Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

Mohamed Marwen Meddah is a Tunisian-Canadian, web aficionado, software engineering leader, blogger, and amateur photographer.

links for 2005-04-22

Groupism

Something that really annoys me in the world today is how people just have to think of themselves in terms of belonging to very specific seperate groups and how they get too obsessed with it all.

Not only that, but this seperation also results in ethnocentrism, where everyone thinks their group is superior to others, thus creating this ugly stupid form of racism.

It comes in many forms, from belonging to religious groups and their subgroups to belonging to geographical areas, countries in those areas, cities in those countries, towns in those cities, neighbourhoods in those towns, families…etc.

I understand the need to associate oneself to a group, it’s in our nature, but this is mad.
Why can’t we all in the end associate ourselves to the group of mankind and accept our differences as enriching factors for this group?
And if we absolutely have to break the group down to billions of seperated subgroups based on borders, religion or whatever else, why do we have to get so mad and fanatic about it, making it into racism and letting it create these deep fractures between us?

Patriotism is a great concept, but why can’t we apply it to our whole world?
Why can’t we open our eyes to the fact that we have more things that unite us all than things that divide us?

links for 2005-04-21

Mouled & Assida

Today is the birthday of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), so best wishes to all Muslims everywhere.

The occasion is celebrated in different ways around the Muslim world.

In Tunisia, every home makes Assida, a pudding-like sweet delicacy based on zgougou, these little black seeds taken from a pine-like tree. I don’t know what they’re called elsewhere as I’ve only seen them used here in Tunisia.

I absolutely love Assida, It’s one of my favourite sweets.

On this day family members visit each other and take some assida with them to share. In fact, in the past when people used to care more about their neighbours, they’d also go out and give their neighbours some assida too.

Eman, my wife, made some great Assida this year. I’ll go get myself another serving. Yummy.

Make sure you taste Assida if you ever visit Tunisia. It simply rocks.

Palestine US Exhibit Stirs Controversy

Made in Palestine art exhibition stirs controversy in US…

A unique art exhibition showcasing the works of 23 Palestinian artists, from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as those living in exile in countries such as Jordan, Syria and Germany, is facing uncertain times in the United States, with major museums refusing to play host.

Chronicling the modern history of Palestinians since 1948, Made in Palestine had its first showing in the United States at the Station Museum in Houston, in May 2003.

Currently on display in San Francisco, the opening attracted up to a thousand people. But alongside the accolades, it has also drawn the ire of some politicians.
As a result, most museums are fearful that hosting an exhibit that is pro-Palestinian could cost them their funding.

Once the current show draws to a close on 21 April, organisers suspect it could be curtains for the exhibition.

[Source: Al Jazeera]

I think it’s so unfair to not even let Palestinians express themselves and show their side of the story through peaceful art exhibitions like this one.

There is so much bias and ignorance that almost anything that is even slightly pro-Palestinian is automatically unaccepted and denied.

I think this is where those fat rich Arab purses should come in handy, funding projects like this and helping to get the peaceful message through.

links for 2005-04-20

My 10 Favourite Dishes

If I were to choose my top 10 dishes, the list would certainly look something like this.
I’m feeling hungry just thinking of them.

1. Mloukhia: I worship Tunisian Mloukhia. It’s truly out of this world. It has nothing to do with the way mloukhia is made in other Arab countries. It’s a lot more delicious.

2. Couscous: Our Tunisian national dish, which I love more everytime I eat it. Whether it’s with Meat, chicken or fish it just rocks.

3. Nwaser: Another Tunisian delicacy that I love. Yummy perfection.

4. Hummus and Falafel: Man, I love hummus and falafel, especially hummus. I could have some every single day.

5. Fried rice with crab + shrimps in sweet and sour sauce: I had so much of this when I was in Thailand. It’s so damn good.

6. Pizza: Thick or thin, stuffed crust or not, from the marguerita to the super supreme, I love pizza. It’s always a fave.

7. Msakhan: A Palestinian dish based on chicken that is really yummy.

8. Fatteh: Another delicious middle eastern dish. The best fatteh I’ve ever tasted as yet is in Beit Jabri in Damascus / Syria.

9. Mansaf: The Jordanian national dish. I really enjoy having a good mansaf every now and then. It’s a bit heavy but really good.

10. Chicken Stroganoff: An originally Russian dish that is simply finger-licking delicious.

God bless delicious food…

Marwan Khoury – Kel El Asayed

Kel El Asayed

An album I have been enjoying quite a lot recently is “Kel El Asayed” by Marwan Khoury.

All the songs are written and composed by him. His lyrics are simply beautiful and the music is very classy and delicious.

The album takes you on a great ride between great ballads and more uptempo and catchier tunes.

My favourite songs on this album are: Kel El Asayed (The title track and power ballad of the album), Khedni Maak (A catchier, more fun tune) and Baadak Ya Hawa (Another catchy lighthearted tune).

I really recommend checking out this album.

Encarta Becoming A Wiki

So Encarta is more or less becoming some sort of a Wiki…

Microsoft Corp.’s Encarta encyclopedia is testing a system that lets everyone be an editor — in theory at least. Readers can suggest edits or additions to entries, although the changes are vetted by editors before they reach the page.

Encarta is not requiring such novice editors to identify themselves, said Gary Alt, Encarta’s editorial director. But it is asking them to reveal the source of their information if possible, and the editorial staff will check for both factual errors and evidence of bias.

[Source: CNN]

So it seems the guys at Microsoft have recognized the power of collaborative knowledge and wikis or they’ve started feeling the heat from Wikipedia.

I think this is quite a good step. And I think it’s great how this whole blog and wiki movement is affecting how media and encyclopedias are working.
It’s somehow like giving the power back to the people.