The chaos in Egypt does indeed signal opportunity, but the big question is whether the Egyptian people (or their fellow protestors in neighboring countries) will end up with genuine reform or merely a different gang of corrupt officials willing to cut more (or different) people in on ‘the take.’
Though the opposition in Egypt is frequently presented as a bottom-up movement, there is, in fact, a top-down element to it. As the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, the opposition is being led by a ten-person steering committee. This committee arose from a 100-person shadow parliament established in Egypt well before the protests broke out. […]
Journalists and reporters have an unofficial badge of honor they work for in their careers: credibility. Or what people in the media industry sometimes jokingly refer to as “street cred.” It is usually earned by reporting under dangerous, extremely taxing, or even life-threatening circumstances. An extreme example is a story I heard from a former […]
The New York Times just put out a news alert stating: “The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately, turning over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military, administration officials and Arab diplomats said Thursday.” […]
The turmoil in Egypt raises endless questions about accountability. To name a few: Is it possible for a dictator to be accountable to his people? What responsibility do Egypt’s allies have for holding him accountable? Are the massive public demonstrations currently on display doing any more for accountability than the previous status quo? Any leadership […]
As the situation in Egypt ramps up by the day, a casualty that is frequently making headlines is the media. Specifically, reporters. The attacks on journalists have become so frequent and high profile (think Anderson Cooper) that the White House, in a rare move, has commented on it. According to a story in the New […]
I’m an old New Yorker man from way back. I’ve noted any number of terrific New Yorker stories here, from George Packer and Ryan Lizza on the failures of the Senate on climate and energy legislation, to the authoritative Betsy Kolbert on nearly anything and everything relative to sustainability and the environment. Hendrik Hertzberg is […]
Normally I don’t bother to take the time to discuss distortions of facts that occur on cable news programs. Such occurrences are, to me, as surprising as eating cauliflower. But I think this one, even though it happened a couple weeks ago, is worth commenting on: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and […]
It’s been interesting watching the evolution of the U.S. role in dealing with the crisis in Egypt. It’s clear that the U.S. was taken by surprise by the pace of events. Sure, Tunisia was a warning, but Egypt is not Tunisia and few expected revolution in Egypt. At the outset, the Obama team took a […]
It is without a doubt that mothers will do anything for their children and that when they fear their children’s future and safety are at stake they will risk just about anything. But should a mother go to jail for trying to ensure that her children’s safety and education are preserved? That is exactly what […]
(Sorry to have been a while away from the blog, but last week was pretty busy and then we got away for some lovely skiing. Snow can be a wonderful thing. My sympathies, of course, do go out to those of you who are suffering at home, or in your travels, from the very heavy […]
The office of a news website, Lankaenews (or Lanka-e-news) was set on fire over the weekend, apparently in an act of arson. The news website shows photos of the completely decimated office after the fire, which destroyed the organization’s computers. It is not the first time they have been attacked. According to a statement from […]
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