Monday, September 15, 2008

LibDems - Bournemouth Sep 2008




- مين يجيبللي حبيبي؟
* ما تقوم تفز إنت تجيبه !





يقام المؤتمر السنوي لحزب الليبراليين الديمقراطيين LibDems or Liberal Democrats في مدينة بورنموث الساحلية في الجنوب الانجليزي. وقد دعى الحزب شبكة الليبراليين العرب للمشاركة. المؤتمر رائع وضخم وفعاليته كثيرة جداً ومتعددة، لا يمكن المشاركة فيها كلها، حيث يوجد حوالي 10 محاور متوازية قوامها ورش عمل، وحلقات نقاش، وأنشطة تدريبية، وندوات في مختلف القضايا، تعقد في مركز المؤتمرات بقاعاته المتعددة علاوة على قاعات 5 فنادق قريبة من المركز.

التنظيم رائع وبسيط في نفس الوقت، لم أنبهر فقط بالمحاضرين والخبراء وصناع السياسات، بل انبهرت أكثر بالمواطن البريطاني العادي، الذي يشارك في صنع حياته ومستقبله، ويدافع عن حقوقه وحرياته بصورة نشطة، وليس على طريقة "مين يجيبلي حبيبي"!.



http://www.libdems.org.uk/conference



Saturday, September 13, 2008

Liberal Voices

NAL on Nile TV!



The Network of Arab Liberals (NAL) has been a project in the making for about two years. Finally, in July 2008, NAL was launched in Cairo, the Internal Charter was ratified by the General Assembly of the founders, a President, Mr. Mohamed Tamaldou (Morocco) was elected, and an Executive Board was also elected.

The conference, which was sponsored by Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), also included a workshop about the Role of the Liberal Opposition Parties in the Arab World. We were approached by an editor from Nile TV to record an interview about the conference, NAL and about the "Role of Opposition Parties" in the "Arab World" and in Egypt. Mrs. Amira Abdel Fattah, Regional Program Coordinator, FNF, and myself, from NAL were hosted in the show.


Thanks to NAL's program officer, Ms. Cynthia Farahat, we have a clip to show of that interview.


Press here to see Clip 1 and Clip 2 of that video on YouTube.com ... or watch it here:














Friday, September 05, 2008

Probably Good, Probably Fair: Morality in a Probabilistic World

Integrating Probability and Morality
 





In a previous article, we discussed the "Order of Probabilities" which govern our universe, material universe, that is.

We observed that the universe came with a set of "Rules", which govern the workings and interactions between all matter, energy and bodies, large or small.

That these rules come in the form of "possible" paths for all things to happen. And because there are always so many paths for any single event, that we have to describe our universe in terms of "Probability", that certain paths are more probable to be taken than others. And as V would say, in Wachowski brothers' Masterpiece, "V for Vendetta", "There is no Certainty, only Opportunity".

But even if the odds are extremely high for a certain path, other paths are also taken, less frequently, but they do eventually occur. This seeming chaos is responsible for the way the universe evolved, for bringing life to this earth through a process of evolution.

Genetic mutation, is an occurence whereby "an error" takes place during the process of making genetic "copies". This error, is an example of an improbable path. Such error could be responsible for a hereditary disease suffered by the off-spring, or a deformed baby or a miscarriage. But this genetic "error" is also responsible for giving birth to a new specie in the evolution process. And as errors mount and accumulate over a period of about a billion years, life forms went through a tedious process of selection and evolution, where we stand today, watching how Man emerged as an intelligent being, capable of inventing networked computers which enable you to read this article, coming at the end, so far, of a chain which probably started with a single cell amoeba.

But if there are pre-defined "paths" for everything to happen, where would "our choice" fit into this? Or did such "Order" lay out zillions of "potential" paths, each presenting "opportunity to happen", "probability to occur"? Can one "improve such probabilities"? Is that it? Is this what it is all about? That we just have pre-defined paths, and all we can do is to work really hard to make our "chosen path" more probable than others?

Can we absolve ourselves of "responsibility" then, since the limit of our responsibility is to make desired "outcomes" more probable, not more probable than "undesired" results, but rather more probable as compared to their original chance, if we were not there to influence such chance?

If we can accept, that the limit of our abilities, is to merely improve the probabilities, can we live and function as happier human beings, more in harmony with ourselves, with others, and with the universe which surrounds us, the universe which we can not change or alter in any significant way. Is this something we can accept? Is it productive, or do we sound to be victimizing Man and denying it "a larger degree of choice"?

When it comes to morality, we have always been told that if you do good, behave yourself and be good to your neighbor, you will be rewarded with good consequences. You go to heavens. In New-age religions, where rewards take place in this life, you live a happy and healthy life achieving harmony and inner peace. Evil behavior and crime do not pay. But every once in a while, we see the opposite taking place. Crime sometimes pay. In many situations, evil behavior goes unpunished. Some people practically get away with murder.

