People Power, Or, Mubarak Takes A Mulligan

Mubarak takes a mulligan on last night's speech - now he is stepping down:

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt turned over all power to the military, and left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television on Friday.

The announcement, delivered during evening prayers in Cairo, set off a frenzy of celebration, with protesters shouting “Egypt is free!”

The Egyptian military issued a communiqué pledging to carry out a variety of constitutional reforms in a statement notable for its commanding tone. The military’s statement alluded to the delegation of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman and it suggested that the military would supervise implementation of the reforms.

My instant, uninformed reaction - if Mubarak had announced last night that he was stepping aside in favor of Suleiman and a group of generals, the popular reaction would have been that the faces had changed but the regime remains the same.

Today, since he is stepping aside in response to overwhelming public rejection of his speech, the public response seems to be a sense of empowerment and change.

Slick marketing by the regime, if this flies.

OR, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT IDEA I HAVE OTHERS:

Upon booth review, we are considering the possibility that Mubarak is secretly from Missouri, the "Show Me" state.  Yesterday his aides greased the skids and tried to get him to gdepart gracefully, without success.  Today, having seen how well he is loved and how successful his speech was, he is prepared to move on.

Comments

[Captain Hate]

I wish PUK was around to tell us Dusty stories.

That would be nice. Btw the first time somebody mentioned Shelby's name to me my reaction was "That sounds like a porn name".

Dave did you get that boot off of Dime? I'll say this for Vandermark; after all the crap he took from a lot of musicians after the McArthur grant (which imo made most of them look like jealous losers) he put all of it into financing projects similar to what you mentioned.

[Ignatz]

--think that'll wash with the great unwashed?--

I'd estimate about 52% of them.

[peter]

Second that Shelby Lynne /Dusty Springfield tribute album. Saw her live a couple of years ago in a very small venue, an old elementary school auditorium converted into a concert hall. One of the best shows I have ever seen. Shelby overcame a horrific family history, having witnessed her father murder her mother.

[narciso]

Well it's a fair point, DiB, with the likes of Ali Mohammed, those quarrelsome Istambouli
brothers, Colonel Mokkawi, and the like, those
are just the ones we know about, Plus usually
every third ranked member of AQ's Dunder Mifflin shop, usually ends up with the el
Masri designation.

But for now, the fact that the transition that Obama seemed so intent on derailing, has
come off for now. So with that caveat, for now

[cathyf]

It has seemed to me that focusing the protesters' demands on Mubarak's resignation was quite clever. He's an elderly man with terminal cancer and some huge cache of money looted from the Egyptian people. A perfect time to CHOOSE to leave, but instead of agreeing to leave and getting nothing in return, the powers-that-be get to disarm the protesters with the action.

The main skill of having an ace up your sleeve is picking the right time to use it.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Beck had a picture up showing the crowd during the announcement about Mubarek, and there was a "Mission Accomplished" sign held up in the crowd.

[glasater]

– the Obama administration changed that policy and cut funding significantly, ending an effort to provide direct funding to democracy groups not “approved” by the Egyptian government

Frau-

That's why I keep repeating "Barry's cheap".

[Mustang0302]

Shelby's a Quantico girl, peter. She brings authentic anguish to Lennon's Mother.

[clarice]

Good news, porch.

Very funny, Rick.

As to whether MSNBC can gild the dandelion ..maybe. Americans generally pay little attention to foreign affairs or they'd laugh every time the smartest woman in the world opened her mouth or Joe Wilson did his shtick.

I'd be happy if they paid attention to their own financial affairs and see where this clown is taking us.. Dai daiyanu (A Passover song thanking God and listing after each gift from God, that would have been enough.)

[Jeff]

the military has been in charge for over 30 years ... they are still in charge ... new figurehead same boss ...

[glasater]

Wow!

Hosni Mubarak resigns: Switzerland to freeze assets of ousted ruler

[Captain Hate]

Wow peter, some people would be in therapy for a long long time after that. I'd say that's the worst thing I could imagine but I just recently finished "Bloodlands" which recalibrated the scale.

[Captain Hate]

LUN for putting the B+ in classlessness, although considering the recipient eases the burn...

[Ranger]

I heard the first part of Obama's little talk. I sounded to me like he wants people to imagine this as his "Berlin Wall" moment, as it when the wall came down. He tried hard to hit the Regan notes of "universal thirst for freedom" and such.

