Read this

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

FORWARD ONLY IF YOU CAN READ IT.

Good news, for humans sake.

It recently dawned on me that the news we read paints a negative view of the world. I wonder what the psychological effect is of the constant bombardment of negative news: murder, war, shootings, corruption, atrocities, et cetera.

It seems instinctively obvious that we ought to focus our attention on the worst problems. The problem with merely focusing our attention on problems is we don't get the whole picture, so to speak. We don't get the good that people are doing around world. We don't hear about the good African politicians who are not corrupt. We don't hear the good things that the US government does around the world. We don't hear about the peace movement in Israel. We don't hear about the moderate Muslims. We don't hear about the Japanese citizens who sympathize with the Chinese and Koreans over war time atrocities.

With such a negative portrayal of reality perhaps one psychological effect is the general acceptance of a realist view of human nature. A view that focuses on self-interest, competition, and survival: kill or be killed.

I'm returning to the US

I'm returning to the US in December 2007 instead of May 2008. I came to Egypt to investigate if I would and if I could work abroad. I'm no longer interested in doing that so staying an additional four months was not appealing. I'm not sure what the next step is and that's great.

Painting

This photo is a painting that my roommate gave to me as a gift. He purchased it because the painter is Eritrean. Thanks Russ, that was thoughtful of you.

Hard Times

Boy, this man has had a difficult time (politically speaking) the last couple of months.

External Memory : Brian not necessary

click here to read an interesting article titled "The Outsourced Brain." By "outsourced brain" the author argues that technology allows us to externalize our memories; that is, information that humans once had to store in their minds can now be stored in some external technological box.

Overall it is an interesting article because it highlights a change in life that is probably missed by most of people.

Dan's analysis

My roommate Dan recently posted a good entry on his blog about "Assumptions and Misconceptions" with respect to Egypt and the broader Middle East. Click here to read.

Update

I met with the managing editor of Egypt Today (ET) and Business Today (BT) and he asked me to be a freelance writer for them. Both magazines are owned by International Business Association (IBA). Egypt Today focuses on social issues and Business Today, obviously, focuses on business.

They want story ideas ASAP and I have no idea what I’m going to write about. Most of the readers of ET and BT are upper class Egyptians. So stories that may be interesting to a foreigner like me may be obvious to the readers. For example, one story I’m thinking about is “sex and drugs in Egypt.” This idea is the result of a recent conversation with a couple of Egyptian women who went on a lengthy tangent on the topic with each other. This was interesting to me because I came in with a lot of misconceptions with respect to those two issues. The problem is that though I found it interesting most readers are too familiar with the issue. Another idea is the immigration problem in Egypt. Immigration is always a pressing issue but I’m afraid it has been covered intensively. I did not ask about pay but I assume if they publish my work they would pay me.

A few management consulting firms are coming to AUC where they will be giving workshops and looking for possible recruits. I plan on attending and seeing if it materializes into anything. I assume these companies are looking to hire in there Middle East office and I would be open to the idea if they pay US standard and I feel I could learn a lot from the experience.

One of the best things about being a foreigner is that one is so observant: the mundane aspects of life become clear to your fresh eyes. Yet, the problem is you only see the surface. For example, Westerns are really race conscious and Egypt is kind of racially diverse. So when we see the easy intermingling among the different races were a little impressed: this is the surface. Yet, when you pay attention, listen a little closer, you’ll notice that it is not as peaceful and harmonious as the surface leads you to believe. So one of the hard parts is noticing phenomenon and wanting to make a conclusion and then quickly remembering that I could be wrong because my background knowledge is limited merely to the surface and lacks substance.

Before I came to Egypt I spoke to a couple of friends of mine about the need to keep the “tourist perspective.” Here in Egypt all the foreigners always find something to do and everyday is an adventure. When I’m bored in Egypt (which never happens) I would just get on the train and get off somewhere randomly. Then you just get into something. My advice is to be a full time tourist.

Ramadan just ended and now we enter what is referred to as Eid in Islam. I guess it is merely a short period for Muslims to enjoy the end of Ramadan by getting with friends and family. All three of my roommates left for Eid. Russ went to Turkey, Darin went to Lebanon, and Dan went to upper Egypt. I was thinking about going to Lebanon but decided against going anywhere. I’m going to Eritrea with my mom in December and I may have to make a trip to Dubai so I was afraid of over spending. This is why I need to make a budget.

I miss writing about politics so expect some political stuff soon.

Ramadan started here on the 12th of September and it goes for a month. For more in-depth information on Ramadan click here.

