Out of Focus

Spongebob and SOAD !

2009-06-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

breaking news : spongebob teams up with system of a down !

Lucky Number eight !

2009-05-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

I got tagged by Sou , and so i will have to talk about private stuff during answering 6 packs of questions ( 8 answers /each ) i will certainly try my best to bore you to death with my answers .

Here we go ..

8 Things I'm looking forward to:

1- Start my own business .

2- Survivng a long week of hosting an out of towner relative .

3- Start a long postgraduate study .

4- Quit smoking ( been stuck in the list for quite some time )

5- Resume my french and guitar courses .

6- Watch her while she's dancing again .

7- Get together with old friends ( music , BBQ , beer and a good movie ) .. just like those stress-free good old days .

8- buy an invisible guitar , you can see it with proper admiration in YAMAHA store ( esmailia square branch ) .

8 movies I like to watch:

1- The terminal

2- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

3- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

4- The Shawshank Redemption

5- Eyes Wide Shut

6- L.A. Confidential

7- 12 Angry Men

8- Cidade de Deus ( city of God )

8 Things I did yesterday:

1- went to ( el samkary ) to fix my car .

2- heard some bad infos at work.

3- missed a meeting at work .

4- discovered that ( enchanted egypt ) album rocks .

have a sip :

5- made some potential friends .

6- made a promise while knowing i can't keep , again !

7- found nothing on t.v. ( ya talk about old news )

8- Felt lonely at bedtime , maybe it's time to get a wife , or a pet .

8 Things I wish I could do

1- buy a home that's right in front of a beach , live there and work at home .

2- play drums like a monkey .

3- Start my own business tomorrow .

4- Fall in love .

5- catch some super doper powers ... like ..hmm .. get invisible whenever i like .

6- i wish i could make a difference .

7- travel aimlessly with a light bag and a welcoming heart .

8- live in a world without hate and violence .

8 Things I love:

1- Music

2-Arts in general

3-Peace of mind

4-a good debate ,one that ends with smiles and some hand shaking .

5- Party

6- friendship

7-traveling

8- nature

8 bloggers I tag:

anyone who's interested enough in this tag

Kill the pigs, break the people

2009-05-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

All through last week the scene in Manshiyet Nasser was, to say the least, horrendous. On Sunday the police zoomed in on the garbage collector area from where the pigs would have been carried away for the culling, but the residents, having found out the previous day that the pigs were culled and no compensation was paid, blocked the roads leading to the pig pens.

The riots
Feeling that their livelihood was callously being withdrawn from their hands, the pig breeders at Manshiyet Nasser hurled stones and bottles at the police, who responded by charging armoured trucks and firing tear gas. The neighbourhood was surrounded by a half dozen police trucks; a state of terror prevailed as the policemen fanned along the streets, entering homes and dragging people from inside, hitting and abusing them, and detaining some at random. A short, frail, 65-year-old man, was dragged from his shirt as he helplessly cried: “I have no business with this; I am a poor man.” Without any mercy, the policeman hit him on the head.
The women and children were screaming while some young people ran away looking for shelter in higher grounds.
I was an eyewitness to the brawl; I walked along the street and the police did not know I was a journalist. They went about their business of spreading terror, destroying the windshields of the few cars parked in the streets, bashing doors, and I saw them pull one young man out of his home and arrest him even though he had nothing to do with the rioters.
When the security forces failed to enter the district of the pigpens, they asked the help of the local clergy and Coptic politicians to placate the garbage breeders. They promised to release the detainees, many of whom are students and may miss end-of-year exams. They also promised that compensations will be paid for the culled pigs.

Brutal
Come Monday, however, all these promises were thrown to the wind. The police surrounded the area in full force; anyone leaving Manshiyet Nasser or wishing to go in was beaten and held. The pigs were lifted with loaders and dumped onto trucks and carried away where they were executed in a brutal manner, being cast off in a pit, strewn with quicklime, and buried.
By Tuesday, the chief of the pig breeders Israel Ayad told Watani, 2000 pigs from Cairo and Giza had been killed. In Giza some 40 Copts were arrested and detained in the camps of the central security forces, and in Cairo 15 Copts from Manshiyet Nasser were detained. The locals insist that most of those detained had nothing to do with the riots and raise no pigs; the two brothers Shahid and Adel Uweida were doing some work outside the area and were caught as they were returning home in the evening. When their uncle Zarif Fikry learnt they had been caught he headed to the police station to bail them out, but he was detained too.

