War protesters: I was with them!!

Yesterday, Saturday 1/27/07 is a day I won't forget for a long time. It is the first time in since I was 1st a year student at the Campus of Tunis (ENIT) to be part of a protest. This time it happened in the City for the locals, SanFran for my fellow Americans and San Francisco for my fellow Tunisians.

It was not planned. We were at home packing because the moving company is scheduled to come by Monday in order to move our stuff (you can't imagine the junk we accumulate in 12 years) and we found ourselves out of boxes. I took the car and drove to the nearest moving supply store. On my way I saw at many intersections downtown, many groups with flags and banners protesting against the war and Bush's politic.

It started like that, I was thinking how come these Americans took the time to prepare these banners asking to stop the killing in Iraq, "650000 is enough", "We voted 4 peace no tax money for war", "Impeach the liar", "US out of Iraq", "God forgive America", "Shutdown Guantanamo", "thou shall not kill", "Occupation>=Terrorism", "Support the right to return from Katharina to Palestine"....?

I felt revolted, I was shivering, and the adrenaline level went up and felt like I want to be with them, I wanted to shout and scream and ask the drivers by to honk for peace. I did not care if it was reasonable or useful; I just wanted to do it. I wanted to express myself, as a human being, as an Arab, as a Muslim, as a Tunisian and as an American.

I came back home and told my wife and my kids what was going on and I told them that I am going to join the crowd at Market St. My wife smiled and asked me to be careful and my son was begging to come with me. I asked him why and he told me "As an Arab and American, I should be in the first line of this protest. Bush is an idiot and everybody knows it, perhaps if we all protest, he will realize it..."

I was so proud of him, I was almost crying. I know what some of you will think, that I'm a dreamer, sensitive guy, I know but people who know me, know how tough I can be and still that my kid was with me in this and even arguing better than me in such subjects, made me proud and I felt like I accomplished my mission raising him.

Anyway, we took the bus and then walked downtown and joined the crowd, I was wearing the Tunisian football team shirt and my son was holding a cardboard with "Stop the killing of innocents. US out of Iraq NOW". There were hundreds of people, from all ethnicities and origins. All ages and genders were represented. It was like a party. We had some discussions with some of them. Of course they were all middle class and university graduated and mainly democrats, intellectual and so not representative of the US population, but some of them were conservatives and very religious.

The police was there to protect us in case of a counter protest, but no Bush supporter showed up. The officers were smiling at us. Some of them were giving us the thump up sign. And this time I'm not dreaming, it really happened. I did not have a camera but here are some of the photos taken by SF chronicle photographers.

Word inventions.

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or
changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners:

1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realise it was your money to start with.

2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly

3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

4. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

5. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

9. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido: All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor (n.): The colour you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

And the pick of the literature:

18. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

Source

Les Guignols: Fuck The World

:-)))

Original version of the song

VHS-Kahloucha competing in Park City,Utah.

VHS--KAHLOUCHA (World documentary competition)
Tunisia, 2006, 80 Minutes, color

Director:
Nejib Belkadhi


If you are lucky enough to be near Park City,Utah (mormon country) and if there is still some seats available, you should definitely go see this movie. And yes I am promoting it on my blog, you know why? because I want to :-))

Screening Times
Tuesday , Jan 23	7:00 PM	Holiday Village Cinema IV	VHSKA234E
Thursday , Jan 25	11:59 PM	Holiday Village Cinema III	VHSKA253L
Friday , Jan 26	6:45 PM	Holiday Village Cinema IV	VHSKA264E
Saturday , Jan 27	12:45 PM	Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC	VHSKA27BD

Official presentation from Sundance Festival

Also, Apple Computer announced that it will make nearly half of the short movies available on iTunes for $1.99, and that most of the money will go to the filmmakers, the rest will go to the cable TV Sundance Channel.

Let's hope that VHS-Kahloucha will make it to the Apple selection and that the work of these genius movie entrepreneurs get rewarded. I myself will buy it, if it makes it to the list, just as counter-measure to the unfair piracy that is happening in its home country.

Kudos for all the team of VHS-Kahloucha, we wish you good luck. M...de

Oscar Nominations for the 79th Academy Awards.

After winning 3 Golden Globe Awards,the musical drama "Dreamgirls" is nominated for 8 Oscars!! The movie starring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles andthe veteran Eddie Murphy who is nominated for best supporting actor. Part of the cast is American idol participant Jennifer Hudson who was also nominated :-)

[...]
The best picture nominees were "Babel," "The Departed," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Queen."

The directing nominees were Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel," Martin Scorsese for "The Departed," Clint Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima," and British directors Stephen Frears for "The Queen" and Paul Greengrass for "United 93."

Nominated for lead actor were Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond," Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole for "Venus," Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness," and Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."

