Saudades...

Saudades de estar na sombra de uma varanda... naquele calor fresquinho, sabe? Olhando mais um dia bonito e tranquilo passar. Escutando o barulho da família ao redor (ou roncando no cochilo da tarde). Ouvindo o melhor do MPB e do samba. Lendo alguma coisa interessante ou só pensando na vida.

O cheiro de protetor solar.

Facebook vs. Camels - What is really going on in Egypt

"Dear Friends,

We just got Internet access and I'm afraid given the events happening right now in Cairo, the government might cut us off again. I just wanted to let you know that my family and I are all safe. Thank you for your emails and for your concern. I can't tell you how touched I am by your calls and emails. We are very afraid. The situation is tense and seems to be getting worse, but for the moment my family is safe and I am thankful for that.

The latest news is this: Hundreds of thousands gathered peacefully in Tahrir yesterday. My family and several of our friends attended yesterday's demonstrations and I can tell you with absolute certainty it was peaceful and carried out in good faith. The army had the square surrounded and were checking people's id cards before going in. Volunteers were frisking people to make sure that there were absolutely no weapons going into the square. They even took my friend's plastic flagpole to make sure that no benign instruments could be turned into weapons. The mood yesterday was jubilant and felt more like a concert with people singing and dancing in Tahrir. The coiffed ladies of cairo mingled with street kids, religious men from Al-Azhar, and impassioned youth. Everyone was talking about the dawn of a "new Egypt." We left the square yesterday in good spirits and hoping for the best.

Last night Mubarak told the country he would not step down. He said he would stay in power to oversee a transition of power and elections at the end of the year. He put limited constitutional reform on the table but was clear he would only negotiate on 2 articles (about eligibility and limitations on the number of terms for the presidency). He also assured us that he would "die in Egypt" (a clear statement that he would not leave on a plane to Saudi Arabia like Tunisia's ex-president). The protesters were divided by his statement. Some felt Mubarak's speech was a victory because it opened the channel for discussion and completely removed the possibility of his son inheriting the presidency. Others saw that it was not enough and that no change could come without him resigning. Most people just wanted to get back to their normal lives and this was the overwhelming sentiment after yesterday.

By this morning, most of the crowds had left, but thousands remained in the square insisting they would not leave until Mubarak resigned. Meanwhile in other parts of Cairo, prominent businessmen from the President's party began organizing pro-government rallies, specifically around Mohandiseen (a fair distance away from Tahrir Square). As horrible luck would have it, my grandmother had a stroke yesterday, and so we were at her house all morning in Mohandiseen (right next to Mustapha Mahmoud Mosque) and I had a full view of these initial pro-government protests. People were agitated, but they were generally peaceful. At around 2:30, however, these protesters began marching towards Tahrir Square and we all feared for the worst. Having the two groups of protesters clash was the nightmare scenario we had all feared.

What happened next is no less than a criminal act by Mubarak, the police and the army. This is not a case of civil war or a divided people this is a targeted attack by the government on its own people. The army inexplicably stood by as thousands of these pro-Mubarak “protesters” stormed through Tahrir square. Army soldiers made no effort to block them or to curtail the confrontation as if they were given clear orders to stand by. After the first wave of marchers walked in, men on horses and camels wielding dangerous weapons galloped into the square straight at the anti-government protesters and began the massacre. As Mamoun Fendy, has put it: today was the clash between Facebook (the youth movement) and the camel (the govt thugs). Take that Tom Friedman.

News coverage and eyewitness accounts have now confirmed that many of those thugs who stormed Tahrir were carrying police identification cards. The same police, who abandoned the streets at 5 PM on Friday and set cars on fire before leaving their posts, came back today to draw blood. It was almost like they were here to finish the job they started on Friday when they gassed and shot rubber bullets at hundreds of thousands of protesters.

Eye witness accounts from Zamalek (a wealthy Cairo neighborhood) tell of prominent members of the president's party rounding up poor men on the street and promising them money and a warm meal to join the pro-government protests. Other news circulating here is that state-owned companies told their employees to join the fray. Yet turn on state television and channels like Mehwar TV and all you’ll hear are claims that Israel, Mossad, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and unknown “foreign provocateurs” are responsible. Everyone that is, but the President and his cronies. Few people seem to be asking the really important questions: what happened to the police presence and the army's promise to protect the rights of the protesters? Where are the fire trucks to put out the fires ignited by the hundreds of molotov cocktails being thrown from buildings by Mubarak's thugs? Where are the basic organizations that make this a modern state? And finally, where the hell is our newly appointed government??? Not one of them has spoken today. Not one government representative has addressed the country today.

A few good friends and my sister were there today. My sister just got home an hour ago after almost 1 week in downtown Cairo. She was delivering food and medicine to a clinic near Tahrir Square today when a group of pro-Mubarak thugs stopped her car and started banging on the doors and windows before opening the doors and stealing all the supplies she was carrying. Thankfully she was unharmed and managed to make it home safely, but we have yet to fully absorb the horrors she experienced today.

Mubarak and the other criminals in our government have chosen to incite chaos and shed blood rather than relinquish their 30-year-old dictatorship. They are letting my city burn and they are tearing apart our country. Over 700 people have been wounded so far (according to official estimates) and there is a real fear that the Egyptian Museum might burn down tonight. That would be a tragedy for Egypt and for humanity as a whole. Please tell your governments, your friends, your families and your colleagues about what is happening to us. Please do what you can to help us restore peace and safety to our country. And when we get through this, please help us to bring those responsible to justice.

God bless my motherland,
d"

Caramba... no último ano teve cada coisa... presidente morrendo (Polônia), presindete fugindo (Tunisia), presidente se refugiando (Honduras), rebeliões (Egito), desastres naturais (Brasil, Colombia, Australia, Haiti...), ataques terroristas (Moscou), deputada baleada (EUA), direitos humanos indo por água abaixo (apedrejamento no Irã), acidentes (mina no Chile, petroleo no Golfo do México), guerras civis (Rio de Janeiro), caos aéreo (greve, vulcão, neve)... e o tiririca foi eleito.

É, tá tenso.