***MUST READ: Wael Ghonim exposé. "Revolution 2.0" carried out cybernetically

[birther truther tenther]

Egyptian activist creates image issues for Google
By Alexei Oreskovic
SAN FRANCISCO | Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:03am EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Google Inc executive who has become a hero of the Egyptian revolution is public relations gold for the Internet power, but analysts say the company must be careful not to overplay its hand.

Google marketing executive Wael Ghonim became the public face of the uprising that led to President Hosni Mubarak handing power to the army on Friday.

Ghonim was detained by security forces and came out swinging on his release, calling for Mubarak to step down.

When Internet access was shut down during an early phase of the Egyptian protests, Google engineers hacked together a way to allow Egyptians to use Twitter by dialing a phone number and leaving a voicemail message.

Despite its association with the events in Egypt, Google has not commented on the politics of the country's upheaval.

Instead, it has focused on values surrounding freedom of information and the Internet. "We're incredibly proud to see Googlers take a stand on those issues," spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said on Friday, when asked about Ghonim.

That has played well for the company.

"This is going to get Google some positive publicity," said Rosabeth Kanter, a professor at Harvard Business School. But she added, "They have to be careful."

Consumers and businesses would love the tools for communication that Google supports and provides -- but less democratic governments might see Google as a threat.

"Google will not be their search engine of choice," she said. "You're going there to sell products and services, you're not going there to topple the regime."

INTERNET REVOLUTION

Ghonim's ties to Google and the Internet have become part of his appeal.

"I always said that if you want to liberate a society, just give them the Internet," Ghonim said in an interview on CNN on Friday.

He helped create a Facebook page devoted to a victim of police brutality that helped spark the uprisings.

Internet tools, particularly social networking services like Facebook and Twitter, have been credited with playing an important role in the Egyptian uprising, helping protesters organize and communicate.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/12/us-egypt-google-idUSTRE71B0KQ20110212

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http://ae.linkedin.com/in/ghonim

Wael Ghonim


Head of Marketing @ Google - Middle East & North Africa

United Arab Emirates

Education

        * The American University in Cairo
        * Cairo University

Wael Ghonim’s Summary
Wael Ghonim’s Specialties:

Internet Entrepreneurship / Online Marketing / Social Networking / Product Management / Web Usability / Web 2.0 / Viral Marketing
Wael Ghonim’s Experience

    *
      Head of Marketing - Middle East & North Africa
      Google

      (Public Company; GOOG; Internet industry)

      January 2010 — Present (1 year 2 months)

      Driving the growth of Google B2C/B2B products across MENA
      Evangelizing the Internet in the region, and help growing the Arabic content

Wael Ghonim’s Education

    *
      The American University in Cairo

      MBA , Marketing, Finance , 2005 — 2007
    *
      Cairo University

      Bachelor , Computer Engineering , 1999 — 2004

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Ghonim Electrified Egypt's Revolution
Author:    
Ed Husain, Senior Fellow

February 10, 2011
cnn.com
Reposted on CFR.org

Wael Ghonim is a symbol of the revolution in Egypt.

During his highly emotive interview on a popular Egyptian show Monday night, he went out of his way to rebut the accusations made by the older generation of Mubarak's supporters that the protesters were "traitors to Egypt" and "foreign agents." These accusations were not only repeated on state media, but when Ghonim was arrested on January 28 and spent 12 nights in a Cairo prison, his fellow inmates accused him of the worst possible cultural and political trait for an Arab: khiyanah, or betrayal.

With foreign media presence and international support for the protesters, that accusation of treachery to Egypt and foreign involvement was gaining credence in many quarters in Egypt last week. Morale was slowly dropping. Then came Ghonim's explosive interview Monday night.

With one stroke, he galvanized an entire generation of Egyptians. His story is sincere and selfless: The regime's treatment of him was why millions opposed the Mubarak government. If Egyptians had forgotten, Ghonim's plight reminded them. With passion and intellectual clarity, he asked why he was arrested. Why were his frail parents not informed? His parents had wandered from hospital to hospital crying -- why hadn't police simply told them that he was in prison, and not dead?

The widespread culture of democracy activists disappearing -- or worse, being tortured and killed -- had inspired Ghonim to create a Facebook page in memory of Khalid Said, who was beaten to death by police. That page was instrumental in mobilizing a younger generation of Arabs to the January 25 protest meetings.

Ghonim's interview was cataclysmic because he was candid: He has a job abroad in the Emirates, he lives comfortably in a villa, and he has nothing personal to gain from the dangers he and his wealthy friends put themselves in. Their sacrifice was for the country and people they loved: Egypt and Egyptians. This was not treachery, but sacrifice.

SOURCE:
http://www.cfr.org/egypt/ghonim-electrified-egypts-revolution/p24057

Rest of Op-ed here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/09/husain.ghonim/index.html?hpt=T2

[birther truther tenther]

Google exec Wael Ghonim in Egypt says long live the revolution 2.0
Comments (5)
(119)
(57)
February 11, 2011 | 10:19 am

A fierce debate has been waged on Twitter (call it the Malcolm Gladwell backlash, all you Malcolm Gladwell haters, you know who you are) about whether the populist uprising in Egypt could be fairly called a social media revolution.

We aren't wading into that debate (so hold your comments). But Google marketing executive Wael Ghonim, one of the key organizers of the uprising who was detained and held by Egyptian authorities for 12 days, has made his position clear. He organized the revolution on Facebook and Twitter and plans to write a book about the effect of social media on political activism called "Revolution 2.0."

As Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down Friday (and the hashtag grew in popularity on Twitter), Ghonim told CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "If you want to liberate a government, give them the Internet."

Blitzer asked: "Tunisia, then Egypt. What's next?" Ghonim replied: "Ask Facebook."

Ghonim's colleagues in Mountain View are pretty proud of what he achieved too (even though Google is officially maintaining its distance).

Wrote Matt Cutts on Twitter: "@Ghonim What a day! Thanks 4 your idealism, bravery, humility. This change belongs to all Egyptians, but also to you. Anything is possible."

SOURCE:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/02/google-exec-wael-ghonim-in-egypt-says-long-live-the-revolution-20.html

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Wael Ghonim Twitter feed.

http://twitter.com/Ghonim

One of the tweets...

Its a shame. Hosni Mubarak shouldn't be trending. The Egyptian people should! #Jan25 about 14 hours ago via web

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http://knol.google.com/k/eric-leschinski/recover-wael-ghonim/1adbh32xy7hcl/1#

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/08/corporations-executives-closely-watching-impact-google-executive-egypt/

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Revolution 2.0: The People of Egypt Win a 'Media War'
John Nichols
February 11, 2011

“Welcome back Egypt!” came  the Twitter message from Wael Ghonim, sent the moment that it was clear that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had finally relinquished power.

Crediting social media with providing the tools of a revolution, the Egyptian Google executive-turned-activist says that a critical turning point in struggle to remove Mubarak came months ago when Facebook began to emerge as a vehicle for connecting an oppressed people.

Ghonim, whose Facebook page was seen by many as a starting point for the popular revolt against Mubarak, whose Twitter messages encouraged that revolt and who was ultimately detained by a desperate regime seeking to halt the march of progress, was quick to credit the crowds. “ The real hero is the young Egyptians in Tahrir square and the rest of Egypt,” he Tweeted, adding: “They lied at us. Told us Egypt died 30 years ago, but millions of Egyptians decided to search and they found their country in 18 days.”

