[ARABNEWS] What Egyptians want from the US is a seemingly endless list of very complicated demands that may conflict with one another if truly addressed. Egyptians wonder why America, as a global superpower and the largest economy on earth, does not offer its full-fledged support to our country ‐ especially after the inauguration of President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , whom we, among a few other countries, hoped would win the presidency.
Egyptians want the US administration to help resolve Egypt’s economic challenges by investing a tiny percentage of its national budget in our economy, along with increasing economic aid substantially. In addition, we want the US to help us to settle our regional disputes by imposing our government’s political viewpoint on the nations with whom we are in conflict. While Egyptians are busy adding to their demands, we have not bothered to find reasonable justifications as to how the US would benefit by acceding.
Egyptians view successful foreign relations as "friendships with one-way benefits" (in our favor, obviously). We believe that other nations should be committed to helping us either because we once supported them a few decades ago or because, by strengthening the Egyptian state, they too will benefit. While we want the US and other nations to act on our demands, the Egyptian government believes foreign nations should not interfere in our domestic affairs; even the offer of advice is viewed as an attack on our national illusory sovereignty.
The majority of our citizens tend to adhere to our inherited thinking pattern, including people who have permanently immigrated to other nations (but refrained from truly absorbing the cultures of their adopted homelands). Large numbers of well-educated Egyptians, some of whom have been living in the US for years, endorse this political proposition. Not making room for understanding other nations’ political dynamics has trapped us into over-anticipating their willingness to support us.
The Egyptian government and its cronies had imagined that, once Trump came to power, the growing wish list that had been stuck away in a drawer for years would be transformed into purchase orders paid for by the new American administration. They believed that President Trump would immediately instruct his officials to respond positively to our demands. This belief was demonstrated by the dispatch of various semi-governmental delegations to meet with US decision-makers; a move that, unknown to us, ended up harming our position further.
Our incomplete understanding of the political dynamics of many foreign nations, including the US, has widened and intensified our regional and international quarrels. Why should any nation work on increasing its enemies by adopting Egypt’s political agenda? Granting Egypt’s political and economic demands, which include pressuring nations with whom we are in conflict, will place other nations in impartial positions ‐ even if our state’s demands are justified.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, there was another kaboom... the US and other nations often suggest alternative approaches to our problems, and we tend either to overlook their gestures or to neglect their advice, believing that our tactics will serve us better. Furthermore, most foreign countries still prefer to discuss their political disputes with Egypt behind closed doors; thus, our citizens are left in the dark, with the result that we don’t know our friends from our foes.
As our wishes and demands accumulate, the Egyptian state persistently hints to its citizens of the need for extreme caution when dealing with foreign nations. Thus, even if the US administration was to decide to comply with the entirety of Egypt’s requests, Egyptians would still question the political motives behind the Americans’ move. Within the current conspiracy theory framework, the US, and other nations, will always be viewed as the beneficiaries of their relationship with Egypt, regardless of their genuine support efforts or financial aid.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
There are two things to remember about Egypt.
(a) Egypt is the most civilized of Arab countries and the closest to being a real country.
(b) This isn't saying much.
h/t Instapundit
[FirstThings] Each of our parties is acting crazy, thanks to its own elites. The Republicans are acting crazy thanks to the narcissism and entitlement of the right-leaning business and professional classes. The Democrats are acting crazy thanks to racial politics‐specifically, the angry racial politics of upper-middle-class white liberals.
One irony of recent American politics is that the exodus of wage-earning whites from the Democratic party has tended to make the rump of white Democratic voters more affluent, better educated, and more doctrinaire leftist. According to Pew, about 35 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners are white "solid liberals."
Solid liberals are left-of-center on both economic and social issues, and they are pessimistic about American society. One presumes that they are pessimistic about other people in American society. The solid liberals are also the best educated and most affluent segment of the Democratic party’s factions.
The weakness of solid liberals is that they are electorally nothing, absent alliances with less affluent, less ideologically rigid, and less secular groups. This creates all kinds of complications. The largely white and affluent solid liberals are notionally egalitarian and opposed to white privilege, but they include many of the most privileged whites in America. How can they participate in a coalition that is largely poorer, less educated, and darker-skinned than they are, while maintaining their comfortable position (both economically and socially)?
#2
In financial analysis, there is a predictive point in some charts called a "death cross." Should be fun to see the point where dems decide unions are "icky..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/10/2017 8:30 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Better educated".
Uhhhh no.
"Credentialed by the academia" is not a guarantee of an education
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2017 8:37 Comments ||
Top||
#4
exodus of wage-earning whites from the Democratic party
#6
#3 Yes, exactly. Money is dwindling away. Middle class is gone. Blue collar has been purged away. Turning to Russia and China is their only future source of revenue. Hillary showed the way. Paid their bills even. They have always infused money to destabilize our country. Secrets stolen. Riots and influence on College campus. Martin Luther King enjoyed funding as well. He was to be arrested but somebody pulled the strings to prevent his arrest. The swamp has been around a long time. Trump is correct, move some government out of DC.
h/t Gates of Vienna
[AsiaTimes] For perhaps a quarter of the world’s population, President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem on December 6 was humiliating. Just for that reason it makes Middle East peace more probable. More than President Jimmy Carter, who brokered the Israeli-Egyptian peace deal of 1979, President Trump is likely to be remembered as the American president who contributed most to peace.
