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mariacallous · 6 months

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U.S. President Joe Biden talked about democracy vs. autocracy a lot in his early days in office. This was an attempt to reinvigorate democracy as a source of American soft power. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was an opportunity to drive home the message of this new geopolitical challenge to surmount. The democracy summits were an attempt to build on Biden’s vision, even though they were flawed in their criteria of which countries to include. Nevertheless, the third democracy summit in Seoul has drowned in the fog of the Israel-Hamas war. The administration’s management of the crisis has acted as a wrecking ball on the framework it was trying to build. While the United States has repeatedly blocked attempts at a permanent cease-fire, China is appealing to the global south by acknowledging the Palestinian right to armed resistance at the International Court of Justice. Allowing the conflict to drag on will keep discrediting the United States, elevate the standing of China and Russia, and undermine the prospects of democracy globally. And current events in Egypt, a historic strategic partner to the United States, showcase the consequences of this inertia.

An initial commitment to democracy in the Middle East came from then-President George W. Bush. In 2005, pressure from Bush’s administration resulted in Egypt’s first competitive presidential election, marking a significant shift in its political landscape. (Before that date, presidents renewed their mandate through referenda.) This first election gave a new life to the first movement that defied then-President Hosni Mubarak’s grip over power, Kifaya (Arabic for “enough”). A new generation became politically engaged, and, according to V-Dem datasets, there was a rise in participation in independent political associations. This new generation led Egypt’s revolution in 2011.

Barack Obama’s speech at Cairo University in 2009 was a rare moment when an American president visiting an Arab country was warmly welcomed. He promised a “new beginning” with the Muslim world after the shocking invasion of Iraq by Bush’s administration. The peak alignment with America’s calls for democracy happened during the Arab Spring of 2011, when the youth in Tahrir Square agitated to overthrow Mubarak with Obama’s support.

When Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power in 2014, he identified Egypt’s evolving civil society, along with the Muslim Brotherhood, as threats he needed to take down in order to avoid a fate like Mubarak’s. Sisi’s regime has been characterized by a crackdown on dissent, with civil society actors who align with Western values of human rights and democracy labeled as traitors. The United States has come under continuous attack by state-sponsored media as a sponsor of chaos in the region; this propaganda in turn has worked to discredit the Western model of democracy. Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s favorite dictator received little pushback from an administration that did not have democracy on its agenda.

Over the same period, relations with Russia and China have grown stronger. While Mubarak maintained a good relationship with Moscow, Russia’s presence in Egypt mainly came through grain exports and tourism. Since Sisi took power in 2014, Cairo’s pivot toward Moscow was highlighted by the agreement in 2015 for Rosatom to build the first nuclear power plant on Egyptian soil—one of Russia’s most critical strategic wins in the region. Egypt’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine involved a provisional agreement to supply rockets to Russia and refusing to block its airspace to Russian fighter jets. Sisi justified this stance when he met American House Intelligence Committee leaders in Cairo: “When the U.S. conditions some of its arms sales and shipments to Egypt, what do you really want me to do?” (Jim Himes, the committee’s ranking member, recounted this interaction with Sisi in an interview with CNN.) The U.S. has, since Obama, been putting conditions to uphold human rights on its aid to Egypt, which is the second-largest recipient of U.S. military assistance after Israel. Although blocks on aid usually involve a small proportion of the $1.3 billion sent annually, China and Russia offer arms deals with no such strings attached.

Cairo, too, has been moving closer to Beijing over the past decade, with Chinese investments increasing by more than 317 percent from 2017 to 2022. Because of the growing Chinese maritime presence in Egyptian ports, Egypt anticipates substantial Chinese investments in the Suez Canal region. Besides rapidly growing trade with China, Egypt’s government has had its state media adopt a Chinese propaganda narrative, organized bilateral leadership programs with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and allowed for Chinese expansion in the telecommunications sector and cyberspace. Only faint liberal voices within the minimal independent media space challenged the Egyptian official narrative that has championed China as a model of autocratic economic development.

Enclaves of activists and civil society leaders in Egypt and abroad have continued to challenge the Sisi regime, primarily through social media, and to support all those oppressed and imprisoned by him. Their pressures began to yield some results after Biden took office. His administration extended a show of support by highlighting human rights abuses in Department of State reports and withholding a small portion of military aid. Although the United States refused to increase the amount of withheld aid as called for by international human rights organizations, this helped ease some pressure on Egyptian activists. In 2022, and ahead of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, and in an attempt to improve its image in response to the mounting U.S. pressure, Egypt released a considerable number of political prisoners, the issued a national human rights strategy, and establishmed a national dialogue between the regime and the opposition figures who remained inside Egypt. The results of these concessions were minimal, and some, like the human rights strategy and the dialogue, were merely cosmetic maneuvers. Nevertheless, they all happened after incoming U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken openly criticized the arrest of staffers from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and Biden excluded Egypt from the democracy summits. Egyptian activists understood that any wins, however limited, could be achieved through U.S. support. This was particularly evident in campaigns to release high-profile prisoners like Alaa Abdel Fattah. The war in Gaza has severely compromised this premise.

The Biden administration’s backing of Israel and the repeated American vetoes used in the U.N. Security Council to prevent a permanent cease-fire have slashed the United States’ popularity in Egypt to 9 percent, compared with 46 percent for China, as shown in a survey by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The acute rise in anti-American sentiment is not the only result of what the public perceives as hypocrisy and double standards in America’s approach to the conflict. As shown by the survey, a more alarming consequence is the prevalence of distrust in the Western model of democracy and human rights, increasingly perceived as mere rhetorical tools deployed by the United States when human rights align with U.S. interest. Revealing the extent to which this view has been adopted by the public, in its latest release the most famous Egyptian rock band, Cairokee, sang about a double-faced America that doesn’t value Palestinian lives as opposed to those of “white angels.”

What about Europe? Can it pick up America’s slack? Europe once supported democracy and human rights in Egypt, as evidenced by the resolution issued by the European Parliament in 2022 urging EU member states to support a monitoring and reporting mechanism on grave human rights violations in Egypt. But once the war in Gaza began, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to support Sisi through financial aid packages to mitigate the refugee influx expected from Gaza—and to prevent new waves of migration to Europe.

Arab democracy and human rights advocates made it clear that they parted ways with the Western stance of support for Israel and stood firmly in solidarity with the Palestinians. As a result, human rights organizations have risked support from their partners in the West, and many have become even more isolated in their struggle under repressive regimes. For instance, Germany recently withheld funding for the anti-trafficking program of the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA) as a punishment to its head of the board of trustees, the award-winning human rights defender Azza Soliman, for signing a statement calling for the end of the war in Gaza and supporting the boycotting of the occupation. In solidarity, EIPR stopped all cooperation with the German government. The only winners from the weakening of civil rights organizations in Egypt are the authoritarians.

China and Russia have positioned themselves very well to capitalize on these developments. They did not rely solely on their official statements and positions in support of the ceasefire in the U.N. Security Council, which has already enhanced their image considerably with the Arab public, as detected by the Washington Institute survey. The China in Arabic account on the X platform exemplifies how China is seizing the opportunity to spread anti-American rhetoric. The account spreads pro-Chinese and anti-Western propaganda in Arabic to more than 580,000 followers.

