Living in the U.S. and being so far from Egypt left many of us in the diaspora feeling helpless. Almost nightly we watched the news broadcasts late and in groups, staring at the TV and telling each other how much we wished we were there. We attended protests here in front of the Egyptian Consulate but still so many of us couldn’t suppress the guilt we shared for having to watch Tahrir on a TV screen instead of standing and protesting in the square itself. We communicated with our friends in Tahrir, gave our support and praised their efforts but still it wasn’t enough to rectify our strong desire to be there.

In any event, I didn’t turn back to writing as a result of the Revolution, I always hoped and believed in it and knew after Jan 25th, there was absolutely no turning back. I came back thanks to the whiners, cowards, bigots, pessimists, complainers, the one’s who so ignorantly proclaimed both in Egypt and abroad, “what will become of our country without Mubarak”. Those who wanted to turn Mubarak into a living god, those who believed the sun would not rise without Mubarak and yes…because of those who referred to him as “daddy”.

Besides the Cult of Mubarak living in Egypt there are the Egyptians living in the U.S., the first generationers and their parents who turned them into politically and culturally handicapped pseudo-members of the Egyptian community. Their whole lives Egypt was a place they were proud to be from but a place they knew nothing about. They were eager to entertain Americans questions about King Tut and the Pyramids but were unable to name members of Egypt’s political spectrum or recall events of the last 7 to 10 years that made Egypt a particularly unpleasant place to live.

Even worse are those who believed being born in Egypt, emigrating to the U.S. and having an Egyptian accent was more than enough to validate their negative views of the Jan 25th Revolution. I specifically remember groups of them on Facebook arguing who’s opinions were more valid based on who had lived in Egypt longer, despite the fact that most of them didn’t know who Omar Sulieman was before Jan 28th! Even more disappointing are the members of Egypt’s ‘upper class’ who have thrown their criticism and hatred at Egypt’s youth for bringing this ‘unwanted’ fate upon them and their country. Those in Egypt and abroad who hope to see the revolutionary spirit die are one in the same. It’s these people who didn’t support the Revolution, who still don’t and who will use any unfortunate events occurring inside Egypt as reasons why the Revolution was bad instead of understanding that it’s because of these events that the Revolution and its influence were and are absolutely necessary.

For those of you who are irritated or distraught by these members of our community, who hope to engage them in civil debate to one day help them see what you see, allow me to give you some negative sounding but useful advice…give up on them, don’t waste your time or your breath or the kinetic energy created by typing on a key board. They aren’t bad people but they are not the type of people who affected this Revolution and they are equally incapable of positively influencing Egypt’s growth. I’d like to remind you that Egypt needs you, there’s a lot of work to be done, work not created by the revolution but work we dreamed about doing prior that the Revolution has made more possible.

Which leads me to my main point. Those who led the revolution, communicated vital information during it and put their very lives at risk during the revolution are failing us RIGHT NOW. I hate to be so critical and I’m reluctant to express my criticism in fear of alienating those I’d like to reach, however we are all in desperate need of a reality check.

The dreams pursued by all of us are fading very quickly due to what seems to be an inability to prioritize, organize and proceed. Those whose agenda’s run opposite to the Jan 25th youth have claimed the loudest voice. They are the Muslim Brotherhood who placed Sheikhs at polling stations, urging people to vote “Yes” as their religious duty in order to keep the Army’s constitutional amendments, in opposition to the Jan 25th youth who almost unanimously desired a “No” vote. They are the Salafi’s who have declared death to ANY woman out in public not wearing a hijab. The Salafi’s who will be heading out on Tuesday (3/29), weapons in hand, carrying out their version of Sharia on any woman caught with her head uncovered. Also operating in opposition to the Jan 25th youth is the Army who recently proposed criminal action taken against any and all protesters and protest organizers.

And where are those leaders of the revolution in all of this? The one’s whose twitter feeds were the heartbeat of Jan 25th? They are on Twitter cheering on revolutions in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain and even Uganda, last I checked. They are happily patting themselves on the back for inspiring the world against their respective dictators while their own country burns. Currently the Twitter updates of those who courageously led us into this great moment of our lives, are more concerned with writing their names in history as supporters of every other Arab nations revolution instead of contributing to their own countries future. Essentially your ship is sinking while you wave to everyone on the shore.

