Brian en Doortje

2011-07-08T15:05:00.003+02:00

Goodbyeee

Cairo!!

2011-06-28T18:25:00.004+02:00

Leaving Countdown

Doortje at TGIFridays

2011-06-17T15:02:00.003+02:00

We stopped at Fridays for a quick drink last night.

Lunar Eclipse

2011-06-17T15:01:00.002+02:00

We posted some pictures on our flickr page from the lunar eclipse the other night.

2011-05-09T08:23:00.007+02:00

First Day in the Pool!

2011-04-16T12:51:00.001+02:00

Doortje and I went for a swim today, after being in the desert for the last few days and as it's 36 degrees in Cairo today, it sounded like a good idea but the water was freezing. Still, it was refreshing. We're going to miss our pool when we are back in Holland.

Last Desert Trip

2011-04-16T08:31:00.008+02:00

We are back in Cairo after what we think will be our last trip into the desert. We took the dogs as it was a short 4 days 1080 Km trip, we think they had fun.

It's Official!

2011-04-11T20:06:00.000+02:00

Doortje received her memo from the Foreign Ministry today and it's official, we are to be posted back to Holland! The better news is that they gave Door her number one choice from her list of jobs, that being the finance department at the ministry. But the best news is that they also gave her a promotion! We were hoping for one of the three but to get all was a shock, but a very pleasant one.

Homeless

2011-03-08T15:26:00.000+02:00

Shouldn't Have Bothered Washing The Truck

2011-02-28T12:37:00.001+02:00

Dusty Truck

2011-02-27T17:22:00.000+02:00

We've had a few days of blowing sand, think maybe it's time for a bath.

Cairo Update

2011-02-13T16:10:00.002+02:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that all is well at our house. Doortje was home for the weekend and she will be coming home each night as long as things stay quite. She did pack a bag to leave at the embassy, just in case, and I'm leaving a duffel bag packed and the dog kennels/food by the door and extra diesel in the trucks second tank, just in case.

It has been pretty quite around our house this weekend, very few gun shots the last few nights and it's hard to tell if the ones we do hear are in anger or celebration.

Update from Cairo

2011-02-10T17:33:00.001+02:00

Doortje is Home!

I am happy.

brian

Update

2011-02-07T09:36:00.003+02:00

I have a bit of time and wanted to give you a quick update. As you may have seen in the news the situation has quieted down considerably here in Cairo, many of the smaller shops opened yesterday and one of the larger supermarkets that hasn't been looted is suppose to open today. I even heard Pizza Hut is delivering again, which I am reluctant to order from as this past week I've lost close to 1/2 a kilo, the revolutionary diet plan I'm going to call. But our driver is having trouble finding beer as they looted and burnt out many of the licensed shops that sell alcohol. The only problem we can see for the near future is that many of the police stations/vehicles/weapons have been burnt or looted. Having said that we've never seen a strong police presence in our neighborhood in the past nor have we heard of any people/house having problems recently.

There were a number of gun shots to the north of us last night, I have no idea what was going on but it was small caliber weapons and I didn't hear any returning or automatic fire, which I take as a good sign. The only bad thing is that no one looted the frickin' roosters that the farmer next door keeps as they are starting to get on my nerves with their crowing all day and half the night.

Doortje is staying in the hotel again tonight as we want to see what this day brings and then she may come home tomorrow, if the work load at the embassy allows, even if it's just for an afternoon off. I have no idea where she's going to sleep though as Aliaan has taken on the role of the alpha female and has been sleeping all night on Doors side of our bed. It was mildly disturbing last night when I rolled over in bed, forgetting that Doortje wasn't home, and coming face to face with the fur face beside me.

We want to thank our family and friends for the phone calls, emails and facebook comments as they have meant a lot to us both, and sorry that I haven't replied to all the emails but it's been mind numbingly distracting around here as you can imagine.

So, things are looking better and we are cautiously optimistic that the worse is behind us. Except for the roosters that is.

Brian en Doortje

BBC: 'Day of departure' rally in Egypt

2011-02-04T18:52:00.001+02:00

Rosa Navarro, an American who was arrested and detained overnight at the Intelligence HQ, gives the BBC a disturbing account of her detention: "I went out with a friend yesterday to buy sim cards. We stopped by his house and while waiting for a cab we were approached by police officers in uniform. They asked us for our passports, released us and then came back two minutes later and we were arrested. We were interrogated and accused of being spies and in Egypt to bring down the Egyptian government. I was left blindfolded and sitting with around 50 or 60 other Westerners who had been picked up while waiting for a bus, or a taxi or just walking on the street. None of them, like myself, were arrested near the protest."

Link

Greetings from Cairo

2011-02-04T13:29:00.006+02:00

I have a bit of time so I thought I'd try and bring you up to date on what is going with Doortje and I. But as there is so much to tell I really don't know where to start. Umm, well, the weather here is really nice, it's been in the low 20s all week.

I just got off the phone with Door and she is quite busy at the embassy. She went to work on monday and is staying at the Marriott Hotel with all the other embassy staff but I'm staying at the house as the hotel doesn't allow dogs, for any reason, so going there with her isn't an option. Doortje didn't go to work sooner as she was just getting over a nasty cold which I suspect is still lingering but she wants to be at the embassy to do her part. As well she says they all walk back and forth from the hotel/embassy in a group for safety and that we shouldn't worry about her. But somehow, I still do.

As for me and the dogs we are doing well. The rich Egyptians on our compound have hired 20 or so men to provide security and they are doing a good job so I feel safe enough. I had been joining in with them sitting outside our gate from 0400 to 1800 but with the way things have turned we've decided that I should keep a lower profile, it's not like I'm adding a lot with my presences anyway. Except perhaps for the appreciation of the guards that I'm willing to sit outside and to eat breakfast with them, this I've been told means a lot to them. I am "Mr Brian" to them which is respectful, and I feel undeserved, but makes me wish I had more food/water/warm clothes to share.

My short term plan is to stay in the house as long as I can find enough food and, well, toilet paper but when the logistics/security becomes too difficult some desert friends and I plan to head to the Bahariya Oasis, if we can get out of the city safely.

I have buckets more to tell you but I'm in the middle of packing the truck in case we do have to leave as I suspect that will be done rather quickly. So I'll leave my stories for another time.

We Are Back From The Desert

2010-12-29T11:31:00.002+02:00

Good trip and great weather. Cloudless skies and zero wind for the entire trip.

