#DZBlogDay, One day, One Nation.

The beginning egg was a mere idea; the egg hatched giving birth to a mature idea, and then turned into what’s baptized: “DZ Blog Day” or “the day of Algerian blogging” that would bring myriads of Algerian bloggers together,-in spite of their different opinions, backgrounds, styles and languages-, to discuss about a sole topic, everyone treating the matter from his own viewpoint like any other blog post. The only particularity is: This blog entry would be posted in the same day as many other ones, and this day is the very 01/15th/2011, the first DZ Blog Day ever.


To participate, one should write a blog entry about “Education and instruction” in its different reincarnations: within the familial circle, in the streets’ labyrinths, in the corridors of schools, to the universities’ amphitheatres, etc.
Education problems, they don’t lack us! All what one needs to do is, digging for a problem, talks about it, exposes it, maybe it falls like an autumn leaf between the palms of the one who has the key to solve it.
Why?
One might wonder, why? What’s all this for? The main purpose is the attraction of the public opinion (particularly Mass media) to a topic being spoken about by numerous fellow bloggers in the same time. The secondary aim is: introducing the term:”Blogging” to the Algerian laymen - that may have no clue about it-, vulgarize the concept and clear the ambiguities about it.
Even if the “DZBlogDay” didn’t make the media buzz till now, locally, it would leave a footprint on the universal blogosphere’s track, and enrich the actual web content. Still not everything, yet! The most important thing is gathering Algerian bloggers under the same umbrella (peculiarly, ‘cause they are dispersed here and there, everyone in his ivory tower talking a different language) to show unity, and be the good example of the youth today (the majority of Algerian bloggers are young folks).
Where and how?
The Algerian Website “Bloginy” (A blogs’ aggregator) powered by Benguella Riad adopted the idea and gave it a special corner in the website, hence even if you don’t have your personal Blog you can post here: http://www.bloginy.com/feeds/dzblogday. You’d find there Blog posts related to the event and all articles published in the different blogs.
If you are a facebooker, you can join the DzBlogDay group to confirm your participation and know who are taking part that event here.
You can also follow updates through twitter here: @dzblogday.
Official website: www.dzblogday.org



If you are an Algerian Blogger or want to interact with society’s issues - whether you’re a blogger or not-, we want to hear your voice rising in January 15^th, 2010…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An atypical translation of the article (DZ BLOG DAY يوم واحد، مجتمع واحد) posted by Seifo

An Algerian in Egypt chronicles [day 1]

The plane took off from Algiers at 13:00 heading to Cairo. We began the flight with “دعاء السفر” (The imploration of voyage)- Booking a flight of Egypt Air was a better idea, we felt, at least, we were Arab Muslims unlike “Air Algerie” where you get the feeling of being a mutant-.
While flying up to the skies, one of Algiers’ awesome landscapes attracted my attention. It’s Oued Smar’s Park, as the photos below show:













Ooops, I forgot! We’re still in 2010, so the sketch above would be like this in reality :-(




We do hear, since ages, about the transformation of this garbage dumping site into a park, but no one knows If we do live enough till seeing it (just like the Metro Project).
Leaving the country’s aerial boundaries, we came across different breathtaking sceneries. One feels like one is hung between the sky and the land, reality and dreams, swinging like a pendulum in the nothingness. Above the clouds it’s like time itself is resting for a while, hiding under the clouds, to catch you once you’re on earth’s surface with hours of difference that would let you baffled, asking how could the watch on your hand tell 4pm and it’s sunset, already!



Here are some photos, that I could barely shoot without a plane’s wing or a part of the windows messes ‘em up:







I can’t tell where this place is! But, I guess it would be in the Algerian East.






When the clouds are the ground of another cloudless world.






I like clouds, they always fascinated me, I don’t know why! Here, they seem like an endless cotton field





When we landed at Cairo Airport, it was 16:30, and already dark (that time would be a clear evening in Algeria).

Honestly, I was sorta prepared to a bad hosting from the part of Egyptians due to the events occurred last year, because of that goddamn Football game. But, it was just the complete opposite. The police-officers were too loose towards us when they knew we were Algerians and locals were very friendly. We found someone to pick us up from the Airport to our 4 stars Hotel;-) and the first question pops up into one’s mind while rolling down Cairo’s streets at night is: what time it is ?! It’s the same if it’s 8pm or 2am! It’s a never sleeping city.
Here are some shots (they aren’t clean due to the speed of the MiniBus ):







Cairo’s tower









We arrived to the Hotel (after a 1 Hour&Half drive in the traffic jam ) that’s situated in Al Zamalek (a nice place surrounded by the Nile river from both sides which gives it the shape of a micro Island), dumped my luggage into the locker. We had to go somewhere to sate our hunger, so we didn’t bother to go somewhere far while a small traditional fast-food (offering a range of Potato meals: chips, French fries, etc.) would be more than enough.





