The Sphinx and Pyramids in flux

Jack Brummet, Travel Ed.

The Sphinx in 1890, and recently, from the nearby Pizza Hut.  You can no longer actually climb or even touch touch The Sphinx, but you can climb around some of the pyramids.  Most photos show these monuments in a vast desert, but they are actually on the outskirts of Cairo and Giza, in easy walking distance.

---o0o---

Tahrir Square: Lost Horeseman of the Apocalypse, or Lens Flare?

Thanks to jeff clinton.. for discovering this. . .

---o0o---

Egypt's 18 Day Revolution: Free At Last? Maybe. Hopefully?

By Jack Brummet
Arab Affairs Editor

I had to laugh when I saw this headline, especially the sub-head "Military In Control."  Either we've drastically lowered the bar, or Hosni Mubarak was an even  bigger S.O.B. than I ever thought. 

When before have we ever decided a country was free when the military took control?  Granted, the military showed far more wisdom and foresight than Ex-President Mubarak. . .at least at the end.  They too, however, were flummoxed by the country's reaction to Mubarak's "hand over power" ruse.  But when the masses once again arose in anger, the army knew it was game over.  In the next day they apparently (no one knows for sure yet what exactly happened) made it clear to the President he no longer had their support, which set the stage for his resignation.  So it is not a junta or coup d'etat, but hopefully a caretaker military government that will arrange for elections, and hand over their own power to a newly-elected leader.  We hope.

---o0o---

The revolution in Egypt and the 2nd Amendment

By Jack Brummet, Social Mores Editor

The people of Egypt do not own pistols or rifles.  They have (partly) succeeded in toppling the Mubarak regime; eventually, they will prevail. 

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Most proponents of the 2nd amendment in America do not really believe that we need arms to protect us from foreign intruders or to defend ourselves in case of an invasion.  We have one of the largest and best-equipped armies world.   And yet, whenever the debate erupts, they bring up the well-regulated militia as the last bulwark against invaders, and even our own government. 

The people of Egypt, and Tunisia, have shown us the way to unload an amendment that really no longer applies in the modern United States.
---o0o---

More Hosni Mubarak sacrilege--new defacement photos in the streets of Cairo

Hosni Mubarak says he is stepping down (whether on his own timetable remains to be seen) - 8 photos from the Cairo protests

click images to enlarge

---o0o---

More fun in the streets of Cairo with Hosni Mubarak photos

click to enlarge

---o0o---

"It's All About Me!" -- Sarah Palin inserts herself into another news story

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
Illustrations by Jack Brummet

In a speech in Reno last weekend, Ex-Governor Sarah Palin said she thinks a recent media boycott of her is a good thing. . .because she won't be "blamed" for the uprising in Egypt.

Palin, of course, became a flash point during the national debate following the Tucson, Arizona shootings earlier this month.  Many people (and the criticism was bi-partisan) accused her of fanning the flames of intolerance, and some even said she was the catalyst for the Arizona murders/assassination attempt. 

Ex-governor Palin said that the boycott  on writing about her "sounds good, because there's a lot of chaos in Cairo, and I can't wait to not get blamed for it--at least for a month."

Citizens and media--old and new-- discussed her use of the phrase "don't retreat, reload!"  and her use of targets (which her office called surveyor's symbols) on a map of congressional seats.  She took the bait and struck back with her ridiculous and now infamous "blood libel" video.  She appears to not want to get herself mangled in the wringer one more time in January.

---o0o---

Hosni Mubarak, defaced in Cairo

A sample of some of the excellent Mubarak touch-ups being performed all across Egypt.  These four images all came from Cairo. . .

click to enlarge

---o0o---

The Riot -- Artist unknown

artist unknown (let us know if it was you!) - click to enlarge

---o0o---

Video: The Grateful Dead perform Fire On The Mountain in Egypt

In this video, the Dead perform their great song Fire On The Mountain, interspersed with clips of the Merry Prankster George Walker planting a "Steal Your Face" flag on top of the Great Pyramid. Ken Kesey looks on the scene, wearing a 1972 "Field Trip - Oregon Dead" T-Shirt. Bonus content: Ken Kesey (a high school wrestler) contemplates training an Egyptian Olympic wrestling team.


---o0o---