Cleaning Up After the Sandstorm

2010-12-13T15:34:00.005+02:00

Ahmed and Nabil cleaning up. You can just see the square of sand on the bottom of the pool that Ahmed hasn't yet vacuumed up.

Sand everywhere, except the dogs bed, that, I was required to clean first thing.

Nabil beating the dust, and the stuffing, out of our dilapidated cushions. We only have 6 months left so haven't bother to replace them, and you can see why.

The Second Day of This Sandstorm

2010-12-12T18:37:00.005+02:00

A sandstorm, strong winds and lashing rains swept across Egypt on Sunday, closing several ports and disrupting traffic in the Suez Canal, officials said

Mosques are seen through fog and cold weather in Cairo December 11, 2010. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah

Officials at Cairo airport said preventive measures were being taken after visibility was reduced to 300 metres (yards).

Twenty-six ships were barred from entering the Suez Canal and 29 vessels delayed for three hours before they could move through the waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

The waterway was hit by poor visibility and winds of up to 40 knots an hour, said an official at the canal, Egypt's third-largest source of foreign revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers.

High waves also closed all eight of Egypt's main Red Sea ports on Sunday for the second consecutive day, as well its Mediterranean ports of Alexandria and Dekheila, officials said.

Meteorologists said the bad weather was expected to last through Monday and have advised people to stay indoors due to a sandstorm that has blanketed the Egyptian capital.

With temperatures having plunged since Friday night, thunderstorms and heavy rains have lashed the north coast, Red Sea region and the Sinai peninsula.

I don't know anything about the heavy rains but we must have half of Libya in our living room. Brian

From Ahram Online

Todays Weather

2010-12-11T13:45:00.000+02:00

Never mind the rain icons for Saturday and Sunday, it isn't going to happen.

Myths by Bob Rz

2010-11-13T14:32:00.001+02:00

Earth Observatory: Nile River Delta at Night

2010-11-10T06:25:00.003+02:00

One of the fascinating aspects of viewing Earth at night is how well the lights show the distribution of people. In this view of Egypt, we see a population almost completely concentrated along the Nile Valley, just a small percentage of the country’s land area.

The Nile River and its delta look like a brilliant, long-stemmed flower in this astronaut photograph of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, as seen from the International Space Station. The Cairo metropolitan area forms a particularly bright base of the flower. The smaller cities and towns within the Nile Delta tend to be hard to see amidst the dense agricultural vegetation during the day. However, these settled areas and the connecting roads between them become clearly visible at night. Likewise, urbanized regions and infrastructure along the Nile River becomes apparent (see also The Great Bend of Nile, Day & Night.)

Another brightly lit region is visible along the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean—the Tel-Aviv metropolitan area in Israel (image right). To the east of Tel-Aviv lies Amman, Jordan. The two major water bodies that define the western and eastern coastlines of the Sinai Peninsula—the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba—are outlined by lights along their coastlines (image lower right). The city lights of Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca, and Nicosia are visible on the island of Cyprus (image top).

Scattered blue-grey clouds cover the Mediterranean Sea and the Sinai, while much of northeastern Africa is cloud-free. A thin yellow-brown band tracing the Earth’s curvature at image top is airglow, a faint band of light emission that results from the interaction of atmospheric atoms and molecules with solar radiation at approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) altitude.

Link

2010-10-22T09:54:00.002+02:00

r462N.jpg (2996�2000)

NASA GOES-13 Full Disk view of Earth September 24, 2010

2010-09-29T11:50:00.001+03:00

NASA GOES-13 Full Disk view of Earth September 24, 2010, originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video.

reddit.com

2010-09-08T10:18:00.002+02:00

My dad spent 26 years in the Armed Services as part of Strategic Air Command. He's become a bit of a poet in his golden years. Today he sent me this:
_
In Arlington we lay to rest
our bravest and our very best.
We send our children off to war
defending what we soon ignore.
_
“You’re free to worship,” so we say.
“But if you’re muslim, go away.”
Is this what they were dying for:
Intolerance, and nothing more?
_
Must one be christian to obtain
the liberties that we proclaim?
These soldiers died for liberty.
They didn’t die for bigotry.
_
So look upon this hallowed field,
not only crosses are revealed.
For you’ll see stars and crescents too.
They also sacrificed for you.
_
In Arlington we lay to rest
our bravest and our very best.
They knew what they were dying for.
It’s something that we can’t ignore.
Joe G
EDIT: I've always been proud of my old man.

via

NASA (Click For Full Version)

2010-09-05T12:04:00.001+02:00

In Cairo, An End To The Cacophony Of Calls To Prayer

2010-08-07T10:42:00.001+03:00

I'll have to ~~see it~~ heard it to believe it. Brian

EnlargeVictoria Hazou/AFP/Getty

Muslim men visit the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. Beginning next week, the call for prayer will no longer be issued by local mosques, but rather from a downtown studio and then transmitted to mosques around the city.

August 5, 2010

There are few Islamic traditions in Cairo older than the ritual, five-times-a-day call to prayer. But as of next week, that call is undergoing a radical change.

No longer will the melodic call, the azan, be delivered by a sea of voices from minarets across the sprawling Egyptian capital.

Responding to criticisms that the current uncoordinated delivery lacks dignity, the government's Ministry of Religious Endowment has announced plans to broadcast a single Islamic call to prayer from a downtown Cairo studio.

That call will be transmitted through special receivers to thousands of mosques registered with the government. The mosques, in turn, are required to stop using their own callers, or muezzinine, and instead use the new call.

The hope is to bring uniformity to a ritual that some say is out of control.

One voice will seem empty.

- Cairo resident Aya Hassan

"It's chaos, chaos," says Abdul Munam Suroji, during a visit to a hilltop park in the capital where he listened to the call. The 54-year-old Syrian tourist says the azan in Damascus sounds much better because it is a uniform call.

Egyptian officials say they have selected 30 of the bestmuezzinine from among the thousands in the city to take turns delivering the call to prayer starting on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan next week. The new call will be heard in a single district of Cairo, but will gradually be introduced throughout the capital and eventually to all of the 106,000 official mosques across Egypt.

Many religious scholars, including Mohamed el Shahat el Gindy, who heads the Islamic law department at Helwan University, support the decision. El Gindy said the current call is "against the spirit of azan."

Also, he added, the verses sung may differ from mosque to mosque, thereby confusing worshippers.

EnlargeHolly Pickett for NPR

Ahmed Abdel Aziz sings the call to prayer, or the azan, at Al- Maghfara Mosque in a suburb of Cairo last month.