When this happens, it just demotivates us. We have learned that when we all respect the traffic laws, everyone will arrive faster and streets will be safer. But every once in a while, we see someone who zips through on a red light and he does seem to arrive even faster still. Sure. If we all did that, chances are, no one will be able to arrive to their destination in the first place. The Order can accept deviation. An improbable, rarely-occurring deviation, just like a mutation. And just like mutations are necessary for evolution, deviation from the system are also necessary because they eventually teach us new ways to doing things. Ninety Nine point nine nine nine percent of the time, these deviations, would be as unsuccessful as genetic mutations leading to a deformed embryo or a child who suffers from a hereditary disease. But every once in a while, these deviation serve to give us a new way of doing things better!

I like to define "good" as whatever works, most of the time- that is, on the long term achieving a balance between self-interest and others' interests. Our social experience has provided us with a set of values, behaviors, norms, religious teachings and even laws defining what is "good" and what is "not". But what is "good"? How did we know what is good and what is not? It basically comes in a social context, marking those values and behaviors which the society find acceptable and supporting to its survival (survival again, as an order of evolution), as good. I had earlier mentioned a "balance" between self-interest and that of the society, a balance between an individual's survival and group's survival. But the more the person sacrifices his own interest, trades his own survival for that of the "Group's", the more good, the better, he is, until that person becomes a "hero", foregoing all self-interest and sacrificing all for the well-being of the society. On the other hand, the person who focuses only on his or own interests, survival, neglecting interests of the group, sabotaging "survival" of the group, that person is deemed "bad" and "evil" and self-serving.

So, the essence is, continue being good to your neighbor. Pay your taxes. Be nice to other people, even if sometimes you meet people who despite being evil to their neighbors and big-time offenders, yet they seem to be happy and rise to high offices of power, wealth and fame. When you meet such exceptions, such error cases, do not get alarmed or disheartned. The "Order" is still there. It still works. But it does not work every time in the same way. Do not be frustrated that you start scratching your neighbor's fender! This is a part of the Order of Probability. It is like when you go gambling. The odds are that you will always lose money on the gambling table. So, you would better not gamble, except perhaps for fun. But you see people who gamble and clean the house collecting huge wins! It does happen, but it is highly unlikely and most likely unsustainable! You can think of this as a high-risk investment or a dangeorus sport. It is enjoyable, and some people win, but more often than not, those who go down that path eventually lose.

Goodness will probably prevail, as per definition above, and life will most likely be fair. But do not get disheartened when you find that life ocassionally is not fair. You just hit an unlucky streak and it is likely to change soon. Things will just have to get better, in compliance with the Order of the universe.



Blessed be the Order, which gives existence, life, meaning and Good Probabilities!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Name a Good Parliamentarian

How Many

Good Parliamentarians

can you Name?



A friend, Dr. Nadia Tawfik, asked me this question ...
How Many Good Parliamentarians can you name?

Well, I have to admit that I found this to be a tough question. How can I not be able to remember a single outstanding parliamentarian in Egypt? There must be someone.


But then I discovered the reason why I can not name a single "good parliamentarian" in Egypt. It is not because there are no good parliamentarians. But rather because there is no "Parliament" in the technical sense of the word to speak of.


To have Parliamentarians, good or bad, first you have to have a parliament and a political process, with parties, a constitution, free media, free and fair elections, independent judiciary, and a system designed in such a way whereby power is rotated peacefully and periodically, etc.


I do not believe we have that ... we do not really have a political process to speak of. No one intended for power to be rotated. Power is intended to stay exactly where it is. In the hands of the President who may temporarily delegate bits and pieces of that power to other trusted officials appointed and fired by him.


Rotation of power? Are you kidding me?


Rotation amongst whom if I may ask? There are no political parties. There is a single party, the ASU or the NDP, whatever you want to call it; and a bunch of other crippled entities, sometimes referred to as parties when the regime wishes to show off its "theatrical democracy" before foreign media. But apart from those rare occasions, those parties are either domesticated cheer leaders who sing the praises for the the regime, or hunted opposition "groups" which are denied every possible ingredient necessary to have a real active political party.


So, we do not really have a Parliament, in the technical sense of the word, and consquently we can not have "good" or even "bad" parliamentarians.


And we do not have a political process, so, we can not have "politicians" either, neither good or bad.


Well. It is good to know where we stand.



Now, what's next?

