Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Elementary Physics - Higgs Boson Experiments


Later UPDATES included ! .................... 中文的网站


Announcement on German TV (above).

At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) site in Geneva, the existence of a new elementary particle, resembling the predicted Higgs boson, has been confirmed. The news have been unveiled today in a conference on latest results of elementary particle research in Geneva. Peter Higgs who once predicted the existence of a similar boson and gave it his name received international congratulations, even though it is not quite clear if the new particle found in experiments is really identical with the Higgs boson. As to the theory of that mysterious Higgs particle, here is what CERN Institute in Geneva, who are operating the LHC facility there, recently published:

" A major breakthrough in particle physics came in the 1970s when physicists realized that there are very close ties between two of the four fundamental forces – namely, the weak force and the electromagnetic force. The two forces can be described within the same theory, which forms the basis of the Standard Model. This ‘unification’ implies that electricity, magnetism, light and some types of radioactivity are all manifestations of a single underlying force called, unsurprisingly, the electroweak force. But in order for this unification to work mathematically, it requires that the force-carrying particles have no mass. We know from experiments that this is not true, so physicists Peter Higgs, Robert Brout and François Englert came up with a solution to solve this conundrum.

They suggested that all particles had no mass just after the Big Bang. As the Universe cooled and the temperature fell below a critical value, an invisible force field called the ‘Higgs field’ was formed together with the associated ‘Higgs boson’. The field prevails throughout the cosmos: any particles that interact with it are given a mass via the Higgs boson. The more they interact, the heavier they become, whereas particles that never interact are left with no mass at all.

This idea provided a satisfactory solution and fitted well with established theories and phenomena. The problem is that no one has ever observed the Higgs boson in an experiment to confirm the theory. Finding this particle would give an insight into why particles have certain mass, and help to develop subsequent physics. The technical problem is that we do not know the mass of the Higgs boson itself, which makes it more difficult to identify. Physicists have to look for it by systematically searching a range of mass within which it is predicted to exist. The yet unexplored range is accessible using the Large Hadron Collider, which will determine the existence of the Higgs boson. If it turns out that we cannot find it, this will leave the field wide open for physicists to develop a completely new theory to explain the origin of particle mass. "


On the contrary, if the Higgs particle is found as it seems to be by now, this will imply the confirmation of an already found theory and light the way to further experiments and discoveries on the functioning of our universe.



By the way, I heard about today's press conference in Geneva some days before when I visited Max-Planck-Institute of Physics (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut) in Munich. On a visitor's day dedicated to quantum mechanics and astrophysics they already gave some cryptic hints about new discoveries to be awaited in the immediate future. It was then for me to wait only some days for the announcement.

The German Werner-Heisenberg-Institute is engaged in scientific research done for the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva as one of the main detectors for this project, named the ATLAS detector, has been constructed with the aid of German physicists. ATLAS is an enormous and most sophisticated detector consisting of four main elements:

- An inner detector that measures the momentum of charged particles.
- A calorimeter unit for the measurement of energies carried by particles.
- A Muon spectrometer that identifies and measures the momenta of Muons.
- A magnet system bends charged particles for momentum measurement. The solenoid magnet surrounds the inner detector. Arrows point to toroid magnets.

The ATLAS detector can be used not only to detect the Higgs boson but as well to enlighten the relation between matter and antimatter and to find possible constituents of dark matter.


ATLAS detector under construction (above).


Large Hadron Collider LHC (above):
Accelerating circle for charged elementary particles and detector positions.

Because of the Higgs boson being a very massive particle and which decays almost immediately when created, only a very high energy particle accelerator can observe and record it. That's why the LHC is being used. Its special feature is the ability to collide protons being accelerated to a speed not too far away from the speed of light. Under such circumstances, a "zoo" of elementary particles can be created and rarely observed events might be detected. It was the idea that, with some luck, even the predicted Higgs particle could be observed. As to that, latest measuring results are giving rise to great hopes.

