Akhu Ikhtu

2007-03-29T17:27:00.000-04:00

Eva's Polka

2007-03-14T22:33:00.000-04:00

The song is called Eva's Polka, a Finnish song originally written in the 1930's. It gained fame and became well-known around the world (but not to me) during the spring of 2006 through the flash animation Loituma Girl. Lyrics are sung in savo, a Finnish dialect, and speak the story of a man who wants to dance polka with a girl, but is met by her mother's refusal.

2007-03-08T11:33:00.000-05:00

يقول زياد سحاب :ء

...

وبشر بقينا

وايه بقا

ليل نهار

غلب وشقا

اين المفر

...

حسين مروّة

2007-02-23T00:25:00.000-05:00

بيار أبي صعب
كان الشيخ الثمانيني في فراشه، حين دق باب بيته في الرملة البيضاء. ثلاثة “زوّار”. سألوا “فينا نشوف الأستاذ؟”. طبعاً، أجابت أم نزار، فالأستاذ لطالما كان بابه مفتوحاً، حتّى على فراش المرض عند عتبة الثمانين. قادتهم إلى غرفته. لحظات قليلة، وكانت الطلقات قد أفرغت في جسد الشيخ الوقور الذي فتح على مصراعيه باب القراءة الماديّة للتاريخ الفكري الاسلامي.في السابع عشر من شباط (فبراير) 1987 ــــــ أي قبل عشرين عاماً ــــــ اغتيل المفكر اللبناني حسين مروّة في بيروت، “على يد مسلّحين مجهولين” حسب العبارة الشهيرة، في سياق حملة دمويّة طاولت آنذاك عدداً من المفكّرين الشيوعيّين بينهم مهدي عامل. واليوم في زحمة الموت، ورعب العنف الأهلي الكامن، لم يكد أحد يستعيد المناسبة أو ينتبه إليها. من يتذكّر صاحب “النزعات المادية في الفلسفة العربية والاسلاميّة”؟ من سمع باسمه من أبناء الجيل الجديد الباحثين عن وطن في مكبّ نفايات الطوائف؟أشياء كثيرة (هي بين القليل المتبقّي من جذوة الروح) لم تكن لتكون على حالها اليوم، لولا الدور المفصلي الذي لعبه في الحياة الفكريّة والسياسيّة العربيّة. سافر ابن الشيخ من جبل عامل إلى العراق عام 1924، لدراسة العلوم الاسلامية في جامعة النجف. وهناك التقى كارل ماركس، حسب عنوان أحد كتبه... بعد أن حطّت بين يديه نسخة من “البيان الشيوعي” ــــــ حسبما تقول الحكاية ــــــ فاكتشف مبدأ العدالة الاجتماعية. فصول يرويها في مذكّراته الكاتب كريم مروّة، ابنه الروحي الذي صار شيوعيّاً على يديه، في النجف أيضاً!حسين مروّة، صاحب “دراسات نقدية في ضوء المنهج الواقعي”، رفيق فرج الله الحلو وأنطون تابت ومحمد دكروب الذي بقي يشرف على مجلّة “الطريق” حتى اغتياله... نتذكّره اليوم كمن يتمسّك بأحلامه المضيئة... كي لا يبتلعنا الظلام.

حرام عليكي

2007-02-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

حرام عليكي، حسي شوي

ما بيستاهل تقسي علي

شفنا حالو

قلنا مالو

قامو قالوبحب خطي

... بحبك، لا تقسي علي

*****

حرام عليكي، حسي شوي

عا حالو قلقان الحي

حلمو مركب

انتي بحرو

... نشفتي بيبحرو المي

... بحبك لا تقسي خطي

*****

حرام عليكي، طلي علي

تعبان ومش لاقي في

عيونو العتمة

عيونك ضي

خلي الحب يضوي الليل

و يقولو يا محلا الضي

كرمالي

ابتسميلو شوي

Lebanon Explosions: A Three-way Message

2007-02-13T13:01:00.000-05:00

Today's explosions took place close to Bteghrine and Bekfayya. Bteghrine is where Elias el Murr comes from; Bekfayya is where the Gemayel family dwells.
The message could not be any clearer:

--To the citizens taking part in tomorrow's demostration commemorating the assasination of Rafik Hariri: Stay at home.

--To Elias elMurr, the minister of defence who was the main figure to declare that the weapons confiscated by the Lebanese army will not be returned to Hizbullah: Don't forget what we can do to you. You got off the hook once, but we are still very close, and we can hit hard.

--To Amin Gemayel, father of Pierre Gemayyel, who was assasinated not long ago. Gemayel the father just came back from a visit to the United States which gained the local media's attention due to the warm welcome he received, especially by G. W. Bush: Be careful what you say and what you do. You can go and meet presidents and leaders, but nothing can protect you here at home.

About Assad And Lebanon

2007-02-13T00:48:00.000-05:00

Read and (try to) enjoy.
Thanks Anton.

A Cold, White, Silent Night

2007-02-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

cellphone pictures

Politicizing God

2007-02-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

جورج خضر - تســـيــــيـــــــــــــــس اللّـــــــــــه
قال الرئيس بوش غير مرة ان الله كلفه وأمره باحتلال العراق وغير العراق. من اعتقد هذا انى لك ان تعالجه؟ اللبنانيون عندهم خفة روح او ثقافة بحيث يعتقد بعضهم ان الله يكلمهم بهذه الأمور ولكنهم لا يقولون. انا أفهم أن المولى عزّ وجلّ يتنازل اليك ليشفيك من مرض لأنك خليقته وحبيبه ولكن ان يكون عنده سياسة للبنان أو طائفة في لبنان فهذا عندي أمر مضحك. الرب لا يعززك في منفعة لك دنيوية ولا يعزز طائفة بحيث يعليها على غيرها وينصرها وتتبوأ به في مرحلة من التاريخ فهذا يضحكني أكثر. فالطوائف بشر والبشر اشقياء، متعبون ولا ينحاز الرب الى فريق منهم ولا دخل له في الحرب والسلم فهم يصنعونها بمقدار قدرتهم. والدليل على ذلك ان الدولة الواحدة تنتصر في معركة وتنهزم في أخرى. فأين امانة الله لهذا القوم في حين وتواريه في حين. هكذا صلى القسس الألمان لنصرة بلدهم في الحرب العالمية الاولى والقسس الفرنسيون لبلادهم في الحقبة نفسها وكل منها ظن انه فريق الله.لا مجال هنا لنذكر الحروب الصليبية واعتقاد الذين قادوها ان الله بعث بهم الى هذه البلاد. لماذا الله لم يتركهم فيها الى يومنا ولماذا اراد نصرهم واراد هزيمتهم؟ ولماذا تربح اسرائيل وتخسر اسرائيل؟هناك نزعة متأصلة في البشر ان يجعلوا الله منقذاً لمقاصد هم وضعوها. وكل شعب يعتقد ان الله حليفه يجعل نفسه شعباً مختاراً.

وأياً كان معنى العبارة لماذا انتصر العبرانيون مرات قبل مجيء المسيح وانكسروا مرات. الانسان يحتاج الى حليف وهو الذي يعلن الله حليفاً له. لماذا بقي المسيحيون سبعة قرون في بلاد الشام أكثرية ساحقة واندثروا كلياً في شمال افريقيا.في ظني ان من اسباب رقيّ الغرب منذ القرن الثامن عشر انهم درسوا الشأن السياسي عقلياً وما اعتبروا نجاح الثورة الفرنسية اكليلاً لله ولا مجيء بونابرت الى الحكم والملوك الآخرين هبوط النعمة عليهم. لقد انتهى عصر النبوءة ولم يبق لله اليوم نصر ولا فتح والقصة قصة سلاح وفهم سياسي وتقدم أو تخلف حضاري.وليس اللّه مع الشيعة أو السنة أو المسيحيين أو سواهم في الحرب لأنه إله السلام أو هو السلام كما تقول الكتب الموحاة. والجماعات الدينية أو المعتبرة كذلك تلعب لعبتها السياسية بمقدار قوتها وما من احد يحمل تفويضاً إلهياً لربح أي موقع وليس الله ضد خسارة أي موقع.

