GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST (Not Moderated)

[DJKeefy]

THE TWISTED SISTERS COULD BE BEHIND THIS, THEY THINK THEY ARE THE MAFIA OF LUXOR, IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT THEY TELL THE GOVERNOR AND POLICE TALES ON THE EXPATS, THEY BOAST THAT THEY HAD CONSTANCE TINDALE, JOHN PEARCE AND KEITH HARTLEY REMOVED FROM EGYPT, BE WARNED DO NOT GET INVOVLED WITH THE TWO EVIL SISTERS, WORD IS THAT THEIR TIME IS SHORT NOW

Nah!!! I might have had a run in with the sisters on occasions, that's life, but i doubt they had anything to do with my situation, not sure on Big John, maybe Connie. I have nothing against them two, we just disagreed on things, like how safe Luxor was. It seems like they do try to do things for Luxor but jealous ex-pats knock them for everything. I have not seen them throwing their weight around like they are mafia, but you have to be tough when many people are trying to knock you. Stepping Stone is definitely not them.

[DJKeefy]

Over the years there has been some nasty stuff posted on these forums (actually should that read 'fora'?) But this is a step too far. Maybe it is time for either closing down or new blood. Why there is the need for all the bitching is beyond me.

It has always been obvious that one was open to abuse unless one was one of Keefys accolytes - a clique I have never wished to join.

Much of it may be viewed as banter but there have been many cases more akin to playground bullying and some, almost libellous. I guess it matters not that a persons' reputation can be ruined by erroneous information. Never has the expression about letting the truth spoil a good story been truer.

I speak as a victim of Keefy/James Plunkets' vitriol. But I do believe in the power of karma and I am sure karma has been calling at their door. One final word - could people not simply ask the person concerned if XYZ are true before immortalising it for all time on here?

Time I feel for him to fade away into the obscurity of a DSS funded bedsit back in Blighty

LOL my followers, now thats a first Sounds like a novel from Jane Akshar

[Brian Yare]

Aha - the plot thickens with the appearance now of two GUESTS! (or one cleverly trying to disguise their second post by using CAPS!!!)

Good evidence Brian Yare - I'd of never pegged you as a suspect in this nefarious cyber crime slicing through the Expats.

I mean - how terrible to know and see in print these heinous crimes of humanity blabbed about by Stepping Stone an anonymous source.

What is interesting is how people react - giving the full factual if not mundane story, suddenly full of righteous indignation for both themselves and others, presenting factual times and places, some presenting as holier than thou and some just rolling eyes and chuckling......

C'est la vie!

Just occurred to me that the other place from which I post is Fayrouz, and there are many more Internet users there than anywhere else. But I only go there in the evening, or use their wifi from Sheherazada when Sheherazade is not available.

Would it help if I were to report the IPs of these other places. I have the technology, and nothing to hide. And would Mac addresses help?

[Bombay]

Some gambles work some don't dusak a couple of stupid decisions but mainly two revolutions

[DJKeefy]

The IP's you posted Brian is close to the one Stepping Stone used, but like i said, you had posted from the exact IP in 4 of your posts, the only way that could happen is if you were using some public wifi somewhere, for example the Sherazade hotel, after you finish you logout then later on someone else at the same hotel gets assigned that same IP when they logon to the wifi, it's possible.

Don't bother with other IP's etc I think it will be impossible to find out for sure.

[Glyphdoctor]

I'll say this, all those who criticize the forum, whether you think it is good or bad, you can learn something here. I may not like everyone here and may not agree with everyone here, but I do learn something from everyone here and that is why I come here. People don't have to be your BFF to be able to benefit in some way from them.

And some of those who criticize it and pretend to only login once in a blue moon actually have another fake account that they use to access the site every day and probably are lurking more than the regular posters if anything catches their eye they rant about it elsewhere. You can't be holier than thou about L4U unless you completely ignore it and don't bitch about it, anywhere.

As for IPs, a wifi modem is going to attribute the same IP address to every computer using that signal, so it would not require Brian logging out and someone else logging in after. They all could be on the same IP address simultaneously.

