Monday, June 30, 2008

Robert Mugabe and Mubarak ; More than a common factor

They are both Africans .

They are both ruling important countries.

They are both in their 80s , Mugabe is older than Mubarak , also he stayed in the rule more than Mubarak.

They are both dictators.

They are ready to be with the west or even against it despite the interest of their people as long as they assure the durability in their places as rulers.

The most important common factor that both men refuse to leave the throne till death !!?

So do you still surprsie why he was welcomed in the African Summit ??

By the way he shares the same qualities with Gaddafi and Omar Al Bashir

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Our ful now is entering the global phase at last

Our ful medammes , our very famous essential ful began to be international meal just like Moroccan Koskosy and Shami Humus.

The national dish for the Egyptian population is featured in the American apartment therapy ‘s Kitchn , and insh Allah tomorrow it will be feature in Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray . by the way my mom does not do ful like this .

Ful “beans” is from the real original Egyptian food in our cuisine.

By the way the holy month of Ramadan is after two months , Ful is from the official courses in it and there is no household in Egypt does not eat it daily in Ramadan, it is not only a breakfast for popular classes

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He is an AUC

The AUC made a campaign to remind the people of Egypt of how prestigious and great it is , after the inauguration of the GUC and the British University the competition began to be tough , the A Class has other options.

The AUC was showing off its famous graduates who in a way or another left a mark in Egypt including Egypt’s Ambassador to the U.S “Nabil Fahamy” {rumour says that he would the next FM in the coming cabinet} and Omar Samra , the first Egyptian to reach mount Everest .

It is nice campaign but they forgot to include their most famous graduate who is really leaving his marks all over Egypt for history .

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You should be proud when your graduate is working his way up to become the next President of Egypt

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Do you buy this talk ?? US Covert operations in Iran

From the Huffington post
First of all it is logic and true that the United States of America administration is trying by all possible means to destabilize Iran and weaken it to make powerless in front of Israel and to control oil there , they do not give a damn about the ruling regime in Iran.
Second of all it is not the first time that the American administration does these operations , check back the history , Does anyone remember Cuba ??
Third of all  in any conflict the psychological war is very important weapon , to weaken the spirit of your enemy , remember when Israel managed through its Spies in Egypt to steal the exams and the model answers of the GSC and aired them through Radio Israel in 1960s , this was a move to send a direct message to the Egyptian people saying that we managed to infiltrate your country
Fourth it is logic to find that United States administration supporting groups especially of  repressed ethnic backgrounds like the Kurds , the Ahwazi Arabs and Baluchi groups in Iran ,conquer divide. And these groups were actually had some noise in the last couple of months as far as I remember
Fifth the timing of this important revelation in TV , at the same day or after 24 hours from the Iranian ultimate to turn the gulf in to a pound of fire .
So I do not think that this is something new or big or huge , it is normal thing in the world of conflicts , when little wars led by secret services
Look I do no think that Bush allies in the region from the Gulf states will accept further escalation , I do not need to explain why , the national and economic security of the Gulf States , the oil
Bush is leaving  and he can’t launch a strike against Iran without the congress approval , the Americans can’t afford war now
Still I can’t say that there is no possibility that the U.S won’t hit , in fact Israel believes that the sooner the better , they want to repeat the scenario of Iraqi nuclear reactors , they have one year before the Iranian nuclear reactors become too dangerous to be hit .
I want to say something , the Iranian regime has much more important weapons that they can use and enhance than their arsenal; the people including the minorities , if they  are giving more freedom to all Iranians then the inner front will be very so solid to be infiltrated. They need to win the Ahwazi Arabs and the Baluchi “yeah I know their problems are critical but they can be solved in a way that suits all parties away from America.
To my American friends :

Does Bush need the approval of the congress to launch an attack against Iran?

Do Christian girls get raped when they go to Churches in Egypt ??

Yes there is something wrong from inside but it is too much from outside. The Ex-Egyptian Christians are crossing all lines. My dear French Friend  Seg witnessed of the Ex-Egyptian Christians protest of Paris last week.

Some man approached her along with other people distributing leaflets and saying that Christian girls are raped when ever they go to Churches in Egypt on Sundays !!??

I can’t believe how they lie ,seriously this is awful lie

I want to ask the Christian Egyptian girls from different sects

Do you get raped when you go to Church ??