Ghonim is no fool. He recognizes that the roots of the revolution go back to before anyone knew what it meant to be “digital,” and that it was powered not by virtual activism but a physical presence in the streets.

But in a brief interview moments after the news that Mubarak was ceding power to the Egyptian military—which has pledged to transition the country toward democracy—he celebrated the new media tools the people used.

“This revolution started online. This revolution started on Facebook. This revolution started…in June, 2010, when hundreds of thousands of Egyptians started collaborating content,” explained Ghonim, just minutes after Mubarak surrendered the presidency and gave up the dictatorial control he had held for three decades.

“I always said: If you want to liberate a society, just give them the Internet. If you want to have a free society, just give them the Internet. The reason why is that the Internet helps you fight the media war,” he said.

From the 1970s into the first years of the twenty-first century, said the media activist who became a face of the youth movement that filled the streets of Cairo and other cities to protest Mubaral’s rule in recent weeks, the Egyptian regime–dominated media. But, he said, “when the Internet came, they really couldn’t.”

Ghonim is not done with Mubarak. Within minutes of Mubarak’s departure, he was taking up the call for Swiss banks to help the Egyptians find the money the dictator and his family stole from Egypt. “The money Mubarak and his family stole out of the Egyptian people should go to families of martyrs and to reconstruct Egypt,” he declared in a message to his more than 60,000 Twitter followers.

And where will the next “media war” be fought?

more...
http://www.thenation.com/blog/158502/revolution-20-people-egypt-win-media-war

[birther truther tenther]

Mr. Wael Ghonim
Print PageSend to friend


Head of Marketing - MENA, Google

Wael Ghonim is the head of Marketing in Google's Middle East and North Africa. He is responsible of driving the growth of Google products across MENA, evangelizing Internet and help growing the Arabic content online. Wael is an Internet expert who have been contributing significantly to the growth of the industry in the Arab world for the past 12 years.

Before joining Google, Wael was the GM of Mubasher.info. He started up the operation and led a team of more than a hundred professional to what became now the leading Arabic financial portal in the Middle East serving more than a million regional investors. Prior to that, he worked as the Marketing & Sales Manager for Gawab.com, and founded one of top visited Arabic websites in the region. Wael advised and consulted with many Internet portals and startups in MENA. His biggest passion is the Arabic language, and he works hard to add a significant value to over 350 million people living in the region.

Wael received his Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University, and holds an MBA from the American University in Cairo.

http://www.menaictforum.com/speaker/mr-wael-ghonim


About the Forum

The MENA ICT Forum™ (www.menaictforum.com) is the MENA region’s foremost biennial ICT industry event, held in Jordan under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

Extended from the highly successful “Jordan ICT Forum” held in 2002, 2004, and 2006, the MENA ICT Forum is now a regionally comprehensive assembly which showcases the MENA region’s ICT success stories and addresses industry trends, opportunities, and future outlook. The Forum, which will be held on October 10-11, 2010, also presents a unique opportunity for stakeholders to network, capitalize on existing prospects, and strategize for future growth and expansion of the ICT industry on a regional level.

The MENA ICT Forum™ 2010 features a content-rich agenda that covers vital current and future issues related to regional investment climates, legislative supportive systems, infrastructure and communications, emerging technologies, as well as education and human capital development. In particular, the MENA ICT Forum™ 2010 addresses these issues in a context that is highly relevant to the MENA region, thus providing the business community, decision makers and stakeholders with a holistic overview of the region’s current position, opportunities on hand, and the recommended approach for leveraging its potential.

Moreover, the Forum provides a platform for renowned keynote speakers to offer their global perspectives on the MENA region and provide valuable advice and insight. Previously featured keynote speakers included H.M. King Abdullah II, Intel’s CEO, Dr. Craig Barrett, Cisco’s Chairman, Mr. John Chambers, 3Com’s CEO, Mr. Edgar Masri, and Sun Microsystems' Chief Researcher, Mr. John Gage, among others.

http://www.menaictforum.com/content/about-forum

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Google sees fastest growing operations in MENA
Eric Schmidt delivers keynote at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit
By Vineetha Menon Published March 10, 2010

Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed the Middle East and North Africa region is the company's fastest growing region in the world, in terms of the number of users and revenue generated.

Schmidt was speaking at the first Abu Dhabi Media Summit which is taking place from March 9th to 11th at the Yas Hotel.

His keynote at the event focused on innovation in the media, stating that the future of the internet will be driven by mobile devices. While answering a question posed from an Emirati who asked why the company didn't have a presence in the UAE, Schmidt answered by saying that the country had the fastest growing operations for the company in the world. He later clarified in a media Q&A session that the entire MENA region overall had the fastest growing operations in terms of revenue and number of users, with the Latin America region being the second fastest growing.

Schmidt also said in his keynote address that half of all new internet connections are for mobile devices. "If you want to understand the future of internet don't think of it as pipes and tubes, think of it as a mobile device...," he told delegates at the event.

Explaining that the "new model is going to be in the inversion of the model we grew up with", he says that the strategy for media going forward will be 'internet first', where content producers, for example, will use the medium of the internet to build traction and get real numbers to then approach partners to raise additional funding.

But despite his obvious preference for online, Schmidt said he does not believe that the internet-based media will replace existing mediums and that it should instead be used a part of a broader strategy.

Schmidt refused to comment on the China censorship issue but said that updates would be made public "soon". Speaking on the topic of local censorship, Mohammad Gawdat, Google's managing director for Emerging Markets, also added that the company had not received specific censorship requests from the Middle East, despite peoples' perceptions.

The Middle East only ‘graduated' in 2009, which is a term Google uses internally to signify that the infrastructure has been laid out and that it is now possible to start pursuing their mission here, which involves organising the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful.

Google presently has technical teams based in Zurich to service the region but CEO Schmidt said there were plans for a local Arabic engineering team in the future.

Read more: http://www.itp.net/579558-google-sees-fastest-growing-operations-in-mena

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http://www.thenational.ae/business/technology/google-plans-offices-in-the-mena-region

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Wael Ghonim, Head of Marketing MENA at Google, discusses the Arabic content crisis, web revenue models, and how Google's tools can empower startups.

VIDEO
http://www.wamda.com/c/248552/

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Mena thought leaders gather at Google day: Arabia 2.0 to discuss the future of Internet innovation

    * United Arab Emirates: Wednesday, February 10 - 2010 at 14:46
    * PRESS RELEASE

Home to a population of 337 million, the Mena region is currently grossly underrepresented in the online arena with only 56 million Internet users searching in Arabic (17%).

Headlining Google Day. Arabia 2.0, Vinton Cerf, Google's Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, presented an overall perspective for the future of the Internet and the challenges and prospects for innovation in Emerging Markets and Mena.

Addressing more than 100 C-level executives and government officials from the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Cerf highlighted how the Internet has changed the way we communicate and do business.

    "The Internet has permanently altered world trade, reducing barriers to market entry, bringing companies closer to their customers and creating opportunities that reach beyond traditional geographic boundaries. The Internet has created brand new markets and provided endless opportunities to individuals and businesses,"

Vinton Cerf said.

"What we now need is to focus on local examples. The MENA region is predicted to have 82 million Internet users by 2013 and many will have brilliant ideas that can be development. As leaders, it is vital to focus our efforts on fostering and hardnessing those skills. There is also an onus on all of us as individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses and governments, to innovate and increase the availability of Arabic content online. By doing so we can positively influence the region's ongoing social and economic development," he added.

