The Edge of Reason

Egypt beats Cameroon 4-2 in the African Cup of Nations

2008-01-23T09:01:00.000-06:00

The Egyptian Team:
Egypt - Essam El Hadari 7, Mahmoud Fathallah 6, Sayed Moawad 6 (Shady Mohamed 90m, 6), Wael Gomaa 6, Hany Said 6.5, Ahmed Fathi 6, Hosni Abd Rabou 7.5, Mohamed Shawky 6, Mohamed Zidan 8 (Ahmed El Mohamady 68m, 6), Emad Moteab 6, Amr Zaki 7 (Mohamed Aboutrika 60m, 6)

Zidan! Where has this guy been?

Hosny Abd Rabboh: Exceptional performance

Hassan Shehatah: Why was he severely attacked? Why did many refuse that he should be given a chance? Why did they see his achievement in the precious championship as a stroke of good luck?

The Referee: Thumbs Down! Everybody could see that the penalty he counted for Cameroon during the last 5 minutes of the game had no reason!

A Man Who Dared

2007-11-02T07:09:00.000-06:00

All Egyptians know the journalistic icon and international political analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal. An exceptional man with an exceptional talent and an eye for history. A man who, way into his 80s, is still intellectually fit and determined to deliver his message to the world. He is certainly a unique phenomenon, worthy of utmost respect and admiration. Even if you happen to disagree with him, you can't help but respect his elegant logical talk and polite informed criticism. It is fine if he can not convince you with his point of view, cause you still admire the fact that he respects your mind and appreciate his exceptional literary style in talking about history.

Unfortunately, most Egyptian youth are unfamiliar with Heikal (same as they are unfamiliar with any intellectual icon). But if you ask any of them, he can tell you that Heikal has a weekly show on Al Jazeera channel. They can even give you the name of this show "Ma3 Heikal" which means With Heikal. Young people in our country get almost all of their knowledge from TV. But they can't even dedicate themselves to seeking knowledge through this medium, that's why they don't watch the show. Yet it's good that they heard of Heikal anyway, even if it was through the ads.

Another reason why new generations don't know much about Heikal is because he is untalked of on Egyptian TV. His criticism of the present Egyptian leadership angered those in power. The Egyptian regime's dislike of Heikal grew so fierce, especially after a lecture he delievered at the American University in Cairo several years ago. It was in this lecture that fears of President Mubarak's son ascending to power were publicly discussed for the first time. This drew a red line, and since then an official campaign broke out with the aim of staining the man's history. No wonder editors of official newspapers who thrive on lipservice and hypocrisy were happy to find such a big target. Those of them who still had some self-respect, couldn't bring themselves to take part in this shameful campaign, at least not openly. But at the bottom of the ethical ladder, Rosalyousef magazine and newspaper, led by Abdallah Kamal (my no.1 in 5 Most Hated People) and Karam Gabr, could stand at nothing to please authorities. They basically depended on false accusations and low insults. They dedicated whole issues to this aim. Such people, like pagans in ancient societies, believe that offerings and sacrifice please their gods, so the bigger the object of sacrifice the better. They didn't feel any shame in talking about a man of this value in such a debased way. They (and others who had the same aim) had made the pathetic claim that Heikal's criticism of the Egyptian regime is driven by a personal desire for revenge after he lost hope in gaining any high positions in the current system.

How could those people, who have absolutely no cultural contributions or intellectual value, bring themselves to say such a lie about this great icon? How pathetic they appear! Their positions made them forget who they are. They thought that a chair can raise the value of the person who sits on it. Who are they? What will Egyptians remember about them? (Can Abdallah Kamal and his likes write one word in The Times?) They can't see that Heikal's value as a thinker is way above all of the present Arab leaders compiled together. How can a man with such stature dream of shrinking his size to fit in a position or a chair?

None of those leaders, nor those who claim to be better patriots than Heikal, can have the courage to say what he said in his lecture at Oxford University a couple of days ago. Of course none of them will ever be invited to give a lecture at such a prestigious university, in first place. But in the most imaginary scenario, even if they did, they will concentrate on asskissing and showing their gratitude. They will never dare say what Heikal said, with this straightforwardness and this exceptional eloquency.

You can download the full text of the lecture in English by clicking here or in Arabic by clicking here. You can also check feedback on Oxford University website.

There, at Oxfored University, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal dared tell Europe where it erred. His lecture, "Bridges and Barriers," can definitely be considered one of his literary masterpieces, blending intelligent discourse, elegant philosophy and artistic language. He talked about the widening fracture which seperates the North from the South, and how the North is being unjust in its judgement of the South. He argues that the Clash of Civilizations only exists in the imagination of some people in the North and the West. Civilizations can not clash as they all share one and the same source. He blames the foreign media for celebrating this clash, saying:

"Imagine if hordes of reporters and cameras had been on hand at the St. Bartholomew massacre, when hundreds of thousands of French Huguenots were slaughtered by their Catholic compatriots…Or if some intrepid investigative journalist had managed to sneak into the Tower of London and revealed the nightmare existence of the Tower’s assorted prisoners."

Who dares say that in the eyes of the most prestigious European academics, but Heikal? Who dares criticise their biased views, twisted media, political leaders, and even religious icon, Pope Benedict XVI himself? He did. He said it all, for you and me and every moderate Arab. He could do it because he is a man who valued reason and intellectual dialogue, sincerely believing in their effeciency. He could do it because as much as he believed in this, people believed in him, and he was able to win international respect. He was introduced by the Chancellor of Oxford University as "a living legend". He is a pride to all Egyptians, and Arabs in general. But just like all icons who were denied a due celebration as punishment for challenging the political regime, this living legend is denied a due appreciation or honoring in his country. At the time when the world is talking about his lecture, Egyptian offical newspapers and TV just kept totally silent.

I just wish any wise person in the current regime would understand that all this hatred can never decrease the value of such an icon. Whether they like it or not, whether they acknowledge it or not, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal will always be a living legend.

Ramadan TV

2007-10-16T08:44:00.000-06:00

Hey all. Happy Feast and hope you all had a wonderful Ramadan!

I wanted to write this post since the first week of Ramadan, but I thought I would better postpone it till the end of all the series that filled our screens during this holy month. Unfortunately, the Holy Month of Ramadan has turned into a month for TV series. It is like a festival for TV producers to show all their best, taking it for granted that we won't be able to resist the temptation of all the stars and the gripping episodes.

I was so glad to see that Egyptian drama has overcome its previous lapse. They started to learn the lesson, that we are no longer the only Arab capital of art. That's what competition does, it raises the standards for those who wish to participate. Unlike the boring old stories, and the usual meal that writers forced down our throats every year, this year the Egyptian drama was relatively better. There are new ideas and better production (in some series). Of course I can't review all of the series. I learned that they were all in all 47 Egyptian series being broadcasted througout Arab satellite channels. One is lucky to have been able to watch a fraction of that. So, I'll tell you about those I was able to watch (both deserving and undeserving).

Thumbs Up :)

1. El Daly: My favorite series this year. Wonderful Script. One of the greatest roles of Nur Al Sharif (Sa'd El Daly). The time of the 70's is not recurrent in Egyptian Drama. The clothes played a big role in making it credible. And Ahmed Safwat (Khaled El Daly) is a discovery.

2. Yetraba f3ezzo: What a duet! Yehia el Fakharany (Hamada Ezzo) and Karima Moukhtar (Mama Nouna) deserve A+. It was so pleasant to watch. Nice comedy, without any silly jokes involved. The writer kept the beat going, so unlike most other series, it didn't get boring in the middle. The different characters were well-woven inside the drama and the ending was so powerful.

3. Qadeyet Ra2y 3am: Although I don't count Yousra among the super talented stars (she tends to have one and the same facial expression for every emotion: one for happiness, one for sadness, one for anger..etc), but she definitely knows how to choose her roles. Her role as Dr. Abla Abdel Rahman who suddenly gets raped along with 2 other women (a young virgin doctor and a pregnant nurse) was so touching and different. There were a few lectures involved, but dealing with this sensitive issue for the first time on Egyptian TV would make us forgive some mistakes, like the freeze in the last 10 episodes.

4. Nafezza 3la el3alam: Yes, I liked it because of Tawfeeq Abdel Hamid (Rashad Ghazal), I don't deny it. A completely different role and he nailed it with great sense of humor. The series itself was so fragmented and it seems they had a very tight budget to spend, that's why the scenes did not attract the eye. The same shots, in the 7arah, the cafe or at home. The action scenes were so hilarious, that it reminds you of the 80's action movies. The final episode was a big disappointment. And who did the montage for God's sake?

Thumbs Down :(

1. Mn atlaq elrasas 3ala Hend 3alam: Nadia El Gendy playing the role of Nadia El Gendy. You can't believe a single scene in this series. It is like a comic sketch claiming to be about a serious issue. And what's up with shooting Hend Allam anyway? The whole series was about who shot Dr. Ezz (her husband, the scientist). But of course she has to be superwoman, and she has to put the character's name on the series! Such a waste of time.

2. Ragol Ghany Faqeer Geddan: Mohamed Sobhy rocks at the theatre, but TV is certainly not his playground. I respect Sobhy as an actor and play director a great deal. Yet, as a writer... errr. The actors were all like robots, I don't know why. And although each episode turned into a lecture (with the exception of the first three), yet I didn't get the lesson. Can anybody help?

3. Noqtet Nezam: NO, NO, NO. I am the one who should scream "ORDER!" What the hell were the people working on this series thinking? They claim it was about the Egyptian POW who were viciously executed by the Israeli soldiers. Such a nobel aim, but that is for sure the worst way to show them respect. Where are the POW? The whole series is about a driver in a green hat!

4. AlFareesa wal Sayad: What's the story? I suddenly felt I was so dumb. If the series was in seperate episodes it would have made sense. But what connects the many incidents which took place? Is it the biography of Adham Neseem (the policeman)? Is Adham Neseem a famous man that we should know about? What does the story revolve around? I don't know. And things just happen for no reason. It seems they found it unnecessary for viewers to understand why certain events took place. I don't understand why Adham's wife (Dr. Nagwa) hated him so much. This series is a riddle.

That was all about Ramdan TV. Wish to know your feedbacks as well.

5 Reasons Why I Wish I Was 3

2007-09-28T19:31:00.000-06:00

I got this tag from Arima. It was a wonderful chance to relive this age. Thanks, Arima.

These are the 5 reasons why I wish I was 3:

1. Being pampered by everyone and receiving smiles everywhere I go.

2. Recieving toys and candy from my parents and their guests.

3. Having full control over my day: when to eat, sleep and play.

4. Wearing colorful ribbons on my hair and looking cute.

5. Being able to ask all the questions that roam inside my mind.

I tag Ma-3lina, Salama Moussa, Ravine, Fadfadation, Alina, Juka

Marina Diaries - Episode 3

2007-09-21T08:03:00.001-06:00

This time I shall tell you about a funny incident which took place while we were vacationing in Marina. As funny as it was, it can give you an idea about the state of chaos existing in our country as a whole, and Marina is no exception.

One day we woke up to find dead bird in one of the balconies. Of course after feeling sorry for the poor soul and taking a few minutes of mourning, we became so frightened to deal with its corpse. Ever since Bird Flu has struck Egypt, we hear about victims losing their lives every now and then because of dealing with sick birds. Gathering the witnesses who saw the tragic death of the bird in our balcony, we found out that the poor bird looked as if it was suffering from severe pains and kept fighting for its life till the last breath. Then we knew that it was not a normal death. The bird was either sick or brutally murdered. We all agreed that the first was most probable, for who can kill this small bird while flying? It cannot even feed a cat.

We immediately contacted the security company in Marina and told them what happened. The guy who received our call sounded so scared and clueless. He asked us to call him again after 15 minutes. That we did, and the answer was that they cannot help us with removing the dead bird from our balcony. Why? Because it was not their responsibility! And whose responsibility was it? He said it was the resort's management.

We called the management company and we told them that we need their help immediately, for the bird was starting to smell and produce fluids. They said that it was the responsibility of the security company! After telling them what the guy from the security company had said, they still weren't convinced that they were responsible for anything. Even if they were, as they told us, they don't have any equipments to help them in removing the bird. They then suggested that we refer to the Ministry of Health! What on earth?! It's just a dead bird, people!

We've been hearing for so long about the Ministry of Health's hotlines which are working 24/7 to receive any reports of infections. There were 6 hotlines and we were able to get those numbers easily through the phone guide service 140. But reporting what happened was impossible. You might think that none of our calls were picked up. That the operators were asleep or absent, or simply didn't bother to answer our calls. Well, I'm sorry to say that all 6 numbers answered our calls, but none of them knew anything about Bird Flu, The Ministry of Health, or hotlines. All of them were home numbers, except for one which belonged to a company. We had to endure the anger and sarcasm of those people who had all the right to think that we were playing tricks. Each time we hung up after making apologizes, we rang the next number in desperate hope that it would lead us somewhere. But none of them brought anything different.

We called 140 again, only to get the same numbers. The polite operator made it clear that they had no other numbers for this presumable hotline. We then were certain that nobody could help us. But what can we do? We can't leave this bird lying in the balcony like that. And at the same time, we can't take the risk of removing it. What if it really carried the virus? We then took the decision: Well, if nobody wants to take this thing seriously, we've got to force them to get serious. Luji's grandmother volunteered to make the next call to the resort's management, acting very angry and asking for the manager's cellphone number. They immediately redirected her to his secretary, who was was felt to be shaking on the other end of the line. She promised that she will handle everything and gave her the number of the head of security in the resort.

In just a few minutes our residence was filled a small army, headed by the chief of security, who asked to examine the corpse personally. We led him to the crime scene.. I mean the balcony. He then told us that this bird was shot by guys who go hunting in the morning. What?! Bird shooting in a summer resort? We had never heard of anything like that! Are they permitted to do so? Where do they think they are? In the Savannah? He then explained that those spoiled guys don't care about laws or rules. They rely upon the power of their parents and they insist to take their rifles every morning to go shooting the birds in the resort! He ordered one of the men with him to remove the bird and clean the balcony with Dettol. He then smiled and left wishing us a pleasant day!

We were all amazed. Abu Luji was in disbelief! That was the last thing any of us could have imagined. We stood there looking at each other, asking questions, but silently. What's happening in this world? Is it our fate to live among the careless and the irresponsible? Where will this lead us, not only as a family, but as a country? Bird Flu is a crisis for sure, but the bigger crisis lies in absence of professionalism in dealing with this crisis. A bigger crisis is to be unable to reach help when needed. And an even bigger crisis is the abuse of power and seeking to exercise one's disrespect of law and order. This poor bird was not the only one to die on this day. Order, discipline and many values have died too.