Well this is just the start

Here is a scan for the leaflets distributed on the people outside the protest , it is in French

Document (3)

Document (5)

It is full of hate and lies in a way that made me so nervous and mad

Here are some excerpts from the second document “with numbers” :
 
4) The educational program of Egypt, as a whole does not refer to the history of the Copts {Well do they mean the theological history of the Church because in my days the history of Coptic Egypt was actually the history of Egypt under the Roman rule and it mentioned clearly how the Egyptian Orthodox Christians were prosecuted under the Roman Rule}

5) The criminal oppression against the Copts adults and minors results in blackmail, embezzlement, influence offences including forced conversion  of the majority religion. {what majority , no one forced anyone to convert ,how many times do we have to say the essence of the faith in the heart , there is no compulsion in religion for God Sake}
6) The reality of massacres of hundreds of victims Copts {where are those hundreds who were murdered ??}

Do you see why I am an angry !!??

For God Sake they are speaking about the representation of the Copts in the Parliament , I know some Copts are requesting a quote , the same Quote which Makram Pasha Abid , the great Egyptian Christian leader refused to include in the constitution of 1921 when it was suggested !!

I think Makram Pasha would be very angry from them

Guys we must discuss this , we should not leave it ,it is from our national security

The Bahraini Jews

As you know Bahrain is going to appoint its first woman Ambassador 2504_pol_p1_n3 to Washington D.C , Huda Nonoo.

Nonoo is not  unique only because she is a woman but because she is also a Jew.

The first woman non Muslim Ambassador from the Gulf state. I think you heard about this.

Nonoo’s grandfather Ibrahim by the way was also the Ambassador of Bahrain to D.C

What is new in this post is I found this interesting slideshow for the Nonoos and the Jewish Community in Bahrain in Al Arabiya Website.

Click here to see the slideshow

Unfortunately it is in Arabic ,but here is some quick summary :

  • The Jewish community now is from 36 persons.
  • The Jewish community in the same island lived peacefully till the war of Palestine , still their big departure took place after the six days war “just like in Egypt”
  • According to a Book called “The Jews of Bahrain” written by the researcher “Ali El- Gallowy” ; Jews lived in Bahrain even before Islam and the Othman empire appointed Jewish merchants in the administrations of Bahrain.
  • The Golden era of Jews in Bahrain was from 1905 to 1948 , they were 50 persons in 1905 and in 1948 they were 500 living mainly in Manama.
  • After the division order and the war of Palestine ,they began to leave especially after an attack on the Jewish Synagogue there in old Manama area.
  • Still there are some families that stayed including the Nonoos who are by the way originally from Iraq.
  • The Jews were specialized in trading cloth and textile and this is why in old Manama ,the Cloth market : The Jews Market.
  • Huda Nonoo’s cousin Ibrahim Nonoo JR was appointed in the Shura Council from 2002 to 2006 where Huda replaced him.
  • Last year Nancy Elly Khedouri published a book called “From our beginning to present day “ about the history of Bahraini Jew

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title

I can’t find the book in Amazon.com , I think it is available in Bahrain only.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

The trees massacre

I hate it so much when the municipal workers come and begin to cut off the trees in our streets for no freaking reason.

They cut hundred years old trees for no good reason except for security reason , yes for security reasons.

I witness these aggressions on the trees two days before Mubarak or his wife Suzanne’s visits to different areas , especially in Zamalak or in Agouza , when Mubarak went to inaugurate the army hospital at Agouza after the improvements , they had to cut almost all the trees in the area for security reasons.

Ironically at the same time they cut the trees ,they decorate the street with flowers pots !!??

Take look below to these photos I took in Agouza to the trees in the Cornish , along the Nile street , already these trees are so old , some of them are hundred years old.

They are either cut but continued to grow again amazingly in a way that reminds me with Egypt again ,how it revives from the ashes or they are either cut and completely destroyed . Ironically the municipal workers could not remove the trunk !!

Friday, June 27, 2008

This scares me

I do not know why I do not feel good when I read this similar kind of news.

I just do not feel that the government and the regime have clear intentions to secure the Internet in Egypt.

About Polygamy and Homosexuality

Please read this translated column of Nawra Nagm ,which was published in Daily Wafd newspaper earlier this week commenting on the Homosexuality and our views as Muslim Arab society.

I really thank My dear friend Mohamed Al Gohary for taking time to translate it .

Here is the original scan of the column

Look as a Muslim and an Arab I refuse Homosexuality with all my respect to those who welcome it.

You can’t impose Homosexuality on a society that refuses it despite there are homosexuals in it , yes I admit there are homosexuals in Egypt I can’t deny it but you can’t impose it simply because you want it.

I mean what sort of democracy the west and America want and they want to impose something against the people’s well !! I think democracy says that the majority rule or wish should be respected as it represents the people’s wish. The Majority of Egyptian people refuses Homosexuality whether they are Muslims or Christians “The Orthodox Church is against it also”.

Judge Hisham El-Bastawesy explained this to a group of western human rights organizations from couple of months ago and they were not convinced.

