HISTORY DOESN'T STOP – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  The bin Laden episode has averted our eyes from other stories, especially the revolutions going on in the Mideast.  But they haven't stopped.  Syria, in particular, remains volatile:

(Reuters) - Protests broke out across Syria on Friday, with thousands calling for freedom in the Kurdish east and dozens briefly marching in Damascus to demand the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, activists and witnesses said.

But the army, which stormed the southern city of Deraa last month to crush resistance in the cradle of the seven-week uprising, deployed tanks in the central city of Homs and security forces quickly dispersed the Damascus protest.

Witnesses said security forces also opened fire at protesters in the town of Tel, just north of the capital, wounding demonstrators.

Activist Wissam Tarif said protests also took place in the southern town of Jassem, coastal Banias, and Amouda in the east.

Human rights campaigners say army, security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad had killed at least 560 civilians during pro-democracy demonstrations that started in March. Thousands have been arrested and beaten, including the elderly, women and children, they said.

The Syrian protesters do not seem to be making any progress at all, while the Obama administration, quick to shove American ally Hosni Mubarak out of power in Egypt, has put little pressure on American enemy Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, the Libyan situation remains stalemated.  Gadaffi remains in power.  The U.S. is trying to free some funds to help the rebels:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the administration is trying to free some of the $30 billion of Libyan state funds frozen in the United States to help the rebels in Libya. Clinton is attending a meeting in Rome of the so-called "Libya Contact Group," where the Italian government said a special fund is being set up to channel money to rebel leaders in Benghazi. Two Arab Gulf states said they would make contributions to the fund: Kuwait promised $180 million, while Qatar said it would contribute between $400 million and $500 million.

Reports from Egypt are exceptionally disturbing.  Week by week the "new" government distances itself from the United States and from Mubarak's commitment to peace with Israel.  The Muslim Brotherhood is becoming more and more vocal in its extreme demands and is, as is widely reported, the best organized force in Egypt.  The revolution is being increasingly betrayed.  Much of the rhetoric coming out of Egypt resembles the hard-line Islamist rhetoric that normally comes out of Iran, to which Egypt is growing closer.  This is very much an underreported story, probably because it doesn't follow the "narrative" accepted by liberal Western journalists.

May 6, 2011