[Guest]

Hi everyone, Barb here. I just want to clear a few things up.
I am quite astounded that some people think that my sister and I would actually have power to get ANYONE removed from the country. So far there are 3 people where I have been accused of having a hand in their deportation. Firstly John, who until very recently I considered to be a friend up to the point where I realised that he was stabbing me in the back, secondly Connie, who wrote comments on her OPEN facebook group about being a supporter of the Muslim brotherhood and how the staff in her charity were brotherhood members and the final straw was when she said that the policemen that were tortured and killed in Kerdasa was karma for what happened in Rabah square. Someone in her group (an Egyptian and a friend of mine) took offence to her words and reported her to national security (yes he told me that he had done it), so basically her deportation was her own doing because if she had kept her mouth shut then nobody would have known about her connections and opinion and she wouldn't have been thrown out of the country. Finally Keefy, which as he said in a comment above, yes we have had disagreements in the past but we just avoided each other.
To be honest I couldn't care less if any of you like me or not, I didn't move here to live amongst expats, I came to live here because I fell in love with the city from the first time I visited for a holiday and feel at home here. I get criticised a lot for saying that Luxor is 'safe' but this is not my exact words, I say that I feel that Luxor is safer than anywhere else that I have lived. Nowhere in the world is completely safe, especially now as the terrorist attacks elsewhere in the world prove, but what you choose to read in to what I write is your problem not mine.
As for the flag shirts, that get constant criticism on here, I made them to show my support for the country that I have chosen to be my home. They were made for a tourism event after an Egyptian friend, who sadly died in the bus crash a few days ago involving tour guides, suggested that we should wear the Egyptian flag at a previous event because of our love for the country. We were only planning on wearing them for that 1 occasion but then were asked by other Egyptian friends to wear them again and again to show our support for Luxor. So basically, if my Egyptian friends like them, then that is fine by me.
My posts on the website LCB are always being brought up and I am tired of it now, have none of you ever written anything in your life that you have regretted? This website closed about 5 years ago so please give it a rest now, you are sounding like a stuck record.
I will say goodbye now but if any of you would like to know anything about my life then please feel free to contact me either in person or on facebook instead of speculating and gossiping about my boring life, which actually sounds a lot more interesting on here than it is in real life. All my sister and I want is to live a peaceful life, (with our 20 cats and 2 small Baladi dogs, A-four), but this constant bickering, by people that we have never actually met, that goes on about us if getting really quite annoying so please give it a rest now.
P.S to Carrie, you said on here that you have never met my sister and I and never wanted to, but you have actually had contact with us on a couple of occasions, firstly when you called to tell us that our friend Brian had passed away and secondly in a text message to my sister to offer your condolences when Ayisha passed away too. Also it was us that told you where to get the fruit trees in Awamiya when we met you at the pub quiz some years ago.

[carrie]

Yes I did say that I had never met you, and when I did I didn't know that I had. When I asked about the fruit trees I didn't know who you were after that we have never to my knowledge met. Yes I did send you a message about Aisha because I liked the woman very much and I knew you were good friends and wanted to express my condolences. What exactly is wrong with that?

As for you wearing the daft clothes and I will say that I thought they were daft, you may think I wear daft clothes and you are perfect liberty to say so however what ever your reason Ex pats were specifically advised to stay away from demonstrations but you both put yourselves in the middle of one. Why? Don't you realize that if things had gone wrong then the Egyptians accompanying you would have put themselves in the front line to protect you, putting themselves at unnecessary risk I personally am not prepared to do that to anyone.

I have nothing against either of you, I read LCB, thought it was funny rather than anything else and I can understand you regretting some of the things that you posted but it is as you say a long time ago and best forgotten which I had until you reminded me.

I have just read the last post on this topic so don't know if you have been accused of being SS but the last post mentioned my name so thought I would respond.
I don't know anything about you being held responsible for getting who ever deported actually I wouldn't have thought that you had sufficient influence to get anyone deported and I certainly don't think that either of you are SS. I will now look at the other posts and try to work out why I have been yet again involved in this sleazy affair.