According to detailed information, measuring data have been compared from two separate main detectors of the LHC facility: The ATLAS detector and the CMS device which is an electromagnetic crystal calorimeter (=> refer to the above illustration). Both experiments are proving the existence of a very massive particle regarded as the Higgs boson or something very near to it.


Above: A typical candidate event for the possible formation of Higgs bosons including two high-energy photons whose energy (depicted by red towers) is measured in the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter. The yellow lines are the measured tracks of other particles produced in the collision of protons. The pale blue volume shows the CMS crystal calorimeter barrel.




Above pictures: One mechanism of formation for the Higgs particle in the Large Hadron Collider. A gluon-gluon fusion, triggered off by a proton-proton collision, is leading to a so-called top quark loop where pairs of top and anti-top quarks are being generated. From there the formation of a Higgs boson. The upper picture is showing a possible way how the Higgs particle can decay by emitting two high energy photons that can be measured in the CMS calorimeter. ( A short description of above mentioned elementary particles is given further down. )

Here is what Scientific American wrote after the announcements from CERN:

" Unlike some past announcements centered on the Higgs in the past few years, which have produced as much ambiguity and confusion as anything else, this one did not disappoint. ATLAS physicists said that their most recent data reveal the presence of an unknown particle with a mass of about 126.5 GeV, or 126.5 billion electron-volts. An electron-volt is a physicist’s unit of mass or energy; for comparison, the proton has a mass of about 1 GeV. The CMS collaboration found evidence for a new particle with a mass of 125.3 GeV.
[The traditional characterization of a particle's mass "m" in terms of energy "E" is referring to Einstein's equation E = m c² where "c" is the speed of light. As to the Higgs particle detected, its average mass is corresponding to that of 132 protons.]
Crucially, both teams' findings appear exceptionally robust. In physics terms, evidence for a new particle requires a “3-sigma” measurement, corresponding to a 1-in-740 chance that a random fluke could explain the observations, and a claim of discovery requires a 5-sigma effect, or a 1-in–3.5 million shot that the observations are due to chance. In December representatives of the two experiments had announced what one called “intriguing, tantalizing hints” of something brewing in the collider data. But those hints fell short of the 3-sigma level. The new ATLAS finding met not just that level of significance but cleared the gold standard 5-sigma threshold, and CMS very nearly did as well, with a 4.9-sigma finding. "



Above: One possible signature of a Higgs boson from a simulated proton–proton collision. It decays almost immediately into two jets of hadrons and two electrons, visible as lines. Hadrons are massive particles bearing the mass of, at least, two or more protons (or neutrons).


Above: Formation and decay of a Higgs boson. This time it's a decay into hadrons and leptons. If leptons are being represented by electrons, we have a situation like that predicted for the simulated process further above where two jets of hadrons and two electrons are being produced.


Above: Another mechanism of formation for the Higgs particle in the Large Hadron Collider. From there it could be imagined that different patterns of decay might exist as well as can be studied in the simulation further above.


Above: Summary of interactions between particles described by the Standard Model. Leptons are particles with negligible mass like electrons. Quarks are considered to be the basic constituents of all elementary particles while gluons are either keeping protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom or "glue" together those quarks that constitute more complicated structures like protons. The W and Z particles are massive bosons like the predicted Higgs boson itself while photons are massless "parcels of energy".

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Conclusion:

According to a mainstream theory in particle physics, the Higgs boson is essential for the transference of mass to any other particle known in the formation of "real" matter as we know it from daily experience in the world we live in. The transference of mass by means of a Higgs field and which is, in most theories, represented by a Higgs particle could then be imagined using the following model of thought, the Cocktail Party Simile:

A group of people is gathering on a cocktail party, no one knowing each other. At first, those persons are rather regularly distributed until a well-known celebrity appears that attracts the interest of everybody. People are now approaching that celebrity who finds it more and more difficult to move because of a growing cluster of persons in his/her reach. A similar effect would have been reached if the celebrity's inert mass was growing without other people surrounding him or her. An increase or transference of mass would therefore take place whenever a certain particle or person with a special ability to attract or transfer mass appears in a defined environment of other particles or persons. Same thing would happen if only a "massless rumour" enters into a cocktail party environment. People would cluster in order to hear what it's all about and thereby create a ball of mass. Such could be the mechanism predicted for the interaction of elementary particles with the Higgs boson.

