16 April 2007

Dubai $13.6m diamond robbery




I arrived to Dubai on the 14th of April, on the 15th I went to have dinner at a friend’s in a district called Mirdiff. It was a great dinner we had ordered Lebanese food the guy taking the order by mistake multiplied everything by two, so instead of a regular Fattoush salad we had huge portion enough for 8 people. So we ate and ate until we could not stuff ourselves any more the irony there was no room for the leftovers in the fridge so my friend had to throw some stuff to make room for the freshly arrived food. It was funny cause when you start of inspecting the contents of your refrigerator you find odd expired stuff.

At 10:30 PM when I got back to the hotel I found a colleague by the door who told me you won’t believe what just happened. He said I was having dinner in the Indian restaurant and next to me there was a local guy with his friends; HE was telling them that on his wedding night he got photographed with his uniform so I presumed he is policeman. A few minutes later he received a phone he got up he told his friends listen an armed robbery is taking place in Wafi Mall I got to run.
I told myself oh he is exaggerating again :)

A few hours later it was all over the news: Six armored, masked men wearing all black, in two Audi A8 cars smashed through doors of Wafi Mall’s, drove the cars till they arrived to Graff jewelry store, used large hammers to shatter the glass cases holding jewelry on display at the shop, grabbed around $13.6 million USD of diamond jewelry (Dh50 million) jumped back into their cars and went out the other entrance.
Dahi Khalfan, head of Dubai police, said the whole raid took just one minute and 45 seconds from start to finish.

Some people say that police arrived after 3 minutes, the rumor also says that the cars were found a bit later in the middle of the desert set on fire.

It was also revealed that there were three Graff jewelry shop staff present at the time of the heist said the masked robbers did not say a word as they carted away up to 40 pieces of some of the most expensive diamonds in the world on display at the store. The police said that none of the staff were injured but rumors say that a security guy was shot. In the attached video you can hear a shot.

Experts believe that selling such exquisite and renowned solitaires will be a difficult task, “All branded diamonds like Graff are certified diamonds and they also have laser inscriptions in the girdle of every piece. But besides these trademarks Graff diamonds are exquisite solitaries and colored diamonds, therefore, they can be easily distinguished, making it hard to sell them”.

This is a real Hollywood Style Crime newspapers but its not the first time in Dubai. Two simultaneous heists took place last year on March 10 two “Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons” Jewelery and Diamond stores in both BurJuman and Wafi Malls were subjected to smash-and-grab armed robbery. The gang took away 165 expensive watches in addition to diamond jewelry worth more than $6.3 million USD from the two shops and ran away on motorcycles. They were never caught!!!


Wafi City door smashed by the Black & White Audis

13 April 2007

Crocodile chews off vet's arm (Graphic photo)




Surgeons in Taiwan have reattached a vet's arm, after it was bitten off by a 200-kilogram Nile crocodile as he tried to give it an anesthetic injection.

After six hours of surgery, Chang Po-yu is said to be doing well and in a stable condition in hospital.

The incident, which was dramatically caught on camera, occurred when Dr Chang failed to notice that the crocodile was not fully anaesthetized when he stuck his arm through an iron rail to medicate it. It was then that the crocodile suddenly turned and bit off his left arm, holding it in its mouth.

As the vet was rushed to hospital, zoo employees tried to retrieve the severed arm by shooting two bullets at the crocodile's neck.

"The crocodile was unharmed, as we didn't find any bullet holes on its hide," zoo official Chen Potsun said.

"It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let go of the limb."

The 17-year-old reptile is one of a pair of Nile crocodiles kept by the zoo. Known as a man-eater because of its voracious nature, the Nile crocodile is listed as an endangered species, and is rapidly disappearing from its native African habitat.

After his operation, Dr. Chang was seen on television waving and smiling to reporters from his hospital bed.

09 April 2007

Iraqis Shiaas rally for anti-American march


Demonstrators carry an Iraqi flag during an anti-U.S. protest called by fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, marking the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad April 9, 2007. Baghdad was under curfew on Monday on the fourth anniversary of the fall of the capital to U.S. forces.



Demonstrators hold a banner as they chant slogans during an anti-U.S. protest called by fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, marking the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad April 9, 2007. Baghdad was under curfew on Monday on the fourth anniversary of the fall of the capital to U.S. forces.



Demonstrators chant slogans during an anti-U.S. protest called by fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, marking the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad April 9, 2007. Baghdad was under curfew on Monday on the fourth anniversary of the fall of the capital to U.S. forces.

08 April 2007

Wedding Bells in Cairo


Jimmy and Diga are finally tying the knot on 28 April 2007. Jimmy: Gamal Mubarak, the 42-year-old politician son of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, undersecretary of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), chairman of the influential policy committee, and possible successor of Egypt's president. Diga: his striking fiancée, Khadiga el-Gammal born in 1982, the daughter of a wealthy Cairo construction magnate.


The two love birds Jimmy and Diga, as nicknamed by their friends have been engaged since early 2006. According to the independent Egyptian daily Al Masry Al-Youm the religious ceremony (Katb El Kitab) will take place in Cairo on the 28th of April at the Mubarak family’s home in Korba. The wedding party will be held on 4 May in Sharm el-Sheikh, and will coincide with the President’s 79th birthday. Rumors say that Jimmy insisted that the party takes place on his daddy’s birthday ;)

Both the religious ceremony and the wedding party will be attended by family and close friends only. Another rumor says that the wedding will be the biggest social gathering for years in Egypt, and local and foreign dignitaries alike are expected to attend. Officials at Gamal Mubarak's office said they would not comment on his marriage plans.