واذا كان شيء من هذا فانه محجوب عن فهم أي منّا.• • •الله ترك لنا قيماً روحية نسلك حسب مضمونها ولم يترك لنا خرائط عسكرية. الله ليس رئيس أركان. اذا قلنا هذا نعني ان الجيش المنتصر هو جيش الله. وهل يقود الله جيشاً آخر اذا ما انتصر وهل في الله مزاجية لينحاز؟ فاذا لم تتعلْمن مقاربتنا للحرب والسلم فنحن في حروب حقيقتها دينية وظاهرها دنيوي. وكان شارل حلو يقول ان حروبنا مع اسرائيل هي حروب انبياء. كان هذا عنده تعبيراً عن الطابع الديني الذي كان اليهود يطبعون به اعتداءاتهم. ولكن أي ولد يعرف ان الانبياء لا يتحاربون وان تفويض الانبياء أوراق مزورة يكتبها الناس لمصالحهم.اذا وضعنا الله جانباً عن هذه المسألة ودعوناه الى نفوسنا التائبة تزول الحرب لأنها عمل القلوب المليئة بالبغضاء. هنا لا بد من الرجاء وان نوقن اننا جميعاً باقون لا بقوة السلاح ولكن بقوة المحبة بحيث تحس انك تعظم الآخر وان محبته إياك تستبقيك في الوجود وان في الأرض متسعاً كافياً لك وله. هذا يفترض منك إيماناً ان الآخر لا يستطيع تهديدك ولو قال لأنك باقٍ بالرضاء الإلهي وانت أعزل وان لك رسالة له ولغيره على قدر ما أنت زاهد بالدنيا وربما زاهد بالسياسة. كنت أقول لبعض اصدقائي المسيحيين: لما كنتم غائبين عن المسرح السياسي في السلطنة العثمانية كنتم أعظم ازدهاراً في الفكر والابداع أي في أمور تسري بلا سلاح وبلا مركز سياسي.أنا ليس عندي دروس القيها على المسيحيين المسيسين اليوم. هم افصح مني في مجالهم. واذا استطعت ان تبذل جهداً في دنيا الفكر والفن والنشاط الاقتصادي تزداد حاجة الناس اليك ويبقى لك فضاؤك ولهم فضاؤهم وتكتشفون معاً ان العمل الانساني الكبير يحررك من الخوف وتالياً يحررك من الاتجار بالسلاح واستعماله. في الخمسينات على ما أذكر كان اندره جيد يحاضرنا في سينما روكسي في بيروت وقال لنا إن العالم صنعته الأقليات. لا تخف من الانقراض ان لم تهاجر. الانقراض يأتيك من التحارب ولا تخشى ان تنجب لأن هذا من مشيئة الله وهو يرزقك ويرزق ذريتك. لا تظن انك ستبقى بالدفاع عن نفسك إلا بطرق السياسة الشريفة اذ يكون هذا دفاعاً عن الوطن كله. وللناس ان يتسابقوا بالفكر وبالانتاج الاقتصادي وان يصفو فكرهم الروحي والفلسفي بسبب من النابغين فيهم وهذا مفيد للأمة كلها. اذا لم نهاجر خوفاً فالمسلمون والمسيحيون قائمون في هذا البلد الى الأبد لأن الانسان غير الأناني وغير المترف يحب الأولاد وان يعيشوا معه وأمامه بالفرح والمعرفة. الطائفية ستزول من نفسها ان جاهدت كل طائفة على دروب العطاء والتقدم. إذ ذاك ولو أتيت جسدياً من أهلك إلا ان سمو قلبك وارتقائك المعرفي يأتيان من كل الجماعات.• • •إذا أصررت على ان تبقى من أهل الدنيا فقط فأنت على صدام فكل جائع الى الدنيا يسعى الى ابتلاعها وحده. أما اذا اقلعت عن الشهرة فأنت مشارك والخبز، اذ ذاك، يبدو لك الخبز المادي دون خبز المعرفة قيمة.ان تنزع السلاح عن جعبتك يبدأ، عند ذاك، بتطهير نفسك وبجوعك الى اللّه والمعرفة والعمل الذي يأتي منهما. واذا ابتلعت الكلمة الإلهية يستمدها منك الآخرون فتحيون بها معاً وتكونون جماعة تبتغي الطهارة التي هي أقوى عملاً من المعصية. مشكلة الخاطئ انه لا يعرف عمقه. مشكلة المسلح انه لا يعتقد كلياً انه معرض للموت وليس في الموت خلق على أي صعيد.في هذه البلاد ليس من مشاركة وطنية بيننا ما لم ننزه الله عن ان يكون حليفاً لطائفة ما

. الخطر هو من هذا الإله الذي تصطنعه على صورتك ومثالك. جهدك إذاً يبقى ان تعود الى الصورة التي رسمها ربّك فيك لا الى صورة إله الحرب التي رسمتها لنفسك.والقضية لا تنتهي بقولك: هذه الفئة ليست مسلحة. أنا ليس عندي استخبارات لأعرف حقيقة الأمر. ولكن الخطأ ليس فقط في اقتناء السلاح ولكن في ان تشتهي اقتناءه. والخطر الأكبر اذا اقتنيته ان تعتقد ان يدّ اللّه على الزناد أو انها هي التي ترمي القنبلة. ليس من وثنية عندي مثل هذه. أنا لا أدعوك الى ان تكون علمانياً في كل مجالات السياسة. هذا ما أؤثره. ولكني أدعوك الى ان تنزه اللّه عن رسمه للحروب او قيادتها لأنك تسقط، عند ذاك، في خطيئة استئجار الله لمصلحة لك وللجماعة التي تنتمي إليها واستئجار الله هو استعبادك فكرياً لله وأنت عبده.الخروج من استئجارك الله أو تسييسه هو باب خلاصك في الايام التي نعيشها، أنا لست مؤهلاً لأن أشير الى العوامل الداخلية والاقليمية والدولية التي تتشابك لإماتتنا. نحن نموت في العمق من عدم عمق النفس أو الفكر ومن عدم رؤية الآخر على انه أخونا ونموت من الخوف أي من غياب المحبة.كل شيء يبدو وكأننا لن نخرج من المحنة إلا بعطف إلهي خاص.

المطران جورج خضر

Hizbullah's War

2007-01-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks for ERAMZI for bringing this up. I will comment on it later:

Inside a well-furnished apartment in a village on the outskirts of Tyre, with shelves of books piled from floor to ceiling, a black turbaned cleric and three men sit sipping bitter coffee. By the door is a pile of Kalashnikovs and ammunition boxes; handguns are tucked into the men's trousers. The four are Hizbullah fighters, waiting for the Israelis."Patience is our main virtue, we can wait for days, weeks, months before we attack. The Israelis are always impatient in battle and in strategy," says the cleric, Sayed Ali, who claims to be a descendant of the prophet.
"I know them very well."As if to make his point, the sound of Israeli shells blasting the surrounding hills shakes the door and shutters every few minutes. Ali does know the Israelis. He started fighting them at the age of 17 when they invaded Lebanon in 1982.
Three years later he was arrested with two of his comrades and spent a few months in an Israeli prison. Within weeks of his release he was fighting them again.That's what he did for the next six years.For the last five years he has been finishing his theology studies in Tehran. A month ago, he was asked by Hizbullah to return to southern Lebanon. He arrived a week before the fighting began.Standing at the window, he points to the banana plantations between us and the blue Mediterranean. "I have fought for years in these groves. We used to sit and wait for them [the Israelis] to make a move and then we would hit. They always moved too quickly, too soon."
All over the hills of south Lebanon hundreds of men like Sayed Ali and his comrades are waiting - some in bunkers, some in farm houses - for the Israeli troops to arrive. Sayed Ali and his men spend most of their time in the building where his apartment is, moving only at night."We stay put and we don't move till we get our orders, and this is why we are not like any other militia. A militiaman will fire whenever he likes at whatever he likes," explains one of the men, who says he has been involved in firing Katyusha rockets into northern Israel. "We have specific orders. Even when we fire rockets we know when and where [to fire] and each of the men manning the launchers runs to a specific hiding place after firing the rockets."He says Hizbullah fighters expect the site of a rocket launch to be hit by an Israeli airstrike or shell within 10 to 15 minutes.Another of the men, who says he is Sayed Ali's brother, explains how Hizbullah teaches its fighters patience: "During our training we spend days in empty buildings without talking to anyone or doing anything. They tell me go and sit in that building, and I go and sit there and wait."
According to Ali, Hizbullah operates as "a state within the state", with its own hospitals, social organisations and social security system. "But we are also an Islamic resistance movement, an indoctrinated army," he adds. "I would go and knock the door at someone and say we need $50,000, he would give me [that] because they trust us."The fighting force of the organisation is divided into two: the "active" group, whose task is to serve in Hizbullah, and the reserve, or Ta'abi'a, as it is known in Arabic. The active fighters get monthly pay. The reserves are called on only in time of war, and receive bonuses but no regular pay.A third section, the Ansar, comprises people who support or are supported by the organisation.
Ali, the commander of Hizbullah in his village, and his men are part of the active force, and their orders are to wait for further orders. "Hizbullah hasn't even mobilised all its active fighters, and the Israelis are calling their reserve units," he said.Hizbullah prides itself on its secretiveness and discipline. "We don't take anyone who knocks at our door and says 'I want to join'. We raise our fighters. We take them when they are young kids and raise them to become Hizbullah fighters. Every fighter we have believes that the ultimate form of being is martyrdom." The three men nod their assent.
Shia symbols and mythology play a big role in the ideology of Hizbullah, especially the tragedy of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the prophet who in the 7th century led a few hundred men against the well-organised army of the caliph in Damascus. He was slain in Karbala, and Shia around the world commemorate these events in Ashura."Every one of those fighters is a true believer, he has been not only trained to use guns and weapons but [indoctrinated] in the Shia faith and the Husseini beliefs," Ali says.
He and his fellow fighters have been preparing for the latest conflict with the Israelis for years and he acknowledges the support received from Iran."When we defeated them in 2000 we did that with [Katyusha] rockets. We had six years to prepare for this day - the Americans are sending laser-guided missiles to the Israelis, what's wrong if the Iranians help us? When the Syrians were here we would get stuff through their supply lines, now it's more difficult."The TV is blaring patriotic songs and pictures of destroyed bridges, houses and buildings. The men are feeling confident - only a day earlier the Israelis suffered heavy casualties in the village of Bint Jbeil.
"Our strategy is to hit the commandos and the Golani units like we did in Bint Jbeil," Ali says. "Those are their best units. If they can't do anything, the morale of the reserve units will sink."For Ali and his comrades, the latest conflict is a war of survival not only for Hizbullah but for the whole Shia community. It is not only as a war with Israel, their enemy for decades, but also with the Sunni community. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have all expressed fears of Iranian domination over the Middle East.
"If Israel comes out victorious from this conflict, this will be a victory for the Sunnis and they will take the Shia community back in history dozens of years to the time when we were only allowed to work as garbage collectors in this country. The Shia will all die before letting this happen again."He says that even if the international community calls on Hizbullah to disarm as part of a peace deal, he and his men will not lay down their arms. "This war is episode two in disarming Hizbullah. First they tried to do it through the Lebanese government and the UN. When they failed, the Americans asked the Israelis to do the job."
Despite Israel's claims to have inflicted heavy losses on Hizbullah, Ali insists his side is in a strong position. "Things are going very well now, whatever happens we are winning. If they keep bombing us we will stay in the shelters, and with each bomb more people support the resistance. If they invade they will repeat the miserable fate they had in 1982, and if they hold one square foot they will give the Islamic resistance all the legitimacy. If they want to kill Hizbullah they have to kill every Shia in the south of Lebanon.

"And even when the battle with the Israelis is over, he adds menacingly, Hizbullah will have other battles to fight. "The real battle is after the end of this war. We will have to settle score with the Lebanese politicians. We also have the best security and intelligence apparatus in this country, and we can reach any of those people who are speaking against us now. Let's finish with the Israelis and then we will settle scores later."

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad ,
south of Tyre
Saturday July 29, 2006
The Guardian

Bimoon?

2007-01-24T14:08:00.000-05:00

"Anything for the "Sayyid"(Nasrallah)"

How to build a Free Republic?

2007-01-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

Set it on fire and blame the traitors and the Zionists.
The Aoun-Hizballah Cookbook

2007-01-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Cold Inside; Cold Outside

2007-01-21T13:45:00.000-05:00

Sitting in a cafe in Birmingham, Michigan.
I am here visiting my cousin, who is spending the week-end in the States interviewing for her residency.
Is there anybody left in Lebanon? Beyond 25 years of age?
I know those who are "stuck" have either found a job in downtown Beirut, or are at home, waiting to be called upon by their leaders to the streets, or by some embassy for a visa, whichever comes first.
I was happy though to see my cousin. We sort of grew up together.

It is cold in here,
as it is outside.
Snow flurries cover the streets and the cars.

We are talking about the past days, and as an aged bottle of good red wine, memories lift your spirits and put a smile on your face. But, somehow, you feel the cold creeping in on you as you realize how easily and quickly things are changing around you.
Life is cold my freinds,
life is freezing cold- most of the time.

Baakleen National Library

2007-01-17T21:27:00.000-05:00

I remember
the books filling up the shelves everywhere around us,
all the whispering, and the sign language,
the smell of paper and the sound of turning pages,
my favorite comic books and magazines,
envying the children working on their homework duties,
wishing I lived closer so I could come everyday,
my sister getting bored and annoying us,
I rememeber the old building and the white stone; the old staircase and the long brown tables. Every library I enter will only be a modified version of the Baakleen National Library, and every one of them, I know, will not be as good or as beautiful.
But starting today, everytime I enter a library, I will remember Baakleen, and a dream you once had, of opening a library on the first floor of your house in the North.
** The Baakleen National Library was inaugurated on the evening of Friday March 13,1987, after the National Center for Information and Studies has finished reconditioning the historical building which was called “Baakleen Serai”, an old Ottoman building, which gives the library its special status.

لـــــن يبقى بلــــدٌ... لتـــركبــــوه

2006-12-01T01:45:00.000-05:00

جورج ناصيف
الجمعة 1 كانون الأول (ديسمبر) 2006

لا معنى للكلام السياسي اليوم.

لا معنى للشعارات، للصراع الكلامي، للنقاش الدستوري، للسفسطة بين اكثرية واقلية، للتظاهرات، للاضرابات ليوم او يومين او لساعة او ساعتين، للانتخابات الطالبية، لتعليق الصور او نزعها، لقطع الطرقات، للاستقالة من مجلس النواب، لمحاصرة بعبدا او السرايا الحكومية...

لا معنى سوى لايقاف هذا الجنون الذي سيحوّل البلد مقبرة مفتوحة. الكل يحذّر، ملوكاً ورؤساء وقادة عرباً واوروبيين: انتم على مشارف حرب أهلية. فتوقفوا عن الانزلاق. أوقفوا هذه الشاحنة المندفعة نحو الهاوية.

هناك قرار بتدمير البلد او اخضاعه، فلا تكونوا مجرد ادوات للموت ايها اللبنانيون المغفلون. لا تذهبوا نحو الانتحار ذهاب البلهاء، حاسبين انكم تجاهدون من اجل المشاركة السياسية او الثلث المعطل. لن يبقى بلد ولا حكومة لتعطلوا فيه شيئا. لن تبقى طائفة الا طائفة العميان والكسحاء واليتامى والارامل والمشوهين والمبتوري الاعضاء.

لن يبقى زعيم سوى عزرائيل زعيما عليكم جميعا. انظروا حولكم. إفتحوا ابصاركم وعقولكم وتعلموا من تجربتكم اولا، ثم من دروس سواكم.

ستعودون الى العصر الحجري، لو تقاتلتم. لن تبقى طرقات ولا طائرات ولا موانىء ولا كهرباء ولا مدارس ولا مستشفيات...

ايتها القبائل اللعينة، إعقلي.

ايها المهتاجون، ناموا مع نسائكم، خير لكم من ان تضاجعوا بلادا بأسرها، فتنجبون العفاريت.

ايتها المحطات التلفزيونية المسمومة، إخرسي. اربطي لسانك واخبارك وتحليلاتك وبرامجك. واصرفي خصوصا مذيعيك ومذيعاتك الذين يعتاشون على الخراب. على المقدمات اللئيمة، والوسخة، على الوجوه المصنوعة من فحم اسود. على الاسئلة مثل الخناجر والدبابير. ايها الزعماء، لن يبقى بلد لتقبضوا فيه من السفارات او تتلقوا الاوامر بالتظاهر. لتخطبوا فيه على المنابر امام قطعانكم الشاردة.