I don't give a damn who SS is but I do know that who ever it is no good will come of it for them.
Just as an aside I don't believe Brian is responsible for the SS posts either.

[Bombay]

Hi everyone, Barb here. I just want to clear a few things up.
I am quite astounded that some people think that my sister and I would actually have power to get ANYONE removed from the country. So far there are 3 people where I have been accused of having a hand in their deportation. Firstly John, who until very recently I considered to be a friend up to the point where I realised that he was stabbing me in the back, secondly Connie, who wrote comments on her OPEN facebook group about being a supporter of the Muslim brotherhood and how the staff in her charity were brotherhood members and the final straw was when she said that the policemen that were tortured and killed in Kerdasa was karma for what happened in Rabah square. Someone in her group (an Egyptian and a friend of mine) took offence to her words and reported her to national security (yes he told me that he had done it), so basically her deportation was her own doing because if she had kept her mouth shut then nobody would have known about her connections and opinion and she wouldn't have been thrown out of the country. Finally Keefy, which as he said in a comment above, yes we have had disagreements in the past but we just avoided each other.
To be honest I couldn't care less if any of you like me or not, I didn't move here to live amongst expats, I came to live here because I fell in love with the city from the first time I visited for a holiday and feel at home here. I get criticised a lot for saying that Luxor is 'safe' but this is not my exact words, I say that I feel that Luxor is safer than anywhere else that I have lived. Nowhere in the world is completely safe, especially now as the terrorist attacks elsewhere in the world prove, but what you choose to read in to what I write is your problem not mine.
As for the flag shirts, that get constant criticism on here, I made them to show my support for the country that I have chosen to be my home. They were made for a tourism event after an Egyptian friend, who sadly died in the bus crash a few days ago involving tour guides, suggested that we should wear the Egyptian flag at a previous event because of our love for the country. We were only planning on wearing them for that 1 occasion but then were asked by other Egyptian friends to wear them again and again to show our support for Luxor. So basically, if my Egyptian friends like them, then that is fine by me.
My posts on the website LCB are always being brought up and I am tired of it now, have none of you ever written anything in your life that you have regretted? This website closed about 5 years ago so please give it a rest now, you are sounding like a stuck record.
I will say goodbye now but if any of you would like to know anything about my life then please feel free to contact me either in person or on facebook instead of speculating and gossiping about my boring life, which actually sounds a lot more interesting on here than it is in real life. All my sister and I want is to live a peaceful life, (with our 20 cats and 2 small Baladi dogs, A-four), but this constant bickering, by people that we have never actually met, that goes on about us if getting really quite annoying so please give it a rest now.
P.S to Carrie, you said on here that you have never met my sister and I and never wanted to, but you have actually had contact with us on a couple of occasions, firstly when you called to tell us that our friend Brian had passed away and secondly in a text message to my sister to offer your condolences when Ayisha passed away too. Also it was us that told you where to get the fruit trees in Awamiya when we met you at the pub quiz some years ago.

[Bombay]

Aha - the plot thickens with the appearance now of two GUESTS! (or one cleverly trying to disguise their second post by using CAPS!!!)

Good evidence Brian Yare - I'd of never pegged you as a suspect in this nefarious cyber crime slicing through the Expats.

I mean - how terrible to know and see in print these heinous crimes of humanity blabbed about by Stepping Stone an anonymous source.

What is interesting is how people react - giving the full factual if not mundane story, suddenly full of righteous indignation for both themselves and others, presenting factual times and places, some presenting as holier than thou and some just rolling eyes and chuckling......

C'est la vie!

Just occurred to me that the other place from which I post is Fayrouz, and there are many more Internet users there than anywhere else. But I only go there in the evening, or use their wifi from Sheherazada when Sheherazade is not available.

Would it help if I were to report the IPs of these other places. I have the technology, and nothing to hide. And would Mac addresses help?

I wouldn't bother Brian if it was you all I would say is don't believe everything you hear if it's not you then I apologize for implying it was you on the evidence I was given only you and possibly the other poster will know.

