Twosret the Pharoah: October 2006

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Republican Congressman accused of corruption by the F.B.I.

F.B.I. Searches Home of Congressman’s Daughter.

F.B.I. agents searched four homes and other locations in the vicinity of Philadelphia and two other sites near Jacksonville, Fla., as the part of the inquiry. Debbie Weierman, a spokeswoman for the bureau’s Washington office, confirmed the searches, but would not say why the locations were searched.

Mr. Weldon’s residence and his Congressional office were not among the locations that were examined, but other law enforcement officials said Mr. Weldon was the subject of a growing corruption inquiry. Affidavits citing why agents wanted to carry out the searches were sealed.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Request to God!

Please God, protect my lovely country and the Egyptian people from this guy and end the suffering of Egyptians on the hands of dictators.

Qahwa Sada

I was glad to read about Qahwa Sada. Best wishes to the team for a successful Political analysis,with a cup of Qahwa Sada. Read there mission statement here.

Why a new blog-journal by Middle East experts? Because Middle East studies specialists have a phenomenal amount of quality knowledge about the Arab and Islamic world: deep knowledge about the history of the region, detailed empirical knowledge of political and social trends, sophisticated theoretical insights into their meaning. Many are out there in the region, seeing things happen and talking to people over a sustained period of time. But they often have trouble getting that knowledge out into the public realm. Part of the problem is that there just aren't nearly enough of the right kind of outlets. Academic journals are not well suited to getting information and analysis out to a wide public, and many have yet to adapt to the internet era. Blogs are wonderful, but not everyone wants one or has the time to run one. The op-ed pages are a crapshoot. MERIP and the Arab Reform Bulletin can't do it all on their own. That means that debate is too often dominated by people with, shall we say, a less empirically rich or theoretically sophisticated understanding of the region.

Bono and Zidane

Today I will finally give in and buy a Red ipod. Maybe a Red Moto too!.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus invites Zidane to open a new food manufacturing project.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Domestic Priorities, where do our kids fit in?

The budget is about $2.7 trillion. Try counting that high at a rate of 2 million per hour and report back in 10, 000 years. Here are some highlights. VERY BRIEF excerpts from the Washington Post.

Y 2007 Budget Proposal: Agency-by-Agency Breakdown

The $2.77 trillion budget plan emphasizes spending on the country’s fight against terrorism, while deeply cutting domestic programs. 141 domestic programs will be reduced.

The growth in defense spending has slowed compared with earlier this decade, suggesting the defense buildup that began in 1999 and accelerated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is winding down.

Department of Education. The $63 billion budget eliminates 42 programs — including parent-resource centers, vocational programs and drug-free schools.

Department of Energy. The department budget is essentially flat. The budget adds money to research some alternative fuel technology. Environmental groups said the funding increases are insufficient.

Department of Health & Human Services. Bush is requesting a $58 billion increase for Health and Human Services, bringing total budget authority to $698 billion.

Two mandatory programs — Medicare and Medicaid — consume 84 percent of the HHS budget. The administration aims to squeeze $36 billion out of Medicare over the next five years, by cutting hospital payments, establishing competitive bidding for lab services and increasing premiums.

Department of Homeland Security. The president proposes increasing the Department of Homeland Security’s budget of $31 billion for fiscal 2007, by $177 million. Homeland Security would spend $869 million to add 1,500 border patrol agents and 6,700 detention bed spaces. Congress requires adding 2,000 agents per year.

Department of Interior. This department would face a nearly 3 percent cut. $100 million would be cut from the current national parks budget, putting funding for national parks at $2.16 billion. The programs that would lose the most money include land acquisition, construction and maintenance.