New Policy Meets Resistance

But muezzinine like Ehab Mohammad, who will no longer be allowed to deliver the call, are not happy about being silenced, even though he and others will continue to receive their monthly salary of roughly $55 a month.

His friend, Mohammad Fawzi, who delivers the call to prayer at a mosque down the street, says it is not just a job. He believes being a muezzingives him and others a leg up in the next life.

"The prophet says those who lead the [call to] prayer have the longest necks and will stand the tallest on judgment day," Fawzi says. "So of course I'm against them denying us the azan."

Cairo resident Aya Hassan, a 20-year-old pharmacy student, is displeased about the ministry's plan.

"All the different voices make you feel like everyone is kneeling and praying to Allah at the same time," she says. "One voice will seem empty."

Hassan worries that residents in the city's many squatter neighborhoods could end up unaware of when to pray if their unofficial mosques are not given transmitters.

Others say the call to prayer is a religious matter and the government shouldn't be involved in changing it.

But for the religion ministry, the matter is no longer open to discussion.

In Cairo, An End To The Cacophony Of Calls To Prayer : NPR

F16's onscheppen NL-elftal boven Nederland

2010-07-20T07:46:00.000+03:00

Visited Countries

2010-07-15T16:02:00.002+03:00

visited 46 states (20.4%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Looks pretty naked doesn't it. I'd better add Doortjes list to fill it out a bit.

Morning Walk

2010-07-09T13:40:00.000+03:00

I posted a few pictures on Flickr that I took on my walk this morning.

Pictures are Posted

2010-06-23T19:02:00.004+03:00

on Flickr from dinner at Mom's house with some of the family. I'm afraid they didn't come out all that well as I dislike using the flash and this is the best I could do using HDRtist.

That's Toby.

Desert Trip Pictures

2010-05-07T08:54:00.000+03:00

We've post the pictures from our desert trip with the J Schipper Family on Flickr. Good trip!

Who Really Spends The Most On Their Military? | Information Is Beautiful

2010-04-02T09:52:00.000+02:00

A story on the Guardian Datablog about unexpected results hidden in world-wide military budgets.

Who Really Spends The Most On Their Military? | Information Is Beautiful

No Ink, No Paper: What's The Value Of An E-Book? : NPR

2010-03-23T14:08:00.000+02:00

No Ink, No Paper: What's The Value Of An E-Book? : NPR

The New York Times

2010-03-02T14:18:00.000+02:00

It Rained!

2010-02-26T21:02:00.001+02:00

And we missed it as we're in Estonia. Bugger.

2010-01-25T10:56:00.001+02:00

via

BBC News: Flash floods in Egypt

2010-01-19T09:56:00.002+02:00

Heavy rains and flash floods have left seven people dead in Egypt and Israel.
Rains washed away mud brick houses in southern Egypt killing two women, and in Israel a woman drowned when her car was caught in a flash flood.

And how much of this weather did we get in Cairo? About 5 minutes of drizzle. It's not fair, if any place needs a hosing down it's this place.

Link

Readability - The single best tech idea of 2009

2010-01-01T13:40:00.000+02:00

When you click it, Readability eliminates everything from the Web page you’re reading except the text and photos. No ads, blinking, links, banners, promos or anything else. Times Square just goes away.

You wind up with a simple, magazine-like layout, presented in a beautiful font and size (your choice) against a white or off-white background with none of this red-text-against-black business.

Readability

via

Flying With Fish � TSA Security Directive SD-1544-09-06 : The Fallout From NW253

2009-12-29T14:25:00.002+02:00

We'll not be coming to the states any time soon, this is just getting silly.

Flying With Fish � TSA Security Directive SD-1544-09-06 : The Fallout From NW253

Happy Christmas Everybody

2009-12-25T00:01:00.000+02:00

from Brian, Doortje, Aliaan and Jinx
Cairo, Egypt

We are

2009-12-17T15:14:00.000+02:00

back from our desert trip with Willemijn & Menno. It was good fun but a little dusty as we had a sand storm.

I've done something today I haven't done in a long time

2009-11-26T19:47:00.002+02:00

I put on a sweater. It's cold.

Great Bitter Lake, Egypt

2009-11-22T20:46:00.003+02:00

The Great Bitter Lake is one of several lakes located along the Suez Canal, which connects the eastern Mediterranean and Red Seas. As the canal is built only to allow ships to travel in a single lane, the Great Bitter Lake is a location where ships can change their position in line (like the passing lane on the highway) before proceeding to either Port Said to the north, or the port of Suez to the south. The lake also provides an intermediate harbor for ships traversing the Canal—a journey that typically takes 14 hours end to end. Several ships, some under power and some anchored, are visible at image right.
Great Bitter Lake, Egypt

We are back from the desert.

2009-11-10T16:55:00.001+02:00

Map of Our Siwa Trip

2009-10-30T14:42:00.003+02:00

The road route to Siwa. I cut and paste 3 screen shots from Fugawi to make this map. Not the best work, but still.

Flickr

2009-10-30T14:31:00.001+02:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Over the Pyramids

2009-10-27T18:15:00.002+02:00

A C-17 Globemaster III flies over the Pyramids of Giza Oct. 15, 2009, during Exercise Bright Star.

We Are Back

2009-10-23T10:29:00.004+02:00

from Alexandria/El Alamein/Siwa and it was a nice trip. As usual we got lost every five minutes but that's always part of the fun for us, we see places that aren't on the tourist map. And it looks like a big twuck hit the Down Twon sign, a few times. You have to love this place.

Doortje is back

2009-10-08T21:42:00.003+02:00

from Dubai, with ~~junk~~ gifts. I am happy.

BBC News: Egypt cleric 'to ban full veils'

2009-10-06T13:48:00.002+02:00

The niqab has become increasingly popular among Egypt's Muslim radicals

Egypt's highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women's veils, known as the niqab.

Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, called full-face veiling a custom that has nothing to do with the Islamic faith.

Although most Muslim women in Egypt wear the Islamic headscarf, increasing numbers are adopting the niqab as well.

The practice is widely associated with more radical trends of Islam.

The niqab question reportedly arose when Sheikh Tantawi was visiting a girls' school in Cairo at the weekend and asked one of the students to remove her niqab.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Yom quoted him expressing surprise at the girl's attire and telling her it was merely a tradition, with no connection to religion or the Koran.

