Apologies if you can't speak Arabic. I can't think of an equivalent saying in English but roughly translated the title is an Arabic saying that means "The worst type of tragedy is one that makes you laugh".
I couldn't really think of a more suitable quote when I came across 2 news articles today.
I had been looking for news about people who were killed in an accident when their bus rolled over while driving them to Saudi Arabia to do omra because one of the victims is a friend's aunt. I'm not one to read websites written in Arabic in general but when my attempts to locate the news on the bbc website failed I thought I'd give masrawy a try.
I eventually found what I think is the news item I wanted here where it says in one and a half lines that 36 people died.
But I also found this article which describes in great detail and 6 paragraphs how the American embassador in Egypt spent his night at a cafe in Egypt smoking shisha/hookah. Including, but not limited to, the exact cafe he was at, other ones he considered, and the all important facts that he ordered apple shisha, a cup of tea, and rice pudding for dessert while watching a football game.
As one of my friends put it, they forgot to tell us if he wiped his ass afterwards.
We 3agaby
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Anniversary we ramadan kareem
A couple days ago (Saturday the 23rd to be exact) marked 1 year since I set foot on US soil. I had thought about synchronizing the post with the day and time but couldn't really be bothered.
Ironically (or maybe just weirdly) enough, I had to go to the airport on the exact same day, only a couple hours later than I'd landed, to pick up a friend who's starting with Microsoft this October. The traffic was nothing like I've seen before that it took me around an hour to get there. The upside was lots of time for reflecting on a very different and maybe significant year of my life.
-Ramadan Kareem
Once again it's upon us. To all my friends I haven't called, Ramadan Kareem! Kol sana wento tayebeen. To some of my friends I haven't called, Khefo 3al la7ma, you know who you are :)
-Useless tip of the day:
I'm pretty sure most people know this already, but to my surprise I recently found out that some don't so here goes.
If a given calendar day falls on day x of the week, the same day falls on the next day of the week the year after, except when it's a leap year. For example, September 23rd was a Friday in 2005. In 2006 it's a Saturday and it's going to be a Sunday in 2007.
-Uplifter of the day:
It happened to everybody, you remember something that happened in the past and think 'God I was stupid/foolish/naive/an idiot'. If you're in the habit of writing some of your thoughts anything written a year or 2 ago will sound to you like it was written by someone else. A slight hint of remorse would usually follow when this happened to me, if only I was smarter/more knowledgable/more eloquent back then.
Think like me no more, all thanks to a quote I stumbled across
'We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish' F. A. Hayek
There! It's the sign you're growing wiser everytime this happens to you.
Ironically (or maybe just weirdly) enough, I had to go to the airport on the exact same day, only a couple hours later than I'd landed, to pick up a friend who's starting with Microsoft this October. The traffic was nothing like I've seen before that it took me around an hour to get there. The upside was lots of time for reflecting on a very different and maybe significant year of my life.
-Ramadan Kareem
Once again it's upon us. To all my friends I haven't called, Ramadan Kareem! Kol sana wento tayebeen. To some of my friends I haven't called, Khefo 3al la7ma, you know who you are :)
-Useless tip of the day:
I'm pretty sure most people know this already, but to my surprise I recently found out that some don't so here goes.
If a given calendar day falls on day x of the week, the same day falls on the next day of the week the year after, except when it's a leap year. For example, September 23rd was a Friday in 2005. In 2006 it's a Saturday and it's going to be a Sunday in 2007.
-Uplifter of the day:
It happened to everybody, you remember something that happened in the past and think 'God I was stupid/foolish/naive/an idiot'. If you're in the habit of writing some of your thoughts anything written a year or 2 ago will sound to you like it was written by someone else. A slight hint of remorse would usually follow when this happened to me, if only I was smarter/more knowledgable/more eloquent back then.
Think like me no more, all thanks to a quote I stumbled across
'We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish' F. A. Hayek
There! It's the sign you're growing wiser everytime this happens to you.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Tidbits
It's been long since I posted something, and I'm having second thoughts about keeping the blog altogether. But for now I'll try to push through.
So here are a few news items and thoughts that were of note to me:
-California Sues Automakers
It says here that California is suing the 6 largest car makers in the US (including japanese ones with operations in the US) over global warming seeking millions of dollars.
Now regardless of how green I try to be, I just can't see the logic in this (other than it being an election year).
Even if you disregard the ongoing debate about global warming, whether it is actually happening, or what its causes are. Even disregarding all that and looking at the distribution of sources that contribute to producing greenhouse gases, fuel for transportation comes 3rd after industrial processes and power stations. Agricultural processes come a close 4th. Why doesn't California sue all factories and power stations, and after those maybe farmers as well?
-Crime and Punishment
The topic seems to pop in my head quite often for reasons beyond me.
The more I think about it, the more prison seems like a really bad idea. If someone who knows how to pickpocket goes to prison he'll graduate with a doctorate in serial killing. If there is such a thing as bad influence then it really doesn't get any worse than prison.
Only "solution" I could think of is solitary imprisonment and apart from the increased costs I think over any significant period of time it'll turn the prisoners all crazy. So we might as well just kill all criminals while we're at it.