Focusing on innovation and how the Middle East can quickly play catch-up to other markets, Mohammad Gawdat, Google's Managing Director Emerging Markets delivered a keynote on Google's 9 Rules for Innovation. Placing heavy emphasis on the creation of an eco-system that allows creativity to thrive, Gawdat stressed how innovation can only occur through trial and error.

"By providing Internet users with the tools to share information and by supporting them and helping them to grow their projects, the MENA region will be able to highlight their skill to a global audience. Innovation is not possible without the support of the private sector and government. Today's gathering is about opening the debate around the true value of the Internet, it is about encourging the industry's leaders to discuss the opportunities avalaible in our market and for us to understand how this region can use the Internet to facilitate economic growth and development," said Gawdat.

Illustrating the success that can be achieved in the online content development space, Google invited Jeeran, the first Arab web hosting community, to outline how significant the need for user generated content is in the Arab world. Established in 2000, the Jeeran community today has over 1million members and 7 million visits per month, in addition to hosting 800,000 active websites and 112,000 blogs, underpinning the regions high demand.

Hugo Barra, Google's Product Management Director and Global Product Lead for Mobile-showcasing joined the innovation drive by showcasing Google's latest mobile innovations. The demonstrations sought highlight the power of the Internet and the ways in which modern day devices are helping people use the Internets.

Encouraging debate amongst the regions leaders, Google also invited key industry players to discuss the role of the government in scaling and fostering innovation and the future of the internet and its role in Mena. Joined by the Jordanian Minister of Information Communication & Technnology, H. E. Marwan Juma, the UAE's Head of the Telecom Regulatory Authority, H. E. Mohamed Al Ghanem and the CEO of Egypt's ITIDA (Information Technology Industry Development Agency) Dr Hazem Abdel Azim, all agreed that development in the online arena is increasingly vital for the Middle East to compete at a global level.

"As more countries, governments, communities and individuals become connected to the Internet, there will be a new wave of evolution impacting the demographics, culture and content that will be represented online. In the future we will see the currently dominant online populations from the US and Europe overtaken by masses gaining connectivity from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. More people will access the web through mobile devices, and internationalised domain names will bring local language characters - including Arabic - to web addresses," concluded Cerf.

http://www.ameinfo.com/223695.html

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http://www.daylife.com/topic/Wael_Ghonim

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Google says vital to upgrade mobile technology in Egypt    
By   Sarah Daoud/Daily News Egypt    December 12, 2010, 11:00 pm
      

CAIRO: “Mobile technology will be our most important upgrade that we will bring to this region because it will have the most impact,” said Nelson Mattos, Google vice president of product management and engineering for Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

Google recognizes the region’s potential and is dedicated to expanding their services and assistance to further the promise, Mattos added, speaking at Egypt’s first “Google Days” (G-Egypt) last week.

The G-Egypt event spanned three days to target academia, software developers and business owners/entrepreneurs and bring them all together to collaborate.

Google brought in 30 of their own engineers and product managers from around the globe to answer questions, provide assistance and discuss opportunities that exist in Egypt as well as future capabilities for the region.

“There is such a vibrant tech community here in Egypt and we want to tap into that even more to help expand it as well as have everyone working together,” said Wael Fakharany, Google Egypt’s country manager.

Mattos mentioned that currently there are challenges being faced by users in the region, such as lack of high quality content, expensive DSL and mobile access and the popularity of forums that are currently unstructured.

These challenges and more are what Mattos hopes Google can help improve while making the content and features more locally relevant and useful.

“Our mission here includes relevance, sustainability and embracing,” said Mattos, expanding on the adaptation of global products to this region, educational outreach and enriching the user experience among others.

With Arabic being one of the top 10 languages in search, Google has adapted by offering all their services in the language, including translation, Google chrome, Gmail and Google maps.

According to Mattos, investing in education is also important to Google, which is why the company currently has many university outreach programs throughout the country, including Nile University, the American University in Cairo, Alexandria University and the German University in Cairo.

In the MENA region, there are approximately 350 million people with currently about 60 million online users (15-20 percent).

“There is a fast paced growth currently of online users in MENA and Google is right there to keep up with it, which is why we are always improving our services,” said Ari Kesisoglu, regional manager of the MENA region for Google.

According to Kesisoglu, the MENA region has a 6 percent GDP growth rate versus 3 percent globally.

“Google invests millions per year [in] this region to help accommodate the growth taking place and expanding our services,” Kesisoglu added.

In addition to the millions invested annually in the region, Kesisoglu explained that Google has made a deal with the Egyptian government that will comprise of the company investing $2.5 million into the region.

As part of the agreement, the Egyptian government will be investing $10 million through Google in advertising spending.

The money may be utilized in various ways, such as improving the current infrastructure or aiding small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in being more available online.

Kesisoglu also added that this is an important region where Google is making more content available for the users as well as offering more services to businesses.

Currently, Google provides free consultations to businesses in regards to advertising services to help those who already have a presence online as well as those who would like to start using the internet as a business tool.

At this time, Google offers services such as Google sites (website building), applications and Gmail as tools for businesses to take advantage of.

With Google being the favorite choice of users, Kesisoglu mentioned that Google has people all over the world working for Egypt, such as engineers in Zurich and sales in Dublin as well as those based within the country.

Google also recognizes the population of people who have not gotten involved in the online world and are developing ways to help with the transition.

Specific to this region, Google created Ahlan online, which is a program that is in Arabic and designed for new users to help them learn how to navigate the online world.

Also unique to this region is Ajamat, a forum board in Arabic that allows users to communicate about a broad range of topics, which was created after seeing the popularity of forums in the MENA region.

“We are committed to investing in users in this region and the ecosystem for long term results,” said Kesisoglu.
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/it-a-telecom/google-says-vital-to-upgrade-mobile-technology-in-egypt.html

[birther truther tenther]

MENA Ecosystem
Print PageSend to friend

This session will address such key issues of concern, with particular focus on two strategic sectors;

MENA Ecosystem, Education:

 
Moderated by: Haif Bannayan

 

Countries with efficient ICT ecosystems boast a solid base of ICT technical skills, in addition to good levels of science and math education. In such countries, government policies with regards to ICT in education, research and development, and innovation amongst the private sector, academia and civil society organizations are focused, aligned and supportive, and open and unrestricted ICT networks are championed.
Topics will address: Where does the region stand in terms of ICT education, and how do we move forward? Are regional ICT education plans isolated from national ICT policy? Are they aligned with national education development objectives and incorporated in the education sector planning process? What restrictions are faced by the sector?

Speakers of the "MENA Ecosystem; Education" session:

Dr. Jarallah Al-Ghamdi, CIO-Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia
Mr. Walid Tahabsem, President & CEO- ITG
Ms. Randa Ayoubi, CEO- Rubicon
Dr. Deirdre Butler, Chair of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning International Advisory Council
Mr. Rich Goldaman, VP -Corporate Marketing & Strategic Market Development Synopsys, CEO- Synopsys Armenia
Mr. Mr. Philippe Mero, CEO- Education Impact


MENA Ecosystem, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups:

 
Moderated by: Wajih Halawa

 

In a fast moving and evolving industry such as ICT, it is essential that stakeholders work together to create an environment in which opportunities are supported and able to flourish. Improving access to capital in the region requires the challenging task of stimulating an entire national ecosystem of private and public sector support, and the building of connections and synergies between all relevant supporting institutions and expertise.
Knowing that access to capital is essential for the materialization of new ideas and the growth of the ICT and ICTES sectors, how accessible is financing to the sector in the region, and what challenges do entrepreneurs and business seeking capital face?
What initiatives exist to promote financing of ICT and ICTES, and how supportive are government interventions in this area?

