Welcome Welcome!

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Such a lame greeting!
But anyways, this guy is awesome. He has his own comic-blog now. It has just one cartoon so far, but if that guy kept his heart in it, he'll go places!
Welcome Tarek!

If you don't get the sodomy refrence, go here!

Did They Fail?!

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I'm watching El Lyla El-Kbera operetta with my quasi-religious aunt, when she sighs "they failed! They couldn't do something similar". She was clearly nostalgic, but it made me think.
Did people really gave up on cinema, theatre, literature etc... for extreme-religion or did the movie-makers, actors, writers, and artists sell out on them?!
Just wondering!

My Stock Tip

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Markets are fascinating things. Barring any fraud or anti-competitive factors, they provide an almost instant indicator of the overall mood, and sentiment in the whole society.
Current Egyptian stock market recommendation: Strong Sell!
You got the point!
The stock market is very sensitive to lots of factors. That's why I've been pondering the relation between the recent dive of the stock market and the current political situation in Egypt. I figured it all make sense.
According to this BusinessWeek article, the numerical indicators of the economy are good (6% annual growth; $3.2 billion in DFIs), but the CASE-30 (major stock index) continues to underperform. It lost around 25% in 3 months!
In my opinion this has mainly to do with the very volatile political situation. Now, I'm not saying that this turmoil is a result of pro-democracy movements (regardless how admirable they're) but it has mainly to do with the fact that sooner or later (and most probably sooner) Egypt will inevitably has to deal with a major power vacuum (actually the only power vacuum that counts in this country). Mubarak is aging, and is expected to soon either be a former (and be the first), or a later president (some are even wondering whether he is the current!), and although speculations about Gamal Mubarak succeeding him are very strong, it is very hard to imagine how will this be achieved if Mubarak Sr. died before handing the presidency to his son. Many parties can potentially have eyes for the big job (Army, NDP old guard, etc..), and Gamal, although moving tactfully to form a strong base for himself (ministers, editors-in-chef, NDP youth) will pale when compared with the political clout those other parties can muster.
Also the conflict with the judiciary can prove very harmful to investor confidence. For investors (foreign ones especially) news that "judges are not independent in Egypt", automatically means that "investments are not safe in Egypt". Because how attractive investment laws are here, the absence (or even the perceived absence) of strong, independent judges to enforce it, mean that these laws are worthless.
The article summarizes:

While economic reforms are proceeding fairly smoothly, the political convoy seems to have hit a roadblock -- a point underlined by recent police beatings in central Cairo of demonstrators demanding independence for the judiciary. Mubarak, who will mark a quarter century in power in October, will eventually die or become too old to rule. But just who will succeed him is far from clear. "It's the million dollar question, " says Orascom Telecom's Sawiris.

Back to the stock exchange. I guess it will take something in the vicinity of 2-3 years for the stock change to rebound. This is the time frame during which, I think, a transfer of power will happen.
Till then, hold on to your hats as we continue falling...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Droubi Is Free!

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Today is the 26th of May, and Droubi is, according to an SMS from a friend, FREE!
Mabrok 4 the Droubster!

Doesn't that sound familiar?!

It's the 25th Of May!

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Well, not yet, but the build up for the day is amazing.
I'm totally overwhelmed by the number of events organized all over the worl (yeah the world!!) in support of Egyptian judges.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I really don't feel the need to elaborate on the map below.
Click on each city for info about demonstrations staged there.
Keep checking for updates, information, statements, pictures, and news from the sites of the demonstrations.


Update 1 7:00 PM (24/5): Paris demo is over. 30 people showed up. Click Paris marker for the photos.
Update 2 2:00 PM (25/5): It seems like the day is heading towards a very unclaimactic end. No news of any demos here in Cairo!!!! Just a stand-in in AUC so far!!!! Ramses St (which was occupied by security forces during past demos) is so clear I'm thinking of doing laps throught it (just because I can). That is so weird! Major setback for opposition if you ask me. But let's wait and see!
Update 3 5:00 PM (25/5): First news of demonstrations in the Higher Court, Journalists syndicate, and AUC.
Update 4 5:00 PM (25/5): Demo infront of Dareeh Saad at 7 PM

Note: San Francisco, and Seoul have demonstrations also. Scroll the map to see them!