Link

SKCD: Snopes.com

2009-09-15T11:01:00.003+02:00

Link

Quote

2009-09-07T13:55:00.000+02:00

Her virtue was that she said what she thought, her vice that what she thought didn't amount to much.
- Peter Ustinov

Strategypage.com: Why Iraqis Still Fight Like Arabs

2009-08-31T19:04:00.001+02:00

Iraqi troops are somewhat mystified that they are not as successful at dealing with roadside bombs, as they Americans. The Iraqis now have the same equipment, and training, yet the Americans were much more successful at finding bombs and keeping roads clear of them. The Iraqis asked their American mentors for help, and were given some bad news (along with the requested help.)

The bad news was that the Iraqis were the victims of their own bad habits. The first thing the Americans noted was that the Iraqis were not sharing information on what the terrorists were up to. Bomb removal teams from the army or police operated as if the other did not exist, even if they patrolled the same roads. Different intel organizations in the police and military would not share information, or work together. This, and a lot of other bad habits are fairly common throughout the Arab world, even though U.S. advisors have been pointing out the downside of these traits for decades.

For example;

# Most Arab countries are a patchwork of different tribes and groups, and Arab leaders survive by playing one group off against another. Loyalty is to one's group, not the nation. Most countries are dominated by a single group that is usually a minority (Bedouins in Jordan, Alawites in Syria, Sunnis in Iraq, Nejdis in Saudi Arabia). All of which means that officers are assigned not by merit but by loyalty and tribal affiliation. This continues in democratic Iraq, where political parties or powerful politicians strive to control individual police or army units.

# Islamic schools favor rote memorization, especially of scripture. Most Islamic scholars are hostile to the concept of interpreting the Koran (considered the word of God as given to His prophet Mohammed). This has resulted in looking down on Western troops that will look something up that they don't know. Arabs prefer to fake it, and pretend it's all in their head. Improvisation and innovation is generally discouraged. Arab armies go by the book, Western armies rewrite the book and thus usually win. Despite years of American advice on this matter, many Iraqi police and military personnel stick with the old, less effective, traditions.

# There is no real NCO corps. Officers and enlisted troops are treated like two different social castes and there is no effort to bridge the gap using career NCOs. Enlisted personnel are treated harshly. Training accidents that would end the careers of US officers are commonplace in Arab armies, and nobody cares. This is slowly changing, with the steady growth of a proper NCO corps and better officer attitudes towards their troops. But the old ways often return, with disastrous effects on troop morale and effectiveness.

# Officers are despised by their troops, and this does not bother the officers much at all. Many Arab officers simply cannot understand how treating the troops decently will make them better soldiers. This is another old tradition that dies hard.

# Paranoia prevents adequate training. Arab tyrants insist that their military units have little contact with each other, thus insuring that no general can became powerful enough to overthrow them. Units are purposely kept from working together or training on a large scale. Arab generals don't have as broad a knowledge of their armed forces as do their Western counterparts. Promotions are based more on political reliability than combat proficiency. Arab leaders prefer to be feared, rather than respected, by their soldiers. This approach leads to poorly trained armies and low morale. A few rousing speeches about "Moslem brotherhood" before a war starts does little to repair the damage. This still exists in Iraq, particularly when it comes to Kurdish, Sunni Arab and Shia police or army units. More Iraqi officers now know that the paranoia and parochialism are bad, but ancient traditions are hard to abandon.

# Arab officers often do not trust each other. While an American infantry officer can be reasonably confident that the artillery officers will conduct their bombardment on time and on target, Arab infantry officers seriously doubt that their artillery will do its job on time or on target. This is a fatal attitude in combat. It's been difficult getting Iraqi officers to change when it comes to trust.

# Arab military leaders consider it acceptable to lie to subordinates and allies in order to further their personal agenda. This had catastrophic consequences during all of the Arab-Israeli wars and continues to make peace difficult between Israelis and Palestinians. When called out on this behavior, Arabs will assert that they were "misunderstood." This is still going on.

# While American officers and NCOs are only too happy to impart their wisdom and skill to others (teaching is the ultimate expression of prestige), Arab officers try to keep any technical information and manuals secret. To Arabs, the value and prestige of an individual is based not on what he can teach, but on what he knows that no one else knows. Still around, despite years of American advisors patiently explaining why this is counterproductive.

# While American officers thrive on competition among themselves, Arab officers avoid this as the loser would be humiliated. Better for everyone to fail together than for competition to be allowed, even if it eventually benefits everyone. Still a factor.

# Americans are taught leadership and technology; Arab officers are taught only technology. Leadership is given little attention as officers are assumed to know this by virtue of their social status as officers. The new generation of Iraqi officers and NCOs have been taught leadership, but for too many of them, this is an alien concept that they do not understand or really know what to do with.

# Initiative is considered a dangerous trait. So subordinates prefer to fail rather than make an independent decision. Battles are micromanaged by senior generals, who prefer to suffer defeat rather than lose control of their subordinates. Even worse, an Arab officer will not tell a US ally why he cannot make the decision (or even that he cannot make it), leaving US officers angry and frustrated because the Arabs won't make a decision. The Arab officers simply will not admit that they do not have that authority. The new generation of army commanders and staff officers have been sent to Western staff and command schools, but there's still not a lot of enthusiasm for initiative (which is seen as a decadent and dangerous Western import.)

# Lack of initiative makes it difficult for Arab armies to maintain modern weapons. Complex modern weapons require on the spot maintenance, and that means delegating authority, information, and tools. Arab armies avoid doing this and prefer to use easier to control central repair shops. This makes the timely maintenance of weapons difficult. Still a problem in Iraq, and throughout the Middle East.

# Security is maniacal. Everything even vaguely military is top secret. While US Army promotion lists are routinely published, this rarely happens in Arab armies. Officers are suddenly transferred without warning to keep them from forging alliances or networks. Any team spirit among officers is discouraged. Remains a problem.

# All these traits were reinforced, from the 1950s to the 1990s, by Soviet advisors. To the Russians, anything military was secret, enlisted personnel were scum, there was no functional NCO system, and everyone was paranoid about everyone else. These were not "communist" traits, but Russian customs that had existed for centuries and were adopted by the communists to make their dictatorship more secure from rebellion. Arab dictators avidly accepted this kind of advice, but are still concerned about how rapidly the communist dictatorships all came tumbling down between 1989-91. The Russian influence is still fondly remembered, because the Russians had developed some highly effective police state methods. This made it easier for the police and military to control a country, even if despicable methods were used.