The best actress nominees were Spanish actress Penelope Cruz for "Volver," Britons Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal," Helen Mirren for "The Queen," and Kate Winslet for "Little Children," and the sole American contender, Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada." Streep has racked up 14 nominations in her career, breaking the record she set in 2002.

In the acting categories, there were 10 first-time nominees, also including Cruz, Whitaker, Gosling, and 10-year-old Abigail Breslin, who was cited for her supporting role as a beauty pageant contender in "Little Miss Sunshine."

The 79th annual
Academy Awards, the top honors in cinema, will take place on February 25 in Hollywood.
More

Visible, enfin!

Voila, je suis de retour, pour les locaux :-)

J'ai appris la leçon et je m'en souviendrais. Je vais éviter les balles a la hauteur des hanches pour ne pas provoquer les coups de ciseaux, même si le dernier était provoqué par un commentaire et non pas par un post (du moins c'est ma conclusion), c'est le prix de la promesse que je me suis faite de ne jamais effacer un commentaire. J'ai payé le prix fort, mais bon tout cela est du passé maintenant et j'espère que vous n'avez pas eu le temps de m'oublier.

Voila, pour ceux qui ont mon ancien lien sur leur blog roll, vous n'avez qu'a le mettre à jour, c'est très facile il suffit de supprimer le 'a' dans http://samsoum-usa.blogspot.com/. La nouvelle adresse étant http://samsoum-us.blogspot.com/.

Je vous remercie tous pour votre support et j'espère être à la hauteur de votre action de la note blanche. Voila, je vais reprendre mes habitudes de poster sur les sujets qui me tiennent à cœur, des événements que je vis et partager avec vous les informations que je trouve pertinentes.

Ah oui, on est en train de déménager un peu au sud de San Francisco, au cœur de la Silicon Valley, juste 45 km au sud. Cela me rapprochera du lieu de mon travail et me gagnera une heure supplémentaire le soir avec la famille. Le seul hic, c'est que ma femme va se taper 90 km par jour pour ramener les enfants puisqu'on va les laisser finir l'année scolaire la ou ils sont. Je les conduis le matin et elle les ramène l'après midi.

Bon j'arrête de vous ennuyer. A+

Handball World Cup: Poll by Eurosport.

You can't imagine how proud I am :-)) Inchallah Marbou7a, ya rabbi.

Hillary Clinton enters 2008 presidential race!

Finally it is official. It is going to be really interesting now :-) Would she be the first women to access the White house and the second senator in the history of the US to become a president? Doesn't matter as long as Bush is going out :-)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator and former first lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday entered the 2008 presidential race, officially joining a crowded field for her party's nomination.
The second-term U.S. senator from New York and former U.S. first lady had been widely anticipated to announce her bid to become the first woman to win the U.S. presidency. She is considered a front-runner among five other candidates in the Democratic White House field.

Her announcement comes days after a similar move by Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) of Illinois, who is expected to be her leading party competitor and whose campaign could make him the first black U.S. president. Obama's candidacy has stoked enthusiasm among Democrats looking for an alternative to Clinton, who some fear could be too polarizing to defeat a Republican candidate next year.

"I am forming a presidential exploratory committee. I am not just starting a campaign though, I am beginning a conversation with you, with America," she said in a videotaped message on her Web site. An exploratory committee is a first step toward official candidacy and allows her to raise campaign funds and hire staff.

"After six years of
George Bush it is time to renew the promise of America," she said.

President George W. Bush was elected to a second four-year term in 2004.

The wife of former President
Bill Clinton made history with her bid for U.S. Senate in New York in 2000, becoming the first former first lady to win one of the most powerful political jobs in the nation.

Clinton, 59, was re-elected by a huge margin to a second Senate term in November.

AIMING AT BUSH

In her posted written statement, Clinton took immediate aim at what she called "six years of Bush administration failures."

"I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine," she wrote. "Only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.

"Only a new president can renew the promise of America -- the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day," she wrote.

"And only a new president can regain America's position as a respected leader in the world."

Clinton said she would be launching a series of live, online video conversations with voters, beginning on Monday.

Before officially declaring her candidacy for U.S. Senate in 2000, Clinton traveled around New York on a "listening tour" to meet voters and hear their issues.

Prior to her husband's two terms in the White House, Clinton was a successful attorney and advocate of children's rights, a former member of several corporate boards and public-interest boards. She was active in causes ranging from lowering infant mortality to providing legal assistance to the poor.

"Let's talk about how to bring the right end to the war in
Iraq and restore respect for America around the world," she said a videotaped message on her Web site, mentioning several issues she would address in her campaign such as energy, health care and retirement security.

Clinton worked on the House of Representatives committee on the impeachment of President
Richard Nixon. She attended Yale Law School where she met fellow student Bill Clinton and followed her husband to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was governor and she was a lawyer, mother and political wife.
Source