Bad Summer for Egypt!

BAD SUMMER FOR EGYPT!

Egypt abduction talks 'ongoing'

Egypt says negotiations are still ongoing to secure the release of 19 people abducted in southern Egypt.

A cabinet spokesman said that an earlier announcement by the foreign minister that they had been freed and were safe and well was premature.
The group includes five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian, along with eight Egyptians.

The government says they were taken across the border into Sudan, and the hostage takers have demanded a ransom.

The 19 were seized near the Gilf al-Kebir plateau, close to the Libyan and Sudanese borders.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit originally reported their release ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York.
He said the hostages were "safe and sound".

But the cabinet spokesman, Magdy Radi, later said: "It is premature to say they are released. The negotiations are still continuing."

Tour owner's call

Egyptian officials say contact has been made with the kidnappers in Sudan, and that they are seeking a ransom of up to $6m (£3.24m).

The tourism ministry said those abducted along with the foreigners were two guides, four drivers, a guard and the owner of the travel company who had organised the excursion.

Gilf al-Kebir is a giant plateau famous for its prehistoric cave paintings, which featured in the 1996 film The English Patient.

The BBC's Ian Pannell in Cairo says local guides have indicated that the Gilf al-Kebir area has become increasingly unsafe this year.

Another group of foreigners was held at gunpoint in February and three of their vehicles were taken.

An investigation at the time pointed the blame at smugglers and bandits.
Our correspondent says there has been criticism that the Egyptian military has not done enough to patrol the area despite the increased threat.


Tourist abduction blow for Mubarak

As 11 European tourists are abducted in south-west Egypt, the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi assesses the likely fall out of the incident.

Egypt is a popular destination for European tourists
Tourism matters a lot for the Egyptian economy. It brings in some $8bn (£4.3bn) a year, which is more than 6% of the country's gross domestic product.

One of the most likely consequences of a kidnap incident like this is that it will dent Egypt's reputation as a safe destination for foreign tourists.

It is thought that five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian were taken along with eight Egyptian travel guides and drivers last Friday.

The abduction is believed to have taken place near the Gilf al-Kebir plateau in southern Egypt. Unconfirmed reports say the hostages have been taken across the border into Sudan.

The Egyptian tourism minister says negotiations are under way to secure their release.

Bad news

Whatever the motives of the kidnappers, be they political or just criminal, there is no doubt that the incident is a serious blow to the administration of President Hosni Mubarak.

The kidnap comes at the end of a period of bad news for Mr Mubarak's government that has prompted growing calls for a change of leadership inside Egypt.

Mr Mubarak has been in power for nearly 30 years. His critics will see the kidnapping of foreign tourists as yet another example of government failure, despite the exceptional powers given to the police and the enormous resources allocated to security.

Earlier this month, the authorities were accused of responding slowly to a massive rock slide at a shanty town near Cairo that killed more than 100 people.

And before that, the city's fire brigade failed to extinguish a blaze that destroyed a historic building (actually AN OLD PALACE used for the parliaments) in central Cairo housing the upper chamber of parliament.


h.n.

"Bedouin Obama"!!!

'Bedouin' Obama!
Nearly 8,000 Arab Bedouins in northern Israel are claiming kinship with US president-elect Barack Obama. (Reuters)

Islam Online News:


CAIRO — Already having relatives extending from Hawaii to Kenya, nearly 8,000 Arab Bedouins in northern Israel are also claiming kinship with America's new president-elect, Barack Obama.

"We knew about it years ago but we were afraid to talk about it because we didn't want to influence the election," Arab Bedouin elder Abdul Rahman Sheikh Abdullah told The Times on Thursday, November 13.

"We wrote a letter to him explaining the family connection."

Abdullah, from the village of Bir al-Maksour in Galilee region, says his 95-year-old mother first noticed that Obama looked like one of the African migrant workers in the British-mandated Palestine in 1930s.

One of those migrants, who sometimes used to marry local Bedouin girls, was a relative of Obama's Kenyan grandmother, says Abdullah. Abdullah says he has papers and pictures supporting his claim, but would not divulge them until Obama is in the White House. "We want to send a delegation to congratulate him, and we know we'll get an answer soon."

Obama was elected America's first black president last week after crushing his Republican rival John McCain.

Born in Hawaii, the Illinois senator is the son of a Muslim-turned-atheist Kenyan father and a white American mother.

He lived from ages 6 to 10 in Indonesia with his mother and Muslim stepfather. Bedouins are traditionally pastoral semi-nomadic Arab tribes indigenous to the Negev region.

“Relative Obama”

Bedouins have been distributing sweets and dishes of baklava and pastries in celebration of Obama's election win.

"We knew he'd win," Abdullah said, constantly interrupted by a barrage of phone calls from well-wishers. "We have always been a lucky family.

Two baby boys born into Abdullah's large clan have been named Obama. Congratulators have been also flocking to Abdullah's region to pay their respects to the "Bedouin Obama".

"Everyone is talking about [Sheikh Abdullah's ties to Mr Obama] . . . They believe it," said Sheikh Issam al-Khalil from the occupied southern Lebanese town of Ghajar.

"The sheikhs from all the villages are talking about it. There's a whole delegation of Druze leaders coming from the Golan Heights to congratulate him."

Many Bedouins hope that their "relative" Obama will solve their problems. "We hope to God that Obama will solve the problem of Ghajar," said Khalil. Abdullah, the Bedouin elder, is also hopeful.

"We hope he'll end all wars and intervene here to solve our problems in Israel. The Bedouin are the people who suffer the most here."




Hoda Nassef

Don Quixote...or, Who Shot the Donkies?!

Don Quixote – or: Who Shot the Donkeys?

By Hoda Nassef

(An Egyptian Mini-Don Quixote)


When something goes right in Egypt, I simply Love My Country and praise the Good People and Good Deeds, while smiling with contentment like a Cheshire Cat. But, when something goes wrong, I become a Part and Parcel of the disgruntled Voice for the People of Egypt, like waving an Invisible Sword of Justice – as Don Quixote – fighting by pen instead of a sword for my family’s legal rights first, and ‘my People’ second, however often it falls flat and in vain, and then waiving my rights not out of resignation, but out of sheer exhaustion, with the results more like “Who shot the donkeys of Egypt?”…and then I go on to my next Quest, or it is thrown upon me.

h.n.

Genius & Philosopher George Carlin Dies

George Carlin mourned as counterculture hero

GEORGE CARLIN DIES AT 71

By KEITH ST. CLAIR, Associated Press Writer 21 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television. Some People Are Stupid. Stuff. People I Can Do Without. George Carlin, who died of heart failure Sunday at 71, leaves behind not only a series of memorable routines, but a legal legacy: His most celebrated monologue, a frantic, informed riff on those infamous seven words, led to a Supreme Court decision on broadcasting offensive language.

The counterculture hero's jokes also targeted things such as misplaced shame, religious hypocrisy and linguistic quirks? “Why”, he once asked, “do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?”

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

"He was a genius and I will miss him dearly," Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, told The Associated Press.

