07 December 2012

What is Happening in Egypt?


A dear Canadian friend asked me “What is happening in Egypt?”  Accordingly I tried to explain the current situation in my beloved country from my own perspective.

Mohamed Morsy the Egyptian president is of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) origins. He used to be the leader of the MB party the so called “Freedom and Justice Party” before he was elected president. He was highly praised by Egyptians for his courageous stand against the Egyptian army, which he wanted to distance from politics. A couple of weeks ago his international prestige peaked with his recent role in securing the Palestinian- Israeli cease-fire

However, Morsy himself delivered a blow to this positive image he had built with his own people. Immediately after the cease-fire, under the pretext of “defending the Egyptian revolution from its enemies,” he announced a constitutional decree giving him extraordinary powers that were not allowed to be challenged.  The decree grants Morsy judicial immunity in all decisions and extended this legal protection to the Constitutional Committee and the upper house of parliament, the Shoura Council. It was then when all the troubles began.

Egyptians from all beliefs  and parties (Liberals, Socialists, Capitalists, Communists, Intellectuals and common people) who are worried about the intentions of the Islamists again filled Tahrir Square and began protesting against the new  “Pharaoh” some Egyptian columnists and writers wrote that Morsy named himself God. This time, clashes were not between the security forces and protesters as it was the case in Mubarak’s time but between the true Egyptians and the Muslim Brotherhood & Salafist fanatics supporting Morsy.
Actually, the disaster started when the Muslim Brotherhood and fanatical Salafists, had won the majority of the parliamentary seats in an unconstitutional Parliament. They managed to sideline all other parties like liberals, Socialists, Christians, women, socialists etc while working on a new constitution. Later the constitutional court annulled the parliament.

Morsy cancelled the constitution committee then he created another committee filled with Islamists in my opinion as a vengeance for annulling the first committee and the parliament. Following Morsy’s announcement of his constitutional decree, Egyptians went to protest in the streets and in Tahrir square against his anti-democratic powers. In the meantime, Morsy mobilized the Islamists in his constitution committee to quickly draw up a new constitution and announced a rushed referendum that should take place on 15 December. This move was the strongest blow to democracy in Egypt.

While Morsy had the opportunity to improve Egypt’s situation and make it one of the most respected democratic countries of the world, Morsy, his Muslim Brotherhood  and Salafist followers,  with no democratic mindset, are dividing Egypt to achieve their religious and ideological objectives instead of unifying the country on the principles of legal equality. Morsy and “his gang” believe that winning an election gives the ruling party the authority to tamper with the country and rule with tyranny.

Lately the so called “Sofa Party” (the Egyptians sitting on their butts watching TV and waiting to see what will happen in their beloved country with no interest in politics) stood up and went to the streets to protest along with the Liberals, Socialists, intellectuals, and common Egyptians. The president sent his Muslim Brotherhood thugs to attack the peaceful demonstrators and it became a blood bath.

Egypt's opposition coalition blamed Morsy  for violence that erupted outside his palace last Wednesday and said it was ready for dialogue only if he  scrapped the decree that gave him “extraordinary” powers.
Unfortunately, it seems that Egyptian Islamists and their leaders believe in the “predominance of the Islamist” not caring about protecting the rights of the opposition and minorities. They refuse to listen to the voices in the streets  shouting  “we don’t want you anymore’’ nor they want to listen to the voice of reason.

Currently, in Egypt we have a president who, although chosen in a democratic election, is trying to arm himself with anti-democratic powers; a party that is trying to cook up a shameful constitution and governance by overwhelming the opposition. In a nut shell,  Morsy is trying to impose his view on the Egyptians while splitting the country in two instead of unifying it.

Over the past week Egyptians of all creeds and ages have taken to the streets again to march for the justice they believe in. All over the country people are leaving their homes to stand together and make their voices heard, totaling hundreds of thousands and their numbers are growing. Chanting slogans that are witty in wordplay yet leave nothing to the imagination. They are united against Morsy, his Muslim Brotherhood thugs and his devilish constitutional decree, and it does not look like these Egyptians in the streets will be going home any time soon.

So no matter what the international media tells you, my countrymen and women, Christians and Muslims are in the streets in millions standing up for the real “Freedom and Justice” and I wish I could be in Egypt to be there with them.

27 October 2012

Fake Water Bottles...full of DRUGS


PLEASE BE CAREFUL AT AIRPORTS!


BEWARE of fake water bottles...


Be careful ! At the airport when approaching any Customs counter, Do Not accept or help someone to hold his/her bottle of water or other objects , even for elderly persons or pregnant women ... you could be arrested for cocaine or illegal drugs possession and in Singapore, you will incur a Death Penalty!!! Tell them to put them on the floor or other places...

Watch this attached video by the US Customs... you will understand (DRUG dealers are very smart nowadays)!