Moscow is already cashing in on these gains by hosting Palestinian factions, including Hamas, for reconciliation talks. China sees in the conflict an opportunity to expand its geopolitical role in the region while the United States is bogged down with Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, and the Red Sea, and it reaps political wins from the Houthi Red Sea attacks, which spare Chinese vessels and crew members. But those who have gained the most from the anti-American sentiment are the autocratic regimes of the region.

Sisi is relieved to have secured his third presidential term through a sham election. He blocked his main rival, Ahmed Tantawi, from running, and sentenced him after the election to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a ban from running in parliamentary elections for five years. Instead of calling out such violations, Western pressures were focused on mitigating the effects of the war and having an active Egyptian role in the day-after scenario despite its internal vulnerabilities. Nationalist and religious rhetoric has prevailed, even among activists on social media.

The United States needs to move fast to restore its image globally. This requires promptly ending the devastating war in Gaza and adopting a fair and balanced approach to the Middle East conflict. Promoting democracy should be repositioned at the center of American foreign policy to counter the global rise in authoritarianism championed by China and Russia. In parallel, measures should be taken to nudge autocratic allies in the region toward political reform. Economic and trade incentives should be linked to structural economic and political reforms. Judicial reform and unequivocal implementation of the rule of law should be mandated to guarantee the long-term efficacy of economic aid packages, as well as to extend solid support to freedom fighters unwilling to relinquish their struggles for democracy.

Pundits have criticized the Biden administration’s autocracy-vs.-democracy framework as an impractical approach to the geopolitical contest with China. Yet democratization and upholding human rights remain essential soft powers. Autocrats like Sisi already prefer aligning with China, who absolve them from any commitment to human rights. With support for China growing, displays of hard power such as military showdowns and trade wars will become the main arenas for competition.

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dnllpgt · 16 days

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Harry Adams (00 Characters)

Dear all,

today around midday I went to a very nice café with a terrace called Hinterhof Café in the area where I work, right next to the Salesians (www.salesianum.de) where I am the night porter for 4 nights a week (Mon-Fri 10pm to 6:30am).

The last two weeks, however, and for another two or three weeks I have been working in the afternoons in Sales (3pm-24pm) and tonight after the midnight shift I continued as night porter so that until 6.30am I was at Reception because my colleagues O. (the nice and fussy ex-Croatian financial police officer) and Jo (the very funny black man from Asmara, who has been a day porter here for more than 30 years) are at their respective relatives outside Germany, at home.

Brother S.K. and I (a Salesian who deserves a beautiful chapter of his own) hold the position. Our boss L.D. is ill until October, so there is a lot to do. Now, however, I am at Reception on duty and am interrupted every minute or so by a phone call or one from the 500 guests we have: the Salesians from Bavaria and the provincialate from all over Germany is full, I would say almost full. This Mail will be very technical with various references and I have called it (00-Sept. 2004) because I am sending you references so that you can get to know my world here at Rosenheimer Platz and in Munich as well as in Turin where I lived my first 32 years.

My son Marcolino (now 14 years old), whom I adore, just stopped writing and wrote the following to me on WhatsApp: ‘ch würde am Samstag kommen 1 tag’. ‘Passt’ I replied!

But why is this Mail called Harry Adams? Well, after sleeping for two hours, I had an online lesson with C.B. (a medical oncologist who lives in Tuscany in the province of Grosseto) who wants to learn Italian to live in the villa she has built with a swimming pool, various facilities and wants to become Italian: the people are nice, friendly, authentic… this is what she tells me in the daily lessons we do with Zoom or WhatsApp.

Sorry, I just sold ice cream to a mother of two beautiful children (about 5 and one year old), but she couldn't read the prices, a bit complicated.

After class I had an appointment with Gabriella aka Gabi (but she doesn't like the nickname Gabi) whom I have been seeing since 2016 at least twice a month and to whom I teach Italian who now speaks C2. She is a well-off retired English teacher with no children who lives with her partner W., a retired engineer who did all the statics for Caffè Fausto where I worked as a roaster, bartender and waiter for 7 wonderful years.

Gabriella was late arriving and on the terrace next to my table sat an Englishman who talked to me for 30 minutes and then talked to Gabriella all at once. He spoke English from London because he lives in the suburbs of the metropolis and explained to me that he is an Arsenal fanatic even though his whole family is from Leichester: when a short time ago this won the championship with Ranieri they were still rooting for Arsenal with dismay.

To get to the stadium from the London suburb the train costs in Euro 200-, very very expensive so very little goes to the stadium. Harry Adams, however, is the first cousin of Chè Adams the new striker of Torino F.C., that is to say the granata, that is to say many of my people. I was in fact at home and watched Torino-Cosenza 2-0 and I'm very happy. The match was not good, the marathon was active but torn by Cairo's management and the bitterness of the granata I read in the pages of Alessandro Costantino (Toro News) a peer who advised my father.

In short Adams came in, the crowd was enthusiastic and Harry Adams sat on the edge of the round table assuring me that his cousin is strong, that he is good in the header and I could see him in action in the championship matches Venezia Torino 0-1 Milan Torino 2-2 (I feel sorry for Luca C. my classmate from the Liceo Scientifico A.Volta many years ago!) and Torino Atalanta which took us to the top of the table, for a moment first.

That is why this e-mail is entitled Harry Adams. I extremely need to write, but I have no time. I'm better now. I hope to tell something again. ‘I thought it was an adventure instead it was life’, Joseph Conrad quote from memory, not sure.

Kisses Daniele

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juliosswisslitblog · 1 year

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Teen Swiss Literature Novels

Frankenstein

The book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science who creates an artificial man from pieces of corpses and brings his creature to life. Though it initially seeks affection, the monster inspires loathing in everyone who meets it. Source

Einstein's Dreams

Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, about time, relativity and physics. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. Source

The Magic Mountain

It is the story of a young engineer, Hans Castorp, who travels to Davos to visit his sick cousin at a luxurious tuberculosis sanatorium, and, instead of three weeks, ends up staying for seven years. Source

The Night Manager

Premise. Jonathan Pine, night manager of a luxury hotel in Cairo and former British soldier, is recruited by Angela Burr, the manager of a Foreign Office task force investigating illegal arms sales, to infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Roper. Source

The Watchers

Travis Cornell, a former Delta Force operator, feels that his life has become pointless, and is exploring a canyon near his home when he encounters two genetically engineered creatures that have escaped from a top-secret government laboratory. Source

William Tell

During the 15th century, in the Swiss canton of Uri, the legendary hero Wilhelm Tell leads the people of the forest cantons in rebellion against tyrannical Austrian rule. Tell himself assassinates the corrupt Austrian governor. The play's underlying theme is the justifiability of violence in political action.

I'm Not Stiller

Max Frisch's I'm Not Stiller begins with the protagonist's (White/Stiller's) declaration that he is not Stiller. Then to prove his point, he begins confessing to unsolved murders. He is not trying to escape justice or take the blame for someone else's crimes; he is trying to escape his former self. Source

A Farewell to Arms

The plot of A Farewell to Arms follows the love affair of Frederic, an injured soldier, and Catherine, his nurse during World War I in Italy. Frederic Henry falls in love with Catherine Barkley as she tends to his wounds. Frederic is called back to the front where a botched retreat causes Frederic to have to desert. Source

Hotel du Lac

Plot Summary. Hotel du Lac (1984), a novel by British writer Anita Brookner, follows Edith Hope, a romance writer who has been banished from London in social disgrace, as she passes an enforced vacation in a Swiss hotel. She forms an uneasy friendship with the glamorous Mrs. Source

The Sanatorium

Le Sommet, in the Swiss Alps, has always been a sinister place always plagued by troubling rumors. The former sanatorium has now been turned into a five-star hotel.

