Americans In The Egyptian Army
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In 1868, Thaddeus Mot, a Union colonel and a favorite of the Turkish court, met Ismail in Constantinople. He impressed the Khedive, and was soon commissioned as a major general in the Egyptian army.

Mott quickly convinced Ismail to add more American veterans to the Egyptian staff. With the Khedive’s blessing he returned to the United States, and with the help of General of the Army William T. Sherman, began enlisting recruits.

The situation presented a new chance for dozens of Civil War veterans. About fifty former Union and Confederate officers would make the three-week journey to Egypt. In addition, at least four active U.S. officers were given leaves of absence, allowing them to gain experience in Egypt. All of these men accepted actual commissions in the Egyptian Army, agreeing to fight for Egypt in any war, except one against the United States.

Some stayed for only a few months (or even days), while others remained for years. Several Confederate luminaries, including P. G. T. Beauregard, Joseph Johnston, and George Pickett considered going, but declined.

In 1870, Mott brought over his first two recruits, William Wing Loring and Henry Hopkins Sibley, both veteran frontier officers and generals in the Confederate army. The pair were given uniforms, introduced to the Khedive, and put to work inspecting Egypt’s defenses.

Found at http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/egypt.htm

French judge handy with penal code
From www.iol.co.za (South African news service)
October 16 2003. Bordeaux, France - A French magistrate caught masturbating during a court session was locked up on Thursday and put under investigation, justice officials in the south-western city of Bordeaux said.

The head judge of the city's appeals court said "a penal inquiry ordered by the prosecutor of the republic is currently being carried out by the police" while a request for a psychiatric evaluation of the magistrate - who was not named - had been made.

He said the justice ministry had also been asked to temporarily suspend the magistrate while the matter was looked into.

According to La Charente Libre, a local newspaper who had a reporter in court at the time of the alleged offence, the magistrate had discreetly lifted up his ceremonial robe while a lawyer was presenting final arguments, undid his pants and "engaged in gestures that left nothing to the imagination". - Sapa-AFP

Beware of Embarassed Women
This from the Northwest Florida Daily News: A Crestview couple drove their car to Wal-Mart, only to have their car break down in the parking lot. The man told his wife to carry on with the shopping while he fixed the car in the lot. The wife returned later to see a small group of people near the car. On closer inspection, she saw a pair of male legs protruding from under the chassis. Although the man was in shorts, his lack of underpants turned private parts into glaringly public ones. Unable to stand the embarrassment, she dutifully stepped forward, quickly put her hand up his shorts, and tucked everything back into place. On regaining her feet, she looked across the hood and found herself staring at her husband who was standing idly by. The mechanic, however, had to have three stitches in his forehead.