While speaking about the importance of Higgs particles in the formation of "real" matter that everybody is attached to in daily life, it needs to be mentioned that only 5% of all matter present in the universe really belong to that kind of matter. Further 20% of all matter are being represented by so-called dark matter we don't know much about. Moreover, the remaining 75% of all matter in the universe can be considered as the mass equivalent of a so-called dark energy which makes up for another field of future research.

..................................................................................

As mass media are usually inclined to overestimate the importance of a single discovery on the way to greater understanding of our universe, the word of a "God Particle" has been associated with the Higgs boson. It should be made clear that "God" doesn't appear in the vocabulary of modern physics. Peter Higgs is an atheist, and is displeased that the Higgs particle is nicknamed the "God particle", because that term "might offend people who are religious" [Higgs in an interview with New Scientists, 2008].


Above: Headline of People's Network, Beijing, on July 7, the first day they reacted on a recent announcement from CERN. The headline is reading:

“上帝粒子”原是“上帝诅咒粒子”
The "God Particle" originally is a "Goddamned Particle"
which is a quotation from Peter Higgins referring to the long time it took to approach the particle's existence.

In different articles, the Chinese network is praising the new particle detection as a "big step for mankind" and marking its importance:

发现新粒子印证数学预言能力
The discovery of that new particle confirms
the capacity of mathematical prediction.


On July 10, 2012, China Daily, Beijing, published an article titled "Chinese link in missing-link breakthrough". In that article they are telling us that Chinese physicists have been contributing to one of the most ambitious scientific experiments ever attempted - a search for the missing link [i.e. the Higgs boson] at the beginning of the universe. There are quotations from Chen Guoming, one of 30 Chinese scientists who represented the Institute of High Energy Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences during the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider facility in Geneva. Chen was one of 3,000 scientists from 175 universities or research institutions in 38 countries and regions who have spent several years at the Large Hadron Collider site of CERN.




The above article on Higgs boson experiments has
been compiled by Dr. rer.nat. Wolfgang Wiesner.





Internet access points for Washington D.C. and outskirts, activated between 29 June and 14 July, 2012, by visitors to "blueprint news":


"Postcard" from the White House:


"Massive elementary particles colliding over the issue [i.e. Syria]".



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Internet access points for New York / New Jersey, activated between 19 June and 4 July, 2012, by visitors to "blueprint news":


Localized visitor access point in Manhattan / New York, activated by a visitor who looked for another blogspot of mine on astronomy:








Postscript on September 6, 2013:

For more than one year, the above blogspot on elementary physics has been visited by lots of professionals who came from different parts of the world. This blogspot even became one of the most popular items of my news blog. Among many remarkable visitors or institutions the following example should serve as a proof for that.



Friday, June 29, 2012

Egypt - Post-Electoral Evaluation


Last UPDATE on Saturday June 30, 2012:
Today, Mohammad Morsy should be officially declared President of Egypt. Tens of thousands of supporters are being assembled on Tahrir Square in Kairo where Morsy is expected to deliver a speech prior to his inauguration as a president of his country.



Al-Jazeera TV, Arabic channel, on June 30, 2012:

الرئيس المصري المنتجب محمد مرسي يؤدي اليوم اليمين رسميا أمام المحكمة الدستورية العليا و يخطب في جامعة القاهرة

The elected president of Egypt, Mohammad Morsy, [feels honoured] to swear the presidential oath today before the Supreme Constitutional Court and deliver a speech at the University of Kairo.