I finally found a nice Western style cafe where I can study, use the internet, and gather with friends. Cafe Greco is about a 20 minute subway ride from my house and the ride is totally worth it. Finding this place has augmented my comfort level in Cairo substantially.

Prior to coming to Egypt I decided that if I found a good job in the Middle East I would take it. I knew before I left that my chances were slim but I wanted to take the risk anyways. I've started my research this week so I'll post an update and if anyone has any suggestions or advice please comment.

I ran into two Eritrean girls last night. I hear most Eritreans here are poor refugees trying to go to either Europe or the US but these girls were definitely well educated. They both attended American schools and are fluent in English. They promised to introduce me to the Eritrean community. Maybe I'll get some good Eritrean food soon.

Profile #2
Aisha is a graduate student from Uganda. Before coming to the American University she was a government employee. Leaving her post was a risk because in Uganda getting more education does not necessarily translate into a better job. Additionally, common among developing countries, a government job is a really good job to have. She came to the American University because she was desperately looking for change, self-improvement, and a new opportunity. According to Aisha, in Uganda it is possible to get an education, work really hard, and still get stuck doing nothing. A reality that leads to a sense of hopelessness for many.

Last week Aisha invited me to her apartment where she rents a room from a Ghanaian women. This women has been living in Cairo for ten years. She has a young son, Paul, who lives with her and her husband resides in Israel where he works to support the family. Aisha told me that it is now common for Africans to come to Cairo and try to get into Israel in order to find work. For black African men it is even more difficult because it is really hard to nearly impossible for them to find work in Egypt while they try to get into Israel.

Aisha is leaving the American University and heading back to Uganda on Saturday because she is convinced that a masters degree will never improve her financially. She decided that when she gets back to Uganda she will try to start her own business and see where it leads to.

I hope nothing but the best for her.

Week two in Cairo

My Arabic classes started last week and it seems like its going to be intense. The classes are broken up into grammar, speaking, and colloquial. The main area I hope to improve is hearing and speaking. The colloquial is extremely important because in the other classes they teach an extremely formal why of speaking which gets you no where on the street.

Over the past week I’ve been to old Coptic Cairo, the pyramids in Giza, and took a bus tour of Cairo.

Old Coptic Cairo, as the name implies, is the old center of the Coptic Church. I visited Churches that were hundreds of years old. The only problem is that tourist guides are not available. This may have something to do with the fact that there is no cover charge for entering these ancient buildings.

I went to the pyramids that are located in Giza which is about thirty minutes from downtown. This was kind of disappointing because I assumed that we had to go deep into the dessert to see the pyramids.

The most amazing part is when you first sent your eyes on the pyramids. For years we’ve seen them on television, like National Geographic, and read about them in school, but to see them in real life is a bit overwhelming.

The pyramids at Giza are not considered the best ones so I may venture out to the other ones. One problem with Giza is the amount of hustlers and lack of proper policing. In fact one of the security guards tried to hustle me and my group. I won’t bored you with all the ways people tried to hustle us but this one was funny. Four of us walk up to a pyramid and a man in uniform propositioned us for a tour and introduced himself as the tour expert of that specific pyramid. Maybe he thought we were illiterate because he was wearing a badge that said security guard, in English. We decided to follow him. This is how it went for the entire time:
Man: “see this”
Us : “yes”
Man: “this is a cat”
Man: “see this”
Us : “yes”
Man: “this is a…”
You get the picture. What he didn’t know was we had a fact book. When we approached him about the discrepancies between his information and the book he merely shrugged it off and continued.

We actually had fun with him because he tried really hard to entertain us.

On of the most enjoyable things of being here is the people I get to meet. So I decided that I would try to profile a new person as much as possible.

I’ve spoken about Bakry in my last post. He is now finishing his Masters thesis and has applied to some universities in the US in pursuit of a PhD in public policy. Interestingly, his first choice is the University of Washington, Seattle. Maybe my family will have him over for some good Eritrean food.

In my next post I’ll profile Aisha. Aisha is a graduate student from Uganda.

First week in Egypt

I’m starting to get acclimated and soon will fall into a regular pattern.

The first two days were a little difficult. When I got to Egypt the only information that I was given was my address and a number to call when I got there. I was not told how I would make that call so I just assumed there was some system. Contrary to my expectations the driver dropped me off in front of what looked like a run down building in front of a busy street and drove off. I basically stood there with five bags and people walking all around me speaking in a foreign tongue. After dragging my bags into the lobby I was approached by five elderly Egyptian men. Using my best Arabic I tried to explain to them that I live in this building and I needed to contact someone to open my door. Of course no one had a cell phone and I had no evidence that I was to live in that residence. By this point they assumed I was some confused American. Finally, one took me to the room I suggested was mine. He knocked on the door for a while, no answer. He complains that there is nothing he could do and leaves. I stood in front of room 16 having no idea if any of my roommates even landed yet, no why to get in, no contact, no one to answer my questions, and thinking what the fuck is going on.

