Egyptian Authorities Detain French "Spy" Bird Found With Tracker 110
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports, 'In a case that ruffled feathers in Egypt, authorities have detained a migratory bird that a citizen suspected of being a spy. A man in Egypt's Qena governorate, some 450 kilometers (280 miles) southeast of Cairo, found the suspicious bird among four others near his home and brought them to a police station Friday, said Mohammed Kamal, the head of the security in the region. With turmoil gripping Egypt following the July 3 popularly backed military coup that overthrew the country's president, authorities and citizens remain highly suspicious of anything foreign. Conspiracy theories easily find their ways into cafe discussion — as well as some media in the country. Earlier this year, a security guard filed a police report after capturing a pigeon he said carried microfilm. A previous rumor in 2010 blamed a series of shark attacks along Egypt's Mediterranean coast on an Israeli plot. It wasn't. In the bird's case, even military officials ultimately had to deny the bird carried any spying devices. They spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.'"
FP (Score:5, Interesting)
Two words: Hartlepool, monkey.
Mind, that was 200 years ago when people had an excuse for being thick.
Re:It's not a coup. (Score:5, Interesting)
Yup, I was listening to a quite interesting program on BBC Radio 4. It was interviewing some Egyptian women - all of whom said that they voted for Morsi as he "appeared" to be a good choice and they felt they should give him a chance. Unfortunately he wasn't, they felt mislead and supported him being removed by the military. I know that many people were worried about Morsi from the start, and maybe these ladies were naive, but change can fill people with a huge amount of optimism.
What was also interesting was that one said that before the Muslim Brotherhood came into power they'd never had a Sunni - Shia problem, and when they looked into it, it turned wherever Sunni - Shia sectarian violence erupted, the Muslim Brotherhood weren't far away.
I've got to respect you guys - you (the country, maybe not you personally) voted for a politician because they promised the world, and when they did as politicians usually do, you said "screw that, we're getting rid of him". Unlike us who bitch and moan and then vote for the same bastard next time round.
Re:FP (Score:3, Interesting)
This is the middle east, it wouldn't matter how educated they are. The educated elite of Saudi Arabia believe the same fantasies about Israel. They tend to believe there is an Iranian behind every grain of sand.
The problem is Islam. It promotes itself over everything. That leaves the pop. unprotected from the plots and stories of the Imams and mullahs. So given a choice between what their local mosque is saying and what an educated world view would tell them, they'll believe the mosque every time. Mind you, the same thing happens in some Christian churches in the U.S. where even something as science is regularly "exposed" as a web of lies. That G-d fellow is one strange dude, burying those dinosaurs bones all over the place. What mystifies me is how She got the oil down there.
Re:It's not a coup. (Score:5, Interesting)
More specifically, the choice in Egypt was between Morsi and a representative of the old regime. Hell, Stalin could win an election like that.
Then Morsi showed his true colors. He went to work putting his people in as many positions of power as he could even down to local level. Bad news for him was that most of these were incompetent. It became clear Morsi still was working with the old MB line: one man, one vote, one time. When that became too apparent to ignore, and given the economy was getting worse and worse, the people got fed up and walked into the all too welcoming arms of the military. The people thought the military was the only organized group strong enough to counter the MB.
Just as an example of the bone-headedness of Morsi, he put as head of the monuments in Luxor the very guy who led a terrorist attack against foreigners there. At that point, the people realized he had no economic sense because that certainly wasn't going to encourage tourism which was a big part of the Egyptian economy. He also wouldn't do anything to prevent the MB from antagonizing the Christians which were 10% of the pop. His views on women only drove home what King Abdullah of Jordan said of him, Morsi has no depth. (Incidentally, he also said Erdogan of Turkey thought of Democracy as bus, when he reaches his destination, he is going to get off. His destination will be a theocracy...I give him 10 years and another failed theocracy will be born.)
how is this stupid? (Score:2, Interesting)
I hate these articles...the headlines are insulting and are subtly racist IMHO...
Headline should read: "Haha look at these Egyptian rubes! These camel jockeys don't understand technology and that is humorous."
But it is absolutely within the realm of possibility for someone to use a live bird for surveillance, especially when you look at what the Israelis are developing right in the open. [wired.com]
The technical ability and implicit demand are there for a live bird/spy drone.
I think anyone who laughs at these Egyptians is the true idiot.
These Egyptians may not have the technical schooling we do, but they appear to understand what their enemy is moving towards.
I hate that we mock them for this!