Requiem

We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats' feet over broken glass In our dry cellar

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Plainclothes government agents beat protesters and watched as President Hosni Mubarak' 's supporters punched other demonstrators Wednesday, marring a referendum on whether to let more than one candidate run in presidential elections.Female protesters in particular seemed to be targeted for beatings by both plainclothes state security agents and pro-Mubarak supporters, according to several witnesses and Associated Press. "This is the first time this sort of beating and humiliation has taken place here in Cairo," said Abdel Halim Qandil of the opposition group Kifaya. He said it had been a problem before in provincial areas. The government had no official reaction to the violence. Security officials said the clashes were between Mubarak supporters and Kifaya members, and that security officials were not involved. But AP reporters saw plainclothes agents taking instructions from both uniformed and non-uniformed government security officers.

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Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow

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Go to Orientalism's Blog for a Photo Essay that will show you how things really were like yesterday.

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Life is very long

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"Standing in front of the pyramids, First Lady Laura Bush said Monday that building democracy is a slow process, and she praised Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for what she called an important first step toward open elections."I think he's been very bold and wise to take the first step," Bush said of the president who has served 24 years without facing an opposing candidate for re-election."

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Between the desire And the spasm Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow

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"Nour, the opposition candidate, responded sourly to the remarks. "It shows she doesn't understand anything at all. She made a statement that suggests she doesn't know she was in Egypt. It was comical," Nour said in an interview at his headquarters after the theater demonstration. Ismael, his wife, asserted that the Bush administration has given a green light to government repression through warm greetings to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif during his visit to Washington last week and by the first lady's comments. "Through its attitude, the administration gives confidence to the regime that it can be aggressive," she said. "It can crush even a small demonstration with impunity."

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For Thine is the Kingdom

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"He couldn't go up 7 stairs to take the Photo-OP of voting at the referndum yesterday. Not even seven stairs. The man is 77, wants to rule Egypt for another 6 years, yet can't walk up 7 stairs. You know that he gets wheeled everywhere before and after any Photo taking? They never show it, because we have to maintain the image of the healthy fit president, but they wheelchair him everywhere when there is no foreign press around. God help us all" A Family Member, who is in politics and was with the President when he went and casted his symbolic vote, to my father yesterday.

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This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. Poem by T.S. Elliot