Expulsion sounded like a good idea while it lasted, society gets rid of a bad seed and the bad seed is deprived of something that should be of value, but I can't think of somewhere you could expel criminals to nowadays.
Any ideas?
So here are a few news items and thoughts that were of note to me:
-California Sues Automakers
It says here that California is suing the 6 largest car makers in the US (including japanese ones with operations in the US) over global warming seeking millions of dollars.
Now regardless of how green I try to be, I just can't see the logic in this (other than it being an election year).
Even if you disregard the ongoing debate about global warming, whether it is actually happening, or what its causes are. Even disregarding all that and looking at the distribution of sources that contribute to producing greenhouse gases, fuel for transportation comes 3rd after industrial processes and power stations. Agricultural processes come a close 4th. Why doesn't California sue all factories and power stations, and after those maybe farmers as well?
-Crime and Punishment
The topic seems to pop in my head quite often for reasons beyond me.
The more I think about it, the more prison seems like a really bad idea. If someone who knows how to pickpocket goes to prison he'll graduate with a doctorate in serial killing. If there is such a thing as bad influence then it really doesn't get any worse than prison.
Only "solution" I could think of is solitary imprisonment and apart from the increased costs I think over any significant period of time it'll turn the prisoners all crazy. So we might as well just kill all criminals while we're at it.
Expulsion sounded like a good idea while it lasted, society gets rid of a bad seed and the bad seed is deprived of something that should be of value, but I can't think of somewhere you could expel criminals to nowadays.
Any ideas?
Monday, September 04, 2006
Memories
They're weird. You'd think it's a good thing to have so many good memories with people you've known. But you look at the photos and remember the silly stuff. They might make you giggle for a bit but it feels bitter sweet and before you know it you're all nostalgic. They really don't make you feel any better. If anything they make you feel worse.
Would we be better off with a selective memory where we would just keep the stuff we need for things like 'burning stuff hurt don't touch it again'.
Would we be better off with a selective memory where we would just keep the stuff we need for things like 'burning stuff hurt don't touch it again'.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Economics a.k.a El Banzeen Ghaly!
Almost all Egyptians know that gas prices are subsidized, people outside Egypt might not but if they're reading now they do.
As a consequence, Egypt "enjoyed" one of the lowest prices for gas (petrol if you're a brit) anywhere in the world. Up until a few weeks ago 1 liter of 90 octane gas was being sold to the public for 1 EGP (around 18 US cents), that is less than 70 US cents per US gallon. For a quick comparison gas in the US is cheap because it goes for around $3 US a gallon, and is expensive in the UK where people pay around 1 sterling pound for a liter. That's more than 10 times as much.
A few weeks ago, the price at which gas is controlled rose 30% to 1.3 egyptian pounds, and while I was not there when it did, I can definitely imagine the major uproar on the streets following that. If conversations with friends and family are anything to go by, I actually bet thousands, if not millions, of people are still uttering swear words in disapproval of the government's action.
I, too, think this was a wrong step to take, gas prices should not have slidden up 30%. The subsidies should have been lifted and prices should have been let to shoot up to the 5 or 7 times the current price that it's estimated to be worth. I am not being sarcastic either, hold on to your guns a little bit before you declare me crazy and hear me out.
Subsidies mean that the government is paying the price difference between what you're paying at the pump and what it actually cost to get the gas to the pump. It does *not* mean that the cost of gas is less, it was just transferred and is being paid by someone else.
Now, a basic economic fact is that demand increases with lower prices and decreases at higher prices. That is why not everybody is driving around in cars costing millions of pounds, and why on the other hand almost everybody can eat bread.
In fact it is so basic that it's almost considered common sense, and is ultimately portrayed by the common saying "Abo balash kattar meno" or translated "Get more of that which is free".
Combine both facts and you get a better picture, taxpayers' money is used to buy gas and people are using more of it because of exactly that.
If subsidies were removed, and gas prices are allowed to fluctuate according to free market conditions, prices will shoot up to maybe 6 or 7 times their current values. This will naturally cause people to use less and prices will go back down a bit. Not back to the point they're at with subsidies but to the point where equilibrium is reached between supply and demand.
And before thinking that this would be a life threatening situation for low income people let me explain what I think.
What would people do if they found out their dinner is free? I say they will probably eat more than what they usually do, much more actually.
This is no different than the gas situation. I know that I drove around for much more than 500 Kms on the first day I got my first car in Egypt. I also know that it would have been prohibitively expensive for me to do that if gas prices were 5 times their values back then.
Nobody likes high prices, specially those who can't afford it themselves. And even though it might be nice to imagine a world where everyone affords everything, the underlying scarcity of resources makes that practically impossible.
What subsidizing gas is doing is taking from tax payers, many(most?) of which are low to middle income, and paying it for gas much of which is consumed by the higher income classes who own the bigger and more gas guzzling cars.
Still not convinced? I'll leave you with a few statistics I just looked up.
-The FY 2006-07 budget earmarks EGP 40 billion for fuel subsidies, up from EGP 22 billion in 2005, and more than is allocated to health and education combined.
