July 30, 2005
About 850 people have died from record-setting rains that caused extensive flooding in Mumbai and triggered landslides in the region. Nearly half of those confirmed dead in Maharashtra state in western India died in the city of Mumbai -- formerly called Bombay. The city is used to heavy rain during the monsoon season, but Mumbai was deluged with 940 millimeters of rain in 24 hours -- the most any Indian city ever has received in a day. Our hearts reach out to the people of India in this hard time. Our deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved...
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Leading US Muslim scholars issued a Fatwa (religious edict) to condemn terrorism and religious extremism last Thursday. "Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives," said the decree, or fatwa, released in Washington DC by the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), a group of US Muslim scholars interpreting Islamic law. The fatwa has been endorsed by major US Muslim groups. In the edict, the 18-member FCNA said people who committed terrorism are "criminals," not "martyrs." All acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam," and "it is haram for a Muslim to...
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Posted on July 30, 2005 03:02 AM under:
Tunisia
So, we just got home from the 4th Tunisian blogger meetup, which was another great success by all standards :) This one was even longer than the previous ones; We started at 7PM and finally remembered to go home at 1:15AM, lol. 13 bloggers turned up for this meetup, more than I ever expected especially that it was held on such short notice. The blogs represented today were: Infinity, Tom, Diana Magazine, Marouen, Zizou, Troubadour, La Guilde, 7ammadi, Blogeuse, Evil Drako, AquaCool and Subzero Blue. We missed the people who couldn't make it. Make sure you all come next...
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July 29, 2005
Posted on July 29, 2005 09:06 PM under:
Link Dump
Axe Ads A collection of Axe ads from over the years. (tags: axe ads advertising) My Boring Ass Life Silent Bob Speaks, Kevin Smith's blog. (tags: kevinsmith silentbob blog) When Vector Meets Photo Tutorial on how to vectorize photos using Illustrator. Cool stuff. (tags: vector photo illustrator tutorial) The Last Page of the Internet The very last page of the Internet, loool... (tags: internet humor) 24 Different Ways To Lace Shoes With colour-coded diagrams and all. (tags: shoe lacing methods diagrams) NerdTV First Downloadable Web-Exclusive Series. (tags: nerdtv interviews technology internet) Subzero Blue Acquires Google Check and see for...
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Posted on July 29, 2005 01:05 PM under:
Tunisia
It's summer-time in Tunisia, the heat is frying your brains out, the humidity is unbearable, your clothes are wet with sweat and sticking to your body, you're disgusted even more with every passing second and you know it'll only get worse as long as summer is here. The only solution is to forget everything, head straight to the beach and cool down in the holy waters of the mediterranean. But where exactly? Tunisia has a 1300 Km coastline and beautiful beaches all over the country, so which places are the best to swim in? Here are the best ones I...
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July 28, 2005
Posted on July 28, 2005 11:03 PM under:
Cinema
I finally got to see "Sin City" today, featuring Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro and a bunch of other good actors. I heard a lot about the movie, but didn't really know what to expect, especially with comic based movies not always turning out good. But well, I really liked it. It's a pretty violent movie, even more than Kill Bill, although it sort of follows the same style of action and violence. Not much of a surprise when you know that Quentin Tarantino was a guest director on it. It's really interesting visually, well directed,...
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Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised - a "female" android called Repliee Q1. She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner. She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe. Repliee Q1 is not like any robot you will have seen before, at least outside of science-fiction movies. She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in...
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Since moving the blog to its own hosting account, I've been playing around with a number of things that you might have noticed the results to or maybe not. Anyway here is the new stuff I've added. Related Entries: In every post's individual page, you'll now find a list of related entries on the right side bar. I think this should be very interesting for people who want to explore the subject further and what I think about it. Events: On the right side bar of the home page, I've added a new section called "Events" that pulls events that...
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July 27, 2005
Posted on July 27, 2005 11:28 PM under:
Tunisia
After yesterday's post, it seems more people are for having a meetup this Friday than next Saturday. Again, I know this is on a very short notice, and I hate that. I know some of you won't be able to come, and I hate that even more. I'm really sorry. We'll be having this meetup on Friday, July 29th at 7PM in Biwa (Les Berges du Lac) (More Details), and right after it I think we should start organizing for the next meetup to be sometime in the middle of August. This way these 2 summer meetups are close and...
