Feel Good Video of the Day: The Dwarf Goat

Is Buttermilk using performance enhancing drugs? 

Quote of the Day: Carl Sagan

The Muslim Brotherhood's Groupie Strikes Again!

Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, is one of my least favorite writers. 

Hamid is a Muslim Brotherhood groupie, not that there is anything wrong with that. He constantly uses his tweets and articles to defend his idols while pretending to be fair and balanced. Let’s take a look at his latest article on Foreign Policy. 

The article discusses the "conspiracy theory" being circulated by some misinformed Egyptians that the U.S. secretly supports the Brotherhood. Hamid decided that this theory is being supported by "Egyptians liberals". Sadly this shows a lack of understanding of the meaning of "liberals" in Egypt and in general, a misuse of the label. For example, it assumes that Copts are liberals simply because they are not Islamists. 

Below three of the funniest excerpts from Hamid’s article, in part because they are (!) Note how Hamid corroborates his arguments: 

Image: John Blanding/Globe Staff

Meanwhile In Saudi Arabia ...

Source: Cairo Gossip

Al-Assad: Lives in a glass house and hates blood!

Joan Juliet Buck lost her job at Vogue after writing a story about Asma al-Assad, during the start of the Arab Spring that was embarrassingly titled “A Rose in the Desert” (full article deleted by Vogue but you can read here). A year later, Buck is sharing her side of the story on The Daily beast and the background behind Vogue publishing the disastrous al-Assad story (full article here).  Below are two excerpts, from the badly written article, I found telling and ironic: 

Photographed by James Nachtwey

Ads of the Day: Health Club ... For Men Only?

 

Music I Listen to While Blogging: Elsewhere

I love the time and in between

The calm inside me

In the space where I can breathe

I believe there is a

Distance I have wandered

To touch upon the years of

Reaching out and reaching in

Holding out holding in

I believe

This is heaven to no one else but me

And I'll defend it as long as I can be

Left here to linger in silence

If I choose to

Would you try to understand

I know this love is passing time

Passing through like liquid

I am drunk in my desire...

But I love the way you smile at me

I love the way your hands reach out and hold me near...

I believe...

I believe

This is heaven to no one else but me

And I'll defend it as long as

I can be left here to linger in silence

If I choose to

Would you try to understand

Oh the quiet child awaits the day when she can break free

The mold that clings like desperation

Mother can't you see I've got

To live my life the way I feel is right for me

Might not be right for you but it's right for me...

I believe...

I believe

This is heaven to no one else but me

And I'll defend it as long as

I can be left here to linger in silence

If I choose to

Would you try to understand it

I would like to linger here in silence

If I choose to

Would you understand it

Would you try to understand...

Select and Omit to Write Something Profound!

As usual Aaron David Miller carefully selects his facts and omissions to present a logical story about the Arab World.  Miller asks whether the Arabs can "liberate themselves from the fears, conspiracies and prejudices that also shape so much of their politics and identity?" In other words, he is referring to the Arabs' tragic fixation on blaming Israel and America for all their problems. My favorite part of Miller's story:

The International Human Rights Movement: A History

This balanced and insightful book is written by one of the founders of Human Rights Watch and the current president of George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Book description:

New Documentary: Jews of Egypt

A documentary that captures fragments of the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the twentieth century until their second grand exodus after the tripartite attack of 1956. An attempt to understand the change in the identity of the Egyptian society that turned from a society full of tolerance and acceptance of one another, and how it changed gradually by mixing religious and political views into a society that rejects the others. A film about the cosmopolitan Egypt in the 40's and Egypt in the new millennium. The film tries to answer how did the Jews of Egypt turn in the eyes of Egyptians from partners in the same country to enemies. 

On the same subject, one of my favorite books is The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World. Book overview:

And, if you like to watch more movies about how the Egyptian society changed over the past 60 years to become more xenophobic, then watch the amazing Salata Baladi (2007):

Quote of the Day: The Middle East is Like Madonna

David Rothkpf thinks the Middle East is not as important to the U.S. as in the past. Two excerpts:

Ad of the Day: Condoms by Durex

This is not a real ad but a parody. It heavily borrows from an old ad but still quite funny. 