Finally, some over weight Egyptian shows up who speaks a little English. He told me he was the guy who is going to install the phone for apartment 16. I asked him if he knew Barkry, my contact, and he did. We called Barkry and within thirty minutes Bakry arrives and lets me in.

The apartment is large and very comfortable.

Barkry is an interesting guy. He is Sudanese who speaks perfect Arabic, English, and Tigrinya. He lived in Eritrea for a few years and knows the Eritrean community in Egypt. Perhaps he’ll show me around town sometime.

My roommates are all good guys with different agendas and backgrounds. Dan is a Junior here for one semester. Darrin is a graduate student in the Middle East department. Russ is from Arkansas and is a freshman who will spend four years in Cairo.

The hardest changes I was forced to adapt to are the heat, the driving, and homeless children.

Organized chaos is the best way to describe the streets in Egypt. There are no street lights, speed limit signs, or street crossing system for pedestrians. Because there is very little organized structure the horn is used extensively. My driver from the airport probably used his horn more than I would in a whole year in the US. There is no spacing here: cars drive bumper-to-bumper at full speed. The driving culture is something one has to experience to understand.

The hardest things for me and most foreigners is adjusting to the sight of homeless children. Streets kids are children who belong to impoverished families and spend all day trying to make money on the streets. These kids are mostly boys and they usually shine shoes or a day laborers for small business. The first time I saw a homeless child (I think in my entire life) was my second day. I was walking toward the American University when I spotted a little boy sleeping on the sidewalk. His face and feet covered with flies and his naturally light brownish skin looked dark from dirt. Next to him was an adult. I was told that these kids are usually passed around among the homeless adults and used to make money. The girls are usually sexual abused. What a reality check to the privileges we have in the US.

Egyptians are generally very hospitable and helpful. The streets are generally safe even late in the evening. The only real warning we got was to watch for pocket pickers and hustlers and that is unusual. American women have a really hard time here with sexual cat calling. Reason being they are perceived as exotic but also sexually liberal compared to Egyptian women.

Cigarettes in Egypt are a national past time. Every man smokes cigarettes. One can smoke inside most buildings, all cafes, airport, et cetera.

"to prepare an elite to do its duty," Charles Murry

Do the intellectual elites have a duty to rule the less intelligent. According to Charles Murry, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, the intelligent few ought to rule the less intelligent masses. Read the article here.

The Failed States Index

This seems like a good article on "failed states." Read here.

Obama: lack of political sophistication

Overall political analyst believe this was Obama's best debate albeit one crucial mistake on foreign policy. "The Nation" blog has a good piece (read here) on Obama's foreign policy blunder: speaking from the gut.

Steven Weber: on American unilateralism

Read Steven Weber's, professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, blog entry on American Unilateralism here

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will not fail, world powers will not allow it

Anyone who has been reading the papers lately are aware the President Musharraf of Pakistan has had a tough year.

In May there were a series of anti-government marches. One of the largest marches was spurred by President Musharraf’s suspension of Pakistan’s Chief Justice—the suspension was recently reversed. The second anti-government movement was organized by a right-wing alliance of religious parties, “the Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal, or M.M.A., which has become a significant force in Pakistani electoral politics. The alliance’s imposing patriarch, Liaqat Baloch, was standing on a jeep, exhorting his flag-waving supporters" William Dalrymple. The third group was made of members of the now infamous Red Mosque: a revolutionary group that would like to impose Sharia Law on the state.

This has lead many analysts to worry if President Musharraf would be overthrown by a "radical" group. How radical these groups really are I’m not sure. The State apparatus goes to great length to maintain its monopoly on power and nothing scares state institutions more than groups who don’t recognize its authority: remember the extermination of the Black Panthers or Tiananmen Square, China. Both of these groups, especially the Black Panthers, were not a real threat to the state.

With respect to Pakistan I don't believe an overtly religious and anti-Western revolutionary regime will overthrow Musharraf, though not impossible. The United States and other world powers learned a good lesson from the 1979 Iranian revolution: don't underestimate them. More importantly, the stakes are much higher with Pakistan.

Pakistan is a hugely populous state with a large military that is will equipped with conventional and nuclear weapons. It is unacceptable for the United States and its allies to allow Pakistan to fall into the hands of an anti-Western group.