[Guest]

As for you wearing the daft clothes and I will say that I thought they were daft, you may think I wear daft clothes and you are perfect liberty to say so however what ever your reason Ex pats were specifically advised to stay away from demonstrations but you both put yourselves in the middle of one. Why? Don't you realize that if things had gone wrong then the Egyptians accompanying you would have put themselves in the front line to protect you, putting themselves at unnecessary risk I personally am not prepared to do that to anyone.

My Egyptian friends don't think that the flag shirts are daft, and that is all that matters to me.
We have never in our lives been to a demonstration and never would, the events that we attend are to promote tourism and nothing at all to do with politics, which demonstrations are all about. We would never put any of our Egyptian friends in any risk and only go to events that we are invited to. There was a rumour going around a couple of years ago that we did attend a political demonstration because it was reported that 2 sisters were there. This was not us, it was 2 Belgian sisters that went to it and we were very angry that this misinformation was being spread around.

[Who2]

I must say that this has become a great topic, thoroughly loving it.
Just hope that 'telling bone hasn't crawled back under their stone....
"come out come out whoever you are"

[LovelyLadyLux]

I tend to agree with Who2 on this one. Why stop now? Need a few more zingers to keep the thread alive and going! I mean where would the National Enquirer be or the National Read UP 'n Chuck if those in the know didn't keep digging and posting more and more and more?

I'm also more than sure if some effort was put into it - few more meanderings about the Corniche and a few more peeky boos through the curtains late at night and all sorts of good gossip could be suss'd out.

:co: :cb: Come on Stepping Stone - you've thrown out a pebble when we're all obviously wanting a few granite boulders! Don't be a Flag Stone and let us walk all over your statements. Stand up, be brave and smear on! :cb:

[Glyphdoctor]

If you have to wear something, wear a Zahi Hawass hat, as I am sure it is more a symbol of Egypt outside Egypt among potential tourists than an Egyptian flag is. As much as I find it distasteful, it's the truth.

I bet if you surveyed people outside Egypt, 99.999% would not know what flag it is a country of. This is just being realistic. It's not in any way a promoter of tourism to the potential audience you want to reach.

Your Egyptian friends may think it is cute, but in reality, it's useless for your goals. If all you care is what your Egyptian friends think of their readymade flagpole prop that transports itself to every event, then where does promoting tourism come into it?

I have no doubt you WANT to promote tourism, but look at current situation and do a little self-evaluation. Has posting pictures on your own FB page to a self-selected audience already interested in Egypt really helped increase the numbers? The only area there really is growth these days for Luxor is the Chinese market, and FB is banned in China. Chinese tourists are coming because the censorship there filters out all the bad news that everyone else gets.

Wanting to do something and actually having the skills and circumstances to succeed at it are two different things. It's important to learn to distinguish between the two if you want to make an impact in this life.

Oh, and you probably already know this, but black is for funerals.

[Major Thom]

Must be good when people feel confident to put personal things on this link.

[Guest]

Has posting pictures on your own FB page to a self-selected audience already interested in Egypt really helped increase the numbers?

Self selected audience? Well with 1297 facebook friends and 681 followers from all different nationalities and people messaging me all the time saying that they want to come to Egypt because all of my posts are public, I really can't see how I am self selecting my audience!!!!

[Glyphdoctor]

Ahem, I didn't say YOU were "self-selecting" anything:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-selection_bias

[Brian Yare]

Would it help if I were to report the IPs of these other places. I have the technology, and nothing to hide. And would Mac addresses help?

Sheherazade is at 156.206.204.101

Fayrouz is at 41.39.126.136

Brian

[Connie Tindale]

Points of Clarification only:

I am replying here to comments about me by people defining themselves as 'Guests'. I thank Keith for unlocking this account so that I did not need to post as a guest. I will not post again and will not read any vitriolic replies that this post might elicit. Everyone knows that Keith and I had a dispute but he had nothing to do with the problems I had with the Security Services and I certainly had nothing to do with his problems either. Whether Barbara did or did not cause his problems is not my business. Keith and I called a truce a long time ago. Keith has written that he intended to come back to the UK in December as Luxor was no longer the place it used to be. I believe him. The Luxor that Keith and I knew has long gone.