لن يبقى بلد لتسرقوه أو تمتصوا خيراته. ولن تكونوا زعماء في اي مكان آخر. جلّ ما ينتظركم هو الموت او النفي او السجن او اللجوء السياسي الى السفارات.

ليس من شعب اهبل من شعبنا لتركبوا على اكتاف ابنائه وتلوثوا رؤوسهم. انتم زعماء على هذا المربع من عشرة آلاف كلم 2، فقط.

•••

في جميع التظاهرات، يتردد هتاف: بالروح والدم، نفديك يا... هل هتف واحد مرة: بالروح والدم افديكم يا ابنائي، حتى تكبروا، حتى تتعلموا، حتى تؤسسوا عائلات، حتى تجدوا عملا، حتى تسافروا وتجولوا في العالم، حتى تبتهجوا بالحياة؟

تبقى كلمة مودة الى احبائنا في "حزب الله": الحل والربط عندكم اولاً. انتم قادرون على وقف هذا الكرنفال الدموي. انتم قادرون على احياء لبنان من جديد.

فباسم جهادكم الكبير، ارتفعوا فوق السياسة، وعودوا الى الحكومة، حتى لا تنفجر صواعق القنابل من كل صوب.

لقد افتديتم الوطن بأغلى الشباب.

افتدوه، مرة اخرى.

SHOVE IT

2006-11-23T11:57:00.000-05:00

don't be sad

2006-11-11T00:29:00.000-05:00

there's a lot to say to you,
i wouldn't know where to start

but there's so much that you can do
to heal my heart

===

there's a lot to say to you
but alas, we're worlds apart

and there's a lot that i can do
to cure my heart

regret

2006-10-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

It's just another way
to say I'm sorry

and one more day,
to live, and worry

it's just another burden
a different fear
the same old story

this is another line,
the same old shit
the same old rhyme

just like life,
something like it,
yet it can't be,
...not this shit.

(image: surrealmuse.com)

Paradise Lost

2006-07-31T12:24:00.000-04:00

Paradise Lost: Robert Fisk's elegy for Beirut
Published: 19 July 2006

Elegant buildings lie in ruins. The heady scent of gardenias gives way
to the acrid stench of bombed-out oil installations. And everywhere
terrified people are scrambling to get out of a city that seems
tragically doomed to chaos and destruction. As Beirut - 'the Paris of
the East' - is defiled yet again, Robert Fisk, a resident for 30
years, asks: how much more punishment can it take?

In the year 551, the magnificent, wealthy city of Berytus -
headquarters of the imperial East Mediterranean Roman fleet - was
struck by a massive earthquake. In its aftermath, the sea withdrew
several miles and the survivors - ancestors of the present-day
Lebanese - walked out on the sands to loot the long-sunken merchant
ships revealed in front of them.

That was when a tidal wall higher than a tsunami returned to swamp the
city and kill them all. So savagely was the old Beirut damaged that
the Emperor Justinian sent gold from Constantinople as compensation to
every family left alive.

Some cities seem forever doomed. When the Crusaders arrived at Beirut
on their way to Jerusalem in the 11th century, they slaughtered every
man, woman and child in the city. In the First World War, Ottoman
Beirut suffered a terrible famine; the Turkish army had commandeered
all the grain and the Allied powers blockaded the coast. I still have
some ancient postcards I bought here 30 years ago of stick-like
children standing in an orphanage, naked and abandoned.

An American woman living in Beirut in 1916 described how she "passed
women and children lying by the roadside with closed eyes and ghastly,
pale faces. It was a common thing to find people searching the garbage
heaps for orange peel, old bones or other refuse, and eating them
greedily when found. Everywhere women could be seen seeking eatable
weeds among the grass along the roads..."

How does this happen to Beirut? For 30 years, I've watched this place
die and then rise from the grave and then die again, its apartment
blocks pitted with so many bullets they looked like Irish lace, its
people massacring each other.

I lived here through 15 years of civil war that took 150,000 lives,
and two Israeli invasions and years of Israeli bombardments that cost
the lives of a further 20,000 of its people. I have seen them armless,
legless, headless, knifed, bombed and splashed across the walls of
houses. Yet they are a fine, educated, moral people whose generosity
amazes every foreigner, whose gentleness puts any Westerner to shame,
and whose suffering we almost always ignore.

They look like us, the people of Beirut. They have light-coloured skin
and speak beautiful English and French. They travel the world. Their
women are gorgeous and their food exquisite. But what are we saying of
their fate today as the Israelis - in some of their cruellest attacks
on this city and the surrounding countryside - tear them from their
homes, bomb them on river bridges, cut them off from food and water
and electricity? We say that they started this latest war, and we
compare their appalling casualties - 240 in all of Lebanon by last
night - with Israel's 24 dead, as if the figures are the same.

And then, most disgraceful of all, we leave the Lebanese to their fate
like a diseased people and spend our time evacuating our precious
foreigners while tut-tutting about Israel's "disproportionate"
response to the capture of its soldiers by Hizbollah.

I walked through the deserted city centre of Beirut yesterday and it
reminded more than ever of a film lot, a place of dreams too beautiful
to last, a phoenix from the ashes of civil war whose plumage was so
brightly coloured that it blinded its own people. This part of the
city - once a Dresden of ruins - was rebuilt by Rafiq Hariri, the
prime minister who was murdered scarcely a mile away on 14 February
last year.

The wreckage of that bomb blast, an awful precursor to the present war
in which his inheritance is being vandalised by the Israelis, still
stands beside the Mediterranean, waiting for the last UN investigator
to look for clues to the assassination - an investigator who has long
ago abandoned this besieged city for the safety of Cyprus.

At the empty Etoile restaurant - best snails and cappuccino in Beirut,
where Hariri once dined Jacques Chirac - I sat on the pavement and
watched the parliamentary guard still patrolling the façade of the
French-built emporium that houses what is left of Lebanon's democracy.
So many of these streets were built by Parisians under the French
mandate and they have been exquisitely restored, their mock Arabian
doorways bejewelled with marble Roman columns dug from the ancient Via
Maxima a few metres away.

Hariri loved this place and, taking Chirac for a beer one day, he
caught sight of me sitting at a table. "Ah Robert, come over here," he
roared and then turned to Chirac like a cat that was about to eat a
canary. "I want to introduce you, Jacques, to the reporter who said I
couldn't rebuild Beirut!"

And now it is being un-built. The Martyr Rafiq Hariri International
Airport has been attacked three times by the Israelis, its glistening
halls and shopping malls vibrating to the missiles that thunder into
the runways and fuel depots. Hariri's wonderful transnational highway
viaduct has been broken by Israeli bombers. Most of his motorway
bridges have been destroyed. The Roman-style lighthouse has been
smashed by a missile from an Apache helicopter. Only this small jewel
of a restaurant in the centre of Beirut has been spared. So far.

It is the slums of Haret Hreik and Ghobeiri and Shiyah that have been
levelled and "rubble-ised" and pounded to dust, sending a quarter of a
million Shia Muslims to seek sanctuary in schools and abandoned parks
across the city. Here, indeed, was the headquarters of Hizbollah,
another of those "centres of world terror" which the West keeps
discovering in Muslim lands. Here lived Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the
Party of God's leader, a ruthless, caustic, calculating man; and Sayad
Mohamed Fadlallah, among the wisest and most eloquent of clerics; and
many of Hizbollah's top military planners - including, no doubt, the
men who planned over many months the capture of the two Israeli
soldiers last Wednesday.

But did the tens of thousands of poor who live here deserve this act
of mass punishment? For a country that boasts of its pin-point
accuracy - a doubtful notion in any case, but that's not the issue -
what does this act of destruction tell us about Israel? Or about
ourselves?

In a modern building in an undamaged part of Beirut, I come, quite by
chance, across a well known and prominent Hizbollah figure, open-neck
white shirt, dark suit, clean shoes. "We will go on if we have to for
days or weeks or months or..." And he counts these awful statistics
off on the fingers of his left hand. "Believe me, we have bigger
surprises still to come for the Israelis - much bigger, you will see.
Then we will get our prisoners and it will take just a few small
concessions."