Everyday I read the same updates by Egyptian bloggers and protesters about every corner of the world but Egypt. While I support every nations struggle for freedom and I pray for their safety, I can not feel more strongly for their struggle than I do for Egypt. This is not out of selfishness or pride or arrogance. My feeling is the same one that desired revolution in Egypt to begin with. I’m not willing to divide any of my resources for any other nation at the expense of my own because Egypt’s struggle just began, in case you didn’t realize.

At the current moment Egypt is being completely sold out by the Army which favors tilting the scales in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi’s. Our freedom to protest has been erased only months after we protested to insure it. Citizens are being beaten, tortured and murdered by our own Army. Places of worship for minority religions are being burned down and their adherents brutally murdered without repercussion and you wouldn’t have the slightest clue by reading Jan 25th twitter updates and blog posts.

What value is Libya and Syria and the rest of the world to you if you couldn’t finish the job at home? What makes any of you confident that you accomplished anything in Egypt to begin with if within 3 months we’ve lost almost everything we gained. Your struggle wasn’t for a Mubarak-less Egypt, it was for a free and prosperous Egypt. Not only have we yet to accomplish that but you’ve already declared victory and moved on to other tasks. Well thanks a lot because while you’re out playing Superman and saving the world, everyone in Egypt is being fed to the wolves.

The situation has deteriorated so rapidly that we just pray Tuesday’s planned massacre by the Salafi’s and Muslim Brotherhood is enough to turn the nation against them. Sadly I’m losing hope. Please pray for us.

I mean I get it, kinda, this is a post Bush America and its quite possible that the zombie of Mussolini could rise from the grave, become elected President of the U.S. and be venerated as the second coming of Christ…I get that.

However lets be a little realistic Obama is a charismatic brotha’ who more than anything else IS a politician, a dirty, dishonest, despicable politician and I know most of you dont want to hear that right now but I think it’s best you set realistic expectations.

This is just a short list of things I’ve randomly overheard in Chicago regarding Obama.

Pre-Election

A Black lady at the counter at 7-11. You voting?
Me Uhh Yea.
Black lady, pointing at her Obama pin You better vote for that black man right there!

A bum on the street dancing and singing. Ooooooooooo baaaaaaaa maaaaaaaa! Oh yes Oooooooo baaaaaaaa maaaaaaaa, yo can I have a dollar?

A black lady talking to another black lady on the train See what I’m sayin girl, white people are scared of Obama but he’s gonna make everything right!

Post Election

Black girl day after the election at Foot Locker How do you feel about our new President? ( with a huge smile on her face )
Me Uhhh, glad Bush is almost gone.
Black girl How do you feel that your new President is Black?
Me Excuse me? How am I supposed to feel? How do you feel that he’s half white?
Black girl (no answer, just an angry stare)
Me ….do you have these in a size 13?

Mexican girls at a pizza place when a news clip of Obama come on the TV Yo, yo, Salena…look its OBAMA!!!!

A customer service representitive talking to me on the phone from the Philippines How are you today sir did you watch the inauguration today?
Me Seriously? No I was sleeping, did you?
Customer service Rep. Oh yes of course, they put it on in the office for us.
Me Awesome, so can you fix my computer or what?

A trendy liberal yuppie walking out of the elevator talking to her friend Oh my God, did you see the inauguration…did you see OBAMA!?!?!? I’m gonna downloaded it so I can watch it whenever I want!

Seriously, what is wrong with all these people, have they lost their damn minds!? Is Obama sneaking into their bedroom at night and giving them sweet lovin’? If you have a political crush on Obama I’m sorry to pee in your pool, you might not be as cynical as I am but you’ll get it eventually.

www.livestation.com is a very simple program that will allow you to watch Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Russia Today, Euro News, Etc. on your computer. I’ve downloaded it, it works and works well. Enjoy.

PASS THIS ON!!

