Amor blogging his world

The Stream - Tunisia debates religion's role in new constitution

2012-03-30T11:25:00.001+01:00

Re-watch The Stream's episode about Tunisia on Aljazeera English.
I'm talking at 27:47 and my twitter question is asked at 22:29 .

Ain't no winter for the Arab Spring - A guide for rebels abroad

2012-02-16T21:50:00.000+01:00

Every time I meet or talk to friends from Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and other burning spots of the Arab Spring region, I feel their depression and sadness to how things are dangerously escalating in some of these places. Now, I can't give generic advices and solutions for what is happening in these countries since the situation there is completely different from Tunisia with other layers of complexity caused by an even more heterogeneous society and more cruel dictators (which are in many cases just puppets controlled by the despot's relatives and clans willing to do anything to keep they wealth and power) but being a Tunisian and an online activist having lived the indescribable experience of my home country going through a revolution, I feel the duty to share my thought and advices to those who are having hard times right now.

Here is my message to all my Arab friends who are living abroad; in Europe, America and Everywhere else. To those who feel powerless, trapped in two different worlds but truly existing in none of them. To those who feel like aliens in the society they are living in because people just can't understand their pain. To those who are homesick and can't go back home. To those who spent sleepless nights trying to avoid nightmares inspired by traumatising videos seen on the Internet and shot few miles away from your home. To those who get up every morning asking themselves if their families are still alive. Here is my message to you:

Never give up! “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” Turn it to your mission to inform the world around you about the atrocities the dictators are doing. Have faith that your actions -even the smallest- have an impact greater than you think and could influence the situation in your homeland. Engage others in online activism organised and coordinated by trusted NGOs like this call to stop the Bloodshed in Syria by Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. Such actions will put pressure on your dictators and keep the people in your environment updated in the time of the main stream media's blackout and try to turn massacres to banalities and footnotes news.

Your are a warrior and a future hero. Good always wins over evil and one day you will proudly tell the memories of these hard days to your kids. A revolution is a hard process and not just a milestone in a country's history. Remember that the french revolution for instance -that is often taken as a reference- lasted for ten long years from 1789 to 1799. It is indeed a long painful path with a lot of sacrifices and martyrs to reach the radical upheaval sought. Arm yourself with patience and optimism because there is no way back. Not after that much sacrifices and martyrs.

Train your self mind control, you will need it most. Don't expect people in your host country to understand you. Most of them simply can't, since they never lived a similar situation. The psychological tension and stress is literally killing, especially if you are living alone abroad. That's why it is crucial to have friends from your home country to whom you can talk freely, relieve yourself and motivate each other. Don't be a ghost, you need to continue living and complete your original mission abroad of education or work at the same time. Following this higher purpose you are committed to is also the most effective solution I found to shut my head off and focus on something else other than sad local news. Learn to master your mind and organise balancing your time between activism and life.

If you are reading this without knowing me personally and feel in distress, just contact me. I'll be happy to do what ever I can and discuss with you more insights on the topic. To close the post, I'm sharing a relatively new video you won't likely see on your TV showing an impressive attack on murders (officially called police station) in Bahrain... and this is not Hollywood!

Dedicated to Mouda.
Amor.

A beer bath to find my path

2011-12-04T02:44:00.001+01:00

Prologue: Yesterday (2/12) was my 26th birthday. Last year, I received about 900 messages congratulating me in facebook. I was grateful, but couldn't find an authentic deep personal connection to all these people who remembered my special day. With the time passing by, the number of my "friends" there continued growing and I came up with the idea to limit the number of connections I had in facebook to 1000 in the hope to concentrate on these very special people I cherish and like and spend more time interacting with them. My delusion was quick, it's impossible to keep a high quality, profound friendship (as I want it to be) with as many friend even if I dedicated one hour a day to foster these relationships around the globe. Lately I also noticed that I'm systematically looking in facebook's event for people having birthday the same day and congratulated these people. My acting was almost mechanical and I hated myself for doing this and was frustrated of the idea that other people could also have fell in the same trap of this digital world. So I stopped the masquerade and removed my birthday for my facebook profile so it won't appear in the events to others.
I want to assure everybody that I'm in no way sad or disappointed because you haven't congratulated me. Until yesterday, I myself was a slave to the fake digital friendship propagated by these social media and I know how hard it is to return back to an authentic old-fashioned friendship. There is really no need to write on the wall of someone just because facebook tell you so. It must happen when you are really remembering the person. I also think that there is absolutely no shame in missing the birthday of your large friend's circle, but if you forgot (or realise that you don't even know) the special day of your closest friend and family members then you should probably ring the alarm bell, take a break and rethink your priorities in life... and that's exactly what I did on my birthday, here is the story:

When you are a foreign student in a foreign country for at least 5 years, you could think that you have seen it all and that you already went through the most unpleasant experiences. Wrong! It could get worst :) It always have been hard to spend birthdays (and sometime Christmas) far away from my family and school friends. During these years abroad you tie friendships and maybe find lovers that help you ignore your loneliness, but when you move to a new city over 500 km far away from your last place it's literally starting from zero again. Starting from scratch and leaving your old life behind isn't an easy thing to do and I'm sadly getting used to it. This experience gets more painful when your birthday occur in the first period of resettling. I'm living and studying in the city of Hamburg since barley 2 months now but all the nice people and colleagues I met aren't real friends yet. I really wish they will be, but so far I felt uncomfortable celebrating such an important milestone with individuals I just started to appreciate.
So for my 26th birthday I decided to dedicate all the time to do things I like. The night before I went to the Opera with a special person, we watched The Magic Flute (composed by Mozart) and then enjoyed dinner in a wonderful restaurant directly near the iconic Alster lake in the heart of the city. The day after I woke up at 7am and started a journey by train to a village named St. Peter Ording. The place was recommended to my by a dear friend and I trusted him. St. Peter Ording is a pretty popular spa resort on the north sea cost with a 12 km of Mudflats. I used the first part of my day hiking and searching seashells in the sand as if I was 5 year old again, these where the artifacts to remember my journey here and the decisions I was preparing to take later. The north sea is a surprising place and indeed very different from what I used to know back home at the blue-green Mediterranean sea. Some people when they get to know me an my story, ask me why I'm I always moving north (from Tunisia to Karlsruhe, Koblenz and Hamburg)? I really don't know... Sometime I feel like a call coming from north, a call to go further despite most people go in the opposite direction to enjoy the sun. Maybe it's a call from oceans that have always fascinated me. My inner beacon tells me to go meet the ocean, the unlimited never-forgiving deep blue sanctuary that gives live the our planet...
I spent the second part of my day in the wellness and spa center of the village. I enjoyed a beer bath (a dream for every man, right :)) and was for the very first time in a Finish Sauna. I loved it !
I used my time there to reflect on the last months, the long path I took with the pleasant experiences and dark moments, I though about how did I blew up a relationship which meant a lot to me, how did I met some great friends I'm sure I will care for during years to come, how I voluntarily separated from people poisoning my life slowly or retaining me from progressing further, how I become the person I am today but most importantly, how did I found my dream and life's mission in my adventure last year in the Himalayas [described in an older post]. Knowing already the kind of person I wanted to be, it was time for me to recheck my inner compass and picture the road I needed to take in the next phase of my life to fulfil my destiny.
I set 5 goals that I want to reach within a year from now:
#1: Live healthier and be in world-class physical condition.
#2: Read at least 1 hour of non-university related texts every week.
#3: Have outstanding results at university and a mini-job that I love.
#4: Cultivate richer, deeper friendships with at least 5 people.
#5: (This one stays private :))

I'm publishing this list in my blog to create some kind of a positive pressure to keep me inspired and to be able to track back my spiritual evolution in the future :)
Another extraordinary thing I did during the last 24 hours and that I'm proude of is that I read an entire book within a day. I bough it a year ago in India and never had time (or pretended not to have) to read it.
How am I doing now? I feel like a new born, like a reptile that have changed his skin... and damn it feels good!