I'm sorry to make a funny story turn so sad. But I just couldn't help being shocked in seeing how far chaos is devouring our lives. Bird Flu or not, Marina has got its own viruses to deal with.

Marina Diaries - Episode 2

2007-08-30T08:53:00.000-06:00

If you think what I had already said about the changes in Marina is bad enough, wait till you check this out.

Spending the summer in the same place where the elite and the richest of the Egyptian society spend their vacation sure has its advantages. There's good security, especially where the ministers' villas are located. (I wonder how ministers in our government can manage to afford those fancy villas at the most privileged spot in Marina! It's a mystery if you don't have any bad intentions.) There are all the facilities that you can dream of. It's like Cairo has transferred itself to follow you there. You will find lots of supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, coffee shops, cinemas, you name it. And all shops offer to deliver their goods to your door, a service that became a necessity now after the resort became so crowded. Now, you can't even find a place to park your car just for minutes to order a sandwich to go.

A very funny and common scene was to find a group of young guys wanting to hitchhike. You always find them after midnight, they are guys who are too young to drive, or let's say whose parents still have the wisdom not to allow them to drive (many accidents used to take place because of underage driving). They just keep waving their thumbs and giving you the look if you refuse to stop. I believe the only thing that this resort misses in its current mess is to have cabs to bring those boys back to their homes.

Yet, the presence of security and traffic policemen is strongly felt. At night they will usually stop you to see your driving license, which is great. I wish they are serious about it with everybody, for we didn't try to show them money instead. The outer gates which lead you to the different parts are not all the same when it comes to security measures. Some gates are easier to access than others. For that sake, they made a new system this year, which is that they issue cards to those who own a place there. But they didn't say anything about it, till they already started working by it! We were almost going crazy. We got nothing against the idea, although it doesn't solve the problem for those who rent or those who come from Alexandria for a day use. We only wondered why on earth they didn't give any instructions as to how and where to issue those cards, before they actually stop you to ask about them. Even their stupid magazine didn't mention anything about it. And when you say, I don't have it, security guys look at you as if you are suspicious. You need to yell in order to let them open those gates. They can never show any sign of understanding before they make you reach the yelling phase.

As if this was not bad enough, they inserted inner gates which separate one part from the other internally. Which means that, if you live in Marina 4 and you decide to go to Marina 3, you must get trapped. You will have to pass through one of those ridiculous inner gates, and find a guy who asks you to pay money to pass cause you don't have your card! What on earth?! Are those people nuts? Is this the way to treat families going on vacations? Why didn’t they tell us about those damn cards when we first arrived? Why didn't they announce by any means? Why causing all of this embarrassment and unneeded humiliation to people who did nothing wrong, except deciding to use their summer houses for vacation? Do I have to beg the guard and swear by God that I do have a house there in order to move a few meters away from where I live? I just can't get it.

And what's that thing about the money? Am I traveling? What good will the money do them if I don't have a place there? I'm an intruder who got the few pounds they want, so what? Or worse, what if there is a terrorist who will hand them those miserable pounds in order to blow the whole thing up? What will the money do?

Do they need donations, for instance? Are they in need for more financial resources? If that's the case, why not collect this money in a decent way? Or is it just for fun, to annoy those people who dream about having fun in the sun and all? May be they thought we had no right to do so, saying to themselves "Oh, those vacationers think they've escaped the city and its hellish life, hahaha, let's torture them a bit here in order to remind them of their usual suffering. Yeah, let's surprise them with new rules and everything, and punish them for not following those rules." I fail to find any rational reason behind this pathetic money collecting thing. Can you?

Marina Diaries – Episode 1

2007-08-16T08:33:00.000-06:00

Dear readers, I apologize for my long absence. It was a long, most needed vacation and the first with my daughter, who has very recently succeeded in taking her first steps. I'd like to thank all of you who asked about me during my absence and I hope to make a strong comeback by writing my diaries from this summer vacation in Marina.
So, let's get started.

We've been residents of Marina since 2004 only, which makes us relatively new to the community. My husband and I preferred to go there during September when the sea is all ours and things are a lot quieter than during the buzz of the summer. Things were a lot different this summer, for we decided to hit the heart of the season and we were amazed to see changes that we quickly taking place. Aside from the huge difference that the establishment of Porto Marina has made, what grabbed our attention this year was the great number of people and the sharp gap between social classes. There are the morbidly rich, whom you would normally expect to see on the beaches of Palma di Mayorca or something, but they decided to build their own small empires on the Northern Egyptian coast. There are those of the upper middle class, who have managed to buy their humble residences before the crazy auctions which hysterically raised the prices of villas to make them reach 6 and 7 million EGP. There is the typical middle class who rent a place for a week or two during the summer, trying to rub shoulders with the elites. And then there are the workers who serve all those people. (Each villa has an average of 3 or 4 personnel who work as guards, gardeners, maids, babysitters, drivers, cooks, …etc.)

You would think to yourself, "Isn't it amazing that all those different people could enjoy the same beach, the same sea, in the same place." I'm sorry to interrupt your wishful thinking to say that although Marina is not considered to be that big, yet it is already divided into isolated islands when it comes to beaches, night spots, restaurants and the likes. There are the private beaches which you can only visit via membership, a very expensive membership. There are beaches for females only, which means that a woman and her daughters would be at a beach, while her husband and sons will go to another! What a family outing! Then there are beaches in front of private property, and these were made by the owners to become part of their properties, making sure that no intruder would think of getting in. So, although you may think it's the same sea, in fact it is not.

Then there comes water piracy. You might wonder what that could be. It doesn't stop at the beach, no. They've owned the water too. It has become a sort of fashion that you can hardly find any villas that doesn't have a speed boat or a jet ski or both parked by its beach. The beaches overlooking Marina's lagoon have become like a parking lot, with all those private motors that go on cruising the water all day long.

Arriving at Marina will make you think that you've traveled outside Egypt. Suddenly all the cars are brand new, half of which are luxury cars and 4x4s. Villas and chalets also vary according to the place you are in. It is known that the whole concept of the resort was to make all units look the same with a limit for heights so that everybody can enjoy the view of the sea water no matter where they are. Both rules have been sabotaged by the morbidly rich of Marina. They want to feel unique in everything, each one of them have decided to make his own theme on his property, how come you can't tell his villa from his neighbor's? To hell with the beautiful unified look of the buildings, let's build a castle, even if it was only a beach house. The rich have found in this summer spot a new battle field, as if it was not enough to compete in business, let's compete in architecture as well. Let's see whose villa is more luxurious. Even the law that forbids constructing anything which would exceed a 2 storey building was broken by the powerful businessmen of Porto Marina. Where you can see a giant hotel that blocks the eye of the sun. To hell with any rules, and to hell with the others who want to enjoy the scenery. If they don't like what we did with the millions we spent on decorating our exteriors and promoting our business, then let them drink from the salty water of the sea.

Just another facet of the chaos that surrounds us, and the exercise of power from the haves as opposed to the helplessness of the have-nots.. All I needed was some peace of mind by the sea, but who can have it in this country?

Marina Diaries.. Coming Soon

2007-06-27T13:57:00.000-06:00

Dear Bloggers and Readers, I apologize for not writing as frequently as usual. I'm currently on vacation with my family and I said bye bye to my PC in Cairo. Thought I would take some time to relax and forget about all the troubles of daily life, but it seems they will haunt me anywhere. Therefore I shall resume my posts once my vacation ends with the powerful series:

Marina Diaries

Coming Soon to The Edge of Reason

Kiss My Head and Go to Bed

2007-06-16T00:19:00.000-06:00

From Al Masry Al Youm: A New “Sectarian” Clash in Al Wasty Ends with Reconciliation [click to read details]

The way of handling such sorrowful incidents indicates absolute helplessness from the Egyptian governemnt and civil society. What does it mean if a person kisses my head after burning my home, beating me, and injuring my children? What have I gained and what has he learned? Where is the law? Where are the rules which guarantee that this won't happen again? What a pathetic solution this is!

The word "Reconciliation" is even misunderstood and misused. I may reconcile by forgiving a person, but this doesn't mean that he can escape justice and evade the law. The attackers in these cases are criminals who are threatening the safety and wellbeing of society as a whole, not just the group they assaulted. We are all citizens living in a country which has a law that punishes all those criminal acts. What does it mean when a Muslim goes to jail for injuring a Muslim but doesn't when he injures a Christian? What does it mean when those incidents take place one after another in just a small period of time and we still insist that it is enough to kiss heads and go to bed? Are we solving anything? Or are we just contributing to those crimes by letting the attckers get away with their crimes?

If there is a law in this country, it must be put to action and obeyed by everybody. If there is no law, why do we bother by having police, courthouses, jails, and lawyers? Let's set a new law, the head-kissing law: If a person steals, he has to kiss the robbed person 10 kisses. If he kills, he must kiss all the victim's family members. If he burned a house, he kisses the owners... and so on. What is this joke?

The Street Is Not Ours

2007-06-06T18:11:00.000-06:00

Been listening lately to "The Street is Ours" (Elshare3 Lena). Do you remember this song from Youssef Chahine's famous movie 3awdet el2ebn eldal? Then it occurred to me.. Actually the street isn't ours any more, and by "ours" I mean females. Can you imagine how a girl feels when she walks down the street? It is so weird, that the most public of places became the scariest. No, the street is not ours. We walk down the street as if we are crossing a lake of crocodiles. We speed up as much as we can, that sometimes you can't tell if a girl is walking or running. We expect a sudden attack by anyone, even young school boys who feel that saying a dirty word makes them men. That's because the culture of violence against women has become a horrifying fact in our daily life. It found its manifestation through sexual harassments which are practiced by many, and I mean many boys and men in the streets and means of public transportation.

The cultural shift that Egypt has gone through has unfortunately resulted in a lapse in society's consciousness and its view of women. Women became pounds of flesh walking on two feet. They are just bodies, a means for temptation, which need to be covered up from the eyes of men. But the same theory that was used to justify why we should suddenly all cover up (as if Islam is a discovery of the 21st century) had an opposite effect. Instead of protecting women from those hungry wolves (used to be called men), harassments became a common practice in our streets. We also went as far as witnessing massive harassment attacks during an Islamic feast! Many of the victims of those attacks were veiled girls. The wolves didn't differentiate between covered and uncovered meat. It's all flesh in the end.

The increasing violence against women that we witness nowadays is a result of the inferior position of females in our society. Women are looked down on in such a way which turned them into a means for pleasure. They are not fully human, but sub-humans, in a way which resembles the old ideas which slavery was based upon. Slaves in this context did not have any rights, because if God had cared for them He wouldn't have created them black. The whites at those times saw the slaves as a lesser species. They needed the white man to have a goal in life, that is serving this white man. The same applies to women nowadays, in a culture which stresses the body of the woman either but covering it all up, or over-showing it in indecent music videos which our Arabic channels are full of today.

Sexual harassment takes different shapes and methods. Not all of which has to be by a physical as most people think. Verbal harassment is the most common, cause it doesn't need the victim to be in direct contact with the attacker, it is fast, gives the chance for a quick escape, and the attacker doesn't have to plan it before hand. The verbal sexual attacker can easily turn into a physical sexual predator. But is this verbal harassement categorized as violence? Yes, it is. Because by merely dropping a sexual comment the attacker can not only hurt the feelings of his victim, but also makes her feel afraid and ashamed! It is a kind of terrorism, which makes a girl feel insecure and shaken by a mysterious guilt. It is a very strange thing that victims of sexual harassment bear those feelings of shame and guilt which an attacker ought to have instead. But the image that society keeps feeding up is that a girl is always guilty, even if she is the victim, cause she has the body, the source of temptation.

Our streets won't be safe again until we have the courage to face the problem and talk about it. This problem would never be solved unless a girl is welcomed again into the human species and received the respect she deserves from society.

www.Egyptians.coma

2007-06-02T18:57:00.001-06:00

The title above doesn't have a typo. I got its idea after reading a wonderful article by Ali Al Safar in Modern Discussion. He believes that the Arabs in general are suffering from a coma. I can't agree more. I just wanted to be more specific. I mean no offence, but I think this title best describes how we as Egyptians, builders of the oldest civilization on Earth, have miserably failed to make use of the advantages of modern technology. Not only this, but we insist on living in a cocoon that allows no light or air to get through.

At the time when countries are rushing to achieve their development through science, technology and industrliasation, we watch and consume with our mouths wide open. As if what is happening doesn't concern us. As if we're saying "Shofto elmo3'afaleen.. They keep researching and working to make things that we can easily import and consume here." We then can send SMS to vote for Star Academy (the most famous academy in the Arab world), and send text messages to Melody,and chat for hours, and download videoclips, and download new funky ringtones... etc. Mash2alla. 7aga tefre7!

And aside from this consumption we lie in our own coma, with ideas powerful enough to send us to the Middle Ages with rocket speed. It was painful enough talking about the Mufti's latest fatwa, I felt disgusted to discuss another fatwa by Ezzat Attya concerning breastfeeding adults. I have just stopped by this headline in Al Masry Al Youm: "Disputes Among Members of the Islamic Research Council over the Prophet's Urine and Breastfeeding Adults." When I read the details I was not only buring with rage at those respectful sheikhs who waste their time over such pathetic topics, but my heart was filled with sadness at how our fates became in their hands. This coma we're suffering from seems to be of a severe kind. I'd better get prepared for a long sleep. It seems that I'm not destined to see my country rise and develop during my lifetime. It's my fate to read such topics in the news and be deprived of reading about an Egyptian scientific invention, or an Egyptian medicine, or an Egyptian car, or an Egyptian hosted World Cup, or an Egyptian solution to traffic problems, or anything that will give me something to say to my daughter when she asks me about what was achieved by our country during my lifetime. What do you suggest I say to her?

Factory of Cheaters [Part 3]

2007-05-26T16:46:00.001-06:00

Here we go again. This time I would like to expose some of the private language schools; specifically, the highly expensive ones which welcome the children of the nouveau riche. What I'm about to say can be stranger than fiction, but every single word of it is true.

Those schools are actually no more than a social club, where kids go to get even more spoiled and receive a certificate in the end of the year. It is a kind of new service for the rich, which aims to satisfy the customer to be able to keep his money flowing to them. Therefore, if you ever happen to go there, you will find fancy stuff which have absolutely nothing to do with education or its quality, merely for marketing. Like the full option cars, these schools have got luxurious buildings, swimming pools, tennis courts, horse tracks, cafeterias, conference halls …etc. They want to dazzle those rich parents and assure them that their loved ones will receive 5 stars treatment.

