The Alan Kazdin Method for Making Your Children Behave - The Atlantic

There is a belief in Lebanon, that "the world is a mother". Who we are, what we become boils down to our interaction with our parents. This article helps make it an entirely positive interaction.

This article talks about a great way to not use power to discipline children, which keeps this interaction positive.
The Alan Kazdin Method for Making Your Children Behave - The Atlantic:

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Messages from Lebanon - YouTube

Messages from Lebanon - YouTube:

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New government announced under PM Saad al-Hariri | Lebanon News | Al Jazeera

a coalition government gathers the full political spectrum in Lebanon. I'd like to see a foreign carpet bagger manipulate us into a civil war now! New government announced under PM Saad al-Hariri | Lebanon News | Al Jazeera:

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That being said one side is missing, social and environmental activists. These should be members of volunteer policy councils. These councils are how many city-governments reach their goals, and it's what a small government like Lebanon needs to reach countless goals in 4 short years.

Beirutista: BDL Accelerate: Steve Wozniak & My Take-Away Lessons For Lebanon

Beirutista: BDL Accelerate: Steve Wozniak & My Take-Away Lessons For Lebanon:

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and in french:
Steve Wozniak au Liban: une leçon d'Histoire aux Startups Locales | François El Bacha | Libnanews:

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Natalie Panek: Let's clean up the space junk orbiting Earth | TED Talk | TED.com

Natalie Panek: Let's clean up the space junk orbiting Earth | TED Talk | TED.com: Lebanon needs the influence of techies like Natalie Panek, because she has the skills, creativity and the environmental conscience . Can you picture her at the #accelerate tech conference in Lebanon? Sure they got Steve Wozniak to speak there, but we want to engineer and program for a higher social and environmental purpose.

An Amsterdam Suburb Wants to Be the Closed-Loop Community of the Future | Inverse

Why not create similar villages to house Syrians in the arid no-man's land between Lebanon and Syria? 2M Syrian refugees came to Lebanon for refuge, but the country and its infrastructure are crushed by the population overload. Such eco-villages at the border could be co-guarded by the Lebanese army, making Syrians feel safe, but without burdening an overpopulated Lebanon:
An Amsterdam Suburb Wants to Be the Closed-Loop Community of the Future | Inverse:

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In fact, since Syria occupied Lebanon for years under the guise of "policing us", they should now invite the Lebanese administration to develop desert lands in Syria, under Lebanese jurisdiction. Maybe then those millions of Syrians will actually want to live in Syria.

Altered:Nozzle - Same tap. 98% less water. by Altered: — Kickstarter

This simple technology sounds like a great way to save water in Lebanon.
It would be great if the Lebanese government started testing a whole set of technology to protect natural resources and improve the standard of living and environmental health in Lebanon. If we're brave enough to be a small but independent country, we should be independent minded in how we make progress happen as well, and not be at the mercy of fat contracts with Brazilian or other firms (specialized in deforestation and 1970's style development!).

Altered:Nozzle - Same tap. 98% less water. by Altered: — Kickstarter:

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Down Syndrome teacher from Gaza inspires her disabled students | Middle East Eye

One of the many signs that Palestine is on its way up...

Down Syndrome teacher from Gaza inspires her disabled students | Middle East Eye:

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Beirut Travel Guide - YouTube

Beirut Travel Guide - YouTube:

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service): "When Theodore Roosevelt came to Dakota Territory to hunt bison in 1883, he was a skinny, young, spectacled dude from New York. He could not have imagined how his adventure in this remote and unfamiliar place would forever alter the course of the nation. The rugged landscape and strenuous life that TR experienced here would help shape a conservation policy that we still benefit from today."

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Will the first nationalist Lebanese leader in recent history, General Aoun, awaken to the same ecological cause?

Cancer The Forbidden Cures! - YouTube

Now that the General Aoun is president, some of us expect Lebanon to stand up to manipulative Big Pharma, and promote real cures for cancer.