by : Nader Shukry

a patch of blue

2009-04-26T05:08:00.000-07:00

A Patch of Blue (1965) , (Drama)

a true classic , where a A blind, uneducated white girl that can't remember any other color but the color blue and constantly abused by her sadistic mother and her weak/alcoholic grandfather is befriended by a black man, who becomes determined to help her escape her impoverished and abusive home life .

starring Sidney Poitier as Gordon Ralfe , Shelley Winters ( who won her second Supporting Oscar for playing the savage mother who had blinded her daughter in one of her rages ) as and Elizabeth Hartman as Selina D'Arcey

Director:Guy Green
Writers:Elizabeth Kata (novel)

Guy Green (written by)

Release Date: 10 December 1965

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

2009-04-22T04:38:00.000-07:00

"Can a bullet pick and choose? Does a bullet know a Christian from a Muslim?"

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

...The documentary does not linger on the violence but focuses on the women’s strategies: they ask the priests in the churches and the imams in the mosques to exert pressure on Taylor and the warlords respectively to desist from fighting....

In the years between 1989 and 2003, violence became the currency of the West African nation of Liberia. Civilians were the casualties of the clashes between the autocratic President Charles Taylor and corrupt warlords; children were recruited as soldiers, women raped. Over 250,000 people were killed in the violence and thousands more displaced.

Out of these years of darkness comes an incredible yet largely ignored story of the women of Liberia, which director Gini Reticker highlights in her documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Screened as part of the Cineforum in London on March 30, Pray the Devil focuses on a back-story that possibly changed the face of Liberia: exhausted by a war in which they were abused by all factions, the women, be they Christian or Muslim, got together to fight for peace, with songs and white T-shirts as their only weapons.

The Initiative

The award-winning documentary pieces together the story of these women in a journalistic format, interspersing interviews with archival footage. We meet social worker Leymah Gbowee, whose story hurtles us to the middle of a conflict that could be about natural resources or power. For her, the reasons of this war are not important, its consequences are.

Gbowee has run away from guns, and unable to offer her son even the piece of doughnut that he wants, she reflects that the children of Liberia live to know only hunger or anger. This feisty woman is thus motivated to start the Christian Women’s Peace Initiative. Inspired by her work, police officer Asatu Bah Kenneth rallies Muslim women and forms the Liberian Muslim Women's Organization.

The two groups join hands to establish Liberian Mass Action for Peace; it is the first time that Muslims and Christians have come together in Liberia. This action is all the more significant because President Taylor is Christian; his opponents, the warlords, are largely Muslims. But the women do not allow religious differences to come between them. As Vaiba Flomo, the organization secretary, says: "Can a bullet pick and choose? Does a bullet know a Christian from a Muslim?"

Strategies for Peace
As part of their daily battle for peace, the women gather at a fish market in Liberia's capital Monrovia. Taylor’s convoy passes this market but the tyrant does not stop to talk with them even once.

Liberia, meanwhile, is wracked by war. Taylor, and the warlords who have come together under a coalition called Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, equip young boys with guns. Horrific acts of violence are everyday realities; one story mentioned in the documentary is of a woman raped in front of her husband and then forced to watch the rebels slash his neck.

The documentary does not linger on the violence but instead focuses on the women’s strategies: they ask the priests in the churches and the imams in the mosques to put pressure on Taylor and the warlords respectively to desist from fighting. They submit a peace statement to Taylor, which pertinently "demands" peace instead of appealing for it. As the pressure builds up, Taylor agrees to attend peace talks in Ghana in 2003. For good measure, some of the women follow Taylor to Ghana to make sure the talks are fruitful.

An End in Sight
For weeks, the talks drag on and the women suspect that the warlords, enjoying five-star hospitality possibly for the first time in their lives, are in no hurry to wrap up discussions. Fed up, the women form a barricade and do not allow the participants to leave the negotiating table till an agreement is reached.

This protest by these brave women, who could very well have been just target practice for Taylor’s boys or the warlords, goes unnoticed by a world that is focusing on the war in Iraq. Reticker’s documentary does the women justice but regrettably, she has to rely on photographs to describe their actions; no television crew seems to have been present to record one of the most inspiring stories of our time.

