Egyptians are fed up...

Enough is Enough!

Hosni Mubarak is determined to remain in office.  Egyptians are furious - will they be silenced once again and accept the transfer of power in September and not today?

Omar Suleiman, the Vice President, seems to have accepted the demands of Mubarak and not of the people. His call for people to go back home, go back to work, and not listen to foreign media and continue living life back to "normal". This call sounds so familiar - similar calls were made by another autocrat - one who oppressively ruled Kenya (neighbor to the south of Egypt) for 24 years and had refused to leave in the hope of passing an amendment to make him life President.

The Egyptians have rejected Suleimans call!!!! The crowds want one thing only - Mubarak to step down.  Anger is clearly visible. This is just the beginning of the end... like in Tunisia.

Egypt Tomorrow - February 11, 2011 or Tonight

You have to STEP DOWN, Mubarak!!

"The situation is not about Hosni Mubarak but about Egypt and so let's continue the dialogue that has already started...." - H. Mubarak.

There is a possibility of civil unrest and the army may step in. Question is ... on whose side is the army?

Thousands are moving towards the palace right now... all shouting "down with the regime"

What???? Hosni Mubarak is not stepping down???

I am here to stay

Mubarak is still in Cairo and will address the nation from from his palace in Cairo reports Al Arabiya - the national TV station. However, there are rumors that he is now in UAE and that the Minister of State is in currently in control. 


The Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that this is a coup d'etat by the army but the people on the ground are denying this claim. The army and the people are in unity - they say.


The other new information coming out is that Hosni Mubarak is being asked to "step aside" not "step down". So he will transfer some of the powers to the Vice President, Omar Suleiman.


Are we seeing the birth of a new Republic????

Wind of change in Egypt - People Power!!!

It has been seventeen days of persistant protests and today we are seeing history in the making in Egypt. President Mubarak's future is being discussed behind closed doors and he will be making an announcement in a few hours.


This is being called the "winter revolution".  Euphoria is high!!  It seems that the Vice President Omar Suleiman will take over at least until a date is set for a democratic election.  


This is good news to Israel who have been watching the events unfold in silence but with great concern because the largest political opposition group in Egypt is the Muslim Brotherhood. This is the world's most influential Islamist movement and is not friendly towards Israel.


Israel prefers to have Suleiman replace Mubarak because he is friendly towards Israel and so will keep the peace treaty between the two countries active, The peace treaty was signed in 1979.


However, today it is about Egypt and its people. Will Mubarak step down????? No one knows... it is an uncertain time but we are watching a defining moment in history.

The dark side of Christmas

So I just completed reading this interesting small book called "A Not-So-Silent Night" that talks about the dark side of Christmas.  It is the unheard story of Christmas and why it matters by Verlyn D. Verbrugge.

Verlyn analysis the period between Mary's conception and the Magi's visit - which is usually reflected in Christmas pageants.  He suggests that the real reason Jesus was born was to die and this instigated a war in the heavens that had various earthly impacts. He also explores the cultural attitudes and responses at that time to the news of a Messiah, the King of the Jews.

The chapter that captivated me and got me thinking was chapter 4 - "Mary's Shame".  The first century was  sharply inclined to what we call today an "honor-shame culture" which was no different from the days of the Old Testament.  Having a child out of wedlock is still considered a shameful thing in many cultures around the world although it has become an acceptable way of life in western culture.  Societies have developed various tools to discourage or at least mitigate such possibilities. Some tools are extreme such as stoning to death - others are painful but not fatal - like banishment from the home.  All in all it is the girl who usually got/ or gets the raw end - as a single mother, a pariah in the community, a symbol of shame to the family and many times designated to the low-economic bracket due to unplanned costs.

Anyway, having this background, Mary accepted to be impregnated with the seed of Jesus as a virgin. She probably figured that everyone would understand and be amazed that she was carrying the Messiah that all Jews were anticipating.  But this was not so.  She was treated as a social outcast and Joseph had to come to her rescue after the angel had persuaded him that Mary's story was true.

So what is interesting to me are the circumstances orchestrated by God - who is responsible for this dark-sided Christmas story.  He got an innocent girl pregnant out of wedlock and then has the fiance shack-in with her before they were married. Was God thinking/working outside the box - so to speak? What does this say about His ways?  Would you have believed Mary story if you were there then or would you have easily judged her because of her totally "incoherent lie" - that she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit - yeah right!

Let's Talk!!!

Define Me!

Who am I? On the surface this is seems a simple question and can be answered with various nouns and adjectives. I am a beautiful and intelligent woman.  I am a thinker.  I am  a surgeon. I am a compassionate and caring husband. And so on. However, when we dig deeper and go to the place we rarely want to go and ask this question with our heart and mind then the answer becomes almost like a mirror to ourselves. It spells out our identity - assumed or real identity.

How do I define myself?
I suggest that the response comes from that which gives you purpose. Is it your career? Your wealth?Your social status? Your children? Your husband or wife? Your religious faith?  Don't answer this question until you ask yourself - What or Who in your life if removed permanently or temporarily would leave you "define-less" - lacking identity?

Sometimes we are not even aware of what or who we allow to define us until that thing or person is taken away and we are left scrambling to make sense of who we really are.  We wonder if we truly believe the definition bestowed on us whether with assistance from others or just by ourselves - in our secret place.

I came across a sign some years ago that said "Don't take life too seriously, it is just a temporary situation".  Casting Crowns - the contemporary Christian rock band - in their song"Who am I?" give the same temporal view in the chorus - "... I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind..." Casting Crowns - Who Am I?

Very true... life as we know it is temporal... but this is the only "situation", the only "flower", "wave", "vapor" we will have so we take it so seriously that at a certain point in our lives we need to know who we are, know this "situation", "flower", because it somehow gives us meaning, makes us relevant - or so we want to believe.

It is a lonely place to be - when that which gives you meaning is taken or lost - at least until you re-define yourself and spell out a new identity, a new self - assumed or authentic (real) self.

Related Links:
Dr Phil - Self Matters
Todd Monger - Defining Self in a World of Errors
Marilynn B. Brewer - Abstract - The Social Self: On Being the Same and different at the Same Time

About Albert - our fish

This is Albert our pet fish. He is a Japanese killer fish aka Betta fish. The other day, Mike, found him lying on one of the leafs in his bowl. He has interesting ways to communicate. He knows when I am about to feed him and as soon as he sees me holding his little pellets he does somersaults. It is fun just watching him. More later...