It’s the last place Elin Warner wants to be but since she’s taken time off from her job as a detective, she has no reason not to accept the invitation from her estranged brother, Isaac and his fiance Laure, to celebrate their engagement. Source

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reasoningdaily · 1 year

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The indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Friday accuses one of the most powerful senators shaping American foreign affairs of using his perch to enrich himself and exploit the complicated relationship between the United States and Egypt.

It is a story about guns, money and power that strikes at a fraught sector of American diplomacy.

Menendez denies any wrongdoing, saying prosecutors “misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office” and attacked him and his wife. But if the allegations are proven, they will represent a damning account of how American policy toward an autocratic ally was compromised for years for venal reasons.

Egypt receives about $1.3 billion per year in foreign military financing, but by law, tranches of the aid are conditioned upon Egypt’s progress on human rights concerns, as determined by the State Department. Whether Foggy Bottom clears the aid is often subject to a regular tug-of-war between lawmakers, the advocacy community and the executive branch.

Traditionally, the State Department has honored requests to delay grants and weapons sales from the chair or the ranking member of the Senate committee.

Menendez, who has served as the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee since 2018, has often been a public critic of the Egyptian government, rapping the Trump administration for inviting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for a state visit in 2019 and pressing then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to raise human rights concerns with the leader.

But federal prosecutors claim Menendez was playing a different role behind the scenes.

In an indictment published Friday, prosecutors said Menendez accepted money, a luxury car and gifts including gold from three New Jersey businesspeople— Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes — in return for helping them and Egypt’s repressive regime.

Prosecutors also claim the New Jersey Democrat gave sensitive information about U.S. diplomats in Cairo “that secretly aided the Government of Egypt” and “improperly advised and pressured” a U.S. agricultural official to safeguard a contract for Hana to be the exclusive purveyor of halal meat to Egypt, according to the indictment.

Allegedly, Menendez, starting in mid-2018, privately maintained close relations with Egyptian officials and businesspeople and readily shared sensitive information with his associates about U.S. policy toward Cairo.

In May 2018, Menendez allegedly disclosed to Hana at a private dinner that a U.S. government ban on sales of small arms and ammunition to Egypt had been lifted, which Hana passed on to the Egyptian official.

Later that month, Menendez allegedly ghostwrote Cairo’s lobbying pitch to other U.S. senators seeking support for the release of $300 million in U.S. aid to Egypt.

In July, after meeting with Egyptian military officials, Menendez allegedly had his wife Nadine tell Hana that he was signing off on the sale of 46,000 120mm target practice rounds and 10,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth $99 million.

“NOTE: These tank rounds are for tanks they have had for many years. They are using these in the Sinai for the counter-terrorism campaign,” Menendez allegedly said in a text to Nadine, which she forwarded to Hana.

The State Department two months later announced it had approved the sale of the package of General Dynamics-made high-explosive and armor-piercing rounds, to help Cairo fight Islamic State militants, and the target rounds, to train M1 Abrams tank crews.

Adrienne Watson, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said “no comment” when contacted for this story. Spokespersons for the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Not really,” Motaz Zahran, Egypt’s ambassador in Washington, said when asked if he had comment.

Menendez is also accused of intervening in Egyptian diplomatic entanglements and pushing for the U.S. to put its finger on the scales for Cairo.

After taking a meeting with an Egyptian official dubbed “the general”, prosecutors allege Menendez waded into a long-standing diplomatic dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over access to the Nile River and a large Ethiopian dam project near the river’s source waters.

The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has long been a top foreign priority for Egypt, as Cairo depends on unfettered water flows from the Nile to sustain its population, which is almost entirely concentrated along the river’s delta and banks.

Writing in April 2020 to then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Pompeo to express concerns over “stalled negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over [the Dam],” Menendez called on the administration to “significantly increase the State Department’s engagement on negotiations” around the dam, according to the indictment.

Menendez in February 2018 reclaimed his post as the top panel’s top Democrat just days after the Justice Department dropped different corruption charges against him. At the time, Menendez was accused of intervening in a Dominican port contract dispute to benefit a Florida ophthalmologist and businessperson who had given Menendez large campaign donations.

Menendez voluntarily stepped back from the job in 2015 after he was charged, with an understanding from then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that he would be reinstated if cleared of charges.

It’s unclear if Menendez will step back from his role this time around, or if he did, who would temporarily replace him as chair.

“Democratic leadership of the committee is the responsibility of the Democratic leadership in the Senate,” said Suzanne Wrasse, a spokesperson for the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho). “There is precedent on these types of issues in their conference. Senator Risch hopes to hear from the Democrat leader as soon as possible so the committee’s important work can go on uninterrupted.”

#egypt #bob menendez #spying #us congress #Egypt #guns #money and power at center of Menendez indictment

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dakoty1 · 1 year

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Red Sea Real Estate in Soma Bay 2023