While these Russian techniques can work to hunt down terrorists in a police state, it doesn't work in a democracy. The Iraqi government is passing laws to make the country more like a police state. Old habits die hard.

Link

'Silver' Anniversary

2009-08-24T04:14:00.001+02:00

I was posted to Colombo 25 years ago today. Even subtracting the months I was in the US after I got out of the Marines and the weeks I spent there between contracts, I've still live longer outside the states than in. It just feels a bit weird is all.

Global Voices: What's good for the goose is NOT good for the gander

2009-08-19T14:36:00.000+03:00

I shamelessly lifted this from Global Voices:

by Marwa Rakha

When Marwa El Sherbini was shot dead in a German court Facebook users and the Egyptian blogosphere mourned her as the victim of the veil, the victim of racism, and the victim of her beliefs. But when a heap of bones wrapped up in a blanket named Ibrahim El Sayed Ibrahim was shipped back to Egypt from Libya - no one lifted a finger in his defense.

Ahmad El Badawy was among the first few to report the incident on his blog and on Facebook ; quoting Al Masry Al Youm Newspaper, Ahmad tells us his story:

فى شهر نوفمبر الماضى، كان الشاب ابراهيم حديث بعض الصحف الليبية.. ابراهيم اسقط عصابة دولية فى قبضة السفارة المصرية والامن الليبى.. العصابة ارسل قائدها من لندن مليون يورو.. كانت فى طريقها الى «الغسيل» أو لـ «عملية ارهابية».. الصحف التى نشرت تفاصيل «السقوط» لقبت ابراهيم بـ «الفرعون المصرى الذى اسقط عصابة دولية».. لكن ما حدث بعد ايام من النشر كان قاسيا.. حضر اليه ضابطان من رجال البحث الجنائى فى ليبيا.. عاتباه لأنه أخبر سفارة بلاده بشأن العصابة ولم يخطر الأمن الليبى.. الضابطان اقتاداه الى قسم شرطة هناك..
وحطما عظامه كاملة لمدة يومين متتاليين.. ووضعاه داخل «كيس بلاستيك» من الحجم الكبير.. وألقيا به فى مزرعة وسط مكان خال من المارة والسكان.. ظناً انه مات او سيموت.. وبعد ساعات قادت اليه «المصادفة» صاحب المزرعة ليكتشف الواقعة وينقله إلى المستشفى ليظل به اسبوعا داخل العناية المركزة.

Last November Ibrahim El Sayed Ibrahim was allover Libyan newspapers when he reported a money laundering operation to the Egyptian Embassy; he was hailed as the Egyptian hero who busted an international gang. Two Libyan officers summoned him to the station, blamed him for reporting the gang to the Egyptian embassy not to the Libyan police, broke every single bone in his body, dumped him in a field, and left him to die. Divine intervention saved him when the owner of the farm found him and took him to the hospital; he stayed in the intensive care unit for a week.

Accustomed to the failing reaction of the Egyptian system, Ahmad said

النظام المصرى الحقير ما اتحركش كالعادة عشان يرجع حق الشاب المصرى اللى ضيعته ليبيا … للأسف ده مش خبر جديد و من كتر تكراره جتتنا نحست و اتعودنا عليه

As usual, not a finger was raised to avenge the poor Egyptian

What really enraged him was the contrast between how Islamists reacted to Marwa El Sherbini's assault in Germany and Ibrahim El Sayed Ibrahim's assault in Libya

الأخوة اللى قلبوا الدنيا عشان يستغلوا موت الشهيدة مروة الشربينى شهيدة العنصرية و يخلوها شهيدة الطرحة عشان يروجوا لنفسهم و لعنصريتهم و يحولوا الموضوع من حادث فردى ارتكبه شخص عاطل عنصرى ( ما يختلفش كتير فى صفاته عن صفات العنصريين بدقون عندنا ) لجريمة بيطالبوا بمعاقبة ألمانيا كلها عليها ما فتحوش بقهم فى القصة دى بربع كلمة

The “brothers” who raised hell over Marwa's death and politicized it to serve their personal interests by turning her into a victim of her scarf; the “brothers” who used an individual incident by some racist lowlife, who is not any different from our very own bearded racists, to promote their own agendas - those same “brothers” did not open their mouths when it came to Ibrahim's story.

Ahmad elaborates on his point saying

أخواننا الاسلاميين و القومجية لغرض فى نفس يعقوب اعتبروا اللى حصل ده حرب ألمانية على الاسلام و على قيمنا و اذلال للمصريين
دلوقتى لما جريمة تعذيب بشعة تحصل عن طريق رجال الأمن الليبى - اللى هما ممثلين الدولة - و فى مكان احتجاز تابع للدولة و لمدة طويلة و يبقى القصد منها الانتقام و القتل و لما الراجل يرجع مصر كومة لحم مفروم و غالبا حيعيش حياته كلها عاجز و بسبب ايييه ؟ لما كل ده يحصل … هل حتخرج مظاهرات اسلامية بالألوف بتطالب بمعاقبة ليبيا زى ما خرجت مظاهرات بتطالب بمعاقبة ألمانيا ؟
هل حد حيطالب بالاعدام للضباط اللى عذبوا ابراهيم أو حتى حد حيطالب بتسليمه لمصر زى ما طالبنا بتسليم المجرم الألمانى ؟
هل حد من قطيع المليون واحد اللى عملوا جروبات لشهيدة الحجاب حيسمع أصلا عن الموضوع ده ؟
هل حد حيفتح بقه عن الماضى و الحاضر العنصرى ضد المصريين و ضد الأقليات فى الدول العربية ؟
عرفتوا فين الازدواجية ولا لسة ؟
عرفتوا مين اللى بيكيل يميت مكيال و بيتهم غيره بكدة عشان يبرأ نفسه ؟

The “brothers” and the “nationalists” promoted Marwa's assault as Germany's war on Islam and an insult to the Egyptians. But now when an Egyptian simpleton is tortured by the hands of a Libyan officer - a government representative - in an official police station for a prolonged period of time with the intention of torture and homicide, and when the guy is shipped back in a pile to spend the rest of his life incapacitated - when all of that happens, will we see thousands of Islamists demonstrating in his defense? Will any one demand that the Libyan officers be hanged the same way they called for the hanging of the German racist? Will anyone create a facebook group for him? Will anyone dare talk about cases of discrimination against Egyptians in Arab countries?
Do you now know the meaning of hypocrisy and double standards? Do you now know what's good for the goose is not good for the gander?

