We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt....

Now this is not the right place for this - I should be posting it on my Jerusalem (middle east) blog - but it is very satisfying to watch - nothing like smashing up a tyrant's statue (or poster). Plus, it is Passover next week, where we celebrate the emancipation of the Egyptian proleteriat through mass exodus and direct action. At least that's my take on it.

This is from the Mahalle, a big industrial centre north of Cairo, where workers have been taking industrial action and meeting with state violence. There are a number of underlying issues but the most urgent one is food prices inflation. We are going to see more images like this in 2008 and 2009, not only in Egypt.

Via Arabawy.

Notice how everybody takes the mobile phone out to get a good picture of the dethroned king.

Forty five words (the last paragraph of my abstract) are all that separates me from the completion of my phd. That, and an elaborate bureaucratic procedure as well as an oral examination some time this summer. For those who keep checking this blog, thank you for sticking in with me, I hope to be writing more soon.

Two nights ago somebody threw a big stone through the window of the Research Students room in college. Must have been a frustrated PhD student. It smashed the window and also damaged the screen of the computer I use, leaving a black blot where the Gmail chat window usually pops-up.

College IT are very efficient and they came today to replace the screen. I asked what's going to happen with the old one, after all it's only a small patch, and if they were throwing it away, I would be happy to take it home.

The IT woman was nice and asked her manager, who said, we can give equipment to students, but before that we have to test it. And this one is faulty, can't you see? Sorry we can't give it to you.

The invincible logic of the health-and-safety society.

London ain't no place for teddy bears (3)

Another day, another teddy bear finds itself on the streets. This one actually looks more like a monkey . Whatever it is, I found it next to the new Banksy graffiti work on Essex Road.
Lots of people stopped by to look at the graffiti, but no one paid attention to the poor furry animal.


As you can see, someone installed a perspex sheet to protect this subversive piece of art, and probably make sure they can sell the wall and make a lot of money one day.

Bread and Oil

I have been planning to post here abut the dangers of biofuels, but haven't got round to it. In the meantime, my article on bread, fuel and the Middle East is on the Oil Drum, for those interested.

London ain't no place for teddy bears (2)

Another bear hits the grim reality of London. The number of teddy bears sleeping rough in the streets of the Metropolitan has grown much in the last decade, said GLA officials yesterday.

More porridge haikus

Porridge makes me pee
More than coffee, more than tea
What this has to be?

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reuse last night's rice
Suddenly, fat white worms float
within your morning

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