Egypt

P.J. O'Rourke once visited Egypt to try to understand why the denizens of the middle east seem to behave irrationally. He flew in to Cairo, traveled to the big hotel right next to the pyramids. went to the bar, got a drink, turned on his stool to view the grandeur of the great pyramids, just outside the window, and realized "These people have always been crazy!".

Here is a report of a study that shows that Muslims are pretty much universally happier in non-Islamic states than in Islamic republics. Big deal. Everybody is happier in non-Muslim countries.

Here is another report that describes Egyptian citizens using Muslim Brotherhood protesters for target practice. The report is mixed in with another one talking about Korea, Japan, and China. Scroll down a bit to get to the Egyptian part. I find this encouraging in that the citizens of Egypt are rejecting Islamic exterrmism in the most emphatic manner possible. There are two ways this could get better.

In Mexico, during their revolution, the Catholic church sided with the monarchy. Siding with the status quo is what the church traditionally does, so no real surprise there. Following the revolution, the nationalists did not forget this, and made sure the Church didn't either, severely restricting the churches ability to influence politics. Should the same thing happen in Egypt, the situation would be much improved. Nothing like executing a few troublesome holy men to cool the ardor of the rest. The military is currently looking to ban the MB, which had been done in the past and is done in several middle eastern countries already.

Best case of course would be to ban the practice of Islam completely. Despite all the good arguments in favor of this, it seems unlikely to happen. Oh well.