Afterwards taking a walk in the surroundings, we come across a nice library called “Diwan” (a series of libraries all over the city) offering nice books with an affordable price. I bought 5 books by the price of 2 in Algeria! I was going to buy as much as can, if the thought of “It’s your very first day here, you can’t empty your pockets, already!” didn’t hold me back.
The funniest part of it, when I ask the clerk about a book, he responds in English (does our Algerian dialect sound like English ?!! :p). so, I gave up speaking OUR Arabic and started talking in English to avoid any misunderstanding .
Here are some shots inside the bookstore(I knew in the end that it’s not allowed :p)



































The original version of “The Secret”. I even found the Arabic version of it somewhere else. It was expensive and less educative (I watched it as a movie. The book is  a mere transcript)




Many things made me envious.
1- These photos were shot at 22:00( I did what could to not make people appear in the photos, but I assure you there were more than 20 persons inside) and looking like an Algerian library in its rush hour.
2- People don’t come just to buy books, there’s a cafeteria, and round tables where I found 2 intellectuals discussing one of the books, a handful of Americans and Arabs talking about some shared issues and some people scattered here and there reading silently.
3- You come across many foreigners (mainly Europeans) learning Arabic, as you can see below the two girls (they are Dutch, I could easily distinguish their language that seemed too close to German) in the Arabic section of the library, there was also a German boy who speaks Egyptian dialect fluently! The sad thing in Algeria is, when a foreigners come, they learn French instead of Arabic, which is shameful and disgraceful in the same time.







We made it back to our headquarter at 22:30 safe and sound (no one threatened us or bother us, hehe), and here is the car I bought from there. Anyone wanna re-buy??

Algiers, the Mediterranean bride in the grey wedding dress (I)

A normal day in Algiers

Yesterday, I was in a cab (clandestine!) heading from El Harrach to Bach Jarrah, that are ones of Algiers’ red spots (Poor and dangerous places, but modest. I was in the front seat buckled up by a tight safety belt in a grey Maruti –when we run over a dos d’âne, I feel the shock going all over my spinal column to my neck-, breaking through the traffic jam like a swordfish drawing its way through a school of fish. I had my earphones on a level that I can hear no one of the other passengers. I enjoy listening to the sounds inside my head that rise, when my spirit is secluded and my thoughts flow through my neurons like an overwhelming river.


El Harrach’ City Hall
I stared at people’s faces ( one can notice more men with beards and women in Niqab. poor areas are more engaged in religion than people living in richer zones), the walls height (in a real country, walls surrounding houses shouldn’t exceed 2m10! But, in Algeria you find 3m walls crowned by “barbed tapes” or “razor wires”, and I imagine a ditch of water with crocodiles and stuff, hehehe) , the unaccomplished metro stations, the scars on the roads caused by the heavy vehicles , the mediocre asphalt and the digging, and the shinny sun of autumn washing the sky like a radiant waterfall . Algiers is a beautiful mosaic wrapped in an unembellished cover, a breathtaking canvas underwent the drawing of a mediocre drawer (I avoid to say artist). In this first part of the trip, I came across Harrach’s city hall with its beautiful bright white walls and its colonial style with its straight well-trimmed palm trees, the bridge passing over the stinky Oued, the charming old small houses that French settlers dwelled in one day, the long forgotten slum shacks, the recent commercial center in Bach Jarrah with the Quran verses in its entry which reveals that it’s a decent place to go to with your family (nowadays, one can barely can go with his family to public places, avoiding the embarrassment and the unexpected bad sights).


The stinky Oued of El harrach
I, while rolling, cry secretly for the sake of this capital, torn apart by the black decade, exploited by hollow-skulled responsible idiots who’re watching her plains losing their virginity by the tractors’ rippers (Metidja is one of the most fertile series of plains on the planet. It’s all along the cost, and it’s well known for the quality of its Citrus family trees that bear: Orange, lemon, etc. and the excellent olives).
Yore, Algiers was mightier than any French city (a simple resident in al Kasbah had a toilet in his house when Europeans didn’t, even, dream of WC’s in their own places), and under French occupation –although all the terrible acts and horrible crimes against humans- she was always wearing her white wedding dress, that’s why it’s called “Alger la blanche” (Algiers the white) or in Arabic “El bahdja” (The delight). I, in my daily way to college, pass through the streets of the so called “Beau lieu” (Beautiful place), with its old pleasant small houses, that was inhabited by French officers, but now they have greasy walls and nothing separate them from the “La décharge de Oued Smar”(the biggest garbage dumping site in Algeria) except the agronomical experimental field (less than 500 m).
In my second part, I went from Bach Jarrah to Ben Aknoun then to Cheraga. It’s like we aren’t in the same country! Neither people nor the places are similar. One can, clearly, see how one is climbing the social stairs. One can behold the big villas all along the highway’s sides, the classy cars. I hate seeing such big buildings, tons of cement on an innocent generous ground, high walls declaring microscopic republics inside the mother land, separating its residents from the sad reality and the ugly truth. The highway in Algiers is a hell, one sometimes find oneself stuck for a whole hour in a bumper-to-bumper situation. The traffic jam is one of the biggest problems in Algiers (I sometimes spend 3 hours on the road daily); I hope the Metro – if I live enough to see it operational- and the Tramway help the smothering highway to breathe again.
After I reached Ben Aknoun, I got on, immediately, a bus to Cheraga’s terminus. One goes through hell of “Dos-d’ânes” or “ralentisseurs” (the humpback speed reducers scattered all over the Algeria territory’s byways). I’ve never understood this concept! In a linguistic point of view it’s a “speed reducer”. So, if I’m rolling at 40km/h, there’s no need for it. But, these accursed bulks of solid asphalt don’t distinguish between who’s speeding from who isn’t. They, both, undergo the screwing of their suspension. This reflects one of the sides of our authorities that apply the “collective punishment”. I saw in a documentary about this issue a moving “speed reducer” in Germany. There are speed sensors meters ahead of each “Dos d’âne” to measure the velocity of the coming vehicle and if it’s less than the maximum it goes down by itself and the road is clear. But, when one is exceeding the speed limit, the “dos d’âne” stays still. The lesson: “They want to reduce speed and not damage cars!”

