ThysdrusRoman Coliseum of El-Jem

Panem et Circensis

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Location: Tunis, Tunisia, Tunisia

Monday, April 30, 2007

Six Killed In Stampede In Tunisia

That's really awful!!!

Tunis - Six people died and several were injured late Monday in a stampede at an open air concert held in Sfax, 300km south of Tunis, the official news agency Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) reported. ( more)
My most sincere condolences to the families of the deceased! :(
PS: I searched TAP's website and I couldn't find any link to this tragic incident..

Saturday, April 28, 2007

"ذئب العذارى"

Click on the picture to enlarge


عندما يعجز العراقيون عن تكسير الجدار الاسمنتي


Are we heading into a Berlin-like wall of separation? (more)

Insolite




Is it a typing error or an obsession about Tunisia?

Are You Electrically Sensitive?

If yes, do as this woman and wear this beekeeper-like veil! (more)


Via Drudge

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Cartoon Of The Day

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Muslims & Sexuality

Dr. Heba Kotb

I have tackled more or less the same topic in a previous post but from another perspective. At that time I referred to a fatwa issued by an egyptian cleric declaring a marriage contract illegal if a married couple engage in sexual intercourse while naked. This time I came across this news item by CNN which reads: "Egypt's "Dr Ruth": Muslims Need Better Sex".


The article in question is about an egyptian medical doctor Mrs. Heba Kotb, (I wonder if she is a relative to egyptian author and islamist Sayyed Qutb, for I am sure he wouldn't be appreciative of what she is doing if he was still alive), who specialized in human sexuality and got her degree from an American University (no wonder).


Dr. Kotb also runs the show "The Big Talk" a famous program broadcasted in one of Cairo's TV channels. In her show Dr. Kotb tackles the issue of sexuality which you like it or not is still a taboo subject in most conservative arab and moslem societies. Dr Kotb's main advice to married couples is to have more sex ( which CNN badly rephrased : "Muslims Need Better Sex", are we arabs and moslems so bad at having sex?? are there international standards for good sex?? I am asking).


In "The Big Talk", Dr. kotb talks about issues like masturbation ... sex over the Internet... sex and Ramadan...the wedding night... however she sticks to the teachings of the Quran something that brought her criticism from those more liberal [who] think she's not being open enough about sex, ignoring topics like extra marital affairs, homosexuality and pregnancy out of wedlock [and] conservatives [who] think sex is not for public discussion.


All in all I personally think that Dr. Kotb's initiative despite its shortcomings is something worth praising and something that needs to be generalized in other arab and moslem societies.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Le Film: "Sego Et Sarko Dans Le Bateau"

Bientot sur tous les ecrans!Le film a voir avant de voter!

Monday, April 23, 2007

وطز يا ديمقراطية


المواطن حشرة في الوطن العربي من المحيط إلى الخليج.. لا استثناء..
ولا فرق يذكر بين دولة واخرى حين تصل الأمور إلى حد فتح الأفمام والتظاهر والاعتراض.
لكن المشهد حين يكون في مصر يصبح أكثر إيلاما.. اذ كيف استطاع هذا الفرعون أن يحكم هذا الشعب العظيم؟
!