During my time back in the UK I have simply carried on with my life, written a couple more books and watched Egypt's disintegration with interest. Egypt was never the be all and end all of my existence as my home and family were still in the UK. My life has never been easy but it has always been blessed. I do not regret my years in Egypt but I have no wish to return even if there was a change of the regime.

A great deal was written about me being deported from Egypt after Barbara and her 'Egyptian friend' reported me to the Security Services. It was wishful thinking on her part as despite Barbara writing that I was frog marched across the tarmac to a waiting plane, I was not even in the country at the time. However it is true that six armed men did come to the clinic to arrest me on her evidence, which she obtained from a closed site. Barbara then proceeded to write at length about how her friend in the Security Services in Cairo had told her all about it. She could not tell the truth about anything if her life depended on it. But everyone knows that from her old LCB days. People do not change. Barbara and co were seen at a 'Comity' meeting sharing printouts of my Facebook posts with the Security Policemen there. There are several witnesses. I have no idea if she had a part in John's problems but she certainly had a part in mine. Memories are not so short that they cannot remember how Barbara and her sister tried to act as the only conduit to Dr. Dardery who was at the time an MB member of Parliament. They changed their MB allegiance and branded Dr. Dardery a terrorist as soon as it was expedient but what else would anyone expect from them. I will be meeting Dr. Dardery in London next month and I will ask him for his opinion on the matter.

Anyway, when I returned to Egypt I was arrested at Cairo airport and refused entry as a security risk. Nobody in Cairo had any idea what I was supposed to have done and enquiries only revealed that I had a problem with someone in Luxor. From later enquiries it appears that I had insulted the army. That did not stop people writing that I was deported for theft, fraud and a multitude of other heinous crimes that their imaginations drummed up. For those who feel they are secure as they have a valid visa, can I assure them they are not secure at all. I had a fully valid visa and a valid re-entry visa. At the time I was 69 years old and it is well known that I have MS so what security risk I could be to anyone amazed me. No stamps were put in my passport either to say that I had been deported (which I was not), overstayed (which I had not) or been refused entry (which I was).

May I point out that the MB is not a terrorist organisation in the UK. In terms of serving the MB Barbara did them a favour as since leaving Egypt I have written several articles about the slaughter in Rabaa Square which although it may have been supported by some in Luxor, still has International condemnation. Barbara, on her Facebook page, still maintains that I need watching in the UK as a suspected terrorist. As I am now nearly 71, I am flattered by that. Move over Bond, Tindale is on her way. A dysfunctional expat in Luxor once wrote that I was making porn films and keeping a brothel. In a perverse sort of way I was flattered by that too.

I have also written a paper on the MB charitable activities for a UK Parliamentary Select Committee. The MB were the biggest charity organisers in Egypt and, as many expats who wish to help those around them 'are accused of 'thinking they know best' about how that help should be given, rather than working on a wing and a prayer we went to the people who really did know what was needed. That is why Little Stars was so successful. Little Stars is still running and much to Barbara's disappointment I am still Chairman, but it is running at a very reduced level and may close completely next year. Sunshine has already lost its UK finances. Only time will tell whether or not Little Stars continues.

Finally, I treat my exclusion from Egypt as a badge of honour. I am in great company as a Nobel Prize winner as well as heads of various Human Rights groups were also excluded over comments about Rabaa Square. I am not and never have been a supporter of Sisi and was never afraid to say so. I would never 'keep my mouth shut' and betray what I believe in just to stay in a country that is now a failed state. I have never been a political activist but I have never compromised on my beliefs either which is why I consider that my life has been so interesting and will hopefully continue to be so. The powers that be have put 40,000 people in jail in Egypt and I am just grateful that I was not one of them.

Incidentally, Keith's stay in Cairo was much more comfortable than mine as they are not geared up to hold women. I sat on a hard bench in Security Services reception area for 12 hours and was not even offered a glass of water. I went to the plane in the company of a young American with a beard who had been held in the airport for 6 days without any help. He had not even been in the country and had no idea why he had been excluded.

Keith I would now be grateful if you would lock my account again so I that I cannot be tempted to post again.

[Dusak]

Its about time this topic was locked.