I held my first presentation in my Master

2011-11-20T15:33:00.001+01:00

I started a Master of Science in "IT Management & Consulting" at the university of Hamburg this semester and held my very first presentation about "Enterprise Architecture and Business Models" this week.

Here is a pic of an anonymous feedback sheet I received after the 90 minutes presentation.
This made me so proud of the choices I made in the last months/years. Thank you AIESEC !

Short films inspired by the Half-Life Video Game series

2011-09-29T20:11:00.001+01:00

Here are three independent short films inspired by the Half-Life Video Game series.
Great work guys! Recommend viewing in HD in FULLSCREEN with sound UP :)

Une lettre a mon ami Saber

2011-08-20T13:46:00.006+01:00

Te rappelle tu de cette journée d'hiver ou tu est venu chez moi? C'était il y a sept ans déjà, tu est venu me féliciter de mon anniversaire et m'offrir l'album de ma bande musicale préféré. On s'est tout de suite mis à l'écouter et à interpréter les parles ambiguës des chansons romantiques noir et exacerbée de Molko. Ce jour la on à parlé de la mort et de la disparition inéluctable des être chers et de ceux qu'on aime. Je t'ai dis que je craignais le moment et que j'essayais de m'y préparer. Toi, tu souriais...
Quelle ironie que ce soit toi le premier des gens que j'aime à nous quitter, si jeune, si injuste... mais on a assez discuté du destin et du maktoub, souviens-toi. C'est comme ça et personne n'y peut rien.

As-tu pu tout observer hier durant tes funérailles depuis le grand ciel bleu? As-tu vu combien de gens y été présent? As-tu senti leur amour et leur douleur? tu n'aurai pas du partir si tôt ...

En te portant en dehors des portes de votre maison, ta mère et ta soeur ne pouvaient pas suivre le cortège... encore un protocole injuste. Je suis sûr que si tu étais présent, tu leur aurais permis de t'accompagner vers ta derrière demeure et te dire un dernier adieux. Je suis sûr que tu aurais aimé que les gens présents se serait plutôt rappeler de ta joie de vie, des bons moments qu'ils ont passé avec toi et que tu aurais aimé écouter ta chanson préféré une dernière fois. Mais ce la ne ce fait pas, tu le sais très bien! c'est nos traditions... les mêmes absurdités qui dictent que les hommes d'ici ne pleurent pas et qui m'ont obligé à retenir mes larmes en marchant dans ton cortège.

A tu reconnus tout les présents? certains d'entre eux t'ont causé du chagrin, je le sais. Mais tu leurs pardonneras, j'en suis sûr.

Cher ami, je m'en veut... Je m'en veut de ne pas avoir été a tes cotés. Ça fait cinq ans qu'ont ne se parle plus; et finalement je ne suis pas mieux que ces autres gens qui nous entourent, qu'on se trompe en appelant "amis", mais qui ne sont jamais la quand on as le plus besoin d'eux. Si seulement j'avais su que ça finirai ainsi, j'aurais fait autrement... mais je présume que c'est ce qu'on dis toujours a la fin quand il est déjà trop tard, n'est ce pas?

Je sais que ces dernières années tu n'êtes pas vraiment toi. Quand je me rappellerai de toi, je penserai à ta joie de vie, de nos délires de jeunesse, je penserai au garçon au grand coeur, toujours souriant , les yeux rêveurs fixant les étoiles.

Paix sur ton âme, SL.

Do You Believe by Cher on Grooveshark

U.S. debt limit and the Neo-Middle Ages

2011-07-16T13:40:00.001+01:00

The U.S. debt have crossed the $14.3-trillion legal limit on the amount of money Washington can legally borrow. On July, 12 President Obama said in an interview to CBS News "I Cannot Guarantee Social Security Checks Go Out On August 3rd" to put pressure on the Republicans and challenged Congress to share what he called his willingness to compromise in solving the debt problem by allowing the raise of this debt limit and a bail-out plan.
It won't be a surprise, the Republicans will accept to increase the U.S. debt ceiling to balance the budget because otherwise the first economy of the world will become insolvent creating a chain reaction that will smash the financial markets and probably return the world to a Neo-Middle Age.
So Washington will borrow again money from Federal Bank (Fed). And "when the government borrows money from the Fed, it almost always has to be paid back with accrued interest. In other words, almost every single dollar that exists must be eventually returned to a bank (in this case the Fed), with interest paid as well. But, if all money is borrowed from the central bank and is expanded by the commercial banks through loans,is being created in the money supply…. So then, where is the money to cover all of the interest that is charged?
Nowhere. It doesn’t exist. for the amount of money owed back to the banks will always exceed the amount of money that is available in circulation. This is why Inflation is a constant in the economy, for new money is always needed to help cover the perpetual deficit built into the system, caused by the need to pay the interest." [1]

My point is: Enjoy your life as much as you can, before the system collapse :)

[1] Zeitgeist the movie, 2007

First impressions of Google+

2011-06-29T11:02:00.004+01:00

I was invited as a Beta Tester to the very anticipated Google social network and I tested it for few minutes now. I tested the core profile functionalities, Sparkes and Circles (I don't have enough friends yet to test Hangout)

What I've liked most so far:
- Do you remember the struggles you had to set an appropriate privacy settings in Facebook? Well, you won't experience that anymore! Thanks to the Circles concept, Google give the users full control of your privacy and sharing settings all over the site.
- Great integration with PicasaWeb and Google Profiles: You don't need to re-upload all of your pictures, Google+ ask you at the beginning if you want to link your Picasa Web account so you can import your existing albums. My basic profile information like sites, place and work information was also automatically imported because I already had it in my Google Profile.
- Sparks is a kind of a light version of Google Reader that aggregate news feed about topics you are interested in. Integrating it directly in Google+ makes you never want to leave the site and make it easy to share, comment and interact with the news.

What I've missed:
- A native App for the iPhone (Although Google says that it's coming soon)
- The possibility to automatically share activities, contents and posts (status updates) directly to Twitter or Facebook
- Profiles for organizations to compete with Facebook Pages
- Vanity URL like plus.google.com/name (plus.me/name would be great too)

Conclusion:
The existence of many google products like +1, PicasaWeb, Profiles, Buzz ect. makes now sense and could be interpreted as separated services and functionalities that connects together in the central Hub which is Google+. This made me feel like Google was secretly planning this product since years now.
If Google adds an automated migration tool for Orkut and Gmail uses, then the way will be clear to a social network war with Zuckerberg's baby.

