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  • #76
    We will see :)

    Right now its 50-50, you have equal chance of being correct or not.

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    • #77
      The idea of analysis is to give more than 50/50.Otherwise we could just toss coins.Right now the conditions on the ground don't leave much to the optimist in me. The pessimist ,however, has much to work with.

      You may keep your hope,but I let mine at the gates of the Inferno
      Those who know don't speak
      He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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      • #78
        Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
        We will see :)

        Right now its 50-50, you have equal chance of being correct or not.
        Actually it is 100%, but the game is still playing...:)

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        • #79
          Cairo institute burned during clashes

          Egyptian academics and volunteers scramble to save thousands of rare manuscripts that chart history of the nation

          Volunteers in white lab coats, surgical gloves and masks stood on the back of a pickup truck along the banks of the Nile in Cairo, rummaging through stacks of rare 200-year-old manuscripts that were little more than charcoal debris.

          The volunteers, ranging from academic experts to appalled citizens, have spent the past two days trying to salvage what's left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings, casualties of Egypt's latest bout of violence.

          The Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France's invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during clashes between protesters and Egypt's military over the weekend. It was home to a treasure trove of writings, most notably the handwritten 24-volume Description de l'Egypte, which began during the 1798-1801 French occupation. It includes 20 years of observations by more than 150 French scholars and scientists, was one of the most comprehensive descriptions of Egypt's monuments, its ancient civilisation and contemporary life at the time.

          It is probably now burned beyond repair.

          Its home, the two-storey historic institute near Tahrir Square, is now in danger of collapsing after the roof caved in.

          "The burning of such a rich building means a large part of Egyptian history has ended," the director of the institute, Mohammed al-Sharbouni, said at the weekend.

          Al-Sharbouni said most of the contents were destroyed in the fire that raged for more than 12 hours on Saturday. Firefighters flooded the building with water, adding to the damage.

          During the clashes a day earlier, parts of the parliament and a transportation authority office caught fire, but those blazes were put out quickly.

          The violence erupted in Cairo on Friday, when military forces guarding the cabinet building, near the institute, cracked down on a three-week-old sit-in to demand the country's ruling generals hand power to a civilian authority. At least 14 people have been killed.

          Zein Abdel-Hady, who runs the country's main library, is leading the effort to try and save what's left of the charred manuscripts. "This is equal to the burning of Galileo's books," Abdel-Hady said, referring to the Italian scientist whose work proposing that the earth revolved around the sun was believed to have been burned in protest in the 17th century.

          Below Abdel-Hady's office, dozens of people sifted through the mounds of debris brought to the library. A man in a surgical coat carried a pile of burned paper with his arms carefully spread, as if cradling a baby.

          The rescuers used newspapers to cover some partially burned books. Bulky machines vacuum-packed delicate paper.

          At least 16 truckloads, with around 50,000 manuscripts, some damaged beyond repair, have been moved from the pavements outside the US Embassy and the American University in Cairo, both near the burned institute, to the main library, Abdel-Hady said.

          He told the Associated Press that there is no way of knowing what has been lost for good at this stage, but the material was worth tens of millions of dollars.

          "I haven't slept for two days, and I cried a lot yesterday. I do not like to see a book burned," he said. "The whole of Egypt is crying."

          He said that there are four other handwritten copies of the Description of Egypt. The French body of work has also been digitised and is available online.

          There may have been a map of Egypt and Ethiopia, dated in 1753, that was destroyed in the fire. However, another original copy of the map is in Egypt's national library, he said. The gutted institute also housed 16th-century letters and manuscripts that were bound and shelved like books.

          The most accessible inventory at the moment for what was housed in the institute is in a book kept in the US Library of Congress, according to William Kopycki, a regional field director with the library. He said the body of work that was destroyed was essential for researchers of Egyptian history, Arabic studies and Egyptology.

          "It's a loss of a very important institute that many scholars have visited," he said during a meeting with Abdel-Hady to evaluate the level of destruction.

          What remains inside the historic building near the site of the clashes are piles of burned furniture, twisted metal and crumbled walls. A double human chain of protesters surrounded the building on Monday.

          At a news conference on Monday, a general from the country's ruling military council said an investigation was under way to find who set the building on fire. State television aired images of men in plainclothes burning the building and dancing around the fire on Saturday afternoon. Protesters also took advantage of the fire, using the institute's grounds to hurl firebombs and rocks at soldiers on top of surrounding buildings.

