O Egipto está mergulhado no caos há seis dias. Porém, as manchetes dos jornais portugueses ignoram o melindre da situação. So said Eduardo Pitta, on his blog Da Literatura. The Portuguese blogosphere meanwhile, surprised by the wave of revolution in Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks, has accompanied events attentively and has complemented the lack of discussion in the traditional media, relating it to issues of their country. In this article we select some of the reflections relayed by Portuguese citizens on the scenario of change in local, national, international and comparative perspective. On the day of celebration of the 120th anniversary of the first Republican revolt in Portugal – the “civic insurrection” of January 31, 1891, that marked the first visible step of a long movement to bring down the Monarchy, which would only be brought down in 1910 – Francisco Seixas da Costa speaks of history on his blog Duas ou Três. The link to the current situation in Egypt is easy to get, after reading his article entitled “O ocidente e a ‘rua árabe’” (“The west and the ‘arab street'”): Ora a História ensinou-nos – ensinou-nos? – que todos os formatos institucionais que não sejam regularmente legitimados de forma democrática têm, a prazo, uma necessária fragilidade. (…) Se a vida internacional não fosse uma coisa muito séria, quase poderíamos dizer que se torna hoje irónico ver o mundo ocidental a fazer figura de “barata tonta” face ao terramoto que abala o mundo islâmico: tanto se sente tentado a prolongar (sem o assumir abertamente) uma “realpolitik” que acaba por ser cúmplice de certas situações que (apenas retrospetivamente) acha intoleráveis, como aparece excitado (mas, lá no fundo, receoso com o que dai pode resultar, poque não dispõe de influência para condicionar o rumo das coisas) perante o aflorar desorganizado da vontade popular em certos Estados. History taught us – did it teach us? – that all institutional formats that are not regularly legitimated democratically have a sell-by date, a necessary fragility. (…) If international life were not a such serious thing, we could almost say that today it becomes ironic to see the western world playing the role of “chicken with its head cut off” in the face of the earthquake that is shaking the Islamic world. As much as the Western world feels tempted to prolong (without openly admitting it) a “realpolitik” which ends up being accomplice to certain situations that it finds intolerable (at least in retrospect), the Western world also seems excited faced with the disorganized flourishing of the popular will in certain States (but, deep down, fearful with what could come from this, because it does not have the influence to steer the direction of things). On the blog of Cantigas do Maio, Aurelio Malva shares an image making allusion to Portugal's Carnation Revolution, which in 1974 deposed the fascist dictatorship in power since 1933. On April 25, 1974 the barrels of guns were decorated with the red flower. Image edited by Miguel Fontes Revolutionary bloggers draw from the same ideas but extrapolate to the current scenario of social and economic crisis in Portugal, experiencing high unemployment – 11% – and widespread distrust in the political system. On January 23, presidential elections took place in Portugal, which had the highest abstention levels ever, with over 53.37% not voting. A recent study [Pt] showed that 58% of Portuguese consider their quality of life is worse than it was 25 years ago when the country entered the European Economic Community. Maybe for this reason, Elixir, at the blog A Especiaria, thinks that it would be surprising if: a seguir às notícias que nos chegam do Egipto, as televisões [viessem] a abrir os seus telejornais com uma notícia do género: Registaram-se hoje, em Lisboa, graves incidentes entre a polícia e manifestantes da UNIÃO DOS DESEMPREGADOS PORTUGUESES. Os desempregados, sem receber subsídio há longos meses, pilharam lojas de produtos alimentares, supermercados e Bancos. In an article entitled “Semelhanças situacionais: Egipto, Tunísia, Portugal (“Situational similarities: Egypt, Tunisia, Portugal”), P.A.S. of the blog Causa Vossa [Your Cause], also draws a paralel between the countries, illustrating it with a recent news story [Pt] on the lack of opening of job opportunities in the contracting of companies by the State: Quando os regimes do nepotismo se tornam reféns de alguns, frutos amargos de corrupção e arrogância, os povos têm o direito e o dever à manifestação do seu descontentamento. Quando os regimes de aparência democrática se tornam reféns da corrupção e de grupelhos ARROGANTES, também só na aparência democráticos, não terão os povos também aqui o direito e o dever à manifestação do seu descontentamento.