When "Tomcats" fly!

A bit about the political situation...I've had many emails from family and friends wondering how safe it is here with what's going on....the answer is, it's pretty safe.
Tahrir Square is about fifteen kilometers away from where we are in the Cairo subdivison of Maadi....but I can often see helicopters flying over the area where the protests are taking place from out of our apartment window.
The situation in Gaza seems to have died down...but it had a lot of people worried...it has really nothing to do with Egypt...except that the new president Mohammed Morsi helped broker the ceasefire....that got him some political points here...and of course the admiration of foreign leaders including Barak Obama who gave him a big "way to go" pat on the back.
All well and good...but it seems Mr. Morsi may have interpreted that praise for an opportunity to make some moves here in Egypt.
He is a member of the "Muslim Brotherhood" an organization that was formed about 80 years ago by an Arab school teacher to kind of consolidate the faith and give it a rallying point in the Middle East....it now has millions of members and while it's not supposed to be a political entity...it has fostered a number of political parties including the "Freedom and  Justice Party" here in Egypt. In it's past the organization has provided education and health care for muslims in poor and oppressed countries...and still does....it also started out with a vow of non-violence....however throughout it's history there have been many acts of violence that have attributed to it's members....so it's just like everything else it seems in the Arab world , no one can really say for sure what it's all about or capable of.
Here in Egypt after this last rebellion...Mr. Morsi narrowlly defeated an old crony of the former ousted President Hosni Mubarak....however there are plenty of Mr. Mubarak's cronies still around....and they make up the Judiciary...including what could be called the equivalent of "Supreme Court" in Canada. From what I can understand and surmise is the judges are trying to block much of the legislation and or changes Mr. Morsi is trying to bring in....and it's really pissing him off.

So the other day....as a I menioned earlier, Mr. Morsi...armed with this new good will he garnered from his Gaza success threw the judges out and said from now on all the decisions that he's made since he was elected in June and all the changes he's going to make will proceed without opposition.

This makes him a defacto Dictator...and that really sticks in the craw of a lot of Egyptians who just got rid of a Dictator....and have no interest in having another.....

In Mr. Morsi's defence, he says this new power he has given himself will only last until a new constitution is developed and put in place this spring....

But what if he's lying the Egyptians say????....

Dictators have been know to do that....and on top it all off....some of the changes he has in mind adhere more closely to the harder line Muslim way of thinking....and once again a heck of a lot of Egyptians most I say, don't want that.

So in large part that's what this round of protests are about...but that's not all.

Since the revolution...many western interests have pulled out of Egypt because they don't want to lose everything they have here...that means fewer good jobs now and fewer possibilities for the future for Arab youth especially....so many of these young hot heads take to the streets to vent there frustration at everything in general.

Some tidbits.....a forty year old computer guy came to the apartment the other night to install wi-fi....the English Egyptian Newspaper was open on the table he looked at the headlines....and called Morsi and idiot.

The Canadian Embassy has shut down while the demos take place....and has warned us to be careful .The American school where Kim teaches is staying open but warned parents it may shut down if there's any sign of danger.

Once a week a stick of  twelve F-16 Tomcat warplanes fly over the city....they're only at about two thousand feet and the noise they make is incredible.

There are a number of reasons for this I think...one is to show everyone that they have them...two..to show everyone that if you cause too much trouble they'll turn them loose on you...three to show everyone that Egypt can still defend itself from outside forces if need be...and four to give the pilots some flight experience. Gas isn't cheap...and these planes while great fighters in their day..( I flew one with the American Thunderbirds at the London airshow a few years back) are getting a little long in the tooth and the Israelis would have them for lunch if push came to shove...but it's an impressive spectacle!

So as I write this.....(Tuesday Nov 27 ...10:30 am) Mr. Morsi is meeting with the judges to see if they can come to terms....this is a good thing...I think maybe he has realized he's bitten off a lit more than he can chew....so I'm going to stay out of the downtown and keep my head low...and continue to enjoy life in Maadi....and besides Luci the Phillipina cleaning lady wants to start on the floor and wants me out...until later!