Mixing Magic, Science and Religion

Colin Dickey examines magic and superstition vis-a-vis science and religion. 

The $100 Million Man!

The NYT has a comprehensive feature on Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO's CEO, that reveals this startling nugget: 

Do We Need Real Men?

Abigail Collazo thinks the time for such questions passed and a debate is needed on what the ideal 21st-century man looks like:

The "Bottom of the Pyramid" Fortune

Eric Bellman explains why multinationals court the poor especially in bad economic times:

For more on this topic, I suggest reading C. K. Prahald's excellent book: The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (see image above).

Latin America Exports: Competitive Authoritarianism

Juan Forero labels what he sees in Latin America as the "new authoritarians": 

Dart Throwing Chimp, rightly sees nothing "new" in the concept of "new authoritarians":

Olympians I'm Booing: Stephanie Rice The Homophobe

Salon lists 8 athletes we should be booing for different reasons varying from using illegal performance enhancing drugs to homophobia. Below is why we support Salon in booing Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer:

Picture of the Day: First Female, Saudi Arabian Olympians in History

"Wojdan Shahrkhani, a judo fighter, has her first Olympic match scheduled for August 3. She's not actually a certified black belt (this is Saudi Arabia, after all), which is normally an Olympic requirement, but the IOC invited her by name. And it's still not clear whether or not she will actually compete: the International Judo Federation waited until Thursday to ban competitors from wearing the hijab, though the Islamic head covering is allowed in the Asian judo federation, which as you can guess is not a soft league. The Olympic authorities and International Judo Federation are still negotiating, but let's hope that Shahrkhani, above, will be allowed to fight." Max Fisher, The Atlantic (more pics here). 

Lebanon: "Illiberal Liberalism"

Sophie Chamas concludes that the Lebanese are "illiberal liberals" in her Mashallah article: 

Image: (Steeve Iuncker / Agence Vu-Aurora)

Movie I Saw: The Dark Knight Rises

It's one of the best movies I've seen this year. Refreshingly dark, disturbingly fascist and amazingly well done (special-effects are first-class especially of you see the movie on IMAX). Below is a very Occupy Wall Street quotation from the movie:

"You think this can last? There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches. Because when it hits, you're all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us." Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) whispers to Bruce Wayne. 

Shit Kuwaiti TV Hosts Say!

Salwa al Mutairi, who once ran for the Kuwaiti parliament, political activist and TV host, decided to get some media attention by going batshit crazy:

Source: The Daily Mail. Full story with more disturbing quotations here. 

As Gaza Draws Closer to Egypt

The National reflects on President Morsi's meeting with the political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal which was hailed by the Palestinians as a "new era" in Egyptian-Palestinian relations:  

Pic of the Day: Islamic Bikini?

Embarrassing and reeks of hypocrisy. 


Source: Facebook. 

53 Coffee Shops, 87 Restaurants and 80 Food Stands

The struggle between morality police and women in Iran continues over what to wear:

Source: The Washington Post (full story here). 

Egypt's Identity: "Belong" or "Relate" to Africa?

In her article on All Africa, Fatma Emam is stressing the fact that she "belongs" to Africa rather than merely "relate" to the continent as stated in the draft Egyptian constitution. Excerpt from her article:

Quote of the Day: The Brotherhood's Art Committee

Sayed Darwish, chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood's Art Committee. 

Source: YNet Magazine

Djekhy & Son: Doing Business in Ancient Egypt

Book Description: Djekhy & Son, two businessmen living 2500 years ago in the densely populated neighborhoods built around the great temple of Amun at Karnak, worked as funerary service providers in the necropolis on the western bank of the Nile. They were also successful agricultural entrepreneurs, cultivating flax and grain. In 1885, the German Egyptologist August Eisenlohr acquired a unique collection of papyri that turned out to be Djekhy's archive of mainly legal documents. Using this rich trove of evidence, augmented by many other sources, the author has painted a vivid picture of life in ancient Egypt between 570 and 534 BCE, during the little-known Saite period. Approaching the subject from both business and personal aspects, he gives us a fresh look at some facets of ancient Egypt that have mostly been hidden from view-such as putting up one's children as security for a loan.