The Tate Britain Museum is having an exhibition about British Orientalist painters through the rest of the summer. The exhibition features works by the likes of David Roberts and others.

From the Tate Museum website:

British Orientalist Painting will explore the responses of British artists to the cultures and landscapes of the Near and Middle East between 1780 and 1930, offering vital historical and cultural perspectives on the challenging questions of the ‘Orient’ and its representation in British art.

Many of the paintings can be seen online on the exhibition’s website.

Watch Jon Stewart comment on the three presidential candidates recent visit to the AIPAC conference. It’s one of those funny but true pieces. A personal favorite is when Stewart comments on the fact that McCain mentions that he last visited Israel with Senator Joseph Lieberman:

You know, when you go to Israel you don’t need to bring your own Jew.

And on the candidates non-existent criticism of Israeli policies:

Oh, I forgot, you can’t say anything remotely critical of Israel and still get elected president, which is funny, because you know where you can criticize Israel? Israel.

Watch below or here:
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In contemporary society, a class that owns property dominates a class that does not own property. There is a class of workers and a class of owners, and because there exists a basic contradiction in the interests of those two classes, they are constantly struggling with one another. Now, because things do not stay the same we can be sure of one thing: the owner will not stay the owner and the people who are dominated will not stay dominated….We can be sure that if we increase the intensity of the struggle, we will reach a point where the equilibrium of forces will change and there will be a qualitative leap into a new situation with a new social equilibrium.

- Huey P. Newton, 1971 meeting of social theorists at Yale

Thirty-seven years later, the quote can be applied to struggles such as the Mahallah protests and overall class in equality in Egypt and other countries with US backed crooked regimes.

Tags: huey p newton, mahallah, egypt, class struggle

There is an interesting article in today’s New York Times regarding noise pollution in Cairo.

The average noise from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. is 85 decibels, a bit louder than a freight train 15 feet away

While it is true that some parts of Cairo are incredibly noisy, there was an over-generalization undertone about the article that was irritating.

A better use of NYT resources may have been directed at covering the Mahalla protests and ensuing crackdowns more thoroughly.

Tags: mahallah, egypt, cairo, protests, nyt

via Wael Abbas

This song was first released by Bob Dylan in 1964, but it still holds true today (sadly). The part that stands out:

I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

Read the full lyrics here, and watch a 1963 performance with Joan Baez below. (more…)

This is my fifth attempt in putting something down to describe my collective experience in Egypt, but it’s proving to be impossible.

My entire life was spent outside of Egypt, but it’s always been the anchor that, wherever one lived in the world, had to go back to every few years to feel grounded. A plethora of family members, young and old, always made one feel like the country is their own. From the moment you’re met at the airport, to the moment you’re dropped off, you’re usually surrounded by people who effectively buffer you from Egyptian society. They make you feel at home, they want to take you out, have you over and simply be with you, and this works to effectively distract you from everything else. You pay little attention to the country, the roads, the traffic, the people, and everything else that passes outside your window. It all morphs into a blur, a constant stream that you can’t, and won’t, decipher, because you’d rather remain buffered from it all. You ignore the children sleeping on the sidewalk, or the aging mentally ill man asking for change, or the overzealous police officer who decides who to pull out of a bus and harass. Your car is waved through, uninterrupted, and “Why them?” doesn’t cross your mind. It is what it is, and it is always been that way. It all becomes part of the blur.

This trip was different, and the specific reason is still unknown, but it wasn’t a blur anymore. In fact, everything seemed to happen in slow motion with the exact details revealed before your eyes. That is part of the reason I have not been able to articulate my thoughts about and experiences in Egypt. It’s almost like trying to document a nightmare because ultimately you want to erase it from your memory, but at the same time, don’t want to forget it.

In the coming days I will try to write down as much as I can remember from the trip, the good and the bad. So, stay tuned.

I’m back from what were a very hectic few weeks in Egypt (and briefly London). Apologies to all those who sent emails and haven’t received responses yet, Internet access has been scarce and time even more so. And for anyone who had previously expressed interest in meeting in Egypt, please forgive me, this trip was very family focused and there was little time for anything else.

As for continuing this blogging venture, that’s still being decided. This trip put things in perspective, socially and politically, and whatever commentary or criticism one offered through this space in regards to conditions in Egypt doesn’t even amount to a drop in the bucket. Conditions are bad and only getting worse, it’s akin to a boiling pot that’s about to overflow, except that it’s been boiling for so long that people are skeptical when or if it will explode.

More specifics later, maybe.

Detained Muslim Brotherhood blogger Monem was ordered released recently, but as expected, that hardly means he’s won his freedom. According the the Free Monem site, Monem has been missing since his release was ordered. The Interior Ministry, in yet another display of complete lack of human decency, denies his whereabouts. It is feared that he’s being “interrogated” (i.e. tortured) behind the scenes, in a final attempt to humiliate and break him.

Each time there is news of another antic by Mubarak’s Gestapo, one wonders if they can sink any lower, and they never fail to come through. Perhaps the only thing they never fail at.

Here’s hoping he makes it home safe and continues the fight against the tyrannical regime of Hosni & Gamal.

Read more at Free Monem.

Update: Monem is now free and home with his family (via Manal & Alaa). Mabrouk ya Monem.

Tags: monem, egypt, mubarak, freemonem

The weather has been near perfect the past couple of weeks, so I’ve used that as an excuse to avoid the news, and as a result there hasn’t been much blogable material.

Anyway, below is a clip of Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson, two of the Blues greatest musicians singing Got My Mojo Working. Have a listen, and tell me if you can stop your feet from tapping. (more…)