The actor Ben Stiller called Carlin "a hugely influential force in stand-up comedy. He had an amazing mind, and his humor was brave, and always challenging us to look at ourselves and question our belief systems, while being incredibly entertaining. He was one of the greats."
Carlin constantly breached the accepted boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the "Seven Words”? All of which are taboo on broadcast TV to this day.
When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail and exonerated when a Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying it was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance.

When the words were later played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a 1978 Supreme Court ruling upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language during hours when children might be listening.

"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," he told The Associated Press earlier this year.

Despite his reputation as unapologetically irreverent, Carlin was a television staple through the decades, serving as host of the "Saturday Night Live" debut in 1975, noting on his Web site that he was "loaded on cocaine all week long” and appearing some 130 times on "The Tonight Show."
He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a few TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989 a testament to his range from cerebral satire and cultural commentary to downright silliness (sometimes hitting all points in one stroke).

"Why do they lock gas station bathrooms?" he once mused. "Are they afraid someone will clean them?"

In one of his most famous routines, Carlin railed against euphemisms he said have become so widespread that no one can simply "die."

"'Older' sounds a little better than 'old,' doesn't it," he said. "Sounds like it might even last a little longer. ... I'm getting old. And it's OK. Because thanks to our fear of death in this country I won't have to die. I'll 'pass away.' Or I'll 'expire,' like a magazine subscription. If it happens in the hospital they'll call it a 'terminal episode.' The insurance company will refer to it as 'negative patient care outcome.' And if it's the result of malpractice they'll say it was a 'therapeutic misadventure.'"

Carlin won four Grammy Awards for best spoken comedy album and was nominated for five Emmys. On Tuesday, it was announced that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will be presented Nov. 10 in Washington and broadcast on PBS.

"Nobody was funnier than George Carlin," said Judd Apatow, director of recent hit comedies such as "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." "I spent half my childhood in my room listening to his records experiencing pure joy. And he was as kind as he was funny."

Carlin started his career on the traditional nightclub circuit in a coat and tie, pairing with Burns to spoof TV game shows, news and movies. Perhaps in spite of the outlaw soul, "George was fairly conservative when I met him," said Burns, describing himself as the more left-leaning of the two. It was a degree of separation that would reverse when they came upon Lenny Bruce, the original shock comic, in the early '60s.

"We were working in Chicago, and we went to see Lenny, and we were both blown away," Burns said, recalling the moment as the beginning of the end for their collaboration if not their close friendship. "It was an epiphany for George. The comedy we were doing at the time wasn't exactly groundbreaking, and George knew then that he wanted to go in a different direction."
That direction would make Carlin as much a social commentator and philosopher as comedian, a position he would relish through the years.

"The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things" bad language and whatever?" "It's all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition," Carlin told the AP in a 2004 interview. "There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have."

Carlin was born on May 12, 1937, and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, raised by a single mother. After dropping out of school in the ninth grade, he joined the Air Force in 1954. He received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site.

While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston.

"Fired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot," his Web site says.

From there he went on to a job on the night shift as a deejay at a radio station in Fort Worth, Texas. Carlin also worked variety of temporary jobs, including carnival organist and marketing director for a peanut brittle.

In 1960, he left with $300 and Burns, a Texas radio buddy, for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. His first break came just months later when the duo appeared on Jack Paar's "Tonight Show."

Carlin said he hoped to emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade Carlin grew up in, in the 1950s, with a clever but gentle humor reflective of the times.

It didn't work for him, and the pair broke up by 1962. "I was doing superficial comedy entertaining people who didn't really care: Businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. And I had been doing that for the better part of 10 years when it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people," Carlin reflected recently as he prepared for his 14th HBO special, "It's Bad For Ya."

Eventually Carlin ditched the buttoned-up look for his trademark beard, ponytail and all-black attire. But even with his decidedly adult-comedy bent, Carlin never lost his childlike sense of mischief, even voicing kid-friendly projects like episodes of the TV show "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" and the spacey Volkswagen bus Fillmore in the 2006 Pixar hit "Cars."
Carlin's first wife, Brenda, died in 1997. He is survived by wife Sally Wade; daughter Kelly Carlin McCall; son-in-law Bob McCall; brother Patrick Carlin; and sister-in-law Marlene Carlin.
___

Associated Press writer Christopher Weber contributed to this report. Hoda Nassef edited some of the punctuations & contributed the title and photo.

How To Save The Airlines

How to Save The US Airlines!

Dump the male flight attendants. No one wanted them in the first place. Replace all the female flight attendants with good-looking strippers! What the hell --- They don't even serve food anymore, so what's the loss?

The strippers would at least triple the alcohol sales and get a 'party atmosphere' going in the cabin. And, of course, every businessman in this country would start flying again, hoping to see naked women.Because of the tips, female flight attendants wouldn't need a salary, thus saving even more money. I suspect tips would be so good that we could charge the women for working the plane and have them kick back 20% of the tips, including lap dances and 'special services.'

Muslims would be afraid to get on the planes for fear of seeing naked women. Hijackings would come to a screeching halt, and the airline industry would see record revenues. This is definitely a win-win situation if we handle it right --- a golden opportunity to turn a liability into an asset.

Why didn't Bush think of this? Why do I still have to do everything myself?


Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

Save The New Gourna of Hassan Fathy

SAVE THE NEW GOURNA!

By Hoda Nassef


Introduction:

The professors of the Department of Art History and of the Master in Environmental Sciences of Geneva University wish to make an emergency appeal for the registration of the village of New Gourna (Egypt). This exceptional masterpiece of contemporary architecture has been known worldwide and belongs to the artistic as well as intellectual heritage of Humanity.

This heritage has already been severely damaged to somewhat general indifference. Every measure should now be rapidly carried out to preserve what is left, restore what has been altered and reconstruct what has disappeared to bring it back to its original form and signification.

Hassan Fathy’s New Gourna village cannot simply disappear in inertia and unconcern. The lessons of know-how/savoir-faire, human solidarity and appropriate technology put in the hands of a poor community are served by an extraordinary formal modern architectural language. They should continue to testify to future generations, as the architect himself would have wished, the possibilities of reasoned development in emergent countries.

The Importance of Hassan Fathy’s works…

His career cannot be limited to this only realisation. Hassan Fathy (1900-1989) is among the most important architects of Africa and the Middle East. As an intellect, writer, humanist, architect and scientist, he deeply influenced generations of architects and engineers throughout the world by his constructions as well as by his thoughts.

Hassan Fathy was born in Alexandria and worked mainly in Egypt except during five years he spent in Greece were he worked in the very cosmopolite Dioxides Agency in Athens (1957-1962). He became internationally famous after the success of the publication of Gourna, a Tale of two Villages in 1969, republished in 1973 under the name of Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt. The tremendous impact of the book shook the whole world and had significant repercussions in the western academic circles.