Cancer The Forbidden Cures! - YouTube

Now that the General Aoun is president, some of us expect Lebanon to stand up to manipulative Big Pharma, and promote real cures for cancer.

Bernie Sanders on Free Trade

Bernie Sanders on Free Trade:

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Refugee Bao Nguyen could make history in Congress | Fusion

Refugee Bao Nguyen could make history in Congress | Fusion:



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Mimicking nature turns sewage into biocrude oil in minutes

Mimicking nature turns sewage into biocrude oil in minutes:



This or another recycling process should be done to sewage in Lebanon even if there is a net  energy costs, because sewage needs to be eliminated before it affects our environment!

Syria: Breaking the Propaganda War with VA Senator Richard Black - YouTube

Syria: Breaking the Propaganda War with VA Senator Richard Black - YouTube:



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Seymour M. Hersh · The Red Line and the Rat Line: Erdoğan and the Syrian rebels · LRB 17 April 2014

Seymour M. Hersh · The Red Line and the Rat Line: Erdoğan and the Syrian rebels · LRB 17 April 2014:



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Virginia Senator Richard Black tells the truth about Syria and Libya - YouTube

Virginia Senator Richard Black tells the truth about Syria and Libya - YouTube:



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CIA's Largest Covert Operation In Syria Could Face Large Funding Cuts

CIA's Largest Covert Operation In Syria Could Face Large Funding Cuts

This is so useful to all activitst and idealists/inventors: Chris Anderson on Public Speaking

Acumen Presents: Chris Anderson on Public Speaking | Udemy:

Earthquake hits Italy shaking Rome, what does that mean for Lebanon?

Earthquake hits Italy shaking Rome's ancient ruins 'including Colosseum and Pantheon' - Mirror Online:



Lebanon is on a fault line, our 5000 years of history talk of earthquakes, so why not take precautions and take this issue seriously?

US Senator: "We Have Never Done Anything More Loathsome or Despicable Than What We're Doing in Syria." - Fort Russ

US Senator: "We Have Never Done Anything More Loathsome or Despicable Than What We're Doing in Syria." - Fort Russ:



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WaterSeer | Indiegogo

WaterSeer | Indiegogo: an energy-passive turbine that condenses waster from thin air.



That's what we need in Lebanon, where well water will taper off as population booms.

The Empire Files: How Palestine Became Colonized

The Empire Files: How Palestine Became Colonized:



Israel used an old colonizer strategy, the made made deals with the owners of the land, and didn't recognize the rights of the natives.

What is a microaggression? Let Hollywood movies explain — Quartz

What is a microaggression? Let Hollywood movies explain — Quartz:



ha! Guys who call themselves feminists and never do the dishes need to watch this.

Hundreds march for proportional vote law in Beirut | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR

Hundreds march for proportional vote law in Beirut | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR:



I love how specific and constructive the demands of Lebanese protestors are: they are asking for proportional representation in elections: currently the electoral list with the most votes wins all the seats representing the given district in a parliamentary or municipal election. By the proposed law they would get a number of seats proportional to the votes they received, and the minority party will get a proportional number of seats as well.

Hundreds march for proportional vote law in Beirut | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR

Hundreds march for proportional vote law in Beirut | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR:



I love how specific and constructive the demands of Lebanese protestors are: they are asking for proportional representation in elections: currently the electoral list with the most votes wins all the seats representing the given district in a parliamentary or municipal election. By the proposed law they would get a number of seats proportional to the votes they received, and the minority party will get a proportional number of seats as well.

Julie Lythcott-Haims: How to raise successful kids -- without over-parenting | TED Talk | TED.com

Julie Lythcott-Haims: How to raise successful kids -- without over-parenting | TED Talk | TED.com:



This is so relevant to Lebanese parents, we remember how much homework we have far more than the war we grew up in. Parents wouldn't falter, even if the house just burn down. They would say it's not an excuse for you to not do your homework. They saved us with their focus on school, but hopefully our culture will afford to relax one day and have kids enjoy their childhood.