طالع البقية هنا


المصدر صحيفة الوطن


في ما يلي النّص الكامل للمقال الذي نشرته صحيفة الوطن


داسوه بأرجلهم.. مثلما يدوسون حشرة!!
المواطن حشرة في الوطن العربي من المحيط إلى الخليج.. لا استثناء..
ولا فرق يذكر بين دولة واخرى حين تصل الأمور إلى حد فتح الأفمام والتظاهر والاعتراض.
لكن المشهد حين يكون في مصر يصبح أكثر إيلاما.. اذ كيف استطاع هذا الفرعون أن يحكم هذا الشعب العظيم؟!
والآن تخيلوا لو أن هذه الصورة سربت من العراق لشرطة عراقيين يدوسون مواطن عراقي "معارض" لحكم الرئيس صدام حسين..
فقط تخيلوا كيف ستقام قيامة العراق (التي قامت) وكيف ستعبر البوارج المحيطات لتصل إلى قواعدها الدائمة في الخليج الفارسي – الأمريكي.
حقوق الانسان، والديمقراطية: والاصلاح، والانتخابات، ومكافحة الفساد.... ألخ ألخ.. كلها شعارات تخضع لبورصة واشنطن ولا تصلح لكل رئيس ومرؤوس..
فمثلا: صدام ديكتاتوري.. ومبارك ديمقراطي!
بشار ديكتاتوي.. والملك عبد الله أبو الاصلاح والديمقراطية..
القذافي دكتاتوري وارهابي سابقاً قبل أن "يهجن" ويصبح ديمقراطيا..
هي هكذا كما وصفها بوش: حرب لا نهاية لها ضد الارهاب الذي يملك بوش وحده صكه وتعريفه.
مبارك مسموح له أن يأمر جنوده بأن يدوسوا رقبة المواطن المصري إذا فتح فمه! وكل ما يناله –نقصد مبارك- تأنيبا انشائيا في تقارير حقوق الانسان.. أو تصريحات الخارجية الأمريكية..
وما دامت أميركا تملك أمر الرؤساء بخيرهم وشرهم.. فهي مسؤولة عن ممارسات النظام المصري الذي تثبته وتدعمه ما دام لا يخالف لها أمراً..
اذن لتسقط كل الشعارات..
وطز يا ديمقراطية!

أبو البدر السفياني

Tchad: Les Enfants Sauteurs

Un document qui m'a choque et boulverse! La verite j'ai pas pu trouver mon Islam dans ce doc. Pour visionner tout le documentaire visiter cette page web:http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TarekTarek

Washington DC Film Fest 2007

The 21st edition of the Washington, DC International Film Festival (April 19-29, 2007) will feature some of the best, new and exciting films in international cinema today. Films will encompass a global range of cultures, music, and politics from over 30 countries.

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Two Guards Wounded At Tunisia's Embassy In Baghdad

And they talk about building a security wall in Baghdad, I know the situation is out of joint...

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Saturday, April 21, 2007

OOoops Mellouli In Doping Worry!!!

Ya latif! hia hia we la3boulou el la3ba wled el haram...rabbi m3ek ya Mellouli hatta enti eddenia hejet we mejt ala khatrik we femma hatta nadhariet t3emlit 3lik, wait could it be a conspiracy!!!(read more)

Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, the first swimming world champion from the Arab world, could lose his medals over a positive doping test, French sports daily L'Equipe said on Saturday.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Catholic Church Ends Limbo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went. ( more)

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USA: Two Hour Only "Free Speech Zones"

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Landlord

Watch the video clip here

Warning some graphic language, viewer discretion is advised

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The Bank: Starring Paul WOLFOWITZ

Bodies: The Exhibition


Anyone is interested in visiting an exhibit of real human bodies? (of course they are dead human bodies ;)). Well the afore-mentioned exhibit is at the Dome in Rosslyn, Virginia. Check the website here.


With educational relevance for all ages, this exhibition of real human specimens immerses visitors in the complexities of the human body, telling us the amazing story of ourselves with reverence and understanding.

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The Cigarette That Saved Her Life

Well, we all agree that smoking is dangerous and generally lethal, but this story related by The Express* is kinda funny:

Smoking just might have saved Brenda Comer's life. She said, she had just finished washing dishes Monday and stepped outside to somke a cigarette when and 80-foot oak tree crashed through her roof, landing where she'd been standing just seconds before. " Honey, I know you fuss at me for smoking," Comer told her husband. " But today it saved my life". (AP)

*The Express, is a free daily publication by the Washington Post.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Could Someone Shut FoxNews Channel??

I knew it's coming and that the pseudo-media jerks and hatemongers will never miss the opportunity to smear Islam and Moslems. Well it's nothing strange from FoxNews Channel, but this news item made me feel sick in the guts! According to this Channel, the VA Tech shooter apparently had scrawled the words "ISMAIL AX" on the inside of one arm, according to the Chicago Tribune, which may be a reference to the Islamic account of the Biblical sacrifice of Abraham. My Gosh!! what does Foxnews channel want to say by this??
Mmmm, who knows may be Cho Seung-Hui, is a muslim in disguise, (oops the family name Hui is a generic term for Muslim community in China!! how could Fox news miss that???) his real name Ismail Al Kouri and that he never missed a Friday prayer besides the fact that he observes Ramadhan even during the period of exams... enough is enough!
Via Bo18

The Most Responsible Parents In The World

Watch here.

