Mosa'ab El Shamy presents : #Oct6 Protests

Renowned Photographer Mosa'ab El Shamy was in the streets yesterday documenting the protests as well the clashes between the Pro-Morsi supporters and security forces mainly in Dokki.

The latest death toll we have got official is 51 dead and over 200 injured. Again it is a chaotic scene in Zanihom morgue with bodies all over the place. Most people justify yesterday killings with today's attacks in Sinai and Ismailia.
Back to El Shamy's documentation , the young fantastic photographer did it and took a snapshot that becomes an internet sensation whether nationally or internationally.

Speechless

From 40 Years ago

This post is dedicated to those men who against all odds astonished the whole world and changed the course of history once more.

I do not know how today will end but regardless of what happens, God bless this country and those heroes. May their sacrifices may not go in to vein.  

#Oct6 Anniversary : Live Blogging

Today thousands are expected to head to the street starting this afternoon in more of a confrontation mood than celebratory mood. Thousands of Muslim brotherhood supporters are vowing not to return today to their homes except when electoral legitimacy is restored and Morsi is back as a president while on the other hand thousands of army supporters are vowing not to let the Muslim brotherhood supporters spoil the 40th anniversary of 6 October war in the streets too especially in Tahrir square.

Here is  the live blog. 

#KhaledSaid : Erasing a History Starts with Small steps usual

This school year we found out that the photo of Khaled Said was spotted in the second grade's Arabic books .Many people were happy by the move despite institutions like Police did not like unofficially.

Unofficial Facebook page following police and ministry of interior kept publishing comments on how some Khaled Said is mentioned in the school books when he is a bloody addict who deserves to be killed.
Some of course criticize the move saying that children in the second grade will not be familiar with Said. Surprisingly the current minister of education is saying that he did not know that that the photo of Said was in the school courses in the first place. 

This week we knew that the photo of Khaled Said will be removed from school courses next year.
Someone is annoyed by the photo that made it to Berlin Wall and its symbolism , someone does not want the students to  know that young man and the role in changing the course of the Arab nation whether that one likes or not.
From couple of weeks ago minister of foreign affairs Nabil Fahmy stood in front the United National General Assembly speaking over and over about January 25 revolution just like all other officials in the current Egyptian administration are chanting about that glorious revolution while back home the media whether stated owned or privately owned are systematically attacking it and trying to erase it !!
Hypocrisy as it appears.
Anyhow one thing the Egyptians have excelled in doing from 3000 years B.C , it is to change history from time to time according to the ruler’s own status of mood still truth always prevails in the end. Hopefully soon enough contrary to all odds and hopes of deep and not deep states , this is habit will stop and history of Egypt will be recorded as it is , as it should.

How the #Oct73 war Anniversary is ruined for me in #2013 ?

Next Sunday Egypt will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1973 war aka Yom Kippur war , supposedly it should a day of remembrance for the heroic actions and sacrifices of those men who fought this important war.
Unfortunately despite it is a huge event , it is overshadowed by the on going war between the Muslim brotherhood from one side and the military from another side where the people are stuck between the two parties.
The Muslim brotherhood and its allies are heading to the street in order to end the military coup and bring back Morsi as well to restore the army’s dignity along legitimacy to the end of that talk.
The Pro-military supporters and parties as well groups are heading to the street allegedly to celebrate the days but actually they are going to the streets to stand against the Muslim brotherhood supporters who dared and start to enter Tahrir square. 
Bunch of NDPians groups and campaign urging El Sisi to run as a president already announced that they are going to the streets on that day in order to fight the Muslim brotherhood and to convince the general to run for the upcoming presidential elections.
The day is ruined !! I wish everybody stays at his home and uses God’s gift to the humans aka reason for once instead of that group thinking epidemic.
In a nutshell all those going to the street on Sunday care less for the anniversary of the war or the men who died , they do not even comprehend the lessons we should have learned from the war. All those going to the streets on Sunday only care for their the leaders’ political agendas on both sides.
Personally I have always loved the October 1973 anniversary more than any other national day. I always look back how my friends find it strange that I used to celebrate it by reading and watching all the material available about that war and how I used to have this ritual of listening Abdel Halim Hafez’s patriotic songs. Ironically some of those friends now are flying over the moon with the love of General El Sisi and the army now. For me this war was more than something military and geopolitics as well we are speaking about defiance , real defiance of those men who fought despite all the odds and challenges.
Sadly this year I am worried more about what will happen on that day and whether more Egyptians will be killed on the hands of other Egyptians in a useless fight over power.
Amazingly the October 1973 anniversary this year turned in to a gold an opportunity for hypocrites all over the country to do what they are good at and worship Abdel Fatah El Sisi who was only a teenager when the war broke. In fact I am expecting that some of those hypocrites to speak about the heroism actions of El Sisi in the war despite he joined the military academy in 1977.
Do not be surprised last anniversary in 2012 a magazine owned by the ministry of oil an ad congratulated President Morsi for the part he played in the war !!

