Elliot and Isabel

Straying from the norm here a bit, but feeling the need to write something about Egypt.

Is anyone else a little bit heartbroken over what is going on, but at the same time, a little bit revved up? Maybe it is my affinity for Cairo, for its citizens, for its awesomeness, that amplifies the unrest’s impact for me here in the U.S.A.

Egyptians have every right to be upset – “significant” (according to CNN) social and political grievances have been incurred for years – if you have been keeping up, you know what’s going on. I’m sick of Mubarek too, to be honest.

Shaking my head/flailing my arms @ the government’s decision to shut down the internet and even, reportedly, text messaging with and through Egyptian telecommunications providers. You want to calm your people down? Then abso-freaking-lutely don’t cut off their digital bloodlines. I’m normally quite apathetic and “could-care-less” regarding governmental practices, but… in 2011, blocking Facebook seems rightly unfair, and wrongly intended. It’s a little Communistic, in that militaristic and paranoid and transparent way, is it not? China blocks Facebook doesn’t it? Publicly they may declare the decision was made to prevent further protestation organization and rumor-mongering, but, Egypt, information will circulate no matter what. Now it’s just going to circulate with a little more anti-establishment passion. (This may be an obvious reaction, so apologies if you were already thinking the same thing).

HOWEVER, it is sort of kind of encouraging to see, despite having just used the word dated, a good-old-fashioned revolution (some are dubbing it the “Lotus Revolution). I told my mother I wanted to go to Cairo, tonight, and she said no, but it is significant and I hope the people of Egypt get what they want out of it.

FYI, Delta is suspending all flights to Cairo after Saturday.

-Elliot