..........................................................



Above: Israel's president Shimon Peres in an interview with CNN on June 12 where he praised the Arab Spring after having noted that he never had any problems with Egypt's former president Mubarak.

Al-Jazeera, Arabic wesite, on June 29, 2012:

Headline:
صعود محمد مرسي بالعين الإسرائيلية

The advancement of Mohammad Morsy in the focus of Israel

قطع صعود الدكتور محمد مرسي بفوزه بانتخابات الرئاسية المصرية, الشك باليقين بالنسبة للحولة العبرية الصهيونية و لساستها و قادتها الأمنيين و العسكريين ...

The victorious advancement of Doctor Mohammad Morsy in the presidential elections of Egypt has raised doubts of credibility [concerning] the percentage [i.e. of his victory] among the [powerful and important] Zionists and their [cowboys / stablemen] and those in command of their security and military ...

الذين بقوا حتى اللحظات الأخيرة يراهنون على فوز محسوب و مدروس للعرشح الفريق أحمد شفيق, وله بنسبة ضئيلة

... who vigorously and up to the last moments were taking bets for the favorized and [intensely considered] victory of the candidate [representing] the faction of Ahmad Shafiq with a modest [lead of votes].



..............................................................

Al-Jazeera TV on June 28, 2012
(translation of subtitles):

الرئيس المصري المنتخب: رجال الصحافة و الاعلام أكبر من التوجيه أو الاحتواء

The elected Egyptian president: Men of the press and [other] media [are] most benevolent or of much comprehension [i.e. to the cause of the revolution].

الرئيس المصري المنتخب: لا مجال للغة التخوين في كافة مناحي العمل

The elected Egyptian president: There is no place for the language of [treason] in all aspects of action.

مرسي يدعو إلى مؤتمر جامع موسع يمثل فيه كافة الإعلاميين في كل المجالات

Morsy calls for a large united conference that represents all [different opinions] in all fields [i.e. of society].


مرسي يدعو إلى مؤتمر اعلامي جامع تخرج عنه توصيات تتحول إلى سلوك حقيقى يتوافق عليه الجميع

Morsy calls for a united conference [of consultations] to reject the commands that are turning into "right behaviour" what is [already] accepted by everybody.

عدد من الأحزاب المصرية تعلن تشكيل تيار سياسي مدني جديد تحت اسم التيار الثالث

Numerous Egyptian parties announced the formation of a civil political current under the name of "Third Current".





Distribution of localized visitors to "blueprint news"
coming from Western Europe during the last two weeks:



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Egypt - Morsy New President


It's only ten minutes ago that Egypt's Central Election Committee declared Mohammed Morsy the new president of Egypt. After some teasing half hour during which the election committee delivered its report on counting and checking and counterchecking the votes, the result is now clear and credible:



محمد مرسي رئيساً لمصر

Mohammad Morsy - President for Egypt


The above screenshot is showing the centers of campaign for Ahmad Shafiq (left) and Mohammad Morsy (right). At the presentation of the overall result, one could see Morsy supporters getting up from their seats, their arms being raised in joy while Shafiq supporters remained stunned.



Morsi: 13,230,131 votes (51.7%)
Shafiq: 12,347,380 (48%)

Scene from Tahrir Square in Central Kairo after the announcement of Morsy's victory (above). However, the demonstrations are not only in support of Morsy alone but as well directed against increasing influence of the Military Committee that recently reduced the president's rights and dissolved parliament. All the people want to achieve is to get rid of the old system presented by former president Mubarak and his comrades-in-arms of the Military Committee.

الرئيس محمد مرسي يحكم مصر بصلاحيات منقوصة

President Mohammad Morsy is governing Egypt with insufficient authorities.




Participants in the Presidential Elections of Egypt.
Winner is still the Military.


The above cartoon has been published on Al-Arabiya's website on the same day. TV screenshots for this site have been taken from life coverage by Al-Jazeera, Arabic channel.