I walk outside, feeling as if I have been beaten over the head. Over
the wall opposite there is purple bougainvillaea and white jasmine and
a swamp of gardenias. The Lebanese love flowers, their colour and
scent, and Beirut is draped in trees and bushes that smell like
paradise.

As for the huddled masses from the powder of the bombed-out southern
slums of Haret Hreik, I found hundreds of them yesterday, sitting
under trees and lying on the parched grass beside an ancient fountain
donated to the city of Beirut by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid. How
empires fall.

Far away, across the Mediterranean, two American helicopters from the
USS Iwo Jima could be seen, heading through the mist and smoke towards
the US embassy bunker complex at Awkar to evacuate more citizens of
the American Empire. There was not a word from that same empire to
help the people lying in the park, to offer them food or medical aid.

And across them all has spread a dark grey smoke that works its way
through the entire city, the fires of oil terminals and burning
buildings turning into a cocktail of sulphurous air that moves below
our doors and through our windows. I smell it when I wake in the
morning. Half the people of Beirut are coughing in this filth,
breathing their own destruction as they contemplate their dead.

The anger that any human soul should feel at such suffering and loss
was expressed so well by Lebanon's greatest poet, the mystic Khalil
Gibran, when he wrote of the half million Lebanese who died in the
1916 famine, most of them residents of Beirut:

My people died of hunger, and he who

Did not perish from starvation was

Butchered with the sword;

They perished from hunger

In a land rich with milk and honey.

They died because the vipers and

Sons of vipers spat out poison into

The space where the Holy Cedars and

The roses and the jasmine breathe

Their fragrance.

And the sword continues to cut its way through Beirut. When part of an
aircraft - perhaps the wing-tip of an F-16 hit by a missile, although
the Israelis deny this - came streaking out of the sky over the
eastern suburbs at the weekend, I raced to the scene to find a partly
decapitated driver in his car and three Lebanese soldiers from the
army's logistics unit. These are the tough, brave non-combat soldiers
of Kfar Chim, who have been mending power and water lines these past
six days to keep Beirut alive.

I knew one of them. "Hello Robert, be quick because I think the
Israelis will bomb again but we'll show you everything we can." And
they took me through the fires to show me what they could of the
wreckage, standing around me to protect me.

And a few hours later, the Israelis did come back, as the men of the
small logistics unit were going to bed, and they bombed the barracks
and killed 10 soldiers, including those three kind men who looked
after me amid the fires of Kfar Chim.

And why? Be sure - the Israelis know what they are hitting. That's why
they killed nine soldiers near Tripoli when they bombed the military
radio antennas. But a logistics unit? Men whose sole job was to mend
electricity lines? And then it dawns on me. Beirut is to die. It is to
be starved of electricity now that the power station in Jiyeh is on
fire. No one is to be allowed to keep Beirut alive. So those poor men
had to be liquidated.

Beirutis are tough people and are not easily moved. But at the end of
last week, many of them were overcome by a photograph in their daily
papers of a small girl, discarded like a broken flower in a field near
Ter Harfa, her feet curled up, her hand resting on her torn blue
pyjamas, her eyes - beneath long, soft hair - closed, turned away from
the camera. She had been another "terrorist" target of Israel and
several people, myself among them, saw a frightening similarity
between this picture and the photograph of a Polish girl lying dead in
a field beside her weeping sister in 1939.

I go home and flick through my files, old pictures of the Israeli
invasion of 1982. There are more photographs of dead children, of
broken bridges. "Israelis Threaten to Storm Beirut", says one
headline. "Israelis Retaliate". "Lebanon At War". "Beirut Under
Siege". "Massacre at Sabra and Chatila".

Yes, how easily we forget these earlier slaughters. Up to 1,700
Palestinians were butchered at Sabra and Chatila by Israel's proxy
Christian militia allies in September of 1982 while Israeli troops -
as they later testified to Israel's own court of inquiry - watched the
killings. I was there. I stopped counting the corpses when I reached
100. Many of the women had been raped before being knifed or shot.

Yet when I was fleeing the bombing of Ghobeiri with my driver Abed
last week, we swept right past the entrance of the camp, the very spot
where I saw the first murdered Palestinians. And we did not think of
them. We did not remember them. They were dead in Beirut and we were
trying to stay alive in Beirut, as I have been trying to stay alive
here for 30 years.

I am back on the sea coast when my mobile phone rings. It is an
Israeli woman calling me from the United States, the author of a fine
novel about the Palestinians. "Robert, please take care," she says. "I
am so, so sorry about what is being done to the Lebanese. It is
unforgivable. I pray for the Lebanese people, and the Palestinians,
and the Israelis." I thank her for her thoughtfulness and the
graceful, generous way she condemned this slaughter.

Then, on my balcony - a glance to check the location of the Israeli
gunboat far out in the sea-smog - I find older clippings. This is from
an English paper in 1840, when Beirut was a great Ottoman city.
"Beyrouth" was the dateline. "Anarchy is now the order of the day, our
properties and personal safety are endangered, no satisfaction can be
obtained, and crimes are committed with impunity. Several Europeans
have quitted their houses and suspended their affairs, in order to
find protection in more peaceable countries."

On my dining-room wall, I remember, there is a hand-painted lithograph
of French troops arriving in Beirut in 1842 to protect the Christian
Maronites from the Druze. They are camping in the Jardin des Pins,
which will later become the site of the French embassy where, only a
few hours ago, I saw French men and women registering for their
evacuation. And outside the window, I hear again the whisper of
Israeli jets, hidden behind the smoke that now drifts 20 miles out to
sea.

Fairouz, the most popular of Lebanese singers, was to have performed
at this year's Baalbek festival, cancelled now like all Lebanon's
festivals of music, dance, theatre and painting. One of her most
popular songs is dedicated to her native city:

To Beirut - peace to Beirut with all my heart

And kisses - to the sea and clouds,

To the rock of a city that looks like an old sailor's face.

From the soul of her people she makes wine,

From their sweat, she makes bread and jasmine.

Urgent Appeal

2006-07-18T17:59:00.000-04:00

English

URGENT APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY WITH LEBANESE SOCIETY

Relief Center â€“ Sanayeh

17/7/2006

The Israeli offensive against Lebanon is an act of aggression against the whole Lebanese people. The IDF claims to be attacking an "infrastructure of terror", but the attacks on bridges, roads, airports and ships are cutting the country into pieces, threatening to create a disastrous situation by impeding the transportation of food and medicines, and terrorizing everyone. Besides the hundreds killed and injured, thousands of people are fleeing the country, and thousands of people are fleeing from the areas where the bombing is heaviest into central Beirut. Even here in the "safe" parts of the city we can hear the bombs throughout the day and night, and electrical and water supplies are tenuous.

Political and civil society organizations here are organizing to help people deal with the effects of the invasion, but there is only so much we can do on our own. We are calling on our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world to do two things to help us.

First we call on you to protest at Israeli embassies and consulates, as we hear some groups are already doing. The Israeli government must be held accountable for its criminal and terroristic actions here and in Palestine. We also ask you to send us information about any such protests you carry out.

Second, we are asking you to help us with our work with displaced people here in Beirut. The group we are part of, the Relief Center - Spears, is working in 32 displacement centers in the central areas of Beirut, which were housing more than 6,000 people as of the night of July 16th (we don't know how many thousands more are in other areas). People there are sleeping 10 or 15 to a room without enough mattresses, and they are only receiving food and water irregularly from the government. Many are children or elderly.

Besides the humanitarian aspect of the situation, helping displaced people is crucial to the reconstruction of Lebanon after this crisis ends. One aspect of the Israeli offensive is an attempt to foment tensions between different cultural groups in Lebanon. This is the only way they can hope to achieve their goals without an all-out war, but in the end it would do more damage to Lebanese society than any amount of physical destruction. A broad relief effort is an essential part of avoiding such a disaster.

