Clarence Darrow said that while he never wished a man dead, he had “read some obituaries with great satisfaction.” I beg the difference, it is the opposite when it comes to the death of Colin Powell. I’m not even getting any pleasure reading his obituaries.
Continue reading COLIN POWELL IS DEAD, I WON’T SHED ANY TEARS !
Dictators (Hitler/Stalin/Trump) like juveniles love to write their name on things, and mark their territories.
Any visitor to Egypt, realizes right away who is in control of the country; the writing is on the wall; from the moment you step out of the Airport, General el-Sisi’s name and pictures branded everywhere; on walls, billboards next to superstar soccer player Mohamed Salah, Nike, and McDonald’s ads, find his name on buildings, roads, bridges, hospitals, mosques, churches, schools, gates, and shops. Dictators (Hitler/Stalin/Trump) like juveniles love to write their name on things, like dogs they mark their territories. After all, writing on the wall is an ancient Egyptian, where pharaohs put their names and statues that lasted 1000’s years. New Egyptian pharaohs put their names on buildings that would last only a few years until they are toppled, killed, or died of natural causes! Before el-Sisi, Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak, their names are gone, now you can only see their names on their graves, all you see now the new Pharoah’s; Abdelfattah el-Sisi’s. al-Sisi took this ancient Egyptian art to another level; his name now is synonymous with Egypt and Egyptians. When the Egyptian ambassador to the US; Mohammed Tawfik was visiting Minnesota right after the military coup. I asked him about the extravagant hysteria of al-Sisi”Ter3ah” small Canal opening inauguration. Unaccustomed to tough questioning, he couldn’t conceal his frustration, ” after the damages of September events (revolution), Egyptians needed something posts their morals,” he mused. The inauguration cost millions of dollars, and they broadcast it on all Egyptian media for days. Here is how Foreign Affairs magazine describes the celebration of the gift to the world from “the mother of the world,” as Egyptians frequently call their country: “It began with a “Presidential Convoy and Naval Parade,” which involved Sisi donning a ceremonial military suit and dark sunglasses, Pinochet or Idi Amin-style, and standing on the upper deck of a yacht as it trundled down the canal, surveying the landscape and waving at objects in the distance, some of them possibly human. Fighter jets roared overhead.” al-Sisi is a master of showmanship, life for him is a stage. Mohammed Ali, an Egyptian military contractor, turned to a whistleblower, trashed el-Sisi images in series of videos posted on social media from his self-exile in Spain. Interviews with Middle East Eye and Al-Jazeera Ali explained el-Sisi’s family’s insane lavish lifestyle and building millions of dollars palaces for his wife and his sons.
“She is some kind of Sultan of Brunei, on her own. She is very fussy. She doesn’t like anything,” he described the first lady. She and her children “have their own budget within the state”; he built billions of dollars city in the desert with no one to live or could afford to live there, built the tallest tower in the middle east to match Dubai’s Burj’s Khalifa (Tower of Khalifa) .
This is the Tower of Babel of Arab dictators who would rather build buildings than democratic institutions. Elsisi wasn’t worried, he didn’t even refute or contested what Ali has been saying. Yes, I have built presidential palaces and will continue to do so. I am creating a new state; nothing is registered with my name, it is built for Egypt.” elSisi shot back.
Thomas Friedman, the big idea man, explained right after the Arab Spring that Arabs revolted and Egyptians went to Tahrir Square because they saw what Dubai cities look like, and they wanted what Dubai offers Shopping malls and skyscrapers. I have been in Tahrir Square many times during and after the revolution, talked to people in Tahrir, never heard Dubai even once in any conversation. The news in Egypt is mostly a showcase of al-Sisi opening ceremonies of projects as small as a bridge, a grocery store, or a canal. al-Sisi didn’t leave any stone unturned without putting his name on it. He is behind everything happening in Egypt, even the weather. Al-Sisi got ready of any sign that reminded Egyptians of the revolutions. Waged war on street arts and murals, Painted buddings surround Tahrir square and downtown Cairo with a non-revolutionary yellow color. On my last visit to Egypt, I opened my window in Nasr City the first morning. I saw a bridge cutting through the apartment building complex, blocking the view. Under the bridge, you could see remnants of anti-al-Sisi signs and arts covered with crude brush paints. One sign that survived this public art slaughter was a sign written in English “Fuck CiCi”!. (Sisi)!
Ahmed Tharwat Host & Producer of Arab American TV show BelAhdan
A sign shows that a new bridge Inaugurated by President Abdelfatah el-Sisi, with the presence of Prime Minister Mustafa Madbooly and Minister of Defense, Mohamed Zeki.