The Commercial center of Cheraga ElQuds, and that ugly load of red-bricks mangling the view
Whilst crossing Dely Ibrahim and Cheraga, one’s heart sings a sad requiem for the wasted plains. Agricultural Fields attributed to people during President Boumediene under the slogan: “الأرض لمن يخدمها ” (The terrain for he who looks after it) turned into buildings, backs , villas, fashion shops, etc. not knowing that future generations will curse them until the end of history, when they cause irreversible damages to the giving lands. Afterward, I took another bus from Cheraga to my final destination. I passed through narrow roads with bottoms white-painted trees on their sides (typically Mediterranean) not letting the evening sunlight pass through their wide leaves, small nurseries (pépinières) with plants and flowers I ignore their names, but I know very well how they look, smell and taste (I tried some of them :p hehe) and some fields embedding old Spanish styled haciendas surrounded by vines. Sceneries one gets used to and loses interest in them in the midst of the problems and the heavy atmosphere of “je m’enfoism”. I, many times, overlooked the beautiful buildings of “Alger centre” just because I’m lowering my sight, and this remembers me of
Oscar wilde’s saying:

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

I’d rather say:

“We are all in the gutter. We should look at the stars not forgetting where our feet are”

Learn or play Domino

While watching this video, I had a bitter giggling passing my throat like a cutting knife. We see how brits (and many western countries) encourage learning by providing high-quality seminars for free. While in the other side (Algeria’s side), things are completely different. When you take profit out of your idle time, you’re looked upon as a jerk or nerd showing off. I have always my backpack on me, and I’ve at least 2 or three booklets to read while being on the bus or in the taxi. At first-5 years ago-, I was kinda shy to bring out my book in a public transportation mean (‘cause nobody does and afraid to be pointed at), then got used to it. And I can say that I could read a book and 2 scientific or Aircrafts’ magazines every week, and only while being on the trolley (I always spend more 30 minutes per day only to get to the college, not counting other short trips). You can find people playing the damned Dominos until the dawn unveils the thick layer of darkness off the sky’s face, but no books’ club ever exists to not say “stays open ‘till late hour”! You can find people staring at each other or looking through the bus’ windows for hours and no one holding a book (one can finish reading the whole Quran in 2 weeks at maximum only in the bus). What bewildered me always is, when one gets on Students’ bus –Also known by: C.O.U.S. – one can hardly spot 1 or 2 students holding something to read, and if so, it’s rare to see someone reading something useful-boys usually read football newspapers and girls read, mostly, harlequins (they are usually a super fictional romantic stories and Allah knows what would she imagine while reading such dead-end literature in a bus full of guys)- . If this is the case of what should be the “Elite”, laymen are not to blame. As the Arabic common saying goes:

إذا كان ربّ البيت للدفّ ضاربا فلا تلومنّ الأطفال إذا رقصوا

ماذا أقــــــــــــــــرأ؟

My Google Books’ Library

لربمّا ظنّ العديد من القراء أني لا اكتب بالعربية أو حتّى أني لا اقرأ الكتب العربية كالغربية (و أولهم الصديق الذي أرسل لي الدعوة و المدوّن الموهوب الطاهر زانو), هذا ليس صحيح, فالعربية تسري في دمّي سريان الكافيين و لكني أستعمل اللغات الأجنبية كقنوات اتصال و إيصال أفكاري إلى أناس لا يعرفون عنّا الكثير و العديد منهم سبق و أن صرّح لي أنهم نادرا ما يلتقون بعربي أو مسلم ليستفسروا عن أشياء لا تجيب عنها صحفهم و لا أبواقهم الإعلامية التي تقبّح الجميل و تجمّل البشع, و لكنهم قد يجدون مرادهم في طيات أوراق إلكترونية طائشة رمت بها أنامل شاب يوما ما عند شاطئ الثرثرة في زجاجة إفتراضية راجيا من تلك الفكرة أن تجد من يرعاها كتابوت موسى عليه السلام حين ألقته أمه باليمّ, فربما رعى عدوّ لك بنات أفكارك, لا أحد يدري؟

استجابة لصديقي و أخي و تلميذي ( أعلمه السمر و الشعولة, ههه) و تلبية لطلبه سأجيب أسئلته التي قام بعض الإخوة المدونون بنشرها, و هي في الحقيقة مبادرة جيدة للتعرف على أهم العناوين التي تلفت انتباه المدونين.

