Category Archives: Uncategorized
Is Egypt Safe to Visit?
The sad thing is that this has to be written – hope that Egypt finds way to reconciliation, democracy and respect for all faiths and peoples that make up the best of Egypt!
Through the past three years, Egypt has witnessed a turbulent economic and political atmosphere. From the Port Said Stadium Massacre to frequent unrest at Tahrir Square and the recent toppling of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, tourists often start to think that Egypt has become unsafe. This has resulted in very low hotel occupancy rates – with only 30% occupancy during peak times – and has severely impacted Egypt’s tourism sector, leading to higher unemployment and the closure of several businesses.
However, despite the lack of law and order, very little of Egypt’s instability actually impacts the tourists. All major tourist attractions are well-guarded and locals are more than glad to be receiving foreigners (you are their business!).
Going to the Citadel in Cairo – for example – you cannot enter with a vehicle unless you are part of a tour group (or are a government official). Upon entering…
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Green Drinks: Mosquitoes and Dengue
Why is Singapore currently experiencing a dengue epidemic? How does the Aedes mosquito, as the dengue vector, behave? Why is it so difficult to eradicate? Against the backdrop of the outbreak, research is critical for sense-making and identifying possible contributing factors to the current situation. Step behind the scenes with Associate Professor Ng Lee Ching to discover how Singapore’s dengue control programme utilises science to guide its operations. Find out why dengue is hitting harder this year, and what you can do to help stop transmission via this potent environmental threat.
Speaker’s Bio:

Assoc Prof Ng Lee Ching is Director of the Environmental Health Institute, an institute of the NEA and a World Health Organisation collaboration centre. She graduated with a PhD from the Department of Microbiology, National University of Singapore and obtained further post-doctoral research training at the Umeå University, Sweden. With keen interest in translational research on infectious diseases, she…
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Protest for Roula
We were around 120-150 people to join the protest calling for justice for Roula on Sunday the 21st of July.
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On Flight
Egyptian Aak: Week28. Coup, Plots, and “Useless Idiots”
Main Headlines
Monday
- 51 protestors have been killed in clashes outside the military headquarters:
- Muslim Brotherhood’s FJP calls for international intervention to stop “massacres” –
- ElBaradei: Egypt in “dire need” of reconciliation
- National Bank of Egypt provides $65m to fund the import of gasoline and diesel fuel
- Pro-Morsi protest at Cairo University
- Al-Jazeera Kicked out of military’s news conference
- Armed Islamists attack state buildings in Port Said
Tuesday
- Egyptian armed forces release statement hailing new roadmap
- Liberal economist Hazem El-Beblawi appointed new Egyptian PM
- Muslim Brotherhood rejects transition plan
- Brotherhood mourns ‘martyrs,’ maintains calls for Morsi’s reinstatement
- New constitutional declaration is controversial
- Rafah crossing reopens
- Turkish ambassador summonedover Ankara’s calls for UN intervention in Egypt
- Saudi and UAE to lend Egypt up to $8 billion
- Prosecutor-general Abdel Maguid Mahmoud officially resigns
Wednesday
- Egypt’s interim cabinet to be formed next week: PM
- Egypt strongly dissatisfied…
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Immigration Reform & The Latino Majority
¡Viva Valentina!
Post By Valentina Forte-Hernandez
The attention that is being put towards immigration reform marks progress in the immigrant rights movement, but the bill that is currently being discussed in the senate is not ideal. While the bill would pave the way to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country, it would take 10 years for them to receive legal residency. It would take another 5 years for these immigrants to receive health care access, which means it would be 15 years until 11 million people would be able to access their basic human right to health care. Reading articles about the bill predicting that it is likely to pass is disheartening, but scrolling down and reading the comments people have written in response is straight up disturbing. There is clear opposition to the bill, however the opposition voiced through the comments comes from racist citizens of…
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Free Syrian Army threatens blood feud after senior officer killed by jihadists | World news | The Guardian
The main homegrown group, Jabhat al-Nusra, has been undermined by a power struggle between its nominal leader, Abu Muhammad al-Golani, and the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has led the terror group in its revitalised insurgency against Iraq’s Shia-led government.
Baghdadi has attempted to combine his group with Jabhat al-Nusra but was rebuffed in May by Golani, who was reported to have instead pledged loyalty to the al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Since then, Jabhat al-Nusra’s ranks have split in the same way that the FSA has splintered in the past year.
While it remains a formidable fighting force, it cannot boast the same rigid control over its members and especially over foreign fighters who are increasingly creating their own leadership structures and setting their own rules.
“I’ve always said that this would become like Anbar,” where al-Qaida was driven out in 2006 after earning the ire of local hosts, said a rebel leader in Aleppo. “And I was right. This is now a land of warlords and clans, of foreigners with a perverse form of Islam that share neither our views or goals.
New test of California same-sex marriages : SCOTUSblog
Arguing that the right of same-sex couples to get married in California actually exists now in no more than two of the state’s fifty-eight counties, the sponsors of the “Proposition 8″ ban on such unions returned to the California Supreme Court on Friday, seeking an order to block further marriage licenses for gays and lesbians. The ballot measure’s advocates asked for immediate enforcement of the ban approved by California voters in 2008.
via New test of California same-sex marriages : SCOTUSblog.
Give up now
Purslane-The Edible Weed
The other Purslane, Portulaca oleracea, is considered a common weed in most of the U.S but did you know it is also edible? Look how different it looks from the cultivated types I just posted about. I want to write about both aspects of it as a food source and also as a weed. Purslane thrives in New Mexico where the dry climate is conducive to its needs. The plant looks like a succulent with its thick reddish, flesh colored stems and milky leaves. It has a long taproot and produces a yellow flower with many seeds.
This purslane is edible (like the cultivated types from Europe) when young and can be used in salads or cooked like greens. It is more and more being discovered as a food source and is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and antioxidants. In fact it has…
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