Hurghada City The city was founded in the early 20th century, and since the 1980s has been continually enlarged by Egyptian and foreign investors to become the leading seashore resort on the Red Sea. Holiday villages and hotels provide aquatic sport facilities for sailboarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorkelers. Hurghada city is one of Egypt's most popular travelers destinations and it's quite easy to know why. Especially since there aren't too many other spots which provide the opportunity to experience the magic of the sea and the desert all at once. Investing in Hurghada grow quickly because Real Estate In Hurghada Egypt 2023 is a different from other city’s in Egypt Because many visitors from other countries like to buying properties in Hurghada Egypt for fun and sun !! also cheap real Estate In Hurghada Egypt encourage peoples from other countiris to find Luxury apartments for sale in Hurghada Egypt 2023 and all of the best real estate in Hurghada Egypt 2023 . Hurghada stretches for about 36 kilometres (22 miles) along the seashore, and it does not reach far into the surrounding desert. The resort is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta and Upper Egypt, as well as package holiday tourists from Europe, notably Italians, Russians, Czechs and Germans. Until a few years ago it was a small fishing village. Today Hurghada counts 248,000 inhabitants and is divided into three parts: Downtown (El Dahar) is the old part; Sakalla is the city center, and El Memsha (Village road) is the modern part. Sakkala is the relatively modest hotel quarter. Dahar is where the town's largest bazaar, the post office and the long-distance bus station are situated. The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic to and from Cairo and direct connections with several cities in Europe. The airport has undergone massive renovations to accommodate rising traffic. Hurghada is known for its water sports activities, nightlife and warm weather. Daily temperature hovers round 30 degrees Celsius most of the year. Numerous Europeans spend their Christmas and New Year holidays in Hurghada, primarily Germans and Italians. Hurghada has become an international center for aquatic sports like windsurfing, kiting, sailing, deep-sea fishing, swimming, and above all snorkeling and diving. The offshore reefs are considered some of the finest in the world. The warm waters here are ideal for many varieties of fish and coral, which may also be observed from a glass bottom boat. The city provides a gateway to diving sites throughout the Red Sea, owing to its central location. In addition, Hurghada is known for providing access to many uninhabited offshore reefs and islands. Best Roads Company offering Real Estate In Hurghada Soma Bay,hurghada real estate offers,red sea real estate,soma bay real estate,sea view apartment in soma bay,Soma bay hurghada real estate,Soma bay hurghada real estate offers , Best real estate project in soma bay ,apartments in soma bay for sale,studio for sale in soma bay,sea view flat in soma bay to sale,luxury apartments in soma bay hurghda,red sea soma bay real estate 2023,luxury flat for sale in soma bay 2023,red sea soma bay real estate offers www.bestroads.net , Today, investors seek the stability and simplicity of the property market to gain good returns on investment. Under-performing stock markets are often proving more volatile than property and this is especially true for the non-professional as there are many external factors that can effect your financial investment. Did you know that 50% of the members of The Times Rich List made their money through investing in property? The benefit of buying specifically for investment purposes is the removal of emotion from your purchase while property is used purely as an investment vehicle. Investment property in Egypt offers many possibilities in the form of re-assignable off-plan contract options to sell at a substantial profit prior to completion, or "buy-to-let" situations to generate reliable rental income and eventually substantial capital appreciation. Prices on real estate: The prices are currently skyrocketing here, but still, they are far more attractive, when compared to other hot spots around Europe. Market prices have gone up +30 per cent every year throughout the past couple of years, which is good, if you make an investment now. So, to narrow it down, Hurghada represents a number of factors that make it very attractive for investors. Reasons why many find Hurghada property to their liking include: Red Sea reputation: This area is known worldwide as one of the best on the planet for diving. This ensures a steady tourist trade. Cost of living: The cost of living in Hurghada is very low. This makes the region not only attractive to holiday makers, but also expatriates and retirees wanting to soak up the sun. Affordable purchase prospects: Since the market is still in its beginning stages, property prices here are quite affordable. The growth potential, however, is quite high and most experts do not expect prices to remain low for long. Regional attractions: Egypt is a dream location for many. With its ancient sites and wondrous history, visitors to Hurghada find themselves with no shortage of things to do. Accessibility: With its own international airport and flights from the UK and Scandinavia taking only a few hours, this is a very attractive location. Freehold property: Unlike the leasehold market in Sharm El Sheikh, property in Hurghada is freehold. Centre of the Red Sea Riviera: The Red Sea Coast has been designated by the Egyptian government as a growth and investment zone, and Hurghada is a shining example of the growing tourism industry along the Red Sea. Currently the fastest growing tourist destination in Egypt The Fastest Growing Tourist Destination: The most sought after destinations for property in Egypt are the resorts of the Red Sea, or what is now called the Red Sea Riviera. What surprises many visitors to these shores is what a tropical paradise the Red Sea is, rivalling many areas in the Caribbean with its beautiful golden beaches, palm trees, mangroves and turquoise coasts fringed with barrier reefs. Future benefits: Excellent rental yields can be achieved. Meanwhile, the investors can still enjoy benefits of owning a beautiful holiday home (and using it whilst the property is unoccupied) and watch its value increase at a steady pace. Investment return: Off-plan investments can offer buyers an ability to achieve returns of between 10-100% in just 24 months. www.bestroads.net

Hurghada Studios offering villa for sale in hurghada Egypt ,Hotels for sale In Hurghada Egypt,sea view villa for sale in hurghada Egypt, Property for sale in hurghada Egypt, Real Estate Projects for Sale and development services. the best real estate website in 2023 for sale real estate in hurghada www.bestroads.net , Hurghada city is one of Egypt's most popular travelers destinations and it's quite easy to know why. Especially since there aren't too many other spots which provide the opportunity to experience the magic of the sea and the desert all at once. Investing in Hurghada grow quickly because Real Estate In Hurghada Egypt 2023 is a different from other city’s in Egypt Because many visitors from other countries like to buying properties in Hurghada Egypt for fun and sun !! also cheap real Estate In Hurghada Egypt encourage peoples from other countries to find Luxury apartments for sale in Hurghada Egypt 2023 and all of the best real estate in Hurghada Egypt 2023

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typoeastnews · 1 year

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BSH Home Appliances to invest in state-of-art factory in Cairo

The German company will invest around €50m in the stove factory.

BSH Home Appliances, Europe’s leading home appliances manufacturer, celebrated the groundbreaking of its first, state-of-the-art factory in Egypt and Africa. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Supply and Internal Trading, the Minister of Trade and Industry, the German ambassador in Cairo, and high-level officials.

The German company will invest around €50m in the stove factory, the first of its kind in Egypt and on the African continent. The production plant will be located in the 10th of Ramadan City on an area of approximately 160,000 square meters and will create more than 1,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for the manufacturing of Egyptian-made home cooking stoves using German technology. With a capacity of 350,000 units per year, the Group aims to export half of the factory’s output to various countries in Africa and the Middle East by the end of 2024.

Rudolf Klötscher, Chief Sales and Service Officer and Member of the BSH Board of Management, said: “Despite the challenging global economic conditions and developments around the world, BSH Group is proud to launch its first factory in Africa and further expand its business to African markets with their growth opportunities.” The factory complements BSH’s global manufacturing network and will be the home appliance manufacturer’s 41st production facility. Production is scheduled to start by the end of 2024.

Luis Alvarez, CEO of BSH Egypt, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to Egypt and its excellent conditions for new investments: “BSH aims to contribute to the growth and development of the Egyptian economy by creating new job opportunities and utilizing local resources to provide the maximum value to Egyptian society. BSH offers ongoing and continuous expansion and progress, both now and in the future, for strong relationships and inspiring and constructive investments,” he said.

Alvarez underlined the Group’s unwavering commitment and drive to attain sustainability in all facets of its new factory and products.

#Europe #home appliances

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sahlaahsupport · 2 years

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مكتب ادارى للبيع فى التجمع الخامس بأقل مقدم بـ Revolve Mall New Cairo

مكتب ادارى للبيع فى التجمع الخامس بأقل مقدم بـ Revolve Mall New Cairo مكتب ادارى للبيع بالتقسيط بمول ريڤولڤ التجمع الخامسAdministrative office for sale in installments Revolve Mall New Cairo المكتب يقع بمول ريڤولڤ الذى يقع بموقع مميز جدا حيث انه يبعد عشر دقائق فقط من أكبر الجامعات في مصر (الجامعة الأميركية) ويقترب من مدارس عالمية مثل (برايم الدولية – سنفنكس الدولية). المول موجود على محور التحرير…

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#مكاتب

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conceptproperties · 2 years

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fifthsettlement-villas · 4 years

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مساحات اداريه بالقاهرة الجديدة بأميز موقع على محور رئيسي ✅

مساحات اداريه للبيع في القاهرة الجديدة Office spaces in new Cairo

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reasoningdaily · 1 year

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The indictment of Senator Bob Menendez on charges of corruptly aiding the Egyptian government has set the stage for a week of renewed pressure on US lawmakers to withhold military aid to Egypt.

Menendez stepped town temporarily from his position as head of the Senate foreign relations committee on Friday after he was indicted by New York’s southern district court on a set of explosive and detailed charges.