Many thanks to Ahmed Zahran from elkhan-elmasry.blogspot.com
To add items to this map, please comment on this post.
To link to this map on your blog, copy the following code into a post or template:
<a href="http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/tomanbay/18738" target="MyMap"><img src="http://www.mapbuilder.net/img/MyMap.gif"
alt="MyMaps at MapBuilder.net" width="80" height="15" border="0"></a>
To include the map into your blog copy this code to a post:
<iframe src="http://www.mapbuilder.net/UserMapFrame.php?
UserName=tomanbay &amp;Map=25th_of_May_Protests" name="mainFrame" frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" width="450"></iframe>

Act As If

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Whenever I am following the political maneuvers of the different parties (mainly MB and government) here in Egypt,I always remember an instruction the character played by Ben Afflick in the movie 'Boiler Room', gave to the junior traders in a brokerage firm: "Act as if..."
The government is always acting as if it is a really elected government in hope that people will believe it is. (Also reminds me of an old, hideous lady who decided all of a sudden to act as if she was a pretty young girl, and start talking about "new vision"). They are acting as if the demonstrations are such a trivial matter that isn't at all worrying them, in the hope that we will believe this, and in turn be dissuaded from participating. They're acting as if they mean what they say about how what the judges are doing (striking and voicing their dissent) is really shameful to the "respect of the judge and justice", hoping that the judge will feel ashamed by this (but not that one of their own was beaten in front of the Judges Club).
The MB is even more skilled at this game. They're acting as if they're the strongest political force in the country, hoping that everybody will believe this and be intimidated into joining them or at least avoiding them (but why did they run for 120 seats of the 444 of the parliament...hmm..I wonder). They act as if they're the strongest force between students in student unions (read Rosa Al-Youssef article about how they're penetrating the AUC student union--I know a couple of things about that, and believe me they're a considerable force, but far from being able to sway an elections there), hoping that we believe that they have the universities in their pocket. They act as if they control all professional syndicates, but they always fail to win the presidency of any of those syndicates.
In all those instances, the MB is trying to intimidate elected representatives and officials into caving in to their demands and agendas without being in the center of any controversy. Or even worse, without suffering any losses (like that which they would have suffered had they ran for the 444 seats of the parliament) which will be just defying to their whole strategy.
Pretty smart.
Why is the government doing the "Act as if" ?...They just think we're clueless.

The Way We Are

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This is a copy an email I wrote to Kevin from LeanLeft in response to a question he posed about the judiciary struggle in Egypt. This was written almost a week ago, so it doesn't include the ruling of the disciplinary committee on Thursday (which decided to blame one of the judges -Bastawisi-, while acquitted the other)

