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Political Irony is going to have someone else posting stories for a month.
Why? Because I’m leaving the country on a trip. I’m going to go see what’s up in the Middle East, including visiting Egypt, Israel, and other countries. I should have Internet access from time to time so you will see some posts filed by me, but mostly you will see posts from my good friend “Iron Filing”. So if you disagree with anything you see in here, it was definitely posted by my substitute!
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LOL. Running for political office??? “if you disagree with anything you see in here, it was definitely posted by my substitute!” sounds like Washington-speak to me.
Plausible Deniability!
Have a good time and stay safe!
What PatriotSGT said!
Have fun!
“Iron Filing” *pun-groan*
Good Luck IK
What THOUGHT DANCER said!
Safe travels, IK. As for IF, you’d better watch out, cuz we ain’t givin’ you no slack.
We expect a full report on your return! 🙂
And stay out of trouble. No really. Come back safe.
Make sure your passport doesn’t expire while you are away. And don’t go hiking anywhere near the Iranian border.
Israel and Egypt? Oy that is so Jewish! (Baruch hashem, friend! ~heh~)
Stay safe, keep your powder dry, and don’t take any wooden shekels…etc, etc… we will miss you!
Visiting a few other countries than Egypt and Israel, but those will have to remain a mystery, for now!
During your sabbatical, to WHOM do I address my emails containing ironic links or content?
Safe travels..!
We’re off on the first leg of our trip! Be nice to Iron Filing! 🙂
We’ll treat IF just like we treat you!
We’ve been in Cairo for a few days now. Saw Tahir Square, but we just finished up the Feast of Abraham and it was a huge party scene. You wouldn’t know these people are in the middle of a democratic revolution — everyone seems to be in good spirits. Tourism is starting to pick up again and things seem almost normal (for Egypt). Everyone loves to talk about what is going on with the upcoming elections.
Already had one media myth exploded. The story we hear in the US was that Mubarak was a good leader for a while, but then he turned bad. I guess that is a good story for the US, since we supported him. But the people here tell me that once Mubarak gained power, he immediately set about installing himself for life and was not a particularly good leader. Of course, Egypt has had pretty good leaders in the past — both Sadat and Nasser are beloved.
Great to get an update from you IK!
Although I’m enjoying hosting PI for you, I’m sure that I’m only one among many anxiously awaiting your return to the helm of Political Irony 🙂
You’re doing a great job, Iron Filing. I might just stay here in Egypt!
IK: No! Come back to us! 😉
Ditto to Thought Dancer 🙂
You guys are too sweet. I am having a great time here, though. We stayed in Cairo last night, about a block from the protests that erupted yesterday. Been interesting talking to people about that, getting conflicting opinions. One person was happy for the protests (that he estimated at a million people) because they would keep the military from trying to stay in charge. Another, younger person, thought that the protests were just to give the Islamic Brotherhood some good PR before the elections coming up at the end of the month. Situation is complicated.
We were in Alexandria last night, now back in Cairo. The protests turned violent yesterday (while we were gone) with 2 people dead and around a thousand injured. Looks calmer now, but there was tear gas earlier today. Was going to wander over, but now thinking we will just watch from the relative safety of our 16th floor window, which looks down on Tahir square.
IK: Oh the places you’ll go!
Stay safe, and please prepare a post for when you get back.
Trying to stay safe. The protests escalated again, with the police driving everyone out of the square using tear gas and beating the protestors with sticks. Then the police set fire to everything left by the protestors, their signs, flags, tents, even a motorcycle. We stayed inside the hotel while that was going on, watching it from our window or on TV. Finally things have calmed down, so I went across the street where there is internet.
A couple people getting pepper sprayed in Portland pales in comparison. Be safe.
Don. Yeah. I’ll feel better when IK goes to a more stable location.
All safe! Have been away from Cairo for two days, in the Sinai peninsula now. Going to Jordan tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
See my comments here: https://www.politicalirony.com/2011/11/22/breaking-news-iron-knee-not-arrested-in-cairo/
IK: Good to hear from you!
You sure know how to pick a vacation spot 🙂 I think you should talk to your travel agent.
Happy Thanksgiving to All
Just finishing up in Jordan. Petra was even more amazing than I expected. Also spent the night with Bedouins in Wadi Rum and floated on the surface of the Dead Sea. Tomorrow we move on to Israel.
Did you see any remnants of the old railroad near Wadi Rum? Lawrence of Arabia and his cronies had a particular dislike for it and expressed their animus with high explosives.
The old railroad is still there, and still working. It is narrow gauge, and used for transporting freight (no passengers). We were told that the Ottomans cut down hundreds of thousands of trees building that railroad, changing the landscape (and the weather) permanently. Can’t blame the locals for being upset!
You missed a great story. According to the Daily Rash, Barney Frank is in the running to portray Elmer Fudd in a new DreamWorks production of Steven Spielberg’s “Bugs Bunny” movie. Sounds pretty good! http://www.thedailyrash.com/barney-frank-in-salary-negotiations-for-elmer-fudd-role
We’re back in the US. Through the miracle of time zones, we will have been in transit for 31 hours, all in the same day. We started in Israel at 3am and our last leg arrives home at 11:47pm the same day.
Now we just need a vacation to recover from our vacation.