We are Eastern , We are Muslims and Christians who are following their religions , the west must understand this and respect it. We do not care what happens in that part of the world but we care in our societies.

About Polygamy , the feminists in Egypt received a blow when the Al Azhar and the Minister of Justice said that no one will touch the polygamy right in the Egyptian laws after it was announced that it will banned in Egypt just like in Tunisia.

Theologically it is right Granted by God in Islam on set of conditions in the Holy Quran , where it was clearly that One is enough if that set of conditions mainly justice between wives whether compassion or economically are not met. If the man can sustained two households as it should than One is enough . The Holy Quran also says Do not ban what Allah “SWT” allowed , this is important

People whether men or women will refuse this  change I think because again you are standing against Islam and it is an old fact as this land we belong to that religion is ,was and will be the major factor in Egyptian Life.

Follow Up : The Forgotten Reporter

If You remember I brought up the Egyptian X-File of the forgotten reporter Mustafa Hamad earlier this month.

I tried to get an indirect answer from Al Jazeera Channel about this matter ,already I know a source there ;)

The answer came to me from two directions.

A senior editor in Al Jazeera officer in Egypt

Al Jazeera does not recognize his existence till now and does not want any relation with him

The General manager of Al Jazeera Wadah Khanfar , who was already among Al Jazeera office in Afghanistan

We do not have in our records any information about a reporter with that name who worked with us, may be he worked for us temporarily but we do not have employees with that name.

These are the answers from Al Jazeera , they deny and say that the man never worked for them and thus they are not responsible for his and his family disappearance or detention in Iran.

Well may be he did not work directly with them and he was a freelancer that had his connection with the Taliban and thus used it.

Already I do not blame Al Jazeera to deny any relation with Hamed but again I put all the reasonability and all the blame on the Foreign state , even if Hamed was arrested in Iran for his relations with Taliban, his family should return back home safely to Egypt .

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Against Torture

The European Commission is launching a campaign against torture . torture-poster-a2_en Already today marks the international day of Torture‘s victims and God knows how many they are in the Arab world from the Gulf to the Ocean.

In Egypt recently the torture incidents began to find its way to the media for the first time since very long time. Torture victims now began to speak more despite the fact that are still living under a regime that is proud of the infamous Nasserite heritage of torture . I will not lie if I say that Blogging and citizen Journalism helped a lot along with the civil society organizations.

According tot he Egyptian law Torture charges does not by seniority  still it is rarely applied.

The Emad El-Kabeer affair was just the start that gave us all hope that those sick people who torture others with no right what so ever can be punished regardless of how powerful they can be .

I followed here several torture cases like Emad El-Kebeer , Yahia from Siwa  and the Shaha Boy who is so lucky to have a mother like his , the poor maid who managed to make the D.A re-open the file again. Last February believe it or not a man was compensated by the court for being jailed and tortured during the Nasserite era , yes the Nasserite era, no one paid attention to this important and historical court order ,it passed in silent despite its significance. 

Unfortunately all the convicted and accused in these cases were 1_539956_1_23police force men , the same men who should protect us and obey the  law that prohibits torture. It is not only in Egypt again , it is a tragic thing that is happening across in the middle East that should be stopped . Believe it or not we may be luckier than countries like Syria or Morocco or Tunisia.

And Even if the EC is celebrating the day by launching a campaign like this we should not forget the secret roles played by the European Countries in having over the seas prisons , using outsourcing services of dictatorship regimes .

Of course I do not need to speak about the United States of 24:  Jack (Kiefer Sutherland, L) tries to get information from his brother Graham (Paul McCrane, R) in the America ,  Guantanamo bay prison is the best example , no you want to know what is the best example :  24 , the hit TV series 24 and the justified “from their point of view” overuse  for torture with no respect what so ever

Israel for sure had its old and stinky file of torture , no body cares to speak about ,may be because it is hidden beneath the continuous mass murder operations. It is not too hidden because what happened to the Arab prisoners especially our POWs with the horrible stories that reminds you with the time of the Nazis ,the only difference is that the Israelis were playing the Nazis role

I want to hint that in the month of June the beautiful Cinderella Soad T_beb52470-95e5-4c29-8a2d-d7154ef6a672Hosni of Egyptian and Arabic Cinema was killed in London and one of  her special roles in the Political film “The Karnak” based on Naguib  Mahfouz by the same name. This film beside showing the political view in the 1960s , the real during the Nasserite era ,it showed us how people can be destroyed from inside and how they need help.

Last thing this year I will not deny my wish that someone would compensate our Hero Mohammed Mahran from Port Said the 1956 Veteran for the torture he suffered from during his capture by the British forces during the Suez War . Picture-071

The British forces took off the eyes of Mahran while he was awake because he refused to cooperate with them against his country, they took his eyes to make totally blind.