Coffee shop drive-thru is an American invention for the rest of the world, hard to swallow. The idea of coffee shops as the founder of Starbucks, Mr. Schultze invasions it while visiting Italy, is to create a third place to rest away from home and work.
It was reported that Caribou coffee shops having tough time to stay open; where the closing hours for many Twin Cities locations show sporadic times earlier than the times customers have been used to. This is not just a caribou issue, lots of other coffee shops too finding hard to stay open. Americans drink about 146 billion cups of coffee per year. The average American drinks about 3.1 cups a day. In the last year or two, these numbers went up due to the pandemic and the lockdown where people drowned their depression in coffee and alcohol. Coffee is the most significant source of caffeine in America. More than half of Americans would rather skip their morning showers than their morning coffee. Drive-thru morning coffee extended rush hour to two rush hours. People leave early to get their morning fix; Millions of cars would line up at coffee shops’ drive-thru windows to get a $5 cup of coffee is probably the same people who would drive miles to Costco to save 5 cents on gas; Americans are extremist consumers. We drive fast on freeways to get home and sit on the couch to watch TV for hours. Coffee shops drive-thru is an American invention that is very hard to swallow, the idea of coffee shops as the founder of Starbucks, Mr. Schultze invasions it, is to create a third place to rest away from home and work. During the pandemic, going to coffee shops’ drive-thru to get your coffee is one of few safe outdoor activities where people get a glimpse of social activities from the privacy of their cars. Coffee shops are empty inside; however, the drive-thru is always busy, where people wait for up to 10 to 15 minutes to fill up their coffee. Due to labor shortages, coffee shops now open shorter hours; some even closed. On a gloomy, cool early Saturday morning, driving through the Edina neighborhood, there was nothing to do or a place to go enjoying the irrelevance of the surroundings. I stopped to get a cup of coffee at Caribou on the corner of 70th and Interlachen and Vernon. Edina. The parking lot was Empty; I got out of the car, walked to the Caribou, pulled the door, it is locked, a sign on the door to inform you that “due to labor shortage we are closed, check our website or our apps for updates. “A few tables outside where they didn’t enforce the closing decree, tables were open! I sat at the table next to the closed doors, and I’m not a morning coffee person anyway. I already had my breakfast and drank my morning tea at home. I Sat down and watched things happen around the busy corner. The first car arrived, a middle-aged lady slowly stepped out of her car, she didn’t seem to be in a hurry, walked to the coffee shop door, tried to open, read the closing sign and giggled,
_ Ooh, close
She walked away, disappointed.
A big SUV stormed the parking lot, a tall young man rushed out of his car, he was screaming to someone in the car “Stay in the car, Ill get it” like a hunter in the jungle, he rushed to the coffee shop door, tried what it seemed like a break-in, tried a few times, looked inside,
_ Shit, looked toward my table, “Nobody wants to work anymore! Inaudible frustrating message targeting Nobody! He walked back to his car and sped away, and he didn’t even read the closing sign.
A lady walked across the parking lot toward the door, acknowledged my present;
_” good morning”, pulled the door genteelly, locked;
deliberately read the sign
-“Aha … closed, “she quietly walked to a table across from mine and sat down staring, talking on her phone.
Three women came in two cars together, walked to an empty table didn’t even know the store was closed. Waited till another friend who came later; they all walked to the door,. Tried to open, tried again, one reads the sign, and all started giggling. “let’s try the one by Lund’s & Barley and walked back to their cars as another young man was parking his convertor, walked to the coffee shop’s door read the sign before even trying to open the door, and walked away.
Car after the car started pouring in, going through the same drill, different people with different reactions, no one struck a conversation, or wondered or shared their frustrations or rages, someone said, “Madness is no madness when it is shared”. Later, a Mini Van rolled in, a woman with her hijab open the door, a few children screaming inside the car. She ignored the commotion and walked to the coffee shop door before she tried to open the door; she noticed my present, slowly came to my table
_” Salam Allikom…
_” Salam Alllikom..”
_” Don’t you know me;
_” Well, should I”
– …
I know you, you still doing your show, (these another way of saying I don’t watch your show)
_ Yes I do
_ “you haven’t changed, just more gray hair!!
_ I’m sorry you guys wear this hijab thing, then all look the same; we both laughed; she walked back to the coffee shop door.
_ “it is closed today!'” I told her
Ahmed Tharwat
Host and Producer of Arab American TV show BelAhdan
Blogs at Notes From America
Follow him on twitter
Lives in Minnetonka, MN
