(Third) Base Politics

TBE Meta-Commentary: In this piece, our fearless correspondent Michael Jeffrey Flackslashman offers a highly speculative reading of recent developments in Egypt. We aren’t sure he’s right about what’s going on, but we hope it sparks a broader discussion about changing socio-political dynamics and where they are likely to lead.

For background reading, please see Jack Shenker’s recent Guardian article on the wages of structural adjustment, a glancing mention of the middle class or lack thereof at Egyptian Chronicles, and this post by The Traveller Within, which isn’t strictly related but does have some bearing on the below points.

News Analysis: Bringing Order to Cairo’s Chaotic Streets

By Michael Jeffrey Flackslashman

Things To Eat In Cairo When It’s Cold

TBE loves nothing more than royal coats of arms emblazoned with stylized dolphins.

Real talk: Back in the late 1990s, a TBE correspondent used to work at the now-defunct location of Blockbuster Video in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, DC. One evening a number of men wearing wool greatcoats swept into the building. DC not yet having been overrun by czars, TBE was unsure what to make of their uniform attire, other than to remember his training, which called for increased vigilance when people in baggy coats stepped into the building, lest they be thieves.

They were not, as it turns out, thieves. Rather they were members of the secret service escorting Tipper Gore as she picked up a couple movies. One of the movies she rented was Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead.

So that’s where we got the title of this post.

Fittingly, considering that Al Gore was once a Democratic dauphin of sorts, the first recipe we’re featuring is Gratin Dauphinois, which is really simple and delicious aside from the tedious slicing of potatoes.

But first, one final aside: In order to forestall what would surely be a torrent of comments from correspondents angry at the fact that we misidentified the origin of the name of the dish called Gratin Dauphinois, let us now declare now that we are aware that the dish is in fact named after the dearly departed French province of Dauphiné, and not, as we’ve implied, the dauphin himself. If you’re interested in learning more about the distinction, you could do worse than to read this passage from Wikipedia, about which we’d like to learn more: “A major condition [of the 1349 treaty incorporating Dauphiné into France] was that the heir to the throne of France would be known as le Dauphin, which was the case from that time until the revolution.”

Recipes and more after the jump.

Establishments: Egyptian, Literary and Hip Hop

TBE is more-or-less out of pocket due to a number of annoying intrusions on our regularly scheduled bloggingzeit, so we’ll probably be reduced to subsistence blogging during the next period.

Gener(aliz)ations

Tilting at Straw Men; or, Upsetting the Apple Cart Before the Horse

As others who are much more knowledgeable about Arabic literature than us have already pointed out, a big chunk of the current issue of literary journal Public Spaces is devoted to young Egyptian writers. One thing we pondered while reading the lead article, which is the only content available online, is the interest in placing writers into distinct “generations” (not least by writers themselves, it seems) and the perceived need to frame the discussion politically. Not having the vocabularial fortitude to read Arabic literature in its native language, we’re ill-suited to analyze the issue (or even moreso than we usually are, as it were). But in the spirit of Einstein, we’ll do so anyway, if only as a means of taking a couple of our hobbyhorses for a stroll around the corral, and in hopes of gaining a larger audience for the journal and its featured authors in the days and years to come.

Sons of Scions on the Potomac

UPDATE: This post is a continuation of the post immediately below it, Mr. Mubarak Goes to Washington.

Al-Shorouk has an occasional annoying habit of committing acts that can’t properly be considered journalism, in which they find some press release or conference agenda then print it as news. Which it is, in the sense of conveying to the reader something that he or she may not have known, but it’s also just a glorified press release.

TBE has decided to adopt it as a modus reportandi as well. This just in:

Mr. Mubarak Goes to Washington : تي بي يي للترجمة

Special thanks to Twitter user “Fustat,” who alerted to this story, which we might have otherwise missed.

There isn’t much to say about this, since the whole bit about the forum is not really interesting except that it includes the tidbit that Gamal Mubarak is going to Washington, and the only way to move the story forward at this point is for someone to figure out which US officials Mubarak plans to meet, other than those mentioned in the article. We’ve taken the liberty of putting the interesting parts in bold.

From al-Shorouk’s Wednesday, October 28 edition:

Gamal Mubarak in Washington on December 7

Old Coinages and New

GOAT’S NOSE

This post gained new impetus after TBE came across a blog post at B-Side Beirut about an old Beiruti slang term/portmanteau (not technically the latter, but we’re not sure what to call this kind of word game) and an oft-overlooked museum.