This is a torture crime , this is a war crime that does not drop by seniority.

Mahran till now remembers the name of the doctor who tortured him , but he is refusing to be compensated because as a Muslim he believed it was a fate. Still it is not about the money but about the confession that a guilt , a crime took place.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The annual customs and traditions in the GSC exams

The General Secondary Certificate aka GSC is the most critical moment in the house of the Egyptian family because it is believed  as the period that would draw the future course of their children.

The GSC exams results qualify the student to join prestigious faculties and universities; the higher the score , the higher chance to 20070810062933_People_talk_Photo2 join prestigious faculties and Universities with bright future like medicine or economics and political science , despite the fact the graduates of these faculties do not find jobs "except with connection" still the people insist on believing that their kids future lay in these exams.
Every year there is a well known season in Egypt called "The GSC exams season" in the beginning of the summer in the month of June.
And Every year there must be usual complaints from the exams in the GSC whether the first phase "The second year in the GSC"
or the second phase "The third year in the GSC" or whether the Arts/literature section " studying non-mathematical-unscientific stuff" or the scientific-mathematical section of course this beside the technical secondary , the Azhari Secondary and the foreign secondary certificates.
The large portion of the Egyptian students study in the GSC , hundred thousands of students yearly enter their deadly zone , there is no household in Egypt that does not have a kid or relative here or there that is facing it.
I will not elaborate in explaining the complex system of the GSC , because after all it is being changed from time to time according to the minister's mood and the regime's ultimate wish to make people busy in anything except things that really matter "The GSC phenomena historically was invented in the Nasserite era , when Nasser's brother in law was the minister of education."

You only have to  know that the system of the GSC  system will be changed next year to another new one according to some education conference held from couple of months and that this system from the real educational and economical point of views is worse than the current one.

You also must know that annually the Egyptian families pay millions of pounds so their kids get tutors lessons to pass the exams because the teachers do no teach in schools as they should , why do not the teachers do their jobs as they should be ?? Because they do not get paid as they should ; despite the president promised in his presidential program to raise their minimum salaries level !! "It is closed circuit if you look to it , always back to the regime and its head"

cartoon-tests-copy

The worse thing in the GSC is its exams .There must be two or three hard exams especially in some subjects every year that make the students suffer from a nervous breakdown and the families mad at the ministry
This is an annual tradition
There must be crying and mourning outside the examination committees "Students have their exams in other schools to ensure secrecy and equity"
This is an annual tradition
There must be nervous breakdown and suicide cases for kids who did not reach 17 years old across the country
This is an annual tradition
Yesterday unfortunately a girl called "Merihan" {17 Yrs old} committed merhan_1214325446 suicide because of the Mechanics exam in Port Said  and a boy called Hassan {16 Yrs old} committed suicide because of the trigonometry exam in Giza this beside a girl has a paralyse in her face after being Shock from the Mechanics exam in Cairo , that girl is an A grade student ; usually those students are those who got shocked more than anyone and those who respond violently and dramatically to the exams.
I remember that from three years ago a relative of mine , an A grade student had a nervous breakdown , she was sent to the hospital and had to repeat the year , imagine the stress on a teenager from the family and the society !!
By the way in the trigonometry exam this year the students had threatened to strike because of the difficulty of the exam.
Already it turned out that scientific/mathematical section exams were put by University professors who did not open the subject books of secondary stage !!??
It became a common fact that the one who put these hard exams is suffering from psychological issue.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Ok stop this circus now

I can’t take it anymore from the so-called Copts of abroad ,  I am so surprised with all these protests they are doing across Europe , Clergy it makes you wonder where they have been from events like the Judges crisis  and Mahalla 6 April event when South Korea  and Lebanon protested in front  of our embassies against our rotten regime !!??
With my all due respect to their concern on their community in Egypt , this time the Orthodox Church is wrong and the monks are not that innocent.
Again this is not a sectarian fight but a land fight , a common fight in the Upper Egypt , it always gets ugly and to tell you the truth the monks are so lucky that they were kidnapped only , 50 people got killed once and even more in such fights , there are no regards to religions or status here , Christians kill other Christians over land disputes in Upper Egypt ,oh yes it happens I swear.
And If you want the truth ,the whole truth and you can handle it.here it is :
The Monks “Church” nor the Arabs have no right in this land they are fighting on.
This land turned to be state property , actually it is owned by the high supreme council of antiquities ,which is headed by Zahi Hawas .
Already the Governorate of Mania followed the laws , the civil laws , which is  the basis of the civil state not the religious state , they sent an investigation committee to the disputed land to see to whom it belongs fairly
What happened up till now ??
The monks of Abu Fana monastery are putting obstacles in front of the committee , obstacles like standing as human barriers in front of the committee .
Already I do not know why the monastery would do something like this except if they know they are wrong and trespassing the state properties.
Now I want to ask a very bad question :
In the photos of those protests around the globe ; why there are representatives from the Egyptian Church in it ??
I mean these protests directly call for a foreign intervention to save the Christians in Egypt , does the Egyptian Church want this to happen ??
All those priests you see in the photos are being sent by the Orthodox Church to represent it abroad officially , they do not move without the orders of the Church and this is why I am asking and wondering.
Pope Shounda refuses to comment directly on what happened by the way , well he is not in good condition after all
I know that there was a series of unfortunate events that took place in Egypt that some like to be described as sectarian , well the last one in Fayoum can be described as sectarian despite it did not start as sectarian but a family dispute between a Muslim man and his Christian wife.
I do not know why I have the feeling that some Ex-Egyptian Christian abroad want us to be next Iraq or Lebanon, I do not know if they understand the plan of the New Middle East , I used the “ex” term because I do not think that they are Egyptian anymore