Link

We are

2009-08-18T10:04:00.002+03:00

back from Holland. Doortje managed to get a few days off so we scampered off as fast as we could book tickets. It was a nice break, good food and we got to see much of the family but the weather sucked, we had just one day of rain. The rest of the time it was warm and sunny, I was disappointed to be honest.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2009-08-12T15:03:00.002+03:00

Nabta: Older than Stonehenge
Credit: J. M. Malville (U. Colorado) & F. Wendorf (SMU) et al.

Explanation: In the Sahara Desert in Egypt lie the oldest known astronomically aligned stones in the world: Nabta. Over one thousand years before the creation of Stonehenge, local herders built a stone circle and other structures on the shoreline of a lake that has long since dried up. Over 6000 years ago, stone slabs three meters high were dragged over a kilometer to create the site. Shown above is one of the stones that remains. Little is known about the ultimate purpose of Nabta and the nature of the people who built it.

Link

It Is Now: 12:34:56, 07/08/09

2009-08-07T12:34:00.001+03:00

Except in Belize, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the United States where it is 12:34:56, 08/07/09.

Pirate Bay website banned in Netherlands

2009-07-31T14:55:00.000+03:00

THE HAGUE — A Dutch court on Thursday temporarily banned Swedish filesharing website The Pirate Bay from operating in the Netherlands by granting an application brought by a copyright lobby group.

A judge ordered three owners of the site to "cease infringing the copyright of the members" of Stichting Brein, a trade association which represents the Dutch recording industry. It had brought an urgent application for the ban at the district court in Amsterdam.

For every day the ruling is ignored, the owners will be fined 30,000 euros (42,000 dollars) up to a maximum of three million euros, said a judgment published by the court.

Link

Media Matters: Fox News graphics department has shaky grasp of Mideast geography

2009-07-28T09:57:00.003+03:00

Link

DutchAmsterdam.nl - Amsterdam craze: tossing Smart cars into the canals

2009-07-25T17:40:00.000+03:00

Amsterdam, July 25, 2009 [DutchAmsterdam.nl] — Amsterdam police is deeply concerned about a new craze in which vandals toss parked cars from the Smart brand into the city’s canals.

The so-called ‘Smart tossing’ takes place mainly during the weekend, when many youths are out for a night on the town.

According to locally-published newspaper De Telegraaf police has not wanted to publicize this form of vandalism for fear of copy-cat incidents. However, police officers are paying extra attention to Amsterdam’s canals, especially during the weekends.

The Smart cars are small enough to be parked with head or tail pointing to the water.

One man who parked his Smart car that way said police woken him with the message that his car had been pushed into the canal.

“Several weeks ago the same thing happened to my companion’s Smart,” Casper de Jong said. “In both cases the Smart was declared a total-loss.”

Alongside most canals a low guard rail helps prevent cars from taking a dip, but the Smart car is small enough to be lifted and tossed.

It is not clear how many Smart cars have been vandalized this way, but an employee of Smart Center Amsterdam confirmed the company has recently been confronted with it ‘a number of times.’

Car Tipping

In recent years vandals have also targeted other small vehicles, including scootmobiles and tiny cars from the Canta brand — both used primarily by people with handicaps and limited mobility.

In an urban version of cow tipping, yobs apparently derive fun from tipping over these types of vehicles.

Link

FP - The List: The Middle East's Most Powerful Spooks

2009-07-21T16:32:00.004+03:00

In a region known for cutthroat espionage, these five intelligence chiefs have leveraged their skills and connections to gain influence far above their pay grades.

Position: Director of Egypt's General Intelligence Service

Career: The archetypical Arab intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman has risen from anonymous government apparatchik to serious candidate for the Egyptian presidency in less than a decade. Dubbed "one of the world's most powerful spy chiefs" by London's Daily Telegraph, Suleiman was born in 1935 in a poverty-stricken fundamentalist stronghold in southern Egypt. Choosing the military as his profession, he excelled academically, collecting degrees in Egypt and abroad and earning a transfer to military intelligence. His selection as director of Egypt's intelligence service in 1993 came just as the regime was reeling from extremist attacks against tourist sites and other critical infrastructure.

In 1995, he famously insisted that President Hosni Mubarak's armored Mercedes be flown to Ethiopia for a state visit; The car saved the Egyptian leader's life during an assassination attempt the next day. In response to the attack, Suleiman helped dismantle Mubarak's Islamist opponents, a campaign that earned him a reputation for ruthlessness. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Suleiman's experience with combating Islamist terrorists has made him a favorite of Western intelligence services hungry for insights into al Qaeda and affiliated organizations.

Influence: More than from any other single factor, Suleiman's influence stems from his unswerving loyalty to Mubarak. Of Suleiman's allegiance, a former senior Israeli intelligence officer told Haaretz, "His primary task, perhaps his only one, is to defend the regime and protect the life of the president." In a sign of presidential gratitude, Egypt's secret warrior has also recently served as its diplomatic face, traveling throughout the region as Mubarak's personal emissary. This charge includes working as a mediator during ongoing Israeli and Palestinian negotiations and as Cairo's interlocutor to dozens of Palestinian groups, including Hamas. Whether this unofficial promotion is a trial run for a Suleiman presidency remains to be seen.

Link

BBC News: Egyptian jailed for insult poem

2009-07-15T13:10:00.001+03:00

A civil servant in Egypt has been jailed for three years for insulting President Hosni Mubarak in a poem, according to newspaper reports.

Moneer Said Hanna's family said he wrote satirical poetry for fun, to entertain his work colleagues, and never meant to hurt anyone.

The case was largely unknown until the family asked a newspaper to publish an appeal for clemency.

The Arab Network for Human Rights says it will appeal against the sentence.

It says Mr Hanna, who worked as a civil servant in a small town in upper Egypt, was tried without being given access to a lawyer.

Under Egyptian law, insulting the president can land the offender in jail for up to three years.

Link

Trimming the Date Palms

2009-07-03T20:09:00.003+03:00

2009-06-09T13:25:00.008+03:00

2009-06-09T12:09:00.005+03:00

Weekend Desert Trip

2009-06-07T17:39:00.010+03:00

President Obama Speaks to the Muslim World from Cairo, Egypt

2009-06-05T07:43:00.000+03:00

Egypt Reports 1st Swine Flu Case

2009-06-03T07:53:00.000+03:00

Egypt's health minister has announced the country's first confirmed case of swine influenza A-H1N1.

