Egypt’s President Could Win a Trip to Space, Whether He Wants One or Not
By ROBERT MACKEY and LIAM STACK :
A group of Egyptian activists who reluctantly endorsed Mohamed Morsi in last year’s presidential election, and have been bitterly disappointed by his performance in office, are again urging their fellow citizens to cast a vote for him. This time, however, a victory for Mr. Morsi would send him not to the presidential palace, but into space.
April 6 movement enters Morsy in space trip contest: http://t.co/IoofGQ9DoK
— arabist (@arabist) 21 Feb 13
The scheme, unveiled Thursday by members of the April 6 Youth Movement, is to garner enough support in an online competition to win Mr. Morsi a trip to space sponsored by the deodorant company Axe. According to a description of the plan on the group’s Facebook page, it is a “popular campaign to send Morsi behind the sun,” which is a play on an Arabic expression that means “to make someone disappear.”
In support of the effort, the activists provided a link to the Axe Apollo Space Academy site and wrote, “We made an account for President Morsi on this Web site and it he gets your vote he will travel to the moon and govern them there.” By Friday, the update had attracted more than 450,000 Facebook likes and generated enough votes to propel Mr. Morsi to the top of the contest’s leader board.
I just voted for #morsi to go to space. Proudest moment in voting history #egypt
— su zee (@suzeeinthecity) 22 Feb 13
Fun –> “Thanks for voting, Mohammed Morsi is now one step closer to space.” https://t.co/D7hjPPBNmO
— Mostafa Hussein (@moftasa) 22 Feb 13
In an update on Friday evening, the April 6 activists urged their 449,000 Twitter followers: “Vote now and don’t delay! Morsi needs 1,400 votes to go into first place in the contest. #SendMorsiToTheMoon”
ÇáÃä : ÝÇÖá 1400 ÕæÊ á #ãÑÓí áßí íÕá ááãÑßÒ ÇáÃæá Ýí ãÓÇÈÞÉ #ÅÈÚÊ_ãÑÓí_ÇáÞãÑ https://t.co/x8938RdDSp ÕæÊ æáÇ ÊÊÑÏÏ
— ÍÑßÉ ÔÈÇÈ 6 ÃÈÑíá (@shabab6april) 22 Feb 13
Two hours later, the Cairo blogger Mahmoud Salem, who writes as Sandmonkey, exulted over the news that Mr. Morsi was winning the contest.
https://t.co/FeNfkpTQ7l MORSY IS #1…HE IS THERE! TRIUMPHANT! KEEP VOTING!
— ÇáÓíÏ ãÇäßí (@Sandmonkey) 22 Feb 13
Strangely, a YouTube video explaining the contest makes no mention at all of whether contestants who win the online ballot could be compelled to complete the rigorous preflight training in Orlando, Fla., and the journey into space. Unlike Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mr. Morsi has not asked to be sent into space recently, but late last year he did express a fondness for the 1960s science-fiction fantasy “Planet of the Apes,” which is about the misadventures of an American astronaut.
nytimes |