Speakers of the "MENA Ecosystem, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups" Session:
Dr. Fawaz H. Zu'bi, Founder & CEO- Accelerator Technology Holdings
Mr. Habib Haddad, Founder & CEO- Yalla Startup & Yamli.com
HE. Karim Kawar, President of Kawar Group & Serial Entrepreneur
Mr. MohammedBarig Siraj, CEO- Malaz Capital
Mr. Maher Kaddoura, VP & Managing Director- meydanjo
Ms. Deirdre M. Coyle, Jr., Co-Founder- AllWorld Network
Mr. Laith Al-Qasem, Chief of Party of the USAID Funded Jordan Economic Development Program, Chairman of Arabian Business Consultants for Development, and Chairman of RUBICON

http://www.menaictforum.com/content/mena-ecosystem

[Satyagraha]

Wael Ghonim of Google plays an integral part in ElBaradei’s bid to seize power
http://www.infowars.com/wael-ghonim-of-google-plays-an-integral-part-in-elbaradeis-bid-to-seize-power/                    
Tony Cartalucci
Infowars.com
February 11, 2011

As many honest people are still confounded over the true nature of the Egyptian protesters occupying Cairo’s Tahrir Square, yet another hero lifted up by the globocrat controlled mainstream media has turned out to be linked, knowingly or unknowingly, to a foreign plot.

Google marketing executive Wael Ghonim had gone missing on January 28, 2011 after taking part in organizing the first of the protests just days earlier. When he was freed two weeks later he was exalted a hero and served as a catalyst both in Egypt and worldwide to try and reinvigorate the faltering protest.

While Wael Ghonim is portrayed as a passionate activist fighting for the Egyptian people, his allegiances are much more specific. Having been living abroad in Dubai, his Facebook page didn’t pop-up overnight, it was actually created nearly a year ago in tandem with Mohamed ElBaradei’s arrival in Egypt during February 2010. Ghonim also created ElBaradei’s official campaign website. Ghonim and ElBaradei then concurrently campaigned for the coming November 2010 Egyptian election and built up an opposition network in support for ElBaradei. This network included the April 6 Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the independent labor unions now making up the bulk of the protests.

After ElBaradei’s predictable loss, Ghonim shifted from campaigning to protesting. Contrary to popular belief, the protests weren’t spontaneous or even tipped off by high food prices, but rather meticulously planned by Ghonim and the “Revolutionary Youth Movement,” with members drawn from the opposition network ElBaradei had been busy building since early 2010. The date January 25, 2011 was specifically picked after the uprising in Tunisia played out.

The Wall Street Journal reported in detail how organizers selected spots where multiple protests would begin, the routes they would travel and where they would ultimately meet. They even walked the routes at different paces to calculate the time it would take to travel them. They hoped that their movement would spur others to join in before they all moved to Cairo’s Tahrir Square

When we consider that the “April 6 Movement” was in Washington in 2008 consorting with the US State Department partnered, corporate funded Movements.org, then moved on to supporting US International Crisis Group’s (ICG) Mohamed ElBaradei beginning in February 2010 and finally organizing and participating in the protests starting January 25, 2011, it is fairly suspicious. That a Google marketing executive, returning from Dubai, was involved in identical activities also on behalf of ICG stooge ElBaradei and not being anything more than innocuous is a stretch of the imagination.

Perhaps Wael Ghonim is unaware that Google, the company he works for is a corporate sponsor of Movements.org. Perhaps he doesn’t know who ElBaradei really works for and that he consorts with the very men making the US policy he feigns to deplore. Perhaps he is unaware of what designs such men have for his “new” Egypt and has no clue that everyone involved in his protest has been networked, funded, backed, and even directed by foreigners with nothing but exploitation in mind for Egypt’s future.

For Mr. Wael Ghonim of Google, he should perhaps fire up his employer’s ubiquitous search engine and begin educating himself on who he is consorting with, what their real intentions are, and for whose benefit, before bringing another 30 years of despair and anguish upon “his” people.

=====================================

The corporate funding behind the Egyptian "Revolution"
Wael Ghonim is the front man. Follow the money....
http://www.movements.org/pages/supporters

[Satyagraha]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Egypt: What's Really Happening?
Listen to the Globalists
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/02/egypt-whats-really-happening.html
By Tony Cartalucci

A great debate is going on amongst honest commentators over what is actually happening in Egypt. The debate stems from the horribly inaccurate information being supplied by the globalist owned mainstream media. A superficial look at AlJazeera, BBC, and CNN reveals that even their concerted efforts to build up public opinion behind the protesters are inconsistent. There is no better example than AlJazeera's 2 million man march, BBC's 100's of thousands man march, and CNN's tens of thousands man march.

Accomplished historian and unparalleled researcher Dr. Webster Tarpley outright calls AlJazeera a British intelligence operation, noting that Hahrir Square had at best 50,000 protesters at the height of the "march of millions." He attempts to point out that the protesters lack any pragmatic solutions amongst their demands.

The protesters' demands indeed lack any pragmatic, technical solutions for the myriad of problems that face Egyptian society, but their demands do become very specific regarding the changes in the system they would like to see. Protesters unfurled a banner enumerating these political "reforms."

Project on Middle East Democracy, a US National Endowment for Democracy funded NGO, translates the banner as saying: “Our demands: 1. deposing the president 2. dissolving the two illegitimate houses of parliament 3. lifting the state of emergency immediately 4. forming a caretaker national unity government 5. an elected parliament that amends the constitution to allow fair presidential elections 6. bringing murders of demonstrators to trial 7. immediate judicial proceedings against corrupt officials and those stealing the of the nation.”

Ironically, many of the globalist think-tanks cheer-leading the protests and distributing the mass media's talking points have also made these exact "demands." Could it be that this organic, spontaneous uprising against the Mubarak regime just so happens to resonate verbatim with the globalist policy wonks? The answer is most emphatically, no.

The International Crisis Group, of which protest leader Mohamed ElBaradei is a trustee, verbatim repeats the need for an interim national unity government, lifting the state of emergency, and amendments to the constitution especially in regards to elections.

The Council on Foreign Relations' "Foreign Policy" magazine features an article by Zalmay Khalilzad, of the globalist Center for Strategic and International Studies calling for the same "reforms," including Mubarak's immediate departure, a constitutional convention for amendments, and a "transitional government."

The Carnegie Middle East Center's piece "Egypt's Path Ahead: Agree to the People's Demands" by Amr Hamzawy also repeats these demands verbatim and insists Egypt bow to a 50,000 strong ochlocracy. Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy at the globalist Brookings Institute, Martin Indyk, wrote an article with the self-explanatory title "In Egypt, the Time Has Come for Mubarak To Go."

Fellow Brookings Institute member Shadi Hamid also weighs in. His prolific propagandizing should be of no surprise to anyone, as he had served on the globalists' National Endowment for Democracy funded NGO Project on Middle Eastern Democracy mentioned above. It should be noted that NGOs play a vital role in shaping and manipulating public opinion in regards to the globalist agenda.