No Comment!!!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

VA Tech Massacre: Tunisian Students Are Safe

Following the tragic Virginia Tech shooting massacre and according to a public statement ( in arabic) by the Tunisian MoFA, Tunisian students enrolled at this University campus are safe.

Kahloucha VHS In Philly Film Festival

The follwoing is an article published in the Blogcritics magazine, where the author mentions the Tunisian documentary movie Kahloucha VHS and its recent participation in The Philly Film Festival of this year ( April 5-18, 2007).

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Virginia Massacre: At Least 32 Students Killed In Tech Campus


Apr. 16, 2007— At least 29 people are dead in what may be the biggest mass shooting in American history — and the death toll may rise. ( read more)
So how's Syria and Iran feeling now? Just wait and see...

نحبّ البلاد كما لا يحبّ البلاد أحد

نحب البلاد*** كما لا يحب البلاد أحد*** نحج إليها مع المفردين*** عند الصباح وبعد المساء ويوم الأحد*** ولو
قتلونا كما قتلونا ***ولو شردونا كما شرّدونا ***ولو أبعدونا لبرك الغماد ***لعدنا غزاة لهذا البلد*** وأقسم بربي الذي أقام السماء بدون عمد*** لو أن في الأرض ركن يشد إليه*** دون الذي عند الحجاز*** ليمّمت وجهي لهذا البلد*** أبيت وفي رأسي جوع اليتامى*** ويتم الجياع وغبن التي ربّت رجالا بدون جياد*** أضاعوا العتاد*** وزانوا العدد*** وأخرى أعدّت جنودا لم تلدهن*** فكانوا الزّناد وكانوا السّند*** والآخرون في زحمة الناس رؤوس القطيع*** إذا جاء النهارعدّوا الأماني*** وإذا أقبل الليل أعادوا العدد*** يبيت البخيل ملأ الجفون ***عن حيف الخام وظلم السلام ***وخبز تغسلن وأدمى الرجال وأنبت فيهم سم الغدد*** ونبقى خياما للتائهين والمجهشين*** ونؤوي إلينا من شردوه و من كادنا كيدا يوم أُحد*** ينام قيم القوم نوم القيان*** وجندي الفداء مضروب البنان*** وقائد الفوج سيف يسل ّضدّ البلد*** ومُعلم النشء ***وسيم غشيم ***فيه التأنث بدون حيض*** وسوق "الرجولة" فيه كسد ***سيمضي على الأرض ليل طويل*** وابن الرصيف بلا مرضعة ***والمساكين إسم قديم ***قد أُفتُقد ***وفي الحي أشباه الضاري والمعتضد ***ورهط إذا ما نظرت إليه رأيت هزبرا ***لكن ما تراه هرّا يحاكي انتفاشا كبر الأسد*** أخاف من شر تخفى وراء المسوح*** ورماد لا ترى فيه ما يتقد*** وأخشى على من جاء كهف الرقيم بدون كلب ***وظنّ أنّ الزمان رقد ***على رسلك أمش الهوينا ***ونادي في الناس إن كنت حيّا*** نحب البلاد كما ***لا يحب البلاد أحد*** ولو قتلونا كما قتلونا*** لعدنا غزاة لهذا البلد
لله درّك ولا فضّ فوك يا صغيّر أولاد حمد
ملاحظة: المعذرة عن الشكل الذي قدّمت به هذه القصيدة وذلك للاعتبارات "بلوغوسفيرية" بحتة

Sunday, April 15, 2007

WHY?????!


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The Reaping: The Movie


So, yesterday I saw the new horror/thriller movie, The Reaping by director Stephen Hopkins. All in all I found the movie above the average and a bit boring in the beginning.Besides for those who are not familiar with biblical stories, it would be difficult for them to follow the plot.