من أرسل الدعوة ؟

المدون و ذو اليراع الأدبي الراقي الأخ الطاهر زانو

ما هي كتب الطفولة التي بقيت عالقة في ذاكرتك؟

لقد بدأت قصتي مع القراءة منذ نعومة أظفاري, كنت أطالع الكتب الدينية و التربوية و التاريخية و كلّ ما يتناول الحضارات القديمة و الفضاء و الفلك و الحيوانات و...و

من العناوين التي أتذكرّ قراءتها بالابتدائية :السيرة النبوية و بعض التفاسير المبسطة, سلسلة قصص الصحابة , الطرائف و الحكم, سلسلة المعرفة العلمية, معظم قصص الأطفال التي كانت متوفرة بمكاتب المدينة, ألف ليلة و ليلة الثلاثة أجزاء حيث كنت أجمع أصدقائي حولي بالمساء لأقص عليهم ما قرأت بالصباح من مغامرات سندباد و باقي الشخصيات, السيرة النبوية لابن هشام, فقه السنة للسيد سابق (مع عدم فهمي للعديد من المسائل). ثم بالمرحلة المتوسطة نما اهتمامي بكتب التاريخ و الحضارات و ثقافات العلم مما أتذكر: تاريخ الخلفاء الراشدين, الرحيق المختوم, تاريخ الدولة الأموية , تاريخ الدولة العبّاسية, الدولة الفاطمية, تاريخ الأندلس, الفتوحات الإسلامية, مقدمة ابن خلدون, حضارات الانكا و المايا و الازتاك. دواوين الشعر الجاهلي و المعلقات و شعر الحكمة لعلي رضي الله عنه و نهج البلاغة و ديوان الشافعي , كما كنت مدمن على حفظ عواصم الدول و أعلامهم. ثم في المرحلة الثانوية ملت إلى الروحانيات و السياسة و الروايات فقرأت كلّ الكتب التي كانت بمكتبة الثانوية التي تتحدث عن أشراط الساعة ,الإعجاز العلمي بالقرآن و السنة, عبقرية خالد بن الوليد العسكرية, رياض الصالحين, الموطأ, صيد الخاطر,الترغيب و الترهيب, فتح قسطنطينية,الروح و بعض كتب ابن القيم و أستاذه شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية, صلاح الدين الايوبي,طوق الحمامة لابن حزم الاندلسي, تحفة العروس (أهدي لي من طرف الثانوية في التكريم, لا أرى أية علاقة لهذا الكتاب في مناسبة مماثلة, هههه) أوليفر تويست, بيتر بان,تقريبا كل روايات آغاثا كريستي و شخصياته الثلاثة: بوارو, ميس ماربل, باركر باين. و روايات العبقري السير كونان دويل. اهتممت بالأن ال بي أو البرمجة اللغوة العصبية فقرأت لابراهيم الفقي, طارق سويدان, صلاح الراشد و أنتوني روبنز. بالسياسة لا أتذكر العناوين و لكن قرأت مقالات لنعوم تشومسكي و فوكوياما و تحليلات سياسية أخرى. و من الفكر نهلت من كتب مالك ابن نبي و الغزالي و القرضاوي و سلمان العودة و رمضان البوطي و عائض القرني. كنت أيضا شغوفا بالشعر الملتزم مثل اللا فتات لأحمد مطر فحفظت له الكثير وقرأت العديد من شعر أمل دنقل , كما كنت مدمن على الجزيرة و العربية.

ثم بالجامعة اقتحمت عالم الفكر و الإيديولوجيات من ديانات إلى عقائد ضالة و كتب المعتزلة و المتكلمين و الشيعة و الصوفية مثل رسائل إخوان الصفا و شجرة الكون لابن عربي الذي لم أفهمه جيدا, و كذلك اهتممت بانجازات الكتاب العالميين ممن أّلفوا روايات فلسفية و روائع أدبية . قرأت المئات من الكتب من الفكر الإسلامي (أحيانا كتاب في اليوم) ككتب محمد و سيد قطب, العلمانية لسفر الحوالي, يوميات مسلم ألماني لمراد هوفمان, إبراهيم البليهي, التتار من البداية لعين جالوت لراغب السرجاني, الشيخ حمزة يوسف و كذلك عدة أعداد من مجلة البيان للنقد الفكري و اهتممت بكتب غربية في شتى المجالات فقرأت معظم أعمال باولو كويلو و أوسكار وايلد و تطلعت لعناوين من هنا و هناك في علم النفس و تطوير الذات و لغة الجسد للكتاب: ديل كارنيجي, انتوني روبنز, روبرت كيوساكي, نابوليون هيل , بول شيلي, الخ.

من اهم الكتاب الذين قرات لهم؟

مالك بن نبي ، سيد سابق، احمد مطر ،عائض القرني, سفر الحوالي , سلمان العودة, من العرب: الشافعي, محمد قطب, محمد الغزالي ,صادق الرافعي,رمضان البوطي ،  ابن الجوزي , ابن تيميةو ابن القيّم,ابن حزم الاندلسي , الشاطبي, ابو حامد الغزالي, الشعراوي , القرضاوي,أمل دنقل, الشهرستاني, النيسابوري,عبد الوهاب المسيري, راغب السرجاني , علي الصلابي,السيوطي , حسن البنا,الخ.