(h/t Will – KabobFest)

It’s not a matter of individuality, rather it’s public opinion that dictates to each of us what we can be for and what we can be against. Any other deviations will get you slapped with some label that automatically assumes all your opinions for you. It’s a lot like socialism where the Government tells you which college to go to and which field you will study, its all planned out for you.

These cookie cutter labels include, “racist”, “sexist”, “fascist”, “misogynist”, “liberal”, “conservative”, “chauvinist”, “Islamaphobe”, “homophobe”, “xenophobe”, “anti-Semite”, “anti-American”, “anti-establishment”, etc. The list goes on and on and be assured that if there isn’t a name for your specific type, someone will create one.

But for every type of hatred society scorns there is an often greater number of hatreds that society celebrates openly and publicly, from movies all the way to the classroom. In reality most of the fashionably OK types of hate are no more righteous than other hate, they’ve just become accepted. Here’s a list to help you understand what I mean.

Fashionably Wrong
Hating…..
-Blacks.
-homosexuals.
-women.
-Jews.
-Israel.
-minority religions.
-poor people.
-fat people.
-Muslims (sometimes)
-police (sometimes)
-foreigners (sometimes).
-the Government (sometimes).
-Arabs (sometimes).

Fashionably Right or OK
Hating…..
-white people/ Europeans.
-Americans and America.
-men.
-rich people.
-liberals.
-religion.
-conservatives.
-yuppie’s.
-the Catholic Church.
-the French.
-George W. Bush.
-Muslims (sometimes)
-police (sometimes).
-foreigners (sometimes).
-the Government (sometimes).
-Arabs (sometimes).
-Palestinians (sometimes). Interesting, this one is sometimes fashionably right but never fashionably wrong.

In the culture of the Middle East this list can look very different.

Fashionably Wrong
Hating….
-religion.
-conservatives.
-men.
-Turkish and Arab imperialists.
-light skinned Arabs
-Palestinians (sometimes).

Fashionably Right or OK
Hating…..
-homosexuals.
-women.
-Jews.
-Israel.
-minority religions.
-poor people.
-rich people.
-fat people.
-police.
-foreigners.
-the Government.
-white people and European imperialists.
-America not Americans.
-George W. Bush.
-dark skinned Arabs
-Persians (unless you are Shi’a)
-Gulf Arabs. (in places other than the Gulf)
-Palestinians (sometimes)

I think we’re all guilty of some of these but you cant win, to be fair either all hatred is unacceptable (keep dreaming) or all hatred is acceptable, sometimes I think that would make things easier in a sick twisted way.

Generally it’s the conservative members of society that attract and harbor the most intolerant and bigoted elements of society. The Jerry Falwell’s of the world, the Al Qaeda’s. (Yes I’m referencing Jerry Falwell parallel to Al Qaeda). The ignorance and bigotry that streams from the pulpit or the politician, the one that stirs fear over immigration or minority religions is one that’s loud, in your face and more often than not, inciting by design.

The most ignorant of bigotry is one that flies under our radar, that appeals to our sensitivities and one we so often invite and encourage to further our agenda’s. The Liberal voice that sits comfortably at home and looks down on the world through text books and national geographic.

I’ve encountered it so many times in my life but it first blindsided me when I was approached by an American friend eager to share what they recently learned in class about Egyptian society. That day I was shocked to hear, 90% of Egyptian children have fly eggs laying in their eye lids, you know like those African kids you see in documentaries and charity drives with big, parasite infested bellies and dying of starvation.

A complete shock to me. Maybe I was ignorant myself, maybe I was too blind to ever see that in Egypt before or maybe some Liberal fruit cake college professors, looking down on the poor, poverty stricken masses of the world decided that all children living outside of the wealthy and prosperous Western world have flies hatching in their eyes. I hear garbage like this all the time and I’ve probably been conned into believing it a few times too. Like the “statistic” that 95% of Egyptian women are circumcised, wow really?! 95%?! Seriously?!

The Irony of information like this is that the people providing it mean no harm. They genuinely believe that every country without a Starbucks suffers from some various array of strange cultural backwardness and always at astronomically high percentages. Sometimes I wonder if the 3rd world was put there simply to garner their sympathies, something to talk about over espresso with friends or a cause to put on fliers and post in University hallways.