The richness of Hassan Fathy’s anthropological thought, his authentic social concern and the wisdom of his reasoning underlying the architectural experience, have had an international impact which has yet to be assimilated in the era of the sustainable development we are now entering. The notion of “appropriate technology” formulated by Hassan Fathy in the twilight of his life has not been sufficiently acknowledged, in particular in emergent countries.

Hassan Fathy had a prolific mind and was impassioned for numerous subjects. He designed and constructed projects of various natures; from modern constructions in armed concrete in the 1930’s and private residences built with stone to projects of the “Ideal City” for Baghdad and Karachi during his Greek period. He addressed all types of programmes such as villas, farms, mosques, social health centres, schools, theatres, peasant villages and tourist villages. As a true researcher in the field of architecture and construction, he endeavoured himself to develop construction technologies inventing solutions appropriate to the climatic circumstances of hot arid countries. Although the project of NEW GOURNA is one of his important works, his career cannot be limited to this only realisation.

Architect Hassan Fathy was a defender of traditional know-how and art crafts, which were threatened to disappear in favour of industrialized products imported from the West. Ideologically close to the artists of his time, like the group of the “Friends of Art and Life” founded in the 1930’s around the personality of Hamed Saïd, he preferred techniques which required the hand of man, believing they could bring happiness and dignity.

Hassan Fathy whilst being conscious of the importance of educating his compatriots and contemporaries, left numerous works and reports and gave a multitude of conferences. The memos, drafts, booklets scribbled with thoughts, notebooks and sketches are innumerable and constitute the most considerable part of the archive’s collection currently conserved at the American University in Cairo (AUC Rare Books Library) and Special Collections (RBLSC). The classification of this material which is ongoing widens the knowledge of the vast and prolific production of this man. During his life, he never received the recognition and grandstand he deserved, even though in his late years, strangers from all over the world desirous to benefit from his precepts, visited his house in Darb el Labana every day.

Although Hassan Fathy was marginalized in his country, he was related to the international intelligentsias and he dedicated part of his career to expertise in the fields of development, African architecture and heritage. The thousands of photographs conserved at the RBLSC prove that he travelled in numerous countries all over the world in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United-States. As a consultant to international organizations and UN agencies, he elaborated development projects for countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Pakistan.

During his travels, he would always closely study the local architecture, whether modern or vernacular, as well as art crafts. These experiences were part of his training as an architect and a theorist. Therefore he often illustrated his conferences and articles with examples of architecture or town-planning he discovered abroad.

The misfortune seems to be fiercely attached to Hassan Fathy’s production as several significant buildings have already disappeared: the Bosphore Casino (1932) commissioned by the Koudsy brothers on the Train Station Square (Bab el-Hadid) in Cairo has fallen, several Deco villas from the 1930’s have been pulled down, the villa he built for his wife, Aziza Hassanein, was destroyed during the creation of the Maadi corniche and the legendary house of the artist and potter Hamed Saïd in el-Marg is now surrounded by a hostile environment. At present, the villa Toussoun Abu Gabal is threatened by the land-bank implemented in the surroundings of the new Four Seasons Hotel. Recently, two houses built in the village of New Bariz (Kharga) have suffered renovations which totally altered them.

Hassan Fathy, along with contemporary figures such as Naguib Mahfouz, Um Kalthoum or Yussef Shahin, incarnates the Egyptian genius. Nowadays, who would even think of letting the Trilogy of Mahfouz, Um Kalthoum’s songs or the cinematographic heritage of Yussef Shahin disappear? Meanwhile, because of quasi-general inactivity and fatalism, the outstanding executions of a prominent architect are falling one after the other and NEW GOURNA is gradually vanishing.

New Gourna:

An Outstanding ConceptionHassan Fathy’s owes his international recognition to the publication of Gourna, a Tale of two Villages which recounts the adventure of the construction of the village of NEW GOURNA. The project and execution of this model-village for a poor traditional rural community, at the dawn of the 1950’s, constitutes an experience without precedent in Egypt. If the book narrating this experience still has an international echo today, the village which testifies of this unique and original attempt is in an advanced state of deterioration.

In 1945, The Department of Antiquities and the Director of Excavations assigned Hassan Fathy to execute a new village, upstream of the old village of Gourna, behind the Memnon Colossuses. This pilot-village should relocate the inhabitants of Old Gourna far away from the ‘pharaonic’ sites. The Gourna residents will oppose a strong resistance to this displacement. Recently, more than half a century later, they have been constrained by force to leave their houses in Old Gourna destroyed by bulldozers.

This project addressed to the modest Egyptian peasantry should be put in parallel with the researches of modern European architects of the Interwar: in the domain of social housing for the working-class (Britz or Siemensstadt in Berlin by H. Sharoun, W. Gropius, B. Taut or the Kiefhook housing project in Rotterdam by J.J.P. Oud) and in the field of model villages of the Reconstruction which are starting to be seriously studied (Bousquel in France by Bossu and projects by Thomas Sharp in Great-Britain).Before projecting anything, Hassan Fathy analyzed the existing situation. Indeed, he tried to improve the sanitary facilities and enhance the living conditions of the Gourna fellahs while preserving their cultural traditions. In order to build a new village that can answer the needs and customs of the inhabitants, he carried out a meticulous ethnographic approach by observing the functioning of Old Gourna. He studied the familial (badana) and social structure of the clans or tribes and the way of life of the ‘Gournis’. These observations will dictated the village-planning principles.

Hassan Fathy also analysed the lucrative activities of the Gournis: in addition to land cultivation which provides them with insufficient resources, are the licit incomes from art crafts and the illicit ones from fraudulent antiquity commerce. This fact will favour his idea of promoting a large variety of art crafts in the new village by perpetrating existing local traditions and reintroducing ancestral know-how.

In his search for low cost constructive solutions, Hassan Fathy used the technology of raw earth which he had already successfully experimented with in many circumstances. The material is costless and requires a technique that the Nubians still master. He wished to hand over this knowledge to the Gournis to enable them to build their own houses themselves without the need of an architect. This self-help system would guaranty the durability of the village because it could develop itself in a sustainable way without an architect or professional masons for which the Gournis did not have the means. This pilot-project was to serve as a model for the construction of other low cost villages in the poor rural areas of Egypt.

An Exceptional Execution

The site of Gourna is located on the western bank of the Nile at the level of Luxor with which it constitutes Ancient Thebes. The western bank bears the pharaoh’s necropolises (the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the Tombs of the Nobles), which number among the most visited sites of Egypt. As from the eighteenth century, inhabitations have been built close by the tombs. This is what we call the Old Gourna that has just been evacuated and demolished since December 2006 despite international protests.Hassan Fathy was to design the project on a flat parcel in a 50-acre hosh of farmable land, bought from Boulos Hanna Pasha, protected by dykes and situated close to the main road and the railway. It is on that peace of land that he freely designed the project of a pilot village to relocate 7000 Gournis. Between 1946 and 1949 he accomplished only a part of the designed plan. The work was suspended for lack of political support.

