REVOLUTION 2.0 CLOSED 17 May 2011

• Anti-Gaddafi officers talk of army revolt against mercenaries

Bahrain Frees Political Prisoners, Pardons Exiles

Morocco's king seen as holding keys to future

Hundreds back Facebook call for Saudi protest

Saudi King Boosts Spending on Housing, Jobs Amid Popular Unrest in Mideast

China facing new calls for jasmine revolution

Cheddar revolution? Glenn Beck vs. Jon Stewart on Middle East-Wisconsin comparisons

Benghazi student says fear of Muammar Gaddafi's regime is ebbing away

Iran protests: capital under lockdown

Police and basij militia locked down the centre of Tehran on Sunday night after crowds of anti-regime demonstrators tried to converge on central squares from across the city.

Social Media's Revolution 2.0 Crowdsources Street Protests & DDOS Attacks

Libya protesters seize streets, Bahrain mood eases

Revolution might not be a cure for Egypt's extreme poverty

Phi Beta Iota: This is a very important observation.  It's not enough to displace the corrupt.  One must be able to replace them with both integrity and intelligence (decision-support).  Making a revolution is much easier than unscrewing centuries of Industrial-Era predation.  This is one reason why–while finally recognizing that connecting everyone comes first–Phi Beta Iota stands as the ONLY network focused on what comes next:   Electoral Reform, Smart Nations, Global Range of Gifts Table, and M4IS2 (Multinational, Multiagency, Multidisciplinary, Multidomain Information-Sharing and Sense-Making: creating the World Brain and Global Game so as to achieve a prosperous world at peace.  It's all connected.  Any mob can make a revolution.  It takes smart ethical people to address the root preconditions of that revolution and achieve the real and only lasting revolution, across the mind, heart, and soul of all humanity.

China cracks down on protest threats, rounds up dissidents

China tries to stamp out ‘Jasmine Revolution'

MOROCCO: Thousands attend reformist protests

Iran's opposition starts renewed protests in Tehran

Anti-Government Protests Continue in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen

USA: Both sides targeting state senators for recall elections

An inside look at the WikiLeaks revolution

The Tweet and Revolution

19 February 2011

Wisconsin protests: why ‘week of rage' matters to rest of America

Phi Beta Iota: The problem is that both the union leaders and the Democratic party leaders sold out all of the workers when they took the bribes from the banking and corporate worlds.  As Chuck Spinney has pointed out, Tea Partiers are incredibly naive and ignorant, having been funded and deceived by the Koch Brothers into championing their own demise.  The  revolution is going to happen completely apart from the existing political structure in the USA, because that structure is so corrupt, so inauthentic, as to be irrelevant to any serious discussion about the future of the United States of America.

Palestinians want ‘day of rage' against US

Fatah, Hamas leaders incensed by decision to veto UN vote to condemn Israeli settlements, saying it reveals lie behind calls for democracy, freedom in Arab world. ‘We'll appeal to General Assembly,' says PLO secretary

Leaders of Libya and Yemen meet protests with deadly force

Unlike Egypt, Libya and Yemen are tribal nations, and the two leaders have skillfully manipulated clan loyalties for decades.

You say you want a revolution?

Self-interest and hypocrisy have always been the touchstone of Western diplomacy in the Middle East, particularly as far as the United States, Britain and France are concerned.

Middle East protests: People power triumphs in Bahrain

Algeria's long haul towards liberty

The secret world of Chinese tweets

Social inequities and global stability

18 February 2011

Rage, Rap and Revolution: Inside the Arab Youth Quake

“Whether you're in Tunis or in Cairo or in Manama,” says Ala'a Shehabi, 30, a Bahraini economics lecturer and political activist, “young Arabs are all on the same wavelength.” In less than two months, this generation has already wrought political change on a scale not seen since the end of the Cold War.

Phi Beta Iota: It is quite clear that US politicians have no idea what is going on vis a vis “digital natives” across all boundaries.  As Daniel Ellsberg lectured Henry Kissinger, “you become like a moron.”

In Bahrain, the Bullets Fly (NYT)

US is out of touch, CNN is not.  Mainstream media plus cell phone video of actual shootings of unarmed protesters with their arms in the air will have an impact.