الكتاب الأجانب

:

Oscar wilde : “ The Picture Dorian Gray"," The importance of being ...Ernest”, “Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories”,“ Lady Windermere’s fan”, ”The decay of lying”, “The Remarkable Rocket”,” The Critic as Artist”, “The Selfish Giant”.
Napoleon Hill: “Think and grow rich”, “The positive mental attitude”
Allan and Barbara Pease: “Why men don't listen & women can't read maps”, “The definitive bookof body language”
Paulo Coelho “l’alchimiste”, “le guide du guerrier de la lumière”, “Maktub “,etc.
Jack Higgins : “ The eagle has landed “
John Gray: “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus”
Anthony Robbins:”Awaken the giant within “, “Notes from a friend”, etc.
Leonard Cohen : “The Favorite Game”
Maurice Leblanc : “L'éclat d'obus”

Amine Maalouf: “LÉON L'AFRICAIN”

-من هو الكاتب الذي قررت ان لا تقرا له مجددا؟

مع أن أسلوبه متميز و لكنه بذئ و في كتابه جرأة على الذات الإلهية :حيدر حيدر

من هو الكاتب الذي لم تقرا له ابدا وتتمنى قراءة كتبه؟

Sartre, Bernard Shaw, MARK TWAIN, Joyce, Stephen King, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jane Austen.

أحلام مستغانمي التي لم اقرأ لها سوى نسيان كوم و بعض من ذاكرة الجسد, مهاتير محمد, محمد إقبال, محمد أركون, راجي عنايت, و القائمة لا زالت طويلة

الكتب التي تقرؤها حاليا:

الجزء الثاني من "وحي القلم"

,"لا يأتون بمثله" لمحمد قطب,

ديوان أحمد مطر

"Es waren Habichte in der Luft", von Siegfried Lenz
“L’affaire Israel” Roger Garaudy.
”Profundis”, Oscar wilde.

في صحراء قاحلة اي الكتب تحمل معك؟

القرآن و كتاب خصيصا لهذه المواقف قرأته منذ عدة سنوات و لا أرى له نفعا إلا هنا

“How to survive in extreme conditions"

إرسال الدعوة الى اربع مدونين:

أعتقد أنه لم يبق من أرسل له الدعوة سوى عبد المومن

بلاد الفريت أومليت و الشوا تاع لحم الحمير

Al Salam Alaykom wa Rahmatu Allah wa baraqatuhu,
He who goes outside in Ramadan’s nights notices a thick hazy curtain of barbecues’ smoke all over the streets. One cannot turn his head without spotting one or two barbecue tables in one’s sight field, and as we say:

“between a table and a table, there’s another table”.  :p

I read a very funny article yesterday entitled:

”A chopped off donkey’s head found in Khenchla and local folks accuse barbecues owners”
(The original article above appeared in Echorouk newspaper N°3046, page7).

People got doubtful when they noticed the low prices of these grills meat (10 or 15 dinars instead of 30 dinars in restaurants), but the funniest part lies in the thinking way of these chaps. They do think that a fresh donkey’s meat is worse than an ovine meat – We know, it’s a sensible kind of food- kept in plastic boxes for many hours (from 8 p.m. till 3 a.m. or more) without any cooling or conserving it in suitable conditions (we know that heat exceeded 40° in many regions days ago). You find people eating that flesh like zombies, not knowing that one might get killed. Ok, I retire my words, the crowds aren’t conscious enough, and not all people know what’s good and bad for them, so my question: Where the hell are authorities?! ! When they wanted to manage the tobacco traffic, they wiped all the tobacco tables off the public thoroughfares. One can barely find one, and it’s a, relatively, good thing. The less vicious substances circulate in the streets, the better it is. But, come on! These grill tables sell diseases and death in greater concentration. A Cigarette box never kills in the first time; it takes years or decades to screw one’s health completely. But, these poisonous meats held in totally unhealthy conditions can kill in no time, a night, for instance! Do we need to be a witness to a catastrophe or multiple death cases caused by this thing to act?! Hence, I, from here, call local authorities to take severe measurements towards this phenomenon.


Saha Ftourkoum and Al Salam Alaykom wa Rahmatu Allah,

P.S. if you read this, I want you to answer my question honestly: Did you ever eat at one of these tables?

Higher studies in Algeria, Stop the Brains’ massacre!!

I’ve talked about this, endless times, and will always do, as long as it’s letting my heart bleed pain. It’ll cost me too much virtual ink to write about this issue, but I’ll just spill what comes to my mind first. “Be spontaneous!”, One of life’s best mottos ;-)
During my years of higher studies, and since the day I got the baccalaureate* I’ve got a new ‘hobby’, that I can practice once per year: Watching the results of baccalaureate each year, and identify some of the top ranked laureates, then examine them how would they turn out in the university –More accurately, the place I study in, that requires high score, and it’s not something to be proud of, as you’ll read later!-. Each time I see them walking in front of me I feel sorry for this country, and for these youngsters, who, a couple of months ago, were in the television sitting beside the president and had interviews on the newspapers, talking about their dreams, about being Astronauts, prestigious nuclear scholars, etc –I wanted to be a Bus Driver in my childhood, what I failure am I!! hehe-. Afterwards reality’s punches them from the 7 sides ( the cube has 7 sides in my universe-city): 
-The hell like students’ dorms, the food quality that even cats complain about (You ask, why do I mention food at first?! Hell yea! “A hungry man is an angry man!” as the common saying goes)
- The quality of lectures and the professors- few of ‘em are excluded- is too mediocre,
- The exams: in one word “sabotage”!
Anyway, university in Algeria is like a kindergarten for adults. They all study, but a few succeed, literally! Because, they all get the diploma to be able to have a NO-JOB.
Back to the primary idea, I’ll highlight one of the aspects of the crime committed against Algerian fresh raw grey matter.
You are an excellent student in high school, a bit over the average IQ. You got a good mark in the BAC. Now, the first thing that will baffle you is: what will you pick as a studies’ field? Asking this question reveals the uncertainty led by the lack of orientation. How come, an ‘A’ straight student doesn’t know what will choose in university as a branch?!! The bitter answer:”All the roads take to nowhere!”
You picked a major, something like: Pharmacy, medicine, computer science, engineering higher schools, etc. here starts the disappointment, and you’ll start seeing life as it is and not as it’s shown on TV. The rest of the story couldn’t be narrated, but lived.