How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat - The New York Times

Maybe we'll find out the same about pharmaceutics.  How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat - The New York Times

I hope a truly independent Lebanon will turn to healthy food and alternative medicine to keep its population healthy

How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat - The New York Times

Maybe we'll find out the same about pharmaceutics.  How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat - The New York Times

I hope a truly independent Lebanon will turn to healthy food and alternative medicine to keep its population healthy

how we could desalinize water in Lebanon

The Pipe for Santa Monica Pier desalinizes 1.5 billion gallons of drinking water for California | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building:



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Lebanese-American killed by dirty bigot

Tulsa man killed by neighbour who called him 'dirty Arab'



A dirty bigot killed an amazing Lebanese-American man.  CNN might want to report on sophisticate, pluralistic, religiously diverse Lebanon more often, and more honestly, to challenge the thinking of bigots. It empowers bigots to #pullaCNN , meaning to and censor all dignified news from the middle east.

World's Best Cities for Food, No 1 is Beirut

World's Best Cities for Food, No 1 is Beirut

the no-dam solution to hydro-electricity

Imagine if the polluted Sid el Ar3oun was replaced by this:

https://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/433/the-surprising-success-of-micro-hydro

five ways the clean contaminated soil

five ways to clean contaminated soils.

Shubhendu Sharma: How to grow a forest in your backyard | TED Talk | TED.com

Shubhendu Sharma: How to grow a forest in your backyard | TED Talk | TED.com:



Can you imagine crowd-funding micro-forests in Beirut?



Hala

Refworld | Women's Rights in Lebanon

Refworld | Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa - Lebanon:



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Women In Technology | WIT Lebanon Profile

Women In Technology | WIT Lebanon Profile

homes made of recycled plastic

Oscar Mendez builds homes with plastic prefab bricks, made of recycled plastic.
If we started doing the same in Lebanon, we would divert plastic from the waste stream and create affordable adobe homes!

Electronic Band-Aid shapes as alternative to antibiotics

maybe a tool that alternative medicine will pick up one day: Electronic Band-Aid shapes as alternative to antibiotics



Alternative medicine, much like organic farming is sometimes misconstrued as low tech, but I think it's meant to be the pursuit of the right tech.

isolation is bad for seniors, and what of our senior parents?

A Harvard doctor is bringing pets into nursing homes to save seniors from isolation, and the resulting decline on health. In the meanwhile our foreign parents are isolated from their immigrating children, when immigration departments consider them to not be immediate family. They can only come to the US and Canada for visits. These are parents who dedicated their lives to secure our fitire against some difficult odds. As a result we can productive in multiple countries, pay taxes and someone else's pension, but not our parents'. They are considered a burden, all while the system profits from their investment in us.  Our parents are rewarded with precisely the isolation and loneliness that crush seniors according to Dr. Thomas, even though they earned the right to be close to us wherever we might live, and to receive emotional and financial support.

why urban forests

The benefits or urban trees by FAO

Germany recognizes Armenian genocide

It's good to see Germany catch up to Lebanon, and recognize the Armenian genocide. Maybe this will slow down neo-ottomans who fuelled ISIS.

Progress is not a zero sum game: TED talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_wright_on_optimism?language=en

LADE records infractions during Lebanese elections

الجمعية اللبنانية من أجل ديموقراطية الانتخابات:



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Meet The CEO Of The $1.1 Billion Startup Reforming Education In The Arab World - Forbes

Meet The CEO Of The $1.1 Billion Startup Reforming Education In The Arab World - Forbes:



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PressTV-US Jewish author rips Israel occupation

PressTV-US Jewish author rips Israel occupation:



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male aggression in civilized society

We heard about Jean Gomeshi in Toronto, and men who insult women-reporters. the 6 million women living in shelters from domestic abuse in the US... Zaha Hadid saying men don't hate women in the middle east; it's in the west, not the middle east that men were shocked that she's a woman-architect.