World Press Photo 2012




2012 World Press Photo Contest Winners


 2012 World Press Photo of the Year: A woman holds a wounded relative during protests against
President Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 15, 2011. (Samuel Aranda/The New York Times)





1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories: Tahani, who married her husband Majed when she was 6 years old and he was 25 years old, poses for a portrait with her former classmate Ghada, also a child bride outside their mountain home in Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. (Stephanie Sinclair/VII Photo Agency/National Geographic Magazine)





1st Prize Daily Life Stories: Marco leads Monica from their bedroom to the living room in Buenos Aires. Monica was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. (Alejandro Kirchuk) #
 




2nd Prize Arts and Entertainment Singles: A model poses in front of a tailor in the center of Dakar, Senegal, July 9, 2011. She wears a creation of designer Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week. (Vincent Boisot/Riva Press/Le Figaro Magazine) #




1st Prize Daily Life Singles: A photograph of North Korea's founder, Kim II-sung, hangs on a building in the capital of Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 5, 2011.(Damir Sagolj/Reuters) #




1st Prize General News Singles: Protestors cry, chant and scream in Cairo's Tahrir Square after listening to a speech in which Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power in Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 10, 2011. (Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos/Newsweek) #




1st Prize People in the News Stories: Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughter's graduation certificate, after she found it in the debris in Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, April 3, 2011. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP) #




1st Prize Nature Singles: A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. (Jenny E. Ross) #





1st Prize Nature Stories: A female rhino that has survived a brutal dehorning by poachers using a chainsaw four months earlier at the Tugela Private Game REserve, Colenso, Natal, South Africa, Nov. 9, 2010. (Brent Stirton/Reportage Betty Images/National Geographic Magazine) #




2nd Prize General News Stories: Tsunami aftermath, Japan, April 14, 2011. (Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos/Zeit Magazin) #




1st Prize Portrait Singles: Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban, Copenhagen, May 4, 2011. (Laerke Posselt) #





2nd Prize Portrait Stories: A recruit at a police training center, Kunduz, Afghanistan,
Sept. 28, 2011. (Ton Koene) #





2nd Prize Spot News Singles: Rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 11, 201.
(Yuri Kozyrev/Noor Images/Time) #




2nd Prize Spot News Stories: Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 people, July 22, 2011,
on the small island of Utoya outside of Oslo, Norway. (Niclas Hammerstrom/Aftonbladet) #




2nd Prize Sports Singles: A rugby match between Old Belvedere and Blackrock, Dublin,
Ireland, Feb. 5, 2011. (Ray McManus/Sportsfile)




Sports, 2nd prize stories (Adam Pretty) Divers practice during the second day of the 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, in Shanghai, China, in July.

Blast brings Beirut (Party City) to juddering halt

The car-bomb assassination last Friday of Lebanon's intelligence chief Wissam Al Hassan - an attack almost universally blamed on Syria and its local allies - brought the merry-go-round city of Beirut to a juddering halt.

Beirutis are in a state of shock at the renewed violence, which is reviving memories of the civil war which claimed more than 150,000 lives





Students carry placards during a silent ‘white march’ in Beirut. The march urged the rejection of ‘all forms of violence in Lebanon, and in solidarity with all those who were affected by the political and sectarian conflicts’. (Image Credit: EPA)


26 October 2012

S.A.I.D.E an Egyptian airline in 1947





S.A.I.D.E pronounced in Arabic سعيدة means Happy :)

The private airline was established in 1947 fifteen years after EgyptAir was set up. The company was established by an Egyptian businessman in cooperation with an Italian businessman who was working at Fiat
at the time. The company only lasted  5 years and was acquired by EgyptAir in December 1952.
The company fleet consisted of Italian planes  (Savoia Marchetti) SM 95C and its first domestic flights were from Cairo to Alexandria, and international flights were to Athens and Rome.
You can see the company logo here above and the  name SAIDE (happy) coming from the first letters of the French words making up the company name: Service Aeriens Internationaux D'Egypte -  S.A.I.D.E





Savoia Marchetti SM-95 C




Four SM-95s were bought by SAIDE. They were used in a Cairo-Rome-Paris route.

The SM-95C was similar to other contemporary airliners, but the construction was mixed. Welded steel was used for the fuselage structure, with light alloy covering fitted to the nose, underside and rear fuselage, and fabric covering for the fuselage sides and roof. The three-spar wing was also of wooden construction, with plywood skinning. The engines drove three-bladed metal Constant speed propellers. The two pilots sat side-by-side in an enclosed cockpit, while behind them sat the Flight engineer (on the left) and radio operator (on the right). Behind the cockpit, there was normally seating for 20-30 passengers.




Also the Fiat G.212s were purchased by the Egyptian airline SAIDE, who received three aircraft in 1948. The G.212 accommodated 34 passengers, using the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines.




25 October 2012

US Presidential Debates Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney!!!

This is what shocked me during the US Presidential Debates Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney!!! It appeared to me that it is Israel the world power and not the US.... what a shame :(



24 October 2012

Romney Fails Geography Test


Romney team also feels the US should monitor very closely and at no expense spared the dangerous and highly porous border between Pakistan and Libya LOL!!!!