##
UPDATE: 140 Google+ invitations remaining for my friends and followers. first come, first served.

L’histoire de A Vava Inouva

2011-06-19T00:28:00.000+01:00

Avava Inouva by Idir on Grooveshark

«Amachahou rebbi ats iselhou
Ats ighzif anechth ousarou»
(Ecoutez, que je vous conte une histoire,
Dieu fasse qu’elle soit belle, longue et se déroule comme un long fil).

Ce conte a fait le tour de la planète sous sa version chantée. C’est en effet, grâce à Benmohamed (Benhamadouche), pour les belles paroles, à Idir (Cheriet Hamid) pour musique et chant, que ce conte venu du fin fond des âges a pu comme le Phénix renaître de ses cendres....

Ce conte se passe à l’époque où les animaux avaient le don de la parole et communiquaient avec les hommes.
En ce temps-là, il y avait dans une contrée, une famille composée de cinq membres. Quatre garçons et une très jolie fille prénommé Rova.
Les garçons étaient tous des gaillards. Ils tenaient tous de leur père, une force herculéenne. Il était capable d’assommer d’un seul coup de poing le plus récalcitrant des taureaux. La famille était crainte et respectée. Rova choyée et gâtée personne ne pouvait l’approcher. L’aîné de ses frères toujours armé d’une grosse massue, avait la faculté de fendre la terre sur plusieurs mètres en surface et en profondeur. Le puîné pouvait voir à travers les murs, le troisième dont l’ouie était très fine, pouvait entendre le rosée tombée (Isel ind’a ma thekath). Le quatrième était tellement habile de ses mains, qu’il était capable de retirer des œufs de perdrix pendant la couvaison sans qu’elle s’aperçoive (Izmar ad ikes thimellalin sedaou theskourth bla ma thfaq).
Depuis des temps immémoriaux, les Kabyles se rencontrent presque tous les soirs “Di thajmaâthe (agora) pour commenter les nouvelles du jour, ou quand cela est nécessaire, régler certains litiges, qui peuvent parfois survenir. L’autorité de “Thadjmaâthe” fait force de loi avant même l’existence des lois. Le bon sens était la loi.
Tout à fait, au début de l’humanité, les personnes qui fautaient en public étaient immédiatement punies par Dieu lui-même, pour leur apprendre les bonnes manières et servir d’exemple aux autres. C’est ainsi, que le père des quatre garçons et de Rova, en prenant la parole Di Thajmaâthe et en élevant la voix, fait entendre une flatulence sonore et nauséabonde. Honteux, humilié, il s’assoit, il s’assoit par terre et prend aussitôt racine. On essaye de le relever mais en vain. Impossible de le décoller du sol sans le blesser, voire le tuer.
Comme il ne peut pas rentrer chez lui, et que l’agora est située en contrebas du hameau les hommes tiennent conseil, et décident de lui bâtir une hutte en torchis, pour le protéger des intempéries et des prédateurs, dont le terrible ogre (Ouaghzen) qui rôde autour des habitants de nuit.
Comme à l’époque les serrures de portes n’existaient pas, on utilisait des cales qu’on posait contre les portes pour empêcher toute intrusion.
C’est ainsi que le père des quatre gaillards et de Rova, passait ses jours et ses nuits dans sa lutte de fortune.
Rova, lui amenait à manger en milieu de journée et en fin de soirée.
Comme il existe de nombreux prédateurs, pour protéger le pauvre homme, Rova et son père décident d’adopter un mot de passe. A chaque fois qu’elle viendra lui donner à manger elle dira :
“Ets khilk Eldi Thabbourth
A vava inouva”
(Papa Inouva, ouvre-moi la porte, c’est moi ta fille Rova !)
En l’entendant son père lui dit :
“Tchène-tchène thizevgathinim a illi rova !”
(Fais tinter tes bracelets, Rova, ma fille !)
En entendant le tintement des bracelets en argent de sa fille, le père enlève la cale de la porte et fait rentrer sa fille, qui lui donne à manger.
Le manège dure quelques jours, mais un soir, tout bascule. Un ogre qui passait par là, entend les propos échangés entre le père et la fille. Dès qu’elle part, il se rapproche de la hutte et dit à l’homme :
“Ets khilk eldi thabbourth
A vava inouva !”
(Papa Inouva ouvre-moi, la porte, je suis ta fille Rova).
La voix de l’ogre était tellement caverneuse, que l’homme n’a guère de mal à reconnaître, qu’il s’agit d’un imposteur. “Tu n’es pas ma fille, éloigne-toi d’ici, je n’ouvrirai qu’à sa voix et du tintement de ses bracelets. Passe ton chemin maudit !”
Le lendemain en amenant à manger à son père, celui-ci fait répéter plusieurs fois le mot de passe avant de lui ouvrir la porte. Intriguée elle lui demande pourquoi, il agit ainsi.
“-C’est parce que ma fille, hier quelqu’un a voulu m’abuser, il a imité ta voix, mais je ne lui ai pas ouvert.
-Ça doit-être l’ogre (Ouaghzen) il paraît qu’il a été vu rôder dans les environs. Attention papa n’ouvre à personne en dehors de moi !”