Department of Justice. The administration wants to cut department spending by $1.5 billion for a total of $19.5 billion. [source]

A 6 year old shoots his schoolmate. First-grader? carries a gun to school in Mount Morris, Michigan and kills his schoolmate? Here is a very disturbing list of the school shootings since 1996.In Deming, New Mexico a 13 year old girl shot dead by her schoolmate who shot her in the back of her head. A 13 year old boy doesn't know why he shot his schoolmates in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. In Pearl, Mississippi 2 killed 7 wounded; West Paducah, Kentucky3 killed 5 wounded; Jonesboro, Arkansas 5 Killed 10 wounded and Springfield, Oregon 1 killed 25 wounded. Conyers, Georgia 6 injured.The Columbine high school massacre Littleton, Colorado 15 Killed 24 wounded

Let us examine a fact sheet about Colorado gun law :-

State of Colorado Firearm Laws

* No licensing or registration requirements related to firearm purchase or possession.

* No waiting period for purchase of handguns, shotguns, or rifles.

* Handgun possession by persons less than 18 years of age is a misdemeanor. Exemptions from the prohibition on handgun possession by persons less than 18 years of age exist for attendance at a hunter's or firearms safety course, target practice at a shooting range, and other similar activities.

* It is a felony for any person to knowingly or recklessly provide a handgun to any person less than 18 years of age.

* It is a felony for any parent or guardian to knowingly or recklessly provide a handgun to a juvenile when that parent is aware that a substantial risk exists that such juvenile will use the handgun to commit a felony. Any parent aware of such a risk has a duty to make reasonable efforts to prevent the commission of the offense.

* There are no age restrictions related to possession of rifles or shotguns.

Will our children and society be more protected now that our Congress has authorized an even larger military budget?

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Latest news about Republican congressman sex scandal

Disgraceful sex scandal of a Republican congressman Mark Foley who was having internet sex with a young intern (teenager). The scandal is elevating to a much higher level in the congress of the United States of America. Ex-Aide says House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert'’s office at least three years ago.

I had more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest levels of the House of Representatives, asking them to intervene when I was informed of Mr. Foley's inappropriate behavior

What does Bush say?

President Bush came to Hastert's defense, praising him as a father, teacher and coach "who cares about children. ... I know he wants the facts to come out."

I will leave my readers to judge our president whom God speaks through him.

Goodnight!

Tante Angeel and Co.

Advocates of the Coptic Christians in Egypt often voice their one-sided views of the religious intolerance of Muslims towards the Copts and ignore the religious bigotry towards Muslims rooted in Coptic society in Egypt.

Let me tell you about my childhood neighbor in Egypt, Tante Angeel ("Auntie Angel.") Tante Angeel was a very old Christian Coptic Orthodox spinster who lived in the building across from us. Tante Angeel was a very famous character in our neighborhood. In the Coptic society there are many Tante Angeels, but poor Tante Angeel herself is the victim of my story. She is now deceased so let me start by saying God bless her soul and forgive her.

Tante Angeel was Islamophobic. You would often hear her fighting with various Muslims around her. She fought with her porter and ran down the stairs with her broom to beat the Muslim kids who would play under her balcony. It was not strange to hear Tante Angeel yelling her lungs out if she discovers that the taxi driver that came to pick her up to go to church was Muslim. Yes! Tante Angeel asks taxi drivers if they were Muslims or not, and if they turned out to be, watch out, as the fight would start and the curses would fly.

Tante Angeel comes from a very prestigious and rooted Coptic background. Tante Angeel liked me very much as a child (I'm Christian of course) She was so pleasant when she wanted to and very religious and kind to all Christians around her. Tante Angeel is not the only one in my neighborhood that disliked Muslims. There were many relatives and friends of Tante Angeel that felt the same but chose to be quiet about it.

As a kid when I went to the Coptic church, Abouna (the priest) would hint about how sheikhs can be easily challenged by Coptic priests about their faith and how their religion is false. The topic of our Sunday school lesson or youth group discussions would have nothing to do with Islam but on many occasions this topic had to be brought up. When I went to church I found many old (very old) ladies like Tante Angeel that would spout hate towards Muslims even while they were still in church.

The only picture I posted on this entry is the old flag of Egypt. The three stars are symbols of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism under the state of Egypt. It represents a religious tolerance in older Egypt that has since disappeared...

Despite the phenomenon of Tante Angeel and Co., my grandmother, mother,and many others from the old generation happily existed with Muslims. My mother recalls a great environment of tolerance in her generation that we need to recreate today.