— Grover Norquist, criticizing Rep. Peter King for saying he would break his commitment to the tax pledge in order to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff. (via officialssay)
Egypt fury over Mohammed Mursi ‘coup against legitimacy’
Opposition groups in Egypt have called for mass protests on Friday against President Mohammed Mursi’s decree that gives him sweeping powers.
They have described his move as a “coup against legitimacy” and accused the president of appointing himself Egypt’s “new pharaoh”.
The decree states that the president’s decisions cannot be revoked by any authority, including the judiciary.
His supporters say the move is designed to protect Egypt’s revolution.
On Thursday, thousands celebrated the decree in front of the Egyptian High Court in Cairo.
But leading opposition figures later denounced it.
“This is a coup against legitimacy,” said Sameh Ashour, head of the lawyers syndicate, in a joint news conference with Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa.
“We are calling on all Egyptians to protest in all of Egypt’s squares on Friday.”
Wael Ghonim, a key figure in last year’s uprising against President Hosni Mubarak, said the revolution had not been staged “in search of a benign dictator”.
“There is a difference between revolutionary decisions and dictatorial decisions,” he said.
“God is the only one whose decisions are not questioned.”
Mr ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, had earlier said the decree placed the president above the law.
“Mursi today usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt’s new pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences ,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Thursday’s decree bans challenges to Mr Mursi’s decrees, laws and decisions.
It also says no court can dissolve the constituent assembly, which is drawing up a new constitution.
“The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution,” presidential spokesman Yasser Ali announced on national TV.
“The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal.”
Mr Mursi also sacked chief prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud and ordered the retrial of people accused of attacking protesters when Mr Mubarak held office.
Mr Mahmoud’s acquittal of officers accused of involvement in attacks on protesters led to violent clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in October, when supporters and opponents of Mr Mursi clashed.
Thousands of protesters have returned to the streets around Tahrir Square over the past week demanding political reforms and the prosecution of officials blamed for killing demonstrators.
The president had tried to remove Mr Mahmoud from his post by appointing him envoy to the Vatican.
But Mr Mahmoud defied the Egyptian leader and returned to work, escorted by judges and lawyers.
New prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim is tasked with re-examining all the investigations led by Mr Mahmoud into the deaths of protesters, and re-trying people already acquitted in the case.
Mr Mursi said his decree was aimed at “cleansing state institutions” and “destroying the infrastructure of the old regime”.
The declaration also gives the 100-member constituent assembly two additional months to draft a new constitution, to replace the one suspended after Mr Mubarak was overthrown.
The rewrite of the constitution, which was meant to be finished by December, has been plagued by lawsuits questioning the make-up of the constituent assembly.
Once completed, the document is due to be put to a referendum. If it is approved, legislative elections will be held two months later.
WOw. just a matter of time really
(Source: soocosmopolitan)
This is now the most retweeted tweet of all time.
passing by a repub sign “Obama supports gay marriage and abortion. do you”
“i’m against both”
my 12 year old brother
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Societal Attitudes Supporting Rape (via searchingforavila)
This is fucking scary, and it shows that we do live in a “rape culture” in which abusers and rapists have little idea that they are doing something wrong. My abuser didn’t….
(via inthedarkcornersofmymind)
In which we despair for the universe…
(via invisiblelad)
There are so many of these horrible survey results, and everyone should know them and then tell me there’s no such thing as misogyny and rape culture.
(via wretchedoftheearth)
(via ethiopienne)
A youth up in arms as India continues to ignore the plight of women towards equality. The recent protests are related to the molestation of a 17-year-old girl by a mob of 20-odd men in the presence of electronic media.
Onlookers and Assam police alike failed to respond to the tragic event, worse still is the failure of the government and other state agencies in controlling the media mayhem that broke lose immediately after the incident came to light.
The event highlights the truly terrible condition of women within India. According to a new poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India is the worst place for women among the G20 nations. Scores of other crimes against women are reported from across India every day. Eve-teasing, molestation, kidnapping, rape, murder, domestic violence, female feticide and infanticide, dowry killing, honour killing – women continue to suffer in India, a country where the highest political positions are held by women.
Is India as a society, progressing towards growth, development and economic prosperity or going back to the dark ages as far as the status of its women is concerned?
ugh
How about instead of teaching gays that they should just accept bullying and “It gets better” we teach children not to fucking bully or harass gay kids
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Romney’s official stance on today’s immigration ruling. It’s the vaguest vague that ever vagued. As usual, it’s like Mad Libs with conservatives buzzwords. “Immigration policy… more latitude to the states…” What the fuck does that even mean, Mittens.
It bears mentioning that Romney first tried to not say whether he agreed or disagreed at all - the consummate pre-flip-flopper. His initial statement just kept repeating how Obama’s immigration policy had failed. As usual, he offers no solutions.
(via stfuconservatives)
LOLOL. MITTENS.
(via stfuconservatives)
Anonymous asked: stop being so ignorant. YES the people DID spend a year risking their lives not for morsi, but for a more islamically controlled country. morsi was the closest one to bringing that. get your facts straight
Well then, thanks for being the spokesperson for 80 million people.
As far as I’m concerned, this revolution aimed to take down a corrupt government that ruled for 30 years by use of violence, intimidation, and human rights abuses. I heard chants like freedom, liberty, equality, and those demands don’t need an Islamically controlled government. And that word “Islamically controlled” just SOUNDS wrong. The aim of Islam is not to control people. I’m Muslim and I think Islam is really great, and if you think that too, then you’d know that we don’t need to mandate it on other people for it to thrive. Egypt is beautiful because of all of the people that live in it, and all of those people deserve to have their say in their country and their government, and if you think otherwise, you’re the ignorant one.
And even at that, Muslim Brotherhood don’t even protect their OWN people. When the Tahrir Woman scandal happened (also known as Blue Bra Girl), and women went out to protest the abuse, Muslim Brotherhood condemned the women fighting for EQUALITY and JUSTICE and said they should go home and cook. And many of those women were Muslims.
Anonymous asked: tell me more about how morsi knows less about democracy than shafiq
Apologies, I should have been clearer. I don’t think Shafiq should have won either. I hate both of them. I’m just really frustrated by this whole run off election. They’re making us choose between the lesser of two evils. I love Egypt with all of my heart and I believe it has potential to be one of the greatest places in the world, but not by mandating a theocratic government. Egypt is beautiful because of all of its different people and beliefs and cultures, and we don’t celebrate that by mandating one religion on the entire country.
I’m Muslim and I live in the United States, and living here has made me realize how important it is to protect and represent everyone, regardles of their religious beliefs, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. That’s why so many people risk so much to come to the United States, every year, because (for the most part, i’m not naive) we separate religion and government even though the majority adheres to the Christian faith. Even though religion is very important to me personally, I don’t believe it’s my right, or anyone else’s right, to enforce a certain way of life on someone else.
i’m not really sure WHY people are cheering for MORSI. people did not spend a good year risking and losing their lives to elect a theocratic president with no fucking clue of what democracy really means.
i'm Nora. / 18 years old. / Egyptian Sudanese Turkish/ Pitt. Economics, English Writing, Women's Studies. talk to me :)
Are you in Egypt? What do you think of President Mohammed Mursi’s decree? Please share your comments and experiences