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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Egyptians cast ballots in post-Mubarak polls - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

One more step forward in Egypt, as Egyptians cast ballots but the west has yet to acknowledge that Lebanon is ahead regarding diversity, and as a result, Islamists do not have a significant block in the Lebanese parliament. Lebanon is ahead democracy-wise, because its largest 2 parliamentary blocks sgned an agreement to separate religion from state. This secures equality in politics, and differentiates Lebanon from neighboring countries where the word "minority" is taboo. This also clashes with corrupt political profiteers that fed on sectarian fears, and lately fake religious divides in Lebanon.
These 2 blocks include the patriotic party, the advocate of the first civil law to be proposed in the middle east. It secures equal rights fro citizens of all backgrounds, and both genders. The other inculded block is Hezbollah. This is one of the alienated Lebanese groups that the patriotic party brought back into the Lebanese democracy, by acknowledging their reasons to dissent. They emerged from a rural south treated like a second class area since the 40's, by a series of regressive post-colonial Lebanese governments. The south was also subjected to racism form Israel. This finally provoked the emergence of Hezbollah in 1980's. Not accepting the cownboy idea of "you're with us of I shoot you", the patriotic party created memorandum of understandings with several Lebanese factions, where they acknowledge the social inequities that provoked them, and agree that a civil law would solve these inequities.

From 1989 to 2004 it was also the only opposition to the past Syrian occupation, to be joined in 2005, at the 11th hour by the so-called pro-west block in Lebanon, made of leaders that openly pledge allegiance to the Saudi monarchy. This pro-Saudi block, along with the US administration, that seems more eager to switch colonizers, than end the colonization of Lebanon by foreign countries. The US administration has definitely approved of that, switching overlords instead of become sovereign, and has vilified the nationalist party in Lebanon, the one that made Lebanon unavailable for a civil war by finding common ground among Lebanese factions.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Rest in Peace, Myriam Achkar

Nadine Mouawad makes an excellent case against rape-related taboos in Lebanon. This after the horrific rape of Myriam Achkar. Let's speak up against rapists, and end sexism.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy | Video on TED.com

People are not apathetic, they are silenced by barriers we don't notice at first sight.
Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy
This applies to Lebanon as well, where I think an obstacle to politial engagement is how rude and macho political conversations can get.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Lebanese citizenship not an option - PLO chief

to anyone who thinks that Lebanese nationalists harm the Palestinian cause, and that the Saudi proteges (Hariri and co) support it:

Lebanese citizenship not an option - PLO chief

Saudi proteges in Lebanon, March 14, want to use the same Palestinians they infuriated for years as a "stuffing", something to add to Lebanon so they can manipulate the demographics according to their regressive sectarian agenda.

AUB, Byblos Bank launch first Consumer Confidence Index in Lebanon | AUB | AMEinfo.com

A Lebanese bank and a university in Lebanon are collaborating to add accuracy to Lebanese commerce:
AUB, Byblos Bank launch first Consumer Confidence Index in Lebanon
That's great, but I am still waiting for the "6 sigma" type program, a quality control program that will improve the level of customer-friendly businesses in Lebanon. Something that indicates how professional, polite and reliable service provider is there.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Once Lebanese rabbits and other animals are safe, something to look forward to...

I know Lebanon loves to take on the impossible, so here you go: something impossible, that's been done, and is perfectly sweet. A bunny rabbits jumping course, and the associated world competitions! I just hope that when these competitions become international, there will be a humane way to fly the bunnies across the world. Not in the hauls of planes, and without holding them at customs, in quarantines. This is the ordeal many countries put animals through, at their border.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Divide and conquer, again? Hint: it doesn't work.

A Christian-owned and a Shiite-owned establishment (to use regressive sectarian labels as they do in the west) were bombed in Tyre, Lebanon.
This has the words "divide and conquer" all over it, or should I say the words Saudi-American alliance hopelessly trying on more civil war, after the failed 2007 attempt by the Saudi regime to provoke a civil war in Lebanon.

Lebanon gets in the way of fabricated civil wars! Of course the catch phrase to get the west shreeking at the news is that Hezbollah also opposes fabricated civil wars: Hezbollah praises army for seizing Syria-bound arms


May 28, 2012: Here's why we use the words "fabricated civil war" in Lebanon, and now in Syria. As this (ironically!) Israeli reporter explains, Saudi-financed fundamentalists, AlQaeda, have highjacked the revolution in Syria and are fighting the Syrian army. The report says many Syrians don't want to go from dictatorship to Islamic Saudi colony: http://jcpa.org/article/alqaeda-jihadists-join-battle-syrian-regime/

Same AlQaeda is attacking the Lebanese army in the North of Lebanon, but not succeeding at starting a civil war this time.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Anna Mracek Dietrich: A plane you can drive | Video on TED.com

Anna Mracek Dietrich gave a TED talk on flying car, that her team is putting on the market in 2011!
Imagine these flying cars solving traffic congestion problems around the world, in developing cities in particular. I also like how they had to ignore absurd comments like "you know that's impossible right"? Makes me think of what the pro-citizenry Lebanese had to hear ever since 1989!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saudi women denouce wahabi misogynist beliefs

In this interview on LBC, a Saudi woman-reporter denounces Wahabi misogynist beliefs.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Avaaz - 4 days to save our children from cluster bombs

Avaaz - 4 days to save our children from cluster bombs
Lebanon children are victims of cluster bombs, a weapon used by Israel against Lebanon. The UN made it illegal, but the US campaigned and reversed that law. Sign the petition to make cluster bombs illegal again.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

A new law differentiating between Lebanese who fled to, and those who collaborated with Israel

Nov 2: The Lebanese parliament passed a law proposed by the Block for Change and Reform, lead by the patriotic party and presided by Gen Michel Aoun. This law differentiates between Lebanese who fled to, and those who collaborated with Israel

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Capitalism, Democracy, and Food

The Huffington post in Capitalism, Democracy, and Food (Video) shows the need for local economies. This applies to Lebanon, creating food security while re-greening the country, through local and urban agriculture. I wonder if candidates of the 2013 parliamentary elections in Lebanon will care to focus on that.