"Katherine Morrissey (Hilary Swank), a former Christian missionary, lost her faith after the tragic deaths of her family. Now she applies her expertise to debunking religious phenomena. When a series of biblical plagues overrun a small town, Katherine arrives to prove that a supernatural force is not behind the occurrences, but soon finds that science cannot explain what is happening. Instead, she must regain her faith to combat the evil that waits in a Louisiana swamp."


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Think Different

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Planet Of The Arabs



Sometime in December 2005, I wrote a post titled "Hollywood and Washington Sprung From the Same DNA", I was at that time referring to a book written by american professor and author Jack G. Shaheen titled "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People". I contributed my post to Maghreblog.net, when I was a contributer to this blog. Unfortunately the post was lost for ever when the website crashed and was closed :( I regret not having saved a copy of my post but I came across this trailer of a documentary inspired by Shaheen's book and which deals with the image of Arabs according to Hollywood.


Here is the link to the video clip in question (Recently, I encountered technical problems while posting video clips from dailymotion, google video and youtube, so my apologies)

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

لا خير في قوم يؤمّهم الصبيان

Watch this video clip!

I am just bewildered, confused and speechless! look at the boy's innocent gesture at the minute 2:04...

عن أبي مسعود - رضي الله تعالى عنه - أن النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - قال: " يؤم القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله تعالى، فإن كانوا سواء، فأعلمهم بالسنة. فإن كانوا سواء، فأقدمهم هجرة. فإن كانوا سواء فأكبرهم سناً، وأفضلهم ورعاً "
"لا تصح إمامة الصبي لصلاة الفريضة، بل يشترط أن يكون الإمام بالغاً، هذا رأي جمهور الفقهاء، وهم الحنفية والمالكية والحنابلة، ولكن تجوز إمامته على رأيهم في غير الفريضة، وقد استندوا إلى حديث ضعيف وهو: "لا تقدموا صبيانكم". وقال الشافعية: تجوز إمامته إذا كان مميزاً سواء في صلاة الفريضة أم النافلة، لحديث عمرو بن سلمة أنه "كان يؤم قومه على عهد رسول الله ص وهو ابن ست سنين" (أخرجه البخاري 2218)، لكن إمامة البالغ عندهم أولى، وإن كان الصبي أقرأَ أو أفقه، أما إمامة الصبي المميز لأمثاله فجائزة وصحيحة في النافلة والفريضة"

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Stories Told In Stone

A fourth-century floor mosaic depicting Athena and Marsyas, from a monument in Kelibia

A neat article in today's The New York Times about the ongoing ancient tunisian mosaics exhibit at the J.Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA. Enjoy!
A third-century mosaic depicting two lions ferociously tearing apart a boar was found in the dining room of a home in El Jem, inland in southern Tunisia. That same room also revealed a nine-foot-long floor portrait of a procession with Bacchus as its centerpiece. (Although the Getty had planned to include the larger piece in its show, experts decided that possible damage made it too risky to remove from the wall of the El Jem Museum in northeast Tunisia, which has one of the world’s richest collections of Roman mosaics.)

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The World's Most Influential Arabs

Here is the list of the World's 100 Most Influential Arabs, or are they?? check it here.
PS: do not look for Tunisians they are not part of this list (Ghassen Ben Jeddou is half tunisian half lebanese, so he doesn't count!;) ala koul khir min blesh :))

Rumi 800th Anniversary


Turkey is celebrating the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jelal eddine Al Rumi who "stands as one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses of mankind and the founder of the Mevlevi Sufi order, a leading mystical brotherhood of Islam". Visit the website here and here.

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Monday, April 09, 2007

ثقبت أذني اليسرى لأن الجهة اليمنى مقدسة في الإسلام

Ainsi expliquait Nomane, un jeune tunisien agé de 18 ans, son experience avec le port de boucles d'oreilles communement connu sous le mot anglais "piercing" et pouquoi il l'a mis à l'oreille gauche bien que certains pensent qu'"un homme avec un "piercing" à l'oreille gauche sous-entend que ce dernier est homosexuel" ou encore la notion qu'"une fille qui porte un bracelet au pied elle est considérée comme lesbienne". Selon un article publié par le journal arabe Al-Hayat, il semble que le phénomène du "piercing" est très à la mode en Tunisie (suite). Que pensez-vous de ce phénomène?