But I don't think it will have the same effect. RR had his "tear down this wall!" moment which made clear who would get the credit, even though the wall came down after he left office. Barry had an "I'm sorry we forced democracy on Iraq" tour followed by his ignoring of the Iranian demonstrations, which makes his sudden love of democratic regime change ring hollow.

[Captain Hate]

O/T LUN for an extremely sad story well told

[narciso]

So it's agreed that Tadros probably had the best take on the matter, in the millions of words, spouted in the last weeks

[clarice]

I think s, narciso. But then I was an immediate fan.

[Mustang0302]

Cap'n, did you ever hear Da Bears wanted to get Michael Irvin, back during the Ditka era?

They already had a Refrigerator, and they wanted a Coke Machine.

[Captain Hate]

LOL Mustang. The funniest Michael Irvin story I heard was seeing him on tv walking with Bobby Bowden outside the Doak and Irvin asking him how come he didn't recruit him harder, to which Bowden replied "You wanted too much money". Not "you wanted payola" but the *amount* was what screwed the pooch.

[matt]

Obama as Lincoln? Obama as Roosevelt? Obama as Reagan? Obama as Zelig? LUN

[Rocco]

With my apologies to Bush fans, (although he was awful domestically, he's earned my love and respect on the terror front) New Zeal brings you Rino Remover. It even removes Snow...lol.

[Jane (get off the couch - come save the country)]

Glasater,

I had the same reaction. Who gets to decide to freeze his assets and for what purpose? Don't you have to accuse someone of robbing you blind and show that it is your money robbed before that happens?

[Danube of Thought]

You people talkin' 'bout the Dusty Springfield who did "Silver Threads and Golden Needles?"

She's mine, I tell you--mine.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

That was a real eye-opener about the fridge, Cap'n. It is sadly true that suicide comes in many forms.

[Extraneus]

So will they be looking at a run on Swiss banks Monday?

[Extraneus]

I'm taking my billions out, that's for damn sure.

[narciso]

OT, could be a misunderstanding, in the LUN

[Pagar]

Narciso, I don't believe it was a misunderstanding. IMO, Rep Lewis should have been relieved of his chairmanship.

[Porchlight]

So did y'all see the fake Palin videos from CPAC? That gal has the potential to make a lot of money in the next few years.

Here's the HotAir post:

Palin lookalike rocks CPAC

[MarkO]

Dusty Springfield:

"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"

Oh be still my heart. My absolutely all time favorite song by the best female singer of the time.

[Ignatz]

I read that story on the Fridge a day or two ago Cap'n. What a waste.

[Captain Hate]

The entire Dusty in Memphis album is the schizz.

Jim Rhoads, I was shocked with how that story grabbed me

[Ignatz]

--My absolutely all time favorite song by the best female singer of the time.--

Oh brother. What about Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb by Connie Stevens?
Or Teach Me Tiger by April Stevens.

[Captain Hate]

Yeah it is a waste Iggy, but I feel bad for former NFL players because their careers are so short and their bodies take a beating with long-term implications. That's one of the reasons I ragged on Favre so much; that he'd led a charmed career to emerge intact from but he kept coming back for more and nobody would be the responsible adult and tell him "no". As it was he got rocked pretty hard this season but it could've been even worse. Even though this season ended pretty badly for him he still had a storybook career.

I'm still not sure he'll know what to do with himself away from the game. Contrast that to Kurt Warner who walked away from the game before his skills fell apart (well fell apart a second time; his rise from the ashes with the Cardinals, probably the most hapless original NFL franchise, was more unlikely than his initial one with the Rams).

[FooBar II]

How can Maguire say Mubarak took a mulligan.? He wasn't even playing golf. I demand a retraction and a correction.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Well, actually my "all time favorite" is every single track on the best album of all time EVER! I was there!!!!! I heard it all live!!!!!

[Hosni Fubarak]

--How can Maguire say Mubarak took a mulligan.? He wasn't even playing golf.--

And he's not even Irish.

[Ignatz]

--Yeah it is a waste Iggy, but I feel bad for former NFL players because their careers are so short and their bodies take a beating with long-term implications.--

I didn't mean "waste" as in condemning the poor soul, CH.
I feel very bad for him. He just seems like a big kid who can't help himself.
Ditka came off as a stand up guy in that story.

