From my other diatribe.....
As far as the turmoil going on within Libya, Egypt, et al, being good for the people. Don't bet on it, Islam is much like the catholic church in that it relies upon vast hordes of uneducated, unwashed cannon fodder for its advancement. These countries may have a new Islamic leadership but the plight of the people will not substantially change. One only has to look at Iran for a shining example. The Islamic leadership used students and other educated people to foment the revolution against our puppet the Shah, then they promptly eliminated all these from any potential place of power and replaced them with the uneducated religious zealots that could recite the Koran by heart but had no idea of the outside world and so they stand today.
These are the same tactics that Lenin used in the Russian revolution. He eliminated the brains after the revolution in order to have no competition. This led to the problems the new nation had in competing on the world state. The Chinese, on the other hand, put the brains in jail and declared them rehabilitated whenever they needed them...hence the quick return to the world stage. History is very interesting.
I should let Chris post for me, he seems to be far more concise and does not piss people off as I do