In USA Today Hamid authored "Why You Should Care About Egypt," in which he displays complete contempt for his readers by simplistically begging, "Should Americans care? Only if they care about 80 million people who yearn for freedom." He argues that President Obama's initial support for Mubarak was folly and that now is the time to support the Egyptian people.

This push comes from the same think-tanks that suggested as early as March 2010 that the US initially feign support for Mubarak so as to avoid bringing anti-American sentiment upon the protest leaders. Hamid's clever "plea" was meant to give Obama a bridge to make the crossover to supporting "democracy."

By now, it should be abundantly clear what the globalists amongst their think-tanks desire for Egypt. Their consensus should come as no surprise as prominent US policy makers like Zbigniew Brzezinski and George Soros have seats on boards in nearly all of them. The fact that the protesters on the street and the mainstream media reflect this desire verbatim tells us exactly what is going on in Egypt.

While the protests falter and Mubarak has rejected the globalists' consensus, the globalists are now signaling a compromise. Total system change and a new regime was their ultimate goal, but they are now pressing for a "Turkish" model where they can negotiate with the military to ensure the reforms they want are made. CFR's Steven Cook points out that the Egyptian army has little motivation for such compromises. This begs one to wonder if reports of US navy ships deploying to the area aren't meant to strengthen the globalists' hand in this matter, rather than their stated purpose of assisting in evacuations.

[Satyagraha]

http://www.daylife.com/topic/Wael_Ghonim

From: http://www.daylife.com/topic/Wael_Ghonim

The former diplomat, who has not ruled out running for the country's top job himself if the constitution were amended, had been calling for democratic reform since his return to Egypt a year ago.

Cyber activist Wael Ghonim, who became an icon of the revolution for setting up one of the pages that launched the call to protest on January 25, tweeted "Congratulations to Egypt."

=============================

Egypt's Revolution:
Creative Destruction for a 'Greater Middle East'?
http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/index.html
Full Spectrum Dominance: Behind the Egyptian Revolution
The Egypt Crisis, the IMF and the “New Middle East”

[Satyagraha]

The making of the mythical 'hero':
A 'revolutionary leader' delivered by Google, CFR, CSIS, UN, Pepsi, UTube, Facebook, Twitter, CBS, et al.



Complete with framed 'slogan' - this is the front man. Next we'll see him framed with 'halo' in background...
The same PR machine that created the Obama myth, marketing the savior.

[Dig]

This is by far one of the most important threads in this room!

Great work BTT and Pilikia!

This is the Revolution in Military Affairs...if the corporatists are not getting the most efficient productivity out of the human capital...THEN THERE WILL BE A CYBERNETIC REVOLUTION TO GET THEM MORE PRODUCTIVE!

Google says vital to upgrade mobile technology in Egypt    
By   Sarah Daoud/Daily News Egypt    December 12, 2010, 11:00 pm
[...]
In the MENA region, there are approximately 350 million people with currently about 60 million online users (15-20 percent).

YOU CANNOT HAVE 80-85% OF THE POPULATION CUT OFF FROM THE GLOBALISTS' PRECISION STRIKE MIND CONTROL AND BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION WEAPONS!

Talk about guerrilla marketing...WTF!

Like 9/11, this false flag (in the form of a "revolution") is just another FUNDRAISER for the globalist pigs!

[birther truther tenther]

Addressing the Arabic Content Crisis
Print PageSend to friend

Moderated by: Wajih Halawa

Some of the most pressing issues with regards to online Arabic content are the quality, low volume, and lack of variety and availability of such content that we are witnessing today. With this session, the Forum’s agenda moves into addressing real opportunities for regional and international service providers and stakeholders, engaging its audience in interactive discussion to provide answers to pressing questions.

Speakers of the " Addressing the Arabic Content Crisi" Session:
Mr. Naif Al-Mutawa, CEO- The99
Mr. Wael Attili, CEO- Kharabeesh
Mr. Hosam El Sokkari, Head of Audience- Yahoo! Middle East
Mr. Mohammed Saeed Harib, Founder and Animator- Freej
Dr. Kareem Darwish, Researcher- Microsoft Research Center, Cairo
Mr. Wael Ghonim, Google

http://www.menaictforum.com/content/addressing-arabic-content-crisis

[birther truther tenther]

Wael Ghonium is the brainchild of Google Egabat (Answers)

http://ejabat.google.com/ejabat/


http://www.360east.com/?p=1179

He posted this comment on this blog asking for feedback on it:

[ersatz]

google ghonim and facebook playing such important catalyst roles in this "revolution"
are all i need to hear, to send the red flags flying thru the roof.

this was a cfr/kissinger/zbig inspired "technetronic" induced coup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr1IPC25haA

and here's ghonim giving a shout out to facebook/zuckerberg in this raw story article:

‘I want to meet Mark Zuckerberg and thank him personally,’ Google exec tells CNN

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/i-meet-mark-zuckerberg-personally-google-exec-tells-cnn/

an excerpt:

"First Tunisia, now Egypt," began CNN host Wolf Blitzer.

"What's next?"

"Ask Facebook," answered Wael Ghonim, an Egyptian activist
and the head of marketing in the Middle East
 and North Africa for search giant Google. "I want to meet [Facebook
founder] Mark Zuckerberg and thank him personally."

[birther truther tenther]

Google says vital to upgrade mobile technology in Egypt    
By   Sarah Daoud/Daily News Egypt    December 12, 2010, 11:00 pm

...

“We are committed to investing in users in this region and the ecosystem for long term results,” said Kesisoglu.
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/it-a-telecom/google-says-vital-to-upgrade-mobile-technology-in-egypt.html

This Google™ "Revolution 2.0" of Egypt is a post-modern technotronic/cybernetic version of Edward Bernay's overthrow of Guatemala for the United Fruit Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_PBSUCCESS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

As our current Librarian of Congress, James Billington, points out in Fire In the Minds of Men, revolutions are not caused by poor downtrodden masses, but by an intellectual elite through a network of secret societies (today they are called social networks) in a top-down approach.

This is so crucial to understand.

[Dig]

This Google™ "Revolution 2.0" of Egypt is a post-modern technotronic/cybernetic version of Edward Bernay's overthrow of Guatemala for the United Fruit Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_PBSUCCESS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

As our current Librarian of Congress, James Billington, points out in Fire In the Minds of Men, revolutions are not caused by poor downtrodden masses, but by an intellectual elite through a network of secret societies (today they are called social networks) in a top-down approach.

This is so crucial to understand.

It is also important to note that initially it failed. Only through the continual 24/7 saturated propaganda and numerous behind the scenes deals with such power players as RAND, CFR, CSIS, Brookings, Heritage was this foreign annexation of 80 million people pulled off. And now everybody knows it is not a freedom revolution but a complete military coup d'etat following orders of the G7 banksters.

So, even though they want to make it look like Twitter and Google have this extraordinary power, it is a deception. The power came from where it always comes...a small group of psychotic power monger control freak incestuous bankster families, the Committee of 300 and their operations personnel...Bilderberg and CFR.

Just look at an NPR article (12 days ago) which quotes RAND Corporation's spokesman outlining the globalist terms of transforming Egypt into the new Kissinger/Brzezinski base of islamic terrorist operations.