-According to Boutros-Ghali, the rich benefit by EGP 1,700 per capita from fuel subsidies, while the poor benefit by only EGP 300 per capita.
Economics* is interesting isn't it?
*Most of my recently acquired and embarassingly little knowledge of economics has been through this book, Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. A highly recommended read.
As a consequence, Egypt "enjoyed" one of the lowest prices for gas (petrol if you're a brit) anywhere in the world. Up until a few weeks ago 1 liter of 90 octane gas was being sold to the public for 1 EGP (around 18 US cents), that is less than 70 US cents per US gallon. For a quick comparison gas in the US is cheap because it goes for around $3 US a gallon, and is expensive in the UK where people pay around 1 sterling pound for a liter. That's more than 10 times as much.
A few weeks ago, the price at which gas is controlled rose 30% to 1.3 egyptian pounds, and while I was not there when it did, I can definitely imagine the major uproar on the streets following that. If conversations with friends and family are anything to go by, I actually bet thousands, if not millions, of people are still uttering swear words in disapproval of the government's action.
I, too, think this was a wrong step to take, gas prices should not have slidden up 30%. The subsidies should have been lifted and prices should have been let to shoot up to the 5 or 7 times the current price that it's estimated to be worth. I am not being sarcastic either, hold on to your guns a little bit before you declare me crazy and hear me out.
Subsidies mean that the government is paying the price difference between what you're paying at the pump and what it actually cost to get the gas to the pump. It does *not* mean that the cost of gas is less, it was just transferred and is being paid by someone else.
Now, a basic economic fact is that demand increases with lower prices and decreases at higher prices. That is why not everybody is driving around in cars costing millions of pounds, and why on the other hand almost everybody can eat bread.
In fact it is so basic that it's almost considered common sense, and is ultimately portrayed by the common saying "Abo balash kattar meno" or translated "Get more of that which is free".
Combine both facts and you get a better picture, taxpayers' money is used to buy gas and people are using more of it because of exactly that.
If subsidies were removed, and gas prices are allowed to fluctuate according to free market conditions, prices will shoot up to maybe 6 or 7 times their current values. This will naturally cause people to use less and prices will go back down a bit. Not back to the point they're at with subsidies but to the point where equilibrium is reached between supply and demand.
And before thinking that this would be a life threatening situation for low income people let me explain what I think.
What would people do if they found out their dinner is free? I say they will probably eat more than what they usually do, much more actually.
This is no different than the gas situation. I know that I drove around for much more than 500 Kms on the first day I got my first car in Egypt. I also know that it would have been prohibitively expensive for me to do that if gas prices were 5 times their values back then.
Nobody likes high prices, specially those who can't afford it themselves. And even though it might be nice to imagine a world where everyone affords everything, the underlying scarcity of resources makes that practically impossible.
What subsidizing gas is doing is taking from tax payers, many(most?) of which are low to middle income, and paying it for gas much of which is consumed by the higher income classes who own the bigger and more gas guzzling cars.
Still not convinced? I'll leave you with a few statistics I just looked up.
-The FY 2006-07 budget earmarks EGP 40 billion for fuel subsidies, up from EGP 22 billion in 2005, and more than is allocated to health and education combined.
-According to Boutros-Ghali, the rich benefit by EGP 1,700 per capita from fuel subsidies, while the poor benefit by only EGP 300 per capita.
Economics* is interesting isn't it?
*Most of my recently acquired and embarassingly little knowledge of economics has been through this book, Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. A highly recommended read.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Layout
I know it's long overdue but somehow whenever I decide to blog I end up doing something else... I assume this is a good thing (that I'm busy with other stuff) but I also promise I'll keep on blogging (even if just photos :P).
Anyway, I just have a quick question, does the blog layout show correctly on your computer? Ever since I modified it to be wider so that I can post bigger photos inline it's been showing up great on my laptop but kinda funny on my desktop. Is it just my desktop?
Appreciate the feedback!
Anyway, I just have a quick question, does the blog layout show correctly on your computer? Ever since I modified it to be wider so that I can post bigger photos inline it's been showing up great on my laptop but kinda funny on my desktop. Is it just my desktop?
Appreciate the feedback!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Rebel!
Been a while since I last posted and I don't feel like typing a lot. And while most people use lyrics to fill in the gaps, I feel photos are more my style.
Of course the fact that I just got the Canon Digital Rebel XT that I've always wanted comes to play very conveniently. I'm extremely happy with it even though I only have one low end lens for it thus far (50mm/f1.8, yes fixed focal length and no zoom)
Instead of boring you with a review which you can find better done somewhere else I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Enjoy, but be forewarned, lots of sexy cars in the photos amongst other things. :)
Of course the fact that I just got the Canon Digital Rebel XT that I've always wanted comes to play very conveniently. I'm extremely happy with it even though I only have one low end lens for it thus far (50mm/f1.8, yes fixed focal length and no zoom)
Instead of boring you with a review which you can find better done somewhere else I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Enjoy, but be forewarned, lots of sexy cars in the photos amongst other things. :)
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