          A military colonel, helping out with rescue efforts at the library, said about 10 soldiers have been tasked with assisting the volunteers.

          Volunteer Ahmed el-Bindari said the military shoulders the brunt of responsibility for using its roof as a position to attack protesters before the fire erupted.

          "When the government wants to protect something, they do," el-Bindari said. "Try to reach the interior ministry or defence ministry buildings. You won't be able to."
          No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

          To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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          • #80
            No beaches, attacks on Christians, elected Islamists, burned down these historical works - oh yes progress.
            Last edited by troung; 20 Dec 11,, 07:57.
            To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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            • #81
              Modern day Library of Alexandria... Bloody shame.

              Heinrich Heine said it almost 200 years ago: "That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people also."
              Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

              Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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              • #82
                The Egyptians and the burning of libraries have a history spanning 2000 years.

                Considering who did this,we saw it coming.If one will make a foundation in order to take in a safe place all the books and artefacts I'll give money to it.Culture is universal,just as idiot destroyers are.
                Those who know don't speak
                He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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                • #83
                  Originally posted by Mihais View Post
                  The Egyptians and the burning of libraries have a history spanning 2000 years.

                  Considering who did this,we saw it coming.If one will make a foundation in order to take in a safe place all the books and artefacts I'll give money to it.Culture is universal,just as idiot destroyers are.
                  Second that. Too bad you can't put buildings in a safe place, too.
                  No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                  To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                  Comment


                  • #84
                    Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                    Second that. Too bad you can't put buildings in a safe place, too.
                    It is unclear from the article whether the building was deliberately burned because of what it was or whether it was simply 'collateral damage' resulting from violent protests (I note other buildings burned too). I note that some have already decided which it was. (bet Arthur Harris burned more books than every Islamic thug in history).
                    Last edited by Bigfella; 20 Dec 11,, 21:00.
                    sigpic

                    Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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                    • #85
                      Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                      It is unclear from the article whether the building was deliberately burned because of wha tit was or whether it was simply 'collateral damage' resulting from violent protests (I note other buildings burned too). I note that some have already decided which it was. (bet Arthur Harris burned more books than every Islamic thug in history).
                      Why you bring the religion to this? Nazis burned their books before Harris ;)
                      No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                      To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                      Comment


                      • #86
                        I'm quite sure Harris burned a lot of books.He was bombing afteral,l one of the most cultivated nations in the world.I'm sure a lot of books burned at Coventry as well.The problem starts when one does it deliberately.Monte Cassino is one case.

                        I'm pretty sure everyone and his brother knew what was in that building and I'm quite sure it was written on it what it was,just in case someone from outside Cairo comes to riot and rampage in the midle of the city.

                        Mehmed the 2nd struck down an idiot soldier busy carving down Hagia Sofia.It's not that all Islam is hell bent in destroying culture.But a good part of Islam is just as stupid as the rest of mankind in doing it. Simple as that.
                        Those who know don't speak
                        He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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                        • #87
                          Heinrich Heine said it almost 200 years ago: "That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people also."
                          They were trying to burn people, fucking books got in the way.

                          Considering who did this,we saw it coming.If one will make a foundation in order to take in a safe place all the books and artefacts I'll give money to it.Culture is universal,just as idiot destroyers are.
                          No the books belong to a society/culture who had nothing to do with making them
                          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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                          • #88
                            One of the reasons culture is universal.Many monuments had nothing to do with the current inhabitants,yet they don't burn to the ground.
                            I've no problem fighting for a political idea,even if it's fighting the Crusades again(just as an extreme example).I cannot conceive destroying what even the ancestors of my enemies created wrt culture.I have the utmost disdain for those who think otherwise.Yeah,I'm intolerant and ''prejudiced''.
                            Those who know don't speak
                            He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Well, it's been a personal crusade of mine for years from the time I did some work on the Burton Brothers work in Dunedin.
                              Most Museum Curators simply WILL NOT digitise the material they hold so when the usual suspects destroy it the best that can be retrieved is reference works.
                              Even without rioters/nutters/acts of god material and objects can be lost or destroyed anyway.
                              If there's material irretrievably lost from this the blame lies squarely with the curators.
                              In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                              Leibniz

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                              • #90
                                Egypt declares national emergency

                                Egypt's presidency has declared a state of emergency after scores of people were killed when security forces stormed protest camps in Cairo.