In remarks carried by state news media Tuesday, Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali said a 12-year-old American girl showing flu symptoms arrived in Cairo Monday on a flight from Europe. The minister said she tested positive for the virus and is being treated. He said she is in good condition.

The girl's family is of Egyptian origin, and she was traveling to Egypt with her mother to spend her summer holiday there. Her mother has not tested positive for the disease.

The case marks the first confirmed case of swine flu on the African continent.

When the global swine flu outbreak began, Egyptian authorities ordered the slaughter of all 300,000 or more pigs in the country, a decision that sparked riots in the mainly Christian community where pigs are raised. The United Nations condemned the pig cull as an overreaction, since this outbreak of swine flu has been spread by humans far more than by pigs.

Egypt has been hit hard by a different flu strain in recent years. The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed 27 people in Egypt since 2006, when the disease first arrived in the country. It also has devastated Egypt's domestic poultry industry.

Link

Jinx

2009-06-02T20:51:00.003+03:00

He wants to go out on the balcony. But it's 39C and way to hot for the fur ball.

Babylon & Beyond: Obama speech great news for Cairo University

2009-05-31T07:48:00.003+03:00

Over the last couple of weeks, Cairo University has been at the center of the Middle East’s attention. The university, which will be hosting President Obama’s anticipated June 4 speech, is undergoing major renovations.

The Egyptian government is installing a first-class press and media center near the main hall, where Obama will make his address. The main hall itself is getting a new Egyptian flag – instead of the old torn one –along with air conditioning, lighting and sound systems. Campus roads are being refurbished and swept, and the university’s famous dome is being polished by hand.

Many areas around the university campus also are having renovations. A number of neighboring streets will be covered in flowers when Obama arrives, a scene that didn’t even occur when Cairo University celebrated its centennial last year.

Cairo University has been a main pillar in Egyptian higher education for generations. But until it was chosen as a venue for the speech, the university had looked pretty much the same for the last 30 years.

It was thought that Al-Azhar Mosque was a main contender as the site for Obama’s speech. Now Azhar officials are looking at Cairo University with envy. Their mosque missed out on a great redecoration opportunity.

Watching how Cairo University and its surroundings are being transformed in a fortnight to one of the tidiest and most beautiful spots in the country may make Egyptians hope the U.S. president visits more often.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: Cairo University. Credit: Reuters

Link

First Day of Summer

2009-05-21T16:55:00.003+03:00

Doortje and I have declared today as the First Day of Summer here in Cairo as it's the first day we've swam in our pool. And it was nice though it's not that hot today, just around 34C/93F.

NRC: Netherlands to close prisons for lack of criminals

2009-05-20T14:35:00.000+03:00

The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty.

During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees.

Deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak announced on Tuesday that eight prisons will be closed, resulting in the loss of 1,200 jobs. Natural redundancy and other measures should prevent any forced lay-offs, the minister said.

The overcapacity is a result of the declining crime rate, which the ministry's research department expects to continue for some time.

Link

StrategyPage.com: Egypt Legalizes Corruption

2009-03-31T19:28:00.001+02:00

The Egyptian parliament passed a law allowing the president to buy military equipment and weapons for the next three years, without making details of the deals public, or even reporting them to parliament. The justification for this was the need for secrecy while making certain types of purchases. Exactly what types of purchases the government was considering was not revealed. It's a secret.

Now there are two types of military purchases that would be made easier because of this new law. The most obvious ones are corrupt purchases, with lots of payoffs and exorbitant prices. This, however, is risky, as the law expires in three years, and Egypt is already pretty corrupt. Government officials don't need a special law to help them steal. They do very well without it.

The other type of military purchase that would benefit from this law would be those items needed to build a nuclear weapon. Were such a project to be made public knowledge, the international community would go nuts and, worse for Egypt, much foreign aid would be halted.

Can you think of any other reason for a secrecy law like this?

Link

Facebook

2009-03-30T09:54:00.001+02:00

Facebook me!

Andy's Egypt Pictures

2009-03-26T07:58:00.000+02:00

Andy has his pictures from his Egypt visit on Picasa.

We're Back

2009-03-18T19:40:00.004+02:00

We are back from Holland.

Doortjes Mom

More pictures here.

Doortje at the Embassy

2009-03-02T14:26:00.002+02:00

Koptisch Cairo

2009-02-25T16:39:00.005+02:00

Op weg naar de kerk van St. George ( Mar Girgis) loop je langs prachtige mozaieken; deze afbeelding gaat over de Heilige Familie op weg naar Egypte , waar Jozef en Maria schuilen voor koning Herodes.

Hier is de ingang naar een convent van nonnen die hier wonen.

Het gebouw met de koepel is het Koptisch Museum, waar ze een schat aan koptische bezienswaardigheden, geschiedenis en natuurlijk iconen ten toon stellen.
Hier een doorkijkje vanaf de trap van de Mar Girgis.

Islamic Cairo

2009-02-24T16:45:00.003+02:00

Hier hebben we 2 mooie, beroemde,grote moskeeen bezocht, de El Rifai en de El Hassan als ik me niet vergis, waarbij we prive uitleg kregen over de bezienswaardigheden in de 2 moskeeen, want er waren amper toeristen! Het was echt bijzonder:we kregen onderricht in zingen in de moskee ( Allah il Alla ha), en hoe we richting Mekka moesten buigen en bidden: dus nu zijn we half muslim....(hm)

We staan op het hoogste punt van de citadel ( El Ka alla) en kijken over Cairo uit naar de moskeeen op de vorige foto. De citadel ligt in de moslimwijk van Cairo en is gebouwd als vestingwerk door een Pasja. Het is een prachtige, zonnige dag zonder zowaar veel smog zodat we ver konden kijken; links boven aan de foto is de richting waar Door en Brian wonen, wij zagen zowaar de piramiden liggen.

Hier weer een kijkje over Cairo en als je goed kijkt zie je midden bovenaan de piramiden van Gizeh liggen, daar in de buurt wonen Door en Brian.