This village resembles neither the traditional villages nor the attempts to design modern Egyptian villages. It can be qualified as an ideal village in as much as the Saline de Chaux by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux was an industrial ideal town at the end of the Enlightenment. Hassan Fathy built Gourna in accordance with his (high) idea of what should be an Egyptian village at the in the midst of the twentieth century. The richness of the profoundly humanist programme of New Gourna constitutes a Unicom in the history of village-planning. It resulted to a very ambitious project, maybe too ambitious for its time and place.The fellah was to be lodged with his family and animals in a house designed according to his own needs. He would breed his stock, cultivate the land in the surroundings of the village and also produce art crafts (weaving, pottery etc.) in the crafts school and the khan. He would sell the harvest of his farming in a nice shaded market and his art crafts products in a hall built for this purpose. He would practise his religion either in a Mosque with pure lines or in a church (which was not constructed). He would dispose of a meeting place for celebrations and feasts. His children would be sent to two distinct schools, one for the girls and the other for the boys. He would participate in the popular folkloric entertainments taking place in the theatre or on the esplanade situated just behind it. Part of the constructions (mosque, theatre, khan, market etc.) still exists today and does not appear as over dimensioned, considering the fact that Fathy was planning a possible population growth of 20.000 inhabitants.

Hassan Fathy was to design the project on a flat parcel in a 50-acre hosh of farmable land, bought from Boulos Hanna Pasha, protected by dykes and situated close to the main road and the railway. It is on that peace of land that he freely designed the project of a pilot village to relocate 7000 Gournis. Between 1946 and 1949 he accomplished only a part of the designed plan. The work was suspended for lack of political support.

This village resembles neither the traditional villages nor the attempts to design modern Egyptian villages. It can be qualified as an ideal village in as much as the Saline de Chaux by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux was an industrial ideal town at the end of the Enlightenment. Hassan Fathy built Gourna in accordance with his (high) idea of what should be an Egyptian village at the in the midst of the twentieth century. The richness of the profoundly humanist programme of New Gourna constitutes a Unicom in the history of village-planning. It resulted to a very ambitious project, maybe too ambitious for its time and place.The fellah was to be lodged with his family and animals in a house designed according to his own needs. He would breed his stock, cultivate the land in the surroundings of the village and also produce art crafts (weaving, pottery etc.) in the crafts school and the khan. He would sell the harvest of his farming in a nice shaded market and his art crafts products in a hall built for this purpose. He would practise his religion either in a Mosque with pure lines or in a church (which was not constructed). He would dispose of a meeting place for celebrations and feasts. His children would be sent to two distinct schools, one for the girls and the other for the boys. He would participate in the popular folkloric entertainments taking place in the theatre or on the esplanade situated just behind it. Part of the constructions (mosque, theatre, khan, market etc.) still exists today and does not appear as over dimensioned, considering the fact that Fathy was planning a possible population growth of 20,000 inhabitants.

Hassan Fathy was to design the project on a flat parcel in a 50-acre hosh of farmable land, bought from Boulos Hanna Pasha, protected by dykes and situated close to the main road and the railway. It is on that peace of land that he freely designed the project of a pilot village to relocate 7000 Gournis. Between 1946 and 1949 he accomplished only a part of the designed plan. The work was suspended for lack of political support.

This village resembles neither the traditional villages nor the attempts to design modern Egyptian villages. It can be qualified as an ideal village in as much as the Saline de Chaux by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux was an industrial ideal town at the end of the Enlightenment. Hassan Fathy built Gourna in accordance with his (high) idea of what should be an Egyptian village at the in the midst of the twentieth century. The richness of the profoundly humanist programme of New Gourna constitutes a Unicom in the history of village-planning. It resulted to a very ambitious project, maybe too ambitious for its time and place.The boys’ school (which has been demolished) was situated in the North-West sector of the village.

The design of the village, deliberately irregular, between grid and radio-centric systems, was to develop the imaginary and encourage a rich and varied architecture. The village is divided in four major parts, separated by streets of at least 10m. large, corresponding to the four Gourna tribes.

A system of secondary streets, not exceeding a width of 6m., protects the intimacy of the badanas and dissuades strangers from entering. The inner court houses are assembled in more or less complex sectors open at the angles. This design deliberately avoids any systematic or symmetrical character and repetitions which lead, as says Fathy, “to boring ranges of identical housings that are considered to be what the poor deserve … and are harmful to the human well-being of Man.”

To solve the economic question of the rural village programme, Hassan Fathy used raw brick. This choice is determined by his knowledge of architecture and monuments of upper-Egypt. Indeed, in regions which are poor in wood, one has to imagine other roofing systems. The vaults and cupolas in raw brick like the Ramasseum, Bagawat and the Fatimid mausoleums, will served him as models to roof his first experimental farms and the houses in New Gourna.

During every epoch, the elementary technology of mud brick has been a traditional material in Egypt, particularly in rural areas. The material itself, at immediate disposal, and the fabrication of the raw bricks, dried in the sun, is simple and low-cost. By applying the system of catenary vaults which he improves, one can build a house entirely in earth. The building of such a house requires only two persons.

This innovative formal language of Hassan Fathy at the time of its creation will have a long posterity in Egypt and around the Mediterranean. Today, in Egypt, one commonly uses the term of “Hassan Fathy style” even if it does not design raw earth constructions but designs any architecture using vaults and domes. Numerous tourist settlements and holiday houses reveal this general gusto.

Exceptional character and uniqueness of New Gourna:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the idea and the execution of the village of New Gourna constitute an experience without precedent. It is both unique in its time and premonitory of the preoccupations that were to come. The idea of a self-help system among the peasants so they can build their own houses adapted to the climate with a simple and low-cost technology is an exception. Hassan Fathy was sensible to the question of social housing as an architect and as a man and sincerely wished to enhance the living condition of the peasants. He invented a model housing plan, based upon constructive and typological models from the historical range of Egyptian constructions. This concern for re-linking with the lost traditional know-how embraces the theories underlying the question of sustainable development.

Because of the extreme abundance of heritage from all epochs, Egypt is essentially preoccupied by antiquities, Islamic and Coptic arts and does not yet recognise the more recent heritage; this is why the concern for the village of New Gourna has not been considered as a priority. Nevertheless, it constitutes an exceptional cultural conception and heritage.

The New Gourna, Hassan Fathy’s pilot project, which has been partially constructed, is at present abandoned and in peril. Even though the theatre and the mosque have been restored and are in a good state of conservation, some of the buildings suffer from lack of maintenance and savage transformations. Other buildings, like the boys’ school and the art crafts hall of the village, have been purely and simply destroyed.Consequently…

The professors of the Department of Art History and of Masters in Environmental Sciences of Geneva University in Geneva, take the initiative to demand for an international registration of the New Gourna as a “Listed Heritage.”

H.N.

Being A Mother

BEING A MOTHER

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you."

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my Mother, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.

"What's wrong, are you well?" she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. "I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you," I responded "just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."

That Thursday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.

"I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our 'date'."

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

After we sat down, I read the menu as her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mother sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. "It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said. "Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favour," I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie time!

As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again. . .. but only if you let me treat you." I agreed.