Après plusieurs tentatives sans succès l’ogre décide de prendre conseil chez “Amghar Azemni” (le vieux sage). Il va le voir et lui dit :
“Helk’agh thiyarsi inou Youthayi Ouadhou
Dhelvagh d’g’ek’ H’elou” (J’ai des maux de gorge, ma voix est enrouée, je veux qu’elle devienne aussi fluette que celle d’une jeune fille. Guéris-moi, je t’en prie !)
-Ta voix est rauque, mon cher, pour la rendre fluette, il n’y a qu’une solution.
-Laquelle ?
-Il faut que tu t’enduises les cordes vocales d’une épaisse couche de graisse de mouton et que tu ailles à côté d’une fourmilière, que tu ouvres la bouche et que tu laisses les fourmis rentrer dedans. Elle mangeront la graisse et lubrifieront ton gosier. A la fin de cette opération, tu retrouveras une voix de jeune enfant. Foi de “Amghar Azemni” (vieux sage). A propos des bracelets dont tu m’as parlés, la solution est trop simple aussi, tu n’as qu’às aller à la rivière et ramasser des coquilles d’escargots vides et te faire un collier que tu mettras autour du cou et que tu feras tinter pour amuser les petits. C’est une bonne initiative, tout le monde va apprécier !”
L’ogre qui avant pris une apparence humaine, remercie “Amghar Azemni” et quitte les lieux, pour se rendre dare-dare dans une fourmilière. Il s’y installe. Le gosier enduit de graisse, il voit défiler durant des heures des milliers de fourmis.
En fin de journée, quand il ouvre la bouche pour lancer un cri, il est étonné, sa voix était aussi fluette que celle d’une petite fille. Secouant son collier, il produit le même bruit que les bracelets de Rova.
Très content du résultat, dès le soir venu, il se rend à la hutte, tape à la porte et dit à l’homme “emprisonné” :
“Etskhilk Eldi Thabbourth A vava Inouva !” (Papa Inouva, ouvre-moi la porte, c’est moi ta fille Rova !)”
Pour éviter toute mauvaise surprise, le père lui dit :
“Tchène-tchène thizevgathin im A illi Rova !” (Fait tinter tes bracelets, Rova ma fille !)
La première épreuve passée avec succès, l’ogre fait tinter son collier, dont le tintement ressemble à s’y méprendre à celui de Rova.
Abusé, il enlève la cale de la porte pour faire rentrer sa fille, mais en guise de fille,c’est un ogre velu avec des grands crocs qui lui saute dessus,et qui lui dit :
-“Dounith Fella-k’ thekfa Ak Tchagh Assa A vava-s n Rova !” (Tu vas mourir aujourd’hui
Je vais te dévorer, père de petite fille !)
Par où veux-tu que je commence à te déguster, par la tête ou par les pieds ?
-Commence par les pieds qui ne peuvent bouger”. L’ogre commence à le dévorer, dès qu’il arrive au tronc, Rova arrive.
En trouvant la porte ouverte, elle laisse tomber le plat et lance un cri d’effroi. Malgré sa peur, elle jette un coup d’œil dedans et aperçoit la bête immonde, qui dévore son papa.
Ne pouvant rien faire pour lui, elle prend ses jambes à son cou pour avertir les villageois. Mais après avoir fait seulement quelques enjambées, elle est rattrapée.
Il l’attache à l’aide de ses longs poils et continue son horrible repas. Il l’emmène ensuite dans sa tanière, pour s’en servir de repas, une fois qu’il aura faim.
Sachant le sort qui l’attend, Rova se met à crier à gorge déployée comme une écorchée vive à laquelle on enlève la peau.
Ses cris arrivent aux oreilles de son troisième frère, celui qui a l’ouïe fine et capable d’entendre la rosée tomber.
Dressant les oreilles, il dit à ses frères : “Thedhra El H’adja d’ Rova !” (Quelque chose de grave est arrivé à Rova !) Il faut que nous allions de ce pas la délivrer. Ce n’est pas dans ses habitudes de traîner dehors à la tombée de la nuit.” Mus par un mauvais pressentiment, ils se rendent tous les quatre à la hutte construite autour de leur père. Ils ne trouvent que du sang et des ossements d’homme.
Point de corps de Rova. Le garçon à l’ouïe fine dit à ses frères :
“Notre sœur n’est pas encore morte, l’ogre l’a enlevée, il nous faut la délivrer avant qu’il ne soit trop tard ! Les cris qu’elle pousse vont me guider.”
Et c’est ainsi que Rova fut retrouvée saine et sauve dans une grotte servant de tanière à l’horrible animal, parti pour chasser. Ils la trouvent attachée, avec les poils très solides de l’ogre aux poignets et aux pieds. Elle est contente de voir ses frères au grand complet et éclate en sanglots, quand elle leur apprend que l’ogre veut l’épouser et qu’elle ne veut pas de lui.
“Ne t’en fais pas, petite sœur, nous allons te délivrer et nous allons le tuer et venger notre père dévoré !”
Pour ne pas donner l’éveil à l’ogre, ils laissent leur sœur attachée et se mettent à l’affût. Très fatigué, à force de courir après ses proies, dès qu’il rentre chez lui, l’ogre s’affale sur sa couche à côté de Rova.
Le frère capable de voir à travers les murs surveille son sommeil, dès qu’il tombe dans les bras de Morphée, il dit à ses frères que c’est le moment de tenter de délivrer leur sœur. Entre alors en scène celui qui est capable d’enlever des œufs de perdrix. Avec dextérité, il dénoue un à un les entraves très serrées. L’opération terminée, ils soulèvent leur sœur, la sortent dehors, et prennent leurs jambes à leurs cous. Après s’être éloignés de la tanière de l’ogre, ils se reposent un peu. Le frère à l’ouïe fine colle son oreille au sol et lance :
“Ouaghzen ifaq !
(L’ogre s’est aperçu !)
Il est à notre poursuite, il ne tardera pas à être là !”
“Maintenant, c’est mon affaire”, s’écrie l’aîné à la grosse massue, la faisant tournoyer, il l’abat sur le sol avec fracas. Aussitôt un trou géant s’ouvre devant eux. Ils s’engouffrent dedans. A ce moment, arrive l’ogre, il sent la chair humaine mais ne voit personne.
Il tourne en rond, mais ne comprend pas, l’esprit embrouillé il dit :
-Lan our line
Iârqiyi tekhmim !
(Ils sont ici, mais je ne sais quoi penser !)
De guerre lasse, il quitte les lieux.
Pour éviter toute mauvaise surprise, les quatre frère aménagent leur cachette jusqu’à ce que tout danger soit écarté. Ils veillent sur leur sœur comme sur la prunelle de leurs yeux.
Après quelques mois d’attente, ils trouvent l’ogre en train de rôder autour de leur sœur. Ils le prennent tous les quatre à partie et le tuent. Victorieux, ils retournent dans leur village où ils sont acclamés en héros.
"Our kefount eth'houdjay i nou pour kefoun ird'en tsemz'ine. As m-elâid' ametch ak'soum ts h'em'zine ama ng'a thiouanz'iz'ine."
(Mes contes ne se terminent, comme ne se terminent le blé et l'orge. Le jour de l'aïd, nous mangerons de la viande avec des pâtes, jusqu'à avoir des pommettes rouges et saillantes).

Par Benrejdal Lounès, Lu sur algerie-monde.com

Foretaste of the new AIESEC XP

2011-04-01T19:03:00.004+01:00

Many of you know it already, AIESEC International will announce the new AIESEC XP in the next days. As an exclusive foretaste, I'm sharing with you few pictures of the creation process during the AIESEC 2015 Strategic Communication Meeting in March 2011.

And as a last picture, a snapshot from EuroXpro 2011, while the PAI is presenting an early draft

Digital Kitchen

2011-03-27T01:08:00.001+01:00

Two weeks ago I was in Rotterdam at the AIESEC International Office. I was part of special task force with 8 other students from all over the world to create new materials (graphics, videos, booklets and presentations) for the AIESEC Network. In the first part and day of the meeting we discussed about design and communication and tried to set some rules for a successful product design and how to communicate it efficiently.

This experience have awaken in me a sharp sense and admiration for extraordinary design in things around me ... and lately I noticed something interesting: The opening credits of all my favorite tv series were created by one studio.

Watch the intros first ;-)

- Dexter

- Six feet under

- True Blood

Great videos ,nah ? all of them where created by an awesome production company called Digital Kitchen. The guys there are geniuses ! check their website to discover more of their creations : http://www.d-kitchen.com

A lesson from SAW 2

2011-02-14T21:35:00.000+01:00

"What is the cure for Cancer, Eric? The cure for death itself. The answer is immortality. By creating a legacy, by living a life worth remembering, you become immortal."

so true...

What I did during IC 2010 ?

2010-09-25T22:09:00.004+01:00

You already know it. Being at AIESEC’s International Congress (IC) is one of -or probably THE most- awesome experiences a student could experience during his time at the university.
Where else in this world can you assist a conference with around 700 young people from over 110 countries in one place ?
Where else in this world can you meet around 700 talents from over 110 countries that already had leadership experiences and are interested in social, economic and environmental issues, sustainability and entrepreneurship ?
Where else in this world can you start a discussion with a guy that you don't know yet, he is from a different continent and has a different culture than you, but you know that you share the same values, have a similar vision of how our world should be and even dance the same dances on some songs ?

