Egypt protests

That dude who set himself on fire in Tunisia really put the Middle East in an uproar. It would be truly unfortunate if a future headline read, "BBQ'd Arab Starts WWIII".

Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. "This parrot is dead." No, it isn't. Our politicians are doing what they always do: lying. Joe Biden said Mubarak isn't a dictator. Unbelievable. I'm speechless textless.

2. Mubarak flipped a switch and turned off the internet and cellular telephony throughout Egypt. Obama wants this capability in the U.S., at least for the internet. My guess is the reasons are identical -- to control the population and deny them information. The only difference I can see is that if the internet is switched off in the US, it will be the cause of a revolution, not a reaction to a revolution. CNBC:

In an attempt to stop the frenzied online spread of dissent against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, not only Facebook and Twitter but the entire Internet was shut down overnight, leaving some 20 million users stranded.

3. Be careful what you wish for. If Tunisia and Egypt -- and other Middle East cesspools -- revolt and become democratic, what then? Let's review the existing democratic Muslim countries:

a. Indonesia: The mastermind of the Bali bombing received a ridiculously short sentence, then was let out early, and on his release day a car was sent to pick him up and bring him to the private residence of Indonesia's defense minister, where a lavish party was thrown for him. And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

b. Pakistan: A man used his infant daughter as currency in a poker game, and lost the hand to his cousin. The deal involved the cousin "taking" the daughter when she was marrying age (12, no less). When the man came to collect, the father refused to give up his daughter, and they went to court. A judge said the man lost his daughter fairly while gambling, and must give his daughter to the man.

Also, just a few weeks ago a governor of a province of Pakistan was murdered by his own bodyguard when the Gov criticized the nation's anti-blasphemy law. The murderer, rather predictably, yelled, "Allahu akbar!" when he pulled the trigger. These items are only the tip of the iceberg.

So, we clearly don't need any more Muslim democracies. It's better to have a filthy dictator like Mubarak in control. We pay him billions of dollars a year to do what we tell him to, and this is probably better than any of the alternatives.

Go here to watch video of the scene in Cairo and listen to what the protesters are shouting. ("Allahu akbar!")

The real problem here is that somehow their sand got on top of our oil (Middle East in general, not Egypt specifically). If our oil deposits were anywhere else, the world would be a much better place. The inhabitants of the Middle East would be free to live like Dark Age nutjobs and nobody would interfere.