These included accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes as well as gold bars, payments towards his mortgage and gifts including a luxury car, in exchange for using his influence and breaching his duties “in ways that benefited the government of Egypt”, while bolstering a halal meat certification business based in his New Jersey district linked to the Egyptian state.

The senator has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, stating “those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty”.

The indictment also details the senator’s close relationships with members of the Egyptian intelligence services, including meetings in his office in Washington and in Cairo to discuss the $1.3bn in foreign military aid given to Egypt by the US each year, an area where Menendez possessed substantial control due to his position.

The Biden administration recently opted to withhold $85m of military aid for Egypt citing human rights concerns, substantially less than the amounts withheld in previous years. The move sparked criticism from observers who pointed to Egypt’s abysmal human rights record, citing tens of thousands detained under president Abdel-Fatah al Sisi including political prisoners and US green card holders.

With one week remaining before the end of the financial year, Menendez’s indictment has sparked furious calls from rights groups and lobbyists in Washington demanding that US lawmakers withhold on national security grounds a further $235m in military aid to Egypt that was previously approved by the Biden administration earlier this month.

“According to the three-count indictment, while enriching himself, Menendez used his position to prioritize the wants of Egypt’s corrupt and brutal government and security services,” said the Washington-based group the Freedom Initiative, which focuses on political prisoners held across the Middle East.

“The indictment alleges significant efforts by the Egyptian government to improperly influence US policy and law. President Biden and his administration should demand an accounting from the Egyptian government and announce a review of the bilateral relationship.”

Seth Binder, advocacy director at the Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington, said that his organisation would be among those pressing lawmakers to withhold the military aid to Egypt in light of the accusations against Senator Menendez and revelations around Egyptian interference in US policy.

“This is a rare thing; Congress jumping in like this is not commonly done. But also the information in the indictment is quite unusual,” he said.

He added: “We often hear that using military aid as leverage won’t work, as the Egyptian government doesn’t really care about the assistance. This indictment should put that argument to bed, it has clearly been proven false.”

Among the details in the indictment against Menendez are text messages to his wife, Nadine Menendez, which were passed on to Egyptian officials, specifying sensitive information regarding staff at the US embassy in Cairo. The accusations also include examples of Menendez communicating with Egyptian officials, via his wife, about his personal approval of specific arms sales to Egypt.

“Asking for names and individuals working at an embassy: that part is truly scandalous to my mind,” said Binder. “We know that Egypt is regularly trying to harass Egyptian nationals that work at foreign embassies, to use them to gather intelligence and information. Playing a part in that is really dirty.”

The extensive allegations against Menendez appear likely to affect multiple areas of US foreign policy, while also emboldening rights groups who have long complained of the Biden administration’s broken promises on Egypt. As a candidate, Biden promised “no blank cheques” for Sisi, belied by increasingly warm relations once he took office.

#egypt #senate #us senate #US urged to withhold military aid to Egypt in wake of Bob Menendez charges #bob menendez #spying #el-Sisi

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jackoshadows · 3 years

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A fascinating and educational twitter thread about how Prohibition helped Botswana become one of the most stable countries in Africa.

For decades since its independence in 1966, Botswana was an island of black sovereignty & stability between apartheid South Africa and white-supremacist Rhodesia. Some say it was the inspiration for #Wakanda in the movie #BlackPanther.

In southern Africa as the world over, the Brits and European colonists ran the EXACT SAME PLAYBOOK of alco-colonization.

Read more at the link

Step 1: Introduce hard liquors--industrial distillates--to native populations with no experience with drinks of such mind-bending potency. 4/ Step 2: Clutch their pearls, and recoil in horror at the drunkenness and violence that predictably occurs within the native community and against white colonizers and liquor purveyors. In Africa, they called it the “black peril.”

Step 3: Cite that drunkenness as evidence of natives’ inability to be “civilized,” thus justifying white political domination over them. Africa, Asia, North America, even Ireland--everywhere it was the same pattern. See also: opium in China.

Hard liquor (whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, schnapps, etc.) was the perfect tool of exploitation. Highly potent. Concentrated. Easy to transport. Highly addictive. Didn’t spoil like fermented brews. Easy to make. Incredibly lucrative.

European colonizers would share liquor as a gesture of goodwill, and then once the alcoholic stupor set in, get tribal leaders to scrawl an “X” and sign-away their land, resources, and even people. 8/ More importantly, promoting widespread addiction to liquor made indigenous populations reliant on the colonists, just as junkies rely on drug dealers. Again, see also: opium in China, and two Opium Wars resisting it.

What did natives have that colonists wanted? Ivory, food, furs, ivory, exotic ostrich feathers, rubber, ivory... the land and the minerals in it, and everything living on it. Also: ivory. And finally, the natives themselves were commodities: as labor or slaves.

If you’re a European trader & the locals trade ivory or furs for (say) your iron kettle, the entire village can use that for 20 years. Blankets might last 5 years before they need to trade with you again. There’s little demand for your wares. Or you. But if you can hook the community on booze that ONLY YOU supply, they’ll have to come back to you all. the. time. Now you’re indispensable. Addiction is self-renewing demand. Becoming the sole drug dealer to a community of addicts is ridiculously profitable. Need proof? Riddle me this: What was the first factory on the continent of Africa? Of course, Africa is rich in every resource imaginable: minerals, gems, ivory, rubber, oil, cocoa, fruit and timber that could be processed into goods.

Here it is. In 1881, the Dutch Transvaal government granted a monopoly on distilled brandy to the Hatherley Distillery near Pretoria. The company was called “De Eerste Fabriken”--the First Factory. It wasn't first because the white settlers drank it. They largely didn’t.

Instead, with the discovery of gold & diamonds, white mine-owners needed black labor. They lured workers to the mines with promises of liquor, knowing if they had large booze debts to pay back, tribesmen would have to work longer, rather than returning to their village.

(South African Breweries--today the world’s largest brewer--was founded soon thereafter to provide British-style beer to a white clientele, while the cheap liquor from Hatherley was reserved for indenturing black workers.)

Consequently, every native leader worth his salt was a prohibitionist--defending his people against the “white man’s wicked water.” King Moshoeshoe in Lesotho. Chief Waterboer in Griqualand. Tembu headman Mankai Renga & hundreds more. In Africa as around the globe, temperance and prohibitionism became the banner for subaltern sovereignty against the white colonial junkiemaker.

Which brings us back to Botswana. Or Bechuanaland, as it was then known. It had long been ruled by tribal chiefs, led by Bamangwato King Khama III ("the Great"), who’d allied with the British against the Dutch Boers.

Three months after ascending the throne in 1873, he informed all white traders on his territory that trading liquor w/ his people was now prohibited. “If, when you give one another a drink, you turn around and give it to my people also, I shall regard you as blameworthy.” Europeans scoffed & kept selling--until Khama expelled them all: “I am black and am chief of my own country. When you white men rule then you will do as you like. At present I rule, and I shall maintain my laws which you insult and despise.” Prohibition was sovereignty. “There are 3 things which distress me—war, selling people, and drink,” Khama wrote the British in 1876, asking the Queen’s protection. “All these I shall find in the Boers.”

By 1884, Bechuanaland was British protectorate, respecting Khama’s prohibition. Meanwhile the 1890s, Britain’s Cape Colony was dominated by the notorious Cecil Rhodes: founder of the De Beers diamond syndicate, quintessential imperialist and unapologetic white supremacist.