Here is an article on male biast among biology students

Here is a blogpost by someone offended by rude males and asking other men to notice:
To Men I Love, About Men Who Scare Me — Life Tips — Medium:

As long as the west considers itself anointed of sexism just because it is the west, it won't easily face its problems.

You Can Heal Yourself With Your Mind (For Real) - The Daily Beast

You Can Heal Yourself With Your Mind (For Real) - The Daily Beast:



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A reason to plan the workday differently: science shows the importance of naps

Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime - Scientific American:

close-minded fundamentalists missed the point of religion

MEMRITV - The Middle East Media Research Institute:



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Alternative medical treatments

A case of multiple sclerosis improvement following removal of heavy metal intoxication: lessons learnt from Matteo's case. - PubMed - NCBI:



Maybe a reason for Lebanon to be more than a depositary for pharma products, and find its own medical path.

Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq | Seumas Milne | Opinion | The Guardian

Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq | Seumas Milne | Opinion | The Guardian:



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This could clear the south of Lebanon of anti-personal mines

New Technology Uses Sound to Find Land Mines:

A Lebanese woman athlete winsISSF Shotgun World Cup gold

Bassil shows little fault to claim ISSF Shotgun World Cup gold:

PaloAlto CEO tells employees to bring their kids to work

If Lebanon is going to re-invent itself, it should follow the lead of average westerners who still separate employed mothers from children. Instead it could benefit from the example of pioneers like the CEO of Palo Alto software, who arranged for her employees to bring their kids to work.

Lebanon could be inspired by unusual westerners like Palo Alto's CEO, but it doesn't need to do however is imitate the west blindly. As Zaha Hadid said, it's in the west that she faced discrimination as a woman architect, and she said that in the middle-east, while men treat women differently, they don't hate them nor do they patronize them. The west has a streak of male aggression that it has yet to face.

US Congressional Hearing on Al Sanea and Money Laundering Arabic Subtitles - YouTube

US Congressional Hearing on Al Sanea and Money LaunderingArabic Subtitles - YouTube:

Review: EsCargo electric cargo bike is one heck of a strange ride

The EsCargo electric cargo bike takes up less space on the road than driver + small cargo. Maybe this would help alleviate traffic in Lebanon

Money laundering from the US to Saudi Arabia

Congressional hearing on Al Sanaa and money laundering, and financing terror.
Are we really supposed to believe 1 trillion dollars when from the US to Saudi Arabia because the US bank (bank of America) was simply too trusting of a Saudi money transmittance company?!! Looks more like political connivence to me, in sending money to the Saudi backers of terror groups.

Money transmittance is in effect the service provided by companies like western union does, and the Saudi company in question did the same, through BMO.

songs about violence against women

These 16 songs to oppose domestic violence make me wish these were played and discussed in high school, to teach young people about emotional protection, not just physical protection in relationships.
Some look at this issue from a distance and think, these women should have known better. Why didn't stand up for themselves, leave. Well for a variety of reasons, such as that violence crept up on them, and social and emotional pressures made want to stay and fix the relationship when it still seemed viable. Another reason is financial dependence, the fear of not be able to raise kids alone, or not want to separate them from their father. Another, in some cultures is being forced apart from their kids if they leave. Battered women in the west are in fact also often threatened by their husbands that he will declare them inept as parents and take the kids.

I think it's up to all of us to redesign society so that a women, a mother can easily support herself and kids, and find the emotional support she needs outside of marriage. If marriage was no longer viewed as a mandatory achievement, if we used more of IT technology to find the right mate instead of adapting to the choice of men we know, women would be less likely to end up in an unhappy or potentially abusive relationship. If we emphasize extended families once more, the idea of having a tribe behind every women, women would not be trapped in the world of an overbearing or violent man. If jobs and society were designed such that women can live comfortably and raise kids with ease with or without a man, they would only stay with the right one.