In August 2003, Taylor flees Liberia but not before threatening, "God willing, I will be back." In the elections held in Liberia, after the United Nations mission started disarmament, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is elected as the Liberian President. She is Africa’s first elected female head of State and it is on this uplifting note that the documentary ends.

The Last Word
To mention this documentary's shortfalls would seem tantamount to being too fussy; Pray the Devil Back to Hell does us an incredible service by merely introducing us to the story of Liberian women. Yet, it is difficult to shy away from pointing to what the documentary fails to achieve.

Though the voices of the women who spearheaded the movement propel the documentary forward, disappointingly enough, we learn very little about their lives or personal histories. It also rankles that no explanation is given as to why Taylor or the warlords did nothing to stop these women. Both parties were ruthless in the war. What stopped them from attacking the women and attempting to crush the movement?

At 72 minutes, the documentary cannot or chooses not to dwell on these questions. These are but minor quibbles. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is an engrossing documentary that pays tribute to the idea that real power need not always flow from the barrel of a gun.

Title: Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Director: Gini Reticker

Producer: Abigail E Disney

Year: 2008

Genre: Documentary

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By Deepa A.
Indian Freelance Writer

Egyptian Derailed freedom

2009-04-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

Yet another strike hammered right in the face of freedom of speech and creativity in Egypt by the confiscation of Magdy El Shafee's adult graphic novel - Metro.

" The policemen targeted the remaining stock of Metro, a book published a year ago. According to the Egyptian law, an honest citizen had complained against an outrageous publication (using dirty colloquial words says more or less the accusation).
Metro is not an ordinary book. It is the first “graphic novel” in Arabic. Magdy El Shafee spent five years working on that detective story whose main character, Shihab, is a young Egyptian IT engineer who decides to rob a bank. The money being hidden in the subway, the real problem is to find the way out… A question that many Egyptian ask themselves nowadays. " ( Culture and Politics in the Arab World )

The editors of Words without Borders urged the international community to Say No to Metro Confiscation and Trial:
Shortly after it was published Shafee’s novel was confiscated. He and his publisher are on trial for its distribution. According to the “The Daily News Egypt” “Shafee and El-Sharqawy [Shafee’s publisher] are being charged under article 178 of the Egyptian penal code which criminalizes the printing or distribution of publications which ‘infringe public decency’” which “‘forms part of a bundle of repressive laws that violate rights relating to freedom of expression.’”

They also quoted Madgy El Shafee's petition on Facebook:
Your NO for confiscation is YES for our freedom … is `YES for our solidarity … is NOOOOO for the government prelude of harder stringing of freedom of the art and word, in the press, the satellites, the internet and now the independent publishing houses. We invite you to say: NO for metro confiscation and trial, Support freedom of arts and expression. Metro is considered the first graphic novel in Egypt. written and illustrated by Magdy El Shafee who won the UNESCO gratitude for best African comics 2006 … Egyptian government officials said the book was “harmful to public manners” due to its alleged political and social commentary.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) - a pan-Arabic network that promotes freedom of speech has rejected “the confiscation of the novel and considers it a severe violation against the freedom of expression.
With the coming court session next saturday April 4th, HRinfo and 4 human rights organizations announced a new condemnation in March 30th entitled: [Egypt`s Farouk Hosny goes to UNESCO, and Magdy El Shafee goes to the court!! the Author of Egypt`s graphic novel “metro” threatened with 2 years jail sence.

info from Global voices

Hizbullah setting up an Egyptian cell

2009-04-10T00:31:00.000-07:00

CAIRO, April 8 (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities accused the Lebanese group Hezbollah on Wednesday of planning attacks inside Egypt, a development that could plunge Cairo’s relations with the Shi’ite group’s backer, Iran, to new lows.
The office of Egypt’s public prosecutor said it was investigating accusations that Hezbollah had recruited a 49-member cell with the aim of striking inside Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
Hezbollah angered Egypt earlier this year by accusing Cairo of complicity with Israel in its siege of the Gaza Strip.
“The public prosecutor received a note from state security about information confirmed by questioning about Hezbollah leaders sending some elements to the country to attract members to work with the organisation … with the aim of carrying out acts of aggression inside the country,” a statement by the public prosecutor said.
The statement said the group had been trying to monitor Egypt’s Suez Canal, its border with the Gaza Strip, and tourist installations in the Sinai Peninsula and sending information back to Hezbollah.
It also said the group had been establishing links with criminal elements to forge passports and setting up businesses to cover for spying activities.
It gave no details of any attacks being planned, but accused Hezbollah of trying to spread Shi’ite ideology in Egypt.

