Egyptian Protest Signage Glory

My love of protest signs is not limited to just those nutty ones here in the United States. No, I'm all for a good protest sign no matter where it is. And in Egypt, where they are actually having a protest that means something (as opposed to the "protests" that we see in the US where a bunch of people shout non-sensicals at each other for a few hours and then go home to watch American Idol), there are some great signs. The best part (well, for me) is that the majority of the signs appear to be written in English. I can't quite narrow it down to whether that is because not a lot of the Egyptians can read/write Arabic or because they want the rest of the world to know what they're saying. Whatever it is, I appreciate all of the English over there in spite of all of the turmoil. Let's take a look at some of them. Please note that some of these guys really seemed to put some time and effort into their signage. Unlike the yo-yos over here who protest the "public option" in the health care bill by sporting a sign announcing their disapproval of the "pubic option". Yeah, that doesn't help anyone, really.

The one below is interesting to me. On the one hand, the woman protesting does not like Murbarak and wants him out. On the other hand, the woman protesting is still wearing the full beekeeper's uniform. What's up with that? You'd think that she'd be done with that sort of oppression as well. But nope! She's not. Good for her for getting out there, though. I know that I should just be happy that she's at least doing that, but it's hard to be happy for anyone when they're in the full beekeeper's outfit. She might not end up with an repressed country (albeit, that is unlikely), but she'll still be repressed in her own home. I find that sad. And annoying.

I like this guy's sign. It's on a peaceful mauve-ish background and he looks just as peaceful. He spells out his disgruntled-ness very clearly and backs it up with numbers. It's nice. I enjoy a bit of forethought in a sign.

I'm also a big fan of a simple message. The one below doesn't get any simpler. Two words. Beautifully said. (Do you think that Murbarak has ever played a video game? For some reason, I don't think that he has. Regardless, it's not like the message won't translate because it does. It says "Get out" very clearly.) No sense in mincing words when you've got a revolution on your hands.

And I like a simple message. Like this next one. Even though he seemingly spelled 'Murbarak' wrong, I'm going to give him a pass. After all, the turmoil over there is insane. He might have been in a hurry or something. But unlike 'public option' as opposed to 'pubic option', we all still know what he means.

I had noticed that Mubarak has a rather cartoonish look to him. Fortunately, this observation was not solely wasted on just me. Other people have apparently noticed it as well. The guy below Incorporated it into his simple, but most excellent sign.

I have no idea what so ever what the sign below is supposed to mean. That's the cow from the little delicious cheeses, isn't it? The Laughing Cow? Why is he on a Murbarak protest sign? Is there a Mubarak-cheese correlation? Mubarak and cows? They want cheese, but Murbarak does not? The cows he lets them have don't make cheese? OK, I'm totally surmising all of these points. I have no clue as to what that's about. I also don't know why that guy's head is so big, either. Seriously, it's gigantic. Maybe after all of the protesting, he can go and have that looked at. He's going to topple over one of these days from the weight of his enormous dome.

There are also a lot of really small signs. And since I doubt that the signs themselves do any good, I guess a small sign is better than no sign at all, right? Maybe? I think that was rhetorical. Let's look at some small signs like this one:

Or this one:

Or even this one:

All rather small. All with a common theme. That is, all want Mubarak to get out. And why? I think this guy below sums it up fairly well. (And we all get to forgive his misspelling of 'criminal' as he seems to have taken quite the blow to the noggin there. If you're bleeding from your head, you can spell stuff anyway that you'd like, OK? OK.)

And hey! Look! At Hitler reference! I thought we were the only ones who made such ridiculous comparisons! I guess not. I guess that no matter where you are or what you're protesting, a protest just isn't a protest without a Hitler comparison! Behold!

Hmm. Who does he look like in that picture? Someone. Alec Baldwin? No. No, that's not it. He looks like someone. (Someone else, you smart alec!) If you figure out who he looks like, please let me know. In the meantime, I'd like to have the guy with the sign below be the one who sums up why all of the uprising is going on. He's there and I'm not and I think that he says it a lot clearer and a lot simpler than the majority of analysts and pundits are trying to.

Yep. People really hate you. Now what say you just step down and hop on your jet and live out the rest of your years in ill-begotten luxury somewhere else, all right? OK, thanks. Bye.

