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The last sunset

By on June 7, 2009 in Election ’09

No, I’m not dying tomorrow, but I thought of marking the day before June 7th with a photo, the last sunset before the 2009 elections.

last-sunset

It is the end. The end of the stressful discussions between the colleagues at work, the end of the expensive advertisement campaigns, the end of Marcel Ghanem’s daily talk show “Parliament 2009”, the end of the ping pong games between Aoun and Murr, the end of the irritating convoys, w heik…

Anyway, careful to whom you will be voting tomorrow, and remember that you can vote a white paper if none of the candidates meet your standards.

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Sharek 961

By on June 5, 2009 in Election ’09

sharek-ya-shrik

Haven’t you heard about Sharek 961 yet?

Sharek 961 is a project where the Lebanese people make the news by sending in reports through several mediums to the website. So wherever you are, you can report to them an electoral incident for example and the news will be displayed on their homepage under “User Feed Stream” along with the geographical location of where the incident has ocurred.

From their About page:

Sharek961 empowers Lebanese citizens to promote transparency by sending in eyewitness reports on all election-related incidents or issues. People across Lebanon can send in reports through SMS, email, and the web.

Sharek961 is intended to improve transparency and accountability through civic participation. Information you send in is made available to all citizens, media outlets, and organizations to view publicly online.

Reaching them to submit a report is so easy, and you can do it via any of the following channels:

  1. Send an e-mail to sharek@sharek961.org
  2. Send an SMS to 71-189118
  3. Send a message on twitter to @sharek961
  4. Fill out this form

I’ll be trying to send them some photos from Beirut on the elections day! How about you?

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Follow the Lebanese elections online

By on June 3, 2009 in Election ’09

Spending all of my time at work in front of a computer, like almost everybody else, I usually follow the news via the popular Lebanese news websites, i.e. Tayar, NaharNet, Lebanes Forces and the alike…

For the Elections 2009 news I found some dedicated websites that you also can use if you’re interested:

  1. LBC News: Parliament Elections 2009
    Includes up to date news, polls,  forum, and an electoral guide for the voters.
  2. El Nashra
    Includes up to date news, polls, electoral maps, and candidates CV’s.
  3. Lebanese Forces
    Includes up to date news, multimedia, in addition to a list of the Lebanese Forces candidates.
  4. Free Patriotic Movement
    Includes up to date news, and a list of all the opposition’s candidates in Lebanon.
  5. Demotix
    A collaborative project delivering news by Lebanese citizen journalists.
  6. Lebanese Ministry of Interior Affairs
    Includes general information for the voters, in addition to a polling stations locator.
  7. Lebanon Files (Thanks to Dania)
    Up to date news on the elections.
  8. Lebanese Elections 2009 (Thanks to Liliane)
    A foreign blogger posting personal analysis and updates on the elections.
  9. Elections LB
    Contains general inf ormation for the voters.

Have you got any more websites that I can add to the list?

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Lebanese Forces TV ads

By on June 2, 2009 in Election ’09

A friend sent me 4 videos from the Lebanese Forces for their 2009 Lebanese electoral campaign. And I liked how they were executed so much. They have finally released a match to the Free Patriotic Movement ads campaign, though the FPM’s campaign was mainly on billboards, but I’m talking about quality here.

I still don’t know why they still have not made it to any Lebanese TV channel yet…!

I loved this one the most, and I liked how the camera is zooming out in a 3D style. The video begins by showing a destroyed bus, probably the bus of Ain El-Rimmeineh which marked the start of the Lebanese civil war, then focuses on Bachir Gemayel one of the most important Christian figures and the former leader for the Lebanese Forces (unfortunately he was assassinated in 1982 by I don’t know who), then shows a snapshot from the war of Zahleh, followed by images of the Syrian troops on the Lebanese territories, and finally a photo of the Lebanese youth in March 14 2005 followed by the message “10452 (The area of Lebanon) You did not give them your land, don’t give them your vote”. Impressive eh?

The following 3 videos show how life would be if the FPM and his allies (mainly Hizbullah) won the elections.

Update (06/02/2009):
I just noticed the first video on TV tonight. Seem they were hiding their best for the last week of the elections!

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Lebanon – A smoker’s paradise

By on May 31, 2009 in Lebanon

beirut-downtown-arguileh

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.

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Speech Market

By on May 31, 2009 in Election ’09

Just 7 days for the elections, and 8 days until one of the camps (be it 8 March or 14 March) claims victory and the other “yonjolit”.

Meanwhile, politicians are showering us with their speeches. Some samples are found in the below video.

Video via BetLZ

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I vote for Diamony

By on May 29, 2009 in Election ’09

Ma badda tnein yi7ko fiya!

vote-for-diamony

After the FPM’s “soit belle” and 14 March’s “soit egale”, here’s our latest contestants “Diamony”. In my opinion, she wins! 😀

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Billboards FAIL

By on May 27, 2009 in Election ’09

Have you seen the latest 14 March billboards in the streets, and in specific the one below?

soit-egale-et-vote

It really is so obvious now, the Free Patriotic Movement are leading straight in the ads game, while 14 March are breathless behind trying desperatly to catch up. “Sois egale et vote”, they really call that a reply? And in the first place, did the FPM claim in their “Sois belle et vote” ad that women are inferior? Silly meaningless reply, that’s it, period.

What really got on my nerves though is the billboard that says “I think there14 I am”. How do you read that? And what does it mean?!

i-think-there14-i-am
Photo via Beirut/NTSC

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