Now, If you are interested to know how did I joined this event though I'm not in a national board (yet) ? and what was my job there ? read further... I will tell you my story, but first some words about what is AIESEC 2015.

AIESEC 2015 is an internal road-map created by the membership of AIESEC during IC 2010 in India to drive the organization for the next 5 years.

So in may 2010, I got selected for the "2015 D.R.E.A.M. Process Team" which is a team composed by 7 people from all over the world that are working on the R&D and the communications of AIESEC 2015.

Before IC, we were responsible for developing the tools to collect, analyze and compile global and country data related to the 2015 Project. We created and delivered a communications plan and tried to create awareness and excitement toward AIESEC 2015 within the the network.

During IC, two of us (me and my college Claire) where present to assist the AIESEC International (AI) Team preparing the sessions related to AIESEC 2015.

We were responsible for communicating what was happening with 2015 to the global network, coordinate the interaction with AIESECers all over the world through IC Live, were involved in preparing and feedbacking session flows and outlines, and prepared the IT and some of the logistics for the sessions.

I really feel fortunate and lucky: I had this great responsibilities in such an important moment of AIESEC’s history. I could write books about the experiences I lived and the wonderful people I met there. I will share with you in this post four of the main activities I did during the conference and what I learned from them: the meetings, the dry-runs, facilitating and creating videos.

Meetings: I had meetings with many people during the congress but my main work was with Hugo (PAI), Camilo (AI VP Organizational Development) and my team college Claire. We met most of the time in the AI Office at the venue and we could interact with everyone working there which helped us a lot to get feedback and communicate with other persons involved. One of the most valuable experiences I made during IC was getting this deep insight on how the AI Team (about 20 people) actually works. How are they organized internally, How do they prepare their-selves, how does Hugo leads such a huge team, and so on... I was impressed how effective and professionally they managed every little detail and stayed calm and cool when they faced unexpected problems and challenges.  I really want to thank everybody in the AI Team for making us feel so comfortable and part of one team.

Dry-runs: most of the sessions during IC were tested in real conditions in advance to make sure the facilitators and the guys in IT are prepared and know every details of the session's flow. The challenge was to find time when the plenary was empty which was often during lunch and dinner time.  Corporate partners had to test and prepare their sessions too, so they left us no time to dry-run our sessions. I was so really worried and anxious when we couldn’t dry-run a session and the solution I found was to go to the parties at night that took place in the same huge room as the plenary, I stand in the back of the room, watched the place and imagined how will the next session would be. I imagined how should the room be organized, what kind of atmosphere would we needed, imagined the videos I created playing on the screens and how people could possibly react to them. I asked myself what should we change ? What kind of light effect should we use ? And so on...  These moments were definitely one of the best I lived during IC. I loved to search for the key of how make people in the plenary dream and let their eyes shine. How could we create a perfect session ? How could we make this experience unforgettable for the delegates?   

Thinking about it backward, it’s the power to inspire and making the audience dream that always fascinated me in the leaders and exceptional people I met and now, I think that through this experience I might have discovered what I want to do for living: simply, make people dream.

During one of the 2015 sessions. Me holding a sign to notify the delegates that 30 min. of the tim are left

Facilitating: Few days before IC starts, I was asked to facilitate an Open-Space at the Global Youth to Business Forum. The forum was held in the in the Indian School of Business and had three main topics: Labour Mobility and Diversity, Harnessing Youth Innovation and Responsible Corporate Behaviours. My role was to facilitate a subgroup of around 50 students in the innovation track. Every delegate wrote one question related to the session‘s topic, and we ran the open-space around ten of those questions.  The output of all groups constituted a book that represented the youth’s answer to current issues in our world. Everything went smooth and when I was leaving the room after the session, Marina (AI VP Country Development) came to me a told me something like this: “Hey amor, the panel discussion starts in about 30 minutes and you are representing the innovation track ... The discussion will be moderated by Gert Van Mol from The Wall Street Journal and Ulrich Bartsch, from The World Bank.”  

- I: “Ehh, say what ?”  

I had to decide and prepare myself quickly and my first thought was something like: "Waw Amor, do you really want to risk saying bullshit in front 600 top talents from all over the world, the global partner, the world bank and the wall street journal... ?"  and a voice in my mind answered immediately: "HELL YEAH !"

I was suuuuper nervous and I hope that I hided it well and said some smart sentences. I will never forget this amazing experience. It was definitely one of the best I ever had in my life.

I would like to thank the genius mind who planed, organized and led the forum: Lotfi EL-Ghandouri.

Panel discussion at the Global Youth to Business Forum. Me, Claire and Stefan in the center

Creating videos: The AIESEC 2015 sessions was at Day 2, Day 4 and Day 8 of IC.

We created most of the videos that were presented during these sessions in the plenary. The challenge was to create impressive videos in a short period of time. I can tell you the story of the last video that actually announced the final statement of AIESEC 2015:

We started preparing the last session (Day 8) as soon as the 2015 session of Day 4 ended. We knew that we needed to create somethings special. We wanted to have a breath-taking video which fits to the importance of the moment : The announcement of the final statement that will drive an organization of over 50 000 members worldwide during the next 5 years... and we needed to create it in less than 48 hours!
I started thinking about possible scenarios for the video about four days before. The first raw idea I had was to have a person running in a hall and opening a big door, than a blinding white light appears and after that the 2015 statements appears. I spent hours with my team college searching for such a hall with a big door that fits to the one I had in my imagination. We searched in the venue, visited other hotels around , asked local guys if they knew about such a place in the city... We found nothing. I was desperate and needed inspiration and creativity. so I left the conference venue and took a walk in a garden near the hotel to search for ideas... and here I got the idea of scenario that was shown at Day 8. A girl spawn into a jungle . She is lost and confused and choses a path between many others, finds a mysterious book, opens it and the 2015 statement appears in a blinding white light.

It wasn’t easy neither to find an actress because all delegates were in the sessions and the congress committee (CC) was busy working. Thanks to Tala from the CC who accepted to play the role. We spent the rest of the time trying to record the scenes straggling between rain and mosquitos outside... We finished shooting around 8 pm on Day 7 and I had to start directly with cutting and editing the video. We received the the final text of AIESEC 2015 the day after, about two hours before the session starts. As the moment of truth approached , everybody in the office was silent and deeply concentrated in his tasks, stressed and excited at the same time...

The session was a success and all the present countries voted “yes” to AIESEC 2015.

Delegates working in groups of 40 in one of the AIESEC 2015 sessions. In the background a loop-animation I made.

Thank you for reading these lines. I hope I gave you an insight of IC 2010 and what my role was. If you are not an AIESECer, I hope you could understand now why I'm so enthusiastic about this conference and AIESEC in general. :)

Math or Math ?

2010-07-05T11:41:00.000+01:00

Just watched the best tv show ever (sorry Prison Break) !