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( the arabist ) Culled from various sources, a list of what the “Hizbullah cell” was trying to achieve:

- Carry out terrorist attacks on the Shia holiday Ashura
- Rent housing near
the Suez Canal to monitor the passage of ships
- Surveillance of tourist
resorts in Sinai
- Procurement of explosives to manufacture bombs
- Renting housing in luxury areas to serve as safe houses
- Recruitment of
Egyptians to their cause, with the aim of sending them abroad for paramilitary
training
- Using businesses to fund and provide cover for their activities
- Spread Shiism in Egypt

(Reuters ) The Egyptian government is worried that public support for Hamas may boost the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has ideological and historical ties with the Palestinian group and is the strongest opposition group in Egypt.

I still remeber when Hasan Nasrallah (the Beloved hsibolah leader ) attacked the Egyptian regime and called Egyptians to rebel on their president ( Hosny Mobarak ) .

Egyptian/hisbollanian relation are in the opposite place of the spectum from the kisses and hugs of the Iranian / hisbollanin paradise ( at left )

So i already knew that the Egyptian regime wasn't favored by Hisbollah and a clash was coming up sooner or later .
But signs of denial hastly appeared after the news was declared , many Egypatians simply refuse to believe it , a good example is the post by Zeinobia entitled ( I Do Not Buy This with my all respect ) funny she never explained why .
but because she's a Hezbollah/Hamas/muslim brotherhood supporter ( like most of the Egyptians ) she's finding it hard to believe that Hezbollah could actually do any harm to Egypt , which is - of course - not true actually regarding their notorious history everything is possible as long as it complies with their own benefits , and right now Egyptian policy sharply conflicts with their agenda .

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Free Rice

2009-04-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program , their partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
You'll simply play a game , and for each answer you get right , they 'll donate 10 grains of rice through the UN world food program to help end hunger .

FreeRice has two goals:

1-Provide education to everyone for free.
2- Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on this site.

“FreeRice.com is one of the most ingenious websites of 2007. In the best spirit of the Internet, it offers education, entertainment and a way to change the world ― all for free.”- Los Angeles Times

Learn , play and help end hunger in the world , all for free just click on the banner ( right )

You can play by answering M.C.Q.s on the following subjects :

Language learning
English , grammer and vocabulary
Art
Chemistry
Geography
Math .

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Egyptian Bahais under attack

2009-04-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

Dozens of people gathered in a village in southern Egypt on Saturday chanting that Bahais were the enemies of God, six human rights groups report.

the attacks were incited by a journalist.
He is alleged to have said on Egyptian TV last week that a prominent Bahai was an apostate and should be killed.

the Bahai's faith symbol ( pic. up )

The villagers threw firebombs at Bahai homes and cut off water supplies so that the fires could not be put out, and the police then ordered the Bahais to leave the village.
The violence in al-Shuraniya, about 345 km (215 miles) south of Cairo, lasted five days and no-one was injured, the Associated Press reported.
Police have not allowed the village's 15 Bahai residents to return to their homes, the agency reported. ( source BBC )

in this video ( up ) 2 Egyptian Bahais are talking about celebrating their new year's ( norooz ) feast at the ( Merryland ) which is an open park in Heliopolis , Cairo , after a brief video of their celebrations .

A Bahai woman says : "

We have no political agenda what so ever and we have no demands other than the
right to live freely and in peace "

the racist journalist shouts saying :

" you're an infidel , you should be killed you and all the Bahais "

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this comes soon after the Egyptian Bahhai’s got their final verdict . and started having ID cards issued without a mention of their religion in the religion category( left blank ) , since all personal ID cards, birth certificates, to applying to school and colleges, ID's passports, and death certificates. all were denied for Bhahi's , because in egypt you should have your Relegion stated in every formal paper.. but not any relegion , only( Islam , Christianity and jewdism ) were recognised as the so called by the governoment : ( the Heavenly Relegions ) every other relegion has simply ( never existed ) to the governoment eyes .

and in the past Bahai's were forced to put any one of these 3 Heavenly relegions in the relegion category place in their ID cards so that they could get one .

check the video at ( Featured videos ) at the top right of the blog .