"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home. "Very nice, much more so than I could have imagined," I answered. A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to go help her.

Sometime later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the restaurant Mother and I had dined at. An attached note said: "Dear son - I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I would be able to be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your lovely wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son."

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: "I love you" and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than our family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off until 'some other time.'

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby.... that somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "normal" is history.

Somebody said you can't love the second child as much as you love the first....that somebody doesn't have two or more children.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labour and delivery....that somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten...or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."

Somebody said a Mother can stop worrying after her child gets married....well that somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a Mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a Mother's job is done when her last child leaves home....that somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your Mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her... that somebody isn't a Mother.

Pass this message along to all the "Mothers" in your life and to everyone who ever had a mother. This isn't just about being a Mother; it's about appreciating the people in your lives while you have them....no matter who that person is:

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle".

H.N.

Quotes from Congressmen & Congresswomen

Real quotes from congressmen & congresswomen in the USA!

Written by an American:

Why Our Country Is In TroubleA Washington DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of why our country is in trouble! True Events!

1. I had a Maine Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window.

2. I got a call from a candidate's staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information. She interrupted me with, "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts ." Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, "Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Capetown is in Africa ,"Her response - ......(I'm too polite to write it down!)

3. A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don't lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!"

4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife who asked, "Is it possible to see England from Canada ?" I said, "No." She said, "But they look so close on the map."

5. An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas . When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a 1 hour layover in Dallas . When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time."

6. An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 am and got to Chicago at 8:33 am. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker called and asked, "Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?" I said, "No, why do you ask?" She replied, "Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!" After putting her on hold for a minute while I looked into it (I was laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , CA is (FAT), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

8. A Senator's aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she asked, "Would it be cheaper to fly to California , and then take the train to Hawaii ?"

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, "How do I know which plane to get on?" I asked him what exactly he meant. He replied, "I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these damn planes have numbers on them."

10. A lady Senator called and said, "I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?" I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola , Fl. on a commuter plane. She said, "Yeah, whatever, smart-ass!"

11. A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa. "Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those." I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, "Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!"

12. A New Mexico Congresswoman called to make reservations, "I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York ." I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, "Are you sure that's the name of the town?" "Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the lady. After some searching, I came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Rhino anywhere." The lady retorted, "Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!" So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?" The reply? "Whatever! I knew it was a big animal."

Now you know why the US Government is in the shape that it's in!

H.N.

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies!

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. IF YOU'RE CHOKING ON AN ICE CUBE, SIMPLY POUR A CUP OF BOILING WATER DOWN YOUR THROAT. PRESTO! THE BLOCKAGE WILL INSTANTLY REMOVE ITSELF.

2. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

3. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT - USE THE SINK.

4. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

5. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

6. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

7. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

8. REMEMBER - EVERYONE SEEMS NORMAL UNTIL YOU GET TO KNOW THEM.

9. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

DAILY THOUGHT:

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.


H.N.

Second Wives

Second Wives

By Hoda Nassef


Having a second wife here in Egypt, does not mean that the grieving widow finally remarried, nor does it mean that the divorced man chose his proper mate and had a second chance; it means that he has two wives, both alive, and sometimes actually living under the same roof!

In the ‘Islamic World’, men can have more than one wife. A foreign friend recently told me, ‘Lucky Egyptian men…they can have TWO wives!’ I answered, ‘Not all, and not really lucky, but silly, as marrying second wives in Islam should be under strict Islamic rules.’

This is a repeated and gross misinterpretation of the facts in Islamic marriages, seen through the eyes of most foreigners, and most religions as well.

Strange as it may seem, the poorer and less educated men often have a wife or two, and maybe three! They marry more than once, although they are less able to afford even the ‘first’ wife, than the ‘upper class’ men, and can barely support her, let alone support himself plus a second wife. They would rather be a ‘polygamists’ - (in the eyes of the Europeans) – than commit the BIG immortal and immoral sin and be eternally cursed to damnation for fornication outside of wedlock!

On the other hand, many ‘educated’ men prefer to have secret illicit affairs, than get caught with their pants down by their wives! Having affairs here, as elsewhere abroad, is quite common – and kept ‘under cover’. He might brag about it to his close male friends, but acts pious in public and portrays the image of The Perfect Husband and citizen.

As for the majority of the ‘Second Wives’ who know in advance that their husbands are already married, many young ladies target men who are already well off, have good careers, and are financially stable if not actually rich, rather than wait years for young suitors or boyfriends to reach that status, and find it a sort of conquest to take another (and much older) woman’s husband.

The Second Wives usually calculate that they will have to put up with the hassles of the First Wife as well as problems from children of the first marriage, along with the husband’s wrinkles and perhaps impotency, as a price to pay for the ‘easy road’ to wealth and status, knowing that they will be properly pampered by the foolish husbands for marrying someone much younger than the First Wife; cunningly knowledgeable that the husbands’ psyche or egos are easily vulnerable and inflated for having such a catch at their Twilight Age. Consequently, neither of the newlyweds have any remorse for breaking up the first marriage, if it comes to that.

Having two wives is not outlawed in Islam, as in Christianity. However, there are new-founded laws to protect the first wife’s rights – the foremost is that she must be told in advance from her spouse that he is marrying another woman. She then has the option to either stay married, or ask for a divorce.

Usually she remains married, if he does not prefer to divorce her, simply because she has no other means of livelihood. Sometimes she is even relieved, being already frigid from long years of insignificant sex or none at all. As long as he kept the money rolling in, she didn’t mind!

But, laws are meant to be broken, and not obeyed, and usually the First Wife finds out about the Second wife, only at her husband’s funeral!

Paradoxically, is statistically known that women out-number men now worldwide, by almost four times. Is that perhaps one of the reasons Allah has allowed a Moslem man to marry more than one – up to and not exceeding four. It is seen as a sort of sanctuary for Single Women, if they chose to be a ‘dorra’ (second wife) - and a Safety Zone for lusty men not to stray.

There are various other reasons why a single woman may marry a man who is already married, and vice versa. As one strange example, I know a lady who married years ago, with the full knowledge that her man was already married. She also had a couple of bad marriages in her past, and he seemed a ‘good catch’ even then, for a divorced young woman. They stayed very happily married for several years, until he passed away. She was much younger than her husband, and has many more years ahead of her, but would not want to remarry because she would lose her pension from her deceased husband.

Both wives attended the funeral, but avoided each other like the plague. Later on…much later, I asked her, ‘Why did you REALLY marry him? You had a job, a child from the first marriage, a nice flat in the suburbs, plus a beach house.’ Her surprising answer was: ‘We played Bridge or Poker almost every night and had our own poker game ongoing for years, with the same group. Poker nights, with a couple of drinks, made life worth living. His wife hates cards.’ You could have knocked me with a feather! But I put on MY poker face, nodded quickly and politely agreed, while I hurried to the door after barely saying a brief goodbye!