Egypt's neighbour Israel praising the Arab Spring (CNN on June 12, 2012):





The Opposition Within the Opposition

Headline:
مقاطعون: نتيجة الانتخابات تحصيل حاصل.. ولن نعترف بالرئيس المقبل
The "opponents" [of that election]: The election result is a truism ...
and we don't recognize the coming president.

قال عدد من النشطاء الداعين إلى مقاطعة الانتخابات الرئاسية، إنهم لن يعترفوا بالرئيس القادم،لأنه سيكون بلا شرعية
Some complaining activists favouring a boycott of the presidential elections are saying they won't accept the coming president because he will not be legitimate.

[Source: Al-Misry Al-Youm on June 17, 2012 ]

وقفة احتجاجية لحملة مقاطعون الانتخابات
Protest [arising] from campaigners [favouring] a boycott of the elections.

[Another headline at Al-Misry Al-Youm]






Visitor Statistics for "blueprint news"

Regional visitors to "blueprint news" at the time this
news item on Morsy's presidency was being published:



Local distribution of visitors from Egypt to
"blueprint news" (based on overall data):



A localized internet access point in Cairo where
numerous visitors to "blueprint news" came from:



Distribution of visitors to "blueprint news" for the
Eastern Mediterranean and Arabic Peninsula region
(based on last 200 visitors to this site):



Distribution of visitors to "blueprint news" from
East India and South-East Asia (for last 200):



Saturday, June 23, 2012

Egypt - At Boiling Point




While ten thousands are demonstrating on Tahrir Square in Kairo against military rule and for an immediate proclamation of the winner in Egypt's presidential elections, Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV channel, has some additional news in its early morning program of June 23:

لقاءات بين الإخوان و المجلس العسكري لحل الازمة في مصر

Meetings between [Muslim] Brotherhood and Military Council in order to solve the Egyptian crisis.
[UPDATE from the evening news of Al-Jazeera TV, Arabic channel, on June 23]

مرسي يتعهد باختيار رئيس وزراء و نائبين للرئيس من خارج حزب الخرية و العدالة

Morsy engages in the selection of a prime minister and vice-prime ministers [coming from the] outside of [his] Party for Liberty and Justice.

المجلس العسكري: سيادة القانون هى أساس الحكم في الدولة

The military council: The authority of law is a base of the nation's power.

المجلس العسكري في مصر يؤكد وقوفه على مسافة و احدة من القوى السياسية كافة

The military council of Egypt confirms its stopping of any [one-sided] race [on behalf] of any political powers [whatsoever].




مصادر قضائية مصرية للجزيرة: ترجيح الإعلان عن نتيجة الانتخابات الرئاسية غدا

Juridical sources in Egypt [told] Al-Jazeera: For tomorrow there is a [high] probability for the result of the presidential elections being proclaimed.




Identified locations for the last
38 visitors from Egypt to my blog:


One identified visitor from Washington D.C. to my blog.
According to his equipment he should be a professional.
The location map below has been cleaned for neighbouring
street names and some other hints useful for identification:


Here, once again the earliest election results from June 18:


Proof of authenticity for the first results from Alexandria on June 18:


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

China - Title is Program




Yesterday, June 19, Shenzhou 9 spacecraft performed a fully automated docking manoeuvre to Tiangong space station. Here are some quotations from the official website on China's space flight.

Headline:
中国航天员首次进驻天宫 “打开的不仅是天宫之门”
China's astronauts arranged quarters for the first time in the Palace of Heaven - " It's more than just opening the door to Tiangong "


… 他们打开的不单单是天宫的门,更是载人航天工程一个新的实验领域和一个新起点。
They did not just open the door to Tiangong, but even more manned a new domain for experiments and a new starting point [in the frame of that] spaceflight project.

… 看到神九航天员轻松自如地进入天宫一号 …
... [Only] to look at how relaxed and easily the astronauts of Shenzhou 9 entered Tiangong I ...