At any rate, the word, or words, as it were, are انف العنزة (anf al-‘anza, for those following at home), which is a “goat’s nose,” but also a play on the word “influenza.” We tried to extend it out to include the old goat’s modern day counterpart, the pig, but the whole thing falls apart in a sea of idafa recriminations due to the necessity of ال in العنزة. At any rate, we adore this type of stuff. If you’re interested in reading an account of epidemics in Beirut’s history, please click here (Arabic).  Also, we believe Khaled Fahmy, author of the interesting if problematic All the Pasha’s Men, is doing a (similar?) type of historical epidemiology, but with Egypt, not Lebanon, as its subject, if that’s your bag.

For those among you who aren’t prudish, we also learned that goat’s nose is a slang term in Jamaica.

QUOTES CLOSE

Also, for those whose Arabic is better than ours, TBE’s Puritan Hermeneutics correspondent (title subject to change), Lady HaSha, sent in the following quote:

فكنت بادئاً بقلب البدء إذ هو معال البدء

We’re too thick to explain it in any great detail but the crux of the matter is a play on the following words, قلب, meaning “heart” but also “inversion” or “flip” (from which انقلاب is derived), and the fact that when one does flip the next word البدء, it turns into الأدب (in this case meaning manners, not literature, we are led to believe). Anyhow it’s something thought provoking and verily beautiful. Sorry we don’t know who wrote it, but word on the street is that it was a Mauritanian Sufi.

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH…

One summer a few years back TBE’s Rural Affairs correspondent spent a couple months working on a desert farm in Beheira governorate. Aside from learning how to drive tractors on some Soviet-era Belarussian models, TBE also spent many days with peasants from the surrounding villages. Our Arabic was probably better then than it is now, but we still had some problems communicating, necessitating the creation of a pidgin.

The best word to come out of the whole experience, which TBE would recommend to anyone since it was amazing, was the verb root “هكرك or maybe حكرك” which means to make fun of someone, have fun at someone’s expense or just to have fun.

Sample usage: One of TBE’s colleagues, Walid, used to carry a battery-powered radio with him, because, aside from working with the regular crew, he was responsible for a large grove of banana trees, which he tended alone. Said radio kept him company during his brief forays into the serpent-strewn banana groves. This was in the early days of America’s efforts to “engage” with the Middle East (engaged for 8 long years and still no wedding? So sad…), and Radio Sawa was one of the three stations that had reception, along with one that played classic Arabic songs and one doing Quranic recitation. After finishing lunch but before returning to work we would often listen to Radio Sawa, and TBE would sometimes be asked to translate song lyrics. This was difficult, and one day Cindi Lauper’s timeless paean to girl fun-having, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” came on. A reasonable translation escaped our correspondent, so he just said “هي عيزة تهكرك و باس,” which was understood perfectly.

As an aside, Walid was engaged to, then married, a girl named Mabrooka from his village. Her name was the source of much hilarity to the assembled wits, فبيهكركو عليها كتير و على وليد كمان . That’s another usage.

“Is it a Crisis or a Boring Change?” : تي بي يي للترجمة

We’ve been a bit busy for the past few days, and not reading the newspapers as much as we’d prefer, so we’re not sure what exactly is going on in the Brotherhood. After the initial round of resignation articles, the Brotherhood pushed back on the story, saying that Akef had not resigned. The papers apparently don’t believe Akef. An article in yesterday’s al-Shorouk said that Muhammad Habib, Akef’s deputy, is leading a caretaker administration until elections scheduled for January, perhaps with Akef still the titular leader (this article puts resignation in quotes, we assume to denote ambiguity). But Akef himself still claims to be running things, and we trust him more than the many anonymous sources cluttering almost every story about the Brotherhood.

Today we translated highlights from an interview Akef gave to BBC Arabic yesterday, though we’ve had trouble finding the actual interview, so had to rely on the al-Youm al-Sabe’a account. It covers a lot of ground. If anyone has the link to the actual interview, please put it in comments or hit us on twitter.

Before the translation, a couple thoughts:

A Note from Mark Halperin

TBE used to be an avid reader of ABC News’ The Note, the DC media circle jerk formerly helmed by the incorrigible Mark Halperin. One of the things they harped on incessantly (circa 2004) was message discipline, and Republicans’ understanding of its value and Democrats non-adherence. The Brotherhood’s media operation (we assume it exists, against the evidence) is flailing. Though Akef’s round of interviews (on al-Jazeera and BBC Arabic and possibly elsewhere) may stem the tide of theorizing about what is going on inside the Brotherhood, we doubt it.