We urgently need money to buy the supplies we need to help the internally displaced population here. We ask everyone who can to send donations, however small, the Relief Center â€“ Spears in the care of the following two people by bank transfer. Please contact your bank to find out how to do this.

c/o Georges Azzi:

- Bank Name: Credit Libanais SAL Beirut â€“ Agence Sassine

- Swift Code: CLIBLBBX

- Client Name: M. Al Azzi Georges Chaker

- Account Number: 043.001.180.0006817.35.6

c/o Bassem Chit:

- Bank Name: Sociأ©tأ© Gأ©nأ©rale de Banque au Liban â€“ Hamra Branch

- Swift Code: SGLILBBX

- Client Name: Bassem Chit

- Account Number: 007004362092875014 or 007004367092875014

These are difficult days for everyone in Lebanon, but we are confident that with your support we can overcome this situation as we have others before.

For more information, please contact: +961 3 647 605, +961 3 670 783, sanayeh.center@gmail.com

http://sanayehreliefcenter.blogspot.com/

http://lebanonupdates.blogspot.com/

Support the Lebanese People

2006-07-17T13:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

you can find below the link to the blog where we (my civil society activist friends) will be updating news and info about what is happening in lebanon under the Israeli invasion, in addition to the relief work and all the calls for solidarity and help needed.

thank you all,
Relief Center

Lebanese Terrorists

2006-07-16T16:50:00.000-04:00

WARNING, strong pictures:
http://lebanonheartblogs.blogspot.com/2006/07/warning-strong-pictures.html

From Haaretz:

2006-07-15T16:00:00.000-04:00

An IAF missile wrecked a van near the southern port of Tyre, killing 18 passengers and wounding six, police said. The van was carrying families fleeing the village of Marwaheen after Israeli loudspeaker warnings to leave their homes. A police spokesman said more may have been wounded as the vehicle was directly hit.

War on Terror

2006-07-15T12:17:00.000-04:00

Do not visit if you have a feeble heart.
This is a Lebanese child cut in two. Apparently, he was a Lebanese terrorist.
I hope the Israelis and Nasrallah are happy now.
Some people live to spill other people's blood.
Some countries are made to spill other peoples' blood.

We Lose, You Win

2006-07-13T18:47:00.000-04:00

The radicals, on both sides of the border, win again.
Hard luck for us,
evil always wins in this game of politics,
and the ignorant are always the ones to laugh last.
Hizbullah, Syria, Iran, Hamas, and Israeli right-wingers, could not be happier, and those leftists in Israel, could not be dumber.

perverts

2006-06-10T12:12:00.000-04:00

It is nice to dream of peace, but when you see them doing this to the Palestinians, you say: screw them and screw their peace altogether.
What was the reason this time? A suicide bomb? there was none.... they're just creating a suicide bomber that is all...
The whole family was killed, in Beit Lahia in Gaza...

قصيدة عليا الحرنكش

2006-05-15T20:33:00.000-04:00

للشاعر أحمد فؤاد نجم

عليا الحرنكش ياريس مبارك

في عصر مزركش ملون بنارك

لأبيعك وأبايع حكومة حمارك

ملعون أبو اللي يقدر يقاطع قرارك

نهاره مقندل وليله مبارك

فهمبك وهيص وطلع في ديننا

أكيد هو طالع يشاهد جمالك

جمالك جمالنا سوزانك سوزاننا

يامحلا لمصر اللي جالنا

نسيمها في عصرك بيشوي ف بدنا

أأيد وأبايع فخامة جلالتك

وأأيد أي واحد بيمسح ريالتك

ولأنك سر باتع هننسى هبالتك

فأقعد ياريس ودلدل حمامتك

حمامة السلام حمامتك ياريس

سلامة الحمامة وسلامتك ياريس

ياريس حمامة ياريس كويس

على تل مصر ياريتك تهيص

خرابة فسيحة عليها تميس

وأأمر تطاع فشعبك مفيص

ألقاها الشاعر في ميدان طلعت حرب في أمسية حركة أدباء و فنانون.

Yassaar 3aneed (A stubborn left)

2006-05-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

To sympathize with the poor does not entail glorifying poverty. It should motivate you to fight it.
To feel with the illiterate, should not lead to endorsing illiteracy, and labeling the educated as "elitists".
And to adore Che Guevara, should make you appreciate Ghandi even more.

Remarks inspired by the Arab "stubborn" (Z. Rahbani-style) Leftists.

2006-05-11T13:58:00.000-04:00

Life is so dull and boring when you lose the interest in impressing the people around you. One more reason to stick with the one you love.

Iftiradan

2006-04-23T23:14:00.000-04:00

You visit Wa7ad Iftiraadi, read, not just the first couple postings, read it all, give it some time, and you're addicted.
That is art.

See You Soon

2006-03-05T01:44:00.000-05:00

Just sitting alone,
watching TV,
sipping some wine...
there's nothing to see.

I think of you,
like I always do,
waiting...
that's all I'm good at,
and what gets me through.

Our dreams together,
and life ahead,
our talks,
your touch,
your laugh when you're happy,
and whispers when I'm sad.

Find a good movie,
and I think of you,
if you were here,
you'd love it too,

It's not a crime
just spending my time
waiting...

Don't be afraid,
you'll visit some day,
and maybe you will come here to stay,
our life will start from that moment on,
our dream together has just begun.
but now I'm sitting here
with a smile on my face,
my glass is empty
and a dream...
is waiting

Naim Kassem- ahha

2006-02-28T12:07:00.000-05:00

Check this out!!!

Sorry Denmark, Norway

2006-02-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,
in response to all this shameful mess and barbarism that, unfortunately, our fellow citizens are causing, a group of concerned youth have set up this website to apologize and show the better face of our culture, and to prove that we as Citizens of this region, do not agree, nor support the disgraceful manner that the Danish (disrespectful) drawings were faced with:

www.SorryNorwayDenmark.com

It is a small and incomplete effort, but hopefully it would contribute to changing the image "others" have about us, for reasons that have been clearly revealed during the last couple of weeks or so,

Abu Takla.

Genetics

2006-01-30T17:09:00.000-05:00

Some people have been worried about a "fat gene". A gene that dooms you to become fat. Forget about that, what about the "bitch gene"? Now that is something worth studying. Some refer to it as the "mi7n gene". It was shown to be on a locus close to the "open-mindedness gene" but they were quite distinct.
Further analysis is underway to look into the possibilty that Phoenicians, during their quests in earlier centuries contributed to spreading the gene in the New World along with other contributions to civilization. Now THAT, my friends, is a study worth publishing.

A Shit-Hole Full of Fools

2006-01-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder what have those thousands of years and hundreds of civilizations that passed through our region done to us? What have they offered? An accumulation of hatred, problems, disappointments, self-doubt, and wars.
Ever since we were small kids we were taught to brag about our past, the historic richness of our homeland. It was always implied to us that it is something to be proud of, but at times I start thinking that it is merely an act of stupidity.
For people like us, so rooted in their past and surrounded by all this history of conflicts, isn't it harder to start from scratch? At some point in time, that is what a civilization needs, starting from scratch. Putting all the past behind its back and moving on. Ataturk forced the Ottoman's to do so, the French revolution was successful in doing so, the Maoists of China attemted for a decade, and succeeded in seperating the past from their nation's future. The United States of America was built in a whole new continent... regardless of how successful those attempts and movements were, regardless of the names they hold, they made a difference.
We have been living in the shit-hole, this middle-east for centuries, going in circles, stuck to our past, not just stuck, but longing to go back to the old days, fighting our ancestors' battles and losing their wars over and over again.
I am desperate, I feel as if everyone I know is a fool who just does not grasp what we are going through, just endorsing hatred as an ideology and giving it names to avoid the guilt.
If only my people would educate themselves a bit, and try to understand the world, before asking the world to understand their complexes and insecurity.
What is this post all about?
Disappointment and despair.

Happy New 2006

2006-01-04T13:07:00.000-05:00

I have been on a road trip from California back to Ohio. It was something to remember although we were in a hurry and it all took my friend and me 3 days and a half.
I am all out of time and I have a zillion things to do. This month will be a disaster in the lab.
Take care and make the best of this year. I hope I'll be able to do the same.

No Bravery

2005-12-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says,
He has been here.
Tracer lighting up the sky.
It's another families‚ turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry out says,
He has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.
Old men kneel and accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Yes, he has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

Korea stem cell success 'faked'

2005-12-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

(News Agencies):

A South Korean cloning pioneer has admitted fabricating results in key stem cell research, a colleague claims.

