Saad Hariri ...
Does anyone have information on Saad before he "inherited" Lebanon? How business-oriented was he? Was he on the sidelines of the businesses (i.e. Saudi Oger) he was involved in, or was he one of the main reasons for its success? How qualified (and this does not mean political qualitifications) is he in running the country? Will we just accept the "he is his father's son" excuse as enough?
"Westside"
It seems that Ahmadinejad has an unknown affinity to the West coast (although technically, his hand didn't form the W correctly).
Typical Question: Does the US truly care about Lebanon?
Typical Answers:
1 - Yes! Of course they do! Haven't you been watching the news? What about the most recent meetings in the UN? Lebanon is top on US priorities.
2 - No, they're just trying to get to Syria.
3 - They care, but its not sincere.
4 - They are making up for the Iraqi fiasco.
5 - They want to democratize the world, and by supporting Lebanon they support democracy. Therefore they care.
6 - Of course they don't. They never cared. They never will.
7 - I don't care if they don't care. I only care that they oppose Iran and the Islamic state that Hezbollah wants to impose on special Lebanon.
8 - Lebanon? Where's Lebanon?
9 - Bush rules. He's a very caring guy. There is no doubt that he cares about the Lebanese.
10 - It's illogical for the US not to care about the Lebanese.
11 - They care because Lebanon is the most civilized country in the Middle East, and they need some form of support.
12 - I don't know. If PM Seniora says they care, then that means they care.
13 - Yes, they really do care about unearthing the conspiracy behind the Hariri assassination. It is a personal issue.
14 - No. They only care about those damn zionists.
15 - Who cares.
One Year Ago ...
a "brotherly" nation left ...
Spying on a Neighbour
So ... I'm assuming
this will calm things down ...
Newsweek Interview with Seniora
Click here.
.
Lahoud's Vision
The below cartoon isn't the funniest, but to those who know me well, you understand why I posted it!
*Stavro: Al-Balad
Being Exclusively Anti-US is NOT cool ...
... regardless of what Arabs seem to think. (and being exclusively anti-iran is also NOT cool, but that's a story for another day ...)
For example, instead of only blaming the US for the veto against a series of UN resolutions (with regards to Palestine) in the past couple of weeks, blame the Arabs as well for FAILING to be of any consequence. I've heard more rhetoric over the past three days than I can possibly fathom ... yes, the US does protect Israel, etc. etc., but that does not mean that the only solution lies in ending US dominance.
The stupidest thing I heard (today) is that the initiatives taken by the Arab League in the Khartoum and the Beirut Summit show Arab support for Palestine. PLEASE. If the Arabs really did want to help Palestine, then they could at least attempt to leverage economy. Because of the world's dependence on oil, Arabs have (for now anyways) the ultimate weapon - an ECONOMIC one (like the '73 oil embargo, but with a slightly more constructive strategic twist). Jack oil prices up to $150+ ... stop oil tankers from crossing the atlantic ... be willing to sustain losses for some time ... that is an example of ACTION (as opposed to grumpy old men sitting and chewing the proverbial shit in Khartoum). The Middle East may not contain all of the world's oil, but it contains enough to grind the world to a halt for a few days/weeks/months by controlling the flow of oil ... maybe not much of a plan, but still better than constantly playing the victim.
Addendum: Speaking of anti-US sentiment, apparently Bush is having a closed-door policy meeting around 100 m from where I'm currently typing this message, and a huge protest is going to take place.
Update: Since I mentioned this, I might as well complete the picture. The protest did take place. I'm not sure of the turnout because I just passed by at the beginning, but it seems quite a few people went.
On Jumblatt ... again ...
What exactly went on in Saudi Arabia while Jumblatt was visiting that would make him state the
following:
- he would "entrust the Arab League to help Lebanon preserve its stability"
- "It is important to agree on the guidelines which
preserve Syria's strategic security and also Lebanon's diversity and freedom of the press"
- "in the end it is the Arabs who preserve stability in Lebanon"
Has another "shift" begun?
...
Lest we forget the dead ...
... in memory of the victims of Qana ... lest their names be buried in the footnotes of history ...
Sent to me by a friend ...April 7th, the preliminary attackVictims of the preliminary Israeli of April 7th.
