Egypt

[poliphilo]

I keep switching on the TV to see what's happening in Tahrir Square.

Comments

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Are they showing you the destruction done by the vandals in the Cairo Museum? It's a horrendous situation. I think that there needs to be change, but how is destroying parts of the country going to help?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've just been reading about it on Zawi Hawass's blog. It seems the attack on the Museum was the work of a criminal gang- and nothing to do with protesters. Ordinary Egyptian citizens have rallied to the Museum and are standing guard.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

They showed them forming a human chain to protect the museum, but so much damage has been done already!
Those gangs are taking advantage of the chaos. It's sickening.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

As Hawass said, the same thing would happen in London or New York if the lights went out.

But, I agree, it's sickening.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and in our cities too! I'm not sure that we don't have better security though.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

In Cairo the police just gave up and went home.
There are reports that some of the looters were off duty policemen.

[ron-broxted.livejournal.com]

Sounds like Morocco. Apropos of the looted Mummies, WTF did they think they were doing? Like, stand on a street corner going "Pssst, wanna buy a 4th dynasty high priest going cheap?"

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Maybe the dead guy was wearing gold.

Actually, it doesn't sound as if the thieves had any idea what they were doing.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Oh great... well I don't know what to say...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The Egyptian police are underpaid, corrupt, brutal- and very unpopular- as opposed to the army which is well-loved. The police lost control of the streets- or were withdrawn- and the army took over.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Over one-hundred have died in the streets, with hundreds more wounded in clashes with police.

The extent of damage to the dead and their stuff was two smashed cases and two damaged mummies. Even the Pharaoh himself said that the damaged artifacts could be restored.

I find your lack of perspective disturbing.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I am well aware of the horrors of what is happening over there. I have already said that I find it horrifying. All of those people can't be replaced! Unfortunately many of those who died were looters and gang members.

As a former art teacher I find the damage done to the artifacts to be horrifying also. We were shown some of the damage on the news. Those items can't be replaced as were those Buddist objects that were destroyed in the mideast by the Taliban. I greatly appreciate their value to history and culture.

My perspective is in tact and I do not choose to be critical of other people's comments as you chose to do.

The Pharaoh spoke? Cool! I could have sworn all of them were long gone.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I saw on the news. It's a sad and scary situation.

[ron-broxted.livejournal.com]

Does any looter?

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I heard some of them confused the museum shop with the museum!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's right!

More worryingly, I've read that organised gangs have been stripping archaeological sites outside Cairo.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

As a Buddhist, I welcomed the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan as an object lesson in the transience of all things. The idea that lifeless old stones have any real value is either obscene or hilarious -- depending on one's point of view. Their only value, as best I can tell, was as a potential destination for people with more money than sense. Not surprisingly, those are just the people that got their panties in a bunch when the Taliban blew them up.

The fact that few, if any, of those people have shown as much concern for the Dharma or for the people of Afghanistan as they did for those old statues is hilarious, no matter how you look at it.

Thanks for responding.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

The museums that were begging for those Buddhas were probably the most upset. They would have paid for them, but I guess that didn't matter. It was a waste to destroy history, no offense to your religion.

I'm sorry you are angry with me because I was simply stating my own point of view which I don't believe should be offensive to anyone. I am neither wealthy nor unsympathetic with the horror in Egypt.