As another example, in the eyes of an upper-class man who married a Second Wife, while dining at the Automobile’s Club downtown, I asked the distinguished middle-aged gentleman why he re-married - (after 25 years of happy matrimony!) - since his First Wife was such a wonderful woman, pretty, liked and respected by everybody, and raised their children to be happy and successful citizens, as well. His new wife was ‘a virgin’ when they married, according to him, and obscenely much younger than both of them – almost their own children’s age.

Without blinking, he drawled out, ‘You know, the same old story: stimulus. She made me feel young again.’

To each his own! She exploited him for his status and wealth, but he also exploited her youth and beauty.

H.N.

The Many Faces of Hilarious Hillary!

The Many Faces of Hilarious Hillary!

(Sorry ya madam! I don't really know you, so you might be a nice person. Thank God for YOU...that I'm not an American, or they might vote for ME instead!!!)

H.N.

The Story of Mother's Day

The Story of Mother's Day

By Hoda Nassef

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honoured the mothers of England. During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the celebration changed to honour the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honouring their mothers as well as the church.

In the United States Mother's Day suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass. ever year. Later on, a Father's Day was announced, during a separate month.

In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia, to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, i.e. the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

In Egypt, the late Egyptian journalists and twin bothers Ali and Moustafa Amin, emulated Mother's Day to be celebrated on 21st of March of each year, just as they emulated and adapted the global Valentine's Day that is celebrated on the 14th of February, to make it an Egyptian 'eid el hobb' (Feast of Love) on November 4th instead. However, some sources in Egypt later preferred to call it 'Family's Day', making it more profitable commercially.

In any case, I take this opportunity to wish all beloved and noble mothers, grandmothers and aunts, a Very Happy Mother's Day!

H.N.

Leap Year

LEAP YEAR

By Hoda Nassef

I just realized that this February has 29 days! So, it is ‘leap year’ as they call it. I looked it up for precise definition: Leap Year is a noun. Definition: A year in the Gregorian calendar having 366 days, with the extra day, February 29, intercalated to compensate for the quarter-day difference between an ordinary year and the astronomical year.

While I was going to school and living in America with my family, Leap Year meant that any female had the right to run after any man of her choosing, for a date to start with, and even proposing marriage was considered ‘ethical’ and alright!

Not now. Women are bold even in the Middle East, and run after men anyway, but with more guile and cleverness. They even propose marriage, yet make their unaware ‘victims’ think that they are the ones who proposed marriage to them! After all, men here, and most men all over the world, still like to think that they are the ‘Hunters’ and the little women are their ‘Preys’!!!

But in Islam, we should not forget that it is actually ‘proper’, as Sayeda Khadiga actually proposed to Prophet Mohamed (P.B.U.H.) – AND she was also 15 years older.

On the other hand, nobody is remotely close to sayedna Khadiga, nor will there ever be again another Messenger of Allah...our last holy Prophet.


H.N.

Six Ways to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

Six Ways to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimers' symptoms can start in your forties. Main symptoms begin with forgetfulness. A person starts to forget things, and concentration as well as memory diminishes bit by bit. Main cause is due to stressful outside factors, such as a stressful environment, worries and emotional stress.

What follows are six important food and lifestyle factors that can dramatically reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

1. Drink Vegetable Juices
A study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Medicine indicates that people who drink three or more servings of fruit and vegetable juices per week have a 76 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to people who drink less than one serving per week.

2. Ensure Regular Intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience indicates that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, dramatically slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice (building and maintaining a healthy nervous system).

3. Strive To Reach and Maintain A Healthy Body Weight For Your Height
According to research that was presented at the 58th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April of 2006, people who are overweight when they are in their 40s have a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life than those who are not overweight when they are in their 40s.

4. Enjoy Activities That Mentally Stimulate You
If your daily work doesn't require you to solve problems and be creative, consider adopting hobbies that do.

5. Avoid Aluminum
According to the National Institutes of Health, 'certain aluminum compounds have been found to be an important component of the neurological damage characteristics of Alzheimer's disease.'

The most common sources of aluminum exposure are:

· Processed cheese and cornbread
· Some over-the-counter drugs such as antacids and buffered aspirin
· Aluminum cookware, especially when alkaline foods (like green vegetables) or acidic foods (like tomatoes) are cooked in them
· Antiperspirants

6. Avoid Vaccines and Other Potential Sources of Mercury

The most common sources of mercury exposure are:

· Amalgam dental fillings
· Seafood, particularly large fish that are high in the food chain
· Broken compact fluorescent light bulbs

H.N.

Law of The Seed!

Law of the Seed

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree and each apple has ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds! We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?" Nature has something to teach us here.

IT'S TELLING US:

“Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow”.

So if you really want to make something happen, you had better try more than once."

THIS MIGHT MEAN:

You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job. You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.

And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.

When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed.

We stop feeling like victims.

We learn how to deal with things that happen to us.

Laws of nature are not things to take personally.We just need to understand them - and work with them.

IN OTHER WORDS:

Successful people fail more often. But they plant more seeds.

When things are beyond your control, here's something that you must NOT DO so as to avoid misery in your life:

- You must not decide how you think the world SHOULD be.
- You must not make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave.
- Then, when the world doesn't obey your rules, you get angry!
- That's what miserable people do!

ON THE OTHER HAND, LET'S SAY YOU EXPECT THAT:

-Friends SHOULD return favours.

-People SHOULD appreciate you.
-Planes SHOULD arrive on time.

-Everyone SHOULD be honest.
-Your husband or best friend SHOULD remember your birthday.

These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won'thappen!
So you end up frustrated and disappointed.

THERE'S A BETTER STRATEGY:

Demand less, and instead, have preferences!

For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself:

"I would prefer this, but if that happens, it’s OK too!"

This is really a change in mindset. It is a shift in attitude, and it gives you more peace of mind ...

You prefer that people are polite ... but when they are rude, it doesn't ruin your day.

You prefer sunshine ... but if it rains, it is ok too!

TO BECOME HAPPIER, WE EITHER NEED TO:

a) Change the world, or

b) Change our thinking.

It is easier to change our Thinking!

IN A NUTSHELL:

It is not the problem that is the issue, but rather it is your attitude attending to the problem that is the problem.

It's not what happens to you that determines your happiness; it's how you think about what happens to you!

H.N.

MURDER ON THE NILE!

Map of Diving Areas

Murder on the Nile!

By Hoda Nassef


Colonel Sameh Adel Mesharafa (Officer in the Egyptian Marine Guards & National Underwater Photographer Champion) was born in Egypt on 25th February 1959, and graduated from the Egyptian Police Academy in 1979. It is interesting to know his criteria included training in firearms, firefighting, diving, and all types of life-saving and crime prevention skills. He completed an intensive six-month diving course with the Marines in 1981 - diving both in fresh as well as salty water. This enabled him to choose his specialty as a first-rank officer in the Egyptian Marine Guards, with its headquarters situated in Garden City, Cairo. Then, to broaden his spheres, Col. Mesharafa achieved his Bachelors degree in Commerce from the Cairo University in 1985 and then took a computer course at the American University in Cairo. Now, he has his own diving center in Cairo (Scuba Fun Club, in Digla, Maadi) where his rates are the best in Egypt, as far as I know. The good thing about his diving courses (for foreign guests) is that the fees are equal to what the Egyptians pay, and his course is considered fifty per cent less expensive than other dive centers.