The White House has already made it clear that they will send troops into Pakistan if necessary. “We never rule out any options, including striking actionable targets,” the White House spokesman, Tony Snow, said in response to a question, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.

“The most significant assertion about possible US attacks on targets inside Pakistan came from Bush's Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend.

Asked why US should not be sending troops inside Pakistan in pursuit of terrorists, she said, ‘There's no question the president has made perfectly clear if we had actionable targets anywhere in the world, putting aside whether it was Pakistan or any place else, we would pursue those targets.’”

I wonder what China's role is? They are the principle weapons suppliers to Musharraf's regime.

Obama's strategic mistake

At a Planned Parenthood event 2008 presidential candidate Obama gave a talk that has created a minor controversy. Obama told Planned Parenthood that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do."

read story here or watch it here.

Some people were horrified by the thought of teaching a five-year-old about sex. Honestly, I don't know what one would tell a five-year-old about sex.

I think the problem with Obama's statement was that it was incomplete. By simply saying that he approves of "age-appropriate" sex education he fails by not telling us what "age-appropriate" sex education is.

As a US Senator Obama is privileged to have access to a lot of information: expert advice, personal researchers, government researchers, senate hearings, interest advice, etc. Thus, his statement is probably backed by much scientific research. He should have told us exactly what "age-appropriate" education is. By failing to do that he leaves it up to the individual listener to conjure up all types of ideas.

I assume a vast majority of people--including myself--are not going to do a research project on "sex education in schools" in order to understand the issue. Instead they will think about it, listen to radio and television pundits about it, maybe read an article, and speak to their family and friends about it.

As a result, Obama never gets to make his case.

Paul Krugman (economist) on universal healthcare

Click here to read article.

On Facebook

Click here to read

Clinton and Edwards: caught on tape

So I assume everyone has heard about how Hillary Clinton and John Edwards (2008 presidential candidates) were caught on tape talking about how they want and were planning on getting the “trivial” candidates off the debating circuit.

Click here

My response, like so many of my political conscious friends—was one of relief because it explicitly made clear what we already new; that is, political campaigning is purely about winning: obvious. The problem is this big-money-high-pressure-winner-takes-all system leads to deceit.

I would not say that the candidates are to blame. The political process encourages this type of behavior. In order for a politician to win an election she/he must “act,” so to speak. What is important is appearance and slogans, not truth.

I should be more upset at Hillary and Edwards but I’m not because they are doing exactly what it takes to win: there playing the game.

In order to change the “players” we must change the rules of the game.

Lakers!

I have been a Lakers fan for a long time. I'm not old enough to have enjoyed the "Laker show” with Magic and his crew. I grew up with Nick Van Axel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Vlade Divac, Coach Del Harris, and Chick Hearns (legendary play-by-play announcer). I remember watching and rooting for these guys obsessively. Willing to argue with anyone on their behalf, no matter how wrong I was about them.

1996, in comes Kobe Bryant: "the answer" and "the truth." I supported Kobe throughout his career. So with the latest tirades--trashing the organization and his teammates—Kobe seemed to ratify all the claims that his detractors make about him. Kobe should have been more diplomatic about his approach. With that said, Kobe makes a good argument. Essentially, Kobe resigned with the Lakers under the said assumption that the team is going to be aggressive in rebuilding the team IMMEDIATLEY. Kobe recently found out that the Lakers front office told Phil Jackson that they were heading toward a long term rebuilding strategy; they said this around the same time they told Kobe a different story.

As a Lakers fan, I want Kobe to stay. As a basketball fan, I want Kobe to play for team that will allow him to play and compete at the highest level. Michael Jordan gave basketball fans plenty of incredible playoff memories and Kobe has the ability to do the same; so if the Lakers cannot offer him what he wants they ought to let me go. If Kobe is traded we can began rebuilding; this will allow the young players—like Andrew Bynaum—develop and in a few years we can go after marquee players like Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, or Dwayne Wade.

The diagnosis: the Lakers front office is a mess; The cure : Dr. Buss ought to get Jerry West back and give him full authority or make some serous moves to appease Kobe; the prognosis: West does not come back but the Lakers are going to try to appease Kobe.

I'm back:

I'm back on the "bloggersphere." I've taken time off by accident: just drifted away from writing.

One change I hope to do is to broaden the topics in which I write about. Politics may still be heavy on my writing list but I hope to include sports, music, entertainment, et cetera.

Some people know I'm going to Egypt in August: at least that is the plan. Some have event pointed to the fact--and one that I acknowledge--that I'm never around and always busy. Thus, I'll post on issues that will keep my family, friends, and associates update on Phil: that includes pictures.

Peace.