The Memorial Debacle

Yesterday, there was a pep rally memorial service for the victims of the shooting down in Arizona. I've gotta say that I have never seen a memorial service quite like that one. And I think I'm glad that's the case. It was, um, odd from the get go. I didn't think that you would need to remind people at a memorial service that they were there because people had died, but that might not have been such a bad idea yesterday. Seriously, who are you people?

I should have known something was not quite right when I saw the picture below that my friend Scott had posted on his Facebook page. Let's take a look.

Now, Scott didn't caption this or anything, so I was left to my own devices (which are few and far between these days) to figure out what in the world was going on. It appeared that they were getting ready for some sort of a sporting event by putting a T-shirt on each and every chair in the arena. Nope, turns out that they were getting ready for the memorial by putting a T-shirt on each and every chair in the arena. Because nothing says "We're in mourning" like a new shirt to commemorate the event. I knew that group T-shirts were popular for large family reunions, but here's to hoping that they never catch on for memorial services.

The place was packed. I mean packed. And while that surprised me, what surprised me even more was the number of cell phone cameras and regular cameras that people kept holding up to take pictures. It was beyond odd. I've been to a fair number of memorial services and I've definitely been to more than my share of funerals (it's what happens when you grow up in a family full of oldsters) and while I don't remember them all, I am fairly confident in saying that there was NO photography going on at any of them. NONE. I am also fairly confident in saying that if someone had tried to take pictures at either sort of service, one of the family members of the deceased would have either knocked the camera out of the moron's hand or just simply attacked the moron. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have been both, but there is a guarantee that it would have been one of those.

Who does that? I don't care who you are or what the circumstance is, who does that? Who takes pictures at a memorial? I don't think that I'm alone in thinking that it is incredibly disrespectful, but if I had been in attendance, I obviously would have been in the vast minority that thought so. But if you think that taking pictures at a memorial was bad, allow me to show you that some folks thought that it was perfectly fine to bring signs to the memorial. Behold!

And then there was President Barry. I'm not blaming him for any of what went on when he was talking. He looked very uncomfortable when he walked out to speak at the memorial for several deceased individuals including a 9-year old little girl as the place went completely bonkers. People were clapping and cheering and taking pictures and hollering. It was the weirdest thing that I think I have seen in a long time. It wasn't a sporting event, you dimwits! It was a memorial! Who gives a fat rat's ass if it's President Barry coming out to speak? You don't clap and cheer! What part of that don't you understand?! He wasn't campaigning! You people were supposed to be mourning! You people were supposed to be in need of healing! You people were supposed to be aware of the circumstances that brought you to the place where the President would be speaking to you! And yet in spite of all of the things that you were supposed to be aware of, y'all still acted like a bunch of idiots. It was disgraceful is what it was.

And while I don't think that it was President Barry's "fault", I am a little bit surprised that he didn't at least frigging say something to address the inappropriate behavior by most of the crowd. I don't think that it would have been out of line at all for him to have said something to the effect of "Thank you, but let's remember that we're here to pay our respects to those who lost their lives the other day and I think it would be better if all applause was held during this ceremony for mourning." And I can't imagine why he wouldn't have said something. He did look uncomfortable, I'll give him that. But I guess that maybe it stroked his ego more than it make him feel kind of oogey.

I put a lot of thought into how I felt about this whole ordeal. At first, I was conflicted in the sense that there are some people who do not want their funeral or their wake or their memorial or whatever it is to be a somber occasion. Had that been the case in this instance, I suppose that all of the cheering (no matter how odd it may have seemed) would not have come across as reprehensible. But that wasn't the case. The people who were there who lost their family members were distraught. I don't know that I would have been able to contain myself if I had been one of them when the cheers erupted from the stands. I think I would have had to leave because I would have felt that those who were cheering were not there for the same reason that I was there and that I was clearly outnumbered. And I don't think that I would have been able to stomach being in a room with a bunch of softheads trying to get a good picture of President Barry on their cell phones while I was still completely devastated at the loss of my loved one.

I wish I could explain what in the world went on in there, but I can't. I'd really like to be able to ask those that were cheering what in the world they were cheering for and why on earth they felt it appropriate to do so in the given venue. Since it seemed to be a sporting event-like atmosphere that most of those in attendance wanted it to be like, maybe they shouldn't have put a T-shirt over every chair and instead put them inside one of the T-shirt cannons that they use at NBA games and give everyone their shirt that way. Then they could have a big wildcat mascot or something come out and do a little dance. And don't forget to send out a bunch of concessions vendors so that folks don't get hungry or parched during a memorial service. Good Lord, people. Seriously, what in the world is wrong with you? Throughout this entire ordeal it has seemed as if people's perspectives have been completely skewed. And sadly, the memorial debacle was no exception.