Chinese comment: "That is what Yang Li Wei proudly told his comrades-in-arms." Background: Yang is another astronaut who earlier experienced space on board of Shenzhou 5.

By the way, the Chinese website on "opening the door to the Palace of Heaven" turned out to be infected with a trojan which is rather unusual for such kind of official information sites. The only other exception of that rule I found was the website of China Daily. As I consider the English website of China Daily to be less useful than Chinese language sites, this was no real problem for me but might be annoying other foreign visitors who make up their target group.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Egypt Voted for Morsy !?


Important UPDATE further down !

It is still uncertain whether Morsy can be expected to be the winning candidate in the presidential race or not. In fact, it seems that Egypt is extremely polarized on this matter. Even Egypt's press is split on the outcome of the presidential elections [=> BBC].

While some regions are showing a strong preference for the candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, others prefer that kind of "peace and stability" which only a former representative of the Mubarak era could offer with some credibility. However, the presidential race will be decided in the densely populated regions rather than some "peaceful and secure" holiday resorts for wealthy tourists or residential areas for the rich and influential of Egypt.

Here are the latest results for the 2nd round of presidential elections in Egypt at 21:30 GMT:



Dakahlia district and its capital El Mansura which is being regarded as Egypt's No. 3 after Cairo and Alexandria:



First, unrefined results from 18:00 GMT for comparison:



The above presented partial results have been provided by the Arabic service of Al-Jazeera TV in a life feed during its regular program. As to the possible source and reliability of these data, there's an interesting article originating from Associated Press and dated on Sunday, June 17. It makes us understand why the followers of Morsy such early took to the streets to celebrate their victory. However, it is clear that this will be a tight race for both candidates:

" ... According to results made public by the Muslim Brotherhood, from just over 80 percent of the more than 13,000 polling stations nationwide, gave Morsi 52.5 percent of the vote and Shafiq 47.5 percent.
The figures were from results announced by election officials at individual counting centers, where each campaign has representatives who compile the numbers and make them public before the formal declaration. The early, partial counts proved generally accurate in the first round of the election last month. "


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Identified locations for the last 32 visitors to blueprint news coming from Egypt (below). The map of Egypt might serve as well to locate most places from where regional election data are already available.



Sunday, June 17, 2012

Greece Votes Pro-Europe




Complete UPDATE on June 18, 01:00 GMT, IBN:

With 82.5 percent of the vote counted, official results and a predicted distribution of the 300 seats in parliament are as follows:

"Nea Dimukratia" 30 % => 130 seats pro-bailout

"Syriza" 26.6 % => 71 seats radical anti-bailout

"Pasok" 12.5 % => 33 seats pro-bailout

"Golden Dawn" 6.9 % => 18 seats

"Democratic left" 6.1 % => 18 seats pro-bailout

The parties have deeply varying views about how to use the €240 billion ($300 billion) in bailout loans that Greece has been given by international lenders, and the harsh austerity measures that previous Greek governments had to accept to get the funds.

New Democracy (Nea Dimukratia) leader Antonis Samaras cast Sunday's choice as one between keeping the euro and returning to Greece's old currency, the drachma. He has vowed to renegotiate some of the bailout's harsher terms but insists the top priority is for the country to remain in Europe's joint currency.

"The Greek people today voted for Greece to remain on its European path and in the eurozone," Samaras said after his party won. "(Voters chose) policies that will bring jobs, growth, justice and security."

Saturday, June 16, 2012

China's Space Mission - Day of Launch




Picture taken from the Chinese daily MORNING EXPRESS 近日早报 on June 16, 2012.

Today, at 18:37 Peking time (10:37 GMT) a Long March II-F rocket should have been launched, carrying the Shenzhou 9 spaceship with three Chinese astronauts on board.



