Flic in China has made an interesting, and I think, dubious call:
Tomorrow is a public holiday here in Egypt, and a very Arab one at that. It is "Armed Services Day", but popularly known as "6 October Day" (D'uh) - celebrating the great "victory" of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Egypt did indeed kick some thorough ass in the early days of the war, but once the Israeli's regained their balance (and started recieving massive ammunition shipments from abroad) they started to kick ass back, busting their way through Sinai and getting dangerously close to Cairo. Before anything seriously unpleasant could happen the UN got involved and organised a ceasefire.
So in Egypt it is considered a great national day. Indeed, it did shake of the humiliation and sense of outright defeat of the 1967 war, when Israel delivered about as great a whupping as anyone who isnt the French has ever recieved. It also lead to the regaining of Sinai, an incredibly important chunk of Egypt that is not only strategically important as a buffer against Israel, and a significant part of the backbone-of-the-economy Suez Canal - but also a great national treasure, home to amazing places like Mount Sinai (where Moses apparently recieved the Ten Commandments) and the tourist and diving paradises of Sharm El Sheikh and Dahhab. Israel caputed Sinai in the 1967 - if they kept this massive piece of land forever, the consequences for Egypt would have been disastrous (and the land mass of Israel would have at least doubled).
So yeah, it was a pretty important national victory. I'm just not big on celebrating wars as nationalist holidays, and as an Aussie, I prefer the humble dignity of celebrating a day when we got our asses truly and undeniably kicked (but kicked bravely and honourably) as a day of national rememberence. I'd rather glofify bravery and courage (which ultimately achieved very little) than celebrate the clenched fists and snarling glee of victory - seems a better way to discourage others from going down the same track.
Anyhow, I'm not Egyptian. But I am Australian, which means I need to vote, the the Federal Election coming up this Saturday. I don't want to get all political here (although its already started on the TagBoard on the right), but I'll be casting my vote at the Australian embassy in Cairo, and I won't be voting for these pyshcopaths:
But when a modern political party urges is supporters to keep an eye out for Freemasons, you know kookiness abounts in overflowing buckets. Weird. Even scarier is that experts are saying they may actually have a significant influenece on the election.
"Eggplant. It's the new Peach."Read the whole thing to see exactly how eggplant-centric Flic's life seems to be at the moment.
Tomorrow is a public holiday here in Egypt, and a very Arab one at that. It is "Armed Services Day", but popularly known as "6 October Day" (D'uh) - celebrating the great "victory" of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Egypt did indeed kick some thorough ass in the early days of the war, but once the Israeli's regained their balance (and started recieving massive ammunition shipments from abroad) they started to kick ass back, busting their way through Sinai and getting dangerously close to Cairo. Before anything seriously unpleasant could happen the UN got involved and organised a ceasefire.
So in Egypt it is considered a great national day. Indeed, it did shake of the humiliation and sense of outright defeat of the 1967 war, when Israel delivered about as great a whupping as anyone who isnt the French has ever recieved. It also lead to the regaining of Sinai, an incredibly important chunk of Egypt that is not only strategically important as a buffer against Israel, and a significant part of the backbone-of-the-economy Suez Canal - but also a great national treasure, home to amazing places like Mount Sinai (where Moses apparently recieved the Ten Commandments) and the tourist and diving paradises of Sharm El Sheikh and Dahhab. Israel caputed Sinai in the 1967 - if they kept this massive piece of land forever, the consequences for Egypt would have been disastrous (and the land mass of Israel would have at least doubled).
So yeah, it was a pretty important national victory. I'm just not big on celebrating wars as nationalist holidays, and as an Aussie, I prefer the humble dignity of celebrating a day when we got our asses truly and undeniably kicked (but kicked bravely and honourably) as a day of national rememberence. I'd rather glofify bravery and courage (which ultimately achieved very little) than celebrate the clenched fists and snarling glee of victory - seems a better way to discourage others from going down the same track.
Anyhow, I'm not Egyptian. But I am Australian, which means I need to vote, the the Federal Election coming up this Saturday. I don't want to get all political here (although its already started on the TagBoard on the right), but I'll be casting my vote at the Australian embassy in Cairo, and I won't be voting for these pyshcopaths:
"Spot Satan's strongholds in the areas you are living in -- brothels, gambling places, bottle shops, mosques, temples -- Freemason/Buddhist/Hindu etcetera, witchcraft," he said.As I said to my parents on the phone just yesterday - theres one word here which really scares me. Fear of brothels, gambling, booze - OK thats just Christian bullshit. Mosques? A bit of anti-Muslim hysteria isnt exactly out of place in todays religious Right wing. Buddhism, Hinduism, etc - OK so you're big on Monotheism and you don't appreciate these damn pagans. "There is only one god", as your Muslim friends would say.
But when a modern political party urges is supporters to keep an eye out for Freemasons, you know kookiness abounts in overflowing buckets. Weird. Even scarier is that experts are saying they may actually have a significant influenece on the election.
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