810) The Economy Drag & "3agalet el Entag" !

One of the things that frustrates me the most when meeting people and discussing the Egyptian Revolution is the famous sentence: "You - revolts- ruined our economy".. It has become a cliche to the extent that people started believing and acting upon it.

I wonder how great was the Egyptian Economy during the past 30 years! Let me ask some questions may be I am fooled and the "Angles" in SCAF are right:

- What is the average income for Egyptian Employees before & after Revolution?
- What is the ratio between executives and employees salaries before and after Revolution?
- What is the real unemployment rate in the Egyptian Market before & after Revolution?
- What is the relation between the prices and salaries before and after the Revolution?
- What is the collected percentage of taxes required by Billionaires vs. Employees before and after Revolution?
- Who is responsible for not containing the security vacuum that in turn affect investments and tourism?
- Who is responsible for not taking any serious steps towards getting back the stolen money in and outside Egypt?
- Who is scaring investors with their statements about burning Egypt and civil war?
- Who is the one who has an open budget that directly takes its feed from Egypt resources and is refusing to even discuss it?
- Who owns all the Egyptian uninhabited lands, and how can they play a role in getting it down to its real prices? (unless they are happy with the current ones).
- Who is still adopting the same economic strategies and still borrowing billions keeping the next governments trapped?
- Who spent 200 Million pounds on a useless referendum and 1 Billion on a puppet Shura council?
- Who is prolonging the Transitional period that in turn extends the status quo.?

Answer these questions first, and then talk to me about "3agalet el Entag!".

Mohaly

809) 25 January 2012 ... Celebration or Revolution ?!

On 11 Feb and after couple of mins of Omar Soliman's announcement, I tried to call my very close friend Sherif Saleh to celebrate ... I didn't wait till he answers and went on saying MABROOOOOK.. I got a weird voice on the other side saying "who are you?", I answered "aren't you Sherif?", he said no, I said: "that is ok Mabrouk anyway", he surprisingly said: "Mabrouk for what?!! this is bad, army is bad..." I wasn't capable of discussing or even thinking, I just wanted to celebrate so I told him: "thank you, and enjoy the victory" ... Now after a year, I am still asking myself was he right, should I have chosen not to celebrate?!!!

A picture is better than 1000 words ... I have summarized the incidents of the year in these 20 pictures that symbolized each event ... I think the answer to the question (25 Jan 2012 a celebration or a Revolution?) is clear..

Mohaly

808) You will never Win if you never Begin !

Hope is born from the womb of Despair ..

Mohaly

807) Who is the winner?!

An Irony of life and of the international education system too..

Most of the distinguished, attentive, clever and sharp students get technical jobs like Engineers, and Physicians.. while many of those who come behind as average pass college and post-graduate MBA, and become the administrators of the distinguished ones.. Those who fail or below average.. may just go deal in any business, have good connections / work with dirty politicians, and control all of the above !!

Do we need a complete paradigm shift in our systems? I guess so..

Mohaly

806) 2011 ... Is it Over?

Now what?
Is 2011 really over? This "centennial" year?
A year that witnessed the fall down of 4 regimes (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen) and the 5th (Syria) is on the way, and change in all the Arab governments ...
A year that witnessed the split of Sudan, and withdrawal of America from Iraq...
A year that witnessed the death of tens of Egyptian & Arab Intellectuals (Anis Mansour, Ahmed Bahgat, Saad El Shazly, Hegazy, Khairy Shalaby, Mahmoud Hafez,...etc) and Celebs (Kamal El Shenawy, Omar El Hariry, Hend Rostom, Gom3a El Shawwan, Talaat El Sadat,....etc)  almost ending a whole generation of writers, thinkers, and actors..
A year that witnessed the killing and death of Qaddafi, Ben Laden, & Kim Yong...
A year that witnessed the marriage of the century in London, and the disaster of the century in Japan.
A year that witnessed the first world wide protests in more than 80 countries at the same time...
The year that witnessed the 10th anniversary of 9-11 that seemed nothing beside its events ...
A year that contained events of a century in 12 months!

Now 2011 is over, what do we expect from 2012?
Do we expect a more peaceful Egypt where people start thinking with their minds instead of their hearts?
Do we expect a more fair world where fierce capitalism is replaced with a more just economic system?
or Do we expect more of power struggle and split among Egyptians, and more injustice in the world?

Will 2012 be the end of the world, or the start of a new one?

Mohaly