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways

أحياناً ما تتدخل السماء بصورة غير متوقعة



لقد احترت فعلاً في هذا الحريق

احترت في سبب هذا الحريق

ولماذا حدث الآن؟
وبهذه الطريقة

وكيف أن حريقا صغيرا
في غرفة واحدة
يأتي على هذا المبنى الضخم بالكامل

رغم وجود عشرات من سيارات الإطفاء على بعد أمتار

ولم يسعفني فكري سوى أن هذا الحريق هو محصلة لكل الشرور التي نعيشها

ربما هناك شبهة جنائية؟
ربما هناك أوراق مخفية؟
ربما هناك نوايا مستخبية؟

هل هو الإهمال؟
أم الجرد؟
أم الشرار الكهربي؟

لا أعلم

لكن كل شيء جائز

كل ما أعلمه والتصويت جار ويدل عليه

http://weekite.blogspot.com/

أن هذا البرلمان لا يمثل المصريين
ولا يدافع عن حقوق المصريين
ولا يتبنى مصالح المصريين

هذا البرلمان اصبح رمزاً للكذب والنفاق والتدليس
أصبح رمزاً للقوانين سيئة السمعة
أصبح رمزاً لتزوير إرداة الشعب
أصبح رمزاً لنواب العبارات والاحتكارات
نواب البودرة
والأراضي
والقروض المنهوبة

نواب شراء الأصوات
الذين يقضي القضاء ببطلان انتخابهم
فيأتي رئيس المجلس ويقول
المجلس سيد قراره

نواب محتكرون مسئولون عن صياغة قانون منع الاحتكار
نواب يتعاملون مع الدولة بيعاً وشراء بعشرات المليارات وهم مسئولون عن صياغة قوانين غسيل الأموال والاستيلاء على المال العام



ربما هذه صورة ظالمة
وغير دقيقة
لكنها هي الصورة التي أصبحت مترسخة في أذهان الشعب كله بجميع طوائفه


مجلس الشورى الذي حرق أو احترق
هو مقر لجنة شئون الأحزاب

ويرأسها أمين عام الحزب الحاكم
بعضوية وزير الداخلية
ووزراء آخرين
كلهم يمثلون النظام

ووظيفتها دائماً وأبداً هي رفض وتجميد وتفكيك الأحزاب


***************

تذكرت حريق القاهرة
يوم 26 يناير 1952
وكيف كان بداية لمسار غير مستقر انتهى بانقلاب أو ثورة يوليو


هل يكون هذا الحريق مقدمة لأشياء أخرى؟

لا أدري

****************

مجلس الشورى الذي حرق أو احترق
أحد أعضائه نائب العبارات الذي "ظهرت" براءته منذ أسبوع أو أكثر قليلاً
من تهمة التسبب في قتل ما يزيد عن ألف مصري
هل هو انتقام السماء؟
البعض يسخر من هذه الفكرة

ويقال أن عضوا آخر الآن متهم بالتحريض على ذبح مغنية في دبي؟
وأن مدير أمن أحد فنادقه تقاضى عدة ملايين للإشراف على تنفيذ المهمة؟
وعندما قبض عليه
يقال أنه انتحر في السجن؟
إشاعات
خرجت جريدة الدستور ببعض هذه الأخبار أو الإشاعات
لكنها صودرت
باعتبار أن النائب العام حظر النشر في تلك القضية؟

ولماذا يحظر النائب العام النشر في تلك القضية؟

ويقال في رواية أخرى أن رجل الأعمال المعني بعث برجاله لشراء كل النسخ وجمع الجريدة من الأسواق

ويقال في رواية ثالثة أن هناك خلافاً وتنافساً بين رجل المقاولات ورجل الحديد
لأن رجل المقاولات يستورد الحديد بمعرفته
وأنه نتيجة لهذا الخلاف فهناك شبهة توريط متعمد من الطرف الثاني للأول

إشاعات وروايات أشبه بقصص هتشكوك
مفاسد لا يمكن تصورها
ولا يمكن تصور أن تكون هناك سلطة شرعية تحمي هؤلاء المفسدين او تحاول التعتيم على مثل هذه الأمور
أو تستعين بهذه الشخوص
أو تتقاسم معهم ريع الوكالة

عندما تمتلئ خرابة أو مخزن قديم بالزبالة والمخلفات يحدث حريق إن عاجلاً أو
آجلاً بالاشتعال الذاتي لتلك المخلفات




وفي وسط كل هذه الزبالة والمفاسد والمخلفات
في وسط كل هذه المظالم يأتي الحريق


ورغم أنني لا أعد نفسي من الدراويش أو أتباع الطرق الصوفية
إلا أنني لابد أن أعترف


السماء أحياناً ما تعمل بصورة غير متوقعة
The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways!