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Evanouissement


Evanouissement
Video sent by bahness

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A Découvrir: Pirania, Trivial Life


Trivial_Life
Video sent by rouisk

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A Code Of Conduct For Bloggers?

Sounds a good idea (read more here)

Via Drudge

Saturday, April 07, 2007

How Did This Woman Get Her Driving License???


Stupid Woman Driver - Click here for more amazing videos

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10 Hard-To-Digest Foods

Continuing with today's food blogging here is a list of 10 foods tough to digest. Among this list we have brownies, raw onion, citrus, mashed potatoes, beans, ice cream... mmm what did they forget to mention?

Sushi Dialogue




Su-Shi Dialogue Or the Sunnah-Shiaa Dialogue

Friday, April 06, 2007

أربعون في المائة من الرجال التّونسيين يعانون من الخلل الجنسي

حسب تقرير نشرته صحيفة الشّروق التّونسية فإنّ قرابة 40% من الرجال التونسيين يعانون من الخلل الجنسي! ياالله ؟
ماذا بقي لبلوغ النّصف؟ حقاّ إنّ ذلك مرعب إذا عرفنا أنّ نسبة النساء تفوق نسبة الرّجال في تونس هل يعني ذلك أنّ نسبة الرّجال السّليمين ضئيلة؟ لاأدري في الحقيقة إن كان ذلك صحيحا على كل طالعوا التقرير هنا

قصّة التّونسي والسّنجاب في أمريكا


Tunisia.tunisians in jersey sinjab1
Video sent by sabahel3asal
My apologies for those who can't access this video! Grrrr...

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Thursday, April 05, 2007

Pravda: Tunisians Are The Slimmest People In The World



The article is neat but I thought the author will give us some scientific studies or researches to prove his statement instead he went on by presenting various tunisian dishes which is not bad too...Anyway I agree with the fact that Tunisian cuisine is one of the healthiest at least in the mediterranean region. BTW I miss couscous :((

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Magharebia Attacks!

In a recent post I commented on the way the pseudo website Magharebia is constantly and systematically twisting, distorting and manipulating what North African bloggers write just to serve its again ridiculous and pitiless interests. This morning I came across this comment left by an anonymous commentator under the nick of Spy-boo!. In Tunisia we have a very famous saying: المجراب تهمزو مرافقو ( I'll let Magharebia and Co. do some research and give us an accurate and faithful translation as they usually did!), so for the sake of Magharebia and Co, I am hereby, publishing this comment. Enjoy!

"It is clear what Stupeur meant-- even the title of his post had "51%"-- what was this in reference to? The sales season? The Mauritanian elections? Or could it be the 51st anniversary of Tunisian independence! If Magharebia is guilty of anything, it's giving Stupeur and co a forum to air out their grievances about their society (and not 'company'-- give me a break!). And I believe, Hannibal, that the site responded to stupeur's comment (just follow the link) and offered to unpublish his quote. It's laughable how so many of you are coming to the rescue of a blogger that's apparently being attacked by the big bad US that-- god forbid-- is funding a website as opposed to a war. What's the complaint here? that the US government is not engaging Maghreb citizens in dialog instead of sending bombs? No. The site is being accused of "manipulation". I don't know what kind of team stands behind Magharebia-- but as someone who follows Maghreb news, I find it to be a decent source that actually respects the intelligence of its readers. They've got local correspondents, and they're not sensational. Given the pathetic state of Tunisian and Maghreb media in general, I would have imagined bloggers such as yourselves to be welcoming of the site and its attempt to give you a voice. But bla bla bla, it's a lot easier to bash a democracy than have the balls to call for one in your own backyard, let alone own up to your own words."