For the first time, a woman astronaut has been selected for China's space mission: Liu Yang, born in October 1978 in Henan province, is accompanied by two male astronauts from Shanxi province: Jing Hai Peng (* October 1966) and Liu Wang (* March 1969). Jing Hai Peng has already been in space with spacecraft Shenzhou 7 in September 2008.


- Pictures of Liu Yang -

After docking with the 335 km-high Tiangong space station, the crew will spend over a week living and working there, testing new systems and conducting a number of scientific experiments.

Tiangong station after docking of Shenzhou 9
and complete unfolding of its solar cell device
(Position: South-China, South-Korea, Japan)






A remarkable week has its remarkable visitors to blueprint news. Here is an abbreviated weekly visitors report:



Identified locations in Egypt for the last 31 visitors:



Identified locations for visitors from Central and Eastern U.S.A. during the last two weeks:



Identified locations for visitors from California U.S.A. during the last two weeks:



Friday, June 15, 2012

Presidential Elections in Egypt - Morsy Speaking


Latest UPDATE further down !



مؤتمر صحفي لحملة المرشح في انتخابات الرئاسة المصرية محمد مرسي

Press conference in the campaign of Mohammed Morsy, candidate in the presidential elections of Egypt.


Yesterday, June 14, Mohammed Morsy who is running for presidency in Egypt on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood and their political party, summoned a press conference. The following stances have been quoted by Al-Jazeera TV, Arabic channel, in their Arabic subtitles:

مرسي: الثورة التي أزاحت مبارك ما زالت قائمة و نحن قادرون على التحدي

Morsy [said]: "The revolution that ousted Mubarak did not [yet] finish with the [state] and we are [still] able to resist."

مرسي: هناك من يحاول و يسعى و يدبر بسوء لشعب مصر و يريد العبث بإرادته

Morsy: "Here [are] those who are trying to [continue] and are attending to organize the misfortune of the Egyptian people. And [those who] wish [such] mocking out of their [own] decision."

مرسي: إما أن نعيد حق الشهداء ممن قتلهم و إما أن نكون شهداء مثلهم و هذا أمر لا رجعة فيه

Morsy: "Should we celebrate the right of being witness to those who killed you and whom we witnessed presenting [in public] themselves and that irrevocable order."

مرسي: مستمر في خوض معركتي الانتخابية و نحن قادرون على تحقيق أهداف ثورتنا

Morsy: "Constantly in my electioneering campaign we were able to define the goals of our revolution."



مرسي يحذر بأن هناك ثورة جديدة ستندلع إذاتم تزوير إرادة الشعب المصري

Morsy warns that a new revolution [starting] from here would trigger off a distorted manifestation of the Egyptian people's [real] will.



Al-Ahram cartoon showing both opposing candidates in the presidential elections of Egypt: Morsy (left) and Shafiq (right). By the way, Mubarak's former prime minister Shafiq is known for his support of women's rights while Morsy has been characterized by some old-fashioned outfit which might hint at his conservative Muslimic attitude.



The presentation of Mohammed Morsy in the above cartoon reminds me of a funny story from my old book of Arabic lessons. It's about a person with a similar (traditional) outfit and who is named Djukhan. That guy who I understand is some kind of Arabic punch finds it difficult to be accepted by his neighbours as there is always somebody pointing at him and critisizing what he is doing. That story is showing how difficult it can be to satisfy all of your neighbours who are pestering with all of their lousy comments. Maybe, the West and Israel are having problems with Mohammed Morsy because he is representing such kind of person, rooted in the culture of his region rather than being a sneak opportunist ready for any deal whatsoever.



Mubarak - "The End of the Pharao".
Title of Al-Ahram on June 9, 2012.






News UPDATE on June 16, 2012:

Trouble after Court Intervention

- Quoted from BBC -

Egyptians are voting in a two-day run-off election to choose their first freely elected president.
..........
The build-up to this weekend's run-off has been marred by a Supreme Constitutional Court decision that parliament had to be dissolved.