Mazen Farhat (16 years, killed), and his brother
Ibrahim Farhat (8 years, killed)
Mohammad Obeid (6 years, wounded)
Ali Shehab (25 years, wounded)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AmbulanceThe following names are those of victims of the rocketed ambulance near Tyre:
Mona Shweikh - a 35 year old mother who died along with her three daughters:
Zeinab Abbas Jiha (5 years old)
Haneen Abbas Jiha (3 years old)
Maryam Abbas Jiha (1 month old)
Three other people died in the same ambulance:
Nokha Al@akli
Hodoo' Al@akli
Nadwa Fayez Al-Khaled
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The UN compound in QanaThe following people died at the UNIFIL compound where they were seeking shelter in Qana:
Leila Ismail
Abu Abbas Ismail
Mostapha Ismail
Ali Mostapha Ismail
Mohamad Ismail
Khadija Ismail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abu Ali Balhas
Riad Balhas
Ali Balhas (2 years old)
Mahmood Balhas
Hala Balhas
Hussein Shawqi Balhas
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hussein Fatwi
Hasan Fatwi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Im Ali Bitar
Abboudi Bitar
Ali Haidar Bitar (a child)
Fadi Haidar Bitar (a child)
Mohamad Haidar Bitar (a child)
Wurood Haidar Bitar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kamel Nayef Saad
Shahiyya Saad
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohammad Hussein Deeb
Sadiq Deeb
Qassem Deeb
Hamza Deeb (7 years old)
Ali Deeb
S@adiyya Deeb
Mohammad Ali Deeb (8 years old)
Fatima Deeb (1 1/2 years old)
Sakeena Shareef Deeb
Mohammad Shareef Deeb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ismail Barji - a father of 3 boys. He dies along with his wife and all three of him kids
his wife- Maryam Hashem
the boys-
Abbas Ismail Barji
Ahmad Ismail Barji
Mohammad Ismail Barji
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbas Mohammad Barji
Mohammad Barji (Abu Riad)
Safiyya Barji and her daughters
Lina Baji
Darweesh Mostapha Barji
Mortada Barji
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ibrahim Taqi and his son,
son: Ahmad Ibrahim Taqi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hussein Al-Sharif - he died along with his wife and three sons
wife- Fatima Al-Sharif
sons:
Mohammad Al-Sharif
Qassim Al-Sharif
Ali Al-Sharif
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ali Khalil
Khalil Khalil
Mohammad Khalil Khalil
Mahmoud Khalil Khalil
Mostapha Khalil
Dyala Khalil
Ahlam Khalil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Youssef Mohammad Abu-Khalil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ali Mohanna
Zeinab Mohanna
Hussein Mohanna
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatima Abdallah
Hasan Abdallah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wisam Hijazi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hasan Sleimani
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohammad Ghrabi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hasan Nasrallah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ali Qassim
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sameer Zaki
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sobhiyya Sleiman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohammad Kamel Sakhouni
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mostapha Salman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latifa Al-Sayegh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S@adallah Ali S@adallah
Mahmoud S@adallah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The victims in NabatiyehThese were victims of the rocketing of a house in Nabatiyeh that was overshadowed the same afternoon by the shelling at Qana.
the mother: Fawziyya Khawaja her children
Nujood Hasan Al-@abid
Lulu Hasan Al-@abid (15 years old)
Mohammad Hasan Al-@abid (14 years old)
Ali Hasan Al-@abid (12 years old)
Huda Hasan Al-@abid (10 years old)
Nada Hasan Al-@abid (6 years old)
Mourtada Hasan Al-@abid (4 years old)
Noor Hasan Al-@abid (3 DAYS old)
Also killed in the same house were:
Ahmad Dakhil
Ali Khalil Dakhil
Fatima Ramadan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other victimsOther people who were killed by similar Israeli bombings:
Ali Min@im (105 years old)
Wasif Min@im
Husein Min@im
Wajib Min@im
Hiba Sh@ashou@
Ibtisam Yousef
Rana Yousef
Dima Yousef
Saleh Kareem
Ghoufran Saleh Kareem
Mounir Saad
Ali Diab
Hussein Rammou
Ibrahim Farid Al-Nashef
Jean Tanios Abu-Assaf
Mounir Matta
Mohammad Sajir
Ayman Mounir Al-Mouqadah (1 1/12 years old)
Thana' Hussein Nasser
Fadl Atwi
Fatima Ali Hamza
Aida Hasan @Iyad
Subhiyya Al-Souqi
Mahmoud Daher (90 years old)
Badriyya Mourtada
Wafa' Saydani (not sure of last name)
Diasporic Initiatives
In case you're interested:
Directed at Lebanon:
1 -
TechLeb (located in Boston)
2 -
Inlet Directed at the MENA region in general:
1 -
TechWadi (located in the Bay Area)
Addiyar: Rumor vs. Slander vs. Truth
Quite a few people have their doubts concerning the "assassination attempt" on Hassan Nasrallah's life. I will not discuss or pontificate on this, because I have nothing but articles and my own speculation - which never amounts to Truth.