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Following the recent London attacks, which stunned the UK as well as the entire world, the next major attack, will take place in Paris, according to a Tunisian astrologist. Tunisian Hassan al-Charni, deputy president of the World Union of Astrologers, who had reportedly "predicted" the deaths of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Pope John Paul II and Princess Diana - and the recent attacks in London - has put France on the target line, saying Paris would be the next major European city to suffer a major “terror attack”. “At the end of this summer or...
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Posted on July 27, 2005 03:27 PM under:
Tunisia
'Al Jawhara Radio', the second private station in Tunisia has started broadcasting from the coastal city of Sousse. "Al Jawhara Radio" will broadcast, initially, 19 hours a day (from 6.00 am to 1.00 am). Its "FM" signal will cover most of the central region of the Mediterranean coast (including the governorates of Mahdia, Kairouan, Monastir and Sousse). The new station is called "Radio Al Jawhara" (Arabic for "Pearl Radio"), in reference to the nickname "Pearl of the Sahel" given to the city of Sousse, Tunisia's third largest city and a major sea-resort. I guess we won't be getting its signal...
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Posted on July 27, 2005 12:25 PM under:
Tunisia
Mohamed Laroussi Metoui, one of Tunisia's most prominent literary and cultural figures, died Monday at the age of 85. A prolific author of novels, poems and short stories, he was particularly known for his novels "Halima" and "Al Tout Al Morr". Mohamed Laroussi Metoui was also the founder of the Tunisian union of writers as well as of the union of writers of the Arab Maghreb. He also founded and directed the literary review “Qissas”(Novels) . Apart from his literary activities, Laroussi Metoui also served as a diplomat and representative in Tunisia’s chamber of representatives. He was awarded several medals...
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Posted on July 27, 2005 11:24 AM under:
Tunisia
The banking sector in Tunisia has been slowly opening up over the past few years, with a number of international banks acquiring local ones, new foreign banks opening up, privatization of govenrment-owned banks and more. I think this is great, and I hope it will move the whole banking industry forward, revitalize it and make it more client friendly. I truly think the most important thing the banks in Tunisia need is a change of mentality. They currently treat the client as if he needs them more than they need him, which is not true. Without the client, the bank...
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July 26, 2005
New research suggests circumcision could be effective in preventing the spread of HIV among men. The study of more than 3,000 men in South Africa was done by the French agency for Aids and Viral Hepatitis. The data, outlined at a conference in Brazil, shows male circumcision prevented about seven of 10 infections. Previous studies have suggested that men who are circumcised have a lower rate of HIV infection. It is thought that the cells of the foreskin are much more susceptible to HIV than cells on other parts of the penis, so by removing the foreskin, the likelihood of...
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Steve Vaught, a 350-pound man, who is a 39 year old, happily married father of two kids, is walking across the US to shed weight. Vaught left his hometown outside San Diego on April 10 in an attempt to walk to New York City to lose weight and regain his life. While he embarked on the journey for personal reasons, he hoped his story might serve to encourage others to take their lives back--to get up and do something about it today. As of Friday, Vaught was only near Flagstaff, Ariz., where it's monsoon season. He's fallen way behind his...
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Posted on July 26, 2005 11:17 AM under:
Tunisia
Ok, it seems some people have a problem with the date of 29/07/05 for the blogger meetup. So, here are the suggestions and please leave a comment on which suits you best asap. - Friday 29/07/05 at 7PM in Biwa (Les Berges du Lac). (Some expat Tunisian bloggers will be in the country on this date.) - Saturday 06/08/05 at 7PM in Biwa (Les Berges du Lac). Please leave a comment asap so a decision can be made on the meetup's date. Thank you....
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Roba tagged me with this, so here goes... 1- What does Love mean to you? Love is a state of being where you feel that you simply need another person with you all the time to be happy and complete. 2- What does Marriage mean to you? Marriage is a holy bond between two people who are in love, and who want to start a beautiful family of their own. 3- Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes. I believe I experienced it when I first saw my now-wife Eman. Logically speaking, it might not be 100% true...