2010-06-13T23:45:00.003+01:00

I just finished watching the very last episode of the TV series Six Feet Under. I can't think of another show that has pulled at my emotions so many times in so many different ways. This show is ingenious.
It's simply the greatest TV show that I have ever seen and I regret having seen the last episode, because I will never see it again for the first time...

The beauty of Six Feet Under is that is goes beyond the storyline within its own frame as a story. It affects the viewer personally, and honestly, I think it changes your perspective on life and makes you appreciate it. The show remembers you that people dies to make life important and that none of us know how long we've got. Which is why we have to make each day better.

I embed the last scene of the last episode which I consider as the most beautiful and heart-wrenching 9 minutes of television ever made. Pure perfection in writing, acting and filming. A heart-wrenching conclusion to a most humane story.
I think that every single human being will cry (as I did... yeah I fucking cried :)) when he see this (of course, after watching the whole episodes) because it reminds us of our own mortality. We remember that everyone we see and we know will expire in some way. There will be good times like weddings and birthdays, but always the inexorable death punctuating periods of our lives. Six Feet Under reminds us of that and that is why we get so emotional for these characters we know and for the people in our lives we will no doubt lose.

None will create a dialogue between life and death so perfectly any more. Thanks to everyone who contributed to create this masterpiece.

3 urgent things that AI needs to do

2010-03-20T19:35:00.004+01:00

I‘m writing this blog post to share three propositions that I think to be crucial and important to do by AIESEC International (the global leadership body of AIESEC) in the next period. My only motivation to publish these thoughts is my passion for this organization. Enjoy reading :)

3 urgent things AIESEC International (AI) needs to do:

1- Rethink your relationship with politics

I watched most of the IPM-Live sessions online on the IPM Website. Some of you may have noticed the picture of the man in the top center of the screen (See Screenshot).

The man in the picture is the current president of Tunisia. Constantly „reelected“ since 22 years and is not the kind of person that I‘ll be proud to to see associated with AIESEC. I am myself a Tunisian citizen, I lived in Tunisia for more than 15 years , so I really know what I‘m talking about.

I won‘t tell you more about what kind of leader this president is because I still have family there and they could get some serious troubles. Just visit the dedicated pages of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and you will understand the true nature of the political system in this country.

Apparently the IPM was under the high patronage of „his excellency“ as Aman (President of AIESEC International) called him during an interview to the national television and I really don‘t blame the Tunisian MC because I know how difficult the situation is and how things works inside this country.

But I‘m asking myself now: Could AIESEC cooperate with governments that violate human rights ? Do we actually have a statement that defines our relationship with such governments ? How should a PAI behave when he is invited to such countries ?

2- Communicate better with local entities while changing models and tools

Rumours says that AI is going to launch soon a new version of the Global Competency Model (GCM) with some new competencies and a new assessment tool (CAT).

If these rumours are true, this mean that AIESEC Germany wasted human and financial resources by allocating its talents from the last National Support Teams in implementing the current global competency model to the country‘s internal structures and processes.

I‘m sure that the guys at the Talent Management Unit (TMU) have done a wonderful job creating a new version of the Global Competency Model. But how could countries and local entities plan in mid/long-term and elaborate action plans and strategies if the tools and models they use change every one or two years ? Does AI expect the countries to invest yearly in updating their processes and documents with the newest version of the competency model ?

Educating and convincing Local Committees to use the Global Competency Model was a major issue during our term in the German Talent Management Support Team and the task was even more difficult because of the constant changes and updates (First major change was in 2007/08 by adding two new competencies and renaming some others).

It is very disappointing that no one contacted us to inform us about these upcoming changes or to explain the motivation behind them. We will read the news when it will be published on MyAIESEC.net and are expected to welcome and apply them. To cut with this blind dependency, some countries like The Netherlands have chosen to develop their own competency model and it‘s appropriate to ask ourselves too: Wouldn‘t it be better for AIESEC Germany to create our own competency model in cooperation with national partner companies ? This opportunity means also having a full customized competency model that fits to the specific needs of the country, having a total control over it‘s development and further enhancements and keeping the possibility to integrate it into a customer relationship management system (which MyAIESEC.net still do not offer and which is critical to every business‘s success)

I predicting that more countries will consider the idea of developing their own models and tools if the global management body of the organization continue not involving local entities in developing and updating models and tools that they are supposed to use and implement in their every days work.

3- Bring structure to the chaos in MyAIESEC.net

MyAIESEC.net is about three years old. Every day, dozens of new wikis are created and files uploaded to the system transforming it to a big chaos instead of a being a web based global learning environment.

The problem is that there is actually absolutely no instructions or recommendations from AI on how to name newly created wikis and uploaded wikis.
Every country and entity in the network have their own internal regulation, which is of course different from the regulations of other countries.

AIESEC in Germany tried to solve this problem since the migration form our old IT system to MyAIESEC.net by communicating that Files and Wikis names have to respect this pattern "COUNTRY - LC Name - Functional Team - Topic" (For example: "GERMANY - LC Hamburg - External Relations - Partners") and this is a good example that the network could follow. It actually don‘t matter that much if the German example is good or not; the most important thing is to have one unique naming regulation for everyone, and AI need to take action as soon as possible.

Na'vi creatures from Avatar discovered in Palestine

2010-03-17T00:28:00.000+01:00

Palestinian protesters dipped theirselves in blue paint and dressed as Na'vi from Avatar to protest against the Israeli separation wall.

(Image via AP Images)

The Friendship Algorithm

2010-02-16T23:34:00.000+01:00

5 Days With the Orange Lions: Lessons to be Learned from AIESEC in The Netherlands

2010-02-01T02:22:00.009+01:00

I was member of the facilitator team of NatCo II of AIESEC in the Netherlands from 28th to 29th of January 2010. This was the very first time the dutch national executive board (MC) oped the application to internationals an also my first experience as an international facilitator.

I always apprehended AIESEC in the Netherlands as one of the most important country in the AIESEC network. AIESEC in the Netherlands stand in my mind for high professionally, excellence and top performance. I also knew that AIESE there works differently from other AIESEC countries and knowing these difference in it's depth was one of my motivation to apply for NatCo II. I wanted to know the "secret recipe" that makes AIESEC in the Netherlands so successful and export these ideas to AIESEC in Germany and the rest of the global network.

The AIESEC in the Netherlands foundation is composed by two main sub-organisations: "AIESEC in the Netherlands" (@NL) and "Make a Move" (MaM)."Make a Move" is an independent brand within AIESEC in The Netherlands that brings students into contact with companies for their future career and organise Career weeks (Yes, it's basically like the AIESEC Germany's FirmenKontaktGespräch).

The national Board of @NL is composed by a president, a vice president incoming exchange, a vice president outgoing exchange, a vice president finance, a vice president external relations and two vice presidents for managing the national programs and make a move.

The national programs are the "Nour program", "The Ambassador program" and "TNT Global Experience Program". These exchange projects are very exclusive, selective and accept only top talents as participant (20 out of 500 applicants for the Ambassador program).
The local executive boards (EB) of @NL are composed by a president, one vice president and three coordinators for exchange (In and Out) and MaM.