[Captain Hate]

Ah thanks for the clarification, Ig. Yeah we're on the same page.

[Rick Ballard]

FooBar II,

I find your spoof insufficiently incoherent and lacking in the subtle sophistic obfuscation and reflexivity which is the hallmark of the original. I suggest you spend some time with Chomsky prior to attempting another emulation.

[Ignatz]

Hate to go on topic, but here's a take by Doug Schoen that is rather pessimistic about avoiding the Muslim Brotherhood running Egypt in the near future. He makes a point I had been thinking myself today; the MB sounds and acts just like the stealth Islamist Erdogan in Turkey.

Regarding the idea the WH is floating, that if actual free elections are held in Egypt it will be just like Barry's version of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I resisted at first but then began thinking, yeah, it would be quite similar.
A hapless place sitter takes credit for what his predecessor did.

[glasater]

Jane-

Mubarak may have most of his stash in the ME banks but for Switzerland to behave that way...is very un-Swiss.

[glasater]

Some months ago I was listening to Hugh Hewitt's interview with Claudia Rosett who had just returned from visiting Turkey and she said that country was "gone" to the Islamists.
Never could find the conversation in his transcripts however.

[Jane (get off the couch - come save the country)]

The head of Stratfor says it was a coup by the military from beginning to end. The protesters were just window dressing.

[daddy]

Returning from the dog walk I am surprised to see almost no one else commented on Obama's small speech congratulating the democracy lovers for toppling Mubarak. Can't seem to find mention of it almost anywhere on the blogs. Did folks just miss it, or think it was not worth commenting on? I'm curious, since my impression was it was a godsend to the radical Arab Street to go ahead and foment future revolution.

[clarice]

Ajami who does not what he's talking about sounds reasonably optimistic about Egypt.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576136442019920256.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion>I hope he's right

[clarice]

**who does KNOW what he's talking about**

[Jane (get off the couch - come save the country)]

Daddy,

Barry is a bit irrelevant at this point I think. No one even cares what he thinks because he consistently gets it wrong. I assume most people are either embarrassed by him or think he is a joke.

I tend to slog thru all his speeches, and made sure I missed this one. At this point he reminds me of the guy at the Rotary club who constantly has to hear the sound of his own voice.

[daddy]

Thanks Jane,

I suppose it struck me because it was one of the only Obama speeches I've listened to in forever, since it just popped up unannounced on FOX. There had to be some explanation for it being completely ignored and your suggestion is as good as any I can come up with.

[Captain Hate]

I think Jane gets it right daddy; Preznit Sand Trap stepped on his johnson with golf shoes so many times over Egypt that the Clown Car show has lost its appeal.

[daddy]

Thanks Cap'n,

BTW, Good comments the other night on the Heel's. I honestly don't feel awful about the loss because I was so impressed with the unexpected talent I saw on the floor from the Freshmen. Your criticism of Roy not stopping the momentum with Time Outs to regather was on the money. We've got real potential and I like how they've started jellin' lately.

So with your new sports goggles on, who do you look like more ">http://silverliningopticians.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/2008_06_rambis.jpg"> Kurt Rambis or ">http://adoraburl.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341ec3da53ef01348980ec48970c-800wi"> Kareem?

[Dave (in MA)]

Captain, I think I d/led the boot from Usenet.

I was over in a music board today and they had an off-topic discussion going about Egypt and a guy remembered that he heard Mubarak claim that there were no homosexuals in Egypt. I suggested that he was thinking of Ahmadinejad and not to expect Fire Island over there if the military junta gets replaced by the Mu-Bros.

[Threadkiller]

Egypt is not Obama’s first rodeo with democracy.

If you thought the White House response to the crisis in Honduras was confused before yesterday, you’ll need a scorecard to figure it out now. After successfully imposing American will on Honduras to return Manuel Zelaya to the presidency, the Obama administration apparently reversed course and told the Hondurans that we would recognize their elections this month whether Zelaya was back in office or not.

">http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/05/did-obama-throw-zelaya-under-the-bus/"> Obama and Honduras

You would think some conservative with a microphone would have mentioned this by now.

[Stephanie]

Speaking of mulligans... HS golf season is in full swing. They even practiced in the left over snow yesterday. It was 42. eek.

