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In
brief
Sudden freeze
Ramadan has brought chilly night winds with it this year, as the
weather suddenly turned extremely winterish earlier this week. The
brisk cold has resulted in quite a few stuffy noses and coughs, as
Cairenes were caught unaware by the early winter. For the past few
years this kind of weather did not really begin till January, and
usually did not last too long, but meteorologists are saying a cold
front from Siberia has moved into the region. How long the winter
weather will last -- and whether or not it's just a brief break from
fall -- remains to be seen.
(November 19, 2001)
Economy
A
modest proposal
Al-Wafd's Magdi Mehanna dedicates a recent column to the
increasing number of layoffs that have been taking place in several
sectors of the economy since the tragic events of September 11.
Mehanna argues, however, that the economic woes the country is
facing were in place even before September 11, and were merely
exacerbated by the terror attacks and its war aftermath. Mehanna
also has a suggestion: instead of laying employees off, he writes in
his back page column, why not offer them a 50 per cent pay cut and
fewer benefits.
(November 19, 2001)
Commentary
Holding the
smoke in
A cartoon in Al-Ahram pokes fun at how hard Ramadan --
with its ban on drinking, eating and smoking during the day-time --
must be for those addicted to smoking. A ragged, unshaven fellow is
straggling by while two other men are watching him with big smiles
on their faces. One says to the other, "You know he's addicted
to cigarettes, and he's holding in the last puff he took at sohour
(the pre-dawn meal) till now..."
(November 19, 2001)
Ad
watch
Ramadanita
and Ringo?
Ramadan always brings an interesting crop of new ads to TV and the
papers. Amongst the highlights this year so far is an ad for a new
brand of pasteurized milk called "Labanita". The ad shows
the bottle of milk in the place of the traditional Ramadan cannon
whose blast announces the time for iftar, or the breaking of the
fast. The ad's tag-line is "Ramadanita", a play on the
brand's name.
Another interesting development is a new phone company that claims
to be installing thousands of new booths across the country. They're
called "ringo", and their ads are all over the papers and
on TV. "A smart network," claims the ads, Ringo will be
Egypt's first public phone to offer customers voice mail and short
messages...
(November 19, 2001)
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