Blogs in Egypt according to the cabinet

According to the cabinet in Egypt :
Officially There are 160,000 blogs in Egypt making it no.1 in the Arab world from the numbers of blogs
Cairo takes the lead nationally by 82,1%
where as in Delta it is 11%
while in Upper Egypt it is 6.8%

This is according to the cabinet numbers published in some newspaper I read it today.

It is interesting to see the cabinet making researches about blogs after underestimating it for long time.

Who is Sarah El- Sohail ??

Who is Sarah El-Sohail ??sarah_alsouhail
Who is this Iraqi Socialite  whose pictures and activities in every magazine  and newspaper in Egypt ??
I Know that she is rich and I know she is a Children books writer and and poetess despite the fact I did not hear about her before the invasion of Iraq
I am just curious
why is not she in Iraq ??
I hope she is charitable in her country like in Egypt.

By the Way she always surrounds herself with D-Listed Celebs

It was okay then.

I found this Ad while browsing

nukeshah

Interesting , is not it !!??

Monday, June 23, 2008

Albert Cossery

Today I found out that there was a very famous Egyptian writer called Albert Cossery who lived in Paris for the most of his life. Today I found about him  after his death.clip_image002[14]
Today I found out that the late Egyptian Writer who befriended France's famous writers and thinkers like Jean Paul Sartre
Today I found that his fans around the Globe called him "Voltaire of the Nile"
I feel so ignorant because I did not know or read for him before ,already I know Andree Shadid but I do not know how I missed Cossery.
May be it is not my mistake because his novels that were translated rarely in to Arabic , despite they were translated to other 15 languages and had a success , for example last year the New York Magazine called his novel "Infamy" or “Les Couleurs de l’ infamie”one of the world's best novels clip_image002[10]not yet published in English ,"Infamy" was his last novel published in 1999 and it was turned in a comic book , a successful one too.
What makes me too sad is despite most of Cossery life was in France "over 60 years , he left Egypt in 1945 and he was 94 years old when he passed away" , he did not leave Egypt totally , Egypt and Egyptians were the center of his work till the end,"Infamy was about Egypt and Egyptians"
In fact I do not know how can a person live almost all his life abroad write about the slums and vagabonds in Cairo , generally speaking may be the slums and vagabonds were not only memories but also they were a reflection for the slums and vagabonds in France.
Cossery seems to be very interesting strange personality , he loved laziness , he lived in the same modest street corner "Louisiana" hotel on Rue de Seine at the left Bank of Paris iclip_image002[6]n the same room for 60 years !!?? Imagine 60 years in the same room,his little Egypt !!

I live in my room as if I live in Egypt

He did not have car . In 1998 he suffered a lung cancer that made him unable to speak , he used to speak with the Journalists through writing in notes.
He married for a short time from a French actress , his life was a mix of laziness and writing.
I think that he believed in anarchism which I do not like.
I did not read anything till now for him but I am trying to find any novel in English , God knows I prefer Science fiction and crime detectives over these social black comedies but what I read today about him made me interested.
Even the only Egyptian adaption for his work in Cinema "Proud Beggars" by Asama Bakery , I did not see it , already Bakery is from Chahin's school that I am not fond of .
My question now why I never heard about him before , Why there was no coverage, Why everyone ignored him despite culturally we are so close to France. I know those who know French surely know him but what about those who do not speak French. He was not the first one to speak about the vagabonds and slums of Cairo , already there are many Egyptians who crossed that line and spoke about vagabonds and slums . There was not no praise or criticism about him in any newspaper. I mean ignoring him is not the answer.

clip_image002[12]

By the way the late author was born in Damietta and I think he was a Jew “I found it in some website”

Here is a extract from his novel comic “Infamy

And from Amazon :




Amazon.com: Les Couleurs de l'infamie, tome 1

ISBN: 2205054198
ISBN-13: 9782205054194





Amazon.com: Les Couleurs de l'infamie

ISBN: 2844120709
ISBN-13: 9782844120700


Do not play the man with principles role any more monsieur Chirac

Monsieur Jacques Chirac ,the former French president and our dear Franco-Friend threatened that he won’t attend the independence day parade if Bashar Al Assad attends.

