This “away from blogging” stunt is, obviously, not working. It is harder than I first reckoned it would be, really. One thinks one can do a certain thing, or in this case, refrain from doing a certain thing, only to clash with the bitter, unfeeling reality that one cannot actually pull it off.

I have been following Uhmah Park for quite some time now, it has become one of my favorite blogs, so much so that I literally anticipate the next post once I finish reading the current one. Should I also mention that I am fully subscribed to this blog? Now I know a lot of people out there will not find a liking to Uhmah Park but it’s a matter of individual taste afterall.

The latest entry, which was beautiful, ran under the title “We’re gonna boycott potato chips!”. Here’s an excerpt:

“I say we boycott Potato Chip Companies for insulting our collective inteligence! NOTHING ELSE is packaged like that. JUST potato chips! And for what? Im sure most people first thought is to make it seem like its more. But truth be told, Im blowed, and this is a blowed thought. Although let it be know that i do realize that the air is in the bag like that because it protects the chips from being nothing but crumbs by the time it gets to you, the consumer. I realize that. But what im saying is… my bag of chips, and every other bag of chips when i bought them, was 60% AIR!”

Read the full post here. Love it!

Thanks to topozozo, the Italian wikipedia article on fellow Egyptian blogger is now refined.

“Alaa Abd El-Fatah è un popolare blogger egiziano, oltre che uno sviluppatore di software e un attivista per la democrazia. È conosciuto per aver fondato, insieme alla moglie Manal, l’aggregatore egiziano di blog “Manalaa”. El-Fatah si è dedicato attivamente allo sviluppo di versioni in lingua araba di importanti applicazioni e piattaforme software.

Suo padre, Ahmad Seif, è un noto avvocato ed è manager del Hesham Mubarak Law Centre. Sua madre, la prof. Laila Suied, è docente di matematica presso l’università del Cairo ed è un’attivista politica.

L’arresto e le reazioni

Domenica 7 maggio 2006 El-Fatah è stato arrestato durante una protesta pacifica di denuncia a favore di una magistratura egiziana indipendente. Il suo arresto, avvenuto insieme a quello di numerosi altri blogger e attivisti per la democrazia, ha provocato reazioni in tutto il mondo. Tra le principali iniziative volte a chiedere la sua liberazione è da segnalare la creazione del blog “Free Alaa”, espressamente dedicato alla causa di El-Fatah.”

In addition to that, Peter contacted the Poynter Institute for Journalism about this cause and they posted an article on it under the title: ” Jailed bloggers: Should journalists care?”.

Excerpts from the article:

“According to the group Reporters without Borders,
“El-Fatah has been charged with illegal assembly (in
violation of the state of emergency law), blocking
traffic, insulting President Mubarak, and verbal abuse
of police officers at the time of his arrest.
…Around 70 government opponents and dissidents have
been arrested since the start of a wave protest in
April that began when two judges called for the
complete independence of Egypt’s courts and an
investigation into the last presidential election. The
detainees include five other bloggers who were
arrested while taking part in demonstrations.”

I have just wrapped up creating wikipedia articles on Alaa Abd El-Fatah in Arabic and Italian, following a smart suggestion from my friend Peter, who thankfully created the initial English article and taught me how to create my own. Thanks Pete!

I seem to be unable to adjust the Arabic text to the right properly, if you can do that then please do. If anyone has any additions and/or modifications then chip in. How do you get wikipedia to have that left sidebar saying this article is available in this and that language? Someone help me with that!

The article in English
The article in Arabic
The article in Italian

“Alaa Abd El-Fatah ???? ???? ??? ??????? ????????? is a prominent Egyptian blogger, software developer, and democracy activist. He is known for co-founding (along with wife Manal) the Egyptian blog aggregator “Manalaa”[1]. He has been active in developing Arabic-language versions of important software and platforms [2].

His father, Ahmad Seif, is a prominent lawyer and manager of Hesham Mubarak Law Centre, and his mother, Prof. Laila Suief, is a mathematics professor in Cairo University and a political activist.”

“Alaa Abd El-Fatah è un blogger egiziano popolare, e un’attivista per la democrazia. Con sua moglie, Manal, ha fondato un’aggregatore egiziano su “Manalaa”. El-Fatah lavorava nel campo di sviluppare versioni di software globali importanti in arabo.

L’arresto e le reazioni

Domenica, il 7 Maggio 2006, El-Fatah è stato arrestato con un gruppo di blogger e attivisti per la democrazia durante una protesta pacifica per l’independenza giuridica nel paese.

Questo arresto ha evocato le reazioni di tanti altri blogger e attivisti nel mondo che hanno condutto una campagna per la sua liberazione, e alcuni di questi hanno creato un blog dedicato per questa causa sotto il nome “Free Alaa”.”

“???? ???? ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ? ???? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ???????? ????? ?? ??? ? ?? ???? ?? ????? ???? Manalaa ?? ????? ????. ??? ???? ?? ????? ??? ????? ?? ????????? ??????.

????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???????, ?????? ???? ??? ???? ? ???? ???? ???? ????? ???????? ? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ????????? ?? ????? ??????? ? ?? ????? ?????? ????.

???????? ?? ????? 2006

????? ???? ??? ?????, 7 ????? 2006, ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ????? ???????? ? ???????? ???? ???????????? ??? ?? ??? ?????. ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ? ??? ??? ???????? ?????? ????? ????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????????”

P.S: I am still away from blogging. This was a pressing matter. Help appreciated.