"I come from a small country".
Here is a declaration that could get me in all sorts of trouble with the Egyptian fascinista.
Watching the evening news on Egyptian TV, or reading the state owned newspapers, you get the feeling that Egypt is as developed a country as they come. They're always talking about how great the achievements of this country, how defiant we are to the forces of reality, how unyielding we are to all sorts of challenges, and how our great history sets the tone for our even greater future. All of course is done under the wise leadership, and shrewed management of Egypt's greatest Pharoh...err...I mean president Husni Mubarak.
(Americans: stop me when it gets too familiar)
Without going into much details let me give you a quick round up of Egyptian politics during the last century (yeah!). The British were occupying Egypt. Nationalistic Liberal opposition was gaining traction in the Egyptian street at the dawn of the century. It managed to revolt against the British in 1919, and subsequently forced them to declare Egypt as a sovereign state in 1922. Egypt had a democratically elected Parliament, and parties which took turns forming governments. The king was a bit corrupt, and the English (although declared Egypt independent) didn't leave, so a group of officers staged a coup d'etat (another death sentence if you uttered that on state TV--blessed revolution is more like it). Military men ruled. Nasser and Sadat oppressed the people because "no sound should be louder than that's of the battle with Israel". While Mubarak, coming after the peace treaty with Israel, oppressed people under the context of fear of Islamic terrorists. Needless to say, those terrorists gained grounds in the Egyptian street because of the years of oppression and minimal development. Through it all of course, all powers of liberal opposition were utterly, and completely crushed. (I realize this is a gross over simplification of around 80 years of history....whatever!)
So we're now in this situation, where Mubarak has been ruling for over 25 years and he is gleefully grooming his son to succeed him. Happy ending? Nah
Thousands of miles away, a certain president Bush undertook the holy mission of dropping 'the shimmering lights of freedom' on the middle east. He places a call to Mubarak down in Egypt, telling him to essentially 'give the people a break'. Unprecedented demonstrations erupt everywhere in Egypt. Nobody can believe whats happening. What was a bit more than a wet dream under the emergency law (a law that effectively overrides the constitution for the sake of the president) had become a reality. The police was actually protecting the demonstrators not beating the living hell out of them (you have to live 50 years under police rule to understand who big this is) We thought we're suffering a mass illusion. But apparently it was true. Mubarak announced that we'll have a multi-candidate presidential elections!! HURRAY! (tailored to fit the ruling party candidate, but every step count doesn't it?) On top of that, judges, instead of police, will supervise DOUBLE HURRAY!! They will even supervise the following parliamentary elections HURRAY HURRAY HURRAY!!
Right? Nah...
Some judges smelled a rat. Well, smell is an understatement. They actually saw one...a huge one indeed. Polls were rigged by police, voters were prevented access to polling stations, and some candidates were even arrested on the night of the elections. A list surfaced with the names of the judges who were in cahoots with the government to fix the results in favor of the NDP (ruling party). The NDP won around 80%, while the Muslim brotherhood (the islamist 'banned' party that is gaining the most support in the street, I'll have to admit) won around 20%. Anyways, when the list went out, a couple of judges ( Mahmud Mekki and Hisham Bastawisi) asked that those judges be investigated to either clear the side of the judges, or punish those responsible to maintain the credibility of a whole branch of the government. So, what do you expect to happen? The minister of justice (appointed by the president) orders the two judges (who demanded the investigation!!) to face a disciplinary committee (and eventually be ejected!)
The judges (all of them) decided that that was too much, and decided to strike back. They decided to strike in the 'Judges Club' (their semi-formal professional association), and to press for more Judicial freedom from the executive (how can a minister (executive) be able to eject a judge?!). Their voice was heard in the street.
Demonstrators from all different political inclinations, took the judges' club as a symbol of resistance to the oppressive regime, and as a scene for lots of anti-Mubarak demonstrations. This time the police was true to form. Excessive violence was used against peaceful demonstrators, hundreds were arrested, and the judges were denied access to the court house where the disciplinary committee sessions took place.
Some people attribute this backlash to the fact that the US is reliving the regime from pressure, now that they know that the Muslim Brotherhood will rule if a democratic elections took place in Egypt. Some people think that the reason is that Gamal is getting ready to fill the big shoes. Others just think the government went crazy!
Well, where does that leave us now?
On the micro level, the showdown continues; the Judges' Club is still under the siege of very aggressive security forces, and all is set for a magnificent showdown on may 25th (anniversary of the constitution amendment that allowed multi-candidate elections, and which the opposition thinks that it places too much restrictions on the right for anybody to run for the elections) between the judges and protesters on one side and the government police, and plain clothed thugs on the other.
On the greater scale however, this is a very decisive battle for the whole region. It is a battle for the clear definition of authorities between the different branches in government. Egypt is a very diverse, populous country which has huge influence on the culture of the region. A democratic opening in Egypt, would surely inspire a lot of people in places like Syria, and Saudi Arabia to actually stand up and demand more rights. It's a battle between people who want the constitution to be upheld, and others who actually cheer for an emergency law that gives excessive powers to a single person (the president).
What do we need from non-Egyptians out there? I think we can't ask for more than the assurance that there are other people in the world who support our struggle. Who think that we deserve more than just being a factor in an intricate balance of power in this region. We need to know that their are people out there who support our movement, because it makes sense, and not only political convenience.
I have written about NSA wiretapping, and Bush's imperial powers, not because of some sort of fascination or attachment to America, but rather because I believe that as free people Americans deserve much better than their current leadership. I (and every level-headed person in this country) need to know that their are other people out there who think that we deserve just the same.

