[Foundation-l] [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2008 will happen in Alexandria, Egypt

Wed Oct 10 17:31:36 UTC 2007

On 10/10/07, Muhammad Alsebaey <shipmaster at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey Aude and George, thank you for voicing that opinion, it is exactly how
> I
> feel. Another point for everyone to consider: If Wikimania was restricted
> to
> being in USA and Western Europe, it's kind of a closed-membership club,
> people from Africa, the Middle east and various other places will have a
> hard time getting a visa there if they have a shot at that at all (I know
> that a US visa requires that you prove beyond doubt you have ties with
> your
> home country that will force you to come back after the conference, and
> that
> you have a considerable amount of money in your bank account, which is
> something hard to do for young people without established families.).
>
>
The ironic thing is that suggesting people write Congress...  I live in the
District of Columbia (the nation's capital, an icon of democracy), but
residents here do not have representation in Congress.  No Senators for me
to write to, and only a non-voting representative in Congress. (her opinion,
and my opinion mean nothing).  So, I'm not exactly living in a democracy,
even though I can walk over to Capitol Hill.  This is a double standard in
my view, that out government goes around spouting rhetoric about supporting
democracy, while right here we are denied basic democratic rights.
"Taxation Without Representation" is written my license plates, sums it up.

Egypt is just as fine a choice.  And, knowing what it takes to organize a
conference, the people on the bidding team are well-suited for the task.
It's not a simple task, but heck a lot of work.

-Aude