Update on the Egyptian Revolution - 018

Another "March of millions" day Tuesday in Egypt. Many media outlets call it the largest to date among Egypt's protests since January 25. This goes directly against the claim that the protests are losing momentum.

Wael Ghoneim, the admin of a Facebook group that helped start this revolution was inside Tahrir Square, and talked about continuing the struggle until the demands are met. Laila, the mother of Khaled Saeed was in Tahrir and hugged Wael, telling the protesters that her son has not died, and "all of you are Khaled Saeed".

As for the large numbers, Wael's weeping on Dream TV yesterday may have motivated many to join the Tahrir protests today. The state media neutral coverage of Tahrir has also helped. I am sure that revelations about Mubarak's wealth being $40B to $70B helped as well.

Of course, everyone knew that Mubarak's family are wealthy. Their wealth, unlike Tunisia's Ben Ali family and in-laws wealth, was not in-your-face. But never have I imagined it to be that high. Never have I imagined that he would be at the very top of richest heads of state, or exceed Bill Gates in wealth.

Wael Ghoneim said on El Shaheed's Facebook page that no negotiations are to take place until Mubarak steps down. The time for negotiation was the evening of January 25, not after 300 people died.

Large protests were also in front of parliament building, the Shura council (upper house) and the prime minister's office, blocking him from entering the building and calling for Ahmed Shafik to go.

State media continue to change its tone, with the official Nile TV calling protesters at Tahrir having "legitimate demands for change". No longer are they smeared as motivated by foreign agendas, being paid by certain entities, eating Kentucky Fried Chicken or all the other stupid smears.

The embattled president, Hosny Mubarak, formed a committee to revise the constitution.

The vice president says that orders have been issued not to prosecute the protesters, and creating a road map. He then bluntly said that the protests cannot continue for long, Mubarak will not leave right away, and threatened that the alternative to dialog is a coupe d'etat. Asked to clarify, he said not a typical military take over, but rather institutional chaos.

Lots of institution specific demonstrations, by workers of these institutions. Some are against an unjust manager, low pay, support for the revolution or something else.

These include Qasr El Eini hospital, Ministry of Health, Al Ahram newspaper, Rose Al Youssef, Railways, and the Television, among others.

The minister of interior ordered 34 who were held without charge to be freed. They are described by state media as "extremist elements", which is normally used for religious youth that show affiliation with groups that are more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood. This could range from religiously conservative but harmless Salafists all the way to extreme Takfiris, who may or may not be militant. Those 34 were freed by the chaos on 28 January, but surrendered to the authorities after that out of their own volition. The press release says that they were evaluated and they indicated that they want to live peacefully as part of the society.

A friend in Alexandria told me that the police withdrawal on January 28th happened as follows: an order was given "Any policeman, even if guarding a sewer pipe, leaves his post immediately. Open the prison cells and leave". This is high treason and several people should be put on trial for it.

On Facebook, there has been a group for "The Joyful Nature of Egyptians during the Revolution", sending jokes that are cracked everywhere. Of course, it is in Arabic only.

Another group appeared today called Archive of the 2011 Revolution.

Public figures who have expressed anti-revolution feelings are now feeling the wrath of the people. For example, actor Samah Anwar's Facebook page is now full of insults after she commented "let them burn" because they have "ruined the country". The comments are coming from other Arab countries, not only Egypt.

Colonel Gaddafi of Libya warned his youth from causing chaos using Facebook, otherwise, their tribes will suffer. He also said that Mubarak is poor, does not have enough money to buy clothes, and that Libya sends him aid money. This is more laughable than his comments about Ben Ali after he fled, saying that he is the best one to rule Tunisia, and people should have him for life.