It’s kind of like when I meet someone new and they ask me where I’m from and as soon as they hear Egypt I get a line of questions that sadly…I’ve heard a million times.

“Do they have running water in your country?” or “Do people speak English there?” and my favorite implication question, “It’s not safe for Americans to go there, right?”

I really hate to break their hearts and ruin their dream of Egypt , it’s better to go with the flow. “Yes, Americans are killed on site by rebel death squads that roam the streets searching for infidels“, “Water is scarce, sometimes you must drink your own urine to survive“. What can I do?

Today I stumbled into a photo caption stuffed with more ignorant and racist Liberal garbage than I could stomach.

The caption reads.

What has happened to humanity when we can watch children begging to Americans in a tour bus for food and money. Where have our souls gone as we watched in curiosity yet doing nothing to help them. I wonder now if these children still live in Egypt after all the turmoil of 9/11 for this picture was taken in 1993. Are they in a militia now? Are they fighting for Iraqi’s freedom? Here I wonder yet sit in my cushioned bed, watch my 52″ television and sleep in peace every night. So who am I to wonder?

God help me, where do I begin? Ok lets do this line by line…

…begging to Americans in a tour bus for food and money.

First of all, the whole thing is inundated with self gratification, a list of material possession’s and privileges. Being American, as if not to be is less fortunate, being in a tour bus etc. and continues throughout the paragraph all the way down to the 52 inch television.

Second, considering the general ignorance of the whole paragraph I doubt the “artist” understands Arabic at all let alone enough to recognize begging for food and money. Any person with two eyes and a functioning brain can see those kids are holding stacks of paper, probably post cards (in Egypt kids and adults alike selling post cards or anything with ancient Egyptian pictures, go where they know tourists are.) They’re not begging, they’re working!

…we watched in curiosity yet doing nothing to help them.

Watched in curiosity?! Where do you think you are, the zoo?! There’s nothing to be curious about, hasn’t anyone ever tried to sell you something on the street before? These kids aren’t looking for charity, they’re looking for customers!

I wonder now if these children still live in Egypt after all the turmoil of 9/11 for this picture was taken in 1993.

I wasn’t aware that 9/11 caused the massive exodus of Egyptians or anyone else out of their countries, where would they go? Why would they leave? What the *$#@&! does 9/11 have to do with it?

Are they in a militia now? Are they fighting for Iraqi’s freedom?

Why, why and WHY!!!??? It gets more offensive and outrageous as you read. I didn’t even know we had militias! I love the assertion that Egyptians have been collectively fanaticized by 9/11 and are all armed and marching towards Iraq to fight and kill American soldiers. It’s impossible for the “artist” to imagine they’ve graduated from college and work to support a family. No, they must be in Iraq with bombs strapped to their chests because thats just what Arabs do.

Here I wonder yet sit in my cushioned bed, watch my 52″ television and sleep in peace every night.

Besides the poor grammar this is nothing more than a self-aggrandizing rant to establish wealth, privilege and success. Liberals do this all the time, they make bold statements about their own material possession while simultaneously casting the subject of inquiry into a lower class. As if these kids are laying awake somewhere in their hard, un-cushioned beds, fantasizing about 52 inch TV’s and desperately wondering what rich Americans do in their spare time. It reminds me of a professor I once had who used to sit back in his desk, kick his feet up and say, “Sometimes on Sunday mornings I sit in my gazebo, overlooking my 2 acre pond and I think to myself…I wonder what poor people do for fun.” The writer is having a similar moment of reflection here.

So who am I to wonder?

An ignorant Liberal bigot named Kimberly DeMoss who’s trying to push her garbage for 39.99, poor grammar and all.

Not long after Iraq was discovered to be a colossal blunder, war drums began to pound for Iran. A not so democratic place with an oppressive regime who’s a danger to its neighbors and the U.S. as well as being a state sponsor of terror, blah blah blah, etc etc. Well I’ve heard this story before and I didn’t like how it turned out.