Where IS Ann? Wondering if her daughter is still playing and how she's doing.

[Captain Hate]

Actually daddy it's none of the above but if I had to choose it's closer to Kareem.

Roy has amassed a lot of blue-chippers and it was probably only a matter of time before they started coming together. A Rock-Chalk-Jayhawk fan who admired Roy while in Lawrence (and, like me, was pleasantly surprised with just how good Self has been for that program) told me he used to do the same thing there so it didn't begin with that game. Roy sometimes gets blasted as being better at recruiting than he is as a bench coach but you can't question his ability to have molded D'oh's underachievers into a championship team. I think he's got one more ring in him which would be great to surpass Saint Deanie.

[Melinda Romanoff]

TK-

They're still trying to figure out notepads, let alone microphones.

The Ibama admin demonstrates the perfect reactions to each of its sycophant bases so as to extract cash. After which, the exercise of power is reduced to the last bidder. The unfortunate result equates to as much philosophy as the closest wh)%@.

Because "they need the money".

[jimmyk]

The "same date" thing gives me the creeps.

Watching news coverage tonight, everyone is acting like this is a democratic, liberal (in the traditional sense of the term) revolution. That seems like massive projection, or wishful thinking. It would be interesting to go back to early 1979 and see what people were saying then. Michael Totten describes the Iranian revolutionaries as "a coalition of liberals, leftists, and Islamists." Deja vu?

[Jim Ryan]

GOP doing something about the EPA?

[Dave (in MA)]

Ayuh, one of The Ditzes has http://rightwingnews.com/2011/02/cpac-exclusive-an-interview-with-olympia-snowes-primary-challenger-andrew-ian-dodge/>a TP challenger.

[narciso]

Some go the extra mile, (warning, gagging reflex, is the only true course)in the LUN

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I wouldn't want anyone who was even remotely associated with the Dole or McCain campaign and most especially not someone who was assigned to the VP candidate.

Washington (CNN) – Sarah Palin has added a veteran Republican strategist to serve as chief-of-staff for her political action committee, Sarah PAC, CNN has learned.

Michael Glassner, an attorney and longtime adviser to former Kansas senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole, has signed on to steer the former Alaska governor's political operation as she considers a possible 2012 presidential bid.During the 2008 presidential campaign, Glassner managed vice presidential operations during John McCain's unsuccessful White House bid.

[clarice]

Backstory on the Chris Lee set up:
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/02/11/back-story-on-former-congressman-chris-lee/

[clarice]

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/02/11/back-story-on-former-congressman-chris-lee/>Chris Lee backstory

[narciso]

She's recruited many of her top advisers like Schueneman, her foreign policy guru, and Recher her scheduler, from those ranks, but only those who proved loyal, unlike Becki
Donatelli, who was leaking more than the Exxon Valdez

[daveinboca]

@clarice

I still think Wisner was technically right on M staying as de jure, but the bait and switch pulled off by Mubarak, intentional or not, softened the resistance to Omar Suleiman. And better the Army brass than the Speaker of a Potemkin legislature with a 90-day constitutional deadline for elections in a country with only two organized parties, one being the Ikhwan.

Fouad does know more about Egypt than anyone I know, including any Egyptians except Tahseen Basheer. He's actually Lebanese of Shi'ite extraction [Ajami is Arabic for "Persian"], but considers himself an Egyptian. He was my houseguest for two weeks on his arrival to SAIS and then a year later I was his landlord after I got married & moved out of my condo which was two blocks from SAIS in DC. We hung out very much and his talks on Egypt were when his true passion for the Arab world's keystone country really shone with a fervent passion.

He always used to say that Egypt was a "broken" society, as were other Arab countries, but his optimism always remained because for any Arabist, Cairo and Damascus and Baghdad are the trinity of real Arab metropolises, even though most Arabs on the street don't consider Egyptians to be Arabs. Saudis, for instance.

But Umm Khaltuum was the greatest Arab singer I've ever heard and the depth of her Egyptian passion makes all the country's admirers hope for a happy ending.

[clarice]

dave, I have the greatest respect frr him and hope his optimism is warranted. You know we must know so many of the same people in DC.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Thanks, DiB, for your insights. I can't tell you how much they help me.

[clarice]

Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy is a spectacular read and a good fictional introduction to life in Egypt.