My relegion is nobody's business , i hope someday all Egyptians will get to understand that .

Links
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Egyptian Bahai's blog

click to go
Egyptian Baha'i Family blog

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Finding Neverland

2009-04-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

The problem of illegal immigrants reaching Malta from Libya could be resolved come May 15 if a declaration made by Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni comes to fruition.
Mr Maroni said leaving Libya would become extremely hard come May 15, when the agreement on joint patrols by Italian and Libyan personnel of the Libyan 2,000-kilometre coastline enters into force.
ifo from there

...Finding Neverland The land of plenty escaping a reality so dark ..ending up dead

In this photo taken Sunday March 29, 2009 and made available Tussday March 31, 2009 , retrieved bodies of drowned migrants are seen on board a vessel that took part in the rescue operation, after arriving at the port of Tripoli, Libya. Vessels carrying hundreds of migrants capsized off the coast of Libya in separate incidents over the last two days and more than 300 people were believed to have drowned, an international migration group said Tuesday. (AP Photo) (AP / March 29, 2009)
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — An international migration official says more than 200 people are believed dead as more bodies washed ashore in Libya after their overcrowded boat with illegal migrants capsized in stormy Mediterranean waters during it's attempt to reach Italian islands .

Laurence Hart, an official with the International Organization for Migration in Libya, says

authorities have stopped rescue efforts since chances of finding more survivors are slim.

Hart says several more bodies washed ashore Tuesday night near the ancient port city of Sebrata, some 50 miles, or 80 kilometers, west of the capital, Tripoli.
The migrants were packed on a wooden fishing boat that capsized Friday off Libya. Only a few survivors were rescued, and 21 bodies were pulled from the sea.
info from here

the Periwig-Maker

2009-03-12T04:25:00.001-07:00

A man seals himself off in medieval plague-infested London to escape the danger of infection. When a little girl seeks his help his life is turned upside down.

the Periwig-Maker , an Oscar-nominee stop motion animation short film

Director: Steffen Schäffler

Part 1 ( about 7 min. )

Part 2 ( 7 min. )

Bugsy Malone

2008-09-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

Bugsy Malone (1976 ), starring Scott Baio as Bugsy Malone and Jodie Foster as Tallulah
The movie is perhaps the only musical spoof of gangster films and film noir

where all the roles of the gangsters, flappers, bartenders and hitmen are played by children (collective age: 12).

In place of the universal racketeer firearms are "splat guns" that cover victims in whipped-cream. Likewise, the cars are pedal-driven like bikes .

it's simply a bunsh of chlidren performing some grown ups business ,mob gangs ,gun fights , love stories , love songs .... all made by 12 years old actors .
Paul Williams' score is amazing , it's a great musicl full of brilliant songs and Group dances excellently composed and designed .

When you come to think of it , you'll find that it's a very interesting idea that must have poped up in every child's mind , " what if there were no big fellows out there ? just a world of kids doing everything that's there to be done ! "

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The movie was Nominated for the Oscar in the Category of Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score

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You can watch the full movie through that link right : Here

The Dark knight

2008-08-24T23:48:00.000-07:00

"An outstanding achievement in pulp cinema that will leave every single last audience member soaked in sweat, wishing it would never end. Heath Ledger isn't as good as the hype surrounding his performance, he is above it and better than any single quote that has whored his name."

- B. Alan Orange

Heath Ledger ( as the joker )

the movie's by far the best sequel of the batman series , it's got an all-star cast where actors at first seem to misfit the characters they're playing , like Gary Oldman playing the good cop's role imagine that !! , and Heath Ledger ( the cute young fellow ) playing the psychotic villain known as The Joker , and of course Aaron Eckhart playing one of his deepest roles ever as Harvey Dent the high-profile District Attorney for Gotham City

Heath Ledger played the character of the Joker in a very unique way , he broke free of the Jack Nicholson 's style to an even more creepy one , every time he appears on the screen you get these chills all over you , and you're eager to find out what's he gonna do next .. and in times that he's not on screen you will just wait for him to pop up again bringing along all the action .

the story is solid , special effects are breath taking , the sound track is nice and the acting is excellent .. it's just a must see movie , though a long one - 2 and a half hours - but you won't get bored .

Heath Ledger's acting in this movie ( The Dark Knight ) smells like oscar to me ....

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