“I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race,” Rhodes wrote. “Africa is still lying ready for us--it is our duty to take it.” In 1889, Rhodes organized his mining interests into the chartered British South Africa Company (BSAC), which had its own government and army. In 1890, he also became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. In the First Matabele War (1893-94), 750 BSAC “police” with machine guns killed over 10,000 Matabele spearmen, bringing Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) under Company control. Khama’s Tswana tribesmen served on the side of the Company.

According to BSAC shareholder reports, one of the first items of business wherever the Company set-up control was to farm-out the liquor trade to white settlers. Profits are profits, regardless of prohibition promises. Rhodes famously dreamed of building a trans-African railroad connecting Cape Town to Cairo... which meant taking Bechuanaland, even though Khama was regaled as a loyal British ally.

From 1892-95, the conniving Rhodes used every administrative trick possible to place Khama’s Bechuanaland Protectorate under the sovereignty of the Company, but was stymied either by Khama or the Colonial Office in London. By 1895, Khama had enough. Together w/ fellow chiefs Bathoen and Sebele, he voyaged to London to petition Queen Victoria’s government to keep Bechuanaland out of Rhodes’ grasp.

“The two points on which the natives seem to be apprehensive,” the Imperial Secretary in Cape Town telegraphed London, “are the questions of land and liquor.” The 3 kings arrived in September 1895, and were supposed to meet with Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain. But he--like the rest of the Queen’s government--had left for their annual vacations until November. “I have for years tried to abolish the use of strong liquors in my country, and prevent the importation of European drinks,” Khama told the London press, lamenting that his efforts “should be hampered by agitation in my country and outside it.” While awaiting for an audience with Chamberlain or Queen Victoria, Khama, Sebele and Bathoen toured the width and breadth of the British Isles, winning British public opinion to the side of their temperance and sovereignty.

The Review of Reviews reprinted Khama’s plea that “you, O British people, will not paralyse my efforts by compelling me to submit to the invasion of my country by the trader with his poisonous liquors.” If Britain were to ignore Khama’s calls for help, the papers editorialized, then the British people “should stand condemned as the most God-forsaken set of canting hypocrites on the whole round earth.” Following the kings‘ temperance visits, a flood of popular petitions inundated the Colonial Office from across the country, strenuously opposing giving Bechuanaland over to Rhodes‘ Company. Prior to the meeting, the kings plead their case to Chamberlain: “We fear the Company because we think they will take our land and sell it to others. We fear that they will fill our country with liquor shops, as they have Bulawayo.”

The kings offered concessions and the payment of additional poll taxes, if London would only delay the inevitable annexation by Rhodes’ Company by 10 years. “Do not let them bring liquor into our country to kill our people speedily.”

On Nov. 6, 1895, Chamberlain finally met with the chiefs to dictate terms. The chiefs would pay a hut tax and sacrifice a strip of land for Rhodes‘ railway in exchange for maintaining their sovereignty as a protectorate. “White man’s strong drink shall not be brought for sale into the country, and those who attempt to deal in it or give it away to black men will be punished. No new liquor license shall be issued, and no existing liquor license shall be renewed,” Chamberlain declared.

Weeks later, Chamberlain escorted the Chiefs to Windsor castle for an audience with “the Great White Queen” herself, Queen Victoria, who confirmed the arrangements that Chamberlain had made. “The sale of strong drink shall be prohibited in your country &those who attempt to supply it shall be severely punished,” the Queen declared. “I feel strongly in this matter, & am glad to see that the chiefs have determined to keep so great a curse from the people.” Pleased, though unaware of British protocols, Sebele told the press: “Her Majesty if a very charming old lady... But I had no idea that she was so short and stout... I shall go back home contented.” They did. Far less pleased was Cecil Rhodes, who telegraphed London: “I do object to being beaten by three canting natives especially on the score of temperance.”

And then: “IT IS HUMILIATING TO BE UTTERLY BEATEN BY THESE NI***RS.”

Bechuanaland’s stay of execution may have been short lived, were it not for what happened next. Upon returning to Bechuanaland, Khama met Sir Leander Starr Jameson, who was leading a BSAC military force. Jameson’s orders were to instigate an insurrection across the border in the Dutch Transvaal, whipping-up British sympathizers and lead to an all-out British invasion to topple the rival Dutch Boers. But in a crowning irony, Jameson’s Raid was doomed by liquor. To take the Dutch by surprise, the British would cut the telegraph lines so Boer outposts couldn’t sound the alarm of invasion. Instead of cutting the telegraph lines, a drunken British soldier instead cut a farmer’s wire fence. The Dutch anticipated and tracked the whole raid, ambushed and decimated the attackers & imprisoned Rhodes’ brother Frank.

London condemned Rhodes‘ reckless adventurism, forcing him to step down from the BSAC in disgrace. The imperial threat to Bechuanaland’s sovereignty and sobriety was over. The British honored Khama’s prohibition & sovereignty right through Botswana’s independence in 1966. Today the bronze Three Dikgosi Monument honoring Khama, Bathoen & Sebele is the most visited destination in the 🇧🇼 capital of Gaborone.

Were it not for their 1895 temperance mission to Britain, what is today Botswana would’ve long been absorbed into either Britain’s Cape Colony (now South Africa) or Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)--much to their people’s detriment--instead of becoming its own independent country. Without prohibition, there’d be no Botswana. And in honor of their Founding Fathers, Botswana emblazoned the picture of the chiefs‘ 1895 temperance mission to London on their 100 Pula note.

HEY! If you liked this liquor-politics thread, may I humbly suggest checking-out my new “Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition” book, which contains literally dozens of them.

#Botswana #Liquor #Prohibition #Colonization #History #alco-colonization

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justforbooks · 4 years

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Enrico Caruso was born on February 25, 1873. He was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. One of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, Caruso made 247 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920, which made him an international popular entertainment star.

Caruso's 25-year career, stretching from 1895 to 1920, included 863 appearances at the New York Metropolitan Opera before he died at the age of 48. Thanks in part to his tremendously popular phonograph records, Caruso was one of the most famous personalities of his day, and his fame has endured to the present. He was one of the first examples of a global media celebrity. Beyond records, Caruso's name became familiar to millions through newspapers, books, magazines, and the new media technology of the 20th century: cinema, the telephone and telegraph.

Caruso toured widely both with the Metropolitan Opera touring company and on his own, giving hundreds of performances throughout Europe, and North and South America. He was a client of the noted promoter Edward Bernays, during the latter's tenure as a press agent in the United States. Beverly Sills noted in an interview: "I was able to do it with television and radio and media and all kinds of assists. The popularity that Caruso enjoyed without any of this technological assistance is astonishing."

Caruso biographers Pierre Key, Bruno Zirato and Stanley Jackson attribute Caruso's fame not only to his voice and musicianship but also to a keen business sense and an enthusiastic embrace of commercial sound recording, then in its infancy. Many opera singers of Caruso's time rejected the phonograph (or gramophone) owing to the low fidelity of early discs. Others, including Adelina Patti, Francesco Tamagno and Nellie Melba, exploited the new technology once they became aware of the financial returns that Caruso was reaping from his initial recording sessions.

Caruso made more than 260 extant recordings in America for the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor) from 1904 to 1920, and he and his heirs earned millions of dollars in royalties from the retail sales of these records. He was also heard live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1910, when he participated in the first public radio broadcast to be transmitted in the United States.

