[Via: Bouillabaisse]
Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah
Mohamed Marwen Meddah is a Tunisian-Canadian, web aficionado, software engineering leader, blogger, and amateur photographer.
Killing detainees
Under Siege
Just found this Arabic shoot ’em up game called “Under Siege”. In this game, the player takes the role of a Palestinian resistant fighting the oppressing Israeli army.
The game was created by a company called Afkar Media, a Syrian company I think, who also previously released a game called “Under Ash”.
I haven’t tried the game, but the screenshots I saw on the site make it seem pretty good. The graphics and 3D stuff look rather well done too.
It’s good to see Arab companies are starting to venture into the gaming market. Other than this, I know of a Syrian company that worked on a strategy game and of a Tunisian company who worked on a game called “Haroun” that is an action game.
[Via Mouse Hunter]
Lost In Translation
After months of waiting, I finally got to see Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” last night.
Kicking back and relaxing on our beautiful new sofas, I really enjoyed this film.
It’s really simple and the story is a sweet and simple one too.
Two people’s lives cross in Tokyo, they relate, and they share a nice week together and then they move on.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson did a nice job on this movie.
This is the second Sofia Coppola movie, and after seeing both, I truly think she’s going to have a good future in writing and directing movies.
Thieves in Thailand (Haramiyyah fi Tayland)
It’s been a while since we last went to the cinema. And usually when we do, we go to see an arabic movie because the foreign movies are old and we’d have already seen them.
So, this past Saturday we thought we’d go catch this Egyptian movie called “Haramiyyah fi Tayland” (Thieves in Thailand) starring Hanan Tork and Karem Abdel-Azeez.
It was a pretty good movie and we enjoyed it very much. But the true reason why we really enjoyed it is because of the scenes shot in Thailand.
They shot in Bangkok and in Phuket, and we found ourselves identifying places that we went to and took pictures at when we visited Thailand on our honeymoon.
From the Bangkok streets, temples and floating market to the Phuket downtown, touristic area and beaches to the Krabi islands.
They even shot scenes at the same resort we stayed at in Phuket; Le Meridien Royal Yacht Club Resort.
It’s so great to watch a movie and say: I’ve been there, yes I saw that, remember that?, we took a picture at that exact place, we swam there, we dived there…etc.
That’s how most of the movie was for us, bringing back some really beautiful memories and places, and further making me want to visit Thailand again.
The story is a nice one and I expect that even people who never visited Thailand would like the movie.
But for us, Thailand simply overshadowed the movie.
Al-Yawar: The New Iraqi President
The Sunni Muslim head of the Iraqi Governing Council Ghazi Al Yawar was chosen as Iraq’s new president Tuesday after the American’s preferred candidate, former Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi, turned down the post.
The announcement came after a series of confusing developments that began with the U.S. administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi telling al-Yawar their choice was Adnan Pachachi.
But after the latter announced that he would not accept the position, Iraq’s Governing Council voted to name its current president — al-Yawar.
It was less than an hour later when Brahimi issued a statement naming al-Yawar as his choice, but noting that he first offered the job to Pachachi.
The Brahimi statement also included his choices the two deputy presidential positions. Those selections were Dr. Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shi’ite Muslim and Dr. Rowsch Shaways, a non-Arab Kurd.
[More: CNN, Washington Post]
I think that what they’re trying to do in Iraq is something similar to the system in Lebanon where the President is always Christian and the Prime minister is always Muslim.
In Iraq, we see now that the President is Sunni, the Prime minister is Shiaa and Vice presidents are Shiaa and Kurdish.
The idea is to create a balance of power in the country so that no single group fully controls the government.
It worked for Lebanon.
Still I don’t think it’s that necessary if democracy is applied and diverse political parties have a role in the running of the country without certain roles having to be cut out for certain groups.
Allawi: The new Iraqi prime minister
CIA stooge Allawi gets Iraqi presidency as reward for bogus WMD claim.
Exiled Allawi was responsible for the claim that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could be operational in 45 minutes.
The choice of Iyad Allawi, closely linked to the CIA and formerly to MI6, as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 30 June will make it difficult for the US and Britain to persuade the rest of the world that he is capable of leading an independent government.
[Source: The Independent]
The naming of Mr Allawi who spent three decades in exile came as a surprise, he was evidently not the first choice of the UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. [BBC]
[Via Je Blog]
Bush and Saddam’s gun
A handgun that Saddam Hussein was clutching when U.S. forces captured him in a hole in Iraq last December is now kept by President Bush at the White House, Time magazine has reported.
[…]
The magazine quoted a visitor who had been shown the gun, which is kept in a small study off the Oval Office where Bush displays memorabilia. It is the same room where former President Clinton had some of his encounters with former intern Monica Lewinsky.
Bush shows Saddam’s gun to select visitors, telling them it is unloaded, both now and when Saddam was captured, Time reported.
“He really liked showing it off,” Time quoted a visitor who had seen the gun as saying. “He was really proud of it.”
[Source: CNN]
So now Saddam’s gun is a war trophy and a game for Bush.
I can’t believe how childish and immature this guy is.
Phone problem & Blog addiction
This weekend our phone line went dead. For no reason, it just stopped working; no pulse, no anything.
I really don’t know why Tunisie Telecom seem to hate me!
Anyway, I don’t really care for the phone line that much, what I care about is that without it I don’t have access to the internet, and so no access to my blog.
Now that sucks like hell!
I’ve been itching the whole weekend waiting for a chance to blog anything, lol.
Damn this sweet addicition 😉
Democracy in the Middle East
I’ve had this idea spinning around in my head for some time now.
Would full-fledged democracy work for the countries in the Middle East or not?
And would the US really want these countries to have a true democracy?
Currently, these countries have different levels of democracy implemented or in some cases none, but how good would it be if they went the whole way?