07 April 2007

Have Sex in your car and loose your driving licence





Based on an article published in Al Ahram news paper on 6 April 2007, Colonel Reda Abdallah the ex-assistant of the Minister of Interior Affairs stated that you loose your driving licences in Egypt according to clause 366 of the law number 2777 for the year 2000 according to these conditions:

1- If a vehicle is caught without a license plate, or if the license plates are different than the one issued by the vehicle registration office, or if there is fraud or forgery of the license plate information, the vehicle permit is revoked for a minimum period of 3 months.
2- If a vehicle is caught on the road after the vehicle permit is revoked, the vehicle permit is revoked again from the date of the offence for a period of 90 days
3- If a driver changed his address of domicile to another governorate and did not inform the traffic registration office in a period less than 30 days his/her driving license gets suspended.
4- If a driver is caught under the influence of drug or alcohol the driving license gets suspended for a period of 6 months, if the offence is repeated then the driving license is revoked, and can not be reissued before 1 year.
5- In the case that a second vice/immoral offence has been committed in a vehicle in less than a year even if the vehicle owner allowed an immoral act to be committed in his/her vehicle by someone else, the vehicle owner driving license is revoked for a period of 6 months (clause 72)

In a nut shell in Egypt if you have sex in your car you would loose your driving license. I know I know but your car is parked you are not driving why the hell??? Oh I forgot to mention something else you will also be arrested for a committing an immoral act in public :)

Have fun :)

04 April 2007

The Pediscoop



This is an old old Ad for a great invention the Pediscoop! What is the Pediscoop? Don't you know?

Me Neither :)

It turns out that the Pediscoop is an X-ray machine which you can use while trying new shoes so you can see your foot through the X-ray and make sure it fits you perfectly?!!!

That Ad says enjoy the Pediscoop in Chicorel Stores, one of the old department stores in Egypt that are now government owned.

Where did the Pediscoop go????? I am wondering why did it disappear? How can we bring it back to life :)

03 April 2007

Sacred Sexuality in Egypt


Sex has always been the main mental occupation for Egyptian males. It is easier to be noticed by Egyptian who live abroad, as they are actually part of the country and are not treated as strangers by locals. When an Egyptian returns home for a visit he easily realize that his friends, everyone he knows, that people in general only discuss two topics: Sex and Religion.

The average orgasm is only ten seconds long. The average frequency of intercourse is once or twice a week for most couples. That equals about 20 seconds of orgasm per week; one-and-a-half minutes per month, or 18 whole ecstatic minutes each year. (Just so you know, in 50 years, that would be about 15 hours)

Egyptian men devote thousands and thousands of hours to fantasizing about sex, worrying about sex, discussing sex, daydreaming about sex, wishing for sex, planning for sex ... for 15 hours of ecstasy in 50 years of their life?!!!!

Can you explain that riddle?

02 April 2007

HASH…21K



I read an article in "Akhbar AlYoum" newspaper that took me by surprise. The article tried to be funny stating that the prices of Drugs in Egypt rose so high that now drugs are more expensive than 21K Gold. Following the same line the article started to state all the prices of Drugs in Egypt based on a report published by the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

So for all Drug junkies of the world if you want to know the current prices of Drugs in Egypt here you go.

Based on the articles it stated that Coke prices soared high and reached 500 EGP per gram, followed by Heroin 180EGP/gram, on the other hand the price of an Ecstasy pill reached 120 EGP, while the gram of Hash reached 100 EGP. Knowing that 21K Gold is 106.7 per gram according to today’s published price. The newspaper article also reveals that the price of Bango (cannabis herb) is the cheapest as it costs 350EGP/Kg.

What is the purpose of that article? When the main Headline of a complete section of "Akhbar AlYoum" is “HASH…21K” there should be a point? What is the rational of the Editor? Is it to communicate to the whole world the prices of Drugs in Egypt? Is it for Global addicts to realize that Egypt is a cheap heaven?

Are we sending a message to the world to say hey if you are paying 85$ for a gram of Heroin in New York come to Cairo you can get it for less than a 30$...

01 April 2007

A Picture from Upper Egypt

Women and Men - Politically Correct

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. She is not a "BABE" or a "CHICK" - She is a "BREASTED FEMALE."

2. She is not "EASY" - She is "HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE."

3. She is not a "DUMB BLONDE" - She is a "LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY."

4. She has not "BEEN AROUND" - She is a "PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION."

5. She does not "NAG" you - She becomes "VERBALLY REPETITIVE."

6. She is not a "TWO-BIT HOOKER" - She is a "LOW COST PROVIDER."




HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:


1. He does not have a "BEER GUT" - He has developed a "LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY."

2. He is not a "BAD DANCER" - He is "OVERLY CAUCASIAN."

3. He does not "GET LOST ALL THE TIME" - He "INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS."

4. He is not "BALDING" - He is in "FOLLICLE REGRESSION."

5. He does not act like a "TOTAL ASS" – He develops a case of “RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION."