546) Lights Off ... Lives On !!

Earth Hour will next take place on TODAY March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm, local time. I am participating and will ask my evening class to have the lights off.

2,398 cities, towns and municipalities in 83 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming. 

I urge all my blog followers and readers to turn off the lights tonight from 8:30pm to 9:30pm their local time.

SHARE IN MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

Mohaly

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007,and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.

http://www.earthhour.org/about/eg:en

342) Is it hard for us to have a Clean Hajj!

Other than the great feeling of satisfaction, and happiness in Hajj. There were some stuff that were really annoying. On the top of which comes the sanity & garbage problem.

I am just wondering if Hajj was an obligation on Europeans and organized by Germany, would it be that chaotic, messy, and dirty. Saudi organizers collected 15,000 TONS of garbage in the Eid days only, other than Arafat, Mecca, & Mozdalifa! In the last couple of days the smell of garbage in the paths of Menna were like the smell of pollution in Cairo! No wonder that most of us are sick when we are back or even before.

I hope that one day I can see a CLEAN and Human communication and attitude between Muslims specially in the Holy lands where we should be at our best!

Mohaly

337) Are we serious?!

Today in Ahram, Salah Montasir was wondering about how serious are we in solving our major problems..

هل نحن جادون في حل مشكلة المرور والسحابة السوداء والقمامة والحفاظ علي نظافة مياه النيل؟ وهل نحن جادون في حل مشكلة البطالة والهجرة غير المشروعة‏,‏ ومشكلات التعليم بما يتناسب مع التطور العالمي‏,‏ ومشكلة أطفال الشوارع والحفاظ علي الرقعة الزراعية؟ وهل نحن جادون في محاربة الفساد خاصة في المحليات ومقاومة العشوائيات والتاكسيات القديمة في شوارع المحروسة؟ هل نحن جادون في محاربة الارتفاع الجنوني في الأسعار ومكافحة المخدرات واستغلال الطاقة الشمسية وتطوير نظام الري وترشيد استهلاك المياه وإزالة الغام الصحراء الغربية واستثمار المنطقة زراعيا وصناعيا؟

so the question is are we serious? my answer is I DONT THINK SO!
As long as everyone is waiting for others to start, as long as there are people who benefit from this situation, as long as there is no real vision, strategies, & actions... then WE WILL NEVER BE SERIOUS!

Mohaly

252) Honna Al Kahira - Cairo From Above!

Everytime I am back in the daylight, I wonder why does Cairo look like that from above, unlike all cities where you can clearly see green areas, planned routes, water, parks, and landmarks, Cairo seems to have been dyed in a dusty ugly color... take a look at Nasr City from the plane, amazing!!

Mohaly

247) Killing Me Softly in Cairo!

In a recent report, Cairo topped the world cities as being the MOST POLLUTED CITY in the whole world...I really cried coz this city doesnt deserve what we are doing, it doesnt deserve both its ignorant and arrogant inhabitants who turned it from one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL and DESIRED cities in the 2nd half of 19th century to what we have now...

Mohaly (very sad)

Cairo’s air pollution crisis has had a major impact on the health of its inhabitants and the environment. This problem is unfortunately endemic of many megacities of the third world. Air quality in Cairo has been reaching dangerous levels of lead, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and suspended particulate matter concentrations due to decades of unregulated car emissions, urban industrial operations, and chaff and trash burning. Cairo’s geography and climate exacerbate these human sources of pollution. The level of air pollution in Cairo ranges from 10 to 100 times higher than the standards set by the World Health Organization. The Egyptian government, with the continued help of foreign nations, has begun to impose air quality standards among the relevant industries and instill a sense of accountability among its citizens.

197) Why are Egyptians so Noisy?!

I got this on my mail and thought of sharing it with you guys...I think it is worth reading and discussing...
Mohaly

Away from stereotypes and generalizations, why are we –Egyptians- so noisy? Why are we loud?
Down the street, at home, in a train, in a cinema, in the opera house, even in the desert!
When I say we, I don’t exclude myself and I don’t mean all Egyptians. The beeping horns, the loud music, the f__ mobile phone tones…what is it? Did we develop a “culture of noise”? Or has it always been the case?
I’m trying a naïve synopsis, and you are all invited to disagree, agree, and comment, to the end of the list:

First: Freedom & Ignorance
Given the high rate of illiteracy (let alone the decay of ethics), many Egyptians don’t even know what freedom means. They don’t know what it means enjoying their lives (sometimes, through very noisy practices) without offending or annoying others. None of us was spared a noisy street wedding or a funeral’s loudspeakers next door.

Second: Despair & Selfishness
I think there are millions of Egyptians who feel that “we’re going nowhere, we stand no chance”. If the ship is sinking anyway, then at least let’s enjoy our last hour! We will do it selfishly and noisily!

Third: Passiveness
A legacy of oppression, ignorance and absence of basic human rights fermented into a passive attitude towards everything and everyone, including those idiots who play their music at loudest, those who talk and laugh loud down every street and corner, to the end of the list.

Fourth: Heritage & the Big City
Since day one, a newborn is exposed to every form of noise that there is! Zaghareet, seboo3, loud birthdays…they grow up into a city of 18 million plus…a city of over a million cars…a city that never sleeps.

Fifth: Attention
A guy wants to impress a girl, and because he (and probably she) knows no other means to impress a lady other than money, muscle and property, he draws her attention using the common language of noise (honking, latest song, mobile ring tones, etc! You only need one train ride to experience the entire range of the mobile phone ring tones on earth…
And because I’m not a money and muscle guy, I come to realize that I am “only a voice in a city of noise” as Chris de Burgh once said! But no…Templars: We are all responsible…be positive…don’t be noisy…don’t let noise rule.

137) We need it to clean the Air, Corruption, Minds,.....

134) Honna Al Kahira - Part I

Cairo at 7am, i.e. polluted before pollution starts!