Sameh Mesharafa is a board member of the Egyptian Underwater Sports Federation, (sports and life-saving) which is affiliated to the Ministry of Youth, and recently also a member of the international board “Confederation Mondiale d’Activités Sportifs“ (CMAS) situated in Italy.

Mysterious Drowning in Hurghada

According to Mesharafa, smuggling via the Nile is nil. It occurs instead usually at ports or along the seacoasts. But Col. Mesharafa was sent to investigate the recent October 2002 drowning of three Diving Instructors in Hurghada. One (Polish Diving Instructor) managed to emerge, but his two colleagues, (also Polish and diving instructors) were probably held down by their heavy equipment (which included 7 air tanks) and sunk into a deep abyss beneath the normal diving limits. There bodies were never recovered. During that same week, Colonel Sameh Mesharafa made a round on all the diving centers in Hurghada to check out all the boats and diving equipment available and ensure their validity and safety.

Murder on the Nile!

According to Col. Mesharafa, murder usually occurs more in the Giza district, rather than in Cairo. Usually, the murder occurs elsewhere, but the body is dumped into the Nile. However, the main types of crime occur more in hiding the crime instrument into the Nile, such as concealing the clues or tracks of the criminal involved, by throwing the weapon into the Nile, rather than throwing the body of a victim. So, unsolved murder cases sometimes occur if the gun, knife or other weapon is embedded into the Nile River. Sometimes a whole safe deposit box could be thrown into the Nile, after stealing the inside contents, to hide the culprit’s fingerprints.

Suicides

As for suicides, I asked Mesharafa, “How many suicide cases per year? And, statistically, who are the likely suicide victims by drowning - males of females?” To my surprise, he said that suicides are plenty, and occur at a rate of at least one suicide attempt per month. Usually males! Kasr El-Nil Bridge is the infamous suicide launching pad, unlike previous years (in which Abu El-Eilla Bridge was formerly the guilty witness), and the most preferred bridge for suicides. He added that ironically, no one throws himself from the 6th of October Bridge, because it is too high, and they are ‘afraid to hurt themselves’! He laughed and said that women make the poor men jump to their wet graves! I contradicted, and said that it is probably due to the increasing unemployment rate. Besides, I think females are more prone to suicide by available means at home, such as poison, a razor blade, etc.!

Unwanted Hero

I asked Mesharafa if he ever won any medals for saving someone. And he said that once, when there was a German delegation from the Red Cross, and while he was with them in front of the Shepheard’s Hotel, he got a duty call announcing that a young lady just threw herself into the Nile. In two seconds, Colonel Mesharafa navigated pell-mell to the scene of the suicide attempt, with the German delegation in tow, and was just in time to catch her by her hair, and drag her up to safety. Then, he performed first aid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and saved her life. Afterwards, he got a lot of press reviews and acclaims through the Red Cross, in Germany, who thanked him for his bravery. However, the ungrateful drowning woman said, “Why did you save me? I wanted to die!” He said that she is still alive, and to his knowledge, has not attempted another suicide.

Col. Mesharafa explained that most Police Guard boats patrol the Nile River, and some stay afloat underneath the bridges, specifically for suicide attempts! There are at least 400 police boats (small and big) along the Nile River. The other boats within the Red Sea area are military boats, belonging to the navy, and not police boats.

Marines’ Retirement Age

As for the retirement age from the Marines, Col. Mesharafa said they apply the normal retiring age (60 in Egypt), with the difference that from 45-up, a Marine Guard works in the supervisory capacity for the team, rather that dive and participate in diving. But, these Marines are trained to keep fit. For instance, in the hour I chatted with Colonel Sameh Mesharafa, I noticed his beautiful smile ‘TV toothpaste ad’ (touch wood!!) He doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t drink coffee. He is probably also a ‘health food’ nut, and probably orders only Diet Coke! (Col. Sameh Mesharafa, I suggest that you add one more course to your criteria: nutrition and health behaviour!)

Nile Pollution

To Colonel Sameh Mesharafa’s expert knowledge, the two worst Nile pollutants are the floating hotels’ dish and laundry detergents, and chemical waste discharged from factories, as well as all the restaurant boats. He reassured me that all harmful factories have closed down or have been lawfully relocated elsewhere, with the exception of one or two, in which they use special filters. However, he said that the filters are not adequate for pollution prevention, and added that these remaining factories will soon be shut down or relocated, as well.

Diving in Cairo!

You can learn how to dive in the city, before going to the beach resorts! Now, during his spare time, Col. Sameh Mesharafa gives diving lessons, right here in Cairo, and teaches diving at the Oasis Diving School in Maadi and other schools. I asked him how could a person learn to dive, in the center of the city away from the sea. He informed me that there are some diving centers in Cairo, and the beginners start with special training in swimming pools. In his diving center, the whole intensive course takes about 3 days: first, the students take five diving lessons in a swimming pool, then they go to Ein El-Sokhna for a one-day 15-meter dive, and finish their course at Sharm El-Sheikh for 15 to 20 meters dives. The successful divers are all given diving certificates, which enables them to dive anywhere in Egypt, and abroad. The certificate is graded in levels 1 to 3 ‘stars’, and one must earn at least a 2-star diving certificate in order to dive. (Fee of this course includes the certificate, and the transportation to Ein El-Sokhna, but understandably, divers have to pay their fares to and back from Sharm El-Sheikh.) As for the diving instructors themselves, they also have grades 1 to 3-star certificates, but their certificates differ from the divers’ certificate, and are much more difficult to achieve. At present, Colonel Mesharafa is a 3-star (highest ranking) diving instructor.

Dive Clubs in Egypt

Colonel Mesharafa stated that there are 650 to 750 dive clubs in all of Egypt, but only 5 in Cairo. As for the Red Sea area: in Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab, Taba, Nuweiba, 350, and Hurghada, Marsa Allam and Safaga, over 280 dive clubs.

Underwater Photography

I asked Mesharafa when had he developed his u/w diving talent. He answered that he was already a talented land (above water) photographer, so when he started diving, he loved the beauty he saw underneath, and decided to learn underwater photography. Only two years afterwards, he entered his first competition; the first international competition in Sharm El-Sheikh in 1986, with 70 international contestants. By the way, his favourite colour is turquoise, and he likes to listen to light music, singers Abdel-Halim Hafez, and Anoushka.

He also teaches underwater photographing, for professionals divers. I enquired if his students generally they take diving courses to learn how to dive, or to learn how to photograph. His answer was “yes”, to both. “There are some”, he stated, “who really want to learn underwater photography, but you have to be an extremely good diver to begin with.”

I asked if the sea creatures and fish look the same beneath the water, as when they are photographed, and he answered that if you don’t have a flashlight, and don’t already know the natural colours, then they look different. But once the spotlight or flash bulb depicts them, you see their natural colours. In short, they are the same as seen in photographs.

