"Pacho" Santos, NAM and Colombians in the Sinai

I was just flipping through the news the other day when I stumbled upon a telecast of the 15th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), being held from the 13th-16th of July in Sharm El Sheikh (the hotspot for all those overly tanned Russians, Israelis and other Europeans on the Red Sea). Does anyone really know (or care) what the NAM does anymore? I don't. All I know is that everyone was calling Mubarak "His Excellency" and he looked, as he usually does, proud of himself. Someone took a great picture of him, here.

Anyways, jokes aside, I was pleased to hear the King of Swaziland decry the coup in Honduras (finally, we had been lobbying him hard just to get him to say that!). The President of the DR also mentioned Honduras quite often (he was actually delegated by Zelaya to do carry forth the Honduran case), and the newly sworn-in Nepalese PM seemed to be tired. At least while Colombian VP Franciso "Pacho" Santos was blabbering, his eyes were half-closed. Mine were, too, as I listened to Pacho squeal out his defense of the Uribe regime and how all NAM countries have to continue collaborating in the fight against "terrorism". How are countries like Colombia still considered "non-aligned"? Does the proposed installation of US troops and "advisors" in three Colombian bases (one of them used as a launching pad for a massacre of 18 civilians in 1998) to replace Manta mean that Colombia is still "non-aligned"?

It was reported on the Vice President's website that after Pacho's talk, he would hit the aguardiente and dancefloor in the Sinai with members of the Batallón Colombia, part of the independent international observation force assigned to make sure no funny things happen on the border between Egypt and Israel, such as indiscriminate bombings of Gaza civilians. (Ok, that really isn't in their mandate. The Batallón Colombia, made up of some 150 or so soldiers and civilians is actually the only unit in the Colombian Army not mandated to fight or kill. Incredible!) Santos will celebrate July 20th, Colombian "Independence" Day in the middle of the desert, most likely in this outpost (headquarters of the Batallón Colombia in Zone C of the Sinai):

Haha, sucker. I hope it's really hot.

Afterwards, he will travel to Israel (of course) to meet with "the hawk" Lieberman and "the dove" Livni, as well as a handful of "technology and innovation" companies... see more about Israel-Colombia connection. Israel has long helped Colombia in "innovation" and "interrogation" techniques.

Well, I got so bored of watching the NAM after a while that I changed the station and enjoyed the Egyptian rip-off of "Don't Forget the Line" with the host who dressed EXACTLY like Wayne Brady and even looked as white as Wayne Brady (joke). But they really did find an Egyptian who acted pretty Wayne Brady-ish.

And two articles were published recently. Natasha's on Cell Broadcasting in the Maldives (yeah!) and Carmen Andrea's article on Escobar's Dead Hippo. Yeah for both of them! I'm out of Alexandria tomorrow, will check in when I get a chance!