As you can guess, such a club is built to entertain. Something as serious as education will ruin the fun atmosphere, and they don't want to scare their customers away. If the kid goes home and complains to his parents, even on a false basis, the parent might then switch to another shop.. I mean school. That's why they make sure that the little angels will have their best time and in the way get whatever education they can through the day. Those students will have the chance to go on as many as 15 trips during the academic year! Their teachers aren't allowed to punish them in any way, even if it is by asking about their homework. Oh, how rude would that be! How can a teacher ask the student whose parents provide his/her paycheck? And what if this student was rude in class? What's the big deal, he's just a kid. And what if he didn't bring his schoolbag? It is his bag not your, he is free to bring it or not. And what if he doesn't attend your class? He has the right to walk about instead of sitting the whole day. It is his school, not yours. You have no authority over him whatsoever.

Now what about exams? Well, we trust them, we don't need to distract them by moving around while they are kind enough to take the exam. But even this is not enough, for none of them can help anyone else with any answers. What can be done? Then comes your role as a teacher. What are you paid for? Your job is to make sure all those students pass, and with high grades. Yes, believe it or not, that's a teacher's job at those schools. You have to make sure that every student has a report which will draw a smile on our dear customers' faces.

What about nationwide exams? Now we really got a problem here. Errr, how will those students pass their thanawya 3amma exams for example? The teachers who supervise those exams are outsiders, as well as those who grade the sheets. Can a business like that allow anything to jeopardize its profits? Of course they have everything carefully planned. I am sorry to say, that the teachers assigned by the educational zones to supervise exams at such schools are very... I don't know which adjective to use here. Excuse me, but I have to say this.. very poor and low-profiled. What happens is that those teachers will be generously hosted by the school, if you know what I mean. They have croissant and canapés for breakfast, and soft drinks and hot drinks during their supervision. Now, you can guess how they pay back for this hospitality.

And the student, you might wonder, what will they do after graduation? They will get promoted to bigger supermarkets; namely, private institutes or universities. How considerate of you. Well, don't worry. They either work in the family business or use dad's connections to find a job. If you want something that is truly worthy of worrying about, it is the future of this country.

Thought I was an Angel

2007-05-24T13:50:00.000-06:00

How evil are you?

I tag everyone who reads this post!

Where do we go from here?

2007-05-17T12:34:00.000-06:00

The Egyptian Mufti: "It was common to seek blessing by drinking the Prophet's urine. And anyone who finds this idea to be repulsive has doubts concerning his faith." Click here to read >>

Where are we heading people? Isn't it enough that Egypt which used to lead the development in the region and rose the torch of culture for others to follow, is now allowing itself to be dragged in the course of countries of less civilization and retarded thought? Are we now seeking to prove we can go way backwards further than them or what? Do we aim to dig our own way down to the bottom? What's that?! I can't get it!

The Mufti is supposed to be the spiritual compass for Muslims in our country. Now he writes a book that says that drinking Prophet Muhammad's urine was a source for blessing and that his sweat, blood, hair (in short anything which dagaleen consider as attar) are blessed and can be used for this purpose!

Of course many sheikhs have attempted to object to this, saying that they can't find anything in Islamic history of sunnah to backup those claims. But what actually makes me pose those previous questions was that the Mufti's fatwa is not an isolated incident or single attempt. When put in context, we'll find out that what we're really facing here is a process of turning the prophet into a deity (dropping off his human quality).

Before you accuse me of any exaggeration, please take a few minutes to review some recent tendencies which are very smoothly sneaking into our modern Islamic thought and which were never mentioned before. Let's take a look at the qualities that modern sheikhs are attributing to the Prophet. The insistence that Muhammad was a "Man of Miracles" is being stressed by many nowadays.

As any other Muslim, the only miracle that I know of Muhammad delivering to his people was the Qur'an. If anybody knows of something else, please enlighten me. But what we've been hearing recently is that the Prophet could read the future (misinterpretations of stories when the Prophet gave advice and then turned out that he was right. Like the woman who came to ask his advice as to which of her suitors to marry. The Prophet then told her that both her suitors were not good for her and he recommended a third man whom she didn't like. He then insisted that she would reconsider, and when she married him she said she found all the good in him. Such stories aren't originally intended to make us think that the Prophet could foretell the future. He was just a wise man giving sincere advice. But the way such stories are being used nowadays imply that he had supernatural powers.), heal the sick (the unjustified persistence to make Muhammad a doctor is so big nowadays. What is known to be Alteb Alnabawy and curing illnesses using cattle urine is bogus. You find hundreds of books talking about how the Prophet prescribed cures for various illnesses. There are swindlers who make use of this, selling what they claim to be Islamic cures. Many people have died out of such practices and we still can't learn that the Prophet wasn't a doctor. Again, he was just giving advice to sick people at a time where there were no scientific solutions. If I tell you to tie up your head when you have a headache and it worked, does this make me a doctor? He only told people about coventional methods used and tried at this time. If we stopped brushing our teeth and used the wooden brush (sewak) does this protect us against cavities?), exorcise evil spirits (Again this is used by swindlers to claim that a person can be possessed and those who heal by Qur'an. The Prophet used to say certain prayers in order to seek the blessing of God during his day. These prayers were also used to pacify people who face a crisis or who want to remember God in order not to be deviated by the devil. It was a way of bringing peace to those in distress or those who suffer psychologically or mentally.), being holy. (This is the part which the Mufti drew upon. By claiming that anything that happened to be in contact with the Prophet is blessed, he and others are bestowing a holy nature on Muhammad, seeking to elevate him from the human condition. The danger of this notion will be witnessed when it becomes common among the illiterate masses, who went as far as seeking blessing from a tree.)

Finally, attacking the faith of those who find the idea of drinking the urine of the Prophet to be disgusting is a method of terrorism, which aims to stop people from even questioning the ideas that those "respectful" sheikhs are delivering. I honestly don't think this can bring about any good to our nation which is already suffering enough. Terrorizing people in such a way, deforming a religion which is based on logic to make it supernatural, and seeking to remove the human quality off our Prophet, will cause us to enter deeper into our dark ages. But unlike the European dark ages, this will be even fiercer and will witness more victims. My prayer to God is to spare us all that.

Depressed

2007-05-15T06:55:00.000-06:00

A student dies while waiting to salute the Minister of Education. Click here to read>>

This is better left without any comment from my side. But ever since I heard about this tragedy, I felt that if I don't let out my rage I could explode at any moment, or even get a heart attack. So, please allow me to use this post to pour out the pain that is tearing my heart since yesterday, when I first learned about the death of Amira, the 11 year old student from Qenna. May she rest in peace, away from the burning sun which took her life in mercy maybe. It's enough what Amira has already suffered from this rotten educational system, that the visit of the minister finally comes to put an end to it all.

Usually when you know about such tragedies it is the official comments which makes you even more furious. That's how I felt while listening to Mr. Medhat Ahmed, Deputy of the ministry of education in Qenna, as he enthusiastically struggles to defend his excellency the minister and seeking to prove that his visit had nothing to do with the death of Amira. His first sentence was "His excellency's plane landed in Qenna at 9:00 am. It took him then 30 mins to reach the school afterwards. The students didn't wait that long, and this girl was already sick and had high temperature." Yaaaaaaaaaaaah.. How can a person be that thick-skinned? How can a human being reach this degree of heartlessness that he doesn't even express any kind of sorrow at the lost innocent soul? How can hypocrisy take over to such extent?

Ba2a kedda? It was the girl's fault? As if she chose to rush out of her school to stand in the sun while she is sick to salute the minister? The only important thing is that his excellency's hands are clean. He didn't kill anyone.

Wallahi if God chose to ease Amira from this life at this moment, then she was murdered once again by this man, who only cares about keeping his chair and proving his loyalty to his minister. And although I don't believe in ghosts, I pray that her ghost will haunt him all his life. As to the minister, he is already murdering our children every day by insisting to be received with qeues of hailers every time his highness decides to visit a school. 3ala ra2y Mr. Medhat Ahmed, "He's not less than his excellency the Governor who has similar receptions every time he visits a town." How can those people sleep at night? I wonder.

After hearing this man speak, the only thing that popped into my mind was Adel Imam saying, "Shafakom allah w3afakom ya ostaz Medhat." As long as people like you exist, we can never have hope in a better future.

Against Sexual Harassment

2007-05-12T18:49:00.000-06:00

Please take part in this big event to help make our streets safe again. If you're a female, I don't need to tell you how important your participation will be. If you are a male, go for the sake of your mother, sister, wife, or daughter. We need to raise awareness about this critical issue and break the silence which encourages sexual predators to go on with their shameful acts. Come to Sakiat El Sawy on Friday, May 18th at 4:00 pm and speak out against sexual harassment.

Here is the announcement for the event and all the information you need in order to take part:

About 2 years ago ECWR started receiving complaints from women that sexual harassment on our streets was becoming more of a problem – more frequent and more extreme – and no one was doing anything about it. So we held some focus groups with women and with men, started collecting stories from women using a survey, and put together a plan.

Part of what we learned was that:

- Women have nowhere to turn because “blaming the victim” puts us at risk.

- There is no stigma attached to harassing and men face no consequences

– not from their friends, not from police, not from their families, not from other people on the street, and sometimes not even from their victims.

- There is no law that mentions sexual harassment specifically, little awareness about the 3 laws that can apply, and no enforcement.

As part of the campaign we developed with volunteers (which includes raising public awareness, advocacy and outreach to schools) Let’s Sit & Talk is meant to stimulate conversation, break the silence and welcome women and men to share their experiences and take action against sexual harassment.

Let’s Sit & Talk will feature:

- Presentations on the final results of our survey, sexual harassment in the law, the role of the media, psychological and sociological impacts of sexual harassment

- Films

- An introduction to self-defense course

- Bands: Tamara Yousry & Mariam Ali, The Babians, Bikya, Forgotten Notes, Bad Apple (ft. vocalcurse), Ressala, Vybe

Entry is free before 6:30. After 6:30, tickets will be 5 le.

Sponsors include Nile and Nugoom FM, Filbalad.com, The Croc, Masrawy.com, EIDHR, Art Review Magazine, Marketing Markets, and Titan Advertising.

OUR THANKS TO ALL THE ARTISTS, VOLUNTEERS AND SPONSORS WHO ARE MAKING THIS DAY HAPPEN!!!

Get involved - suggestions and volunteers are welcome!

Email Rebecca at ecwr@link.net, or just show up early on the 18th to help set up.

Puppets and Puppeteers

2007-05-10T12:45:00.000-06:00

Once again I find myself compelled to have a look on the ugly social scene we're witnessing nowadays. This time I'll be talking about art and artists. Call it "Modern Islamic Business Productions" if you want.

I wanna start off with the bizarre actresses who have suddenly chosen to resume their acting careers after they had denounced the job altogether and believed that quitting it was the only right thing to do. Some of them even went as far as announcing that the money they had earned from acting was dirty money, and they engaged into a sort of "money laundry", if I may call it so, by having businesses in Islamic clothing or merely restaurants. Now, they come back one after one to act again on TV series but with their hijab on!

I remember when the CD of Sohair AlBably (the famous Egyptian comedian) launched at the Cairo International Book Fair several years ago. Thousands were gathered in front of computer screens displaying the former actress as she talks about how devilish acting was, and how she was misled throughout her life. She claimed that nothing was better than the humble life away from fame and away from displeasing God (meaning through art). As if 7ad sharabha 7aga asfara 3alashan tmasel! Why can't these people have the courage to own what they did?

Out of nowhere, what was considered haram (blasphemous) yesterday is considered halal today. Just because their sheikhs had a change of heart (or so we're made to believe) they came back as if nothing was said or done. However, they made it clear that they're back with their own conditions. Those conditions had to do with the money of course, which should be good enough for a returning star, and then with the scenes they will act. They will keep wearing the hijab in all their scenes, even if they are domestic ones with members of the family. Ya3ni she will wake up with hijab, prepare breakfast for her family with hijab and talk to her husband with hijab. Ok, no problem as long as the drama producers don't care about the quality of art they're delivering. But what's really amazing, is that away from those scenes, you'll find a very normal T.V. series.

I remember the ridiculous series of Sohair Ramzy (an actress who was known for her seductive roles and lack of talent) with her clownish attire, which is supposed to be sharia outfit, talking to a semi-naked girl in one of her scenes. Is that the kind of art that her sheikh approved? As long as she is covered up, it is ok that people will look at the bodies of the actresses sharing the same scenes with her? I seriously can't figure it out! Please help me here.
I'm not against her hijab. I'm not against her coming back to act. I'm not against her sharing scenes with the flirty chick. But what has religion got to do with that? After all she is supposed to be a leader among this group of "purged actresses". Tayeb why do this?!

It is not a coincidence that all of those actresses had no talent whatsoever. They got their fame either from their hot movie scenes or from announcing that they will quit acting for religious reasons. (I don't understand why the media makes this huge propaganda whenever an actress decides to wear the hijab! It's a head scarf for God's sake! Everybody's free to dress the way they like.) Those actresses can not name even a single important role they had played during their whole careers. Their roles with hijab likewise have never added, nor will ever add, anything to art. They are just there for promoting the new look.

I must mention here that opposed to this group, there are wonderful actresses who chose to wear hijab without condemning their jobs or expressing shame of the roles they had acted. There are two excellent examples here: Shadya and Huda Sultan. After a lifelong brilliant acting and singing career, Egyptian star Shadya, had decided to quit and since then she had never spoken to the media or denounced her past career. Whereas, the late star Huda Sultan chose to resume her acting career with her hijab. In all her interviews she refused to be pushed into regretting her past roles. As a matter of fact, she didn't have any ridiculous conditions, and she actually acted some of best roles with the hijab. Her excellent performances in Al Wattad and Arabesque are a clear example. Until her death, Sultan resumed her career with dignity and dedication.

These women of real talent had nothing to be ashamed of cause what they offered was true art. I remember Shadya's song "Take my Hand" (7'od b2eedy) which was a religious song. The sincerity by which she sang it makes you feel she was out of this world, with her beautiful golden hair swaying by her face. Nobody saw anything wrong in it. On the contrary, it was considered one of the most beautiful and touching songs. Now, with fanaticism on the rise, and with the Islamic songs turning into a kind of fashion in modern Arabic music, I can't find a single song as touching as hers. I believe it isn't a coincidence. Using religion as a kind of marketing can never result in anything sincere, no matter how dazzling the outer appearance is. Religion needs a genuine spirit to shine through. But this wave of actresses and singers who are mere puppets in the hands of their puppeteers, whether they be sheikhs or business people, can never accomplish any lasting glory. They will have their time on the screen but time will sweep them as easily as they change their minds.

Factory of Cheaters [Part 2]

2007-05-06T17:05:00.000-06:00

I've talked in part 1 about how the Ministry of Education has turned into a "Factory of Cheaters" selling the lie of education, while in fact inserting the germs of cheating into our youth.