The reason because Bashar is freaking dictator who is disturbing Lebanon not because he is a dictator and a son of a dictator who caused suffering and still are causing it to millions of Syrians.

With my all respect Chirac is the last to speak in this tone of principles with his past dealing with dictators.

chirac&saddam76

I mean from Saddam to Al Assad SR to Mubarak to King Hassan II,  how can I forgot King Hassan II of Morocco!!??

Konig_HassanII_38_mit_Prasident_Jaques_Chirac

With my all respect to all Moroccans what King Hassan II did against his opponents can not be forgotten easily ,still Chirac invited the King to the parade and he stood like his relatives in the funeral

16-october-2002

Mubarak regime is anything but democratic still it is a French state  friend .

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Already Chirac met with Al Assads whether the father or son when the Syrian army was in Lebanon and so now he woke up on the fact that Syria is interfering in the Lebanese affair ??

togetheragain2

For God Sake this is what France is doing in all most all its ex-colonies including Lebanon !!

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Double standards  make me sick.

Al Assad is like his father like Saddam is like Hassan II is like Mubarak

No difference

Here  I do not defend Al Assad , he got his media to defend him but I just do not like these double standards.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The prom Queen

When I saw her face in the mirror , I could not stop my tears from coming down.

Her face in the mirror reflection showed a lot despite in her age she knows nothing.

She is putting her make up so she can be pretty but there is sadness of her eyes that makes you wonder what this girl thinks , she is supposed to be happy in that particular night

It is her prom night , she is the queen tonight , a sad queen that can’t leave her castle.

abc_young_cancer_patient_june_080610_ssh

2 years old Cancer baby

The photo is from the American ABC news and goes with their coverage of a Prom held by a Children hospital for their cancer children.

By way the cancer among Children is increasing rapidly in very fearful ways in Egypt and all Syria.

You can help those children by donating in this website.

The Neo Mary Antoinette in Ministry of Agriculture

I have just read a strange statement for the minister of agriculture in Egypt ; Amin Abaza , he said
"Why we are bothering ourselves with Wheat and bread despite it causes anemia !! There are Meat , Poultry and Milk !!"
My dear minister the people are bothering themselves and yourself with Wheat because they can't afford Meat and Poultry !!
by the way I read today that the prices of Meat and Poultry will go up again so how can they get them !!??
Amin Abaza is a from the famous rich Abaza Clan in Delta , he is originally a cotton merchant still he understands zero in Agriculture and he is continuing in what Youssef Wali started in destroying our agriculture

Are we cruel people ??

It is the exams season now and sometimes when students can’t write anything in the answer sheet , they write other things than the answers from insults to the teachers mainly to some drawings or even lyrics of Amr Diab songs.

But it is not an usual thing to find a student write what can be considered an indirect criticism in his exam paper to the regime and the people of the country.

This is what happened in Qena ,while correcting a student’s Math answer sheet in the industrial secondary stage second year , a teacher found something made him freak out to report to the administration of the school which decided to reveal the student’s name and punish him.

The student name is Safwat Mohammed Ahmed and according to 50122 the examination committee decision in Luxor on the 15th of June 2008 he would be banned for the rest of the exams which means he would repeat the year again.

It did not stop there, they sent him to the state security in Luxor to continue the investigation !!

They wanted to know why the boy wrote what he had written .

What he had written is the following :

Cruel ruler and unjust people

He did not refer which ruler and which people if you notice.He did not mention the name of Mubarak in any possible way.

The boy said that he did it because he felt so angry , the Math exam was hard and all the rich boys in his class were able to cheat because their parent were able to bribe the teachers where as his poor parents could not do so.

I think this explains the “Unjust people” part , the boy is angry from this unequal unjust society where the rich can cheat as long as he has money.

But what about “Cruel Ruler”

I think he meant that Ruler that makes his society or his people like this is unjust , the ruler that leaves his people like this is unjust .

This is very dangerous thing and violation to human rights

First I do not know what kind of evil and hypocrite teacher would such thing to inform the authorities , in time of Gamal Abdel Nasser this kid would be in some jail now

Second why would they want to kill the spirit of this young man ?? why would they send him to State security ?? so he won’t do it again , well he would not do it again because he did it as an act of despair and anger.