Focus, people! FO-CUS! For cryin' out loud...

Rally Signs Part Deux

There were just too darned many signs that the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear for me to just do one post on them. Besides, I learned that the first post I did ended up being quite informative for some of those who had no idea what so ever that anything was going on at all! That made me feel pretty good; almost like I had done some sort of a public service or something. And since I never intentionally have engaged in a public service before, I thought it might be nice if I did it again. I mean, there really were a lot of signs!

There was one thing that was conspicuously missing from this rally. There was a noticeable absence of misspelled signs. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed.

I appreciate how this lady apparently waited until the rally to craft her sign (as evidenced by the pack of markers over there to her left). And I don't think that I've ever seen such fancy glassware at any rally now that I think about it. What's that all about?

Here's a sentiment that I'd like to think that everyone could rally around. Well, everyone except for that one guy.

I don't know exactly what the sentiment that these two women are displaying is, nor do I know what is up with one woman's Gremlins-esque hairdo, but it's amusing none the less.

I had to include this one simply because the guy holding the sign that says "Burn In Hell" looks so darned happy about it. Maybe he knows something we don't...but I doubt it.
Finally, someone with realistic expectations and sensible fashion advice.

What are the chances of the sentiment behind this next sign really catching on? Any chance? In hell? Just a little bit? Yeah, I didn't think so either, but it's nice to dream.

Yep. This is what I've been saying for a while now. You can't go around comparing people to Hitler. That's because there was only one Hitler. And he's dead. So no matter what you may think about someone, they're not Hitler. They're probably also not a cute little kitten, either, but at least that's a comparison I can live with.

This is an odd concept, but one that I can strangely and deliciously get behind in a weird, certain, sort of way. Mmmm. Sammiches.
And finally, I know this isn't a sign, but he just might be the sanest and the cutest member of the rally.

Is Obama A Keynesian?

While the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear was, in general, a seeming success, it was even more successful in my eyes after I saw the video below. In it, one of the chaps at the rally has a sign which reads: "OBAMA = KEYNESIAN?" As you may or may not be aware, Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic theory developed by a one John Keynes (hence, the name). However, what with all of the birth certificate hooplah still in full swing, some people (if we're lucky) might mistake Keynesian for Kenyan. And if we're really lucky, someone might video those sort of encounters at the Jon Stewart rally. And if you're super lucky, I just might post such a video of such an encounter below. You're welcome.

Restoring Sanity Through Signage

This weekend was the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear" in Washington, D.C. And I love me a rally because with every rally comes lots of awesome signs. And this time they were particularly awesome due to the predominant message of sanity that they were supposed to be sending. At least, I think that was the message. Whatever it was, it looked like people had a pretty good time. It also looked like there were some pretty awesome signs. Let's take a gander, shall we?

Here's a guy who has a sign which says what I've been saying for a long time. The people that some people don't like aren't Nazis. Obama isn't a Nazi. He's a socialist. They're both equally scary, I understand. But there is a difference.

President Barry isn't a Muslim either, but that's what makes the sign below particularly amusing.

Sometimes, you just have to make sure that some things are still the same.

I do, however, appreciate this lady setting at least one thing straight.

They don't all have to be signs that are political in nature. After all, we're talking about restoring sanity. So why shouldn't we get a few more tortillas with our fajitas? Seems pretty sane to me.

Sadly enough, the sign below might actually contain a pretty good suggestion for some folks.

And I'm certainly inclined to agree with the chap below. Looks like it was a pretty good time. What say we do it on the West coast next time, eh?

In keeping with the theme that people that certain people don't like aren't really Nazis, this woman sums it up in a straightforward, yet charming sort of way. And I thank her for that.

It just wouldn't be a public get together without someone looking to see a little cleavage.

And who doesn't want a sandwich? Nothing insane about that. I'd like a sandwich right now.

Same with waffles. Mmmm...waffles.

Overall, I think the whole thing was a huge success. I think that because, mainly, it's really impossible to define what success would have been in this instance. If there were any regrets when it was over, they were probably a lot like this guy's.