Bonus Link

Words of Terror

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I was recently talking with a friend about American conservatives, and their attitudes towards issues in the middle east. He thinks that 1) it is a good thing they care about what's happening over here; 2) they genuinely believe in the importance of the welfare of people over here.
My reactions are 1) it is wrong to try to generalize any traits over such a large group of individuals; 2) even if he can, and what he is claiming is true, I am having a hard time believing that mere well intentions are the reason for this on again, off again concern.
I wanted to supply him with examples to support what I wanted to say, until I came across this article and thought 'search no more'.
I also thought 'what the bloody hell?!!!":

To sit and listen to people who have spent the last three years piously lecturing us on the need to stand with "the Iraqi people," who justified our invasion of that country on the ground that we want to give them a better system of government because we must make Muslims like us more, now insist that what we need to do is bomb them with greater force and less precision is really rather vile -- but highly instructive. The masks are coming off. No more poetic tributes to democracy or all that sentimental whining about "hearts and minds." It's time to shed our unwarranted white guilt, really stretch our legs and let our hair down, and just keep bombing and bombing until we kill enough of them and win. Shelby Steele [WSJ writer] deserves some sort of award for triggering that refreshingly honest outburst.

MUST READ!

Shy Love

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I read that at Sandmonkey's, and was a bit surprised:

There have been rumors in Egypt of a meeting between the NDP and the MB, where the NDP offered the MB about 30% of the parliament in the next election, thus giving them significant opposition powers, in exchange of the MB supporting Gamal Mubarak when he runs for President of Egypt and not make a big stink over it. The MB now are denying that such a meeting took place, but NDP leaders insist that it did. Someone's lying, and given the reputation of both organizations, it could easily be either one.

The reason I was surprised wasn't that I didn't think that this is possible, but rather because I was under the impression that the MB is the one insisting that those meetings happened (Arabic - English m/t here), while NDP's Safwat El-Sherief clearly denied it.
Isn't that sweet? They're both now out of the closet on this. Be Proud!

Satan Made Me Do It

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For all self-loathing wackos who vehemently believe that we (Arabs, Muslims, Egyptians; pick up your slur) are the most retarded people in this world, because of "our" religious tendencies, read this.

The nationwide telephone survey of 1,013 U.S. adults, conducted May 5-7, found that 19% see Satan trying to destroy people's religious faith when sales soar for books, movies and studies that raise doubts about Jesus or the Bible. People who attend church weekly were more likely to believe that

Seems right in time for the debut of Omen, on 6-6-06 ...awww. Reminds me of this old lady on a London bus who swore that Bush was the anti-Christ. "He has 666 on the back of his head" she said as she drew this scared face! Uh..some days!
Of course, I can see people with their hands on their ears screaming "but we don't kill innocent people now do we?". Well, you don't (not in a similar fashion anyhow). But just wait untill somebody form this (growing) 19% decides to 'fight' Satan. Now, they have to be proactive, don't they?!

Scott Adams: Iran's Pointy Haired Mullahs

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For a 'cartoonist', this man is exceptionally brilliant, and, ...I'm not saying that, ...well..., insightful!
Moving from office politics, Scott takes on Iran's nuclear crisis. He succinctly predicts what a lot of people (not the ideological, xenophobic, paranoid lot anyhow) had predicted for a while: Iran found the US n-spot!

My next prediction is that the United States and Iran will become friendly in the next five years, similar to the way the Cold War ended. I don’t think we’ll see Iran in NATO, but I’m expecting embassies and trade and maybe some help rounding up terrorists. And I think those Iranian almost-nukes will make this all happen. Iran will move from a mischief-making renegade country to a respected world power and they’ll see the benefit of acting responsibly

This coupled with the fact that the US needs Iran to stabilize Iraq, means that Iranians would be soon enjoying 5$ latte's in Islamboly's Starbucks, Tehran.