Allow me to tell you more about this here, as I reveal a lot from my past experience in teaching. Through the years during which I had worked as a teacher, I realized how there was lack of any real educational system. As a matter of fact, the system was there to make sure there would never be a system (sounds like a riddle I know). But it is all a bunch of nonsense. Our role as teachers was in fact to keep the chain of cheating going. How? Let's see..

First, we cheat ourselves into believing that we are teaching or educating, while in fact we are just there to fill a gap in a class full of students (ya3ni akeed class and students, yeb2a lazem teacher wala eih?). Then, we cheat the students and make them believe that they are being educated. Next, we cheat the parents by keeping their kids occupied by homework, making them believe that their children are receiving an education. And then we cheat the whole world by examining the students and giving them grades when they already had had the answers before the exam.

Bad enough? Well, that's not all. But let me first explain that teachers are not the evil guys here. The process actually starts from above. Yeah, ma3lesh, I'll once again refer to "the factory". See, the problem is that the curriculum itself is carefully made in a way to be too long, too complicated, too fragmented, too incoherent, that it cheats everybody. Once you lie your eyes upon the curriculum, you'll think "Wow, that's really difficult and full." Oh yeah, it is full, but full of rubbish.

For example, if you teach English at a language school, you have to teach not one curriculum, but two. Aywa wallahi two! There is the advanced level of the language school (cause students there learn English since KG1) and there is the curriculum taught at governmental schools. Now, to teach both curricula is absolutely impossible, not only because it is time consuming and pointless, but also because I'll make a jerk out of myself in class. Yesterday I am teaching Shakespeare and today I am teaching "My name is Om Luji"!

Those who used to come from the ministry for inspection basically cared about the ministry's curriculum. They are all 100% sure that we don't teach it, yet they also like to cheat us and ourselves into thinking that they are doing their jobs. There is a separate preparation book for this curriculum where all the lesson plans should be listed with the dates when they were given. There are also samples of notebooks and workbooks where the students answer its exercises. All these are a hoax. They know I know they know it is a hoax, yet we should all pretend that it's not so. We should cheat ourselves before we cheat everybody else. That's how the system works.

Let's move on to the process of examination. You may wonder what I meant by saying that students receive the answers before the questions. Hey, haven't you heard about the wonderful invention of "model answers"? Ahuh.. Yes, for every question there is a model answer that the students are given to memorize in order to write it back onto their answer sheets. It's that simple. And then we grade our own answers, the ones we wrote for the students to memorize. Teftekro momken 2a2ool el2egaba bta3ty we7sha? ady nafsy sefr maslan? Of course our answers are the perfect ones, so all the students do great. Except those who aren't careful enough with spelling or have a weak memory, those might get a bit less. But for sure everybody passes. Wkol sana wento taybeen. W2alf mabrouk. W3o2bal elsana elgayya.

*To be continued bardo..

An Islam against Islam

2007-04-26T17:36:00.000-06:00

Everybody can notice the change which is taking place in Egyptian society and how its moderate nature is being threatened by a tendency towards extremism. It all started in the 80s with the large numbers of Egyptians, who were forced by the increasing unemployment rate and the meager wages, to search for jobs in the lands of oil. Well, they surely worked hard, came back with the money and other things. They were affected by the Wahhabi thought, which has managed through them to revisit Egypt long after it had been overcome by the great Muhammad Ali.

Unfortunately this was great news for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, who made use of all possible means to increase their political ground in the Egyptian street. Having no political agenda whatsoever, the Brotherhood's only hope lay in having a tangible influence in Egyptian society through feeding its religious nature and winning its affection. They played on the motto "Islam is the Solution" implying that they are the only movement that follows religious teachings, and also implying that religion (in their case Islam only) can solve all problems.

The third factor came from the business sector, which used these growing emotions in the Egyptian society and translated them into money, thus re-exporting the product but in a more intensive manner through the media. This sector made use of the popularity of some religious talkers and produced for them TV programs, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, websites… etc. Sometimes they made their own stars while watching their popularity increase and their sales too. The star doesn't have to be an expert or have any true wisdom, he simply has to have the qualifications which are needed in any star: that is an acceptable appearance and charisma.

One of those shooting stars is Sheikh Khaled El Gindy. He was made popular through a weekly segment in the daily program Al Qahira Al Youm, where every Monday he will answer viewers' religious questions in what is called Rokn Elfatwa (zy rokn elsheesha kedda at coffee shops). I've talked about El Gindy before when he came second on my list of 5 Most Hated People. I therefore won't repeat my opinion of him. But what's new is his most recent fatwa, in which he displayed his usual genius and declared that slave trade is halal and can take place nowadays if the President (walyi el2amr) approves it. Away wallahi kedda!

Shofto elgamal welraw3a? El Gindy comes to say so in the year 2007, after the abolition of slavery and the human rights law and the international agreements concerning POWs, all of this doesn't concern him at all. Elmohem it is Halal and there's nothing wrong in it. All we need now is the approval of the president. Begad 7aga tsharaf ya3ni. Wallahi if I were the president I can use this to raise my popularity and become a Pharaoh, or pass over the presidency to my son even. I would simply say to my citizens, "I will not use my divine right to sell you as slaves."

My friend Egy Anatomist has an excellent post about this issue on his blog. He really said it all, so I need not dwell more upon it here. I just want to say that if this ever happened I would like El Gindy's children to be the first on the market. If this is Islam what is Jahiliyya? I bet that if those people were alive today they wouldn't have said anything like that. Such crazy people like el Gindy are coming up with a different version of Islam, an Islam against Islam. They are deforming our religion and giving it the worst face ever.

Thinking Blogger Award

2007-04-26T08:47:00.000-06:00

I received the award through Asraralbanat. It was such a pleasant surprise. What they said about me on their blog really made me blush. I was unaware of having such wonderful readers. A million thanks. Your nomination is truely appreciated.

Now starts the toughest job as I get to pass on the nomination and the tag to the 5 Blogs that make me think. I believe there are many Arabic blogs that are full of thought, but I realize I get to tag those in English. So, here are my 5 in no particular order:

Baheyya: Her political analysis and social insights are simply amazing. Makes me feel we have got a worldclass analyst. Reading her posts really satisfies my urging mind with their informative and professional writing.

Egyptian Chronicles: The kind of effort and dedication she invests in her blog is so inspiring. Zeinobia's coverage of the Egyptian news with her added twist of sincere analysis makes reading her blog a lovely treat. This girl really takes blogging seriously and it paid her back.

Words of a Broken Mirror: In introducing her blog she says, "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts". And this is truely how you feel when you read her posts. Alina writes with elegance, passion and spontaneity. Her intelligent remarks and wide range of interest makes her a global blogger. Still her concern with the issues in her country, Romania, will carry you there and make you see the beauty she reveals as she tackles its problems with love and sincerity.

The Language Guy: His blog teaches you that you can analyse the whole world through language. It is a "commentary on how language is used and abused in advertising, politics, the law, and other areas of public life". Very interesting, intriguing and funny too, this blog is full of thought.

Bookgirl's Nightstand: A wonderful booklover who has a sharp wit and a great blog. Iliana chooses a variety of books to review. Her blog is so organized and her reviews are so informative and reliable. She also has a section with all her travels and a photo album of the places she visited. This is a heaven for curious minds and reading addicts.

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Miss Pantene 2007

2007-04-24T07:53:00.000-06:00

From time to time I like to provoke myself by different methods: reading official newspapers, watching stupid music videos, visiting websites and blogs that promote extremist thought.. etc. I don't do that out of a desire for self-torture, but I believe I have to stay in touch with things happening around me, even those I don't approve of.

Last night I got engaged into one of those episodes as I decided to watch the finale of Miss Pantene (ex-Miss Egypt) 2007. I don't know how much money it cost Pantene to have its name on the contest, but I never saw this done with any sponsor in the world, no matter how generous the amount they poured in. Anyway, I had seen a promo for the event where all the contestants were trying to gather votes (just for the sake of nourishing the SMS business in Egypt, as the votes don't count in deciding who really wins the title.) The majority of the contestants were as far from beauty as Egypt winning the World Cup kedda. However, this was not a problem if there had been any kind of charisma or intelligence to balance that. After all, I'm against beauty contests altogether. Yet, I like Egypt to have a representative at any international event, even if it was Miss Universe. Better have any kind of presence than none.

Anyway, I didn't have the nerves to watch the contest from the start, so I watched Al 3ashera Masa2an while I kept switching to see how far they've gone. I started watching when it was time to ask questions to the 5 finalists. The girls' eyes could tell that I would be the loser if I expected anything from them (even below average), so I kept my expectations low, but couldn't still to make them as low as the answers which were enough to make me jump off my seat with disbelief. One of those finalists had pure European features (she sure has got European origins) and couldn't even speak Arabic, so she gave her answers in English!

The organizers announced that this year the prize for Miss Egypt will be making her wildest dream come true. They had asked all the contestants about their wildest dreams and the answers of the finalists were as follows: "I wish to visit a Perfume Factory in Paris," "I wish to spend a day in Paris," "I wish to travel to Italy," I wish take part in an international fashion show," "I wishto spend a day with my favorite star." (Begad no comment ya3ni) Anyway, the final question that was asked to all 5 was "If you could bring back a great woman from the past, who will she be and why?" Not a bad one, but the answers were so lame. Of course none of the finalists could answer the "why" section. Two of them chose Huda Sha'rawy, one chose Mother Theresa, one chose Princess Diana, and the last one chose Cleopatra.

Up till here I have absolutely no problem. What really enraged me was that the chosen Miss Pantene (supposedly Miss Egypt) was the European girl, Ehsan Hatem! "Oh my God!" Of course she was the one who chose to bring back Princess Diana, for I bet she doesn't know anything about Egyptian women or Egyptian history. Ehsan looks 100% European, you can't even suspect from her name that she might be from the Middle East. In short, everything about her is so not-Egyptian. How can she represent Egypt then?!

Of course it's not her fault. The organizers and judges in this pageant should have known better. However, their choice reveals a shameful trend that is not only spreading in Egypt, but in all the Arab countries. It reveals a sense of inferiority, lack of national pride and a severe identity crisis. They didn't choose a blonde or a green-eyed girl, they chose someone who only holds the Egyptian nationality without the identity; that is without the features or the language.

Egyptian beauty used to be the magic that lured the world in ancient times. The ancient Egyptian woman's wide eyes with her dark hair and sun-kissed skin used to be the ultimate measures for beauty. Up till now the biggest cosmetic companies and fashion houses are using this image for inspiration. But those in Miss Pantene have got other thoughts; they may think a girl who looks Egyptian is not good enough to show to the world. They decided, " Let's show the world that we have blonde chicks who look just like Europeans and speak like them."

Well, I say shame on them. Those folks have got an inferiority complex. If they can't appreciate the real beauty in their country, let this be their choice. But they have no right to make our young girls feel they are not beautiful when they see the European Miss Egypt! The mass audience for such ridiculous shows is young teenage girls, who already have got enough insecurities to deal with. Now, when those girls see that the most beautiful girl in Egypt has got white skin, blonde hair, and green eyes, and doesn't speak their language, what does this teach them? How do we expect them to have self-confidence and carry their Egyptian identity proudly? These guys must know that they are messing with a whole generation who unfortunately follow their crap and form their models out of it. Damn it!

Who are those people?

2007-04-20T06:46:00.000-06:00

Watching this video brought the tears to my eyes. I first saw it here and then thought what a shame! Who are the people working in this infamous channel? Are they human beings? Do they know the ABC of child psychology? What do they expect after exposing kids to such a scary experience? Isn't there a tiny bit of conscience in their hearts?

I, an adult, had goosebumps by merely watching this horrible thing on a computer screen. Now, what about those poor kids who are left with this crazy man? This is a crime of the highest degree.

This is dirty business that has nothing to do with religion. To prove my point. Excuse me in asking you to watch it again, but this time try to read the text messages at the bottom. You will think it is a dating service not a religious channel. And those texts are displayed during what is supposed to be a lesson for the kids! Disgusting!!

Isn't there anything that can be done about it? I've learned that El Nas channel is Egyptian. If this is true, really it will be such a disgrace.

Nuclear Spy

2007-04-18T07:21:00.000-06:00

A second spy was caught in just a few months time from the fall of Al Attar. But this time he is a nuclear power engineer who was about to hack the computer system of the Egyptian Nuclear Agency for Israel. Click here to read details>>

I watched a reportage on Al Jazeera yesterday, where they've interviewed his neighbours and his mother. I was shocked to see the place where this engineer who has such a sensitive position lives. It is a very poor place, and his neighbours (no offence meant) are very low class people. It is also clear from his published photo that he is not young (I am totally against publishing photos of suspects before a trial proves they are guilty), but we learn that he still lives with his parents in this place, which means he was financially unable to get married or have a better residence.

I'm not implying that he has any excuse for what he has done (if he is found guilty). But for God's sake, what are those people thinking? How can a person in this position be suffering from a poverty that will make him so vulnerable in front of any temptation? Do they have any common sense? What do they expect? Human beings are not angels. You need to at least secure the basic human conditions if you really care about the security of this facility.

Now, what's the result? Yes, he is caught, but it is a blow on our faces. It is another scare that we will carry in our hearts and wound that shall remain to pose the question: Who's next?

Factory of Cheaters

2007-04-16T07:32:00.000-06:00

Ever wonder why corruption has widely spread in our beloved country in all its life aspects? Ever wonder why unemployment is increasing by an enormous rate among our youth? Ever wonder why our development rate is much below our needs? Ever wonder why you have to visit many doctors when you're sick, as each of them has a different diagnosis for your illness? Ever wonder why buildings have many technical problems, and why some of them fall onto their inhabitants? Ever wonder why new roads are full of accidents, where the drivers face their doom for the absence of any safety measures? Ever wonder why you have to tip people all the time just to get your basic rights? Ever wonder why in every celebration hundreds suffer from food poisoning?

Well, miraculously, I've got an answer. It's cause we are surrounded by cheaters. But these cheaters are not born with the cheating syndrome, rather they developed this skill since a very young age while receiving their education. Yes, they learn it at schools.

Do you need a proof? Check out the on-going investigation about mass cheating in Gamal Abdul Nasser Experimental School. If you pay attention to the details involved in this case, you'll find the proof that cheating has become a common practice in our life, that even the Ministry of Education is protecting it and those who promote it. Click here for more info

I first learned about the incident from the TV programme Al3ashera Masa2an. Of course, being a former teacher I wasn't shocked or anything. For I know that the so called Ministry of Education is perhaps the most corrupted institution in our country. But what really drove me crazy was the stupidity of the people involved in this scandal (It became a scandal cause it was exposed by the media). The representative of the board of trustees is called Sheikh Gamal Kotb. 7'allo balko mn "sheikh" di. The honorable member of the board didn't even say that cheating is wrong. He didn't even imply that in case this incident is proven to have taken place it would be such a shame. No, no, he said nothing of this. He was so concerned about the "psychological health" of the students, who, according to his story, have been horrified by the investigation process. Ya 3eeny. Ya3ni They weren't horrified when they were ordered to lie while answering the questions of the investigator, but they were terrified when the investigator knew they were lying. Shofto el3abath?