وفي النهاية أقول
عندما تتصاعد النيران
والدخان
تكون هذه علامة
لإعادة ترتيب المكان

وتنقيته من هذه الزبالات والمخلفات والمفاسد

قبل ان يتكرر الحريق
على نطاق اوسع


*********************
*********************


اشترك في التصويت
هل البرلمان المصري يمثل بحق المصريين؟

http://weekite.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 22, 2008

كتاب النبؤات : إعادة ترتيب المكان




إعادة ترتيب المكان






كانت في بيتها
تعد طعام العشاء لأطفالها
طرقوا الأبواب
فتحت مرحبة بالركبان


أعطتهم من خير البيت
فأكلوا
وشربوا
وتجشأوا
لكنهم لم يشبعوا

ظلوا يأكلون
ويشربون
لكنهم لم يشبعوا

أمرهم كبيرهم
خلسة
بأن يجمعوا من المنزل كل نفيس
ثم قرروا أن يقضوا منها وطراً


سدوا الكوات والنوافذ
كمموا أفواه الصبيان
كبلوا الأيادي والأبدان


تكأكأوا عليها بليل
حاصروها
أوقعوها
وحاولوا أن يواقعوها
في بيتها غصبا

نظرت إلى السماء
نظرة تساؤل
لم تنظر لهم
ولم تلمهم
للحظة واحدة

وفي محاولة أخيرة
للخلاص
ركلت موقد الكيروسين
بقدمها

اندلعت النار
في الوقود المسكوب
وانقض الحريق
كالقدر المكتوب
تراقصت ألسنة اللهب
وتصاعد الدخان

خرجوا مسرعين
يتعثرون في سراويلهم
والنار تمسك بأجسادهم
مثل كرات مشتعلة
تشق حلكة الظلام

وفي لحظات
تجمعت السحب
واصطخب الرعد
أمطرت السماء
كما لم تمطر من قبل
في تلك القرية الصغيرة
تطفئ النيران
وتغسل الأدران


وقفت الجموع حاسرة
في ترقب أمام بيتها

.
.
.

وخرجت بهية بصغارها
من وسط الحطام

نظرت للسماء
في ثقة وامتنان
غطت رأسها
مسحت على رءوس أطفالها
وابتسمت للجيران

ثم بدأت تعيد ترتيب المكان

.
.
.
.





© 2008, Wael Nawara


نشرت لأول مرة في أغسطس 2008


********************



Picture Adapted from "V for Vendetta", the movie. In the movie, V blows up the Parliament as a symbol of people's protest against tyranny of the government, co-memorating Guy Fawkes' attempt 400 years earlier, on the 5th November 1605 ...



Remember Remember ... the 5th of November ... the Gun Powder Treason and Plot ...

I know of no reason, why the Gun Powder Treason, should ever be forgot ...

.
.
.

Thank you, Omar, for the Inspiration!

.
.
.

عندما تتصاعد النيران
والدخان

تكون هذه علامة
لإعادة ترتيب المكان

.
.
.

My FB Groups and Causes


Account Blues



My account gets disabled on average once a month ...
It's usually to do with me importing notes from my blog or something like that ...
There is a bug in "feed import" which sometimes imports duplicates of old blogs/notes and so Facebook System thinks that I am writing too mant notes :))
I wish!

So, I lose my Groups ... even that my name stays in a group ... but I lose the link to the Group ... and if I am an admin to a group, I can no longer Edit Group information or perform Admin Functions

:)

So, I thought that I will just write down the names of my groups here and the links to them ... so that ... just in case I lose my groups again ... at least I have them recorded somewhere in one place ...

Additionally, if you believe that I was a member of your Group ... please write down the name of the group and the LINK to the Group ...

Inviting me again to your group will not work ... because I appear to be still a member in the Group ... so I can not join it again ... but not really fully in the Group ... so ... just give me the link to your group if you believe I was once a member ...


This is so weird ... I feel like I am suffering from Amnesia ... reminds me of Egypt ... who went through the longest Amnesia of all ... since 400 AD ... or to be more accurate ... since 391 AD

Anyway ... here we go



*********************

The Third Republic
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5888427441

Support Free Media in Egypt
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19982242894

Trial of Captain De Sade
(State Security Police Officer who Tortured and Humiliated our Youth)
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20682357511

Egypt a Civil Liberal State (Cause)
http://apps.new.facebook.com/causes/69165?m=68bbf&recruiter_id=5369410


Hypatia Debates
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28763226024

Gods & Mythology of Ancient Egypt
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4938696444

Egypt Remembers
Remembering our Egyptian Identity
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4967019140


****************************

NAL Friends and Supporters
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34349352360

NAL BOD
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16439760118


****************************


I will also put this in my Blog

WeeKite
*******
http://weekite.blogspot.com


And the Sofa
**********
http://waelnawara.wordpress.com

My Page on Facebook

Wael Nawara on Facebook