At least nine of 11 stem cell colonies used in a landmark research paper by Dr Hwang Woo-suk were faked, said Roh Sung-il, who collaborated on the paper.

Dr Hwang wants the US journal Science to withdraw his paper on stem cell cloning, Mr Roh said.

Dr Hwang, who is reported to be receiving hospital treatment for stress, was not available for comment.

Science could not confirm whether it had received a request to retract the paper.

Dr Hwang's paper had been hailed as a breakthrough, opening the possibility of cures for degenerative diseases.

Mr Roh, chairman of the Mizmedi hospital and a co-author of the report, told South Korean TV and newspapers that Dr Hwang had admitted major flaws in the research, published in June to international acclaim.

Last month, Dr Hwang resigned from his main post as head of the World Stem Cell Hub, after it emerged that some of the eggs used in his research were donated by his staff - in contravention of international guidelines.

Now it is some of the research itself which is being called into question.

"Professor Hwang admitted to fabrication," Mr Roh told South Korea's MBC television network after visiting him in hospital.

Dr Hwang's paper claimed to have produced 11 stem cell lines from cloned human embryos.

But Mr Roh has said that a scientist working in Dr Hwang's laboratory was pressured into doctoring results to make the embryos look like clones.

Transatlantic doubts

Mr Roh's comments came shortly after the lead US author of the published paper appealed for his name to be removed from the paper, citing doubts over the accuracy of the work.

University of Pittsburgh biologist Gerald Schatten said he recommended that Dr Hwang and all other co-authors ask for a formal retraction.

In a statement, Science said that all authors of a paper would need to agree to make a retraction possible.

The BBC's Charles Scanlon in Seoul says the revelations have sparked a furious debate in the South Korean media.

Leading companies have pulled their advertisements from the television station that first revealed the reported problems with Dr Hwang's work.

Many commentators said it was unpatriotic to challenge someone who had given the country a lead in such a promising new area.

Sad Times

2005-12-18T15:08:00.000-05:00

You should know that you have reached the lowest form of humanity when you celebrate the death of a fellow human being, let alone a citizen of your country, let alone a person who has his pen as his only weapon, let alone a man who has a family.
You know you are sick when you see justice served in burning a body to death, when you see the face of God when someone you disagree with is mutilated.You know you are an islamist, not a moslem; a crusader not a christian; a zionist not a jew; a beast not a human being.
You should know all that when you believe that the oppressed and victimized have the right to oppress and victimize others.You are a coward not a martyr, a sheep in the herd not an individual, and a pervert not a fighter when the notion of right and wrong is a point of view: your point of view.
You have to go live on an island, meditate as a human not a "believer", as an individual not a number, and a seeker of truth, not approval. Because time will not turn around to accomodate you, no matter the hatred you hold inside.
The dark ages are gone, doesn't matter how much you cling to them. And freedom, liberty, democracy and independence will prevail, no matter how much you call me a traitor, no matter how many times you burn your "witches" on a stick, or crusify heretics on the cross. No matter what, the best days are coming, not because God is on our side, it is because the justice and the truth are always stronger. It is just how things are.Hariri, Fleihan, Samir, Hawi, and Tueini will live forever, they are not the first and won't be the last...

5-minute break

2005-12-03T16:49:00.000-05:00

I'm in a coffee shop studying for the final. Everything is irritating me, I can't stand anyone or anything. Maybe it's the large coffee I had. Maybe it's the noisy environment. Maybe it's me missing Takla so much, or the continuous fighting with my parents. Maybe it's just the exam, or the Developmental Biology articles I am reading. Maybe people are actually annoying and unbearable, what the heck, ofcourse they are... most of the time. Or is it all of the above? I don't know... when I take a break I read about Buddhism (or Buddhists) in National Geographic, how ironic!! By the way, I watched "Life is Beautiful" two days ago. It is a masterpiece, very touching, and very impressive. Roberto Benigni got enough credit for it I think, several Oscars; they were well-deserved though. You have to see it if you haven't. Such a great movie. I always wanted to see it, I don't know what took me so long. I want to watch "Paradise Now", it is showing in a theater very close to where I live. I hope I don't miss it, since I have no time to do anything this week.

"Wit"-less

2005-12-03T00:17:00.000-05:00

Syrian "witness", former (and current) Syrian intelligence agent, Hussam Hussam: "..and they gave me a thyme pie, meat pie and a rented car as a bribe"

Coming soon: "Chicago, days 2 and 3"... but I have a final exam on Monday, so that can wait.

Thanksgiving Break

2005-11-28T01:13:00.000-05:00

I went to Chicago for 3 days. It was my first visit. Will be posting about it soon, so stay tuned,
cheers.

Missing Lebanon

2005-11-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

How great does it feel to read something like this about Beirut!? Just wonderful, a feeling of pride and "see, I told you so!". I miss Beirut a lot and the rest of Lebanon even more. I couldn't fully enjoy it during my summer vacation due to personal reasons. And afterwards I was very angry at everything that reminded me of it, and still is... somehow.
I tried to fool myself and pretend that I can be just fine living away from all the mess, pollution, all the ignorance, sectarianism, irresponsibilty, all the noise and the turmoil, not to mention the superficiality and the carelessness...
But as soon as you listen to one of those Fairouz songs, everything just vanishes and the longing overwhelms you. I am not sad about that though. It is not nice when you feel angry and disconnected from your country. There is hope in missing it; hope that the coming days will be brighter and cheerful.

Work update: still working on the poster, 2 more weeks to go.

FYI:

2005-11-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

The prisoners in Adra penitentiary in Syria (populated mostly by an assortment of criminals, thieves, drug addicts...) are on a food strike. They are objecting to the external pressure their country is facing and showing their support to the Baath regime. And it is clear they are ready to face the emperialist/zionist conspiracy that is being prepared in Lebanon as their president said. Actually, this is one good way for the Syrians to face possible sanctions: less food for the prisoners, it would sure save some money, especially with the overcrowded prisons they have.
But in the same Adra penitentiary, there are "some" human rights activists and political prisoners who oppose the regime. Do you think they are on strike as well? Even better, what if they do not want to be on strike? Would they be served food? For some strange reason I doubt it. Maybe they would be starved to death, and this way, the regime would label them as heroes and martyrs instead of traitors and spies. It is so easy for the Baathists to do so. Just yesterday the Lebanese people was one heck of a population of nationalist, patriotic Arabs... the Lebanese were even made to feel equal to their "brothers" in Syria. Yet today they are no more than traitors and zionists (except, ofcourse Amal and Hizbullah followers).

Peaceful Lebanon- Threat to Israel and Syria?

2005-11-14T21:20:00.000-05:00

I was both surprised and happy to read Ghassan Tueini's editorial in today's Annahar daily. For those who can't read Arabic, he is advising the Lebanese not to offer any advise, comments or even opinions to the Syrian regime about dealing with the UN and the Hariri murder investigation, especially after Bashar Assad's speech. He then describes how the Syrian interests and the Israeli's are converging in Lebanon and its de-stabilization. While the Syrians-and as it is clear from Assad's speech- need a non-stable Lebanon to keep the conflict outside the Syrian borders, and to prove the need for Syrian hegemony over the small neighbor, the Israelis view a peaceful Lebanon as a threat to their system and ideology which is based on religious homogeneity. This therefore is the biggest threat, because as it seems, a peaceful Lebanon represents a problem for Syria AND Israel.

First, I am surprised because Gh. Tueini was honest and brave enough to say what he said about the Syrians, which is something he has been doing more often after Samir Kassir's assasination. And second, I am glad, because although one might disagree with his opinion, Tueini's point of view is very interesting and needs to be taken into consideration when looking at the current situation in the region. One might argue that the Israelis would want to wait till after a regime change in Syria takes place before trying to mess up the situation in Lebanon, and would not want to anger the Americans who need to succeed at the Lebanese front so badly to save some face with all the trouble in Iraq.

