politics
Khaled Said
Submitted by mostafa on Sun, 2010-06-20 00:16I think by now you might have heard of Khaled Said. The Alexandrian 28 years old who died minutes after two secret policemen approached him in an internet café sparking outrage after a photo following the autopsy was published on the internet. Two blurry photographs of a bloody disfigured head.
What happened exactly is still under investigation by the prosecution. Witnesses say he was beaten by the two secret policemen. They say they did this so violently, that they smashed his head into a marble shelf in the internet café or into an iron door outside the café or marble stairs in an entrance of the nearby building or all of the aforementioned. They add that he cried for help and said he was dying.
The police, including the ministry of interior, claim that upon seeing the two secret policemen he swallowed a small wrap of hash which made him choke and die. They say they didn't hit him. And the two policemen say he fell from the ambulance stretcher, which caused the few superficial post-mortem injuries.
The reason they approached him was first circulated that it was part of a routine ID checking and he refused to show them his ID. Another reason, we were told, that he had a video exposing the police distributing hashish among themselves. I heard the family denied that this was true today in a press conference.
The minister of interior was quick to inform us that Khaled was a suspect/convict/drug addict. A nasty guy who people shouldn't give too much attention about anyway. Kalb we mat.
Instead, people were incredibly angry. Facebook was full to the brim with all forms of digital campaigning and solidarity.
Obama & Israel
Submitted by mostafa on Tue, 2009-01-20 23:51Amidst all the fanfare the following is on the brand new White House website about the Obama-Biden plan for the rest of the world:
* Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Obama and Biden will make progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a key diplomatic priority from day one. They will make a sustained push -- working with Israelis and Palestinians -- to achieve the goal of two states, a Jewish state in Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security.
...
* Ensure a Strong U.S.-Israel Partnership: Barack Obama and Joe Biden strongly support the U.S.-Israel relationship, and believe that our first and incontrovertible commitment in the Middle East must be to the security of Israel, America's strongest ally in the region. They support this closeness, and have stated that the United States will never distance itself from Israel.
* Support Israel's Right to Self Defense: During the July 2006 Lebanon war, Barack Obama stood up strongly for Israel's right to defend itself from Hezbollah raids and rocket attacks, cosponsoring a Senate resolution against Iran and Syria's involvement in the war, and insisting that Israel should not be pressured into a ceasefire that did not deal with the threat of Hezbollah missiles. He and Joe Biden believe strongly in Israel's right to protect its citizens.
Best astroturfing fart in the northern hemisphere
Submitted by mostafa on Sat, 2008-09-13 01:51Not all humans are capable of producing flammable flatus. Flatus is flammable because it contains Methane.
A clique of NDP politicians created this on their own:
From the DailyNewsEgypt:
CAIRO: An NGO was recently launched to repair relations between Egypt’s citizens and its police force, it was announced Thursday.
Named “Police and People” and created by former Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, the organization aims to bridge the ever widening gap between the police and citizens, as well as foster awareness about the proper role for each.
Quantitative assesment of the strike?
Submitted by mostafa on Sat, 2008-04-05 16:50I wonder if there are any public data that can be used to assess the effects of the strike. And I wonder if this data could be analyzed statistically to see if there were any significant difference as a result of the strike.
So, do you have any ideas?
Alaa's arrest: a recap.
Submitted by mostafa on Mon, 2006-05-22 23:54__UPDATE:__ Alaa released
Here is a summary of what happened in the past two weeks regarding the arrest of the most prominent [Egypt|http://freealaa.blogspot.com]ian blogger and a personal friend.
Alaa arrested
Submitted by mostafa on Sun, 2006-05-07 20:04Originally by Socrates:
Alaa Abd El-Fatah was arrested today together with around ten more activists during a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with sixty activists who were arrested over the past two weeks in a non-violent sit in as well who were held in custody for two weeks under investigation for "crimes" that if anything would raise only mockery including: humiliating the president, possession of "publishing equipment"(graffiti spray) and blocking traffic. The first group of activists arrested two weeks ago was supposed to have their cases reviewed by prosecution today, so as to release or renew holding them under investigation. In solidarity with them 200 lawyers approached as a defense council, a number of judges, and a number of activists among whom were Alaa and his colleagues gathered around the court house. Authorities denied the activists entry to the court house, in addition to attempting to present the "detainees" files only, and not the detainees themselves to prosecution. For hours, Alaa and his fellow activists shouted slogans against the government, sang and showed solidarity with their detained fellow activists. At the end of the demonstration police forces surrounding the group increased, refused to let them leave and started picking those to arrest, Alaa and ten others. They were taken to the nearby police station were they were denied lawyers, or any visitors. Lawyers are now standing outside the station just monitoring in case the arrested activists are taken somewhere else, which is exactly what happened. Three of them were taken blindfolded to another police station and were released later.
Egyptian journalist detained
Submitted by mostafa on Wed, 2005-12-07 16:42Alaa reports that armed state security forces detained the Egyptian journalist Ahmad Abdollah "Abo Islam". They broke in to his house on Monday. Five bloggers visited him and knew from his son that state security forces threatened his family at gun point and confiscated computer hard drives, CDs and books. He was a member of the Labour "El A'aml" party, former editor in ASha'ab newspaper and published two other newspapers. Currently he writes on a website called Balady Net. Abo Islam runs the Center for Islamic Enlightenment, which aims at bringing different religions closer together.