Freedom On The March

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According to this report, the government is apparently snooping into the phone records of millions of citizens. Apparently the government has a detailed records of every call everybody makes to family, friends, and co-workers. The report show that.....
Wait a second, you thought I'm talking about Egypt?...Well, apparently freedom starts at home. This is the US we're talking about here...(whoever said we can't teach those Yankees something or two about deeeeeemoc-racy!)
Just stop wondering what the US is doing about our freedom. Americans have issues of their own!

Whoever said that our sufferings are not the same after all? *sigh*

Pssst..Bush..yeah you...maybe you can think about that....you'll thank me!

Speak Up

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The two judges at the center of this growing conflict, Mahmud Mekki and Hisham Bastawisi , have spoken up.
In an article sent to the Guardian, they outlined their struggle, and, in my opinion, kicked off a real campaign (the most serious one actually) aimed at uprooting a regime that had gone further than any other in suppressing...well, about anybody!
They think, however, that this regime has accomplices:

In Egypt we don't have any confidence in US policy because it is a contradictory policy that pays lip service to democracy while supporting dictatorships. We have confidence in the Egyptian people. We welcome support from any quarter, but we won't rely on it. We will depend on ourselves in our campaign for reform and change.

Americans: Here is the cause of freedom, liberty, and democracy on the march. Get rid of this man already!
Anyways, go read. [hat tip: the Arabist]

Meanwhile, in downtown Cairo, the police escalated its aggression towards the Egyptian people. What was supposed to be a day of peacful support of the aforementioned judges during their court session had turned into, no exaggeration whatsoever, a full fledged urban battle.
See the pics here, and here. No comment here.

The events are too much to comprehend, and they're evolving at a hectic pace. I don't have any insightful comments to share (if I ever did), but I wanted to share this with you.

Throughout the day the words of this song of Mohammed Mounir had been echoing in my ears:

ليه تسكتي زمن
اتكلمي
ليه تدفعي وحدك الثمن
اتكلمي
و تنامي ليه تحت الليالي
اتكلمي
المشربيات عيونك
تحكي علي خانوك
اللي سنين هملوك
جوه البيبان سلسلوكي
اتكلمي

Why shut up for ages?
Speak Up
Why pay the price all by you own?
Speak Up
Why sleep under the heavy nights?
Speak Up

Old Windows are your eyes
Telling stories about those who betrayed you
Those who for years humilated you
Who, inside closed doors, chained you up
Speak UP!

Have No Idea What That Means! (Extra: Paranoia Ensues!)

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Search for "Mubarak" in google...the 16th result (and the first results for blogs) is a link to yours truly. (The second result for "go Mubarak" is...gulp...mine!)
Part of me is glad (don't know why)...but another part (a bit larger one in fact) is not that excited...(you know with the whole dissin' the president stuff-it's now a crime-you can never be sure what would they consider to be disrespect for the big man!)
I better work on preparing my 'mentally disturbed' papers!

update:
**PARANOIA ENSUES**:
a)Sandmonkey, and Big Pharoh are starting to get the jitters!
b)Manalaa.net (arrested blogger Alaa's homepage) is down! (or is it just me?!)

It Feels Good To Be Right

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Never like to do 'the I told you so' thing, but the resemblance is uncanny:
On the 24th of February (10 weeks) ago , I wrote about the economic effect of the chicken scare that ensued because of the outbreak of bird flu. Today, Reuters ran a report that pretty much says the same: chicken prices increased 5 folds, and it will take at least a year and half for the production to return to its normal levels.