And under the cover of a military dictatorship, 80 million humans to be fed through RAND's cybernetic meat grinder:

Stephen P. Cohen is the puppet master working on a backup plan to the possibly failed ElBaradei's coup d'etat. Mr Cohen does not pop his head out to push a globalist agenda unless the usual mid-level morons have failed. Let's see how many Globalist NGO's this guy is affiliated with:

http://www.nndb.com/people/132/000119772/
    Brookings Institution Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies (1998-)
    Ford Foundation Scholar-in-Residence, New Delhi (1992-93)
    US State Department Policy Planning Staff (1985-87)
    Committee for the Republic
    Council on Foreign Relations
    National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control
    RAND Corporation

This guy is a global cybernetics social architect/propagandist.

Looks like he is purposefully leaking some inside information (on National Petroleum Radio of all places) to gain acceptance before they pull the curtains on Act 1 and initiate Act 2:

RAND Corporation Plan To Replace Hosni Mubarak May Be In The Works
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/31/133381234/Egypts-Suleiman-Could-Be-Key-To-Peaceful-Outcome?ft=1&f=1004
by Tom Gjelten January 31, 2011

Two of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's closest allies, his new vice president, Omar Suleiman, and his defense minister, Hussein Tantawi, are quietly working on a plan under which Mubarak would step down from power, according to a U.S. scholar who has been staying in regular touch with the Egyptian political and military leadership. "They want to be sure that Mubarak is going to cooperate," said Stephen P. Cohen, president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development and a longtime confidant of Egyptian and Israeli leaders. The two-part [RAND Corporation] plan, according to Cohen, would involve the immediate removal of 100 members of the Egyptian Parliament whose election this past fall was seen as illegitimate. They would be replaced by 100 candidates who were barred from running in the election or who were defeated because of government meddling in the election process. A second possible step would be the organization of new parliamentary and presidential elections. The plan, according to Cohen, "requires [Mubarak] to give up his office." Asked whether Mubarak would do that, Cohen answered, "He is getting ready to do so."


RAND CORPORATION IS MAKING HIM AN OFFER HE CANNOT REFUSE!

YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP!

continued...

Military's Role
In an appearance on state television Monday, Suleiman said Mubarak had asked him "to immediately hold contacts with the political forces to start a dialogue about all raised issues that also involve constitutional and legislative reforms." He did not say such reforms would involve Mubarak stepping down from power. Until now, the Egyptian armed forces have been a pillar of Mubarak's support. But Cohen says the military leaders are now more concerned with their own institutional interests and the future of the Egyptian state. "They are not now concerned about maintaining Mubarak's power," Cohen said. "They are very concerned about maintaining the legitimacy of the military among the people who are engaged in these demonstrations." In a sign that Mubarak may have lost the army's support, the Egyptian high command Monday issued a statement saying it considered the demands of the street demonstrators in Egypt "legitimate" and promising not to use force against the Egyptian people.

'A Strategic Thinker'
Suleiman brings to these discussions a long history of involvement in delicate Middle East negotiations. He has been Mubarak's principal representative in discussions with the Israelis and the Palestinians, and he has mediated between the rival Fatah and Hamas factions of the Palestinian leadership. He also has close contacts with Saudi and Iraqi leaders, and he has met often with top U.S. military and political officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army Gen. David Petraeus, formerly the head of the U.S. military's Central Command. "Omar Suleiman is careful, calculating, shrewd, obviously extremely intelligent," said David Mack, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs in the administration of George H.W. Bush. "That comes across when you speak to him." Suleiman's leadership in crafting a way out of Egypt's dangerous political stalemate is characteristic of his experience, Cohen says. "He's a strategic thinker," he said. "He is trying to design a strategy that would allow the changes in Egypt to take place peacefully without further bloodshed and would not split the army and the people. They know that if there is a split between the army and the people that would damage the whole structure of the legitimacy of the Egyptian state."

Other Candidates
The question remains, however, whether the Egyptians now demonstrating in the streets would accept a compromise plan like the one Suleiman and Tantawi are now proposing. By design, their proposal would keep the Egyptian army in a dominant position in the country's politics. Some demonstrators have called for much more sweeping political change in Egypt. A related question is who would represent the anti-Mubarak opposition in any negotiations. Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian diplomat who most recently served as chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has claimed a mandate to speak for the opposition, but neither he nor anyone else has taken a commanding lead of the movement as a whole. Cohen, however, sees that as a potential advantage for Suleiman and Tantawi as they negotiate a compromise political solution for Egypt. "It makes it easier," he said. "They not fighting against someone who expects to become president."

[Dig]

Wael Ghonim: Google-Qaeda's executive anti-government sucicide blogger!

Google's new ad campaign: "Use our search engine or we will topple your government!"

[birther truther tenther]

Microsoft, Google eye Arabic web growth potential
By Alastair Sharp
CAIRO | Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:23am EDT

CAIRO (Reuters) - The further integration of Arabic language capabilities in internet and other technological architecture will grant millions access to the digital world, Microsoft and Google executives said.

As devices and applications become more ubiquitous in less developed countries, their content will grow and an embryonic e-economy should flourish, they said.

"(Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer and I a few years ago talked and believed Arabic would be an increasingly important language," said Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer. "And yet, because of the way the internet was evolving, it wasn't a language that was getting a lot of use."

But while Arab world internet use since 2000 has grown faster than anywhere else and access costs have shrunk, content still punches below its weight and ad spending remains tiny.

Arabic content is less than 1 percent of world totals though speakers constituting 5 percent of the global population.

The Arabic portal of online encyclopedia Wikipedia carries less words than its Catalan site, Google's regional marketing manager Wael Ghonim said.

"There is a lot of Arabic content but it is not well structured," he said. "We want more structured content. We want more of the professional, niche sites, more businesses."

"One of our biggest missions is to enable Arabic users to find the right tools to enrich Arabic content," Ghonim said. "It would be great to see more e-commerce in the region, more publishers, more news sites. We are committed to help them."

Asked how Google could aid such regional growth, Ghonim said: "We have a very ambitious plan in the next few months, we are working on many initiatives." He did not elaborate.

Regional spending on online advertising was around $90 million in 2009, up from $66.5 million in 2008 and $38 million in 2007 but still miniscule compared to Britain's $5.3 billion.

Ghonim said Arabic speakers have historically engaged in poorly organized and difficult to archive forums, citing a message board used by 400,000 teachers in Saudi Arabia.

Both Google and Microsoft place Arabic in their top ten languages in need of prioritized attention.

Microsoft's Mundie was visiting the Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center, a regional hub launched in 2006 that released Windows extension Maren, which converts Arabic written in Roman characters into Arabic script. It is Microsoft's second most popular service by page views after Internet Explorer 8.

ARABIC WEB ADDRESSES, MOBILE ACCESS

Egypt and Saudi Arabia registered the first domain names written in the right-to-left Arabic script late last year, after global internet regulator ICANN voted to allow non-Latin script to be used in web addresses in November.

In Egypt, internet access is becoming cheaper and use of internet on mobile devices is blossoming. Egypt plans a $1 billion upgrade to its broadband capacity over four years to quadruple penetration to 20 percent.

"The next few million Egyptian internet users will be people who don't really speak English," Ghonim said.

Such users will likely not foray deeply into the internet's marketplace initially, but will no longer be hindering from creating part of the fabric of the web by language constraints.

"Think of the guy running a very small one-stop shop in (Nile delta industrial city) Mahalla," Ghonim said. "You should facilitate for him a complete experience in Arabic, from the way he registers his domain to finding a hosting company to communicating to his customers."

READ MORE:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/24/us-mideast-internet-idUSTRE63N0V120100424

[birther truther tenther]

Wael Ghonim, Google exec, says Egypt's revolution is 'like Wikipedia'
Feb 14, 2011

Wael Ghonim has been touted as one of the leaders in Egypt's revolution and has already coined the phrase Revolution 2.0 — which he also plans to take as the name of a book he's writing.