Third this shows that the young generation is real fed up with all that crap in the country.

Look it is like a chain reaction first you got the Kafya guys then the bloggers then the facebook then the people began to express their anger like in Kharga Oasis , Damietta,Al Burullus and of course Al Mahalla ,then you got people who are sick from Corruption and decided to fight it like the doctors of Al Matrya hospital then you got boys like this young man who is simply expressing his thought.

I know that some will tell me these are unrelated stuff and I will tell you sorry that shows that the people again are fed up from this regime , whether they were old or young.

And it is great that the young people began to express their opinions like this .

Believe me it brings to my heart hope

Saturday, June 21, 2008

The moment Egypt stood still

The security of the Orba Presidential Palace succeeded in securing and saving President Mubarak's life which means Egypt is fine when they arrested two criminal terrorists last week.
Those two criminal terrorists were sent to the State Security after being held in the custody of the police station to know their real intentions.
Their real intentions must be known and those who sent them must be known so we can sleep at night.
Do not have any  compassion for their ages "14 Yrs Old" and "10 Yrs Old" , in Iraq they train kid to become suicide bombers ,well it was not less dangerous ,
Those pashas were caught red handed writing their names over the wall fences of the Presidential palace !!!??

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The wonderful illustration is from Neuro Productions

Agrium may write off its factory in Egypt

The best news ever,the people won after all , you cannot stand against people of how ever big you are.
My N.American Egyptian Princess sent me this wonderful link from Reuters Economic news and it made my day :)
It turned out that the relocation of the factory would cost the company so much added to it that no other Governorate wants to have in its land especially Port Said , the second suitable location after Damietta.
The Company after the recommendation and report of the Parliament has no other choice except to pack their bags and it is not their first time to do it , already it would be bad for their image to stay in Damietta despite the huge public with the help of the government breaking the decision of the parliament.
Update : The stocks of Agrium went down 11 cent in the stock Market because of this ,they are putting hope that the Egyptian Government would pay 200 million dollars compensation despite the agreement between Egypt and Canada which I mentioned before

On the other hand the Damietta people are celebrating their victory yesterday and today.
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We won
What bugs is that the NDP in Damietta is hanging “Thank you president Mubarak and son” posters all over the cities despite Mubarak and son did nothing.
I think if we were as careful as the people of Damietta on our Egypt , our lives would be different
Again this is not a victory for us or Egypt or Damietta but for the whole planet earth

The Nile Crocodile is not extinct yet ; a tribute that is not too late

Last month Egypt farewelled one of its athletes who raised its name 98abouheif high in the field of sport creating the living legend of Nile Crocodile : Captain Abdel Latif Abu Haif , our 20th century swimmer.

I had to two opportunities to meet this man but unfortunately I missed them : One in the summer vacation from three years ago , my friend invited me to spend two weeks with her in the North Coast in their villa , their neighbour next door was late Abu Haif , already my friend told me that despite his old age , Abu Haif used to swim in the sea every day . The second opportunity was a sad one in my Grandfather’s memorial service from two years ago. I was in the women’s section and he was in the men’s section. Still I had the chance to see him personally in Zamalak with his wife

Captain Abdel Latif Abu Haif was the Century swimmer in Egypt , he won the world championship for 5 successive years and he was the 1_919_942_52 third Egyptian to cross the English Channel “aka La Maunche in Egypt” after Ishaq “Isaac” Bek Abdel Kader and Hassan Abdel Rahim to start the saga of the Nile Crocodile in 1950s and 1960s for 3 times . And this is just few of his victories recommend to visit this webpage .

Captain Abu Haif was Egypt’s Champion in Long distance Swimming and Marathon Swimming ,already this sport was very very popular and successful in Egypt in its old golden days.

Abdel Latif Khamis Abu Haif was born in Alexandria on the 30th of January 1929 “oh yes on my birthday”. He wanted to become a swimmer after watching Johny Weismuller in a Tarzan film, already almost all Alexandrians are excellent swimmers whether women or men. He started to swim in the age of 10 . His role model was Ishaq 4_919_942_52Halmi who was the first Egyptian and Arabic to cross the English Channel. In 1951 he became the third Egyptian to cross the Channel from an Egyptian team made of 13 swimmers. King Farouk rewarded him by sending him to continue his education at Eaton then Royal Military academy Sandhurst where he graduated there in 1956. Still he was not engaged in the Military but in Swimming , he was the star in our legendary Egyptian swimming national team better known as “The Nile Crocodiles “ , they were and him especially important icon in the 1960s

He died in Cairo on the 21 April 2008 in Cairo after along time illness. He suffered from HVC that caused him Liver failure beside Skin Cancer.