Elsheikh kaman had a point of view. This was a Computer exam, its results are not added to the total score. What's the fuss about ba2a? The students didn't receive their text books till the time of the exam. What's wrong with giving them the answers just to pass the test? See how respectable this sheikh is?

Now, we come to the Ministry of Education and its spokesperson, the Deputy Minister and nothing less. His name is Reda Abou Sree3. Mr Abou Sree3 agreed tab3an with Sheikh Kotb and he accused the prosecutor of "unjustified quick action"! He also sees that a computer exam is not important cause it is a practical subject. (The parent who reported this incident said that the computer teacher only gave two classes in the whole semester.) Again Abou Sree3 said nothing about cheating, and when asked what he would have done if he were in the position of the schoolmaster, he said, "I wouldn't have allowed things to go this far." Check the reaction of the ministry and the school

Wow begad! Akeed you wonder why this man is defending the school. I tell you there are many reasons:

1. The fees for the coursebooks were paid to the ministry, but the school never received them.

2. A thorough investigation will reveal that the minsitry had known about this. Cause for sure the school had complained.

3. The ministry quickly sent its Chief of Security to the school when they had learned that the prosecutor was investigating students. Apparently he has intervened into the course of investigation.

4. The ministry knows about such common incidents of cheating and one investigation would lead to another.

Therefore, I suggest that the Ministry of Education will change its name to suit its current goal, to become Factory of Cheaters.

*To be continued..

Chicago

2007-04-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Alaa Al Aswany's latest novel, Chicago, is absolutely a must read. Not only is it gripping, fast-paced, witty, fresh and amusing, but also it is rich in characters that so down-to-earth.

Unlike The Yacoubian Building, his former bestseller, all the characters in Chicago are more types than individuals. You can swear you have met them before in your life, seen them face to face and dealt with them. You can name each character according to your own experience and knowledge. In this novel simplicity and stereotyping is found to be more shocking than what Al Aswany has yielded in Yacoubian. You won't find homosexuals, or a shoe sweeper who turns into a millionaire, or a former aristocrat, or any of these unique characters that you only meet in novels but you know they do exist in real life. Instead you will meet college students and professors, whose lives are exposed in a deeply analytical and shocking manner. Their sexual lives are described, sometimes in details, just to give you a look inside them and to expose a face they hide from society. And most important of all, the novel stresses that inspite all of our apparent differences, we are all human, sharing the same basic needs and surrendering to our weaknesses. Nobody is perfect, nobody sees themselves as bad, nobody cares to analyze his/her true motives, and every single one sees the world through his/her own eyes.

No work of art has reached perfection, and I believe it is unfair to demand perfection from the author just because his novels are bestsellers. Therefore, I consider much of the criticism that Chicago has been subjected to as unneeded exaggeration. I am not implying that we should praise the work anyway, but to come up with the conclusion that it is stereotypical and provides a deformed image of different societies makes people who haven't read the novel have preconceptions that would really spoil their reading of it. I particularly didn't like Abdel Monem Saeed's critical review of the novel. Click to read

Yes, it is stereotypical. Yes, it is all negative. Yes, it recreates the same images we have of the East and the West. But it is a very consistent work of art, that deserves admiration for its artistic quality and carefully woven characters. It makes the familiar so unfamiliar through its daring exposition and its smooth psychological surveillance.

The novel also raises the issue of the extreme polarity that exists in Egyptian society nowadays and how it affects the younger generation who are full of insecurities, as well as tackling the contradicting urges inside the older generation of Egyptian immigrants to the USA, which caused some of them to have an identity crisis. There is also the implication that due to the polarity between the East and the West, their marriage can never result in a healthy off-spring. (I liked Nousha's discussion of this aspect of the novel, and the awkwardness it reveals about the position of Egyptian girls.)

There are minor things I didn't like about Chicago, especially how some threads are suddenly cut in the end. But overall, I enjoyed reading it and I strongly recommend it.

For a summary of the plot you can check Baheyya's blog

Watch an interview with the author about the novel

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2007-04-05T07:15:00.000-06:00

An Egyptian court refuses to drop charges against a police officer who tortured a suspect to death, although his defence provided a document which states that his wife has withdrawn the case. Read more details>>

Thanks to news like that, although in fact very few, for giving me hope that there might be a beam of light at the end of the dark tunnel we're all squeezed into nowadays. I would like to congratulate this court and the judges who stood by the victim's family. We can all imagine what they are going through nowadays and the amount of pressure and terror they are subjected to. Actually those judges stood by us all to bring back the faith we lost in ourselves as citizens. We see how our votes are handled for us in elections, how we are not allowed to say no, how we can't preserve our dignity, how we get bitten in our streets by a princes' dogs, how we get beaten and harrassed in demonstrations, how we get the worst treatment in the governmental offices, how we are denied our basic rights.. and we wonder if we are still human. This court came to say, that even on a tiny scale, we still can keep our humanity.

Thanks to those decent judges, you all desrve badges of honor, ones that are much better than what the government can ever give you, ones that are inscribed into our hearts. And to all those who are reluctant to take a similar stand. I say, don't loose faith in us. We might get scared and throw away our rights (as the victim's family in this case did) but we only need a helping hand to save us from falling. If we are allowed to see a way out of the darkness, we'll all run towards it.

School Days Tag

2007-03-28T08:06:00.000-06:00

So many tags, I know. This one is from Ma-3lina. Thanks a lot for it, it really brought many nice memories of the good old days.

1. Did you use to be a good student at school?

Oh yeah! I was so good, but I didn't study as much as the others. Honestly, I only studied before exams, but I was very focused and I made good use of the time. Other than that, I was so organized. My copybooks were like works of art. I cared so much about keeping them neat and using the best handwriting. I also read A LOT, which I believe served me much better than reading the stupid curriculum.

However, I never showed off how good I am at class. I tried as hard as I can to keep the image of the average student, cause I was the leader of a gang.. oops, I mean group of friends (za3eemet elshella ya3ni) so it would have really shaken my image if they found out that I was in fact a bookworm.

2. What were your most loved and most hated subjects?

My favorite subject was English, but I also loved History and Geometry. My most hated subject was Algebra, I was never good at it. I didn't like Arabic either. Teachers also affected the way I feel about a subject. A bad teacher made me absolutely unable to like whatever he/she teaches. Teachers were either good or bad, nothing in between. And hence the subjects were also divided into white and black. Teachers either loved me or hated me, again nothing in between, cause I cared to let the bad ones know how I feel about them. I gave them this look (you know what I mean?) that said it all.

3. When young, what did you want to become?

I wanted more than anything else to become a teacher. There is nothing like communicating with children on a daily basis. I still believe it is the most rewarding job, of course not financially, but emotionally.

When I was very young I wanted to become lots of things: a doctor, a dance creographer, a waitress, an actress, a president, and a fashion desginer. But each of these dreams lasted for a limited period and I would always go back to the teacher thing. I loved writing on the blackboard and the traces of chalk on my hand.

Here you have it. Now I tag them:

Fadfadation

Myra

Nousha

Salama Moussa

Alina

Zeinobia

Juka

Constitutional Amendments Song

2007-03-26T06:35:00.000-06:00

Got this on my email today. Don't know who wrote it but thought it would be the best way to celebrate the referendum day. Kol referendum wento taybeen :)

واتزحلق واجرى
ع الدستور
واللى يعاندنى
بالساطـــور
احسن لك طعنى
و عيش مستور
الورث ده ورثى
وابوك طرطور

عسكر حراميه
يا حلـــق حـــــوش
لا قضاء يحكمنى
وعـــرف فاشوش
اصل الشرعيه
كلام مغشوش
معنى الحريه
اهبش وأحوش
تفصيل ترزيه
صهينه من بوش
زغلله من كــــــوندا
يا أبو راس مهبوش
كلك طعميه
وبصل مدشوش

وانا حاكم امرى بالمظبوط
واللى يعاندنى اسجره فى تابوت
هــا ادى المعارضه بالشلوت
شـــارك اوقاطـــع يا هلفــــــوت
بردك هاتكلها وبالنبوت
جاهز فى صوانى العيش ملتوت
تطبيخ حلوانى انشاالله تموت
بالسم الهارى تقول بسكوت
انجزت مهامى وشح القوت
وبنيت فى مقامى هدمت بيوت
رتبت مكانى شوف الملكوت
ولا واحـــــد تانــــــــي
على ورثــــــــى يفــــــوت

وادحرج واجرى __يارمان
قال جاى يحاسبنى ابن التعبان
ويقول ياحقوقى
وياعدل كمان
فين نبضى وصوتى
يحييى الاوطان
فاكـــر له وزن بين الاوزان
يابن الحشرية ابوك عريان
ياسى بعجر متبعتر وجعان
ولا كان لك قيمه بين الرعيان
ومحدش غيرى يغنــــى آمان

حاكم فردانى_____ضانى
مين قال اه يانى____ يانى
افنيه فى ثوانى ____وانى

For a complete list of the "amendments" and their analysis please click here

Read the Egyptian Constitution?.. Anyone?

2007-03-22T07:43:00.000-06:00

Here I am again after a series of personal posts, where I sought refuge from current political and social matters. I found out that my despression because of the news is doubled when I write about them, but it seems inevitable. Anyway, once again I delve into the whirlpool of Egyptian politics. Our parliament has recently approved the list of constitutinal "amendments" suggested by the president. Read more here

For those who don't know: Egypt has one of the oldest constitutions in the world. It has been subjected to several "amendments" always in favor of the ruler, till we finally reached the one we are "amending" nowadays. But this is by far the biggest one, targetting 34 constitutional articles, most of which have to do with the outdated and the unrealistic socialist nature of the state. After the mass privitization that Egyptians have been witnessing during the past few years, it became rediculous to consider Egypt as a socialist country. So the majority of the changes are for the sake of erasing the last trace of a time when the state was responsible for its citizens.

Despite the huge opposition that faced those "amendments," the parliament has managed to declare its approval of the whole suggested list earlier than orginally scheduled (Monday instead of Tuesday) , and the popular referendum is to take place also earlier than scheduled (26 March instead of 4 April). But of course you all know how we like accomplishing things fast, especially huge matters.. matters that shall define the future of our country and the coming generations. You know that time is highly valued in Egypt. You know we don't believe in sayings such as "Ya mesta3gel 3atalak Allah," ( It's no use being on a hurry) or "Fel 3agala elnadama," (You shall regret being on a hurry) or "Ya 7'bar enharda bfloos bokra yeb2a bblash," (Today's news will be known tomorrow) or the most famous "Foot 3aleena bokra" (Come back tomorrow).

It is sad to see that the only efficient oppositional force nowadays is the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members only care about the article which will deprive them from having an official political party. The Egyptian constitution originally states that there should be no differentiation between Egyptians, whether based on race, gender or religion. Now, they will add that there can be no religious parties; i.e. political parties that have a single religious ideology. To me, this is the only article that makes sense. It just came to fortify the rule of banning any kind of discrimination among Egyptians.

The other faint voices of the non-biased opposition call for what really matters: changing Article 77 which gives the president the right to stay in power forever, and changing Article 2 which states that Islam is the basic source for legislation. Both articles are left untouched by the "amendments". There are other demands that they share with the Brotherhood, and that is disapproving the articles which aim at invading people's privacy and abolishing their civil rights for security purposes, (for all opposition is treated the same by security forces, who make use of such rules and laws to conduct massive captures and carry on brutal acts against opposers,) and disapproving the absence of judical supervision over elections.

However, what I care most about is this: How many will go to the polls on Monday? How many of them will have an idea about what they are voting for? How many will not care to place their votes cause they already know the result? How many will stay oblivious of what's going on? How many have never ever read the constitution and don't even care to know what it says? How many give a damn about the future of their country?

I'm Hitler!

2007-03-21T11:53:00.000-06:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I took the test 3 times (You have the option to choose the number of questions in the test) and I kept getting the same result. What can I say?

I'd like to thank Alina for this post.

To Luji, who is 6 months today

2007-03-16T04:48:00.000-06:00

A giggle over the rainbow flies,
Gathering sunshine and fairies' lullabies,
To scatter hope and warmth,
To plant joy on earth.

Her delicate lips draw a lazy crescent,
That showers the world with a tender scent;
And cause the cherry to flee its stem,
To define her smile with a crimson rim.

Those eyes that glitter like happy stars,
Like a beam from heaven guarding her charms;
With angels envious at her grace,
They shyly stare upon her face.

A blossom caressed by butterflies,
With blushing petals delicately sighs,
And yields its fragrance in a flare,
To embrace the infancy they share.

Life dances to her rhythm with glee,
When she stretches her tiny hand to me;
Her curious fingers toying with the air,
As they make their way to my hair.

A giggle over the rainbow flies,
And carries me through the seven skies;
My heart melts like sugar in a pie,
Every time I see my daughter's smile.

I am The Empress

2007-03-14T07:40:00.000-06:00

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I'd like to thank Nousha for this post.

International Women's Day!

2007-03-08T07:22:00.000-06:00

Happy Women's Day! Yes, it is today. March, 8th. Have you guys congratualted any female you know? Have you girls remembered this date, or even know about it? I bet not.

I don't think the Egyptian women nowadays are too marginalized to this extent. Why don't they seize this opportunity to take pride in their achievements and the bravey by which they are facing their challenges? Why don't we celebrate our women and make them feel how appreciated they are by members of their family, community, soceity and country?

This day also marks the pain I feel whenever I remember the fierce campaign that female judges are facing in Egypt, and how they are denied their rights by fellow male judges. Instead of pushing this experiment forward, the guradians of justice could not forget that they are males. They could not tolerate the idea that their chairs will soon be filled with their female colleagues, who were long deprived of their right in acquiring this position, although they have been serving justice as long and as sincerely as they have. I can't believe that those judges whom we all stood behind, men and women, in front of the injustice of authorities, are now standing against the rights of their own colleagues, only for being women. What a shame!

This world would not have been able to accomplish anything without its women. Let's at least not prevent them from having their basic rights as humans.

Tagged

2007-03-06T08:05:00.000-06:00

Thanks Nousha for the tag. It's too long. Hope I did a good job.

