera correspondent, notes the military's Supreme Council has only ever held three open sessions in its history. 1967, 1973 - and today.
6:44pm: Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports the military presence in downtown Cairo has increased in recent hours, with greater numbers of tanks making a highly visible presence.
6:37pm: White House says situation in Egypt is 'fluid'.
6:36pm: State TV reports Mubarak will address the country tonight.
6:23pm: Egypt's prime minister says Mubarak "is still president, and no decisions taken has changed that".
6:21pm: Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Cairo, says the million-man march planned for tomorrow has already begun - Tahrir Square is absolutely packed.
6:19pm: Al-Arabiya reports Mubarak is on his way to the red sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with chief of staff. No immediate confirmation.
6:15pm: NDP chief reportedly stopped Mubarak making speech, handing power to VP Suleiman.
6:05pm: Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, says roads to Cairo airport are reportedly being closed.
6:00pm: The CIA chief reportedly says there is a "strong likelihood" Mubarak will step down tonight.
5:39pm: Huge chant, Tahrir Square seemingly in unison, shouting: "The army and the people in one hand - the army and the people are united."
The Army has been mobilized because violent protests have spread to other regions of Egypt. However, come to think about it, what the Army has done so far throughout the Revolution has been to do nothing. They didn't actively stop the police and government thugs from attacking the peaceful protesters. They didn't attack the protesters. It was probably the best outcome that they stayed pretty much neutral. The protesters in Tahrir Square did all the work themselves- self-organized to defend themselves against the government thugs, provide security, support, essential services, entertainment, and cleanup.
If the Army acts in the interest of the Egyptians, that's good. But Egyptians, make sure you tell them what to do, not the other way around. Don't let them give you another "leader".
Robert Fisk's latest on the Egyptian Revolution and the so far pathetic response from the West:
Hypocrisy is exposed by the wind of change sweeping Arab world (Robert Fisk, 2/10/2011)
So when the Arabs want dignity and self-respect, when they cry out for the very future which Obama outlined in his Cairo speech, we show them disrespect
There is nothing like an Arab revolution to show up the hypocrisy of your friends. Especially if that revolution is one of civility and humanism and powered by an overwhelming demand for the kind of democracy that we enjoy in Europe and America. The pussyfooting nonsense uttered by Obama and La Clinton these past two weeks is only part of the problem. From "stability" to "perfect storm" – Gone With the Wind might have recommended itself to the State Department if they really must pilfer Hollywood for their failure to adopt moral values in the Middle East – we've ended up with the presidential "now-means-yesterday", and "orderly transition", which translates: no violence while ex-air force General Mubarak is put out to graze so that ex-intelligence General Suleiman can take over the regime on behalf of America and Israel.
Fox News has already told its viewers in America that the Muslim Brotherhood – about the "softest" of Islamist groups in the Middle East – is behind the brave men and women who have dared to resist the state security police, while the mass of French "intellectuals" (the quotation marks are essential for poseurs like Bernard-Henri Lévy have turned, in Le Monde's imperishable headline, into "the intelligentsia of silence".
And we all know why. Alain Finkelstein talks about his "admiration" for the democrats but also the need for "vigilance" - and this is surely a low point for any 'philosophe' – "because today we know above all that we don't know how everything is going to turn out." This almost Rumsfeldian quotation is gilded by Lévy's own preposterous line that "it is essential to take into account the complexity of the situation". Oddly enough that is exactly what the Israelis always say when some misguided Westerner suggests that Israel should stop stealing Arab land in the West Bank for its colonists.
Indeed Israel's own reaction to the momentous events in Egypt – that this might not be the time for democracy in Egypt (thus allowing it to keep the title of "the only democracy in the Middle East") – has been as implausible as it has been self-defeating. Israel will be much safer surrounded by real democracies than by vicious dictators and autocratic kings. To his enormous credit, the French historian Daniel Lindenberg told the truth this week. "We must, alas, admit the reality: many intellectuals believe, deep down, that the Arab people are congenitally backward."
There is nothing new in this. It applies to our subterranean feelings about the whole Muslim world. Chancellor Merkel of Germany announces that multiculturalism doesn't work, and a pretender to the Bavarian royal family told me not so long ago that there were too many Turks in Germany because "they didn't want to be part of German society". Yet when Turkey itself – as near a perfect blend of Islam and democracy as you can find in the Middle East right now – asks to join the European Union and share our Western civilisation, we search desperately for any remedy, however racist, to prevent her membership.
In other words, we want them to be like us, providing they stay away. And then, when they prove they want to be like us but don't want to invade Europe, we do our best to install another American-trained general to rule them. Just as Paul Wolfowitz reacted to the Turkish parliament's refusal to allow US troops to invade Iraq from southern Turkey by asking if "the generals don't have something to say about this", we are now reduced to listening while US defence secretary Robert Gates fawns over the Egyptian army for their "restraint" – apparently failing to realise that it is the people of Egypt, the proponents of democracy, who should be praised for their restraint and non-violence, not a bunch of brigadiers.
So when the Arabs want dignity and self-respect, when they cry out for the very future which Obama outlined in his famous – now, I suppose, infamous – Cairo speech of June 2009, we show them disrespect and casuistry. Instead of welcoming democratic demands, we treat them as a disaster. It is an infinite relief to find serious American journalists like Roger Cohen going "behind the lines" on Tahrir Square to tell the unvarnished truth about this hypocrisy of ours. It is an unmitigated disgrace when their leaders speak. Macmillan threw aside colonial pretensions of African unpreparedness for democracy by talking of the "wind of change". Now the wind of change is blowing across the Arab world. And we turn our backs upon it.
The Fed chairman Ben Shalom "Bernank" is on Capitol Hill for his first meeting with the lawmakers this year, in the GOP-majority House. The House Budget Committee has Ben to talk about inflation, and Ron Paul's subcommittee discusses the Fed's role in job disappearance and rising unemployment.
PDs dutifully taking down the US stock indices to create angst among bullish pundits and analysts so that they start screaming "Don't harm the Fed! Ben's been doing the exemplary job!" Dow is currently (3PM EST) down whopping ... 32 points.
That's big, you know. The 1st down day in the last 8 days...
Speaking of Ben's job creation skills, here's a chart from Zero Hedge. He sure created part-time workers...
Ron Paul's Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee will hold its first hearing tomorrow (Wednesday February 9, 2011). The hearing will be about examining "the impact of Federal Reserve policies on job creation and the unemployment rate."
(Will the Fed chairman even show up? UPDATE: No he won't. The House Budget Committee, committee's chairman, Paul Ryan, R-Wis, is scheduled to have the hearing with Ben Bernank on the same Wednesday morning. That's mean, although to be expected from Repub like Paul Ryan and his cohorts who opposed Ron Paul's subcommittee chairmanship.)
(Will C-Span bother to carry?)
Most recently, Ben very nervously denied that his pet project of QE (currently version 2) has caused food riots and revolutions (see the beginning of the vid on this post). Of course he will deny that the Fed policies actually decrease jobs and increase the unemployment rate. (For more on that thinking, read this one from Zero Hedge.)
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