Artichoke Annie's fantastic voyage

Longtime commenter Artichoke Annie has been on a long cruise this month, and she's chronicling every step of the trip on her blog. G'wan over and check it out. Today's post has her on a camel as she visits a Bedoin tribe in Safaga, Egypt.

The idea of being on a 41-day cruise to truly exotic places is so appealing. I'm trying not to burn with envy, but it's difficult.

Bill O'Reilly syndrome hits Egypt

CAIRO — As Egypt prepares to celebrate Orthodox Easter this weekend, controversial comments by a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood have sparked debate over whether supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who rose to prominence through the group, can wish their Christian countrymen “Happy Easter” without being considered un-Islamic. 

These folks really know how to focus on the important stuff, eh? This is just like O'Reilly's war-on-Christmas nonsense. He must be so proud to see Muslims championing a viewpoint identical to his own.

Women are not safe in Egypt

Appalling news from Egypt this morning. From the NYT:

“A woman needs to be confined within a framework that is controlled by the man of the house,” Osama Yehia Abu Salama, a Brotherhood family expert, said of the group’s general approach, speaking in a recent seminar for women training to become marriage counselors. Even if a wife were beaten by her husband, he advised, “Show her how she had a role in what happened to her.”

“If he is to blame,” Mr. Abu Salama added, “she shares 30 percent or 40 percent of the fault.” 

Nice, huh? And Morsi's spokesperson sounds little better. (And let's remember that Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood party.) But perhaps the most awful thing about this report is the reaction of most women in Egypt:

But Mr. Abu Salam also argued that husbands should keep their wives under tight control. “It’s the nature of the weak to overstep the required framework if she is given the space and the freedom, like children,” he said in the seminar. Most of the women nodded in agreement. 

If you read the linked story, you will be sickened -- guaranteed. That is, if your morals aren't already skewed by religion or other vile notions.

Egypt is a bit confused

Egypt doesn't seem to understand this whole democracy thing. The following lead paragraphs are from two different stories in the news this evening:

Egyptian prosecutors referred to trial Tuesday a well-known radical Islamist who tore up an English copy of the Bible during a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said freedom of expression must be used responsibly in a speech Tuesday to the Clinton Global Initiative in New York that hinted at looming tensions in the newly-democratic nation.

Yup, they're going to have to learn how to drive this bus. Mind you, I like Morsi. He's not a dunce and he's made some smart statements along the way. Besides, he's new at his job. I'm willing to cut him some slack. Who knows, with a little practice he might figure it out. But for the moment, the poor man's not even in the ballpark.

Blasphemy laws are really muddying the democratic waters in Egypt and other Middle east nations. Such laws cannot co-exist with democracy -- but the Egyptian people don't know this yet. I feel empathy for them, especially since so many Americans are slavering for an opportunity to establish a Christian theocracy here. If this ever happened, we'd have blasphemy laws within minutes.

The answer is always the same. Religion has to go if the world is ever to know peace.

Having the right people on your side

AP: "Egypt's military pledged not to fire on protesters in a sign that army support for President Hosni Mubarak may be unraveling on the eve of a major escalation — a push for a million people to take to the streets Tuesday to demand the authoritarian leader's ouster."

It's very cool when you have the military on your side. It made me wonder. If we get a ton of gay men and lesbians to enlist, and they take over the armed forces, maybe the military will be on our side when the government goes completely bonkers and tries to imprison us all. 

 Wouldn't that be cool? What? Oh. Never mind. 

A good thing happened this week

These days it's rare to see a story about people acting selflessly to help others. Yet there was one such story this week. You know you want to feel better. So go ahead: click the link below. G'wan.

Egyptian Muslims act as human shields for Copts.

I found it at Think Progress this morning.