SECTION 1 - Last 1s?
1. last beverage? Nescafe
2. last phone call? Abu Luji
3. last instant message? Yasmine
4. last cd played? Favorite Children Songs
5. last time you cried? Can't remember
6. last text message? "I'm at the supermarket. Do you need anything?" bardo Abu Luji

Section 2 - 6 Have You Evers:
1. dated someone twice? Ya3ni eih twice?
2. been cheated on? No
3. kissed someone & regretted it? No
4. lost someone special? No
5. been depressed? Yes
6. been drunk and threw up? No

Section 3 - List 3 Favourite Colors
1. Pink
2. Lilac
3. Baby Blue

Section 4 - This month have you
1. Made a new friend? Yes
2. Fallen out of love? No, God forbid.
3. Laughed until you cried? Yes
4. Met someone who changed your life? No
5. Found out who your true friends were? I already know
6. Is there something you want to tell someone? Yes
7. Would you kiss anyone on your top friends? What's up with the kissing?
8. How many people on your top friends do you know in real life? Most of them
9. How many kids do you want to have? 2 max.
10. Do you have any pets? No, but I used to have a dog.
11. Do you wanna change your name? No, I love it.
12. What did you do for your last birthday? I didn't do anything. Abu Luji threw me a surprise party.
13. What time did you wake up today? 8 am
14.What were you doing at midnight last night? Trying to get my baby to sleep
15. Name something you CANNOT wait for? Lose weight
16. Last time you saw your father? the 2nd of November
17. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? I wanna workout more
18.What are you listening to right now? Luji playing
19. Have you ever talked to Tom? Who's Tom?
21. Have you ever talked about someone behind their back? Rarely. But never in a negative way.
22.What’s the last piece of clothing you borrowed from anyone? Abu Luji's jacket, when it was cold.
23. Who’s getting on your nerves right now? My maid! I wanna kill her.
24. Most visited webpage? Google mail.
25. Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi
26. Have you kissed or been kissed by anyone in the past week? Yadi elobssession with kissing! Yes. Moot b3'ezak ba2a :P
27. Mac or PC? PC

La2 mat2olesh.. It is over? Really? .. Sigh. Now I tag:
Ma3lina
Myra
Salama Moussa
Loulou
Saso
Alina

Have You Ever Read a Book by Nawal ElSaadawi?

2007-02-28T08:55:00.003-06:00

I've been reading a lot of articles and posts about Nawal ElSaadawi nowadays. Aside from news about her fleeing Egypt, which she herself denied in El Hayah, Elmasry Elyoum, BBC Arabic and Al-Arabiya, many found this as an opportunity to attack the woman and all that she stands for. Many make fun of her statements, implying that she is lying. Well, even if, I believe in her old age she has the right to save herself from the humiliation she's subjected to by fanatics and those fame-seekers. This is not the first time for her to face law suits concerning her writings. As a matter of fact, she was imprisoned in September 1981 and she wrote about her experience in prison in several of her books and articles. This woman is in fact proud of being put into jail because she spoke her mind freely.

It is needless to say that El Saadawi has been the object of severe criticism and controversy all her life. But she insists to complete writing and to publish her works in Egypt whenever possible. Of course, in doing so she doesn't seek money or fame, for translations of her works are sold worldwide and even taught at American universities. She is a true feminist who didn't betray her cause for any reason: whether it be fear, pleasing the public, being rich, or having a high position.
It is sad when I see that many of those who attack her have never bothered to read a single word she wrote. They simply read what is written about her and are ready to pass judgement, in complete absence of integrity. Hence I pose the question: "Have you ever read a book by Nawal ElSaadawi?" It is easy now to find her books. I remember 10 years ago when I had to search for her works in English in order to be able to read them. I then read them all again in Arabic and I admired them even more.

El Saadawi, a novelist and feminist critic, has written her autobiography "A Daughter of Isis," in which she frankly tells all about her early years and upbringing. This woman dared to say it all, she would tread where no other Egyptian woman would dare to go. She exposed her personal life, with all the painful experiences and her deepest inner thoughts. She exposed our double-faced society and its cruelty towards young girls and women. She even wrote about her own infibulation at a young age.

I hereby provide a list of her works for those who care to check them out:

FICTION:
NOVELS
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (Cairo, 1958)

The Absent One (Cairo, 1969)

Two Women in One (Cairo, 1971)

Woman at Point Zero (Beirut, 1973)

The Death of the Only Man on Earth (Beirut, 1975)

The Children's Circling Song (Beirut, 1976)

The Fall of the Imam (Cairo, 1987)

Ganat and the Devil (Beirut, 1991)

Love in the Kingdom of Oil (Cairo, 1993)

THE NOVEL (Cairo, 2004 )

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

I Learnt Love (Cairo, 1957)

A Moment of Truth (Cairo, 1959)

Little Tenderness (Cairo, 1960)

The Thread and the Wall (Cairo, 1972)

Ain El Hayat (Beirut, 1976)

She was the Weaker (Beirut, 1977)

Death of an Ex-minister (Beirut, 1978)

Adab Am Kellat Adab collection (Cairo, 2000)
PLAYS (in Arabic)
Twelve Women in a Cell (Cairo, 1984)

Isis (Cairo, 1985)

God Resigns in The Summit Meeting (1996)
NON-FICTION
MEMOIRS

Memoirs in a Women's Prison (Cairo, 1983)

My Travels Around the World (Cairo, 1986)

Memoirs of a Child Called Soad (Cairo, 1990)

My Life, Part I, Autobiography (Cairo, 1996)

My Life, Part II, Autobiography (Cairo, 1998)
My Life, Part III (2001)
BOOKS

Women and Sex (Cairo, 1969)

Woman is the Origin (Cairo, 1971)

Men and Sex (Cairo, 1973)

The Naked Face of Arab Women (Cairo, 1974)

Women and Neurosis (Cairo, 1975)

On Women (Cairo, 1986)

A New Battle in Arab Women Liberation (Cairo, 1992)

Essays: El Ma`ara Wa lguorba (Cairo, 1997)

Essays: Taw`am el Sulta Wa l guins (Cairo, 2001)

Essays: Kadaya el Ma`ara wa l Fikr (Cairo, 2002)

Essays: Kasr El Hedoud (Cairo, 2004)

Fiction and Non-Fiction (Cairo, 2004)

It is because of her fearless honesty, that many people can not tolerate her. Even now, when she is 76, she is still fighting her battle, and they won't leave her alone.

Miracle Tree

2007-02-23T08:39:00.000-06:00

My heart was torn apart when I learned about the "tree" on Ismalia Road, which had turned into a site for pilgrimage. I couldn't believe that people have become that desperate that they seek the blessing of a tree: T.R.E.E! How is it possible that people have become that delusional? What kind of pressure can possibly cause them to lose their minds and degrade themselves till that extent? Have people become that gullible? Have their brains been switched to believe in superstitions instead of logic and common sense? Have they become that helpless that they are only waiting for miracles? Have they decided to quit working on changing their lives and solving their problems?
Is it because the sick can not afford to buy medicine or receive health care at a public hospital? Is it because the poor has found it so hopeless to realise their humanity? Is it because they can not afford the basic essentials of life? Is it because they can't get private teachers for their children? Is it because they are not allowed the leisure of dreaming?
Is it because of injustice? Is it because of corruption? Is it because of cruelty? Is it because of ignorance? Is it because of indifference? Is it because of oppression?
Or, is it because of the insanity we're living in?

Anyway, I found myself writing those lines, imagining one of the tree visitors:

Oh, Holy Tree!
Shower your blessings upon me.
For I have traveled a long way,
And I have a prayer to say.

Oh, Holy Tree!
Give me the strength to see
That there is still tomorrow,
Without any more sorrow.

Oh, Holy Tree!
Let me find the secret key
To open closed doors,
And break down walls.

Oh, Holy Tree!
I need a miracle, immediately,
To cure my only son,
Make him able again to run

Oh, Holy Tree!
He's all that matters to me.
We only need a strike of fate
To find a bed before it's late.

Oh, Holy Tree!
I became so weary.
Fear grows as fast as the pain,
And with them hope does wane.

Oh, Holy Tree!
Listen to my helpless plea.
Work your wonder quick
To save the poor and sick.

Oh, Holy Tree!
Have some mercy.
We believe in your powers,
Please, don't let us down like others.

Three Articles and One Message

2007-02-19T07:26:00.000-06:00

Today's issue of Modern Discussion is so rich. It took me hours to read this fully nutritious meal of thought. Yet, I've chosen only 3 of these articles to discuss here, as they are more or less tackling the same issue that is one of my major concerns, that is the relation between our cultural, political, scientific, economical and intellectual deterioration, on one hand, and the current "religious" fanaticism, on the other.

First, there is the beautiful, brief, research-like article by Amal Fouad Ebeid entitled The Entaglement of the Political, the Ideological and the Religious. Ebeid chose to investigate into the origins of this entaglement in our Arab world and why we failed in getting out of this dilemma which the west had suffered from during the Middle Ages. She found out that instead of learning the lesson of establishing a harmonious existence, where those three forces can have their seperate spheres without clashing with one another, we tend to insist on this distructive entaglement. Certain groups of each sphere find this chaos very beneficial that they would do everything possible to maintain the status quo and push the mobs into rejecting any form of enlightenment. She traces the historical sequence of such groups and how they used this as a tool for hindering the advancement of their nations, while blocking the road to knowledge and healthy cultural interaction. [click to read article]

The same approach was utilised by Said Elqemany in his article The Brotherhood and Its Islamic Solution. He explains how the Islamic Jihad which was originally a way of gathering the scattered pieces of a tribal Arab Peninsula, for the aim of creating a stong unified nation was later on used as a method for occupation. He then moves on to clarify how this has served to cover up many crimes in the dress of Islam, up to the present terrorist groups and their ideological stance. He also discusses the fact that some Sheikhs are against the idea of national loyalty, giving periority to religious and sectarian groups. (An idea I had earlier discussed in my post Whatever Happened to National Loyalty.) Elqemany concludes by showing how the Brotherhood operates in Egypt using the same methods in spreading a deformed version of Islam, one that is extreme and aims at political hegemony. [click to read article]

The third article is what we can call a "black comedy;" a highly sarcastic piece by George Faik, entitled O Secularits! Learn from Us How to Build a Civilization. He adopts the persona of a religious fanatic who only sees the ugly face of the West and fails to see the ugliness of his own society. He makes fun of how we keep cursing the corrupted ethical basis of foreign societies while we don't seek to learn from what their modern civilization has to offer. Very hilarious article that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. [click to read article]

So what is the message?.. I leave that to my intelligent readers.

Blowing Up Valentine

2007-02-14T05:23:00.000-06:00

What a greeting to receive on this beautiful day! As you can see, these are the latest fashion for Valentine greeting cards. I won't discuss here the genius person who did the impressive artistic work and wrote these tender messages. I only wonder about those who forward such a sick email! Why do they want to spoil people's happiness on a day dedicated to celebrating the reason behind life itself: LOVE. In its rare existence, love isn't even allowed a room for celebration. It is getting stabbed by haters of life, who want to destroy any beautiful meanings in our world.

The utter ignorance and fanaticism expressed in those messages show the extent of the tragedy we are living nowadays. Extremists search for new ways to ruin the minds of youngesters who don't bother to question such messages signed by "Islam CG". (CG stands for Computer Graphics. Tab3an el2ebhar bta3 elgraphics wade7.) Reading the word "Islam" gives the message a religious nature, which will make its receiver unable to criticise its content. But I care enough to expose such people before they poison our lives.

First, here is a wonderful simplified introduction I found about Saint Valentine on http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/

St. Valentine's Story
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!
Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."
I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Yes, love can't be beaten. It is clear now that the Valentine we celebrate today is no longer a religious event. The origins of the story only gave us the name and date for the celebration, while we use it as an opportunity to express feelings.

I would like to draw the attention to the conflicting messages in those above displayed "cards". In the first two, the event is said to be Christian and named after a Christian Priest. But in the third one it is said to be pagan, while having a picture of a candle with a cross on it. (Mesh 2oltelko graphics mobhera!) Ya3ni this Islam CG doesn't know the difference between Christianity and Paganism. Not only that, but they also don't know the difference between Christians and Israelis (See the 1st pic to the left)! Or maybe they know the differences very well, but they want those stupid people who forward this around to get mixed up and confused (even more than they already are mixed up and confused).

I certainly hope that we can see the dirty hands behind such things, which aim to break up the unity of our country and destroy the natural love we have among us.

To all of you, I say: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. May we always remember the love that unites us as Egyptians.

Shortcut to Paradise

2007-02-11T17:57:00.000-06:00

It's clear that he never saw it coming. The famous da3eya Amr Khaled has been exposed by Al Azhar to be quoting verses from the Holy Qur'an incorrectly. [click here to read details]

I've referred in a former post to Amr Khaled as a nominee on my 5 Most Hated People list, but if it wasn't for his Azharian colleague, Khaled El Gindy, he would have appeared as number 2. There is nothing I hate more than the kind of brainwash that Amr and his buddies perform. They mess up with the minds of our youth, taking advantage of their ignorance and vulnerability to gain money and fame. Religious talk, which has become a profiting business lately, doesn't cost anything. Anyone who finds in himself the needed charisma and basic religious information can make huge profits in a short time. Thanks to the age of media and open skies. People like Amr Khaled can reach a wide audience in just a matter of months. Then the business gets bigger. The established familiar face can then sell his product on cassette, CD, books, videos or even the internet.

Amr Khaled as most of you know is an accountant. The sign on his office can still be seen in Mohandeseen, Cairo. But with a simple calculation, this accountant was able to see what the brainwashing business can do for him. His acting skills also made him more suitable for the job. He can control the tone of his voice to make his talk authoritative and touching. He knows his audience well. They are young people who have no fixed aim in life and who are ignorant or semi-ignorant when it comes to religion. This lost and confused generation is an easy victim.

But why wasn't he careful when quoting verses from the Qur'an while writing his books or recording his tapes? I guess, the right question would be why be careful. Why give a damn if those people take whatever he says for granted? They will never care to check what he is saying and will never stop to analyse his speech. Yes, they are that desperate! The masses that make up the audience of Amr Khaled are people who are simple-minded. They want a simple religious meal to swallow and sleep. It is a new kind of drug that encourages more isolation and detachment. Amr Khaled and his group offer what can be called "a shortcut to paradise." You don't have to investigate into your current conditions or seek knowledge. They think for you and they get you the magical formula to be the best. Just attend their classes, buy their books and listen to their tapes, and you are the best person that can be. You become better than the western inventor in his lab, better than a Nobel prize winner, better than Bill Gates, better than your successful neighbor who doesn't attend the same classes or listen to the same tapes. All your problems will be solved, just sit there and pray.

