protests

Could the turmoil in Egypt affect the U.S. economy?

Rising oil prices have an effect on U.S. economic growth in two ways – direct and indirect. When gasoline prices jump, drivers feel a hit to the pocketbook every time they fill up, reducing the money available for other purchases. Additionally, products like cars and high-tech gadgets require large amounts of cheap energy to mine, transport and process the raw materials. Even small increases in oil prices have a multiplied effect on the cost of production, leading to either a higher price tag (depressing demand), or a lower profit margin (depressing stock prices and market growth).

The turmoil has already effected the US economy. Oil prices have been increasing in the past two weeks, and have topped $100. This will raise some prices and retard a portion of our economic growth. The ongoing uncertainty in Egypt has increased risk premiums on shipping insurance, and that drives up the cost of oil and gas imports as well as other cargo. And it’s not just Egypt in turmoil but much of the Middle East. A zone of instability that Washington thought was fairly stable has erupted — all near some of the world’s most important oil and gas reserves.

Secondly, unrest in Egypt has elevated anxiety about the continued operation of the Suez Canal and the Sumed Pipeline, which connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. The Suez Canal is a critical transit “choke point” between the Mediterranean and the Middle East and Asia for petroleum products and other types of cargo. Although there have not been indications that either of these choke points have been targeted, it remains a possibility.

Furthermore, whatever the outcome of Egypt protest, may effect relations between Egypt and US, which may in turn effect other things. At the moment, US has good relation with Egypt and can use it as a military base. The Obama administration needs to take steps to make sure they are on the good side of the new government, if a new one forms.

protests

Egypt Shut Downs Internet

Yesterday the government of Egypt shut down the whole internet and mobile access in their country in order to stop protesters that have been flooding the streets in ant-governments protests. Apparently at 12:34pm yesterday Egypt time all 4 major internet providers went down in Egypt. No one ever thought a government would ever do this, but here it is..it has happened. Last year during the Iran protests, the Iranian government tried to filter the internet for their country by blocking access to Facebook, Twitter and some social media sites and that was the closest it got to an internet shutdown.

The scale of Egypt’s crackdown is unprecedented in the history of the web. President Barack Obama condemned the moves by Egyptian government to stop activists using cellphones and cyber technology to organize rallies.

According to experts 97% of internet traffic in Egypt was shut down. The shutdown in Egypt is the most comprehensive official electronic blackout of its kind, experts said.

protests

Funny Statement from Iranian Government regarding Egypt Protests

Someone posted this on Facebook Free Iran group today:

From the BBC comes a statement by the Iranian government that deserves to be considered Guinness Book of World Records for hypocrisy:

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said “Iran expects Egyptian officials to listen to the voice of their Muslim people, respond to their rightful demands and refrain from exerting violence by security forces and police….”

Here are some comments regarding the above on Facebook:
Comment #1:
I Think People Need To Open Their Eyes Its All A Set Up. Violence Breeds Anarchy The More Anarchy The More A Government Can Impose A Dictatorship. Also Its The Ego Of The Self And Peoples Attachment To It Is What Causes Stupitidy In The First Place. Nothings Going To Change, It Will Continue To Be The Same Pattern Over And Over Again Because Of The Attachment To Ego Of The Self.

Comment #2:
Yes it is hypocrisy and they are hypocrites! But the point is that this regime does not recognize any of those Arabic governments as an “Islamic”, when they emphasize on “Muslim people” rather than people of Egypt (which itself reveals thei…r lack of respect for the rights of non Muslims) it means that since the Egyptian government is not Islamic, then Muslims have the right to protest against it, contrary to the regime in Iran that sees itself as Islamic and thus those who protest against it, are against Islam and therefore must be combated and eradicated.

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