Bigots' comments on the issue of exploring oil off of the Lebanese shore

Lebanon is auctioning off is off shore gas and oil exploration. So, would you believe that in comment on that, we hear pro-Israel blogger using sectarian slurs against the Lebanese? Check the comments on the site, including one about how bigotry against Lebanese people distracts from the issue. The issue for us Lebanese is: how environmentally responsible will the exploration operation be, and will it deprive us from accessing our Lebanese shores.

how much did you say the Lebanese per capita debt was?

oh, so, it wasn't "prosperity" under the late Hariri regime, was it? And prosperity is rated by economic statistics, not how dressed all the party-goers in Lebanon are, right?
At least this seems to be clear when reporters in the Daily Star write:

The ratification of the oil law would allow Beirut to grant firms the right to drill for oil fields in Lebanese waters, which could help the government reduce the country’s $52 billion debt, which marks one of the world’s highest debt-to-GDP rates at 147 percent.

When we fail, it's the exception. When others fail it's the rule

GMA: "Any failure on our part is an exception, while for others failure is a rule"
After the arrest of Farez Karam, FPM member for spying.
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&379E81AEAEC12D3EC225777B00540787

What effect does such a rumor have on Lebanon? Or more exactly what effect does fear mongering have on Lebanon? Well consider this, in Iran and Saudi Arabia, a woman is terrified to be seen with an unrelated man because of the rumors that will spread. In Lebanon, we are amused if anyone even mentions a fear of rumors. I don't think that fear mongering works on us in politics either. Assuming Karam is accused of spying, this cannot be manipulated into a rumor about the entire FPM, not in Lebanon.

who are the real extremists

Many Lebanese patriots compare sectarianism to bigotry, but it's unfortunately common practice to label people by their religion in the western media. In Lebanon however, extremists are not considered to represent their religion, but that being said I'll call extremists by their religion here, to match the international vocabulary.

You've repeatedly been warned about scary Hezbollah, but unfortunately
this just distracts every one form the real extremists. Sunnite
extremists are openly calling to eradicate the Lebanese nation to form
one pan-middle eastern muslim nation (daily star, previous post)

The opposition, including Hezbollah, opposes that and insists on a
religiously diverse nation. The US pretends not to know who the real
extremists are because those extremists will happily take in the
Palestinians that Israel wants to forbid from coming home.

The irony is this: Israel and the west are now covering for the sunnite extremists
who want to assimilate all of the middle east into Islam (by vilifying
shiite Hezbollah) just because they're willing to keep Palestinians
out of Palestine, and Israel is opposing the champion of religious
diversity, the Lebanese patriotic party (and the Hezbollah it's
influencing) who upholds the right of all cultures, including the
Jewish culture to exist in Lebanon and the rest of the middle east
once Lebanon has influenced its area. Israel has a strange way of setting itself up for assimilation.

Re: "What’s going on in Lebanon’s Parliament this Summer?"

In response to What's going on in Lebanon's parliament this summer?

Any Lebanese person with a sense of justice supports the Palestinian cause, but there's a difference between us opposing the fact that Israel has gone "pilgrim" on palestinian natives, asking to reverse that, and us allowing sunnite extremistes to piggy back on the Palestinian cause in Lebanon to colonize our country. This isn't sectarian paranoia talking. I am a Lebanese patriot, and I accuse sunnite and christian separatists in Lebanon (who hardly represent sunnites or Christians) of equal bigotry. The colonial agenda of sunnite extremists and the colonial agenda of the russian settlers (a.k.a. Israel) are equally inacceptable. So would be an Iranian colonial agenda for that matter. This is the agenda that Seymour Hersh talked about in his New Yorker article "The Redirection", and which the Genera Michel Aoun warns about in his interview. This not to mention the economic burden that Lebanon cannot handle, if 400,000 more Palestinians could outcompete Lebanese people of their jobs. I migrated to Canada, after they careful established that I would benefit their society, do not outcompete their citizens, with my skills, and the rest of my family is still not allowed to join me. Why can much richer countries protect their resources and not Lebanon? The injustice inflicted on Palestinians falls on the international conscience, and more wealthy countries should compensate for this injustice instead of carrying the injustice over on Lebanese people, in the form of an economic burden.

The living conditions of Palestinian in Lebanon are unfair, but we need to fix them without absurdly replacing one injustice with another, this time one inflicted on Lebanese people.

and... speaking of extremist neo-colonialists piggy backing on the Palestinian cause, here are flagrant racists calling to eliminate the Lebanese nation and create one pan-middle eastern Islamic nation that assimilates all minorities and exterminates their culture. . For us to have a leg to stand when we protest Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, we cannot have middle eastern who want to eradicate all but one religion!

Which is our favorite super power? None!

Today on the amazingly instructive show, The Agenda (TVO), Steve Paikin addressed the issue of China's authoritarian capitalism.

From a Lebanese perspective, it's tricky whether to fear China or be relieved that the west no longer has sovereignty over the world. The west has two faces. One hand it is the source of principles such as professionalism, parity at work, fairness, reason preceding ego, anti-classism and social justice. These values make life worth living, and make us emigrate from countries that lack them, like China and many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The west also has another face: it regresses to the 18th century in its foreign policy: it still tries to divide and conquer natives in modern times. Civil wars, foreign manipulated, foreign-financed and foreign backed banana republics are the cruel tool used by the west to freeze many countries in the past. China is guilty of that as well, as it poured weapons and money into African countries, most likely to destabilize them.

So which do we prefer? We prefer to benefit from the positive value of the west but without having to watch it snap into pilgrim mode, in its foreign policy. We would like to see Asiatic countries gain speed in the world economy, but also Chinese spokespeople who focus less on smiling and more on not insulting the audience's intelligence when they describe their country to us, and if we're lucky, we'd like to hear from the remarkable Chinese activists that China's government's harasses. So ideally power would be shared among these equally flawed countries, so as to avoid anyone of them being a superpower, which has a standard damaging effect on us small countries, regardless of who the superpower is.

From Prison to Paradise: Extraordinary 2,000 Mile Journey of Hope for 55...

If the organization Animals Lebanon inspires me to do anything at all, it's to pass along news like this about animal rescues anywhere in the world.