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July 25, 2005
Ten teenagers, five Jewish and five Arab, chosen from schools in Haifa, will embark on a 15 day wildlife expedition together in August through the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. Afterwards they will share insights on what they discovered about life, compassion and each other while traveling, working and playing together during their wilderness expedition. This is the new Palestinian-Israeli Unity Project, which is a partnership between Outward Bound and Breaking the Ice, that strives to create positive relationships between the two conflicting peoples through a common, rigorous outdoor experience. The Palestinian-Israeli Unity Project is designed to build understanding and...
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Posted on July 25, 2005 08:10 PM under:
Tunisia
Nearly a month has passed since the last Tunisian blogger meetup, and it's about time we organize another one. I was planning on posting about this last week, but as my blog was down, I couldn't. Anyway, Zizou went on and took the intiative to collect suggestions from the bloggers. Thank you man :) According to the feedback I saw there and the feedback I've been getting from some other bloggers, plus because it's the summer, the day should most probably be in the middle of the week. The time of 7PM still seems good for most. So, I'm suggesting...
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Lance Armstrong ended his storybook career in Paris on Sunday by winning a record seventh consecutive Tour de France title. It seemed impossible in 1999, when he collected the first of his 82 yellow jerseys and the third of 23 stage wins, for anyone to win seven Tours -- in particular a rider like Armstrong who almost lost his life to testicular cancer diagnosed in 1996. In the seven years that ended on Sunday, Armstrong helped cycling shift from a sport of traditions and folklore into a modern, professional, global one. In a speech he gave from the podium, he...
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July 24, 2005
A Pakistani girl has qualified as a Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of 9. Arfa Karim of Multan has officially become the youngest MCP in Pakistan, and one of the youngest in the world. Karim, now 10, met with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last week--an experience she later described as second only to visiting Disneyland. To attain the credential--at any age--a person has to display technical proficiency in areas such as .Net, Visual Studio 6.0 and Windows Server 2003. What she wants to do as she grows up--she would love to study at Harvard, work in a company like...
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It seems that Rotana, the largest production company in the Arab World, is putting the final touches on an Islamic channel it will be launching soon. The channel was created upon orders from Prince Waleed Ibn Talal, and will be based in Egypt and headed by Dr. Tareq El Soweidan. Rotana currently has a network of 6 entertainment channels for music and movies and a new radio station that will be opening soon in Jordan. Where this new Islamic channel fits in the Rotana empire is a mystery. As Ahmed says "From a business perspective, music sells and religion sells",...
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Posted on July 24, 2005 09:03 PM under:
Tunisia
Tunisia's first private radio station Mosaique FM has launched its website and is now offering a live audio stream, as well as a live webcam from the studio, over the internet. Radio Mosaique enjoys great popularity in Tunis, according to a recent survey by a market-research company SIGMA, carried out in May 2005. The survey revealed that Radio Mosaique had around 1.3 million listeners daily, with a 59.4 per cent audience share and an average listening time of two hours 36 minutes. I think Mosaique FM are doing a really good job, and I hope they keep it up and...
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Prophet Yahweh, Seer of YAHWEH, as he calls himself, claims he was blessed to discover the lost, ancient art of summoning UFOs and spaceships on-demand. Since 1979, hundreds of UFOs have appeared on his signal for witnesses to see. Beginning August 7, 2005, he will start his "50 State UFO Summoning Tour 2005." During this time, he says that UFOs will appear on his signal for radio or television news and talk shows to film and photograph. He says that these Space Beings have revealed to him that they are the Angels of YAHWEH, from other planets. They're here to...
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July 23, 2005
Posted on July 23, 2005 09:25 PM under:
Link Dump
Blog In Space Have your blog feed transmitted into space. (tags: blog space transmission) "Superman Returns" Final Logo Artwork Looking pretty nice... (tags: supermanreturns logo artwork) Paint.NET Image and photo manipulation software written in C#. (tags: paint.net photo image software) Motorola Ojo Personal Video Phone Interesting product with a cool futuristic design... (tags: motorola video phone ojo) James Bond Stealth Camera Zippo lighter with a digital cam inside. (tags: zippo lighter digital camera) Google Moon Explore the moon through the Google Maps interface. (tags: google moon maps) Top 10 Web fads The top 10 internet phenomena, memes, forwards or...
