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[alway]

According to Al Jazeera, quite a few of the looters are plain clothes police/regime members.
Gah, ninjas

[Aqizzar]

More than 60 people now confirmed dead by the Associated Press.  The national bank has barricaded its doors until further notice.  Mubarak's sons and family are believed to have arrived in Britain.

Various political parties, organizations, ad-hoc militias, extended families, and the military itself are all setting up neighborhood checkpoints to try to curtail the growing looting problem.  At least seventeen police stations have been looted (including their weapons) and set ablaze in Cairo alone.  Since there's basically no government offices or police or anything left besides the Interior Ministry, there's not much reason for anyone to stay on the streets.

The military has received orders to arrest anyone violating curfew, but have not done so.  However, the command has said they will at least try to enforce a curfew, but most individual forces are openly saying they will not use their weapons to do so, just encourage people to return home and calm down, and hopefully put out some fires.

[alway]

According to Al Jazeera, their journalists have confirmed 100+ dead by visiting the morgues.

But yeah, sounds like neighborhood watches are being set up.

The museum was broken up a bit, nothing stolen, but some stuff damaged, including 2 mummies destroyed.

Scattered reports/videos of police having skipped over rubber bullets entirely, firing live rounds into crowds from the start.

[Aqizzar]

The museum was broken up a bit, nothing stolen, but some stuff damaged, including 2 mummies destroyed.

Goddammit, why would anyone even do that?  So cockheaded Egyptian going, "Problem, Egyptians? *trollface*  ...Oh wait, this is my cultural heritage and only thing of worthy of taking pride in my country for too, fuck."

Also, a prison outside of Cairo was either attacked or abandoned, and over a thousand prisoners escaped.  Since a good number of Egypt's prisoners are political prisoners, that's kind of a crapshoot on the dangerosity meter in this situation.

[alway]

Yeah, its being heavily implied on Al Jazeera the prisons may have been opened up purposely by the police to cause more chaos.

At first I just thought this was a typical corrupt dictatorship, but now I'm becoming more and more convinced every single one of them in the government is a major dickhead.

[Eugenitor]

At first I just thought this was a typical corrupt dictatorship, but now I'm becoming more and more convinced every single one of them in the government is a major dickhead.

This.

When the people whose job it is was to protect against thugs are the thugs, you get some fun happy times.

[Leafsnail]

Goddammit, why would anyone even do that?  So cockheaded Egyptian going, "Problem, Egyptians? *trollface*  ...Oh wait, this is my cultural heritage and only thing of worthy of taking pride in my country for too, fuck."

Don't worry, we've already stolen most of it put most of it in our national museum for safe keeping.  I'm sure this is EXACTLY what the archeologists had in mind while taking their artifacts.

[Eugenitor]

Dear fellow Americans, when socioeconomic hell breaks loose, everything on C street and K street is yours, but please try to keep the Smithsonian intact.

Edit: To be clear, the rank-and-file Egyptian protestors started defending the National Museum. It was a handful of vandals who smashed the place up, and they probably worked for what used to be the government.

[alway]

Intermittent machine gun fire from around the Interior Ministry is being reported; who is firing is unknown, thought to be some sort of standoff.

"Looters" cut off water to a large part of a city, as well as starting a fire in a fertilizer plant which could result in a massive explosion. Yeah, something tells me these aren't just simple criminals looking for big screen TVs.

[Bouchart]

So then who is behind it?  Foreign agitators?

The riots in Egypt is too big of an event for nearby countries to just sit on their hands.

[alway]

So then who is behind it?  Foreign agitators?

Nope. If I were to guess, the police/security officers who are now all dressed in plain clothes and carrying out much of this crap.

Oh, and it seems a building next to the NDP building is burning.

Reports of drive-by shootings; seems they aren't even bothering to pretend to be looters any more. Literally every caller talked with on Al Jazeera thus far in the past few hours has said they are/they resemble those employed by the police/security forces.

[Blank Expression]

If I were him, I'd have embezzelled away enough cash to get the hell out of there quick years ago. I do hope for his sake he was clever enough to do that.

I have a distinct feeling that Mubarak never intended to leave, and never expected to need to.  He's also 82, and probably does have a lot of money.  However, I bet his heir-apparent son managed to squirrel away some cash, and is desperately tugging on Dad's arm, trying to convince him that a burning Egypt isn't worth giving up a shot at luxurious exile.

Mubarak's got multiple billions in the bank.

The situation there is pretty interesting at the moment. It is far, far, far from over, but the early returns look very good.

[Virex]

Reports of drive-by shootings; seems they aren't even bothering to pretend to be looters any more. Literally every caller talked with on Al Jazeera thus far in the past few hours has said they are/they resemble those employed by the police/security forces.

No reports of what other militant groups are doing yet?

[alway]

Yeah, Egypt is pretty much militia free. Based on interviews throughout the day with a few Muslim Brotherhood figures, the worst thing they are doing at the moment is an occasional half-assed attempt at claiming they were responsible for the rallies. Although for the most part even they are saying it was the youth of Egypt who were primarily responsible and saying they are taking a somewhat hands-off approach. Based on interviews, they likely won't make any moves before the free elections signalling the end of the interim government. And even then I wouldn't expect them to do much more than simple election fraud, if that.

Quite frankly, Egypt is too liberal, relatively speaking, for far right militias to have much success.

[Bouchart]

Quite frankly, Egypt is too liberal, relatively speaking, for far right militias to have much success.

Unfortunately I don't share the same optimism that you do.