23 October 2012

Israel should give up its nuclear arsenal to Stop Iran's Centrifuges

For 45 years, Israel has been the only nuclear power in the Middle East and one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty





Would someone Please tell Israel if you want to Stop Iran's Centrifuges they would do so only if Israel Accepts to eliminate its Nuclear Weapons. Let us aim for a Nuclear-Free Middle East

On 19 September 2012, to nobody’s surprise, Shaul Chorev, the director-general of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, announced that his government would not attend an upcoming conference devoted to establishing a nuclear-free Middle East. The announcement reaffirmed Israel’s long-standing position that a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East is a must but Tel Aviv will not take any steps toward eliminating its nuclear weapons.

Since 1957, Israel has invested tremendous resources in building up a solid nuclear arsenal in Dimona. Today, according to various estimates, this stockpile comprises some 100–300 devices, including two-stage thermonuclear warheads and a variety of delivery systems, the most important of which are modern German-built submarines, which constitute the backbone of Israel’s second-strike capability.



Shimon Peres, the architect of Israel’s nuclear program and now Israel’s president, relentlessly argued in public speeches and writings that Israel needed to compensate for the large size of the Arab armies with “science” -- a code word for nuclear arms.

Iran has been calling for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East since 1974 and perceives the Israeli arsenal as a great threat, I don't understand how the world can look at Iran as the demon while Israel is not budging on its nuclear policy?!!!

If Israel is really terrified that Iran acquires weapons of mass destruction, the only way out for Israel is agreeing to give up its nuclear arsenal. Accepting the calls for a region free of weapons of mass destruction and joining in a similar sacrifice by all other regional actors, including Iran, should be the only option. Only then the world should ask Iran to stop their centrifuges otherwise the whole global community should shut up.







22 October 2012

Paris, City of Love

Paris, City of Love - Photo Robert Doisneau



 Paris, City of Love



Paris, City of Love - Photo Robert Doisneau



Paris, City of Love - 1945 Jardins des Tuileries

03 October 2012

Guinness Records 2013 - world's largest biceps Mostafa Ismail (Egypt)



The world's largest biceps belong to Mostafa Ismail (Egypt) and were measured for left arm flexed at 64.77 cm (25.5 in) and non-flexed 62.23cm (24.5 in) and for right arm flexed at 63.5 cm (25 in) and non-flexed 60.96 cm (24 in). The measurements were taken in Franklin, Massachusetts, USA which is where Mostafa now resides.

02 October 2012

End Slavery in Mauritania

Slavery in Mauritania is an entrenched phenomenon the national government just made slavery a criminal offence very recently in 2007. The country, which is located on Africa’s West Coast, has a long-standing and disturbingly prevalent tradition of slavery. Mauritania is the last place on earth where you can still buy and sell a human being.




The number of slaves in the country was not known exactly, but it was estimated to be up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population of 3,069,000 people. Even though slavery is illegal, sociologist Kevin Bales believes that Mauritania is the country with the largest proportion of its population in slavery.



The trade stretches back to the times of the Roman Empire. Mauritanian slaves work dirty, undesirable jobs, eat little more than leftovers, sleep in crude rock shelters, and do not attend school as children. In addition, they must often endure physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.


Mauritanian organizations like Al'Hor الحر (translated as "the free"), In'itaq إنعتاق (translated as "emancipation") and SOS Esclaves (meaning "SOS Slaves" in French) work against slavery.
 

 A United Nations mission, headed by UN Special Rapporteur and mission leader Gulnara Shahinian, was in Mauritania in November 2009 to evaluate slavery practices in the country. The mission's findings were presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in August 2010.




Incidences of slavery still persist in Mauritania, especially among the rural populations and on the periphery of big towns.

01 October 2012

Don't Shoot!

14 September 2012

Dubai Gold Souk - The Gold Market



Dubai Gold Souk or the Dubai Gold Market, is one of the oldest markets in Dubai. The souk consists of over 300 retailers that trade almost exclusively in jewelry. This is one of the best places in the world to buy gold. Some estimates that approximately 10 tons of gold is present at any given time in the souk.







Trade in the gold souk grew during the 1940s due to Dubai's free trade policies that encouraged entrepreneurs from India and Iran to set up stores in the souk. In the shops you can see myriad of treasures and due to the no taxes policies of the country, the price of gold here is the cheapest in the world. If you are invited to a Gypsy wedding, here you will surely find a great gift :) The influence of the Indian culture on the type of Jewelry is so obvious due to the fact that  India is Dubai's largest buyer of gold.














The Gold Souk is in the Deira part of Dubai. A trip to the Gold Souk truly demonstrates why Dubai has earned itself the title City of Gold. It's worth visit even if you have no intention of buying, just to soak in the atmosphere of shop windows glinting with 18, 21, 22 & 24 carat gold, showing-off the abundant riches of this part of the world.