The "Black Voice" in the immigration debate

Click here to read my article on the black perspective on immigration.

Jimmy Carter visits UC Berkeley

Click here to read my article on Jimmy Carter's visit to UC Berkeley.

Immigration on UC Berkeley campus

Click here to read my article on the immigration march on the UC Berkeley campus.

Article 1

Below is my first Article for the "California Majority Report."


click Here

"Condoleezza Rice of Tanzania".

Asha-Rose Migiro, 50, becomes the first black woman and first African to hold the position of deputy UN secretary-general, a post created in 1998.

When she made history last year, becoming Tanzania's first woman foreign minister, some people started referring to her as the "Condoleezza Rice of Tanzania".

But Mrs Migiro, a seasoned human rights champion, preferred the title "Dr Asha-Rose of Tanzania".

She is a Muslim, has a law doctorate from Germany, and is described as hardworking, modest and a down-to earth politician.

Married to a Christian, a university lecturer with whom she has two children, she rose to prominence 10 years ago after acquiring a ruling party parliamentary seat reserved for women. Read more...

interesting and funny: from The Huffington Post

... and sent them to Baghdad. And he's just been spotted grabbing 21,500 more.

Last week there were two big stories. A St. Louis man was caught kidnapping a second boy to go with the one he'd been holding for four years, and the President announced he was sending more troops to Iraq.

And we could ignore the obvious similarities, or we could come right out and say it: Alleged kidnapper Michael Devlin something something George Bush.

Okay, that's a cheap shot. And even worse than that, it's so obvious any idiot (Maureen Dowd) could make it. (No, maybe not Maureen Dowd; It doesn't involve a provocative correlation between Hillary Clinton and whatever's on TV. Hey... what if... Hillary Clinton... needed to be saved... just like the cheerleader on Heroes!!?)

Where's my Pulitzer?

But it is kinda weird, isn't it? That the same week this twisted tub o' lard in Missouri gets caught abducting a new kid for his menagerie, Bush says he needs more teenage corpses to stuff in the national crawlspace?

The President and the Pizza Dispatcher. One is a psychopathic moron whose motives are known only to himself, and the other is Michael Devlin. Read more...

What is Somalia?

A few days ago I was listening to NPR and I heard the host say, “the war between Ethiopia and Somalia…Somalia is a sovereign state…” The fact that there was a war was not news to me, what puzzled me was the statement.

In general, political scientist categories states as pre-modern, modern, and post-modern states. Most states in the world fall under the category of “modern.” Another word for a modern state is a “Westphalian state,” after the 1648 treaty of Westphalia that ended the thirty year war in Europe and is given credit by historians for beginning the modern political era. “The Peace of Westphalia is crucially important to modern international relations theory, with the Peace often being defined as the beginning of the international system with which the discipline deals. International relations theorists have identified the Peace of Westphalia as having several key principles, which explain the Peace's significance and its impact on the world today:
1. The principle of the sovereignty of states and the fundamental right of political self determination
2. The principle of (legal) equality between states
3. The principle of non-intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another state
These principles are common to the way the dominant international relations paradigm views the international system today, which explains why the system of states is referred to as ‘The Westphalian System’.” (Wikipedia, peace of Westphalia)
Another principle I would like to add that is related to number three is internal sovereignty; that is, a central government that has the highest authority within its territory.
This is not true for Somalia. It is true that Somalian people recognize a greater Somalian community of people that share similar customs, religion, language, history, among others. It is not true to say that Somalia is a Westphalian state, which is contemporary the conventional organizing order for states. Somalians recognize ones immediate community (clans) as the source with the legitimate right to rule them. A centralized form of government in which clans no longer matter is culturally and socially foreign.

It is not correct to say that Ethiopia is fighting a war with Somalia. Ethiopia is fighting a war with the Somalian Islamic Courts Council (SICC), a group of clans, who want to assert hegemony over the Somalian people and create a Westphalian state—as does the Somalian transitional government.

Ending statement

I recognize that the moderator who made the statement knew that the fighting was between the SICC and the UN backed transitional government with the support of the Ethiopian government, but the statement made clear that sometimes people view foreign social issues (conflict in our example) through the prisms of their own social order.

I do believe that there are many social similarities among cultures—conflict, competition, order, religion, cooperation, among others. Yet, it is important for leaders, decision makers, influential people, and engaged citizens to understand that there are differences in how different communities deal with these similar human endeavors. Having an understanding of these differences when attempting to evaluate social phenomenon would prevent people from making fallacious arguments like, “the Taliban were strict Islamist, the SICC are strict Islamist, so the SICC will be just like the Taliban.”