Libya's Gadaffi faces challenge to four decades of rule (Reuters)

Preliminary reports suggest 50,000 participating in protests, active destruction of Gaddafi's statues and posters, “Enough is Enough” spreading as the mantra.

Equation for a Modern Revolution

Phi Beta Iota: This is a very facile and somewhat ridiculous line of reasoning (see Basics at end) but it is making the rounds so have a look.

In the Middle East, this is not a Facebook revolution

Deep-seated social ills – repression from the top and political and economic frustrations from below – are at the core of protests sweeping the Arab world, much as they have been in revolutions throughout history.

Egypt Through the Lens of Iran's 1979 Revolution

The pundits now breezily call Iran's 1979 revolution “Islamic.” But at the time, religious and secular, villagers and urbanites, educated and illiterate, all equally angrily, were marching in the streets and demanding the removal of the Shah. Iran's future was as unknowable then as Egypt's future is now.

17 February 2011

Time for a Syrian Revolution

This week, a court sentenced 19-year old blogger Tal al-Mallouhi to five years in prison on some obscure charge of passing on secrets to the United States.

Ouattara's prime minister calls for “revolution” in Ivory Coast

“The people of Ivory Coast must stage their revolution. They must not wait for ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States) and the African Union.

Tahrir Square teeming with Egyptian pride

“The revolution will change the relationship between the people and the government. There was no relationship in the past.”

After the Egyptian revolution, economic unrest

“People are very upset, and in many cases, I think, with good reason, about poverty and unemployment.”

Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted

Twitter and Facebook didn't create the Egyptian revolution. But Silicon Valley's belief they did shows the smug, ethnocentric blindness that's damaging the technology industry

A Guide To Starting A Revolution On Facebook

“The power of Facebook is that our updates reach to everyone's wall,” then-anonymous Ghonim told The Daily Beast in January when the page had racked up 375,000 followers. “Some of the videos we publish get shared on people’s walls more than 30,000 times. That’s how powerful a virus can be… Once it’s out, it goes everywhere. It’s unstoppable.”

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16 February 2011

SPECIAL: Slide Show–Who's Behind Egypt's Revolution?

Phi Beta Iota: Robert Dreyfuss is a “top gun” and has produced insights that CIA was/is incapable of producing.   Nothing has changed since the Burundi Exercise for the Aspin-Brown Commission.

WISCONSIN: Schools, teachers are focus of third day of protests

Gadhafi next? Anti-government protests spread to Libya

Police move in to clear protesters from Bahrain's capital

Ayatollah: U.S. trying to ‘derail’ Egyptian revolution

Divisions widen between the Egyptian army and youth

Protests Spread to Libya as Unrest Roils Bahrain, Yemen

US clueless about Egypt?

15 February 2011

Egypt protesters remind army who is really in charge

Is this a revolution or just a coup?

Uprising will only become a revolution when demands of protesters are met

Revolution Germ Will Spread in Arab World: Joshua Muravchik

The Pivotal Reason for Egypt's Revolution is Not Social Media

Iran protests ‘going nowhere', says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Bahrain protesters make camp beneath capital landmark

Songs of the Revolution: A Bahrain Website Mixes Music and Activism

Wael Ghonim, Google exec, says Egypt's revolution is ‘like Wikipedia'

Blocking Facebook and Corporate Regime Change

Phi Beta Iota: This applies to military services also.

Iran Becomes Next Country For Facebook-Led Revolution

See: Internet Work-Arounds & OpenBTS

Iranian Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters, Arrest Dozens

Labor Strikes Hit Egypt as Military Calls Public Holiday

In Yemen, female activist strives for an Egypt-like revolution

Arab Revolution: Will Algeria's Regime Be the Next to Fall?

THE REVOLUTION SPREADS: IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

ITALY: Silvio Berlusconi's Italy is on the wrong side of history

IRAN: Protests Build in Tehran

PALESTINE: Abbas Shakes Up Cabinet in Election Push

YEMEN: Police attack Yemeni crowds seeking reform

ALGERIA: Police stifle Algeria protest

BAHREIN: Young Protesters Clash With Police in Bahrain

UNITED KINGDOM (Video 14 Dec 10): Reference: The Kids Are All Right–Mad as Hell!