                                The camps had been occupied by supporters of former president Mohammed Morsi, who was deposed in early July.

                                Security forces say 95 people have been killed. But the Muslim Brotherhood, which backed the protests, says hundreds have died.

                                The state of emergency is scheduled to last for a month.

                                A curfew will be in place in 11 provinces, including Cairo, starting at 19:00 (17:00 GMT).

                                The measure was taken because the "security and order of the nation face danger due to deliberate sabotage, and attacks on public and private buildings and the loss of life by extremist groups," the presidency said in a statement.

                                Shortly after dawn on Wednesday morning, armoured bulldozers moved deep into the main protest camp outside the eastern Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

                                Officials say the other protest camp, at Nahda Square, has been cleared.

                                Reporters described wounded protesters being treated next to the dead in makeshift field hospitals.

                                The 17-year-old daughter of leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed el-Beltagy was among the dead, reports say. Asmaa el-Beltagy was shot in the back and chest, her brother said.

                                A cameraman working for Sky News, Mick Deane, has also been killed - as has a reporter for Gulf News, Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz.

                                UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the violence. He urged "all Egyptians to concentrate their efforts on promoting genuinely inclusive reconciliation", his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

                                There are also reports of unrest elsewhere in Egypt.

                                Seventeen people have died in clashes in the province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, Reuters news agency says.
                                At least five people have been killed in the province of Suez, according to the health ministry.
                                Clashes have also been reported in the northern provinces of Alexandria and Beheira, and the central provinces of Assiut and Menya
                                Hundreds are said to have gathered outside the governor's office in Aswan in the south
                                State news agency Mena says three churches were attacked, one in the city of Sohag with a large number of Coptic Christian residents
                                The interior ministry said a mopping-up operation in the streets surrounding Nahda Square was under way.

                                Pro-Morsi activists were chased into the nearby zoo and Cairo University, Nile TV said.

                                It is still unclear how many casualties were caught up in the two Cairo operations. Figures differ widely and have been impossible to verify independently.

                                BBC Arabic's Khaled Ezzelarab says he counted at least 50 bodies at the makeshift hospitals around Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. He said the injured were too numerous to count.

                                Ikhwanonline, the website of the Muslim Brotherhood, says that in total more than 800 were killed.

                                The health ministry has issued an official death toll of 95.

                                The health ministry has issued an official death toll of 95.

                                Continue reading the main story

                                Start Quote

                                Police snipers are above the nearby school buildings, shooting any resident hurrying to the square”

                                "Security forces used only tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters though it was heavily fired at by armed elements from inside the two protest camps, causing the death of an officer and a conscript and the injury of four policemen and two conscripts," the ministry said in a statement.

                                The government has meanwhile congratulated the security forces on their operation to clear the camps.

                                In a televised statement, a government spokesman praised their "self-restraint" and spoke of the "smaller number" of injuries among protesters.

                                The government would decisively confront attempts to attack state buildings and police stations, he said.


                                Supporters of Mr Morsi have been occupying Nahda Square and the Rabaa al-Adawiya site since he was ousted on 3 July. They want him reinstated.

                                Large plumes of smoke rose over parts of the city as the operation to clear the camps began, with tear gas canisters fired and helicopters hovering above.

                                Muslim Brotherhood TV called for people to send cars to the sit-ins to take casualties to hospital.

                                Several Muslim Brotherhood figures have been arrested, security sources said.

                                The protesters had been expecting the clearance operation, says BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen.

                                It is a heavy-handed operation and is a consequence of the current "winner takes all" climate, he adds, with both sides sticking to their positions and pushing as hard as they can.


                                Call for restraint

                                The European Union called the reports of deaths and injuries "extremely worrying".

                                A statement issued on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "We reiterate that violence won't lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with utmost restraint."

                                Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the result of the camp clearances as a massacre, accused other countries of paving the way for the violence by staying silent, and called for the UN and the Arab League to act immediately.

                                UK Foreign Secretary William Hague also condemned the use of force.

                                More than 250 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces in the six weeks since Mr Morsi's overthrow.

                                Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said the sit-ins could not continue "endlessly".

                                He said the authorities had been trying to seek an agreement through dialogue.

                                "If the police force take their procedures, they will do that in accordance with the law by court order and in accordance to the basic norms on which these things are done."

                                BBC News - Egypt declares national emergency

                                Tragic

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