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Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

english.aljazeera.net

111–120 of 135 posts

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#111
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention that a democratic government, in itself, doesn't guarantee anything - large-scale corruption and incompetence are still a very real possibility. Still, hopefully a step in the right direction - more options are now available to the Egyptian people.

Not just a real possibility, but a very likely one. I recall that in one interview, a protester was complaining about the lack of economic opportunity. "The supervisor hires all his nephews! Regular people can't get any hours!" (Or something to that effect.) No matter how awesome the new regime is, I doubt they can fix this. Sad fact: many of Egypt's problems are inflicted by the people on themselves, not by Mubarak.

Alas, I can't find it now, but I recall reading a Foreign Policy article a few months ago which quoted one Egyptian as saying something like 'Mubarak is problem, but the much bigger problem is that this country has a million little Mubaraks, tiny totalitarians who rule their tiny fiefdoms with a tiny (iron) fist'; it seems that getting rid of Mubarak will have been much easier than displacing or reforming all the little Mubaraks.

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#112
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now it happened another time, and he was even more harsh, sth like "we are sorry that some of our Egyptian correspondents express their private emotions and opinions instead of only doing their proffession". That's what shows class and a really PRO approach. In Poland, when the pope died or the plane crashed, journalists of our local news stations started a crying/mourning contest - it was disgusting and unbearable t…

Everyone on TV crying sure seems like it would be super annoying. But I find the notion that journalist should, or even indeed ever could, be 100% objective and impartial - silly. Silly and most prevalent in America. Curiously also in America we have Fox news which clearly does not abide by objectivity even as it advertises itself with it. My point is simply that pure objectivity is an impossibility. Attempting to re…

An objective view is one where you focus on the facts of reality, without trying to superimpose opinions on them. Trying to equally present all opinions does not necessarily have anything at all to do with the facts, and is not objective reporting. And though our models of reality are necessarily imperfect, we can still try to get them to match reality as well as we can. One of the big hazards to avoid is being emotionally entangled with the news in a way that prevents you from reporting it neutrally.

Al Jazeera derives most of its fame from being the least biased news agency in the Middle East, with satellites that let it broadcast to places that would prefer for their citizens only to have access to the official state-run news.

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#113
post #31
post #9

The difficult part is always what comes after a revolution. Having the military in charge isn't necessarily a good thing, and whether Egypt does get a democratic government will now depend upon how the military behaves.

Not to mention that a democratic government, in itself, doesn't guarantee anything - large-scale corruption and incompetence are still a very real possibility. Still, hopefully a step in the right direction - more options are now available to the Egyptian people.

> large-scale corruption and incompetence are still a very real possibility

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

-- C. S. Lewis

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#114

I am so happy for the people of Egypt. This is one for the history books. Our kids will be reading about this revolution as an example of the peaceful power of the people. I have to congratulate AlJazeera for their tremendous coverage of unfolding events. They have been very professional and fearless in their reporting. Western media should take notes. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but for now Egypt and the enti…

    Mazal Tov to the people of Egypt!
Why would you congratulate the people of Egypt in Hebrew?

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just a real possibility, but a very likely one. I recall that in one interview, a protester was complaining about the lack of economic opportunity. "The supervisor hires all his nephews! Regular people can't get any hours!" (Or something to that effect.) No matter how awesome the new regime is, I doubt they can fix this. Sad fact: many of Egypt's problems are inflicted by the people on themselves, not by Mubarak.

Alas, I can't find it now, but I recall reading a Foreign Policy article a few months ago which quoted one Egyptian as saying something like 'Mubarak is problem, but the much bigger problem is that this country has a million little Mubaraks, tiny totalitarians who rule their tiny fiefdoms with a tiny (iron) fist'; it seems that getting rid of Mubarak will have been much easier than displacing or reforming all the lit…

That seems similar to the situation in Tunisia, and I'd say it's a common pattern that replicates itself whenever a country is under a dictatorship for decades.

This is a really incredible success of the Egyptian people, but it's just the first step of De-Mubarak-ification.

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#117
post #114

I am so happy for the people of Egypt. This is one for the history books. Our kids will be reading about this revolution as an example of the peaceful power of the people. I have to congratulate AlJazeera for their tremendous coverage of unfolding events. They have been very professional and fearless in their reporting. Western media should take notes. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but for now Egypt and the enti…

Mazal Tov to the people of Egypt! Why would you congratulate the people of Egypt in Hebrew?

I'd suspect that after enduring 30 years of struggle against a dictator that they wouldn't care what language they were cheered in. Most people just want to live in peace, it's only those who have an axe to grind that incite things by worrying what language someone is congratulated in.

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#119
post #104
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like Fox. It's pretty objective when it comes to different points of view. It's just not impartial when it comes to national issues.

Arab Al Jazeera is very much like Fox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samir_Kuntar#Reception_in_Leban...

Compare CNN to CNN international sometime :)

World news outlets (inter-regional) seem to be the best at objectivity.

Re: Hosni Mubarak finally steps down

#120
post #116
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Checz had it even earlier.

Hungary '56. Let's not get into a contest here.

We could probably go back to the 50s and all the events all around the eastern block during those times but that was not the point. Just that the events around 1980 (Gdansk .pl, Velvet .cz.sk) started the domino effect which led to dropping the Berlin Wall and eventually failure of the USSR. No contest here.
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