Who really wants war with Iran? Pat Buchanan once answered that question with…”Only Dick Cheney, Senator Joe Lieberman and the Israeli Lobby”

But what are the reasons for wanting war with Iran? You’ve heard it an endless number of times, nuclear weapons, desire to wipe Israel off the map, funding Hezbollah, working with Syria, etc. Somethings off about that though, there are many countries who hate Israel, fund terrorism and probably wouldnt mind if Israel didnt exist anymore. Ironically the U.S. wants to give them a nuclear program. One being Egypt and the other, the biggest terrorist state in all the world…Saudi Arabia.

So why would the U.S. and Israel feel so comfortable allowing these countries to have nuclear energy while threatening Iran’s destruction over it? There are two reasons.

First, a good share of Israeli ministers and Knesset members are crazy, bold and brazen, much more than Ahmadinejad. They believe they can fight the whole world, they want to punish people who dont like Zionists and who dislike Israel and they would like the U.S. to do the job for them. They are nuts! Even in the U.S. which is so heavily influenced by the Israeli lobby, these guys are pushing their luck and wielding more power than they poses. On top of all that the most staunch “bomb Iran” members of Israeli Government are Iranians themselves. Jews born and raised in Iran or whose parents immigrated from Iran and who desperately want revenge on a country they feel bitter towards. In short, they have an axe to grind.

The most recent and loudest anti-Iran mouth piece in Israel is Shaul Mofaz an Iranian Jew born in Tehran in 1948. His words, “”If Iran continues its nuclear arms program — we will attack it”, buzz like a fly in my ear.

The U.S. has its own reason which comes in two parts. First because Israel is crying in their ear about it and they feel obligated to comply but two because of something monetary, surprise surprise. In actuality the U.S. will give Nuclear power to anyone, on one condition, that they buy the enriched uranium from them. Ah, now this smells familiar. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India all have to buy enriched uranium from the U.S. which is extremely expensive as you can imagine. Iran however wants to enrich their own uranium, thats a big no, no and when you are siting on an oil gold mine, thats enough to go to war over. Its not hard to understand or believe. We already know that Iran hasn’t had anything close to a weapons program since 2003, we know that the enrichment of Iran’s uranium is not enough for weapons use and we know that we’ve been sold this type of fear mongering and propaganda before, so don’t look so surprised.

Is punishing an oppressive government reason for war? No, if the U.S. is feeling so heroic they can stop ignoring the rest of the world transgressions.

Is Iran a severely oppressive regime…Yes! Is Iran a supporter and funder of groups deemed terrorists by much of the world…Yes! Is Ahmadinejad a little crazy…Yes! (even though I think hes more stupid and antagonistic than crazy). Is Iran going to attack Israel unprovoked…No! Don’t think for a second that the leaders of Iran would dare threaten their own power by attacking Israel.

However if Israel doesn’t want to wait for the U.S. to attack Iran and they want to do it themselves I say go ahead. Fight your own war, see if you can handle it, see if your people will put up with it, see if it doesn’t threaten your existence more than Iran’s nuclear program ever did. I don’t believe Israel has much hope against Iran unless they intend to use a nuke of their own.

Remember that Iran is a country with half a million active troops, 350 thousand reserve and 11.4 million paramilitary. Making them the largest military force in the world. So go ahead, show them what you got, keep talking the tough talk and fight your own battles.

I always find this cycle tiring because friends, family and readers try to slap some sort of label on me and they almost always fail miserably. Generally the political identity they paint me with tells me a lot about how they identify themselves.

I realized this today when I was checking my Email. I received an obnoxious forward from an Egyptian friend, born and raised in the U.S. and who talks as if he has a live feed from George Bush wired right into his ear.

He’s a republican but not for any governmental policy reasons, he’s a republican because he hates gays, immigrants and “terrorists”. He’s the, “they attack us because they are jealous of our freedom” type. Sometimes talking to him about politics is like talking to an Alabama baptist preacher who goes hunting on Saturdays and to Ku Klux Klan rallies on Fridays. Essentially, he’s like most Social Republicans, paranoid and terrified of the world around him.