He was married from his relative Manar Abu Haif ,the Egyptian Opera singer and he has one son Nasser Abu Haif.

He was honoured twice in 1998 and 2001 by the international 99 Swimming hall of fame in Florida , in 2001 after a poll made online ,he won the great remarkable title of “The Marathon Swimmer of the 20th century” of course this is beside his honours around the world and in Egypt.

This was a great man ,seriously , a role model of how a sports man should be.

His smile was so beautiful and he kept it even till his last days despite all what he suffered from

I am sorry but this picture is said to be his last in the media as you can see he was still keeping it

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Egyptians were the first African and Orientals from the East to cross the English channel as I hinted before starting with Ishaq Abdel Kader in 1928 who swam from France to UK Solo for 23 hours and 40 minutes , then Hassan Abdel Rahim in 1950 who swam from France to UK also solo for 10 hours and 15 minutes “can you believe it that from 23 hours to 15 hours !!??”

In 1984 the first Egyptian to cross the Channel swimming in the two ways was Mr. Osama Ahmed Momtaz and he took 21 hours and 37 minutes “Can You imagine how tiring it is ??!!”

Egyptians are on the top Arab swimmers in the English Channel , more than 20 times they succeeded in crossing it from UK to France , and more than

Even our special need swimmers had succeeded in crossing it several times.

Unfortunately in the last 20 years no body cares about Long distance swimming.

But there is still a hope.

I do not know if it is fate or not but Egypt was qualified to represent Africa in the Long Distance swimming category in Beijing 2008 Olympics games . This happened directly after the death of Abu El-Haif and strangely the champion who was qualified was the same young man Abu El-Haif expected him to revive hopefully the legend of the Nile Crocodile

Mohammed Zanatay , whom I wish all the luck in Beijing , I know it is tough but we can make it again

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Today one month would have passed on the death of Egypt’s great icons in the 20th century .

May Allah bless your soul Nile Croc.

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Friday, June 20, 2008

Follow Up : More coverage from Damietta

Al Jazeera talk crew were in Damietta to cover the Agrium affair , the field report is in Arab ,still it summarizes the whole matter ,it also has wonderful photos from the city and the location of the factory itself

Al Jazeera Talk on EAgrium

They Will return one day

They will return one day

palnaji93

20th of June

The world Refugee day

The wonderful illustration was by the famous Naji Al Ali of Palestine and yes there is a bomb in her ear instead of the earning.

And the people of Damietta won another new battle

It is not strange thing after all because if you check the history of Damietta and its people you will know that they were and are still our first line in the face of the enemy who ever or what ever it was .
At last the Egyptian Parliament said its word after a month of evaluation in the Agrium matter. Already after the huge and violent refusal of the people of Damietta to host this pollutant factory in their land , the Egyptian Parliament in an attempt to calm the people down formed an evaluation committee in which its finding will be the basis of the parliament recommendation to the government  whether in the interest of the people or the interest of the Canadian company .
After a month or something the results were announced from two days ago and today the parliament discussed the finding to reached to a decision .
The decision came as it should be
The Factory of EAgrium should be transferred outside Damitta .
at last thank God
The evaluation committee reached to three suggestion after a thorough investigation based on scientific, economic and public opinions.
These suggestion were  to combat the resulting pollution :
1- To planet a forest of thick trees to make a balance , it is not feasible because those trees will need many years to form a thick forest to stand against the pollution produced by the factory .
2- To win the people’s acceptance which is also impossible , the people of Damietta do not want this factory in their land and they swore to fight it one by one .
3- To transfer the factory to anther place.
The last option was the only option for the parliament to choose , they did not have any other option from the beginning , the other two options I believe were put to please the Canadian company and to show it that we are fair.
Well speaking of fairness ,this factory should not be in Egypt in the first place. already it turned out that  a Canadian city has refused that factory before forcing Agrium to transfer it outside Canada.
I do not know if the government will listen to the recommendation of the Parliament or not , it is wise to listen , the people of Damietta do not want it and it can be violent if the Government as usual insists on having it.
Already I read that the CEO of Agrium has visited prime minister Nazif and this scares me.
Agrium position in Egypt is critical now , all the banks that finance the project next week may withdraw its investments , even if there is a transfer plan as there is fear the project would be met by another public refusal in the new location.
Upper Egypt refused it, Suez Governorate and Port Said Governorate are refusing it publicly and promise to repeat what happened in Damietta if the government thought of transferring it.
Here are some photos from Damietta from two days ago ,more than 1200 gathered there protesting against the factory mainly from Women and Children “I love that kid with Spider Man mask”