[daddy]

"...but only those who proved loyal, unlike Becki
Donatelli, who was leaking more than the Exxon Valdez."

LOL Narciso, Dennis Miller would kill for that line.

Today he was discussing Donald Trump at CPAC. Miller was on a roll and said he was pulling for Trump for President. He said Trump would get us great deals at the table with the Chinese. They'd be there while he was wheeling-dealing some treaty, but they'd miss the fine points and get taken, because they'd be distracted by staring at Trumps "Combover Hairstyle" trying to figure out if it looked more like the Ocean Spray Cranapple Logo, or of it was a Startrek Tribble.

Sometimes Miller kills me.

[narciso]

No, it's more like the lamprey like creatures
that attached to people and drove them mad,
as they almost did to Spock, until he plunged
his shuttle craft into the sun.

[daveinboca]

clarice, yeah, I bet we do know a lot of people in common. BTW, do you have a cheesehead in your pedigree, asks this Tosan?

[daveinboca]

MR, I have a blog where I occasionally write about the Egyptian & Arab world amidst spluttering naughtily about Obummer's silly clumsy attempts at domestic and foreign affairs. D- is his grade in my copybook.

www.daveinboca.blogspot.com

Also, clarice, i loved Palace Walk, but didn't remember finding Sufi brotherhoods and Coptic types in the book---maybe they were there, but it's been a decade-plus. Some of my best Cairene friends were outsiders, the Sufis and poor Sa'ad Eddin Ibrahim, who went to jail for his honest scholarship.

And my Copt friends have deep insights that are way outside the narrow PC guidelines of what can be said publicly in Al-Misr.

Mahfouz almost was killed for being less than fanatical and getting a Nobel for Lit.

[daddy]

Has anyone heard from JiB today?

Frederick's blog said they were heading to Chile via the Straits of Magellan, and today central Chile was hit with a 6.8 earthquake. I think they were way way south of the quake but would certainly like to hear they are okay.

[Stephanie]

Hope JiB and family are safe:

CAUQUENES, Chile – A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck central Chile Friday, centered in almost exactly the same spot where last year's magnitude-8.8 quake spawned a tsunami and devastated coastal communities.

[Stephanie]

Shoulda refreshed first. Sorry. I see the earthquake and volcano pro had this one covered.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

From what I can tell, they would between Punto Arena and Puerto Montt, or their end port at Valparaiso (Santiago), Chile according to the map of the ship's route. The last earthquake caused a tidal wave. Where exactly was the epicenter?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Ugh! The map shows the epicenter very near Conception, which is South of Santiago. I hope the ship is okay.

[Stephanie]

Nearer to Santiago than Puerto Arena. It was described as having occurred in middle Chile with buildings swaying in Santiago and didn't really go into details on how far south it could be felt.

Looking at Frederick's last post, it looks like they are on the ground in Puerto Arena today, I think. So they should be ok. But the ground might be kinda rolling due to aftershocks, or not, if they are far enough away.

The aftershocks might make the sailing a little choppy once they get closer to Santiago. Seems I remember a discovery channel show on waves/superwaves/tsunami that indicated that far enough away from shore they are little more than swells no matter how big a tsunami eventually hits shore. I don't think the ship is that far from shore though (they are "sightseeing"), so who knows.

I was also concerned about the moving and shaking on dry land as they ventured forth from the ship to see the sights. IIRC tsunami aren't usually triggered for less than 7 pointers.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

A few years ago at the house I sold later, I saw a tsunami. I had a backyard turtle/Koi pond. I was sitting out back, sort of daydreaming as I relaxed watching the fish swimming around and the turtles out sunning on the rocks. All of a sudden this little wave came toward me from the head of the pond. When it reached my end, it splashed against the side and sprayed water out over the edge. It was a very weird few seconds.

I did not feel an earthquake, but I hurried inside and turned on the TV and did a quick search of the Calif. earthquake center site. Sure enough we had had an earthquake and that little tsunami in my pond hit at the exact time it would have taken for the underground waves to reach us from the epicenter. I was amazed at how the quake caused that ripple in my pond, yet I felt nothing even though I was in barefeet outside.

[Pops]

It is sad to see such a bungled mess Obama has made of this entire ordeal, not to mention the latest ludicrous staements on Iran....where were te Obamaites when the Iranian people were being killed and beaten in the streets?

