Expatriates like me who live in Cairo don't own a car. I own a car in England but my daughter uses it and I've more or less signed it over to her. I could not own a car in the craziest city in the World because it would not last one week! I've been driving for over forty years but there is no way that I am going to drive in Cairo--it is a mad, road-raged city with bumps every five minutes (I don't mean speed bumps)--and an impatience that would try a saint. So, like millions of others in our ...

I do enjoy living in Cairo. One reason is, that It is, probably, the mecca of home delivery in Africa, if not the World. Here are some insights that will probably boggle your mind: -My British newspapers and my auto magazines are delivered to my door twice a week. I receive the Sunday Times on the next day, Monday. - If I want a Pizza, a burger or a Chinese meal, I log on to a home delivery site that delivers in twenty minutes.Yes, there's MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Hardees, KFC a...

As the 15 British sailors captured as hostages by Iran are paraded by the Iranians ad nauseam on TV, one wonders whether either side has a "calming down" policy that will resolve the situation. Iran is a revolutionary state with enough hidden agendas to confuse the brightest of diplomats. Little Ahmed (Ahmadinejad), is the President of Iran but I'll venture he's a figurehead way down in the pecking order of Iranian politics. He is probably a puppet President but very popular for his outspoken...

Hurrah! President Ahmedinejad of Iran has found a perfect excuse to hit back at his detractors.Kidnap 15 British marines (who may or may not, have trespassed into his waters -although the Iranians themselves seem confused about the exact co-ordinates), then use them for propaganda and ask the Brits for an apology. This man has an axe to grind and he sure has a strange outlook on global etiquette. He is so embroiled in his oil superiority and nuclear ambitions that he does not realise that, a)...

Skynews today flighted a march in Britain to celebrate the Bi-Centenary of the abolition of slavery. One clip featured a group of people marching in chains with "So sorry" written on their black T shirts. Should we, Joeusers, be saying sorry for something that happened over two hundred years ago? Are we so riddled with guilt that we must apologise for something we had nothing to do with? Wait, I hear voices saying that saying sorry will improve relationships between the races. Really? Should'...

I read the most bizarre story today on Google News. Apparently if an elderly or ill passenger dies on a British Airways flight the corpse is moved to First Class to avoid "distress in economy". The airline (and probably other airlines too), has no other way of disposing of the body while in the air. This, of course, conjures up various silly situations in the First Class cabin, like: Air Hostess: "Would sir like white wine or red? Perhaps a little water? (Reminds me of Shelley Berman's "Co...

I do not know whether JU friends agree or not but I think we're going through a (temporary), lull at the moment. JU can be very active and inspiring, but like everything, we hit our lows from time to time. As a a loyal Joeuser I thought I'd sow a few topics out there and we can debate them adnauseam (ha ha). Lets see if you can agree or get angry over these topics for discussion: 1. General Peter Pace is narrow-minded and out of touch about gay men. 2. Senator John McCain will be 72 in 20...

In my previous post I ventured to suggest that Zimbabwe was sliding into the mire as surely as a hippo in quicksand. Quicksand is not the right word at all. A hell-hole would be closer after yesterday's events. I'm really angry and upset by the blatant bullying and plain unadulterated assault perpetrated on MDC (the opposition party), supporters and the leader, Morgan Tsangvirai. The United States has issued a warning to the polecat Mugabe that he release the MDC prisoners and desist from as...

I blog regularly about Zimbabwe--not to seek points or because of a personal vendetta---it is because I feel deeply for a country that was my neighbour for decades. It is also because I have close friends in the teaching profession who are Zimbabweans and now live in South Africa. The pensions they draw now would not buy a cup of coffee or a doughnut (if they are available). Two items of news caught my eye today: Morgan Tsangvirai, leader of the opposition MDC party, spoke on Sky News this...

Two days ago a group of British Embassy staff was kidnapped in the remote Afar Desert in North Eastern Ethiopia. they had been on their way to salt mines in the Dalol region. Why they, we presume supposedly informed, were venturing into unknown (and desolate, hostile), territory we shall probably find out soon. However, they were held up by people who are probably rebels for the Afar cause (independence from Ethiopia), and could be anywhere. What is worrying is that their vehicles have be...

I promised I would post on Egypt and Cairo from time to time. When the Aswan Dam was built in the early sixties it became known, notoriously, as the "Cold War Dam". President Gamal Nasser wanted to build a new dam on the Nile so that the water flow along the Nile could be controlled. An older dam (Aswan lower Dam), had been built in 1902 by the British but it was not successful in keeping back the waters of the river. Before this, for three thousand years, the ancient Egyptians had used ...

The International Criminal Court has identified two people who are responsible for the killing (on 56 counts), of Darfur peoples (see link). No doubt the ICC will produce more names as time goes by. However Darfuris say "that the list must include the main perpetrator of the violence that has cost at least 200 000 lives and the displacement of 2 million people--the President of Sudan himself, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir." His government has been accused of arming the Janjaweed to instigate ethnic c...

Like Nero in Roman times Robert Mugabe will feast while all around him there is no food for the masses. They will spend 1.2 million American dollars celebrating Mugabe's 83rd birthday and feasting while there is no bread, jam or tinned foods for the Zimbabwean people. The honorable Robert will tuck into lavish food in Gweru (formerly Bulawayo),and Harare, and congratulate himself on a job well done. Whilst Mugabe tucks into his venison steaks the people he treats as second class citizens a...

Sky News (see link), reported today on the President who claims to be able to cure AIDS. President Yahya Jammeh, President of The Gambia, has convinced his people that he can cure them of AIDS. The president, who has no background in medicine, claims to have a secret herbal ointment that cures those with the HIV virus. As he is the supreme power in his country no one dare admit that the ointment does nothing but leave them "greasy". Sky news tried to get the recipe for the secret formula ...