Hanin Zoubi predicts Palestinian revolution

Hanin Zoubi , an Arab member of Israel's parliament (Knesset) has predicted a Palestinian revolution, modeled after the one in Egypt, which terminated three decades of dictatorship.

Iran and Bahrain join anti-regime fervor sparked by Egypt revolution (Ha'aretz)

Islamist regime has reportedly embarked on mass arrests of its opponents and ordered that two leaders of the opposition; Bahrain offers incentives to families to stop opposition.

My Take: Revolution 2.0 more secular than Islamic

FOCUS ON AWAKENING

Egyptian minds are opened (Al Jazeera)

Upheaval has opened the door to political and economic reform, but its most lasting effect may be a psychological one.

Lessons from Cairo: Making Peace with Yourself (Huffington Post)

But it's not just the Egyptians who are undergoing this time of chaos. We're all living in the collective chaotic field. What happens in one part of the field impacts the entire field. Our lives will also be changed by what's going on in Egypt.

Katherine Butler: Europe's betrayal of the Arab awakening (Independent)

Europe's conduct is even less helpful than The Muppet Show, and it's not just the inability to speak with a single voice that is the problem.

5 Stages of the Awakening (thepeoplesvoice.org)

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” -Henry Ford

“Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road”- Voltaire

“Until they became conscious they will never rebel and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” — George Orwell (1984)

“As long as people believe in absurdities, they will continue to commit atrocities.”- Voltaire

Thousands demand reforms in Algeria; 400 arrested

“This demonstration is a success because it's been 10 years that people haven't been able to march in Algiers and there's a sort of psychological barrier,” said Ali Rachedi, the former head of the Front of Socialist Forces party. “The fear is gone.”

Anti-government protests broken up in Yemen and Algeria

Riot police in Algiers dispersed thousands of people who had defied a government ban to demand that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika step down.  A similar march in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave office was attacked by government supporters.

Egypt Fed Up with Foreign Bullying–People Will Not Accept New Stooge

Russian Television, Middle Eastern commentator: Army is split, generals take orders from the Pentagon, younger officers do not.  General view that separation from US is needed.

Egypt, The Age Of Disruption And The ‘Me' In Media

But what's proving more consequential than access to information is our growing access to one another, human-to-human, enabled by the Internet and mobile tools. As the author Clay Shirky has consistently and presciently said: “We have historically overestimated the value of access to information and underestimated the value of access to one another.”

Egypt and Social Media: “Revolution 2.0” Roundup

• One TechCrunch writer says don’t overstate the importance of social media. “Twitter and Facebook are indeed useful tools,” the piece says, “but they are not tools of revolution—at least no more than Paul Revere’s horse was.” People are the real killer app, says the writer. If the revolution had happened five years ago, we would be championing the role of mobile phones.

Where Might Social Media Aid a Revolt Next?

I mean, this revolution in Egypt didn't happen because people decided to mount a Facebook campaign. It happened because there was real poverty in the country. There were real issues of food. And there was an authoritarian regime that had allowed this to happen, and clearly didn't care about its people.

Syrians Revel in Removal of Ban on Social Websites–Flock to Facebook

The ending of restrictions comes after Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, said he would push for change in the wake of the region's unrest.  While some Syrians view the lifting of the ban as a public-relations stunt, the response among the majority of young Syrians is the kind of enthusiasm the government was seeking.

As Mubarak resigns, Yemenis call for a revolution of their own

Thousands of secessionists protested in Yemen today in an example of how disparate movements across the Middle East are tapping the anti-regime fervor for their own disparate aims.

Google exec Wael Ghonim in Egypt says long live the revolution 2.0

As Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down Friday (and the hashtag grew in popularity on Twitter), Ghonim told CNN's Wolf Blitzer: “If you want to liberate a government, give them the Internet.”

Arab League chief Amr Moussa welcomes revolution

Why Americans Must Ignore the Islamophobes Who Misread the Egyptian Revolution

Protesters outraged over Mubarak address, vow to continue revolution (ahramonline.beta)

Chanting “down with Mubarak”, “down with the regime”, the protesters vowed to mainting their occupation of Tahrir sq and their demonstrations until they bring Mubarak and his regime down, once and for all. They expect to bring millions to the streets in Cairo and across the nation in tomorrow's Friday of Decision protest.

