Speed of Life

"For all of its empty talk about Egypt, the government of Iran should allow the Iranian people the same universal right to peacefully assemble and demonstrate in Tehran that the people are exercising in Cairo." - White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor ”We wish the opposition and the brave people in the streets across cities in Iran the same opportunity that they saw their Egyptian counterparts seize in the last week.” She added, ”We are against violence and we would call to account the Iranian government that is once again using its security forces and resorting to violence to prevent the free expression of ideas from their own people.” - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Video from Feb 14, 2011 protests against Ahmadinejad in Tehran An eyewitness in Tehran today reports for the BBC: Mohsen Asgari BBC News, Tehran "Riding on the back of a motorbike, holding my mobile to take video footage, I went to central Tehran on Monday afternoon. My driver sk...

by Gregg Chadwick Egyptian Portraits at the Neues Museum, Berlin photo by Gregg Chadwick Including: Upper Left Mask from Amarna: Portrait of a Man Center : Queen Nefertiti Bottom Right: Pharaoh Ay New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1340 BC Gypsum Amarna Height 18 cm Neues Museum, Berlin These life-sized masks are from a series found in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmoses in Achet-Aton (today called Amarna) in Middle Egypt. Amarna was the capital of Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaton and Queen Nefertiti. The portrait study of a man in the upper left of the photo provides an interesting view of Thutmoses' artistic process. First a cast was taken directly from the sitter's face and then a gypsum copy was made from the mould. The gypsum sculpture was then brought to detailed completion. In this installation of ancient sculptures, we are directly confronted with the real faces of Egypt. Even if the sitters' names and identities have been lost to history, their muted prese...

Today in Cairo hundreds of thousands of protesters peacefully gathered to urge Mubarak to step down from his 30 year reign in Egypt. Over the weekend, President Barack Obama sent Frank Wisner as his personal envoy to tell Mubarak that his time is over. This evening, Mubarak spoke via a televised address and declared that he will not seek another term. Elections are scheduled for the fall. In Tahrir Square, Mubarak's words were not enough. The massive crowd chanted "Erhal! (Leave!) Erhal! ( Leave!)" A US official told BBC's Kim Ghattas that Mubarak's announcement was not enough for the Obama administration either. From the White House, President Obama said that a transition in Egypt "must begin now". January 31, 2011 Interview with anti-Mubarak protester in Tahrir Square, Cairo Interview by Zero Silence from a forthcoming documentary.

In an earlier post, I referenced a photo taken by Lefteris Pitarakis of a female protester kissing an Egyptian police officer. A Protester in Egypt Kisses a Police Officer photo by: Lefteris Pitarakis / AP A guide for protesters in Egypt has been circulating. Alexis Madrigal on the Atlantic site has published a translation. Reading the manual it is evident that the protests are intended to be peaceful. The manual was sent out in anticipation of today's events. The illustration, below, taken from the manual echoes Pitarakis' photo. More at: Egyptian Activists' Action Plan: Translated

A Protester in Egypt Kisses a Police Officer photo by: Lefteris Pitarakis / AP This evening President Barack Obama spoke out after a phone call with current Egyptian leader Mubarak: THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. My administration has been closely monitoring the situation in Egypt, and I know that we will be learning more tomorrow when day breaks. As the situation continues to unfold, our first concern is preventing injury or loss of life. So I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters. The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere. I also call upon the Egyptian government to reverse the actions that they’ve taken to interfere with access to the Internet, to cell phone servic...

Update; January 26, 2010 The statue is of Tawaret the goddess of protection during pregnancy and childbirth. Temple of Haroeris and Sobek, Kom Ombo , copyright by Gary Jones . The Egyptian god Sobek seems to be the inspiration for the giant statue on LOST. I was leaning towards Anubis but the crocodilian snout gives it away. (Anubis was probably a bit too close to Stargate anyway.) Gary Jones' masterful photo of the Temple of Haroeris and Sobek in Egypt shows Sobek in detail. The light in Jones' photo is stunning - mysterious and beckoning. Caroline Seawright writes of Sobek: "Having the form of a crocodile, the Egyptians believed that he also had the nature of a crocodile. He could be the strong, powerful symbol of the pharaoh, showing the ruler's might. He could use this force to protect the justified dead in their after life, and be the protector and rescuer of the other gods... yet he could also use that power to savage his enemies and the sinful decease...