Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

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

Extremist Jews Plot Takeover of Al-Aqsa

Jewish extremists are plotting to bring as much people as possible to occupy Al Haram Al Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) which the Jews call the ‘Temple Mount’.

David Ha’ivri, chairman of the Revava organisation planning the 10 April march, is hoping the mass ascent of 10,000 Jews to the compound will pressure the Israeli government to transfer full control of the compound from Muslim to Jewish hands.

This is a very dangerous act and such an attack could spark more conflict and shatter the fragile truce that is in place now.

I think the Israeli government should take it’s responsabilities to stop such a thing from happening as part of it’s role in this ongoing peace effort.

[More: Al Jazeera, BBC]

US to Open Alaskan Oil Well Drilling

Two days ago, members of the US Senate narrowly voted to support President Bush’s quick solution to the energy crisis, i.e. opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil drilling.

ANWR covers 7.7 million hectares and is home to 45 types of land and marine mammals, including polar bears, muskoxen and pygmy shrews, as well as 160 species of migratory birds.

Estimates of how much oil the refuge holds vary widely. By most accounts, the area would take 10 years to develop and still meet only a small fraction of U.S. energy needs. Even oil companies have reportedly become skeptical about the refuge’s potential.

Its a shame to see how oil is destroying our planet.
Wars, destruction, extinction and the list goes on.
This has to stop!
We have to find a way to stop depending on oil and ruining the planet in the way.
Instead of spending all this money on wars and drilling all over the world, more should be invested in finding alternative clean energy sources.

What A Wonderful World

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.


What A Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong

I just love this song!
It’s amazing how it can always lift me up and make me feel better.

The Contender

Yesterday One TV started airing a new reality tv show called “The Contender“.

The show follows 16 professional boxers in a training camp to pursue their dream of becoming a champion boxer.

Silvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard serve as both hosts and boxing mentors to this group of fighters as they each try to improve their skills in order rise to the rank of professional boxers.

The boxers are divided into two teams, West Coast and East Coast, and they have a new challenge to do each week.
The team that wins the challenge gets to pick a boxer from their team to fight against a boxer they choose from the other team.
The boxer who loses leaves the show.
The final victor will claim a million dollar prize.

Although I really liked the Rocky movies, I’m not truly a fan of boxing or other violent sports. But still I was sucked in to watch this. I guess it’s different when you get to know the fighters a bit on a personal level before you see them fight.
The passion and excitement involved in it just pulls you into it all.

Cool stuff…

Hero

Yesterday, I watched “Hero” featuring Jet Li and Ziyi Zhang.

I heard a lot about this movie and have had it lying around in VCD format for a while now, but never got around to watching it till yesterday.

It’s a martial arts action fantasy, along the lines of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon“, about how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China.

I really enjoy movies of this genre when they’re done right, with a nice story, well choreographed fight sequences, cool cinematography and good acting.

I hate the parts when they start flying around, running on water or bouncing off thin tree branches. But other than that, I like movies like this.

If you’re a fan of Jet Li or of this genre, I truly recommend this movie. You’ll really enjoy it.

My score for it is: 8/10.

Mannequin Nipples

The other day while walking by some store windows, the question hit me:
“When the hell did they start putting nipples on mannequins?!”

Is it that the stores are really cold?
Are the mannequins excited by the fact that people are staring at them?
Are they implying that the clothes are made for chilly days only?
Or maybe they’re saying that whatever the weather, nipples will show through these clothes?

I don’t know who came up with the idea or why they thought it necessary to do so.

It’s not like you see that many women on the street with their nipples perceptible through their clothes. So what’s the point?

Then again maybe it’s just another marketing idea. By adding nipples to the mannequins, maybe the clothes will seem sexier, and sex always sells.

Update: It seems men mannequins have nipples now too. What next? Nippled Children mannequins?!

Fingerprint Shopping

I think this is really cool and practical…

Customers of the German supermarket chain EDEKA in the southwest German town of Ruelzheim have been able to pay for their shopping by a fingerprint-pay-system for some time now.
And the company plans to equip more of its stores across the region with this technology.

According to Roland Fitterer, the store manager, customers need to register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away. The scanner compares the shopper’s fingerprint with those stored in its database along with account details.

[More: Heise Online]

I love cool technology like this that makes life easier and somehow safer for people.

[Via: AquaCool]

Paying Fines, A Bureaucracy Nightmare

This morning, I had to go pay a fine for passing the due date to pay the road tax. Actually the fine wasn’t for that, it was for being caught 😛
Anyway, it was a bureaucracy disaster.

I had to go to an office of the Ministry of Finance in Sidi Bashir, one of the most crowded places in downtown Tunis. There they gave me a piece of paper and told me to go to “Rue d’Angleterre (England Road)” to pay the fine and then come back to them.
On foot, that’s like a quarter hour walk away, and in car it takes longer because you’d have to drive around all of busy downtown Tunis to get there.
So I curse the hell out of the police man who gave me the fine on my way there, pay the fine, then go back to the office where I started. There they give me back my car papers and tell me to go back to “Rue d’Angleterre” to pay the road tax. Aaaarrrggghhh!

Continue reading Paying Fines, A Bureaucracy Nightmare

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Last night I watched “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow“.
Now, I have to say that I totally pre-judged this movie. I saw the trailer and I didn’t like it, and I rented the movie sure that it would be a bad boring movie and a waste of money. The only reason I rented it is to see how bad Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie could get 😛
But, I have to admit it turned out better than I thought, not that much better, but still better.

The movie takes another direction, visually speaking, than the rest of the movies coming out these days. It’s very 1930’s Art Deco with bits of Neo-Futurism and uses a mostly digital backdrop.
I liked the visual effects and work put into this movie although I’m not a big fan of the 1930’s feel.

It’s a Sci-Fi Adventure movie and the story starts after New York City receives a series of attacks from giant flying robots. A reporter teams up with a pilot in search of their origin, as well as the reason for the disappearances of famous scientists around the world.

All in all, I think it’s an ok movie. The kind I’d only see once.
Anyway, if you’re into sci-fi adventure movies that feel like they’re from the 1930’s, then this should be your cup of tea.

I give it a score of: 5/10.