LC EBs are full time and earn no money during their one year term but you can apply for a 100-200 euros scholarship from the university. Student still apply for EB positions because of the very good external Positioning of @NL. It's almost certain that you will be well payed after your studies if you have an EB experience with AIESEC.
This membership quality standard is also implemented in recruiting members. Every single member in the 10 Dutch Local Committees (LCs) have a unique Job Description with 10-15 hours of workload per week during 6 or 12 months and are tracked regularly by the EB. If the members want to continue in his position after his term, he must to reapply for the job. Vacant places in the LCs are also well calculated before beginning the recruitment.

Example: If one LC know that he usually realise 3 or 4 exchanges in Quarter nr. 1 and another 3 or 4 in Quarter nr. 2 (just check the history of the LC to see the needs), they recruit only one person to manage the 3 Trainees (If we assume that one member can manage 3-4 trainees).
Theoretically, there is no need for members if you don't realise exchanges, which is in my opinion very true!

All executive boards (local and national, except the LCPs) in the Netherlands are selected and not elected. For example, the MCP is selected out of the applicants by current MC team and the Board of Advisors that seems to play a very important role in the organisation. This sounds not very democratic but guarantee an objective selection and the quality of the elected person. Another interesting point is that the positions are opened to all Students and not only AIESECers.
I know so many examples in AIESEC Germany of Vice President's (VP's) and Local Committee President's (LCP's) with no real motivation or knowledge that got elected just because they made a good 10 min speech or very good members with alot of experience that got refused because they couldn't convince the audience. Rhetoric skills shouldn't be the key argument to elect someone and easily influence inexperienced LC members and/or newly elected LCPs on a MC election.

@NL don't use the Global Competency Model of AIESEC International, but their own one (developed by a partner) and use it in the MC selection interviews.

@NL have no team or VP for Talent Management (TM) and no National Trainer Team (NTT). Most of the VP TM job is done by the LCP or the EB as they are working full time.

One clear weakness of @NL is that they have a very low rate of exchange (X) + leadership (L) experiences (10 X+L out of 385 Exchanges in 2009. Germany have 96 X+L out of 598 Xs). This issue could be easily improved by creating a task force to continue the work that we begun during NatCo II with Neil Walter in the Training "Promoting OGX Internally" and by creating a Coordinator or a VP for a Talent Management focused on exchange processes and trainee reintegration.

AIESEC Germany and AIESEC in the Netherlands are geographically near to each other and seems to be similar at the first sight but they aren't. We have different realities and a different understanding of how should AIESEC reach it's vision. Yes, we are different and there is no shame in it. Both of us know our weaknesses and the huge opportunities we have if we learn from each other.

SAM 09, The Mind Bomb

2009-10-09T11:48:00.012+01:00

Five days left since the strategic Autumn Meeting (SAM) of AIESEC Germany. Many people asked me what's so special about this conference and what caused the sorrowful situation I was in after the closing plenary. So I decided to write a post in my blog to share and explain this unique experience I had.

SAM began when around 350 delegates from all over the country entered the plenary room silently to watch 3 videos projected simultaneously about human evolution, past growth in AIESEC Germany and what happened in Germany since NKK 09 (the first national kickoff conference). This first contact with the delegates was very unusual compared with other AIESEC Conferences. In the past, the conference team used to welcome the delegates with applauds while they enter the plenary. Even the beginning was a clear sign that this conference will not be similar to any past SAM.

The national executive board (MC) surprised everybody; they didn't presented their strategy to follow as most of (or all) the past MC Teams used to do. They transformed SAM to create a place where the delegates could think about the evolution of our organisation so far, a place to confront all paradigms we have built internally in AIESEC Germany. We had hot challenging discussions about basically every relevant topic a Local Committee could face. During the conference we were questioning e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g except the "AIESEC Way", our core identity and essence that unite us with the other 38000 AIESECers worldwide. You understood it, SAM was a Mind Bomb to free the organisation from an over-structured frame that prevent us from growing. So, SAM 09 was historical to AIESEC Germany because it was the time where the MC-team stopped asking the Local Committees again for more blindly growth, SAM was the place where the MC-Team took a break to look back on our evolution so far, how did we performed and had the courage to ask all the leader of the organisation (EBs) "was this the best path to perform ?", "What hold us from testing something new if it's conform to our essence ?".

At a personal level, the last hour of the conference was the biggest breakthrough in my development since years. The closing speech of Gesa (President) touched me deep in my heart. I was pressing my teeth's not to weep; I thought that I was the only one to be in this situation and couldn't even look right or left to see what other are doing. For few minutes I felt an emotional twister growing inside of me. I realised three bitter things: First, I'm lonely and most of my so-called "friends" are just some followers that know nothing about me. Second, I'm attached to the people around me here and to this organisation more that I ever could imagine and I would love to take more responsibility in it. Third, during my whole stay in Germany (over 3 years), I was playing a role to be like what people in my environment want me to be or expect me to be instead of being my self.

I was thinking about all of this and asking myself "Why couldn't be different, why not?". The twister broke my innershield that I created long years ago and I discovered a new hidden dimension in my unconscious mind; when Gesa said "SAM 09 is over", I couldn't repress the intense emotion inside of me anymore and broke out in tears...

SAM 09 was not only a milestone in the history of AIESEC Germany but also in my personal development. Some people live their entire life without reaching the life-changing moment I had on this unique 4th of October 2009. You certainly don't need an organisation or a conference to reach it, but in my case it was. Thank you AIESEC!

PS: It wasn't easy to share these special moments on the Internet, but it was the first step re-becoming the Amor that I know.

Some thoughts about District 9

2009-09-25T03:40:00.004+01:00

I watched District 9 two days ago on the Internet and loved it. I loved it so much that I decided to go to the theater with 3 of my friends to watch it legally and support it. When the movie ended, I was surprised about my friend's reaction; All of them liked the movie but for different reasons than I.

Their comments switched between "What a sad lovestory and end", "Great action, I loved the special effects" and "this is the best sci-fi movie since years".

Above all of this, I liked the movie because it was a satire about the human race and an allegorical exploration of apartheid and xenophobia.

The South African director Neill Blomkamp reflected back brilliantly our society depicting a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in Johannesburg, South Africa. Not welcome or accepted, they are forced to live in slums...

Watch the trailer at http://d-9.com

"Comment battre votre femme" par la télévision tunisienne

2009-09-17T08:15:00.006+01:00

Un coup de gueule contre les chaines tunisienne TV7, Hannibal TV et Canal 21 qui n'on pas hésiter a nous montrer à plusieurs reprise et sans scrupule dans plusieurs feuilletons ce ramadan 2009 comment l'homme tunisien bat sa femme soumise et silencieuse comme si c'était représentatif de la société tunisienne. Et si c'est vraiment le cas, je me ferais encore plus de soucis.

On ne penserai pas que c'est le même pays a libéré la femme dés 1956 (Le Code du Statut Personnel instauré par le président Bourgiba a aboli la polygamie, institué le divorce judiciaire et fixé l'âge minimum au mariage à 18 ans pour la fille).

Illégalement, Nicolas Sarkozy a payé les sondages OpinionWay publiés par Le Figaro et LCI

2009-07-17T00:30:00.005+01:00

En violation du code des marchés publics, la Présidence de la République, représentée par le directeur de cabinet de Nicolas Sarkozy, a payé des sondagesde l'institut OpinionWay pourtant publiés par Le Figaro et LCI.