Like Chaff in the Wind (Graham Saga Book 2) by Anna Belfrage

Having read and reviewed book one in the series; you can read that review HERE.

The second book in the series set out with Matthew in Edinburgh. There has been bad feeling between him and his brother and much damage has been done to their relationship, to the point of no return.

In Edinburgh, things take a turn for the worse, as Matthew is captured and sold off as an indentured servant to spend his days on the plantations of the Colonies.

Alex is desperate to be reunited with her husband, but does she manage it? As I turned each page I was really caught up with the story line. Does Alex become reunited with her beloved Matthew? - you will have to read the book to find out!

Again, a well laid out plot which has received much research. I just wondered as I read the sentence that explains the indentured ship crossing the Atlantic, when did the ocean receive it's name? There were a few scenes that made me question the plot, but I decided that it was important to not look at the events of the 1600's with a 21st Century mind. I really enjoyed this book and am very glad that I did decide to read them in the published order and am looking forward to reading and reviewing the finale in the series.

Anna has a delightful website where you can read about the series and download the few chapter in a PDF file.

About the Author


I was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions. As a result I’m multilingual and most of my reading is historical – both non-fiction and fiction.I was always going to be a writer – or a historian, preferably both. Instead I ended up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for my most favourite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a challenging career I raised my four children on a potent combination of invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade cakes. They seem to thrive … Nowadays I spend most of my spare time at my writing desk. The children are half grown, the house is at times eerily silent and I slip away into my imaginary world, with my imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in my life pops his head in to ensure I’m still there. I like that – just as I like how he makes me laugh so often I’ll probably live to well over a hundred.
I was always going to be a writer. Now I am – I have achieved my dream.

For more information, please visit Anna Belfrage’s WEBSITE.

I shall be back next week with the review of the final book in the series as part of the book tour for book three.



See others participating in the Book Tour HERE

Disclaimer- I was provided with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Let the War Games start : Video wars

Yesterday MB’s RSSD News Network began to post some series of videos online claiming that those clips are a scandal to General Abdel Fatah El Sisi and the army. The first video clip in the series was a very interesting. Its title was :  “El Sisi : The military spokesperson is an important attraction factor for ladies” !! Oh yes

Adel Fatah El Sisi speaking about media and army.

RSSD claimed that that video was leaked secretly from a secret meeting exposing the coup. According to what the officers and generals wore winter military uniforms.
Now in that clip we find an officer called Col. Omar “He became famous in social networks” asking General Abdel Fatah El Sisi what he would do then when the media crossed the red lines the army enjoyed for past 50 years. Col. Omar adds that there are TV channels speaking about the army , their owners should be intimidated or encouraged to cooperate with the army and not to cross those holy red lines when speaking about the army. He also asked about the Egyptian armed forces spokesperson Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali.
The General answered some how wisely if I may say. He said that the revolution dismantled the state and was reassembling it which is true. He also said that they were trying to outreach to the media in different ways and that in the future the red lines may change especially now the army can be questioned in the parliament unlike the past.
El Sisi’s answer when it comes to parliament shows why the army is really concerned by the parliament and accountability. That answer also shows that at least as a commander who comes from an intelligence background El Sisi knows very very well that something has changed.
As a society that loves trivia all people focused on El Sisi and what he said about Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali “Omar , Ahmed has an attraction factor for the ladies !!”
I do not know about you but his answer was actually insulting to be both Egyptian women “who are