Marga in Cairo

2009-02-21T17:46:00.004+02:00

hier staat ze dan...in Cairo bij de piramides van Gizeh.Het was eigenlijk typisch hollands weer: harde wind, zonnetje en wolken; maar te staan bij zo,n oude cultuur is toch indrukwekkend.

het is een heel plateau: het plateau van Gizeh, de farao die er begraven ligt heet Cheops, en met hem zijn er vrouwen, bedienden etc. hier begraven

er is veel te zien op het plateau: toeristen,kamelen,ezels....egyptenaren aan het picnicken op hun vrije dag,en natuurlijk....zand,en nog eens zand. Door en Brian wonen vlak bij de piramiden van Gizeh en dus ook dichtbij de woestijn

hier staan we op het hoogste punt van het plateau, met op de achtergrond Cairo, en als je dan naar rechts de weg naar beneden volgt kom je bij de Sfinx, de Bewaker van de Dodenstad

hier lopen we naar beneden naar de Sfinx toe; een steile weg naar beneden waar de paardjes en ezeltjes een moeilijk traject hebben. We zullen het hier maar niet over de behandeling en toestand van de dieren in Cairo hebben....

De Sfinx........hij/zij mist de neus waar allemaal vogels op bivakkeren; echt zuinig op hun oudheden zijn de egyptenaren niet echt!!!

In het sjieke Mena House waar we heerlijk!!!! gegeten hebben; ik geniet...hm.....

My Dad and Sister in Egypt

2009-02-12T06:27:00.002+02:00

Our visitors left this morning for home, it was a good visit and we hope they enjoyed themselves. I don't have any pictures to post as I didn't take any as my sister took tons, but she wasn't willing to let me copy any of them so we have none of their visit. Pity.

Andy and Doortje at the Souk

2009-01-11T16:25:00.001+02:00

Baking Bread: Part 1

2009-01-09T20:04:00.001+02:00

Baking Bread: Part 2

2009-01-09T20:00:00.000+02:00

Desert Driving

2009-01-08T16:20:00.000+02:00

The White Desert

2009-01-07T16:16:00.002+02:00

Tea Break

2009-01-06T16:29:00.002+02:00

Djara Cave and Dune Camping

2009-01-05T15:55:00.002+02:00

We are In The Desert

2009-01-04T05:45:00.001+02:00

Sakkara

2009-01-02T21:59:00.008+02:00

Andy In Egypt

2008-12-31T19:01:00.007+02:00

Our nephew Andy is visiting from the states and of course we have to visit the pyramids.

Andy Inside a Pyramid

2008-12-31T14:53:00.003+02:00

New Video Camera

2008-12-29T14:17:00.001+02:00

My New Computer

2008-12-29T08:07:00.000+02:00

Happy Christmas

2008-12-25T18:59:00.001+02:00

Cool tree! Kocht deze Kerstboom met ingebouwde lichtjes (kan het nog erger...) hier in Cairo. Dacht dat Brian het ongelooflijk kitsch zou vinden, maar tot mijn stomme verbazing vindt hij het prachtig...of toch niet?

The Age: If GPS can't tell, you're in Egypt

2008-12-11T21:16:00.000+02:00

APPLE'S iPhone has proved a sensation since it went on sale, rapidly becoming the most popular mobile phone in the US and selling almost 5 million handsets worldwide.

As the company prepares to sell the award-winning gadget in Egypt, users there will have to go without a popular feature: satellite navigation.

Egypt has banned the import of all global positioning system-enabled devices, claiming it is a military-grade technology that can be used to help pinpoint government buildings or be used by terrorists.

As a result, Egyptian buyers will not be able to use GPS. According to documents filed on Apple's website, "GPS is not available while in Egypt, or when using an Egyptian phone", which "is consistent with Egyptian law regarding GPS enabled devices". The company would not comment further.

Apple is not the first company to fall foul of the ban, which has been in place for five years.

The Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia has been in negotiations with the Egyptian Government to allow it to sell its GPS-enabled handsets but so far without success.

The ban has created a thriving blackmarket in GPS devices and high-end mobile phones.

Thousands of Egyptians sport handsets, such as the Nokia N95, while satnav gadgets are often used by groups trekking in the desert or off the beaten track.

"It's a direct link to the satellite, so there's no way they can stop you," said Stefan Geens, a Swedish blogger who lives in Cairo.

He said he regularly used GPS while travelling in remote parts of the country but had never seen anyone questioned about the technology.

Egyptian authorities have a notoriously testy relationship with new technology, having banned satellite dishes in the 1980s.

The Government has also struggled with the explosion of internet use, particularly blogging. In recent years a number of bloggers have been imprisoned because of what they have written, many of them charged with illegally criticising the president or inciting religious hatred.

Link

Earth Observatory: Port of Suez, Egypt

2008-11-30T15:24:00.000+02:00

The Port of Suez is located in Egypt along the northern coastline of the Gulf of Suez. The port and city mark the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, which runs north-south through Egypt from the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Suez. The port serves vessels transporting general cargo, oil tankers, and both commercial and private passenger vessels. The port is also an important waypoint for Muslim pilgrims traveling to and from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Several large vessels are visible in the Gulf of Suez and at various docks around the port.

An extensive petroleum refinery complex forms the southern coastal boundary of the Port of Suez. At the time this astronaut photograph was acquired, a smoke plume extended southwards into the Gulf of Suez—probably from a facility burning off gaseous byproducts of petroleum processing. Greenish blue regions offshore in the Gulf are most likely sediments stirred up by passage of ships. Similarly colored regions along the coastline are bottom sediments visible through the clear, shallow water.

Link

Babylon & Beyond: Triumph over sexual harassment

2008-10-24T09:58:00.000+02:00

Sexual harassment may no more go unpunished in Egypt. In a landmark verdict this week, a Cairo court sentenced a truck driver to three years in prison for groping a woman.

The crime happened last summer when Sherif Gomaa Gibrial slowed his truck and reached out and grabbed Noha Roushdy's breast while she was walking near her home. Roushdy wouldn't let it pass. She ran and and grabbed onto the truck, forcing Gibrial to stop.

By insisting on taking her harasser to court, Roushy broke the silence and shame many Egyptian women and tourists face when they confront profanities and assaults. In a patriarchal society, where the blame for sexual harassment is squarely put on the victim, harassed women prefer to remain discreet. However, Roushdy's insistence on justice and her cause celebre case may change such attitudes.

Sexual harassment is deemed one of Egypt's most insidious crimes.According to a report issued last summer by some local women's advocacy group, 83% of Egyptian women have been exposed to sexual harassment. Feminists have been complaining that there is no strict legal code to fight the phenomenon.

"This verdict will make young men think a thousand times before committing sexual harassment," said Roushdy.

The 27-year-old documentary director decided not to hide from society; on the contrary, she was brave enough to appear in court and have her photo taken by different news organizations.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Roushdy in court (al-Masry al-Youm/ Mohamed Hossam Eddin)

Link