The most important thing I noticed on the Algerian educational system, is what I call the “Salmon’s Journey”* that students undergo during their years of study, from the beginning till graduation. They make their way through all the difficulties, like swimming against the stream,  many of them break down, give up and the minority makes it!
In the college where I do study for example, more than 300 pupils (amongst the top ranked pupils in the country) enter the first year but only less than 150 graduate ?! What a crime against innocence, society and the humanity. Without exaggerating, It really is! Students come full of energy, strength and mentally healthy (sometimes not :p), and end up having bellyaches, a self-hate or a will to leave this country (I can tell that 90% apply for post graduation in France and more than 60% really go there. Scary, but who gives a damn!). It’s a dramatic leak of valuable human resources that this country is strongly in need for.

Figure -1-*

And then, a jerk pops up on TV, boasting, and tells us: “we are the only country providing free education in the world!” I’ll answer him: “look rascal! You’re not paying it off from your mother’s purse!”.
Let’s take Denmark for instance:
“Government-funded education is usually free of charge and open to all.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Denmark
I won’t mention Norway, Finland, France, germany, etc. or maybe they are,all , from another world, because we are in the third! Ironically, I’m sorta starting believing in this.
Last and not least I’ll say like  Friedrich Nietzsche :

in large states, public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.

 
You may get bored or think I’m pessimist, I'm not! I'm full of hope and concern, but not now.

****************************************************************
Figure -1-*: The process of transforming bright minded youth into donkeys in the ,so called, higher education institutions in Algeria.
*For no Algerians, baccalaureate is the high school graduation exam. You must pass it to enter university, and the better your mark is, the more choices you get to enter your favorite institution.
* In late winter or early spring, the ocean-dwelling salmon migrate to return to the streams and rivers in which they were born. Oftentimes these fish return to their natal rivers in groups called runs. The journey is a dangerous trek, but they can be seen jumping upstream in some places, just to return to the exact place where they first hatched. Predators---most notably bears---oftentimes await the returning salmon and prey on them as the fish navigate jumps and shallow places.

Photos from Germany III

One of the most important virtues in a community  is RESPECT, this good quality  strengthens the links betweens fellow citizens and helps making life in that society better. One should have respect for humans, animals and plants.

This time, I’ve picked four milestone photos from my urn up, and as you’ll see,  we have  two situations that show respect.
The photo below shows a “Rauchen ist verboten” ( It means “No smoking” ) sign pasted on the building’s chimney. Until now, nothing is uncommon. But, Behold! It’s an open space – The roof of one of Frankfurt’s skyscrapers-, notwithstanding, they banned smoking. It’s a high level of respect, respect for both of nature and humanity. Europeans are pioneers in this field- USA & Canada too-, and the laws prohibiting smoking in Public areas are a good example, but it shouldn’t be the end, they ought to carry on banning this poison everywhere. Personally, those who call for letting some smoking zones are calling for something too absurd that one’s intellect cannot approve. I couldn’t find a better metaphor for this context than this quote.
Someone – Hachakoum -said:

A smoking section in a restaurant is like a peeing section in a pool.

 

Now, let’s imagine this in Algeria :p I bet that you’ll find someone smoking and sitting right under the sign. It’s like he interpreted it as the order: “Smoke here!”. someone who went to Paris told me that he smoked in Eiffel Tower, while bragging about it!


A friend of mine is allergic to smoke,he gets a red eyes when exposed to it. He told me that one day he' was sitting and another guy came and sat right besides him  holding a cigarette. He asked him to keep it away. The guys answered: “If you don’t like, go and don’t sit here!”. The guys is acting like my friend is the offender. He remembered me of what Wendy Liebman’s quote:

“People always come up to me and say that my
smoking is bothering them... Well, it's killing me!”

hehehe,  hilarious, but true. Many smokers think this way.
That was the first manifestation of respect.

Let’s turn the first page of the article and pass to the next one. In the Photo below, we see a bulldozer in the middle of the road. Obviously, there’s work out there. But, the question is : where is the debris ? The loads of sand and stuff? I can see nothing, and it makes me believe that it’s a road’ sweeper!
We see also the smoothness of the traffic. The car is rolling as a fish in its aquarium. In the other hand (or foot :p ), in Algeria you’ll see a mess in the middle of a byway, and sometimes, for months, just because they are repairing the water leakage. Let us not talk about the Metro and Tramway…it’s  a long story!



We see how they do respect the people , the city and the ground itself. 
As illustrated below, the lever in the middle of the street while life goes on without a trouble. It’s totally clean and well organized. I’m picturing how will it look like when they clean the site after the task is done! I can’t see it cleaner.
 



In the end, I really want to see such circumstance in out country. Pay and give more attention to the human being as the ultimate source of strength and development, and not make materialistic sources so sacred as they are.
Ayya weew ;-) -- hathi fi khater Zakirovsky sec --

Arrêter le «LOLage», ça nuit à votre santé virtuelle !