Caruso also appeared in two motion pictures. In 1918, he played a dual role in the American silent film My Cousin for Paramount Pictures. This film included a sequence depicting him on stage performing the aria Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci. The following year Caruso played a character called Cosimo in another film, The Splendid Romance. Producer Jesse Lasky paid Caruso $100,000 each to appear in these two efforts but My Cousin flopped at the box office, and The Splendid Romance was apparently never released. Brief candid glimpses of Caruso offstage have been preserved in contemporary newsreel footage.

While Caruso sang at such venues as La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House, in London, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, he appeared most often at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where he was the leading tenor for 18 consecutive seasons. It was at the Met, in 1910, that he created the role of Dick Johnson in Giacomo Puccini's La fanciulla del West.

Caruso's voice extended up to high D-flat in its prime and grew in power and weight as he grew older. At times, his voice took on a dark, almost baritonal coloration. He sang a broad spectrum of roles, ranging from lyric, to spinto, to dramatic parts, in the Italian and French repertoires. In the German repertoire, Caruso sang only two roles, Assad (in Karl Goldmark's The Queen of Sheba) and Richard Wagner's Lohengrin, both of which he performed in Italian in Buenos Aires in 1899 and 1901, respectively.

Repertoire

Caruso's operatic repertoire consisted primarily of Italian works along with a few roles in French. He also performed two German operas, Wagner's Lohengrin and Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba, singing in Italian, early in his career. Below are the first performances by Caruso, in chronological order, of each of the operas that he undertook on the stage.

World premieres are indicated with **.

L'amico Francesco (Morelli) – Teatro Nuovo, Napoli, 15 March 1895 (debut)**

Faust – Caserta, 28 March 1895

Cavalleria rusticana – Caserta, April 1895

Camoens (Musoni) – Caserta, May 1895

Rigoletto – Napoli, 21 July 1895

La traviata – Napoli, 25 August 1895

Lucia di Lammermoor – Cairo, 30 October 1895

La Gioconda – Cairo, 9 November 1895

Manon Lescaut – Cairo, 15 November 1895

I Capuleti e i Montecchi – Napoli, 7 December 1895

Malia (Francesco Paolo Frontini) – Trapani, 21 March 1896

La sonnambula – Trapani, 25 March 1896

Mariedda (Gianni Bucceri [it]) – Napoli, 23 June 1896

I puritani – Salerno, 10 September 1896

La Favorita – Salerno, 22 November 1896

A San Francisco (Sebastiani) – Salerno, 23 November 1896

Carmen – Salerno, 6 December 1896

Un Dramma in vendemmia (Fornari) – Napoli, 1 February 1897

Celeste (Marengo) – Napoli, 6 March 1897**

Il Profeta Velato (Napolitano) – Salerno, 8 April 1897

La bohème – Livorno, 14 August 1897

La Navarrese – Milano, 3 November 1897

Il Voto (Giordano) – Milano, 10 November 1897**

L'arlesiana – Milano, 27 November 1897**

Pagliacci – Milano, 31 December 1897

La bohème (Leoncavallo) – Genova, 20 January 1898

The Pearl Fishers – Genova, 3 February 1898

Hedda (Leborne) – Milano, 2 April 1898**

Mefistofele – Fiume, 4 March 1898

Sapho (Massenet) – Trento, 3 June (?) 1898

Fedora – Milano, 17 November 1898**

Iris – Buenos Aires, 22 June 1899

La regina di Saba (Goldmark) – Buenos Aires, 4 July 1899

Yupanki (Berutti)– Buenos Aires, 25 July 1899**

Aida – St. Petersburg, 3 January 1900

Un ballo in maschera – St. Petersburg, 11 January 1900

Maria di Rohan – St. Petersburg, 2 March 1900

Manon – Buenos Aires, 28 July 1900

Tosca – Treviso, 23 October 1900

Le maschere (Mascagni) – Milano, 17 January 1901**

L'elisir d'amore – Milano, 17 February 1901

Lohengrin – Buenos Aires, 7 July 1901

Germania – Milano, 11 March 1902**

Don Giovanni – London, 19 July 1902

Adriana Lecouvreur – Milano, 6 November 1902**

Lucrezia Borgia – Lisbon, 10 March 1903

Les Huguenots – New York, 3 February 1905

Martha – New York, 9 February 1906

Madama Butterfly – London, 26 May 1906

L'Africana – New York, 11 January 1907

Andrea Chénier – London, 20 July 1907

Il trovatore – New York, 26 February 1908

Armide – New York, 14 November 1910

La fanciulla del West – New York, 10 December 1910**

Julien – New York, 26 December 1914

Samson et Dalila – New York, 24 November 1916

Lodoletta – Buenos Aires, 29 July 1917

Le prophète – New York, 7 February 1918

L'amore dei tre re – New York, 14 March 1918

La forza del destino – New York, 15 November 1918

La Juive – New York, 22 November 1919

Caruso also had a repertory of more than 500 songs. They ranged from classical compositions to traditional Italian melodies and popular tunes of the day, including a few English-language titles such as George M. Cohan's "Over There", Henry Geehl's "For You Alone" and Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord".

On 16 September 1920, Caruso concluded three days of recording sessions at Victor's Trinity Church studio in Camden, New Jersey. He recorded several discs, including the Domine Deus and Crucifixus from the Petite messe solennelle by Rossini. These recordings were to be his last.

Dorothy Caruso noted that her husband's health began a distinct downward spiral in late 1920 after he returned from a lengthy North American concert tour. In his biography, Enrico Caruso Jr. points to an on-stage injury suffered by Caruso as the possible trigger of his fatal illness. A falling pillar in Samson and Delilah on 3 December had hit him on the back, over the left kidney (and not on the chest as popularly reported). A few days before a performance of Pagliacci at the Met (Pierre Key says it was 4 December, the day after the Samson and Delilah injury) he suffered a chill and developed a cough and a "dull pain in his side". It appeared to be a severe episode of bronchitis. Caruso's physician, Philip Horowitz, who usually treated him for migraine headaches with a kind of primitive TENS unit, diagnosed "intercostal neuralgia" and pronounced him fit to appear on stage, although the pain continued to hinder his voice production and movements.

During a performance of L'elisir d'amore by Donizetti at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on December 11, 1920, he suffered a throat haemorrhage and the performance was canceled at the end of Act 1. Following this incident, a clearly unwell Caruso gave only three more performances at the Met, the final one being as Eléazar in Halévy's La Juive, on 24 December 1920. By Christmas Day, the pain in his side was so excruciating that he was screaming. Dorothy summoned the hotel physician, who gave Caruso some morphine and codeine and called in another doctor, Evan M. Evans. Evans brought in three other doctors and Caruso finally received a correct diagnosis: purulent pleurisy and empyema.

Caruso's health deteriorated further during the new year, lapsing into a coma and nearly dying of heart failure at one point. He experienced episodes of intense pain because of the infection and underwent seven surgical procedures to drain fluid from his chest and lungs. He slowly began to improve and he returned to Naples in May 1921 to recuperate from the most serious of the operations, during which part of a rib had been removed. According to Dorothy Caruso, he seemed to be recovering, but allowed himself to be examined by an unhygienic local doctor, and his condition worsened dramatically after that. The Bastianelli brothers, eminent medical practitioners with a clinic in Rome, recommended that his left kidney be removed. He was on his way to Rome to see them but, while staying overnight in the Vesuvio Hotel in Naples, he took an alarming turn for the worse and was given morphine to help him sleep.