Amr Khaled's business prospers the more lazy people become. He has no market in the developed world, where everybody knows his/her aims and works to achieve them. They don't need someone to mess up with their minds. And they won't allow someone to play all the roles of a shrink, a sociologist, a man of religion, a show host, and a counselor together (while being disqualified for any of them). But it in our underdeveloped, or as they like to call themselves "developing," countries he can pass as a highly respectable figure and even a role model for our youth who haven't learned to use their heads. He needs to drain their minds even more. He is like the undertaker who thrives on dead corpses. Thus, he cares to hit famous celebrities, making an actress wear a head scarf, or convincing a football player that he can become a TV da3ya. His audience will then get more and more attached as they see those popular figures revolving in his orbit. And because they have been well trained to cancel their minds they never pause to notice what his teachings have done with Ahmed El Fishawy for example. The once promising star, was well known to be one of Amr Khaled's students. He appeared on many shows on Iqra' satellite channel to show off how religious he has become on the hands of Amr Khaled. Then the next thing we see them as the father of an illegal child. His "teacher" didn't tell him that what he did was a sin, but encouraged him to escape responsibility, while meantime carefully drifting away from a student he was once very proud of (after El Fishawy became a "burnt card" as the saying goes). And all of a sudden the boy faces the scandals without his teacher, who for sure told him all the rotten talk about how a child can never be named after his/her father unless he agrees to it. He rested assured that there is no DNA in Islam and that he won't perform the test against his will. Where has God gone in all his calculations? It is heart breaking how the religion that Amr Khaled and his group offer make people turn to the crust of what this and that Sheikh said about so and so, while moving further from the real essence of religion. God is Just. God is Powerful. God is All-knowing. God doesn't need people like Amr Khaled to enter the hearts of his creation.

Whatever Happened to National Loyalty?

2007-02-07T06:58:00.000-06:00

I almost started to believe that Egypt and the Arab world have forgotten about who their real enemy was. All of a sudden everybody was focusing on how dangerous Iran has become and was holding it responsible for all the violence in the region. The Arab media keeps illustrating howIran is fueling the conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon, and how Iran is seeking to have a nuclear weapon (at the time when Israel, for the first time, openly declares its possession of nuclear weapons). Iran was even held responsible for the kidnap and murder of the Egyptian Ambassador in Iraq, Ihab Al Sharif (Al Ahram newspaper 28/01/2007)! Meantime Israel was continuing its killings in Gaza, which were of course overshadowed by the bloodbath taking place between Fatteh and Hamas (25 killed in 24 hours). Ya hanaky ya sa3dek ya Israel!

I bet Israel was having its best time in the region. Nobody seemed to care anymore about what Israel is doing or planning to do. Everybody was afraid of Iran and talking about its evils. I am not implying that Iran is totally innocent, but I can't see that it is seeking anything more than any other powerful country would seek; that is, securing its sources of energy and expanding its region of influence. Yes, the strategy for its latter goal has led to violence, as it relies on strengthening the power of the Sheia, but violence, after all, is the choice of its users. These Sheia groups are already armed and have been (or believe they are) under suppression inside their own countries. For them, the situation is so desperate that they seek external help.

In short, if these groups actually understood what national loyalty is, they would never have been swayed to kill their fellow citizens and turn against each other. But a history of suppression, in the case of Iraq, has led the Sheia to lose faith in citizenship. While in Lebanon, the threat of political marginalizing, has led to a kind of struggle for existence. In both cases, the internal factors within a nation _ from the lack of tolerance for different religious groups, to the constant feeding of the idea that sectarian loyalty is more important than one's loyalty to his country _ have led to these conflicts. They whirl around in their pool of dogma, while the whole ship is sinking. This is the kind of situation you end up with when religious identity overlaps national identity and citizenship; a thing that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt calls for *. [*See my post Caliphate in the 21st Century where I comment on the Murshid talking about the irrelevance of the Caliph's nationality]

But, suddenly, Egypt officially accused 3 Israelis and an Egyptian of spying. Tab3an lazem yeb2a feeh Egyptian fel nos kedda. Mayenfa3shy ya3ni for these Israelis to work alone without internal help. La2 wmesh ay Egyptian, he is a student at the faculty of Science, Al Azhar University. Ya3ni he gets educated in Al Azhar to work as a spy for Israel. What an education!

Or maybe I was too hard on the guy. Yemken he got confused, who knows? Ya3ni, after all, he didn't spy for Iran, wl3yazo bellah. He merely helped our friendly neighbors in gathering information. Ya3ni by7'dem dawla shaqeeqa. But akeed he would never have done that with our Iranian enemies. Elragel ma3zoor sa7ee7. He sees Olmart raye7 gyy, while he never saw Ahmadi Nejad in Egypt even once.

What happened with the family of the Egyptian spy, however, was too painful. Publishing his national ID and questioning his parents publically is a very unneeded episode. The guy comes from a respectful lineage and his parents hold respectful positions in the Egyptian society (the father is a fighter pilot and the mother is a school principal). They certainly don't deserve this kind of treatment from the media. (Even when a journalist like Amr Khafagy shows sympathy, he keeps referring to the spy using his family name all through his article. [click here to read] ) Why do we need to expose the whole family, specially when it comes to the most shameful crime of all: spying. Isn't it enough for this family to deal with their own shamebrought about by their own son? Can anybody imagine the psychological agony they are passing through? Why can't the media just mind its own business and treat this spying case in a more professional manner. It is a serious issue that has to do with national security. Trying to link the case to the guy's family life and upbringing is just off-context. Many young men have lost faith in their country due to a lengthy list of factors which I don't find room to discuss here, but only very few were able to snatch away their loyalty and dignity as this guy has done. This is a personality issue. He didn't only choose to go after money, but he also chose to team up with the devil to get it.

Well, I certainly hope this spying case may act as a wakeup call and help turn tables. I hope we remember who our true enemies are and act more responsibly towards our countries.

Five things you DON'T know about me:

2007-02-05T05:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks ya fadfadation for the tag. It took me a while to come up with all 5:

1. My personality type according to Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is INTJ (*Thanks to Nousha for it)
Introverted (I) 89% Extraverted (E) 11%
Intuitive (N) 73% Sensing (S) 27%
Thinking (T) 70% Feeling (F) 30%
Judging (J) 50% Perceiving (P) 50%

2. I don't wear Hijab and don't intend to do so in the future.

3. Right after graduation I became a school teacher. I loved the experience and the students, but I hated the retardedness of our educational system and those in control of it.

4. I've been writing poetry in English since I was 10 years old. But the first time I published any of my works was at the age of 23. I actually won the Editor's Choice Award in the same year.

5. I love interior design and gift wrapping. People say I am truly gifted, and I plan to make more use of these talents in the future.

Them victims:
Myra
Nousha
Salama Moussa
Loulou
Ma-3lina
H.O.P.E

Sharia Swimsuit!

2007-01-31T07:11:00.000-06:00

From Al Wafd newspaper "Maady Sports Club Elections Heat Up Over Sharia Swimsuits!" [click to read details]

What a deformity! I don't understand till what extent is this freaky show willing to go? Look at our public beaches and how ugly they have become! Fat women pulging into water with their clothes on, morbidly sticking to their bodies and sometimes even showing what's underneath! An eyesore of the worst kind. The only place where you can still enjoy a swim is at a sport club, where there is a dress code for swimmers. The conservative ones have got female only days, where the whole pool area is evacuated from the supposedly "hungry wolves", which used to be part of the human species and called "men". No problem so far. But for the frenzy to stretch its boundaries and include the friendly species of "women" who wear regular swimsuits, that is definitely abnormal! What did these women do to be exiled into a sub-category and be tagged as unwelcomed among those "wholly covered" friends? All they did was to wear what the dictionary definition of a swimsuit is. They wanna have a decent tan and they also don't wanna be inspected by males. That seems good enough. What more can they do to deserve due respect?

What really troubles me are the infinite possibilities of "What Next?" If you don't wanna swim alongside with a "normal woman", use your bathtubs ladies!

*I've chosen very decent photos to display.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

2007-01-26T07:15:00.000-06:00

Last night I caught myself watching this movie (on Dubai One) for probably the 20th time. I don't know what makes me get glued to the TV screen every time they show it. I consider the story to be silly and the comedy very crude, the old style of acting doesn't appeal to me (the way actors and actresses drag the words slowly out of their mouthes) and I'm totally against the image it represents of women. The motto of the movie is the classic "Diamonds are Girls Best Friends". No movie in the history of cinema has ever promoted the idea that "Books are Girls Best Friends." Producers either don't believe in it, or they simply think it would be boring.

The story is about two showgirls who are fishing for men, but each according to her own priorities: one is a gold-digger and the other falls for the handsome looks. So both girls are superficial and don't show any signs of maturity. Yet the movie pushes the viewer to admire the brunette friend (Jane Russell) for not going after money, while of course counting on the charm of the blonde (Marilyn Monroe) to dazzle and her naivity to stir laughs. It is a commerical movie by the measurements of the 50s. But how could it succeed in attracting me to watch it now, even though I hold all these negative thoughts against it?

I started to analyze deeper and found out that in fact there some admirable factors about the movie which are timeless:

1. The facinating picture with its lively colors and color coordination of the 50s, where each scene it like a harmonious painting; matching dresses with the background setting and the grace of old decoration.
2. The movie is full of beautiful songs and dance. Even if the words of some songs are used to promote the ideas I previously mentioned, yet the music and dance choreography are magnificent.
3. I discovered that the story was not as awful as I had thought. Actually it is satirical of the superficiality of men and women alike. For although the movie is about the two women, its title is "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," which hints at men's superficial judgement of beauty. The blonde ladies, like Monroe, make use of that to become rich. An old businessman (owning a diamond mine in South Africa) fell an easy victim once "the blonde" started showing interest in him, although he knows that she was after his money.

4. There is also the strong friendship between the two girls, although they are supposedly so different in character. The brunette friend is willing to wear a blonde wig and face trial instead of her friend who is accused of stealing. And the seemingly selfish blonde is trying to secure the future of her friend by trying to hook her up with a wealthy man. They stick together till the end.
These would better be the real reasons why I keep watching this movie again and again, but I'll still go for more analysis anyway.

Sad But True

2007-01-25T07:21:00.000-06:00

This website is offline for delayed payment
Please make your payment in full to get it online again

Yup! That's what it says when you go to check the Cairo International Book Fair official website. http://www.cibf.org/ Seems they've got some unpaid bills!

Anyway that's not our issue here. I want to comment on Jack Attallah's article in Modern Discussion. Although he uses an extremely harsh language in addressing his subject, yet the basis for his argument (concening the Book Fair) are unfortunately true. Only highly intellectual, radical and controversial books are banned from this "international" book fair, while nobody seems to care when they see loads of books on display promoting extremist thoughts or cheap subjects under the name of Islam. These are merely books dealing with Jinn, how to break a spell, sexual matters, or (as Attalla mentions) conventional medicine, but giving them the false attire of sprining from the Islamic heritage. Why do we allow such books while ban others? Although those cheap books have no problem finding their buyers, who don't seek any kind of intellectual enlightenment.

It is clear that Attallah is very furious. Well, I'm furious too. And if I were a Christian, God knows how I would have felt. But I don't like it when fury interfers with writing. I realize where his anger is coming from, and he has all the right to be angry. However, the article was shocking and could have been much better if he had used a calmer tone. And I ultimately disagree with what he had to say about international intervention, even if it is for the sake of retreiving rights.

El "Nafsanah": a Global Epidemic

2007-01-23T06:45:00.000-06:00

When I learned what happened to Dr. Mohamed Taranissi, I said "Oops! hya elnafsana weselt Britain kaman?". The famous fertility doctor was envied by his rivals for having the best success rate in treating his patients and for being the wealthiest British doctor (his fortune is estimated to reach 38 million sterling). He is currently facing a fierce war by the British media and HFEA. [read details]

I used to think that a successful person will face such wars enflamed by jealousy and envy (elnafsanah) only in our societies, where he/she is considered to be odd. I myself fell several times as a victim of unwelcoming working environments because of my hard work, enthusiam and their consequence: success and popularity. Nonetheless, I was deprived of fully enjoying my success because of this Nafsanah. I was forced to enter into those trivial conflicts with colleagues as if success was a crime. And I had to untangle myself all the way while doing my job, which took much unneeded effort and time.

A Close Look at the Envious Co-worker (Elmenafsen/a):

He/she feels an urge to bring you down. I even told one of them "Does it feel itchy in the morning that it makes you decide to dedicate your day for ruining mine?". But they can't help it. The mere presence of a creative and energetic person among a bunch of menafseneen makes the whole place uncomfortable. Being just there kedda makes them furious. Cause now they will face competition. There is constant reminder that they are less talented and having limited abilities. And suddenly a sense of humour becomes not enough to win the boss. The boss is praising the one who is "less sociable" but more hard working. There is this wall that prevents envious co-workers from liking their successful colleague, even if he/she is extremely nice. It costs a lot of effort to try improving themselves to match his/her caliber, but hatred and jealousy cost nothing.

Moreover, you can contribute into making them worse persons without knowing. The jealousy you spark inside elmenafsen/a will keep growing as your success continues and this will force him/her to use fierce defence. It's like "I won't wait here and watch you making me smaller". And here starts the mechanism of denial (I'm doing my best, this person is just abnormal), then making a defence plan, and finally launching an attack. The defence plan can be as evil as it can get, as long as it is for the sake of defence. The end justifies the means ya3ni. A small rumour can be a good subject for chat as well as forming teams against you. A big lie is even better and can find its way to upper management. Giving negative explanations to your actions can change your image in the office. Anything that makes this envoius person feel he/she is doing something to stop you, instead of merely watching, will make him/her feel better.

It's War

Once the hidden minor conflicts raise to the level of an organised campaign, it's war; mainly a psychological one. You either face it or retreat. Many people finding themselves in this situation have decided to retreat; not out of weakness, but because of lack of harmony and cooperation in their work place. Others got exhausted of battling over trvialities. However, those who stood up and faught till the end are much fewer than you imagine. Watch out friends!

Caliphate in the 21st Century

2007-01-19T07:51:00.000-06:00

From Elmasry Elyoum>> Brotherhood MP Confesses: The Brotherhood was established to bring back Islamic Caliphate [read article]

It's such a disgrace when you hear somebody talking about "Caliphate" (Khilafa) in the 21st century. YA NAS YA HOOH, how come this bunch of mentally retarded people live among us and control our lives in many fields. How come this person doesn't realize we're in the year 2007, or let's say 1428 hijri (kol sana wento tayebeen)? Ya3ni all the values that humanity has struggled for through the ages will go with the wind kedda, just because the Brotherhood wants to bring back Calihpate! To hell with democracy, development, free thinking, freedom of speech, women liberation, human rights, and everything that leads to the advancement of nations. Let's go back in history, whilst we already suffer from the huge gap between us and the "First World". The real tragedy is that hallucination has its audience nowadays. Unfortunately, there are some people who listen to this talk and wonder "why not?"! These are people who live in a coma without making the slightest effort to wake up.