 

Comme je m’adresse à mes compatriotes et voisins maghrébins, alors j’opte pour le français pour rédiger. La version Anglaise arrivera plus tard.

L’internet a révolutionné notre monde, un monde où les frontières physiques perdirent leur sens. Elle a aussi rendu la communication rapide et surtout à la disposition de n’importe qui, n’importe où.

Notre sujet concerne la communication écrite, et le Chat -la messagerie instantanée en fait partie-. Avec une rapidité foudroyante, les gens se trouvent à peine en mesure de synchroniser leurs doigts avec la nécessité de taper assez rapidement pour transmettre leurs idées et paroles, i .e. pouvoir tenir le rythme du flux d’idées.

Généralement on communique verbalement*, c’est plus facile, efficace et surtout rapide. Et quand on compte communiquer textuellement, ce n’est pas évident qu’on puisse transporter la même quantité d’informations ni d’émotions. Alors, le dilemme ici est : il n’y t’il pas un moyen pour projeter nos émotions et réactions sur la dimension des lettres et caractères? Comme réponse et par conséquence, une panoplie d’abréviations et émoticons a connu l’existence. Des mots pour décrire une humeur, une émotion ou un état d’âme. Des fois c’est verbatim comme ‘Hahaha’ ou ‘hehehe’ pour dire que je ris et des fois ‘mdr’ qui est une abréviation de mort de rire.

 

En me baladant dans les corridors du net, on remarque une utilisation obscène du Fameux « lol », qui est utilisé hors son contexte par la plupart des internautes. « Lol » qui n’est rien d’autre que l’alternative anglais pour mdr et l’abréviation de «  Laughing out loud », en français « éclaté de rire à voix haute ». On la voit partout, dans les forums, la messagerie instantanée, les réseaux sociaux comme facebook.

Si, vous êtes en train d‘envoyer un MSN ou en train de ‘tweet‘er , c’est plus ou moins logique, car le nombre de caractères est limités, mais quelqu’un qui a plus de 100 boutons devant lui et qui ne va pas dépenser un centime pour l’envoi du mail ou du commentaire, ça c’est absurde. Ce maudit langage SMS est devenu viral, et on trouve à peine des gens qui écrivent comme des humains :p

Les exemples de la mauvaise utilisation ou l’utilisation abusive de cette abréviation (ironiquement, le mot abréviation est plus long que son sens !) sont indénombrables, on va citer juste quelques uns :

Un exemple sur MSN

A : «  salut, c’est Flane..lol »

B : « ca fé un bail Flane, mdr »

A : «  oui c’est vrai, javai du travail loool , et chui 1 peu fatigé»

B : «  tu sais, 3lane est en hopital sé jrs, il a eu 1 malése  ! lol»

A : «  lol cé po vrai ! mdr»

Une situation typique où les gens utilisent «lol». Des salutations, des exclamations, et la plus grave c’est quand on a rien à dire.

Un internaute écrit dans son blog : « ‘Lol’ est la réponse stupide pour dire j’ai rien dire ».

Si ce phénomène continue à cette ampleur, on risquera d’ici cinq ans à inclure dans le CV : Maitrise de l’orthographe. Et en 2017 le point d’exclamation va être substitué par ‘lol’. D’où je déclare officiellement la guerre sainte sur ce maudit phénomène, et j’invite tous les guerriers de la lumière  à utiliser les ‘haha’ et les ‘hehe’ au lieu de « LOL » et le suivre par un (anti-Lol). Hehe

__________________________________________________________________

* : La communication verbale inclut le langage corporel, mimiques et intonations.

Photos from Germany II

Al Salam Alaykom,
Well, today I picked a couple of photos up from my virtual urn –The file which contains the milestones photos- and I’ll comment some aspects.
Primo, I’m going to show you something in Germany that you may come across in Algeria, especially in the "Dog Days"*, but in a very different decor.
Below, you can see, clearly, a man and his wife undressing their children to take a swim in a fountain. Thanks god! We are not the only folks on earth who swim in the fountains :p



The contrast between our way and theirs are:

• -Our fountains are Magical, in Arabic (an atypical translation of the Idiom: بالعربية, which means: In clear words), you jump into the water a human being and get out of it a human being an amphibian with a prickly heat*. You can never imagine how many frog, dragonfly or any other insect did spawn in the blurry water, as you cannot count the number of the naughty brats who p*ssed there. While theirs, I guess you can drink from or get lucky and grab a couple of money coins :p (Exaggerating ? Maybe!)

For reasons of morality I had to cover up the quasi-naked kid, I don’t want his friends to blackmail him later or post his photos naked on facebook after 10 years:p hehe

• The same as my previous post, we see no one staring at them- except the little girl on the left who’s saying “Darn, why did I forget my swimsuit?!!”-. They are too chilled out and natural.
• Another thing to point in this photo is, the parents themselves are watching over the children. And for their safety, they brought even “water wings”* !In the other hand, ‘chez nous’ the kids who go to such places are brave enough to go without their parents’ consent. Seriously, we ought to look after the kids nowadays more than any time ago. Things are getting worse: More cars on the roads –considering also the driving licenses brought illegally-, more harassments and psychopaths who may do anything to them. What we read in the newspapers is horrible: kidnappings, rapes, torture and go on.