Boring Albeit Necessary Law Lesson

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Ok, this is so anticlimactic, I feel like an old man preaching to a rioting mob, but the importance of rule of law had risen to be the essence of the populace struggle against this totalitarian rule.
Have no doubt about it: Alaa, and Droubi were both detained because of disregard to a law they went out trying to defend it, and to support people who still had respect to it (the judges).
But an important question must be answered: What does the law actually says? What does it say about the rights of people to assemble and voice their opinion?
I was thinking about that, because one commentator (I guess American) was dubious about whether the Egyptian law actually ensured the right of those detained protestors to freedom of speech and assembly, and how it is all too 'western' to be relevant to Egypt.
Here is what the Egyptian constitution says in Chapter 3: Public Freedoms, Rights, and Duties:

Art.41: Individual freedom is a natural right not subject to violation except in cases of flagrante delicto. No person may be arrested, inspected, detained or have his freedom restricted in any way or be prevented from free movement except by an order necessitated by investigations and the preservation of public security. This order shall be given by the competent judge or the Public Prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Art.42: Any citizen arrested, detained or whose freedom is restricted shall be treated in a manner concomitant with the preservation of his dignity. No physical or moral harm is to be inflicted upon him. He may not be detained or imprisoned except in places defined by laws organizing prisons. If a confession is proved to have been made by a person under any of the aforementioned forms of duress or coercion, it shall be considered invalid and futile.
Art.47: Freedom of opinion shall be guaranteed. Every individual shall have the right to express his opinion and to publicise it verbally, in writing, by photography or by other means of expression within the limits of the law. Self criticism and constructive criticism shall guarantee the safety of the national structure.
Art.54: Citizens shall have the right to peaceful and unarmed private assembly, without the need for prior notice. Such private meetings should not be attended by security men. Public meetings, processions and gatherings shall be allowed within the limits of the law.

Now, we all know that the emergency law annulled nearly every single word you just read.
I was actually trying to find the text of the law, and the closest I got was that Arabic text (English m/t but isn't entirely decipherable). To tell you the truth, I was horrified! Not that I ever imagined that any text can be so bleak, but to think that there were actual representatives cheering for that law in the People's Assembly chamber last week goes to show how absolutely corrupt and rotten this whole thing had become.
Just read this:

The President is entitled to establishing restrictions on the freedom of persons to meet, move, reside, and or pass through certain places in certain times and the arrest of suspects dangerous to the security and public order, arrest and licensing in the search of persons and premises without compliance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as assigning anyone to perform any kind of work.

Kings don't have it that easy for God's sake!


On another, albeit related note, I knew a guy who was arrested during the Anti-American demonstrations that erupted after Iraq invasion in 2003. The guy was arrested for the 'standard' 15 days. But during those 15 days we couldn't know anything about his whereabouts, his status, or how he was treated. After he was released, he told us that there weren't any torturing, just the usual police harshness. It seems rather peculiar that this time we're able to know how badly the detainees are treated, how severe the torturing is, and how horrible their conditions are. I wouldn't be surprised if a video even 'leaked' out of one of those prisons.
Why?
Because that is exactly what the regime is trying to do. Now that the protests are getting traction (especially with the judges support), the regime is desperately trying to scare people from joining in. It's a scare tactic and it will only succeed if people were actually scared!
I hope this gives you ideas!

Arrested Protestors

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This is just in: Arrest period was extended for the protestors detained on April 24th, for 15 more days. Mind you, this is an ad-hoc arrest, no subpoena warrant, or court orders issued. This brings the period they're spending in prison, without facing charges, to 30 days.
The word is that the treatment they're receiving is very poor. One detainee, who is diabetic, is facing great difficulty in obtaining insulin, and when he does, it is always in a belated manner.
This seems to confirm suspicions that the government will continue this illegal arrest until the infamous May 25th passes (the first anniversary of the constitutional amendment referendum, and the police brutality against protestors).

Link: Free Droubi, Blogger Alaa Status

'Unified Call' To What?

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The ministry of Endowments (which is responsible for religion...still not registering why!) had been discussing this project forever, and now they're saying they're about to implement it:

When the project starts, a single muezzin chosen for the quality of his voice will make the call to prayer from a central location and the call will be transmitted directly to loudspeakers at the top of the city's thousands of minarets.