On Sunday, in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Ghonim spoke further on the peaceful protests in Egypt that lead to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, who led Egypt for three decades.

"I call this Revolution 2.0," Ghonim said in the interview. "Revolution 2.0 is, is — I say that our revolution is like Wikipedia, OK? Everyone is contributing content. You don't know the names of the people contributing the content ... This is exactly what happened. Revolution 2.0 in Egypt was exactly the same."

"Everyone was contributing small pieces, bits and pieces. We drew this whole picture. We drew this whole picture of a revolution. And that picture — no one is the hero in that picture."

The 18-day period of protests in Egypt were organized by Ghonim and many others using social media sites and other tools.

Ghonim, Google's head of marketing in the Middle East and North Africa, was one of the moderators of a Facebook page called "We Are All Khaled Said" dedicated to memory of an Egyptian man who witnesses say was beaten to death in Alexandria by police officers who have not been held to account.

"The moment we announced on the page, the locations, they shut down Facebook," Ghonim said.

"But I had a backup plan. I used Google Groups to send a mass mail campaign to all these people in order to tell them here are the locations and please spread it among your friends And everyone knew eventually."

"So, definitely technology played a great role here. You know, it helped keeping people informed, it helped making all of us collaborate."

During the protests, Ghonim was detained by the Egyptian government for 12 days — and kept blindfolded the entire time, he said.

Once Mubarak stepped down on Friday, and the government was dissolved, the Egyptian military took over. Egypt's army said it will govern for the next six months or until an election is held for a new parliament and presidency.

Ghonim and the tens of thousands who took part in the historic uprising, hope that new system of government will be a democratic one and work is already being done to figure out how to get the ball rolling.

"We just created a page using Google moderator asking people what are you dreaming about — that was a couple hours ago," Ghonim said Sunday. "So far, before the interview when I checked we had 4,000 suggestions and we had over 100,000 votes. Everyone is now dreaming. Everyone wants to do something. A lot of these ideas are amazing."Read More: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/02/wael-ghonim-google-exec-says-egypts-revolution-is-like-wikipedia.html

[birther truther tenther]

Egypt cyber activists say they met military rulers

(AFP) – 22 hours ago

CAIRO — The Egyptian cyber activists who were the driving force behind the uprising that overthrew strongman Hosni Mubarak said Monday they had met the country's military rulers to discuss democratic reform.

"We met the army ... to understand their point of view and lay out our views," said Google executive Wael Ghonim and blogger Amr Salama, in a note on a pro-democracy website that helped launch the revolt.

Eight activists held talks on Sunday with General Mahmud Hegazy and General Abdel Fattah, two members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a body of some 20 generals who were mostly unknown to the public before the uprising.

The meeting is a sign of the army's break with the style of Mubarak's regime, which was slow to acknowledge youth activists as a legitimate opposition force.

"The army has stressed that it does not seek to rule Egypt and that a civil state is the only way forward," Ghonim and Salama said.

The council has vowed it would pave the way for an elected civil authority to build a free democratic state, and said that the cabinet picked by Mubarak on January 31 would remain in place to run state affairs.

The activists said the army told them that a referendum would take place in two months over amendments to the constitution, which was suspended on Sunday as both houses of parliament were dissolved.

A panel "would finish working on the amendments within 10 days, and then there will be a referendum within two months," the activists said.

The army could not be reached for comment and the activists did not immediately respond to requests for more details.

The constitution was amended in 2007 to put strict restrictions on presidential candidates, while the parliament was seen as illegitimate following November elections marred by allegations of fraud.

As it began to dismantle the symbols of the old regime, the army vowed to "prosecute all those accused of corruption, no matter what their previous or current posts are."

The military -- which has been accused by human rights groups of detaining and torturing protesters during the revolt -- has also pledged to "find all the protesters who went missing."Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gyvIy92hyHZzDwY3N_T-NwAdrdeQ?docId=CNG.64b40623ef755670eb1e7e108c8d3448.801

[birther truther tenther]

Facebook Officials Keep Quiet on Its Role in Revolts
By JENNIFER PRESTON
Published: February 14, 2011
NYTimes.com

With Facebook playing a starring role in the revolts that toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt, you might think the company’s top executives would use this historic moment to highlight its role as the platform for democratic change. Instead, they really do not want to talk about it.

The social media giant finds itself under countervailing pressures after the uprisings in the Middle East. While it has become one of the primary tools for activists to mobilize protests and share information, Facebook does not want to be seen as picking sides for fear that some countries — like Syria, where it just gained a foothold — would impose restrictions on its use or more closely monitor users, according to some company executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal business.

And Facebook does not want to alter its firm policy requiring users to sign up with their real identities. The company says this requirement protects its users from fraud. However, human rights advocates like Susannah Vila, the director of content and outreach for Movements.org, which provides resources for digital activists, say it could put some people at risk from governments looking to ferret out dissent.

“People are going to be using this platform for political mobilization, which only underscores the importance of ensuring their safety,” she said.

Under those rules, Facebook shut down one of the most popular Egyptian Facebook protest pages in November because Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who emerged as a symbol of the revolt, had used a pseudonym to create a profile as one of the administrators of the page, a violation of Facebook’s terms of service.

With Egypt’s emergency law in place limiting freedom of speech, Mr. Ghonim might have put himself and the other organizers at risk if they were discovered at that time. Activists scrambled to find another administrator to get the page back up and running. And when Egyptian government authorities did figure out Mr. Ghonim’s role with the Facebook page that helped promote the Jan. 25 protest in Tahrir Square, he was imprisoned for 12 days.

Last week, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, urged Facebook to take “immediate and tangible steps” to help protect democracy and human rights activists who use its services, including addressing concerns about not being able to use pseudonyms.

In a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, Mr. Durbin said the recent events in Egypt and Tunisia had highlighted the costs and benefits of social tools to democracy and human rights advocates. “I am concerned that the company does not have adequate safeguards in place to protect human rights and avoid being exploited by repressive governments,” he wrote.

Elliot Schrage, the vice president for global communications, public policy and marketing at Facebook, declined to discuss Facebook’s role in the recent tumult and what it might mean for the company’s services.

In a short statement, he said: “We’ve witnessed brave people of all ages coming together to effect a profound change in their country. Certainly, technology was a vital tool in their efforts but we believe their bravery and determination mattered most.” Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/business/media/15facebook.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[birther truther tenther]

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/11/6035566-how-the-internet-brought-down-a-dictator

[birther truther tenther]

Wael Ghonim showcased at the notorious TED Conference!!!


TED 2011: Wael Ghonim — Voice of Egypt’s Revolution

    * By Kim Zetter
    * March 5, 2011  |
    * 1:45 pm  |


LONG BEACH, California – The recent uprising in Egypt that toppled the country’s long-sitting president, had no leader and no single hero, according to Wael Ghonim, a Google marketing manager in Egypt and one of the revolution’s galvanizing forces. Instead, every Egyptian was a leader and every Egyptian a hero.

Ghonim launched an anonymous Facebook page that quickly became an organizing tool for protesters, and ultimately a symbol of the revolution. The page memorialized Khaled Said, an Egyptian businessman who had been beaten to death by authorities in June 2010. The page was titled, “We Are All Khaled Said.”