Secundo, and in the same context, we see above two women waiting for something-or someone :p- to come, while a kid is on the sewer’ metallic cover, which is supposed to be the dirtiest spot in the street (the foul water or liquids, bad odors and maybe toxic gases -NH3 especially! Hehehe, hope you know why-, plus all the cars and the pedestrians who step on all the day). But, I ignore completely what do the Germans diffuse in their drain pipes to let their children recline on it! I need an answer here…



En tercer lugar, I liked this photo which reflects the concern of the Germans about environment and their tendency to play it green. While seeing it I laughed out loud (I don’t ‘LOL’, I laugh out loud , I’ hehehe’ or I ‘hahaha’. This ‘lol’ and ‘mdr’ screwed the beauty of the languages and …and…em…I guess It inspires me for another post. Hehehe *Evil laugh*), don’t they, Germans, have something called “Der Schwarzwald”*?! Didn’t they have plenty of green spaces and fields all around the country?! Back to Algeria, where the Sahara is crawling to the north in a dreadful silent pace, we hear, scarcely, of plating initiatives or sensitization campaigns. I don’t even dare to mention planting the roofs as in this scenery. I see a huge cultural gap between the two countries. Why don’t we give a heck about nature and environment? I think, it’s a matter of education, It’s something we grow with, learn in the schools and in the dwellings. Imagine our schools organizing outdoor excursions, where each kid plants and labels the tree by his name. After years, the same kid will come across his plant and beholds it. He’ll see his positive impact and footprint on life’s track. Our prophet Mohammad (BPUH) told us that if someone is living the end of the world and have a plant in his hand, he should plant it.

عن أنسٍ رضيَ الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:[ إِنْ قَامَتْ السَّاعَةُ وَفي ِيَدِ أَحَدِكُمْ فَسِيلَةٌ ،فَإِنْ اسْتَطَاعَ أَنْ لَا يَقُومَ حَتَّى يَغْرِسَهَا؛ فَلْيَغْرِسْها ].

Even if you know that life ended already, don’t give up doing this! Now, you can picture how important and vital this act is.  I Hope these words reach a hearing ears.

Finally, I don’t type these scrambled lines, to glorify them and belittle ourselves. I do write to know how much work we need to make this country -jinxed by its own strength and fortune- rise from anew. We are the hope and the tomorrow, and we can do nothing without unity, that’s why I call for a massive engagement in making the development wheel spin in the right direction and faster.
I have faith, hope and conviction that we still have time to make a change, and this change starts by oneself. Gandhi said: ”Be the change you wish to see in the world”, and the imam ibn taymiyah said:”My paradise is in my chest; my imprisoning is my seclusion; my exile is my tourism….”.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* "Dog Days": n. heat wave, period of hot days between July and September ("Dog Days" of July and August).(Ar): قيظ ، حر الصيف ; (Fr): La canicule
* “prickly heat”: skin disease which causes itching and inflammation; (Ar): طفح جلدي ;(Fr): éruption cutanée.
*“water wings” : Buoy ; (Fr) : Bouée
* “Der Schwarzwald”: the German name of the Black Forest, region in the south-western Germany which is mountainous and forested. It’s called black because of the darkness inside, due to the condensed trees

Photos from Germany (I)

These photos were taken by a friend of mine while wandering through Germany, summer 2007. I browsed his photos album, and stopped by many milestones –I call the meaningful things people call ‘futile’ milestones -. In this context, I call these photos that reflect a side of a society ‘milestones’ because they do deserve stopping by and extract some benefits.



In this photo we see three or two mothers with their seven children on the bare floor, next to a shop’s glass-paneled display case, enjoying their Ice creams. Too normal in Germany, but let’s imagine the scene in our very country Algeria! Hehe (Anti-LOL), here are some scenarios that may, very likely, occur:

1. Everyone who passes next will stare at them surprised, laughing or disapproving (My friend who took the photo is one of the surprised ones) or maybe a crowd will surround them –if it’s in Djelfa, I guarantee this :p-.
2. The shopkeeper or one of his employees will kick the whole family away from the façade, because the naughty kids will, surely, tarnish his ‘Vitrine’ by their Ice-creams.
3. ……….… I will let you, dear reader, fill the blank out. I promise to consider the innovative ideas;-)
4. ………….

Another thing that really impressed me is the cleanness of the floor!
Which sane –in the sense of caring- mother in Algeria would let her kids, and herself, sit on a pavement that only Allah knows what was on the shoes of the pedestrians that walked it down, all the day along? I guess, no one would!



 P.S. off the record, didn’t you notice that the kids are all blonds-except one- while the mothers have all dark hair?

The beginning...

Got insomniac, nothing could put me to sleep after a strong cup of cold tea (forgot it on the cold floor) O_o. Over years, I spent most of my time on the internet, surfing, reading, wandering from forum to forum like a bee, and especially interacting. I hate lurking*, which is too passive in such active world. My regret is, I mingled with different kinds of people in different corners of the web sphere, but couldn’t stay in touch with. Discussed hundred of topics & developed endless threads, but lost track of them.
Ideas flow though my neurons like a crazy flood, and by just talking they are, in best cases, heard and forgotten. But, writing is another thing. It’s anchoring them on the shore of time.
From now on, I’m goin’ to chain what I can on this pole, and pin what I can on this board.
Hope to see you soon…

____________________________________________________________________________
*lurk: (Internet) be a passive participant in a discussion group (read other people's messages without adding one's own comments)