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Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh early this morning, ripping through a hotel and a coffeeshop packed with European and Egyptian tourists. Police officials said at least 75 people died in the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade. These bombings may be linked to a series of bomb blasts last October in the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt's interior minister said. I can't believe how much ugliness, violence and terrorism our world has become a place for. This must stop!! There is no reason whatsoever that could ever...
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July 22, 2005
The next version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn", finally has an official name: Windows Vista. The advertising tagline for Vista is "Clear, Confident, Connected: Bringing clarity to your world," according to a video of the announcement posted by Microsoft. The company also said Friday that the first beta release of Vista, for developers and IT pros, is slated for release by Aug. 3. A second, broader test release aimed at consumers will likely debut ahead of Vista's final release in the second half of next year. Among the key features of Vista are a new searching mechanism, supposedly better security, lots...
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Thysdrus tagged me with this meme, in which one has to list whatever is atop of his or her nightstand(s). So, here's what I have on my nightstand right now: 2 Alarm clocks, my mobile phone, a table lamp, a phone, a book ("The Hobbit"), 2 DVDs ("The Aviator", "Million Dollar Baby"), a bunch of cds, a notebook, the AC remote control, photos, a stuffed little monkey toy, anti toothache pills, 2 pens, a drinking straw and an empty glass. Now that's interesting... I never realized how much stuff is lying around on the nightstand. I tag the following people...
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It's been a whole week since Subzero Blue has been down. And what a week! It truly felt like long slow miserable ages. I don't know how I survived a week without blogging. It felt like something major was missing from my life. Almost like walking around without a brain. I was itching to blog, and I couldn't even surf other blogs because it made me miss my blog even more. The downtime was because of some problems that my dear friend Houssein, the generous host of this blog and others, was having with his hosting company, who claimed some...
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July 14, 2005
Posted on July 14, 2005 08:17 PM under:
Link Dump
Arab and Muslims are NOT TERRORISTS Really good and interesting post by Haitham. (tags: arab muslim not terrorist) Hotmail next generation, code-name "Kanukah" Looks nice, but I'm pretty satisifed with Gmail up to now. (tags: hotmail kanukah upgrade) Top 10 technologies we miss Good technologies and products that didn't survive. (tags: good dead technology) Fujitsu e-paper to go commercial in 2007 Only 0.8mm thick and is made from liquid crystal molecules. (tags: e-paper fujitsu) Xmail Hard Drive.com Turn your Gmail into a portable hard drive. (tags: xmail harddrive gmail) Gmail Tips A collection of tips on how to use...
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Today, the name “MP3″ celebrates its tenth anniversary. On this day back in 1995, the researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS decided to use “.mp3″ as the file name extension for their new audio coding technology. Soon MP3 became the generally accepted acronym for the ISO standard IS 11172-3 “MPEG Audio Layer 3″. .mp3 emerged as the unanimous winner of an internal poll at Fraunhofer IIS. In an email dated July 14th 1995, the new file extension was proclaimed. No other coding method so far could uncrown MP3 as the standard for digital music on the computer and...
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July 13, 2005
1. Do not interfere in others' business unless asked 2. Forget and forgive 3. Do not crave for recognition 4. Do not be jealous 5. Change yourself according to the environment 6. Endure what cannot be cured 7. Do not bite more than you can chew 8. Meditate regularly 9. Never leave the mind vacant 10. Do not procrastinate and never regret [Source: About] [Via: Utopia]...
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July 12, 2005
Hard work is all there is. Work hard and the world respects you. Work hard and you can have anything you want. Work really extra super hard and do nothing else but work and ignore your family and spend 14 hours a day at the office, sublimate your soul to the corporate machine, and you will get into heaven. Why Do You Work So Hard? Is it maybe time to quit your safe job and follow your path and infuriate the establishment? Interesting article. Read it here. [Via: 2:48AM]...
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Posted on July 12, 2005 03:06 PM under:
Cinema
It seems that a sequel for "The Usual Suspects", which is one of my all-time favourite movies, is in the works; nine years after the original. Chazz Palminteri, who played agent Dave Kujan in The Usual Suspects has said that studio heads are "Beyond the talking stages" of developing a follow-up film which would probably be titled "Searching for Keyser Soze". And it seems Kevin Spacey will be in this one too, as he apparently told Superman director Bryan Singer, who also directed The Usual Suspects, he'll work with him on the sequel to the 1995 film. I loved the...