Col. Ali

fascinated by how handsome the colonel is as if they are so shallow” and insulting to Ahmed Ali himself as an army officer working in a first degree masculine institution. I believe it is even bad for him as it came form his commander in this way !! I do not deny that he got groupies online ,still it is insulting to judge a man based on his looks online and how to use the looks in the army to gain support !!
By the way in another world I think this video is a gold mine for Bassem Youssef !! Seriously speaking “ Omar who wants to intimidate the media and Col. Ahmed is very attractive to the ladies” !! Needless to say I am dreaming as Youssef dares not really to cross the red line.
Of course Al Jazeera Musbhar Misr could not miss the opportunity and is airing the clip with photos of Col. Ahmed Ali with ladies aka his groupies from Ramdan Iftar and Sohoor parties held by private TV channels day and night. “Really silly photos”
Back to the media’s point; in real world the army does not need to lure the TV channels and media tycoons to its side because in the end they are  the old Mubarak regime faces and tycoons. For God sake the military now controls the media whether directly or indirectly.
Other than that “Omar he is attractive” , the video does not incriminate El Sisi that much especially he knew that the world was changing. If the video was incriminating anyone it would be colonel Omar , the perfect example of a military man with an old mindset who refuses accountability and believes in freaking red lines. Needless to say the victim of the clip is Ahmed Ali considering all the jokes and comics about him now online.

After that clip had been released on Wednesday’s night , I had several  unanswered questions.
Why the focus on Col. Ahmed Ali !? Earlier this week RSSD claimed that he was dismissed from his position and on the same day this claim was denied. Who really did leak this video and why now ?? It was from Winter 2013 during Morsi’s rule ? Why would RSSD publish this video now jeopardizing the life of its founder and manager Samahy Mostafa who is currently detained as a MB member ??
The question of who leaked the video was answered somehow by the current administration of RSSD that claimed that officers inside in the Morale department “responsible for PR and media in army” leaked the video. The RSSD administrator added that there would be more videos in the way and they were true. Today they posted two other videos.
The first video is about economy where El Sisi was answering some question of an officer in 2 minutes.

El Sisi speaks about economy

We do not know what the question was but from the answer we can guess that El Sisi aka Nasser 2013 is not a socialist but rather a hardcore capitalist. He believes that to build an economy people should pay for the services they get for instance and I will quote him.

If I were the ruler of Egypt , I would make the speaker in the mobile phone pays and the listener pays as well. My son people are all putting the mobile phone handsets on their ears everywhere including polls queues.

The video clips are edited so you can not have a full judgment for what the man said. He also added a remark that would please the public “The army should be the first in paying the services it gets.
I guess the officer asked him about the services they got in the army from mobile phones and the financial facilities.
By the way the true capitalists in Egypt , real capitalists I know from businessmen do not like how the army get involved in economy and so on. It is not a secret that the clash between Gamal Mubarak’s businessmen lobby and the army over the land and projects in Egypt.
Also it is worth to mention that the Muslim brotherhood was supporting capitalism and neoliberalism too during Morsi’s rule !!
Then RSSD released another leak and again it is short and edited to the level we do not know in what context the general was speaking about. The clip was only 0:38 seconds !!

El Sisi ; The police officer and the protesters

Now I had to repeat what he said to understand his answer to officer Ahmed whom I speculate that he was asking about officers and protests. I believe what he said that after what happened “the revolution” the officer will not shoot you and hit you in the eye and that why he will not stand a trial , of course I could be wrong. I just do not get what he said precisely.
RSSD then claimed that it would post more clips in the upcoming hours.
Anyhow it turned out that this secret meeting was not secret after all , it was a meeting with the Chemical warfare officers last December 2012 “During Morsi’s rule”. The meeting was recorded by the Morale department in the army. It is unclear how it was leaked.
Now the MB supporters and members promote those clips as evidence on how El Sisi is bad. The revolutionaries got concerns about the army and media as well the economy , they are also angry for that stupid insult to Egyptian women.
The Pro-military supporters now are repeating the same words when they are confronted with such videos : So what , there is nothing wrong in the video as El Sisi appears to be a wise man and the Muslim brotherhood are actually promoting the guy accidentally. Well those people do not give damn honestly to the status of media in Egypt or how much the parliament is independent from the army in order to do its supervisory role as it should or the economy or anything.
Some people believe that the army and Abdel Fatah El Sisi are actually behind those leaks using RSSD’s stupidity to promote for the general as a president.
Colonel Ahmed Ali’s groupies online say that Colonel Omar is jealous from Ali !!

I do not know why I have the feeling that there is something wrong in mount Olympus for real.I just do not know and I doubt that real human beings understand what is really happening.