His email today had the header, “This is more for my Liberal wack job friends!”. Unbelievable, we’ve had our fair share of conversations about politics which usually consist of him repeating something he heard in a George Bush Speech or on Hannity & Colmes and me telling him how irritating I think it is. Somehow that makes me some liberal “wack job”.

Ironically I was having a conversation with a young idealist Egyptian friend the night before. He’s your stereotypical college liberal who believes the world can be a utopia, poverty can be eradicated, plants have feelings, and we should all ride bicycles to work because cars are bad for the environment. He’s the “free tibet and the Dali Lama” type. Conversations with him are beyond frustrating, its a lot like talking to someone on LSD, and for all I know that might be the reason for his radically illogical liberal views. For some reason I enjoy talking politics with him because part of me believes I can bring him back to the real world.

On this occasion he asked for my views on U.S. foreign policy and in the course of the conversation he discovered that my views were critical of U.S. foreign policy and his response was, “wow I thought you were a conservative nut job”. What the hell is going on here?

Well its not that complicated to understand the issue with both of these assholes. I’m a moderate, I’m in the middle of the spectrum, some conservative principles makes sense to me and some liberal principles makes sense to me, thats hard for people to understand though. People’s minds enjoy labels, they like to see black and white, gray is much harder to process.

To a conservative I’m liberal, to a liberal I’m conservative. You can test this phenomenon yourself. Ask a liberal if the media is conservative or liberal and ask a conservative the same. The liberal will almost always say its conservative and the conservative will almost always say its liberal. To them it is, anything to the center of their position is the opposite to them. For my readers, especially new ones, my position can be hard to understand, they come looking for one definitive side of the spectrum. Sorry you wont find that here, you probably never will.

A long time ago when this blog was in its infantile stages I was talking to Monkey Face and he gave me some advice, he said “you need to pick one definitive side and go with it”, explains a lot doesnt it . I dont deny that readers respond more to the demagoguing of political affiliations but thats not the answer, progress requires balance, it requires deep thought and passionate heart felt opinions, if those opinions are spread along the spectrum than so be it. To be honest, I dont really care if everyone who reads it gets it.

In my life I’ve learned the most from those with balanced views and most people do they just do it differently, maybe they listen to balanced opinions, maybe they have the discipline to listen to unbalanced individuals of both sides separately.

My advice, if I’m worthy of giving it, is to stay away from extreme conservativism or liberalism, extremes of anything are destructive, the answer is in the middle.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=RyhIBXNfqMA[/youtube]

Egypt is not alone in rising food costs, its an epidemic affecting millions of people across the third world and the cause of the increase will amaze you. Though rising gas prices and the corresponding increase in transporting food is part of the problem it only accounts for 15% of the increase. Ironically the increase in the cost of beans, grains and oil’s have come from developed nations and their response to increased oil costs. Governmental policies within the U.S. and E.U. have caused an increased demand on beans and grains to be used for bio-fuel, a supplement of petroleum. The programs designed to fulfill specific quotas are operating with an inefficiency not seen since the peak of the Soviet Union. Farmers, corporations and scientists are milking the government for extremely high and wasteful subsidies, robbing taxpayers and wasting enough grain to make Stalin proud, resulting in the worldwide cost of farmed goods to sky rocket.

Do I blame the U.S. like every Osama bin Laden loving Arab will once this news reaches the mainstream? No, no, no, quite the contrary. I blame Arabs! You heard me. As always Arabs manage to shoot themselves in the foot out of their own greed and their inability to see past their own nose. Do you happen to notice something here?

Since 2004 the barrel of oil has gone from $32 to $115 because Arab oil producers want to squeeze the U.S. for every last penny being that they consume 35% of the worlds oil and as a result of the price gouging, the U.S. (seeing no end in sight) has begun to pursue other forms of fuel such as Bio-fuel causing food to dramatically rise in price starving the very nations who have profited off the oil in the first place. (Egypt hasnt made crap off of oil but we’ve been caught in the crossfire like many other poor nations). You see the world and all its misfortune are a chain reaction of events. So when the Arabs want to blame someone for this problem, please look at your neighbors.

Wall Street article about Bio-Fuel and Poverty