This is due in part to media culture in Egypt, where anonymous sourcing is even more common than in the US, and perhaps also to the fact of top-heavy organizations with too far too many “informed sources.” Call us conspiratorialists, but we don’t generally trust journalists (whether in Egypt or the US) to determine for us who is and isn’t an “informed source,” even as we understand the reasons why some of these sources prefer anonymity.

That said, Akef’s blaming the whole affair on the regime (see below) also rings hollow, because in order to do so all these journalists would have to be using fake Brotherhood sources provided to them by the government. While we wouldn’t put this past some unscrupulous scribes, there are clearly some who have good sources inside the Brotherhood and would not be fooled by some two-bit quote-hustlers.

Judges, Not Teachers?

The al-Shorouk article we mentioned above, headlined “Four Crises Hastened Akef’s Departure” is the first in which we’ve seen what has previously been referred to as the Brotherhood’s “conservative” wing as the “Qutbist” wing. Though it’s in quotes in the article, it’s still quite shocking, and either an instance of al-Shorouk editorializing or repeating a sentiment it hears from its sources, which we believe are overwhelmingly “reformist” or “liberal.” At any rate, it surprised us. Unfortunately the al-Shorouk website is currently down, so we can’t provide a link to the article.

From al-Youm al-Sabe’a online:

Akef: I Didn’t Resign, And Elections For The Next Guide To Be Held In The Next Two Months

Cairo Gems 1: El-Ebiary

Prescript: “Cairo Gems” is a new gimmick TBE is developing in conjunction with the unknowing city of Cairo, in which we highlight some of our favorite spots. We stole the idea from “MA,” “JJ” or “JL” or some combination thereof, so all due respect to them. Our idea is to self-publish a book with our text and luscious photos by our photographer or maybe this fellow, TBE’s portraitist-in-residence. We will then sell the rights to AUC, so they can include our guidebook in the orientation packets distributed to study abroad students. Enjoy!

"This is what springformocracy looks like" ... "And you will know us by the trail of springform pans" ... "Leopard-Skin Springform-Pan Hat" ... etc.

El-Ebiary: The name alone conjures up visions of Moorish Spain, or a place where birds are kept, perhaps in gilded cages. Alas, it is neither of those things. Instead it is a store, or rather two stores with one name and two other stores separating them.

To find it, one strolls down Shagarat al-Dor in Zamalek away from 26 July. When you see a girl’s legs dangling from what might be an airshaft on your right hand side, reflect on what you just saw as you proceed to the next store, then enter. There are a lot of housewares and kitchenware stuffed in this spot, which can be disconcerting, especially for those of you who, like TBE, have a delicate constitution. Do not be deterred, o ye of little patience for overstimulation.

The Boursafication of Downtown : تي بي يي للترجمة

In lieu of posting a picture today, we direct our readers to this (new to us) website hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which has a treasure trove of photos, videos, old newspapers, etc. from Egypt. Unfortunately for our purposes, we haven’t figured out a way to “borrow” photos, as we had planned. Nonetheless it is definitely worth checking out.

*         *          *

It is not often that TBE has occasion to praise the vision of the government. Someone call the Pointer Sisters, TBE is so excited. We think making downtown a pedestrian area is a capital idea, so much so that we aren’t averse to making cheap puns about it.

A couple caveats: We hope the redevelopment plan, when implemented, creates an open space accessible to all of Cairo’s residents. While we enjoy al-Azhar Park, we sometimes rue the fact that it is almost exclusively the preserve of foreigners, relatively well-to-do locals and groups of schoolchildren on field trips. We also hope that the new downtown is developed with an eye toward easing pollution, not just by banning cars but also through the creation of an “urban lung.”

As for the questions of whether the large sums that will be spent on redeveloping the area would be better spent on easing problems in more downtrodden areas than downtown, the answer is probably yes. That said, we see it as a more worthwhile use of funds than redoing the sidewalks in Zamalek and Garden City, to take a recent example. City or national governments are always going to spend money on prestige projects. This one at least has the potential to benefit all of Egypt’s citizens.

From al-Masry al-Youm’s Sunday, October 18 edition:

Plan to Develop Downtown Cairo, Banning Cars in the Streets

Later update: This version of the article delves into more detail about the proposed changes downtown and the process of demarcating Cairo’s borders.