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

A Casablanca, La Chicha Est Interdite



Info ou Intox? lire la suite ici

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

الحرب العالمية الثالثة تبدا في السادس من الشهرالجاري

علمت ذلك من المخابرات الروسية
Via Watan
Even though I do not really buy such speculations many indications show that there's something currently going on between Washington and London and mainly over the issue of 15 british captive soldiers in Iran. PM Blair has issued a 48 hour warning to Teheran (something that his Foreign Secretary downplayed today and rejected the speculations that Blair was alluding to a military action against Iran) and it seems that his Foreign Secretary was in a secret visit to Washington today maybe for further concertations on future actions against Iran. Nobody knows what will be the outcome, Iranians are as stubborn as a mule and they are exploiting the issue of british soldiers to divert the international community's attention from the issue of its "nuclear program".At the same time the British and the Americans couldn't find better than this situation to put more pressure on Iran. Rabbi Youster!

Gato Moutaille


Notre Zlabia nationale a été présente lors de la soireé de la Francophonie qui a été organisée en mars dernier à Washington DC , sauf que la Zlabia dans la photo est celle de l'ile Maurice, laba on l'appelle "Gato Moutaille"! Intéressant non?

?انفينيتي




This is the first time in the USA, I saw such a page on my pc!!! OMG it freaks me out! but Where's انفينيتي?

Monday, April 02, 2007

Que Valent Les Sites Webs Tunisiens?

Alors que valent les sites webs tunisiens? A titre d'exemple:

lapresse.tn , est estimé à $42,000. Le temps est estimé à $13,200, Assabah de
Tunisie est évalué à $5,090 !!!Pour les sites de radio: mosaïquefm est évalué à
$25,760, tandis que Jawharafm est évalué à $1,823 !!!Selon DNScoop.com , babnet
est estimé à $28,860...

Bon je me suis amusé à calculer le prix de mon blog est voilà le résultat:

"The estimated value of http://thysdrus.blogspot.com/ is: $1,650!. (Pas mal non?) This value is calculated based on several factors shown above, including: Links, Traffic (Alexa), age of the domain, site category, domain keyword popularity, and overall occurrences of the domain name on the web."

Via Babnet

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The Maghreb's Seismic Hazard Map




"The Mediterranean coast of Africa, the Maghreb, is the most seismically active part of the continent. Algeria, in particular, has suffered large earthquakes throughout its history. As the African plate converges with Europe, its northern edge is beginning to thrust over the marine crust of the Mediterranean floor and spawn subduction earthquakes." (more)

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Premonition: The Movie


Yesterday I watched Premonition, a movie by Mennan Yapo and starring Sandra Bullock as the leading role of Mrs. Linda Hanson. Premonition is a story about love, fate, marriage commitment and faith all set in a surrealistic yet thrilling and tragic atmosphere filled with suspens .Two thumbs up!

Here is an abstract:

"Linda Hanson has a beautiful house, a loving husband and two adorable daughters. Her life is perfect, until the day she receives the devastating news that her husband Jim has died in a car accident. When she wakes up the next morning to find him alive and well, she assumes it was all a dream, but is shaken by how vivid it felt. She soon realizes it wasn't a dream, and her world is turned upside down as the surreal circumstances lead her to discover that her perfect life may not have been all that it appeared. Desperate to save her family, Linda begins a furious race against time and fate to try and preserve everything that she and Jim have built together."

Watch the trailer here.

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The Statue Of Jesus In Chocolate


Via BBC- A New York gallery has angered a US Catholic group with its decision to exhibit a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ. (more)

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Obama As Jesus



Via Drudge- Some call it art. Other call it blasphemy. A new piece of art showing Senator Barack Obama as Jesus Christ is now on display at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A.J. ( watch the video here)

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Via - The Guardian- For human rights campaigners it is time to move beyond the sphere of protest and lobbying into an active engagement with information technologies, putting anti-censorship tools into the hands of those who need them, providing services and support to dissidents rather than campaigning for their release after they have been imprisoned. Preservation of the global public sphere, individual civil liberties at home and the safety of dissidents in totalitarian regimes are now inextricably linked. It's not an easy knot to untangle, but we must try. (read more here)