Caruso died at the hotel shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time, on 2 August 1921. He was 48. The Bastianellis attributed the likely cause of death to peritonitis arising from a burst subphrenic abscess. The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, opened the Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola for Caruso's funeral, which was attended by thousands of people. His embalmed body was preserved in a glass sarcophagus at Del Pianto Cemetery in Naples for mourners to view. In 1929, Dorothy Caruso had his remains sealed permanently in an ornate stone tomb.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Enrico Caruso #Famous Birthdays

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theliterateape · 3 years

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The Subjectivity of Historical Revisionism

by Don Hall

The game was simple but difficult.

My first wife was an orchestra clarinetist. I had played in countless orchestras with my trumpet. I never really fit in with the academically inclined orchestra crowd but she did so she would have small gatherings to eat and drink at our home.

I could only handle sitting and chatting with them for a short time before I either started throwing verbal bombs in the mix to keep things interesting (which inevitably set the stage for a fight with my wife after all had gone home) or checked out completely (a different but similar sounding fight later). I finally came up with a game that they could play so I could go into my office and write or drink or drink and write.

I was a middle school music teacher and my curriculum for eighth grade included some college music history.

“OK. I teach a class on the Romantic Period of music for my kids. I get forty minutes to cover composers from 1770 to 1850. This includes Brahms, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Wagner, Sibelius, Schubert, and scores more as well as over 5,000 known pieces of music of all genres. Forty minutes. I have to boil the whole period down to roughly six pieces of music at three minutes apiece to encapsulate all of that.

Here’s the game. You have forty minutes to teach a class on the music of the Twentieth Century. You get ten pieces and composers. Go!”

After around thirty minutes, I'd come back in, get another drink, and they'd inevitably have their ten. I'd look at it and comment, "So. You guys don't think jazz should be included?" They'd all growl and go back in to it.

Keep in mind, this game was about determining what specific art would be included for a limited attention span and, in the most subjective way, indicate what art you value first and foremost.

Were I to play that game today with someone my nephew's age, an additional criteria would be added. It would not be enough that the music was important or influential or even good. The addition to the type of person the artist was (or is) has become a part of the game.

It's all revision by exclusion.

Assessing the merit of art or historical significance is more than a popularity test. There have been plenty of popular artists, scientists, statesmen, and entrepreneurs in our history who have become unpopular and even unknown over time and who have been weeded out of curation.

Why are we exposed to the art we are exposed to? We certainly aren’t the kind of creatures who, when seeking out information, go to a library index file and pour through thousands of entries to find the hidden treasures any more. No, we now have a screen which we type in “What were the best novels of the 20th Century?” and are fed a result.

According to Goodreads.com, there are 164 books listed under the heading The ACTUAL 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century.

As soon as you start to apply the Woke Metrics (you know, the yardstick that dismisses the accomplishments of Winston Churchill because he was a bigot) these lists start to narrow significantly. Using that criteria (which in the newspeak of that progressive cultmind must come before merit, quality, or theme) the only list that exists is The 100 Best Novels No One Has Ever Heard Of by People No one Has Ever Read.

As I wrote, this sort of assessment can't simply be a popularity test. If it were, Fifty Shades of Grey and The Harry Potter books would top the list.

When I play the game, I’m looking for a few things to merit inclusion in the tiny lists:

How influential was the work on those that followed?

How indicative of the time and place is the work?

Is the work limited in scope or more universal in theme?

There is a scene at the beginning of the Amy Poehler film Moxie where the new student challenges the teacher on the assignment of reading The Great Gatsby.

The scene is fun and pointed. Ike is a hoot as the teacher. Had I been her teacher I would have responded by asking what she thought was a better choice. She might have a novel written by a black woman that encapsulates the American response to the 1918 pandemic in excess and mystery. She might have an example of a novel written that explores the notions of class and the very essence of the American Dream following the horrors of WWI. If she has a suggestion of a novel written by someone not white and not male that deals so eloquently about justice, power, wealth, betrayal, and several classes of Americans who have assumed skewed worldviews, mistakenly believing their survival lies in stratification and reinforcing social boundaries, let's read that!

The issue at hand with much of the faddish push to classify certain artists and historical figures as unassailably evil and worthy of complete erasure is that the most strident either have nothing with which to substitute for the thing they deem canceled or they have replacement art that is not up to the challenge. It isn't that they don't have every right to express their grievance. History (and not merely American history) is littered with people passed over for reasons beyond merit or time as well as people lauded and magnified for rationale limited to race, sex, and religion.

Anger and grievance is not a replacement for a solution.

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For much of the past year I've been incredibly frustrated with this push for revision in our history. San Francisco schools voting to replace Lincoln with someone more influential historically on the rights of African Americans? That's fucking nuts, man.

An English teacher in Massachusetts successfully convinced her school's administrators to remove Homer's The Odyssey from its curriculum because of its alleged sexism. Another English teacher in Seattle said he would "rather die" than teach The Scarlet Letter in class. Mark Twain is suspect because of his portrayal of black people in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

To Kill a Mockingbird, once the City of Chicago book of the month, is now considered a no-go because it glorifies "white saviorhood" through the character of Atticus Finch. The novels featuring Sherlock Holmes should be tossed because author Arthur Conan Doyle included racist language. The author of the Little House on the Prairie books, Laura Ingalls Wilder, was stripped of a literary honor because of the "anti-Native and anti-Black sentiments in her work."

Throwing the shade of accountability on someone like J.K. Rowling seems excessive but more legit because she is still alive and reaping benefits from the sales of her writing. I may disagree with the rationale behind the call-out but it is only slightly different from Major League Baseball boycotting Georgia for re-enacting Jim Crow voting law.

Homer? Lincoln? Twain? All dead. No accountability to exact and all we have is the work left to speak for them.

For much of the past year, this stridency has driven me a little crazy but I realized recently that, especially in the digital age where so much art has been transposed into bytes, no one can prevent me from reading To Kill a Mockingbird or watching the Gregory Peck film. No one can prevent me from enjoying a Woody Allen film or a Harry Potter novel or celebrating the heroism of Churchill and Lincoln.

I love the music of David Bowie because it's great music. Does the fact that he had routine amounts of sex with underage girls dampen my enjoyment? Nope. Will it trigger someone else? Maybe. And it is their choice to avoid his music if they choose. It is not within their power to limit my choice as it should not be within my power to force it upon them.

History, as is art, trends toward subjectivity. History, after all, is just a series of stories we tell each other and stories are always told from a lens of the teller. History is less fact than it is an interpretation of existing facts and illusions. Do I believe, as the authors of the 1619 Project suppose, that America was founded in slavery? No. Do I believe that this means I can learn nothing from the stories they tell? Again, no.

Placing things into a larger perspective is as easy as acknowledging the horrors of the Civil War and still being able to comfortably have an Honest Abe Burger at the now closed Lincoln Restaurant in Chicago.

Now I'm going to go curl up and watch The Purple Rose of Cairo, then read The Great Gatsby while listening to Michael Jackson.

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