Wars end not when the loser is defeated, but rather when the loser is humiliated. Throughout history, as I argued in a 2016 survey of ancient and modern wars, losers have fought on until they lack the manpower to fill their depleted ranks. Typically that occurs after 30% of military-age men are dead, as in France during the Napoleonic Wars, the South in the American Civil War, or Germany in the Second World War. The losing side will not abandon hostilities until all those who want to fight to the death have had the opportunity to do so ‐ unless it is humiliated before the physical exhaustion of its resources has run its course.
That is why the use of atomic weapons against Japan well may have been an act of mercy. The American fire-bombing campaign had already wrecked most of Japan’s cities and killed far more civilians than perished at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan might have sustained far more damage in a conventional resolution through bombing and an eventual invasion. Atomic weapons humiliated the Japanese by displaying the incomparable superiority of Western technology and the pointlessness of further resistance.
There are some defeats whose memory is too painful to bear. As an executive of Bank of America, I spent considerable time at its Charlotte headquarters. My Carolina colleagues needed only a Bourbon or two to lapse into obsessive rehearsals of Civil War battles which, by rights, they should have won. They sounded goofy, but that’s what happens when you sacrifice nearly a third of your young men. IMO, he uses the wrong terminology: "Peace in ME", oh really - look at Iraq, Syria, Yemen, etc.... Moreover, there won't be peace in ME until Arabs stop being a tribal society - and I'm not sure they can. However, IMO, Trump's act is an important step on the way to the recognition of the fact that there is no such thing as "Palestinian People" - it's just a fiction promulgated by Jew Haters of Europe and Human haters of Dar.
#2
How would they tell their devastation from the rest of the Arab world?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/10/2017 19:49 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This is exactly what is wrong with the UN. In the past a war had a winner and a loser. Now we stop the conflict before there is actual defeat so the the loser can attack and attack and attack and get away with it. Kashmir, Palestine, and the Korean border were problems when the UN was created and they are problems now.
[IsraelTimes] In times of tension, Israel often bans younger Paleostinian males from prayers at Temple Mount. On Friday, it showed that, despite Trump's speech, nothing had changed on the ground.
Paleostinian protesters came out in the tens of thousands night after night for two weeks in July when Israel placed metal detectors at entrances to the al-Aqsa Mosque after three Arab Israelis killed two coppers there with weapons they had smuggled into the sacred Temple Mount compound.
This book is the essential collection of Mr. Franklin's famous sayings. In fact, only the wisdoms are included, which makes this seventy seven page book a classic coffee table or water closet item. Something I found myself enjoying is how language was used in Mr. Franklin's time. A few examples:
Thou hadst better eat salt with the philosophers of Greece, than sugar with the courtiers of Italy.
Mad Kings and mad Bulls are not to be held by treaties and packthread.
Fools need Advice most, but only wise Men are the better for it.
People who are wrapped up in themselves make small packages.
A fun read, and can be picked up and put down at will.
I am sure everyone is familiar with A Christmas Carol is one form or another. This medium really stood out for me. I have always scoffed at the term 'graphic novel'; no, that is a comic book. This, however, has changed my mind. Mr. Vossos does a fantastic pen and ink depiction of the classic story, and in a very emotional way. Having dabbled in every aspect it takes to put something like this together, I am impressed and stunned at the quality of work. The pictures are crisp, the paper is quality, and the binding just fantastic. I gave some as gifts, donated a copy to the library. Highly recommended.
Scroll down at the Link, and you will come across Mr. Vossos' recent project:
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan
Looking at the samples, this is a no-brainer. Thing is, Mr. Vossos, as I understand, is running a small business and is located in Canada, so time is running out for either of these books to be a present. Also, Mr. Vossos has a facebook page: Boo Ink.
This Week in Emergency Preparedness
There are plenty of videos out there of 'Dry Christmas Tree Catches Fire'. I swear, some of those trees must be kiln dried and sprayed with some sort of accelerant. Not that trees don't go up like crazy, and the dramatic footage does get the point across, its just, well, here is the demonstration video I'd recommend (not going to link, don't want to eat bandwidth):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2ghHdLdNI
Couple things I noticed right off the bat. First, how smoky it gets. Second, that there is no carpet/flooring which would add to the smoke. Remember, it is the smoke which is the killer. The video also does a decent job showing a smoke-filled room and the thermal layering which occurs. Note, that is not a totally enclosed room like a house would have, so the smoke does not fill as quickly as a real room would.
Keep your tree watered. Do not forget that artificial trees can catch fire, too, and are very nasty if they do on account of the chemical soup they will put out. Keep those smoke detector batteries in, even if the chef burns water*.
*This can actually happen. I might tell one day why I know this.
For those with cats, children, and spirited adults... mind the candles. And with that, I set down my Johnny Depp Mother Hen Hat, grab a glass, and head to the Parlay Room.
#2
Great list. I might add the abridged edition of Franklin's biography. His recounting of where the term "strong beer" come from is a great recounting of moronic hilarity. The man was stunning in his ability to reflect, describe and publicize common sense obvious.
Dry trees? We had fire ignite one of our live white pines. At over 60 feet tall, the tree flared up in front of us, God and a dozen Firemen. All 60 feet of that beautiful tree was gone in under a minute. Mind you that was just the live needles.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[ARABNEWS] What Egyptians want from the US is a seemingly endless list of very complicated demands that may conflict with one another if truly addressed. Egyptians wonder why America, as a global superpower and the largest economy on earth, does not offer its full-fledged support to our country ‐ especially after the inauguration of President 
[IsraelTimes] In times of tension, Israel often bans younger Paleostinian males from prayers at Temple Mount. On Friday, it showed that, despite Trump's speech, nothing had changed on the ground.