I agree with this government project for a change. But, I have an Orwellian concern: What if somebody, other than the muezzin gets hold of this 'magic' microphone? We're not talking about radio now, which some people have, some don't, and you can never guarantee that even all those who have it are tuned in to the same station at the same time. We're talking about a 'voice' that will be heard all over Egypt in the same instant. The speakers at all the different mosques would be operated remotely. So, if somebody decided to hog the microphone for any reason, all of Egypt would have to hear him!
Now, I can understand how tight the security would be around this 'blessed' microphone, but what if the government is the one who will abuse it. They can start be playing nationalistic songs in national days, and then move one to broadcasting messages about how great the achievements of the governments (and the party) are. Then they can have a unified call for us to wake up, and another one to sleep. It can also be used in emergencies like 'outlaws wanting to destabilize the country through riots and demonstrations', by contracting some interior minister assistant to read us our rights as citizens. But, it won't be all bad, happy moments will be shared also. Like Gamal Jr.'s first words, or the harmonic voice of the First Snore.
Now, that's what I call a united nation!

Pure Flickr Goodness

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Ayat Shendy, biology student at Kent State, demonstrates her belly dancing in front of an Egyptian flag and a gold woven fabric listing the 99 different names of Allah. Ayat's never taken any belly dancing classes, but "It's in my blood!," she says.

Courtesy of BohPhoto (more excellent photos there)

Egyptian Magna Carta (cont'd)

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Article 2:

The Emergency law isn't a popular concern. And, it's not on the "public agenda". Don't make a fuss about it.

(i.e. the fact that we can round you up, abuse you, then kidnap you isn't really your thing. We give you freedom, we take it as we see fit, and we determine what's on your agenda)

Gamal Mubarak, Egypt's next monarch

Via Almasry Alyoum [English machine translation]

Egyptian Magna Carta

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Article 1:

You bitches. You sons of bitches. This is how it is going to be from now on if you do not behave and know your limits. If you do not behave you’ll have the bottom of my old shoes all over you

Sami Sedhom, Assistant to the Egyptian Minister of Interior

Via The Arabist

You Have The "Right" To Shut Up

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Conservatives are funny. Mid-Easterners ones rock. But whatever you think of their mental abilities, they are on their best form when they're butchering, err, I mean analyzing works of art.
I have watched 'V for Vendetta'. Good movie. Not an artiste film, but good for a 'flick'. Never heard of the book before (that's an ignorance I'm willing to admit), so I wasn't really burdened by trying to find minute discrepancies between the movie and the book. Also, I think a movie, is a movie, is a movie. Just watch the movie, and have your opinion based on that. Who cares what the book really said? I can only hold an artist accountable (hold an artist accountable? doesn't look right to me, but will do...also I'm saying artist in the instance with a huge grain of salt!), I said I can hold him accountable for what he/she said. Period. Also, drop the ideological paranoia. The more ideological your interpretation is, the more you seem, well, an ideologist!
But back to conservatives. The pundits among them especially. They seem to have a general tendency to be well, what should I say, angry! There are always huge chips on their shoulders. They don't 'criticize', they 'attack'; they don't 'debunk', they 'annihilate' (if you don't believe me, wait for the responses to this post!). Well, good for them! The more dangerous neo-cons aside, they all remind me of children playing sims. 'I'm sitting on my lazy-boy, too, you guessed it, lazy to lift a finger, but I'm just gonna sit here and write incredibly angry blogs, about how the evil, immoral, godless left is trying to destroy our way of living through it's evil arm in Hollywood, with movies like the 'Passion of Christ', and 'The Matrix'...after that let's pop-in a dvd, and check that new flick"
Gimme a break! Hollywood is an insult to 'Cinema', but not to the right-wing!
As I was waiting for 'V' to start, a trailer for a movie called 'The Great Raid' came up. I turned to the guy next to me, and said 'How much would you wanna bet that these words will be said in the next 30 seconds: honour, pride, freedom, courage..." Before I even finished, the narrator started with his deep voice "They were men of honour, they were on a mission, a mission to secure our freedom...a mission to restore our pride"...or some shit like that!
If I got a penny for every Hollywood movie that romanticized war, spread pseudo-nationalistic sentiments, or tried to sneak quasi-religious morality behind our backs, I would be partying with Ahnuld in some Republican party fundraiser.