Why?! Because Caliphate was never part of our religion. Prophet Mohamed was a messenger of God, not a president of the Islamic World, and he never mentioned anything about Caliphate in his life. Because Caliphate involves no democracy (he is chosen by a few members of Shura) and is not elected by the people. Because no one can dare object to his rule or question his methods. Because there are no clear qualifications for earning the position of Caliph (Khalifa). Because, as the Brotherhood Murshed said, anyone can be a Caliph as long as he is Muslim (Rosalyousef 12/4/2006); which means that an Indian Muslim can rule Egypt; and which means that he doesn't even have to speak Arabic (that was the actual case with the Ottoman Caliph), which means, again, diminishing local identity and cultural variety. Because Caliphate did not protect Islamic countries against foreign attacks or occupation. Because of other numerous reasons.

Before we jump up in rage and overreact whenever there is an air of ridicule about Islam; please, take a minute to look around and see what Muslims do. Take a minute and think about those like Mr. Mohamed Shaker, who is an MP, and who is supposed to represent us as Egyptians. He represents you and me, like it or not. Yes. He got his seat in parliament via our votes, or cause we didn't care enough to vote, either ways led to the same outcome. Take a minute to think about what Mohamed Omara wrote in his last book concerning Christians. This man has earned several important positions in our religious institutions, and he is currently a member in the Islamic High Council, so he shouldn't be easily considered as someone babbling nonsense. This is a serious issue.

Take a minute to think about Muslims who kill one another in Iraq and Somalia. Take a minute to think about those who were unsuspectedly allowed inside a country and then killed thousands of its civilians in the name of Islamic Jihad. Take a minute to think about women in Arab countries and how they are made to look like black ghosts, and treated like second class citizens, facing laws that ban them from voting or driving. Take a minute to think about how some slaughter young girls (through circumcision) in the name of ethics. Take a minute to look at how our culture doesn't show any tolerance for the Other. Take another minute to think about why we neglected reading, modern sciences, arts, and social development; while men are growing their beards and women are covering their heads. Why haven't our countries yet known democracy, on the macro and micro levels alike? Why do we detest dialogue and fear freedom? Why do many of us still believe in superstitions? Why haven't we invented anything useful to the world while we thrive on consuming their products and making use of their technology? Why and why and why?

The problem was never in Islam. But Muslims give their religion a bad reputation, through their practices. And yet we want the civilized world to respect us. Hya eih? 3afya?.. Let's look at ourselves from the inside. Let's try to criticize ourselves and CHANGE before the coming generations condemn us. Tayeb bzemetak, dear reader, do you respect Hindus and Buddhists, who together make up half the world population? Although they have never threatened us in any way or shown any disrespect towards us. Our culture, which is totally manmade and, hence, transformable, simply didn't teach us to respect them. We didn't learn that anywhere. Not at home, nor our school, nor our mosques, nor our media, nor our literature; it isn't there. I wish we would start now to learn this lesson. It's already too late, but better late than never. And instead of denouncing those who criticize us, let's take it as an opportunity for analyzing our weaknesses and facing them. We can't hide anywhere. We can't stop the clock and just decide to escape to Caliphate. We can't avoid history from writing us in its worst pages, unless we write a new and better final chapter.

Frozen Chicken

2007-01-15T12:41:00.000-06:00

A Short Episode in the Day of a Contemporary Middle Class Mother

She dashed in almost out of breath, while clattering her keys, which she found with great difficulty amid the numerous contents of her handbag. Opening the bag was a successful conquest in itself, when carrying all that grocery. And off she goes, rushing into the kitchen and dropping all those bags (keys too). She sways hectically to take out everything she needs from the cupboard while putting on her apron. She then swerves to face the sink, where she had left today's main course to thaw.. a frozen chicken.

A gaze of frustration coats her tired eyes as she examines the chicken carefully. "This should take some extra minutes" and time is her worst enemy. She quickly puts it under running water imagining the impatient diners and how they would react when they realize that their meal will be late again. It's not the criticism that worries her (although she's pretty sensitive to it), but she really hates the looks of disappointment stabbing her from those three pairs of eyes: her husband and two children.

Here comes the worst episode of the process: extracting the chicken guts. Although she has done that hundreds of times, she just can't help being disgusted. She can't get rid of these hateful movements inside her stomach every time she digs in with her fingers to pull out those sticky inner parts. Their sight and texture make her want to throw up several times, which she suppresses by swallowing saliva. She was always keen to work on this latter element (texture) by wearing a pair of plastic gloves, but her final pair was destroyed last month and she keeps forgetting to buy herself a new one.

"Ugh! My God!" It is at this moment that she has the worst feelings of all. She, the respectful Editorial Coordinator of a scientific periodical, spends hours of her life removing chicken guts! "What a pathetic double life!" Well, her prestigious job doesn't pay as well as it sounds, not enough to get assistance with domestic chores. She can only afford one weekly visit by a reckless maid, who should rather make a living out of inventing excuses for not showing up. But she must endure her, or else..

She, the woman who leads a team of scientific researchers.. She, the perfectionist, who doesn't have any room for inaccuracy or tolerance for errors.. She, who is feared by everyone working under her supervision.. She is compelled to bear with the recklessness of this illiterate maid, the arrogance of the Bawab who declines from helping her unless she pays him like other neighbors in the building do, the looks of the greengrocer who doesn't like her way of debating over prices.. the rudeness of many people who are socially and intellectually far beneath her.

She has always been a serious hard-worker. However, in the past she used to be driven by passion and zest for life. Now.. Now?.. Now!.. She doesn't know what to call the force behind her consistent dedication. She had always been a brilliant student. She was also talented in arts, specially painting. But her father insisted that she should join the Faculty of Science. Still, she had the dream of once having her own art exhibition: a postponed dream. She excelled in Biology, and upon her graduation she applied for a scholarship abroad. But she had to get married. Hence, post-graduate studies became her second postponed dream. She finally got a job offer at a well known lab, but its working hours didn't appeal to her husband who couldn't imagine the idea of a wife arriving home after her man. She should be the one waiting for him, not vise versa. Her current job was a perfect settlement at the time. Having huge ambitions concerning her career, she thought it was the first milestone, but somehow it turned out to become her last stop.

What's the use of wings if one is incapable of flying? Dream after dream she kept frozen for years. And year after year those dreams moved further and further away from her. Talent has faded, passion for study has extinguished, and ambition has become pointless. Yet, still she holds up a good posture, pulling it together, and doing her best to show that she deserves to keep this job.

Anyway, here she lands after a tiresome day at work.. battling with her chicken.. thinking how she could possibly satisfy all her diners! Her husband likes it boiled with lots of soup, while Ramy likes it grilled, and Shady likes it KFC style. Well, no matter what she does, at least two of her diners will be left unsatisfied; not to mention the bad evaluation she would get for making their hunger last about an hour longer. They too judge her performance, and this one comes first on their list. Other things they tend to consider as part of their existing environment. The clean ironed shirts, the new bed sheets, the perfectly organized rooms, the fridge full of cold drinks and snacks.. etc, are all there as a matter of fact. It's like Mother Nature has equipped the world with those natural resources. For instance, they never saw how this disgusting frozen chicken gets transformed into the hot delicious serving in their dishes.

She had tried her friend's advice of cooking early in the morning, but it was a disaster. Not only did she ruin three meals in a row (being overcooked or burnt) , but also distracted her dear sleepers; although she was keen not to use any of the noisy machines in her kitchen, which of course meant longer preparation time. She can't afford the luxury of screwing up, and certainly not this time, not their awaited meal. She has to rush, rush, rush around the clock. She doesn't want to face those eyes pointing at her with blame. She desperately needs, even for once, to shake that horrible heap of guilt off her shoulders.

Everybody wants Supermom, but Supermom simply doesn't exist.. except in those silly TV commercials where you find a pretty, slim, elegant, ever-smiling lady, serving her family an average of ten colorfully decorated dishes while managing to keep her freshness and full make-up. It is as if this magical cube of chicken-stock or the genie in the bottle of oil is the secret behind her happiness. Now, what's her excuse for her messed up appearance and the gloomy tiresome expressions on her face? She's got all she needs in her "kingdom", along with all those noisy machines which her grandmother would consider as miracles. Why is she always exhausted and impatient?

She knows the answer. It's simply because this woman on TV wasn't exposed to the steam and heat of her little kitchen. She didn't contribute anything in the making of those ten or twenty dishes. Her job is merely to put them on the table while smiling to the camera. Where was she before that perfect shot? Oh, she was at the care of the stylist and make-up artist preparing her on the air-conditioned set. That's her job.. for which 30 seconds of fake smiling can earn you thousands of pounds! Then every REAL mother rushes to buy the product, believing in her turn that if she owns this bottle of oil all her problems will disappear. Grabbing the bottle from the shelf at the supermarket will give her moments of being the woman on TV. Short moments of victory are all she gets, before realizing that her world is all the same. However, she still goes to purchase the same product again and again, just for the sake of these stolen moments, when she actually becomes the woman on TV.. even if that means that she would continue to be frozen within the frame of a less-woman and a less-mother.

She reaches for the salt to clean the chicken skin. As her fingers feel the smooth skin under the coarse grains, it suddenly hits her that she has forgotten to set the appointment for her depilation. Speaking of a "less-woman", this will really cause her unneeded embarrassment. She remembers the fat Om Ibrahim, who visits her twice a month for "sweet". Of course nothing is sweet about the process apart from its name. It's like plucking the feathers off this chicken, except that it doesn't experience the pain she undergoes during and after the process. She has to yield her body in front of Om Ibrahim for an hour of consecutive painful streaks, until she is totally sleek and smooth.. like all women. That's all the beauty care she gets. Everything else she does herself with the limited time and money she has. She no more enjoys the time she spends doing her hair, nails or make-up. For her, it is precious time wasted. She would rather rest or spend some time with herself. Nonetheless, those practices have become part of her daily routine, a necessity for maintaining her image at work.

She is startled by the door bell. Her husband has successfully managed to maneuver his way through traffic to pick up the kids from school and come back home that fast! It's time to put her chicken into the pan.

5 Most Hated People

2007-01-12T16:44:00.000-06:00

Well, I know it's not a cool start.. But here come the the 5 celebrities I hate most:

5- El Sobky
Who?: Movie Producer
Why?: I think he is dead guilty of ruining the public taste for arts, especially teenagers'. This guy really gives Egyptian cinema a bad name. His company is well known for the production of low comedies like El Limby, La7'met Ras, 3awdet Elnadla, and 3alaya Eltarab Beltalata. Only caring to feed his big fat purse by showering movie theatres with trash. He sure knows how to make his cheap product sell, from choosing the right timing (feasts and summer) to musical ads on all Arab satellite channels. The movie is usually accompanied with a soundtrack that is sure to stir controversy, whether for its bad language or shocking video clip. His newest way of promoting his latest movie was through having the movie star (Belly dancer, Dina) actually dance in front of downtown cinemas screening the movie!! It's amazing how far someone would go to make profits! Well, I don't care about the fortunes he makes out of all this, but what really earned him that place on my list is that the victims who pay for it are mostly children and teenagers. It's such a shame!

4- Amr Abdel Samee3
Who?: TV Host of the show 7alet 7om.. oops.. "7alet 7ewar"
Why?: Mr. Provokative hosts a TV which features many members of the government and pretends to tackle important current issues while questioning the performance of the government. Abdel Samee3 El Lamee3 in his turn pretends to exchange some Hard Talk with the guest(s). Even if his guest is a minister, he intentionally shows lack of respect, interrupting his every sentence, making silly comments, joking with bwa7'a while revealing his ugly teeth in what is supposed to be a sarcastic smile. YUK! But what are we left with? The show can go on for up to 2 and a half hours which are deadly boring (I challenge anyone to watch a whole episode), only to find out that there aren't in fact any problems. And even if there are, they are of our own making.. ungrateful citizens! Well, good job, you actually made it to my list!

3- Nervana Edrees
Who?: Ex-TV Hostess of "Al Qahira Al Youm" and "El Beet Betak"
Why?: Never in my life have I seen someone that bad on TV! Shallow, hypocritical, arrogant, provokative, misbehaved, ignorant and unable to form one correct sentence in Arabic (or any other language for sure)! Nervana is one of a kind. She should be taught to Media freshmen as the case of the worst TV hostess in history. Thanks to her brainless head, she got herself fired twice (from the Orbit Network and the Egyptian TV). Although it's a relief that I won't see her again on the screen, yet what I had suffered earlier made her earn this place on my list. I will never forget the day when she appeared on screen after being faced with her fabrication of stories by her co-host Amr Adeeb. This is hilariously dumb! Instead of doing her best to overcome this scandal, she went on accusing her colleague of gathering info mn 3al 2ahwa. She then said her historical phrase "2aloly".

2- Khaled El Gendy
Who?: I don't know what his job is. But surely he makes a living out of TV shows and private business.
Why?: Well, El Sheikh Khaled was skillful enough to take the place of Amr Khaled on my list. Unlike all the new-look religious talkers, El Gendy made it fast to the top and secured for himself a place in the public eye by making sure not to commit any of the common mistakes of his buddies, such as criticising the system, or calling for a muslim nation. He also makes sure to maintain good relations with the Muslim Brothers by promoting the things they care for most to spread in the street, like Hijab, and attacking free thinkers. El Sheikh also 'lesano taweel' on those who disagree with him. He has insulted great thinkers like Osama Anwar Okasha and Nawal El Sa'dawy, actually calling them names on live television, and describing them as crazy, without of course really discussing their views. He is also a business man, being a partner in many flourishing businesses like El Hatef El Islamy and others. Wow, what a modern man! I strongly recommend him for anyone who wants a tailored fatwa.

1- Abdalla Kamal
Who?: Editor of Rosa al Yousef
Why?: This guy's name should appear in the dictionary beside the word Hypocrite. But unlike our naive friend, Nervana, Kamal is the master of good play. This is what was meant to be the clone of Sameer Ragab, but without the jacuzzi. The new version of Ragab came with enhanced facilities: brand new lies, electric fraud, power swearing, and security air bags! This guy is leathal. Reading just one of his articles is guaranteed to cause high blood pressure. But once you start to show symptoms, try reminding yourself that it has actually become a badge of honor to get insulted in his articles. In fact, if he praised someone he will immediately earn a bad ripuation, or at least becomes questionable. I remember when I used to read Rosa every week. It was a highly respectable publication. Thanks to him, I never feel tempted to look at it. Kemo, you deserve to be number 1 on my list 3an gadara!

This was my list. Who will appear on yours?

Grand Opening of my Blog

2007-01-12T09:24:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends,

Welcome to my online blog: The Edge of Reason. I shall use this small space to share with you my thoughts about current issues as well as keeping you updated about what's taking place in my life. I will also use it to publish my literary works and commenting on the works of others. I will tell you about the useful books, links or info I come across. Please come visit frequently and enrich this blog with your comments.