Egyptian workers join the revolution (ahramonline.beta)

Thousands of workers of the Mahalla Textile Company held a strike today demanding better wages. According to the Center for Trade Union & Workers’ Services (CTUWS), 24,000 workers took part in the protest.

The Meaning of the Egyptian People’s Revolution (History News Network)

With popular rage sweeping the country, the pressure on the Mubarak regime, and uncertainty with it, are bound to increase.  Friday will be another day of massive demonstrations.  Already labor unions, government employees, judges and medical staff have been joining the protestors.  The trend is likely to grow, but Mubarak has failed to judge the nation’s mood.

The revolution is just a tweet away (ABC)

Across the Arab world, in countries like Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Syria, people are on the march. Behind these displays of public power, there's a communications revolution which knows no borders. Social media forums have become magnets for public discontent and longstanding regimes are suddenly looking shaky.

Ghonim electrified Egypt's revolution (CNN)

Phi Beta Iota:  He worked for Google, but it was Facebook that actually provided the tools for collective revolution.

Not 1989. Not 1789. But Egyptians can learn from other revolutions (Guardian)

Analysis: Egypt's unfinished revolution (BBC)

The huge demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday is the sharpest reminder yet for President Hosni Mubarak's regime that the protest movement is not being worn down.

Jordan tribes threaten revolution over country's Palestinian Queen Rania (Haaretz)

Hard-line nationalist East Bankers take issue with both Queen Rania's Palestinian background and her highly visible role in the country's male-dominated society.

Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah: If Only I Could Be Martyred For The Revolution In Egypt (MEMRI)

He said that the revolution in Egypt – which is sweeping all sectors of the Egyptian people, without external intervention, whether American or Iranian – is as important as the 2006 Lebanon war and the 2008 Gaza war, and will change the face of the region and impact the global balance of power.

Obama’s Brutal Barbaric Bombings of Civilians and his Assassination Squad Sparked Yemen Revolution

However US culpability in Egypt may be downplayed, President Obama’s aggression against the poor civilians of Yemen holds a large responsibility for the Yemen Revolution. How many massacres will the US puppet regimes carry out?

Internet-based revolution is possible (UAB Kaleidoscope)

AccessNow (www.accessnow.org), developer of the Global Proxy Cloud, instructs users around the world how to give their unused bandwidth to others in countries with strict blocks, or firewalls.  Another internet-based effort, Telecomix, is organized through chat rooms. When the Internet and mobile networks were shut down on January 27, the group began instructing activists through faxes about how to use amateur radios and dial-up modems.

Revolution tears down the wall between the internet and us (The National AE)

When the tipping point of revolution came, it was not from the intellectual circles of New York and London, but from disenfranchised youth on the Arab street.

Which revolution will Egypt choose?

The Arab Revolution Is Beyond America's Control

Egypt protests will change the face of the region: Nasrallah

Democracy: Hypocrisy and revolution

Egypt’s Revolution: Two Lessons from History

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6 February 2011

COMMENT: Reflections on Tunisian Revolution —Faheem Khan

The first lesson from Tunisia is that revolution is possible. This very thought is infectious, and it has rendered Arab leaders nervous. They are having nightmares of their being deposed and exiled as the Shah of Iran or Ben Ali of Tunisia

Egypt statement: Coalition of youth of the revolution

We have heard the president’s disappointing speech. And really someone who has killed more than 300 youths, kidnapped and injured thousands more is not entitled to brag about past glories. Nor are his followers entitled to talk about the President’s dignity, because the dignity [of] life and security of the Egyptian people is far more valuable than any single person’s dignity no matter how high a position he holds.

Cairo is not Tehran

Islamists dominated the opposition in 1979 in Iran.  Doomsayers are already warning that we're seeing a remake of Iran's Islamic revolution in Cairo. And on the surface, there are certainly parallels.

5 February 2011

Revolution and change

This is a youth revolt for their life…

Mubarak is still here, but there's been a revolution in our minds, say protesters

Al Jazeera: Egypt's 24-Hour Revolution

Somewhere Gil Scott-Heron must be reveling in the scene at Tahrir Square. African-Americans may not be pouring into U.S. streets looking for a brighter day, but millions of Egyptian spirits have brought Scott-Heron’s prophetic words to life.