Imagine if we also redesigned the culture of dating so that couples welcome the second opinion of friends and relatives. Dating rituals can be set up in a way to involve the support circle of the couple instead of isolating them. This would help expose any issue in a man, that a woman is overlooking. It would be great if dating rituals were professionally designed to expose any temper or violence issues. Couples could invite friends to second opinion-night. In some cultures that's still the case, men don't get to isolate or overpower a woman, because they get a sense that her whole support group is involved in their lives. In cultures where it's crucial to be appropriate however, people withhold their opinion even if they see a flaw in the relationship. There is almost an unspoken law of non-interference in the west, regarding other people's relationship, even if interference can save a women, or a man from the wrong relationship. Imagine if dating was reinvented to un-isolate couples, and integrate external opinions, of friends and family, into the mainstream style of dating, to spare a woman any bad choices.

3D printed body parts are working

If the technique of 3-D printing body parts advances fast enough it could be a great help to war victims.

immunotherapy vs cancer

Engineered inherent cancer-immune cells lead to "unprecedented" medical success,  but will Big Pharma gladly give up its massive sales of chemo?
I keep hoping Lebanese doctors will be the first to separate their identity from drug companies and be the first to use alternative treatments.

we're not 150 lb rats!

John Hopkins scientist substitute animal drug tests with tests on mini-brains made of human cells . This spares lab rats and gives more meaningful test results.

a start up in the basement of the white house

This is the kind of IT / politics merger that could benefit Lebanon too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMt0wH-twkE

Why immigration countries should not separate us from our parents

This is a post in progress, as I try to articulate a cause that I sense is crucial. Any help is welcome.

Many of us immigrants in the west come from a culture that thrives on a strong parent-child bond. Once we immigrate we get so many cues asking to give our full attention to the culture we just joined, but no cue about how to emotionally and financially reward the parents that dedicated their life to us, and our success. Individualism is encouraged while our gratitude and hopes for our parents are rejected. As a result we suppress our plans for them, and act on them alone, while missing out on any cultural support for our bond with our parents.

Immigration laws, and some common attitudes seem built on the fear that our aging mothers will bankrupt Canada and the US. Health insurance, private or public, is fee based so why don't US and Canadian govs just name their fee?! Our parents are more than a price tag anyway, they're the people we adored growing up, the ones who dedicated their life to our education, they're the sole reason for our success, and our ability to make money is a result of their investment in us. That's how it tends to be in emigration countries anyway, the burden falls entirely on the parents. Years later, if we end up working abroad, we're advised to "organize our money" in all sorts of accounts, but not even one is titled "reward to the parent that invested their all in you". It's not our parents that jiff immigration countries, it's the other way around! Sure people manage to privately focus on their parents, but imagine if the culture around us was aware of them, imagine the insights we would get if we felt validated in loving our foreign mothers out loud!

4 Lebanese women in the top 10 most powerful women in the world

http://beiruting.com/lemag/4_Lebanese_women_land_in_the_top_10_most_powerful_Arab_women_in_the_world/6276

Including a human rights lawyer, an electrical engineer, an industry captain and a fashion designer.

Amal Clooney (Rank #2) - Human rights lawyer

Nayla Hayek (Rank #4) - Chair, Swatch

Reem Acra (Rank #7) - Fashion designer

Ayah Bdeir (Rank #9) - Founder, littleBits, 
co-founder of open source hardware summit: http://2015.oshwa.org/

Lebanon more than a tourist destination

The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) shook up the inertia in the State institutions since the Government resigned in March by participating in an international forum for outsourcing.

if companies outsource to Lebanon, it's certainly not simply because it's cheaper:
"Lebanon ranks tenth worldwide in its higher education and 4th worldwide in its math and science education", according to this article on why foreign companies outsource to Lebanon.