The First Global Revolution

Thanassis Cambanis

CAIRO, Egypt -- Friday's "Day of Determination" (or "Day of Persistence") continued overnight and into Saturday as a sit-in in Tahrir Square. It was the largest since President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, and it marked a sort of inflection point for the popular uprising that began on January 25.

For the first time since mid-February, the crowd filled the entire square, and drew scores of regular folk who wouldn't normally define themselves as political activists. The demonstration swelled to revolutionary size, to a large extent, because its organizers consciously eschewed politics. Instead they resorted to a lowest-common denominator appeal to prosecute Hosni Mubarak and his henchmen. Justice for the crimes of the past, and for the crimes that continue, including police brutality, unaccountable government, and military detentions of protesters. Two words echoed above all: justice, and revenge.

That simple call galvanized the protest, although to some was its Achilles heel.

"The blood of the martyrs won't be wasted," the crowds chanted. Protesters carried pictures of Hosni Mubarak hanging from a noose (a common motif, also stenciled on walls around Tahrir).

A performer named Waleed Sheikh held a Mubarak marionette

Many of those in crowd said they hadn't joined a protest

"I thought the government would be purified after the

The protest drew activists and casual supporters of the

Like the early days of the revolution, Tahrir again echoed

A Salafist and a Brotherhood member argued over how much to

"We are not just puppets in your hands. Today the people are

The Muslim Brotherhood only agreed to take part at the last

Their departure barely dented the atmosphere in the square,

"We think the Islamists are no longer interested in

To some of the activists in the square, July 8 signified a

Many of the people in the square on Friday said the

Amr Shiebl, 24, spent the entire hot day in the square, and

"I'm frustrated. There were too many people talking today.

Why are the left such hypocrites? You want to force your views of ...

Natural and man-made disasters have the power to destroy thousands of lives very quickly. Both as they unfold and in the aftermath, these forces of nature astonish the rest of the world with their incredible devastation and magnitude. In this collection of ten well-known catastrophes such as the great Chicago fire, the sinking of the Titanic, and hurricane Katrina, Brenda Guiberson explores the causes and effects, as well as the local and global reverberations of these calamitous events. Highlighted with photographs and drawings, each compelling account tells the story of destruction and devastation, and most especially, the power of mankind to persevere in the face of adversity.

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