When the revolution comes

The unfolding revolution in Egypt has not only caused nervousness among Arab dictators, it has also sent shockwaves throughout Israeli society.

Egypt: Secretary of State Clinton warns of ‘perfect storm'

Secretary of State Clinton warns of a “perfect storm of powerful trends” across the region, including a young population, political repression, economic disparity, and dwindling supplies of oil and water.

Coptic Christians show solidarity by forming a human chain around Islamic protesters during Friday prayers in Tehrir Square on Friday, February 04, 2011.

3 February 2011

Resource: 30 Years of Uprisings

Al-Jazeera's Revolution? Ctd

Getting in Line for a Revolution

Expulsion and Explosion: How Leaving the Internet Fueled Our Revolution

No Islamic Revolution is in the Making

The U.S. Will Hijack Egypt's Revolution

Why Yemen's Revolution Has Failed So Far

2 February 2011

The Arab world's 1989 revolution?

The ripple effect, described by one commentator as the “wave of democracy finally crashing on the North African shore”, has led to comparisons with the protest movement across Eastern Europe in 1989 that spelt the demise of communism and eventually the Soviet Union.

The Egyptian revolution: An interfaith movement

The protests have demonstrated explicit interfaith components. It was only a few weeks ago that Egyptian Muslims attended Christmas mass with their Christian neighbors and friends as human shields after the deadly attack on a Coptic church. Mohamed El-Sawy, whose cultural center has hosted World Faith Cairo events, said of faith relations in Egypt, “We either live together or we die together.” Returning the favor, Christians stood guard at mosques across Egypt while their Muslim friends finished their Friday prayers before the day's protests. When a few demonstrators began chanting “Allahu Akbar,” others convinced them to join together: “Muslim, Christian, we're all Egyptian!”

Oil Giants Fear Revolution Is Coming To Them Next

But what happens when the unrest spreads to oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Algeria? Already Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said he won’t run for re-election. Dissidents have called for protests in Algeria on Feb. 12, Bahrain on Feb. 14 and Libya on Feb. 17.

Sat Dishes and Revolution: Why Al Jazeera Matters There — and Here

Al Jazeera has become the channel of first choice; traffic to the English-language stream online has grown by 2,500 percent since last Friday. And Mohamed Nanabhay, the head of online for the English language channel, told The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter that the site's live stream had been viewed over 4 million times since Friday, and that 1.6 million of those views have come from the United States.

1 February 2011

Egyptian voices reflect diverse crowd of protesters

A tapestry of people covered the streets of Egypt on Tuesday. They are young and old, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian. There were even people who, amid the sweeping calls for President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, made known their support for the embattled leader.

Egypt's Youthquake: At a Nerve Center of the Revolution

They're lawyers, accountants and web designers. They wear jeans and flip flops, colorful headscarves, and the black and white checkered keffiyahs associated with the Palestinian intifadeh.

The revolution underway in Egypt is being closely watched by Gaza's youth who see it as a source of empowerment and inspiration.

Amazing images of what can now be called a ‘revolution' in Egypt

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Mr Assad said Syria was “immune” from the turmoil affecting Egypt and Tunisia.

Do we need the Internet for a revolution?

As Matthew Hindman states in “The Myth of Digital Democracy“: “The Internet's successes at democratizing politics are real. Yet the medium's failure in this regard are less acknowledged and ultimately just as profound.”

30 January 2010

Tell everyone: Egypt's revolution is sweet and peaceful

Emerging Basics of Free Internet and Internet for Freedom

MIRROR: How to Communicate & Restore Collective Power if the US Government Shuts Down the Internet

Reference: Wireless Mesh Internet–A List

Decentralizing the Internet So Big Brother Can’t …

Internet Work-Arounds for Egypt Updated

Strategic Phasing Toward World Brain & Global Game

Basics of Revolution

Preconditions of Revolution in the USA Today

Graphic: Pre-Conditions of Revolution

1992 MCU Thinking About Revolution

Graphic: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) 101 (Wrong Way)

Graphic: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) 102 (Right Way)

Review: Radical Man–The Process of Psycho-Social Development

Core Readings on the Power of the Public

Review: A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

Review: The Power of the Powerless–Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe

Review: The Unconquerable World–Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People

Context Reading

Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Negative)

Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Positive)