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Posted on July 12, 2005 07:32 AM under:
Sixty Jordanians held a vigil outside the British Embassy in Jordan's capital, Amman, to protest at the London terror attacks and express solidarity with the British people. The one-hour vigil was organised by two Jordanians, Mohammed al-Masri and Faris Breizat, who invited friends and others by email and mobile messages to join the candlelit silent protest. "We are here to say loudly 'no' to terrorism and to tell the world that Arabs and Jordanians are not terrorists and they condemn such acts," said Nidal Mansoor, head of local non-governmental organisation The Center to Protect Journalists. You can check out...
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July 11, 2005
A candlelight vigil was held last night in front of the British Embassy in Bahrain to show solidarity with the British people, and to express complete rejection of the terror attacks in London. It was attended by over a hundred people and was organized by a wide range of civil societies: Islamists, Leftists and human rights groups. For more pictures check Chan'ad Bahraini's post. I think this is great, and I wish more solidarity vigils like this could be organized across the Arab world to show our solidarity with the people of London and our total condemnation of these...
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July 10, 2005
Moller International has developed the first and only feasible, personally affordable, personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle the world has ever seen, the M400 Skycar. From your garage to your destination, the M400 Skycar can cruise comfortably at 350+ MPH and achieve up to 28 miles per gallon. No traffic, no red lights, no speeding tickets. Just quiet direct transportation from point A to point B in a fraction of the time. Three dimensional mobility in place of two dimensional immobility. You can view flight test videos here. Now that's cool... Although it raises a lot of security...
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Ex-rebel leader John Garang has been sworn in as Sudan's vice-president, ending two decades of civil war. His inauguration came after President Omar al-Bashir signed a power-sharing constitution at a ceremony in the capital, Khartoum. The new constitution is a key aspect of a peace deal agreed in January. Southern Sudan is to be given some autonomy and former rebels are due to take up cabinet seats next month. As well as being named national vice-president, Mr Garang will head the autonomous administration in southern Sudan for six years, ahead of a referendum on possible secession. One-and-a-half million people died...
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July 09, 2005
Posted on July 9, 2005 06:25 PM under:
Tunisia
Israeli officials have decided to forbid Tunisian singer Saber R'bai from entering Palestine to hold a concert in the city of Ariha, which is under control of the Palestinian authority. According to the London based Elaph, the singer was scheduled to hold a number of concerts in Palestinian cities. No justifications or reasons were provided for why Saber was banned from entering and performing in Palestine. This is totally unacceptable! First of all, the cities in which Saber was to perform are Palestinian cities under Palestinian authority control, and they should be free to let whoever they want in or...
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The US military has turned to the wisdom of Lawrence of Arabia for guidance on how to win the war in Iraq and understand the mindset of its insurgents. In the latest list of books recommended to commanders, T E Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, his first-person account of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks between 1917 and 1919, is number two out of 100. Extracts from the memoir and his essays have also been e-mailed directly to senior officers in the field. Honestly, I think that unless they find something that says 'Get the hell out of there...
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Posted on July 9, 2005 10:24 AM under:
Morgan Spurlock, the guy who made the documentary "Super Size Me", is now delving into the lives of Muslims in America. The experiment: Spurlock would take an ordinary American and have him live with a Muslim family, observing all their customs, for one month. The person chosen was Dave Stacy, a 33-year-old insurance sales executive from West Virginia, a practising Christian with no knowledge of Islam. The Muslim family was that of Shamael Haque, a first year resident in neuropsychiatry at Henry Ford hospital in Detroit. Haque, along with his wife Sadia Shakir, who attends the Thomas Cooley Law...
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Someone went on and put all the AOL video clips from the Live 8 concert series from July 2nd onto one page for everyone to download. The videos are of really good quality and range in size from 30MB to 70MB. Check them out here: Live 8 Video Downloads....
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July 08, 2005
"...If this is a message to Tony Blair, we've got news for you. We don't much like our government ourselves, or what they do in our name. But, listen very clearly. We'll deal with that ourselves. We're London, and we've got our own way of doing things, and it doesn't involve tossing bombs around where innocent people are going about their lives. And that's because we're better than you. Everyone is better than you. Our city works. We rather like it. And we're going to go about our lives. We're going to take care of the lives you ruined....
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