When the revolution that began in Tunisia spilled into Egypt, Ghonim anonymously posted a note to the Facebook page calling on Egyptians to make Jan. 25th a day of protest. “#Jan25″ quickly became the Twitter hashtag of the revolution. But the protests didn’t end that day; they continued the next day, and the next.

On Jan. 27, Ghonim was arrested by Egyptian authorities and detained for 12 days blindfolded and incommunicado before he was released. The country he saw after he was freed bore no resemblance to the one he knew before his confinement.

The 30-year-old father of two spoke to a TED audience in Cairo this week. Video of his talk was broadcast to the Technology Entertainment and Design conference in California on Tuesday and has since been published online (see above).

Ghonim told the audience that for 30 years under president Hosni Mubarak’s rule, Egypt had been going downhill.

“We only ranked high when it comes to poverty, corruption, lack of freedom of speech, lack of political activism,” he said. “Those were the achievements of our great regime.”

Yet despite their unhappiness and frustration, fear kept Egyptians paralyzed.

“And then came the internet,” Ghonim says.

YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook helped people realize they weren’t alone in their frustration and that others shared their dream of freedom. it dawned on them that they could use the internet to organize.

When Khaled Said died, Ghonim said, the government claimed he’d choked on hash. But the internet allowed dissenters to counter those claims online, and as their voices grew, the government lost its power of deception, Ghonim said. Ghonim, as the anonymous administrator of the Khaled Said Facebook page, invited people to join the page and share their voices and suggestions for action. Within a few days, thousands of people had signed up.

“It was an amazing story how everyone started feeling the ownership, everyone was an owner in this page,” Ghonim said. “People started contributing ideas.”

Someone suggested a silent protest, where people dressed in black would gather in the street, turn their faces to the sea and stand silently for an hour before dispersing and going home.

“People were making fun of the idea,” Ghonim said. But then thousands of protesters showed up in Alexandria.

“It was great because it connected people from the virtual world, bringing them to the real world, sharing the same dream the same frustration the same anger the same desire for freedom,” he said.

Then came the Tunisian uprising, which helped tip Egypt into its own revolution. Ghonim’s Facebook page again became a central point for expressing frustration.

“Everything was done by the people to the people, and that’s the power of the internet,” he says. “There was no leader. The leader was everyone on that page.”

Ghonim declined to discuss what occurred during the nearly two weeks Egyptian authorities detained him, but the day after his release, he went directly to Tahrir Square and couldn’t believe what he saw.

“Seriously? With the amount of change I have noticed in this square, I thought it was 12 years [that had passed since my arrest],” he said.

“People were so empowered … and now asking for their rights,” he said. “Extremism became tolerance. Who would imagine before the 25th if I tell you that hundreds of thousands of Christians are going to pray, and tons of thousands of Muslims are going to protect them, and then hundreds of thousands of Muslims are going to pray and tons of thousands of Christians are going to protect them.”

When he saw what was happening he knew it was the beginning of the end and returned to his Facebook page to post a note.

“I said that we are going to win,” he recalled writing. “We’re going to win because we don’t understand politics. We’re going to win because we don’t play their dirty games. We’re going to win because we don’t have an agenda. We’re going to win because the tears that comes from our eyes actually come from our hearts. We’re going to win because we have dreams. We’re going to win because we are willing to stand up for our dreams….

“And that’s actually what happened,” he said.

He recalled a taxi driver telling him, “I feel that I have dignity that I have lost for so many years.”

“For me that’s winning,” said Ghonim.

He closed with one final thought: “The power of the people,” he said, “is much stronger than the people in power.”

WATCH VIDEO HERE:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/03/wael-ghonim-at-ted/

[birther truther tenther]

Google Praises Executive’s Role in Egypt Revolt
By JENNA WORTHAM
Published: February 15, 2011

BARCELONA, Spain — Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, said Tuesday that the company was “very proud” of Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who helped plan the protests that culminated in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Mr. Schmidt was responding to a question about the use of technology in political protests after making a speech here at the Mobile World Congress, a major trade show. It was one of the first direct comments from a senior Google executive regarding Mr. Ghonim’s involvement in the antigovernment demonstrations.

Many Egyptians now consider Mr. Ghonim as one of the unofficial leaders of the anti-Mubarak movement, which rallied protesters by using Facebook and other Internet tools.

Google said little about Mr. Ghonim while he was detained by security services for 12 days during the protests. In an interview with CBS News after his release last week, he said he had not discussed his participation in the protests with Google in advance and would be honored to return to the company “if I’m not fired.”

That prompted a message from the company’s main Twitter account that read: “We’re incredibly proud of you, @Ghonim, & of course will welcome you back when you’re ready.”

Mr. Schmidt said he had talked to Mr. Ghonim and “we’re very, very proud of what he’s done.” He said collaboration tools like Facebook “change the power dynamic between governments and citizens in some very interesting and unpredictable ways.”

read more http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/world/middleeast/16google.html?_r=1&ref=waelghonim

[Satyagraha]

The "Hero": Wael Ghonim is modeled after the Joseph Campbell "Heroes 101" course:
The Hero with a Thousand Faces...

Here's how it plays:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[2]   ”

The Hero in this mythology: Wael Ghonim
The region of supernatural wonder: Egypt (all those pyramids.. )
The Fabulous Forces encountered: The dreaded Mubarak
The Decisive victory: Mubarak defeated
The Power to Bestow Boons to fellow man: Share the triumph: tweet - update facebook - go do a TEDTalk... more revolutions...

In laying out the monomyth, Campbell describes a number of stages or steps along this journey.

The hero starts in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unusual world of strange powers and events (a call to adventure).
If the hero accepts the call to enter this strange world, the hero must face tasks and trials (a road of trials), and may have to face these trials alone, or may have assistance. At its most intense, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help earned along the journey. If the hero survives, the hero may achieve a great gift (the goal or "boon"), which often results in the discovery of important self-knowledge. The hero must then decide whether to return with this boon (the return to the ordinary world), often facing challenges on the return journey. If the hero is successful in returning, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world (the application of the boon).

They are promoting a new mythology: and every mythical tale requires a hero.

[Dig]

Google Praises Executive’s Role in Egypt Revolt
By JENNA WORTHAM
Published: February 15, 2011

BARCELONA, Spain — Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, said Tuesday that the company was “very proud” of Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who helped plan the protests that culminated in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Mr. Schmidt was responding to a question about the use of technology in political protests after making a speech here at the Mobile World Congress, a major trade show. It was one of the first direct comments from a senior Google executive regarding Mr. Ghonim’s involvement in the antigovernment demonstrations.

Many Egyptians now consider Mr. Ghonim as one of the unofficial leaders of the anti-Mubarak movement, which rallied protesters by using Facebook and other Internet tools.

Google said little about Mr. Ghonim while he was detained by security services for 12 days during the protests. In an interview with CBS News after his release last week, he said he had not discussed his participation in the protests with Google in advance and would be honored to return to the company “if I’m not fired.”

That prompted a message from the company’s main Twitter account that read: “We’re incredibly proud of you, @Ghonim, & of course will welcome you back when you’re ready.”

Mr. Schmidt said he had talked to Mr. Ghonim and “we’re very, very proud of what he’s done.” He said collaboration tools like Facebook “change the power dynamic between governments and citizens in some very interesting and unpredictable ways.”

read more http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/world/middleeast/16google.html?_r=1&ref=waelghonim

WTF? Do they realize that he got people killed? This is insanity...or the entire Google agenda.