One month ago, every single party was calling for change, however the election did not bring anything new to Lebanon. The majority defended its position, while the opposition maintained it’s parliamentary block almost as it is.
Best of all, Nabih Berri was re-elected today as the speaker of the Lebanese parliament! (Did you hear the gunfire in Beirut??)
If the majority was really serious about its program, it should have proceeded with electing Okab Sakr or one of the pro March 14 Shi’a to replace Berri and go further with forming a government that is all made up of pro March 14 ministers. Let them rule with an iron fist and show the Lebanese people how good they can do!
But seems like everyone is happy with maintaining his position, and the joke was on the people. What change were they all (be it March 8 or 14) promising with people like Berri in authority? (w 3a shiklo shakshiklo!)
Anyway, I leave you now with some pictures of people celebrating Nabih Berri’s “victory” today, they speak for themselves.
Recall, he was competing with no one! Why were they crazily celebrating?
I came across this article by AFP describing Lebanon as a smoker’s paradise, where you can work, dine and have your hair styled in a cloud of smoke. Too bad for us, the non-smokers.
Even teenagers can afford the average one dollar per pack, compared to an average seven dollars (five euros) in France or nearly nine dollars in Britain.
“The minute you land in this country you start huffing and puffing,” said Ghazi Zaatari, a physician and chairman of the department of pathology at the American University of Beirut as well as head of a WHO study group on tobacco regulation.
“As far as tobacco is concerned, Lebanon is a health disaster.”
You can read the full article here.
Tonight I came across an article published in Der Spiegel, a german weekly magazine, revealing new evidence pointing fingers to Hezbollah in the assassination of the late PM Rafic Hariri.
As per the Spiegel, Wissam Eid (assassinated early in 2008) reached that evidence by analyzing the phone calls that were made on the few days leading to the assassination. You can read the full article here.
I expect this news to hit the Lebanese press tomorrow morning, let’s see how will they react towards it, and what will Hezbollah have to say on that accusation.
Update (05/25/2009):
The international tribunal denied all what has been mentioned in Der Spiegel. More info here, article is in Arabic.
Here’s another video that caught my attention yesterday.
In this video, Wayne Madsen (an investigative journalist) claims that Dick Cheney had his own death squad CIA unit which he ran from the white house. And by the orders of Cheney, the assassinations unit killed Elie Hobeika (Lebanese Forces chief) on January 2002, and Rafic Hariri on February 2005.
I have no idea how true is that, but I am pretty sure we will know everything in 10 years from now, when all the involved parties will be eventually admitting what really happened to documentaries. Just as in the case with the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), most of what we know now is through the documentaries that were released in the past few years.
Almost three weeks ago, Liliane (from lilzi.blogspot.com) blogged about this cool billboard at Antellias:
The billboard says “Sara… Will you marry me? Cedric”. At that time, I think every girl was envying Sara and wishing to find a guy like him. And I honestly felt jealous of him!
But just today, Tarek (from beirutntsc.blogspot.com) revealed the truth! It wasn’t a real proposal, it was a pure advertisement for Sleep Comfort.
The girls can now breath I guess, men like Cedric do NOT exist!!
As of yesterday, Beirut is the new book capital of the world.
BEIRUT: Culture Minister Tamam Salam is expected to fly to Paris next week to take over the presidency of the “World Book Capital 2009,” his media office said on Wednesday. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced in April 2007 the nomination of Beirut as the “World Book Capital 2009.” “Beirut should raise awareness about the importance of reading, books and publications all through 2009,” Salam addressed reporters during a lunch at Le Bristol Hotel in Ras Beirut. The official program of Beirut World Book Capital 2009 starts on April 25, 2009 and ends in April 2010. Beirut is the ninth city to be designated World Book Capital, after Madrid, Alexandria, New Delhi, Antwerp, Montreal, Turin, Bogot‡ and Amsterdam. According to a statement by UNESCO, the city of Beirut was selected “in the light of its focus on cultural diversity, dialogue and tolerance, and of its diverse and stimulating program.”
Source: The Daily Star
I believe minister Tammam Salam has to do double the effort here in Lebanon and the Arab world, as our people simply hate to read. I don’t know the average number of books an Arab reads per year, maybe half a paper? Could be!
Last Sunday I thought of taking advantage of the nice weather and go shooting some sunset photos at Ain El-Mrayseh, but the outcome turned out far away from what I had in mind.
For some reason, every single Beiruti has apparently chosen to go have a ride on the corniche, so I ended up getting stuck in a traffic jam for more than 30 minutes… and you think it was boring? Hell no! It was not!
Next time you get stuck there like me, try to look for the clowns who drive their cars with their feet. YES WITH THEIR FEET!
(Click to enlarge)
So, this guy decided to stand up like a monkey on the driver’s seat, in the middle of the road, and control the steering wheel with his feet, without forgetting to raise the radio volume to the max while listening to Goerge Wassouf (you thought he was listening to Nostalgie? you silly..!)
And it looks like being cool these days is associated with getting out of the car window when you’re going for a ride on the corniche! Then you’ll get to open your mouth to the air and literally “teikol hawa” like our 2 friends below.
Conclusion:
Ain El-Mrayseh + Sunday Afternoon = Bad Idea. New York (aka Hamra) could have been a much better option.
No it’s not an April’s fool prank, try to go to www.google.com.lb, it really works! And it looks like the domain has been activated since February 4th 2009, as per this lookup on AUB.edu.lb.
If you have experience in registering a domain name ending with “.lb” then you probably know that in order to register your domain you must issue several official documents including a trademark file and “Iza3a tijariyya”, then present them to the American University of Beirut which acts as the registrar for the .lb top level domain.
I’m curious to know who presented these papers on behalf of Google… is it a sign they will soon be opening an office in Lebanon? (2addamna CV??? :p )
It all started in Dubai with the Palm islands, followed by the Pearl island in Qatar, and soon we might have the Cedar Island here in Lebanon at the cost of Damour!
Covering an area of 3.311.731.60 squared meters in the touristic coastal area of Lebanon, the Cedar Island lends itself as a luxurious residential, commercial, and touristic project. Its geographical location along the Lebanese coast allows it to play a vital role in attracting tourists and VIP residents looking for an exotic lifestyle or escaping from the city.
I’ve read about this project in different new sources and to my knowledge there are still some doubts about realizing it. However, if you check the project’s website, you notice like the project is on its way to be started.
An interesting project indeed, but the question is: What is the enviromental cost for this artificial Cedar Island??
Updates:
- There are a couple of groups on Facebook, one supporting the project, and the other is opposing it.
Via Nihil Declaro.
- I tend to agree with this guy, who wrote a post titled “The island of Dr. Moron“.
- Check this interesting article about the environmental cost of the artificial islands in Dubai, the article is followed by a response by an environmental scientist from the Nakheel project of Dubai.
Mansour Rahbani died today at 83. May his sould rest in piece.