Addiyar has gone one step further, and has accused some of the mainstream parties of involvement with the captured organization (that was accused of planning the assassination). This claim can easily be taken with a grain of salt and dismissed because of its not-so-hidden agenda, but in the end, who are we to define Truth. I did not link to this earlier because I was waiting to see if the Future Movement would reply. They did.
Addiyar published an
article stating that a member of the PSP was somehow involved in the planning of the assassination and that weapons were obtained through the Future Movement. Quite a serious allegation I would think.
Future Movement's reply was aired on the news channel, and can be read
here.
It is easy to dismiss Addiyar's allegations because of its political affiliations. However, on rare occasions, Addiyar was the only newspaper that published certain issues which were initially seen as baseless rumors, but eventually were accepted as true, and which the other mainstream newsmedia did not touch upon. On the other hand, Addiyar's outlook is not exactly unbiased, and so there is a chance that this claim is nothing more but slander/rumor.
This is a serious claim. If untrue, would this not constitute slander? There seems to be a parallel between the article Addiyar has published and one Al-Moustaqbal once published on a member of FPM, who later filed a lawsuit because of that. Why is the Future Movement not doing the same?
Rwandan Justice
Strange to see that a Rwandan ex-mayor has been
sentenced to 15 years for his part in the 1994 genocide, and watching our own magical criminals glorified beyond repair.
Lebanon ... Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Israeli Blah Blah
I first met an Israeli in 2003. That was ... interesting ... yeah, "interesting" is a nice neutral term.
Since my move to the States in 2004, there have been many more encounters - some good, some pointless. The latest discussion I've had suddently morphed into a middle eastern debate. So arguing about possible "solutions" (for lack of a better word) and potential paradigm shifts, I
HAD to mention that Israel should "ease up" on all the human rights violations it was incurring.
His reply? "Yes, you're right. The Palestinians are suffering. But a more important reason for us to stop killing Palestinians is that such actions
reflect badly on us. We are better than that."
I knew I should have bought ...
... a lottery ticket. You never know -
this may have been me.
Lebanon came to a standstill on Monday night as the biggest lottery in the nation's history was finally decided.
No-one had won the top prize since the beginning of the year and lottery fever had gripped the country, with people buying tickets to the last minute.
The jackpot ballooned to 6,306,619,438 Lebanese pounds, the equivalent of just over $4m.
The surprise on the live television announcement was that there was not one winner but three.
Assassinating Nasrallah?
Assafir reports on
this (link active one day).
علمت <<السفير>> أنه تم الكشف، في الأيام الاخيرة التي سبقت انعقاد آخر جلسة حوارية في مجلس النواب، عن شبكة إرهابية كانت تخطّط لاغتيال الأمين العام ل<<حزب الله>> السيد حسن نصر الله خلال انتقاله للمشاركة في جلسات الحوار. وقالت مصادر أمنية لبنانية ل<<السفير>> إنّ مديرية المخابرات في الجيش اللبناني تمكّنت في بحر الأسبوع الفائت، من توقيف شبكة إرهابية مؤلّفة من نحو عشرة أشخاص عملوا طوال شهر آذار المنصرم ومطلع شهر نيسان الجاري، على رصد تحركات السيد نصر الله ومراقبته، مستغلّين مشاركته في مؤتمر الحوار، ووضعوا الخطّة الكاملة للقيام بعملهم الإجرامي وحدّدوا <<ساعة الصفر>> تحت عنوان <<الخطأ ممنوع>>، مزوّدين بأسلحة وصواريخ من نوع <<لاو>> القادرة على اختراق أيّ سيّارة مصفّحة وتحقيق الهدف المطلوب من مسافات كافية لتسهيل هروب قاذفيها
Youth in Action
I had linked to this
article in my sidebar yesterday, but since today I discovered a good friend of mine was directly involved in that, I will practice our beloved habit of cronyism and create an entire post just for this.
Cutting Phone Rates
The Cabinet has approved a plan to reduce international phone rates by up to 40%. That's all good, but what about local rates? I can call Lebanon, from the US, for anything between 5 - 10 cents/minute. That's cheaper than using a cellphone in Lebanon to call a cellphone ... in Lebanon. Hmmm.
March 14 ... long gone
Where is the "March 14" block taking the country? Do they even have a strategy, let alone a sustainable one?