Photographing in the Nile is different. He tried it, but said that visibility ‘is zero’; after 5 meters the water is dense and murky due to the mud sedimentation. Also, the current is very strong; after three minutes in the water, you find yourself pulled two or three kilometers downstream.

The Red Sea water is different, he said, and the Nile River doesn’t have the same beautiful coloured specimens and sea creatures as in the Red Sea. “You must never dive alone”, he added. There has to be a minimum of two divers; one, the photographer, and the second, as a model (to be included in the photos and scenery) while at the same time to carry the spare flashlight and equipment.

Photography Competition Category:

To participate in international underwater photography competitions, you must produce three types of photos:
1. Wide Angle
2. Close-up
3. Marine Life (this may, or may not, include a diver in the scenery)

Each diver has to have at least four films available. Out of the four films, he will select only 6 photos in which to enter the competition. Then the panel of judges will evaluate his selection, along with all the other competitors.

Photography Competitions & Prizes

Sameh Mesharafa entered his first local competition in 1992. He participated in his first international competition in 1996 in Sharm El-Sheikh, which was one of the biggest underwater photography championships. There were about 80 competitors, from various countries, and it did not daunt him that he achieved 24th place for a “close-up” photo. He said that close-up photos are difficult, because there are no ‘zoom’ lenses underwater, therefore the photographers must really get close. At a later date, he achieved 11th place in a competition in Hurghada, which was organized by an Italian association. He won other prizes and reached second place in one and first prize in another. Now, he is the top ceded champion on a national level for underwater photography, and has won prizes consecutively for the past four years, starting in 1998, where he won second prize, for a “close-up” photo. In 1999, he was awarded three prizes for 3 photos: one “close-up”, and two “wide angle” photos. In 2000, he participated in an international championship in Safaga where his group represented Egypt, and the group won 9th place for the world cup, in which 70 countries participated. Col. Mesharafa attended also the the international competition, in December 2002, in Jordan, but we did not discuss the winners, or if he participated in the contests.

Best Underwater Photographers in Egypt.

“In your opinion, who are the best underwater photographers in Egypt?” I enquired. He named quite a few, but topped his list with: Saieed El-Sheemy, Tamer El-Ena, Ayman Taher, Rafel El-Ma’ary, Hossam Nassef, Hatem Sany-el-din and Hana’ Nessim . (Only one woman!)

Starting Age for Underwater Photography

Colonel Sameh Mesharafa said that you could start at any age to learn how to dive, but preferably not before fourteen. If you are already a good land photographer, he said, then you can also become a good underwater photographer. According to him, any person can enter any type of photography competition, and does not necessarily have to be a member of a Photography Federation. His should hand his request to the Ministry of Culture in Cairo, who will then advise the candidate on the procedures.

Equipment Needed

Col. Sameh Mesharafa explained that the first thing you need to buy, is the ‘mask’ (like goggles), the fins, and the “B.C.D.” contraption (which is like a jacket that connects to the air tank. When I said, “You mean ‘oxygen’ tank,” he answered, “No, just plain air.”) Of course you need to get the diving suit as well, and a ‘regulator’ (an extension which attaches to the air-tank), an ‘octopus’ (which is a spare regulator with a longer extension). You could by these items, and all other accessories at some of the diving centers in Cairo before leaving to the beaches, (including Mesharafa’s Scuba Fun diving center in Maadi).

Cameras for Beginners & Professionals

The best type of camera, for beginners, is the “Sea & Sea Motor Marine”, which is a reasonably affordable and lightweight camera (Japanese-make that comes with its flash). As for professional and intermediate photographers, Nikon’s specialized series for under water “Nikonos” (Nikonos III, V, RS). The latest model is Nikonos RS, consisting of two flashes and the lenses. It costs (now hold your breaths, ladies and gentlemen)…L.E.40,000 – (the price of a tiny chalet!) There are more expensive models, believe it or not. Needless to say, this is an extremely expensive hobby, so if you’re not very rich, then you have to be really great at underwater photography in order to sell your work somehow. The problem nowadays, say Mesharafa, is that most advertisers just sneak pictures from the internet, which costs them nothing. Thus, less work for the talented divers! And, less money. Also many normal land cameras can be used with watertight housings. Usually most shops don’t keep specialized underwater cameras at stock. However, I believe any authorized Nikon dealer can make a special order, or you could ask a traveling friend to buy it from abroad. You could buy your diving gear from Cairo, before going to the beach resorts, from many shops, and even at some large chain supermarkets, such as the Alfa Supermarket. Or, take a chance a buy directly from Sharm El-Sheikh. There are many shops there for diving gear, especially in Na’ama Bay.

First Steps in Diving

“What is the very first thing you must teach your divers?” I asked, to which he replied: “The first thing one must learn in diving is how to clean the ‘mask’. That is, when water seeps through the mask underwater, one must learn how to remove the water inside without deluging the mask, then how to put it back on dry. The second lesson is how to keep your balance and buoyancy underwater, while at the same time carry your camera and equipment.

Egypt’s Diving Areas

Egyptian diving areas stretch 2,250 kilometers from the Suez Canal in the North to the Yemen in the South, the Red Sea contains more than 1,000 species of fish and has over 2,000 kilometers of fringing reef, making it one of the most bio-diverse seas in the world. Extreme heat in this region results in a very rapid rate of evaporation that results in a high concentration of salt. This makes the Red Sea among the saltiest bodies of water on Earth. Sharm El Sheikh is situated right on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, and marks the point where the Red Sea splits into the gulfs of Suez and Aqaba.

Sharks!

If you encounter a shark, don’t panic! If a shark comes near your body, look back at it! But, be wary if it is face to face, and will show you the narrowest part of its body; i.e. the face and both eyes. The best thing to do is to avoid putting yourself as a prey to the shark. Usually you do that by trying a fast escape, but violent movements and splashing about will create a low frequency in the water, which will attract the shark. It can swim 110 km per hour. If you can swim faster, then attempt the speedy getaway! But, the best thing is to try to swim out of the area very slowly, keeping your eyes focused on the shark. Stay calm and swim calmly. If it comes too near, push it away with any hard object, or even with your foot. This will discourage the attack.

Decompression Units

Decompression units are mandatory in all areas of diving. It could mean the difference between life and death. Also, getting the patient there in time is of vital importance. It’s no use having decompression units or hospital facilities, if there isn’t any speedy and efficient way to get there! A few years ago, there was only one Decompression Unit in Sinai (and three others belonging to the Navy). Now, according to Col. Mesharafa, there are at least 7 in Sharm El-Sheikh, about four in Hurghada. Remote Marsa Allam has the latest one, installed nearly four years ago. Dahab and Nuweiba have none, but plans for installing one soon, is in effect.

To conclude the interview, I asked Col. Sameh Mesharafa if he had a choice to do it all over again, and start from the beginning, what would he have chosen to be? He answered with his radiant smile: “I think I would prefer to be simply a diving instructor!”

H.N.