Tags: conservatives, liberals, movies, hollywood

Ma Dawg Down At The Sharm -- Keepin It Real!!

Moved on! Check TheCairoCalls

I've been taking myself too seriously these past couple of days, so here is a little bit of pure Egyptian 'diversion'
We now have our own 50P! Check it out yo!
Now, I am pretty sure the guys down at the Sharm have their own "amateur" finding service...if you known what I mean!
Peace out hommies!

Via: Walk Like An Egyptian

Bush Couldn't Pronounce "Suppress" Too Many Times, I Guess!

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I've never been a fan or a supporter of the "America has to do it" ideology when it comes to democratic reforms in Egypt. They might have something to do with the "opening up" of last year, I'll give you that, but now the IHT thinks that they're also accomplices in the "cracking down" of last weeks. Must read!

Via The Arabist

Mubarak vs Hamas

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It seems that all quasi-royal families tend to hold grudges. Bush held a big one for Saddam, and Mubarak seem to be holding one for Hamas.
Now before Neocons (Americans, and Arabs--can you believe we have those? strange times!) start fuming "Hamas is a terrorist organization" out of their nostrils, let me just say that I'm speaking from a completely pragmatic, Egyptian, strategic point of view. Machiavellian, if you wish.
It is a strategic imperative that whoever is governing Palestine will need Egyptian support (for lots of reasons). And for a while Egypt seemed to be holding on to this card, as if it will bail us out of some jail; thanks to our horrible foreign policy, this was the only issue that kept Egypt a relevant regional player (i.e. "America, Israel, or the EU can't talk to Palestinians? Easy, go to Mubarak down in Cairo, and he'll take care")
It is also well known that Hamas (the democratically elected Palestinian government, for better or worse) is a satellite organization of Ikhwan (MB) in Egypt (in his latest TV interview, Mahdy Akef bragged that Ismail Hanea, Palestinian PM, consulted with him about his cabinet)
It is also a fact that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, isn't the gladdest folk on the block about the outcome of the Palestinian elections; he certainly wished for his Fatah to form the government.
In a situation like this, I would imagine that Egypt should have tried to hold all the strings in its hands. Mubarak should have tried to 1) contain Hamas and win their trust; 2) up the pressure on Mahmoud Abbas to try to get him to cooperate with his government; and 3) convince the Americans and the Europeans, as well as Hamas, that if anybody wanted to communicate anything to the other party, then they should take it to him...in other words, play everybody's friend (aka Mubarak's favorite position). This would have achieved 1) more stability in Palestine which translates to securer borders, and more stability in Sinai; 2) bigger strategic role for Egypt in the middle east (and can be used as bargaining card in other issues like limits on exports, free zone agreement, etc...); and 3) effectively drive a stake through the MB by containing their Palestinian branch (come on, if the man can get them the aid money from the US and Europe, they wouldn't mind having a Supreme Guide Mubarak!)
Instead, Mubarak ignores Hamas, his FM snubs his Palestinian counterpart, and then later he travels to Jordan to join its boyking in his chorus about how the "evil Hamas is trying to destabilize my country"!
Again, remember that this has nothing to do with the nature of Hamas. Mubarak is so old to be talking about stands for principles now. So spare me those!

Nothing But Respect Over Here

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To all our Kuwaiti friends: Not trying to patronize in anyways, but this is more of self criticism...
The Constitutional Court of Kuwait revoked yesterday a 1979 Princely decree banning public gatherings and demonstrations (aka Emergency Law in Egypt).
Now, the Kuwaiti state is around 45 years old, while the Egyptian (as our beloved flag-bearing, fascist media pundits like to remind us all the time) is 7000 years old. If you put it in historical context, Kuwait is light years ahead of us when it comes to democracy, and respect to the rule of law.
And, it is a monarchy!!
Really, change the anthem to God save the President already!!