I heard no call from the Obama adminstration for a smooth transition of government in Iran.

But sadder for me is to see General Clapper's missteps, I don't personalling know the man but our paths have crossed several times and I have allways found him very smart and a stand up guy.
Hope he comes out of this OK.

[Janet]

Soylent emailed that there was some excitement in his area (Camp Nathan Smith, Kandahar City)....they were all okay & we might hear about it in the news.

[Chubby]

Drudge: ((IMF CALLS FOR ALTERNATIVE TO $$ AS WORLD'S RESERVE ))

George Soros has been wanting this for a long time. I heard him say what a great idea it would be in a lecture series he did in Europe, put online through the FT.

[Janet]

This must be the story. 5 killed in clashes between gunmen & police in Afghanistan

[Chubby]

DaveinBoca

How did MY cat get in YOUR picture? (She hates TM's diet threads.)

[Chubby]

(Soros specifically recommended SDR's as the alternative.)

[Chubby]

(Soros specifically recommended SDR's as the alternative.)

[clarice]

DiB, I'm from Milwaukee and went to school in Madison.

[centralcal]

Good morning. I just listened to a blogtalkradio interview of the creative couple behind MOTUS: Michelle's Mirror - Jo and Bob.

I was struck by how they sounded like JOMmers. Wonder if they ever come by here?

[Captain Hate]

where were te Obamaites when the Iranian people were being killed and beaten in the streets?

Voting present. You had a tailor made situation to capture the sympathy and imagination of the world when an attractive woman like Neda was gunned down in the street and Il Douche was on the 19th hole. Either that or he prefers a world wide Caliphate; his actions don't indicate anything contrary to that.

[Neo]

I’m not sure if one should take a step back or look with a magnifying glass for the results of the trouble in Egypt.
What is clear is that Mubarak has resigned and the military is in control.
But is that a good thing or a bad thing ? Who knows ? … and is it really any different ?

We now know that Mubarak has terminal cancer, so something closely approximating this would have happened before long anyway, so … what ?

The last time something like this happened in Honduras, the Obama Administration condemned it … but now, Egypt is in the “Hope and Change” rapture which we know will quickly be replaced with something much less.

If this is Obama doing it “right” .. being “wrong” must not be much different, which means he was truly insignificant.

[daveinboca]

Chubby, my cat is SOOOO huge that he kind of spills over into other pictures---25 lbs. at last weigh-in, and as athletic as LeBron. A Maine Coon that follows me like a loyal spaniel.

Clarice, I went to Marquette High & after a stint in the Jesuit seminary, graduated from Marquette U. & got a fellowship to Ann Arbor, but still went into orbit when the Badgers [for the SECOND TIME in six months!!!] beat the Buckeyes out of a FIRST RANK nationally. My daughter just interned for Herb Kohl, who took an instant liking & today she got Kohl's personally-signed photo with Herb, who despite his party affiliation, is a very kind and gentle and smart old feller. The Badgers won in Kohl Fieldhouse, which I reminded my daughter to mention in her thank-you note. She didn't reveal because unasked that she was a closet-GOP fan. But she watches The Daily Show & is flaky on most issues. I try to keep her in check, but she graduates in May. She's got Shalala for a class [Poli Sci & Phil double major & art history minor], so she's got more than one string on her violin.

BTW, the papers are saying Amr Moussa is a sure-fire candidate for Egyptian President, and I've been in at least a half-dozen meetings with the gentleman, who is now head of the Arab League. A broad-gauge fellow with no real anti-American & Israeli convictions, whatever his public statements to the contrary. Quite tight with Wisner, & I was flown in an Amoco plane to DC for an Amoco-sponsored welcome-back party that both Amr Moussa and of course Frank himself attended. My spouse got to accompany & it was quite an affair.

We just gotta wait and see. As my old buddy Tony Cordesman said today, nobody really knows how this whole thing'll turn out. [I worked at CSIS with TC waay back in the day].

[Chubby]

DaveinBoca

I inherited my mother's cat who weighed 32 pounds!!!!! She's now down to about 25. None of the heirs wanted her, including myself, so the plan was to put her down, which I just couldn't go along with, so I took her. Cats are not my first preference in pets, so it we had a rocky beginning, but I have learned to love her dearly. The one thing I learned from this experience is that everyone's will should make provision or give instruction for beloved pets.