Article

2012-01-24 Africa North

And so it begins: Egyptian Treasury auction sold only 1/3rd of offer

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Posted by trailing wife 2012-01-24 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 A picture of a piece of toast might be in order here.

Posted by Canuckistan sniper 2012-01-24 00:28|| 2012-01-24 00:28|| Front Page Top

#2 Let Allan, whom they love so much, feed them.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2012-01-24 03:28|| 2012-01-24 03:28|| Front Page Top

#3 Maybe we'll be lucky and Egypt will only become another Pakistan, instead of another Iran.

Posted by Bobby 2012-01-24 05:41|| 2012-01-24 05:41|| Front Page Top

#4 "will only become"?

Posted by Pappy 2012-01-24 08:34|| 2012-01-24 08:34|| Front Page Top

#5 Maybe we'll be lucky and Egypt will only become another Pakistan, instead of another Iran.

Let's pray it doesn't become another Somalia, where life is post-apocalyptically nasty, brutish, and short...and destructive of the remaining infrastructure. (Not a thought original to me, but it lead to nightmares last night after I posted the article.)

Posted by trailing wife 2012-01-24 08:47|| 2012-01-24 08:47|| Front Page Top

#6 Drain Lake Nassar (behind the Aswan) and they would have 50 years worth of Nile silt to plant some productive crops in. Of course they would lose the electric power but you can't "yet" eat electricity.

Posted by Water Modem 2012-01-24 09:02|| 2012-01-24 09:02|| Front Page Top

#7 Oh and Mubarak started a "Y" in the Nile after the dam. Ran it about 50 miles and lost interest. Run the lake Nasar water down the Y and let it lose itself in the desert - in the process creating millions of acres of farm-able land.

Posted by Water Modem 2012-01-24 09:09|| 2012-01-24 09:09|| Front Page Top

#8 I can only hope that the people that so embraced radical Islam will learn something from this.

Most likely they won't.

Posted by DarthVader 2012-01-24 09:37|| 2012-01-24 09:37|| Front Page Top

#9 If we starve, it is not because of the Egyptian government. It is Allah's will alone. Man cannot affect what He has in store for us. Insh'Allah.

Posted by gromky 2012-01-24 10:46|| 2012-01-24 10:46|| Front Page Top

#10 Egypt is almost unique in that it has only three seasons: flood season, crop season, then for the rest of the year do other stuff season.

The Nile is, or at least was, a mostly reliable source of flooding, and they took advantage of it, growing one huge crop then putting it in storage to last the rest of the year.

They decided to be crafty by building the Aswan dam. However, the plus of excessive flood control and year around water came with some drawbacks.

The first of these is that the flood waters no longer replenish the soil nutrients, so they have to import fertilizer.

In the US, in its western dams, they have realized that periodically flushing out dams with a controlled flood both gets rid of dam silt and sends it downriver where it can do some good. It has the added bonus that it can be done at your convenience.

Second, by having an irrigation water supply the year around, while it permits more crops, it also encourages lots of insects to eat those crops, far more than would normally exist. These insects also spread diseases.

Posted by Anonymoose 2012-01-24 12:27|| 2012-01-24 12:27|| Front Page Top

#11 Now what's the over / under on distracting the population from their starvation by going on jihad against all the pagan symbols of ancient Egypt?

My guess is the Temple of Luxor goes first within 3 years.

Posted by AlanC 2012-01-24 12:46|| 2012-01-24 12:46|| Front Page Top

#12 Now what's the over / under on distracting the population from their starvation by going on jihad against all the pagan symbols of ancient Egypt?

Or against Israel. Not a move which has ever worked before, but a popular idea in that part of the world.

Posted by trailing wife 2012-01-24 18:33|| 2012-01-24 18:33|| Front Page Top

#13 then for the rest of the year do other stuff season.
It's that 'do other stuff' season that leads to the need for ever-increasing food supply. Sort of like Katrina babies, but on a regular schedule.

Posted by Glenmore 2012-01-24 18:37|| 2012-01-24 18:37|| Front Page Top

#14 Sigh ... everyone who visited Egypt in the last couple of decades get good pictures of the ancient antiquities? Nice collection of memorabilia? Do the Western museums with good collections have a good tight hold on them?
I fear, alas - that very soon, this is the only means we will have of experiencing Egypt. Pity, that. It was a nice place, once.

Posted by Sgt. Mom 2012-01-24 19:21|| 2012-01-24 19:21|| Front Page Top

#15 It was a nice place, once.

Amazing how things can go completely to hell in just a millennium or two.

Posted by SteveS 2012-01-24 21:22|| 2012-01-24 21:22|| Front Page Top

#16 SteveS wins Snark o'the Day!

Posted by trailing wife 2012-01-24 21:25|| 2012-01-24 21:25|| Front Page Top

#17 "One-third" is being polite.

Methinks Virgina just found out once again why many Islamists call for imposing hefty fees + surcharges, etc. on foreign ships transiting the Suez Canal.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2012-01-24 23:49|| 2012-01-24 23:49|| Front Page Top

23:56 JosephMendiola
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22:45 Procopius2k
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21:55 Past Master of the Obvious