Page 11, du rapport publié ce Jeudi par la Cour des Comptes et signé Philippe Séguin, au chapitre "Le cas particulier des Etudes", on découvre une bombe.
On y apprend que depuis le 1er Juillet 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy finance à hauteur de 1,5 Millions d'€, via un intermédiaire, sans bon de commande et sans mise en concurrence, des sondages qui sont ensuite publiés dans la presse.
Cette absence de mise en concurrence est bien entendu tout à fait illégale.
Mais ce n'est pas tout.

La Cour des Comptes s'interroge aussi sur les raisons qui peuvent pousser l'Elysée à payer des sondages hors de prix alors que ceux-ci vont paraître dans la presse. Les auditeurs de la Cour ont ainsi épluché les sondages payés par l'Elysée : "la comparaison des résultats publiés dans la presse et de ceux remis à la Présidence"ne fait "pas apparaître de différence"...

Pourquoi ?
La réponse vient assez vite. Il ne s'agit pas de n'importe quels sondages!
Ce sont ceux de l'institut OpinionWay.
Cet institut de sondage dont le Canard Enchainé puis Ségolène Royal ont dénoncé la partialité ainsi que ses affinités avec l'UMP: par exemple, le président d'OpinionWay, Hughes de Cazenave a été chargé de mission au cabinet de Gérard Longuet.
Dans son livre "Ma Plus Belle Histoire C'est Vous", Ségolène Royal détaillait la mécanique bien huilée des sondages OpinionWay immédiatement relayés par Le Figaro-LCI-TF1 et qui invariablement viennent soutenir Nicolas Sarkozy ou démolir ses adversaires.

Il suffit de taper OpinionWay sur le moteur de recherche du Figaro ou de Metro pour retrouver la prose générée à l'aide de cet institut. Vous avez tous lu ces titres: , “Les Français plebiscitent la majorité”, "Royal distancée par Delanoë, selon un sondage", “Le gouvernement Fillon 2 plaît aux Français”, Présidentielle : Sarkozy loin devant Royal ou Aubry, "Sondage : une majorité d'Européens ont une bonne opinion de Sarkozy" etc...

En septembre 2008, je dénonçais un sondage "tripatouillé" OpinionWay-Le Figaro qui defrayait la chronique mais en cachait un autre aux résultats très différents. Un sondage publié en plein congrès du PS...

La Cour des Comptes s'interroge donc sur l'intérêt de la commande de sondages qui vont être publiés par voie de presse. Mais la vraie question est savoir si l'on est dans le cas d'une manipulation de l'opinion. C'est ce que sous-entend Delphine Batho, Député des Deux-Sevres lorsqu'elle déclare ce soir:
"Nous sommes ici au coeur d'un système d'instrumentalisation de l'opinion et de connivence entre le pouvoir, un institut de sondage et certains médias."

Dans le même communiqué Delphine Batho réclame que toute la transparence soit faite sur les sondages qui ont été payés par l'Elysée avec l'argent du contribuable et publiés par la presse :
"Pour que l'information de tous soit complète, nous demandons à l'Elysée de rendre publique la liste précise des 15 sondages payés par la présidence de la République et qui ont été publiés par certains médias. Cela permettrait à coup sûr de revisiter les conditions de déroulement de certains débats publics où des jeux d'influence pervers s'exercent pour manipuler l'opinion."

Question subsidiaire posée par le site Arrêt sur Images :
"Qui est l'intermédiaire secret ?"
"Dans un premier temps, LeFigaro.fr ne citait pas Opinion Way, avant de corriger le tir vers 17h30. L'AFP ou Liberation.fr, eux, ne mentionnent pas la question des sondages, contrairement à Rue89 ou Reuters, qui évoquent bien les rapports particuliers entre l'Elysée et Opinion Way.
Un point n'est pas éclairci par le rapport : quel cabinet joue ainsi les intermédiaires entre l'équipe présidentielle et les sondeurs ? Il n'est pas nommé, mais selon la Cour, il empoche 10 000 euros par mois au titre de son conseil auprès de la Présidence."

(Sources: RichardTrois sur lepost.fr, Cour des Comptes, Rue89, Arrêt sur Images)

I'm going to Mars

2009-07-15T10:20:00.002+01:00

NASA gives now anyone the opportunity to send their name to Mars. Just enter your name, country and zipcode into the form, and your name – along with many others – will be included in a microchip on the Mars Science Laboratory rover which will be heading to Mars in 2011.

The origin of influenza A (H1N1)?

2009-05-03T01:44:00.004+01:00

Where did the A (H1N1) flu come from? Residents of the Mexican town where the first case was diagnosed say that a US-owned factory just a few miles down the road, which produces 950,000 pigs a year, is to blame. A blogger from the area went to the factory to look into the conditions.

Only a week after the deadly virus hit the headlines, what we first knew as swine flu, and is now called influenza A (H1N1), remains quite some mystery to both scientists and the public. Where this pig/ bird/ human flu super virus came from remains unknown. But what we do know, is that around a month ago, a five-year-old boy, Edgar Hernandez, fell ill with what has now been diagnosed as the A (H1N1) virus, and is thought to be the first known victim. The boy survived, but following his illness, around 800 people in his tiny town, La Gloria, southwest Mexico, also fell ill with a mysterious flu. What we also know, is that a few miles down the road lies "Granjas Carroll", an enormous hog producer, majority-owned by multinational Smithfield Foods, and the United States's biggest pork supplier. The factory has long been the target of protests by locals, who have complained of contamination for over half a decade. Now, they're making the link between the pollution which comes from the farm and the origins of influenza A (H1N1). They say that around half the townspeople work in Mexico City during the week, which is how the virus was transmitted to the capital. Smithfield, however, denies the link. The company says no pig in the factory has been diagnosed with the flu and therefore no infection can have emerged from it.

César Augusto Vazquez Chagoya is from Velacruz, to the east of La Gloria. He prefers to remain anonymous. He originally posted this report on his own blog EnlaceVeracruz212.

"The North American factory was set up in the Valle de Perote in 1994. A little under ten years after its construction, the communities that live around the ‘Granjas Carroll' factory found out that the company had been involved in a massive lawsuit for contamination and ensuing cover-up in their own land, Virginia, in the US. In light of their findings, they began to question the factory's link to the contamination of the local water source and the high number of illnesses in the area, which covers 30 thousand people. Despite protests and support from human rights groups, nothing was done, because the North American company enjoys support from the federal and regional authorities, who argued that the company was so technologically advanced it couldn't possibly be contaminating the area. They didn't mention that the pigs were unfit from excessive force feeding and drinking from a water source that contained their own blood and excrement."

The dumping lakes where excrement and blood arrives through these tubes.

A dead pig lies rotting in the lake.

Pig corpses left outside.

Pig corpses stacked onto a cart to be taken away.

The infamous bio-digester that is supposed to generate electricity. Above, pig corpses are piled into the cellar, and below, after they've been decomposed and ready to be used as fuel for electricity.

Barrels full of bacteria. In the close-up you can see that the barrell is covered with flies.

Continue reading César's report (in Spanish).

Reported by France24's contributor César A. Vazquez Chagoya.