A Conversational Moment
Over lunch a few days ago, a friend of mine was discussing business opportunities in Lebanon, and what needs to be done in order to make Lebanon a technological hub (if possible). As I started to outline the necessary steps, which I won't bore you with, he came to the conclusion that those at the "top" should willingly take a leave of absence ...
... well, we can dream, can't we?
Iran goes high-speed
Iran (or as our wonderfully famed Walid Jumblatt loves saying: Persia) has not only declared, but also tested, a new missile, a.k.a. the Fajr-3 missile (quite an appropriate name in Farsi) and a high-speed torpedo, a.k.a Hoot.
Some may argue that this is a stupid move on the part of Iran, given that it is part of a volatile game with the United States, and others may cheer Iran on and claim that it has every right to develop weapons needed for self-defense.
Putting that aside, I just want to note that the technology needed to develop the Fajr has allowed it to overcome frustrating physical constraints (frustrating for the military, that is). This has made it several times faster than normal torpedoes, and around as fast as a Russian made torpedo (developped in 1995, a.k.a. Shkval). If it is anything like the Shkval, then this torpedo basically soars through the waters in a gas bubble, thus reducing drag. Simplistically speaking of course. Although there is the chance that Iran developped this independently, there is a large probability that Russia nudged over a few technological tricks. Let the games begin.
A moment in the "city"
A few days ago, while in the "city", the following scene unfolded as I stepped onto bus # 30. An old man (a.k.a. tourist) and the bus driver had quite a delightful exchange.----------
Tourist: are you going to mission street?
Bus driver: am i going to mission street? of course i'm going to mission street. this bus always goes to mission street.
Tourist: thank you sir.
Bus driver: what, is this the first time in the city?
Tourist: yes.
Bus driver: right. so you just happened to come upon this bus by luck. you came to the bus stop, saw bus # 30, and decided to go on. well, you're lucky i'm going to mission street then.
Tourist: yes. thank you sir.
Bus driver: well, you might not be that lucky next time. what will happen then.
(tourist goes and sits down. the bus driver hands me the transfer ticket, and continues ... )
Bus driver: damn. everyone always asks me if i'm going to mission street. like things are ever going to change. are you going to mission street. are you going to mission street. several times every day. for the PAST 35 years. can't they read? you take a map, you look at where you are, and you look at the bus routes. it ain't that hard. (mumbles slightly). this has to happen every day. those types of people are what we call morons. idiots. they'll never change. and there are quite a few of them as well. seriously, these people are so stupid that they will always step on any bus they see and walk all the way in before they pop the question: are you going to mission street. it's because of people like them that the world is becoming worse ...
----------
"talking past each other"
generally, in various arguments, the different sides have
rhetoric which each vehemently believe in. the individuals involved have their own explanation for why their
rhetoric is more righteous/logical/beneficial/etc., but that does not change it from being
rhetoric.
this attitude is symptomatic of the discourse occurring in some "parts" of the mena region. there is very little reciprocation and very little
true dialogue (and i'm not just referring to our famed "hiwar"). instead, we are busy "talking past each other", each assuming that he is right and the other wrong.
such practice sadly leads to
self-fulfilling prophecies. all the conclusions that each had arrived at will eventually come true, thus making each more confident of his/her analysis, and making each more militant in his/her beliefs. the saddest element of such intellectual affairs is that none of us realize what is happening until it is too late. at which point, we lament the entire situation, and go ahead and blame the other, when in fact we share a large proportion of the blame because we took the road
always taken.
words will spew back and forth, soaking everything but our minds. ideas will be torn apart by each side, but each side tears apart these ideas by using a different set of initial
assumptions. such arguing will never work until the "other" agrees with the assumptions you use, or if you use his/her assumptions to persuade him/her. if this does not occur, then the topic at hand will perpetually persist being a topic of polemic.
although such continued controversy might entertain some, it is extremely unproductive. in the words of inspector finch from
V for Vendetta (no, this is not a spoiler, and for the quote to make sense, just replace sutler and V with any two names/leaders you want):
"With so much chaos, somebody will do something stupid. And then things will turn nasty. And then, Sutler will be forced to do the only thing he knows how to do. At which point, all V needs to do is keep his word."
so what can we do? will rehashing logic based on different sets of assumptions eventually persuade the other? probably not. is there a different approach to arguing that might persuade the other? yes. let's try that for a change. it might work wonders.
Iran (or as our wonderfully famed Walid Jumblatt loves saying: Persia) has not only declared, but also tested, a new missile, a.k.a. the Fajr-3 missile (quite an appropriate name in Farsi) and a high-speed torpedo, a.k.a Hoot.