On Thursday, a panel of judges - appointed by Mr Mubarak - ruled that the law governing Egypt's first democratic elections in more than six decades was unconstitutional because party members were allowed to contest seats in the lower house reserved for independents.

Mr Mursi's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won about 100 of its 235 seats in the People's Assembly by running candidates for individual seats. The ultraconservative Salafist Nour party also enjoyed similar success in seats designated for independents.

If parliament is dissolved swiftly by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), whoever wins this weekend's presidential run-off could take office without the oversight of a sitting parliament, and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties.

Islamist, liberals and scholars denounced the ruling as a "coup", saying they feared the ruling generals would take back legislative power.

Meanwhile, the Nobel laureate and former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned that Egypt was suffering under worse conditions now than under Mr Mubarak.

....................

Egypt's presidential election turns toxic amid anger over 'stolen revolution'

- Quoted from THE GUARDIAN / THE OBSERVER -

Egyptian dream of democracy fading, as presidential runoff sees a disillusioned electorate forced to choose between 'Islamic rule' or 'the old regime'.

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Title of Al-Ahram on June 16, 2012:


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

China on U.S. Sanctions against Iran


Today, June 12, the speaker of China's ministry of foreign affairs, Liu Weimin, presided over another regular meeting of journalists. Among other subjects, this meeting was dealing with China's official position in the question of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.



On the same day, CNN had already reported that some countries should be excluded from a U.S. "blacklist" of countries after having reduced their oil imports from Iran. CNN mentioned that only China would practically remain on that list.

Here's now an official response from China published by People's Network:

外交部:中国从伊朗进口原油完全合法合理 反对单边制裁

Headline:
Foreign affairs ministry: The import of crude oil from Iran is altogether, both, legitimate and reasonable. - Unilateral sanctions [will be] opposed.

问:据报道,美方宣布美《2012财年国防授权法》有关对伊朗制裁条款不适用印度、南非、韩国、台湾等经济体。美方已全面通告中方制裁范围和紧迫性,双方仍在就制裁问题进行对话。中方对此有何回应?是否将减少自伊朗原油进口?中美双方是否正就此进行谈判?

Question:
According to reports dealing with a U.S. declaration that their "law which has been authorized [on behalf of] national defence in the fiscal year of 2012" and which is related to the clause of sanctions against Iran should not be applicable against the economies of India, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan: The U.S. side already and all-sidedly announced the range of sanctions against and urging of the Chinese side, while both sides are still engaged in a dialogue on the subject of those sanctions. Is there any [reaction / reply] from the Chinese side to this subject ? Are there reductions in the import of Iranian crude oil or not ? Are the Chinese and American side continuing their talks or not ?

答:中方一贯反对一国根据其国内法对另一国实施单边制裁,更不接受其将单边制裁强加于第三国的做法。中国从自身经济发展需要出发,通过正常渠道从伊朗进口原油,公开透明,不违反联合国安理会有关决议,不损害第三方和国际社会的利益,完全合法合理。中方已向美方清楚表达了上述立场。

Answer:
The Chinese side is persistently opposing one country's implementation of unilateral sanctions against another country on the basis of that [acting] country's internal laws. Furthermore, [China] doesn't accept any enforcement of their unilateral sanctions [directed at] the practice of third countries. China needs to proceed [on the basis of] its own economic development, importing crude oil from Iran by using regular channels [of trade], making it public and transparent, without violating the United Nations Security Council's resolutions, without harming the interest of third countries and the international community, altogether, both, legitimate and reasonable. The Chinese side has already made itself clear to the U.S. as to the above-mentioned standpoint.


Such declaration from Beijing is most drastically opposing the statements that Israel's president Shimon Peres made in an interview with Christiane Amanpour in her show on CNN tonight. Not only does he feel "in perfect agreement" with President Obama when it comes to economic sanctions on Iran. Furthermore, he says that military action "should be in Iranian minds".