Here is the article in arabic:

لبنان السلام العدو الحقيقي لاسرائيل

الرد اللبناني الأكثر بلاغة وعقلانية على خطبة "الرئيس بشار" التحريضية الانتحارية (الاستشهادية؟) هو الموقف الذي التزمه الرئيس السنيورة. وترجمته، في البعد المستقبلي، ألا نحاول التدخل في الموقف الذي ستتخذه دمشق من التعاون مع التحقيق الدولي. ونذهب الى أبعد، فننصح بالاكتفاء بالحد الذي بلغته التعليقات والتفسيرات للخيار السوري، والى أين قرر الرئيس الأسد الذهاب وماذا ينتظر، وماذا يريد؟ هل هو "الرهان الأخير" أم "التحدي الاخير"؟
هذا الأمر يجب ان نترك للرئيس الأسد ونظامه حرية تقريره من غير ان يكون لنا في ذلك او من ذلك رأي أو توجه او توصية أو خصوصا نصيحة...
والرئيس الأسد أدرى بالذي يريد، وقد أغدق على اللبنانيين من الصفات والأوصاف قدراً يكفي لردعهم عن التورّط أو التنطّح.
أمر واحد نريد ان نقوله – في هذا الإطار بالذات – هو اننا نشكر للوزير الشرع الذي كانت جلسته في مجلس الأمن تذكّر القدامى منا بما كان ينتهجه وزير الخارجية السوفياتي في "أعرق" أيام الحرب الباردة الرفيق مولوتوف... الا انه لم يكن خلف الوزير السوري شبح ستالين يهدد به، فذهبت عباراته الستالينية سدى!... ومع ذلك نريد ان نشكر حرصه على ألا ينقسم لبنان لو جاء الضباط السوريون المشتبه فيهم الى المونتييردي ليجري معهم التحقيق هنا. نحن من رأيه... أي اننا في غنى حتى عن اختبار وحدتنا حيال ذلك، فضلاً عن الدخول في تجربة أمنية قال الرئيس الأسد سلفاً انه لن يساعدنا على تجاوزها بسلام... فشكراً مالنكوف وستالين الصغير...
ويجب خصوصاً ألا نتدخل في المفاضلة بين القاهرة وقبرص وسواهما. هذا الأمر لا يعنينا، همّنا الوحيد ان يجري التحقيق حيث لن يسع أحد ان يطعن فيه، وان ترتاح اللجنة الى ظروفه والقواعد. وبعد ذلك، نرى.
* * *
في هذا المقام، اليوم، نريد ان ندخل مع الرئيس الأسد الابن في محاولة تحليل مشترك للبنان الذي "اسرأل" نصف سكانه على الأقل وخوَّنهم الخ... كما لم يفعل والده مرة من قبل !
ننطلق من الواقع: مساء اليوم الذي القى فيه خطبته التاريخية اياها، كيف تصرفت اسرائيل؟
كثّفت طيرانها المروحي فوق الجنوب. فهل فعلت ذلك لحماية "عملائها" اللبنانيين؟... وهل كانت زوارقها الحربية التي قاربت الشاطئ اللبناني بين صور وصيدا ستقوم بعملية الانزال التي جرى رصدها، ثم منَعَها التدخل الدولي السريع والحاسم... هل كانت هذه العملية، لو تمّت، تحمي الحكومة اللبنانية أو اللبنانيين الذين يسكنون اللبنان القاعدة للتآمر على سوريا؟
لو أنعمت دمشق وجهابذة محلليها الاستراتيجيين – على عقائديتهم – النظر في الأمر لتبيّن لهم ان الهدف الاسرائيلي كان سيكون في ابسط الحالات، افتعال الفتنة التي لم تتمكن الخطبة من افتعالها. ووفق الاستراتيجية الاسرائيلية "المركّبة الأبعاد"، كان الانزال العدائي سيستثير بالذات المواقع الفلسطينية الموجودة هناك خارج المخيمات، وبالذات جماعة جبريل المتمركزين في النفق في ضاحية الدامور والناعمة، على نحوٍ يراد منه التدليل على ان "خطر العدوان" الاسرائيلي لا يزال قائماً، فيتبرر وجود السلاح هناك، والسلاح الفلسطيني عموماً للدفاع عن النفس، فضلاً عن الحاجة الى سلاح "حزب الله"... فهل هذا ما يتلاءم مع تطبيق القرار 1959، أم هو حجة مصطنعة لمنع حتى مجرد الاستمرار في محاولة تطبيقه؟
* * *
معاذ الله ان نكون نتهم دمشق بخدمة اسرائيل... انما العكس هو الحاصل، لا تواطؤاً بين الدولتين، بل استمراراً من تل أبيب في تطبيق النظرية الاسرائيلية المعروفة باسم "استراتيجية اللعبة المفتوحة" open-game strategy والتي أشرنا الى اعتماد اسرائيل لها، وهي مستمدة من "التلاقي الموضوعي" للمصلحتين وخدمة هذا التلاقي من دون تنسيق معلن، بل بمراكمة الخطوات من الجانبين التي تؤدي الى الهدف ذاته الذي يتمناه العدوّان. وبوضوح أكثر: سوريا تريد، وقد أعلن ذلك رئيسها، خلق اضطرابات في لبنان تُضعف حكمه الذي نعتته بأبشع الأوصاف... وهذا بالذات ما تريده اسرائيل باستمرار، لأن استقرار الكيان اللبناني ونجاح تجربته التاريخية الفذّة كموئل التعايش الدستوري بين "العائلات الروحية" (وهي نقيض القبائل الطائفية وخصوصاً عندما تستحيل احزاباً تتنازع ملكية الله فضلاً عن الانتساب اليه بالضد يقارع الضد، ولا "يظهر محاسنه"، أي بالعنف مروراً بالارهاب الفكري وصولاً الى ... الارهاب الجسدي والجماعي)...
استقرار الكيان اللبناني الحواري هو، لا جمهورية التطرّف الاسلامية، الوسيلة المنطقية لالغاء الصهيونية من الخريطة العقائدية والقومية، ومعها الارهاب الذي استحدثته لانشاء دولتها "العبرية" (التي ساقبت انشاء باكستان كدولة اسلامية) فاذا بالارهاب العربي – الاسلامي الذي نشأ لمحاربة اسرائيل يجيء خيال تقليدٍٍ دون الأصل الصهيوني فاعلية، باستثناء التخريب الذاتي الذي بلغنا نحن قمته، في حين تحاشاه الارهاب الاسرائيلي حتى في الحالات التي قتل فيها، كما في السينما اليهودية في مصر، يهوداً لافتعال حالات مصطنعة من "الأنتي – سامية" يوظّفها في استدرار العطف الدولي... وصولاً الى الاتفاقات السرية بين الصهيونية وتوأمتها النازية – الفاشية، وهي اتفاقات لم ينكشف أمرها الا بعد انهيار المانيا الهتلرية.
وغني عن التكرار ان اسرائيل افتعلت "حرب السنتين" ثم "حرب الجبل" واستدرجت سوريا الى خوضهما، بشهادة مذكرات القادة الاسرائيليين (وأبرزهم شارون) ومذكرات هنري كيسينجر (لمن يقرأ دقائق المطوّلات) وصولاً الى مذكرات الرفيق جورج حاوي التي اعترف فيها، بقلب متحرّق، كيف ان اسرائيل بدهائها ومكرها كانت "تدوزن" حروبنا بعضنا على البعض وانتصاراتنا والهزائم، لبنانياً وفلسطينياً وسورياً بل وعربياً – عربياً... ونحن عن ذلك كله غافلون، نفرح بالحروب والسلاح كما الاطفال بالدمى!!! وقد سبق ان استشهدنا حرفياً بنص كلام جورج حاوي في مقالنا الافتتاحي من اسبوعين.
وإن ننسَ فلا ننسى أن التفوق اللبناني، في المحيط الشرقي برمّته، هو في "ثقافة السلام" الخلاّقة، وليدة التعايش التعددي، وتعددية المناهل الفكرية والآفاق الاستشرافية. بينما الدول العربية الاخرى تحوّلها عقائديتها التوتاليتارية نسخاً اسلامية مشوّهة للدولة العبرية.
* * *
الى أين من هنا؟
حبذا لو كان لا يزال في وسعنا ان نستمر نحلم بأن يكون "الحكم السوري" يوماً وريث زنوبيا بدل ان يحوّل عاصمتها سجناً صغيراً عاصفاً ضمن "السجن العربي الكبير"، بل مركز "مقابر جماعية" اكتشفنا اخيراً ان التمثل بها انتقل الى ملاعب وزارة الدفاع اللبنانية، في عهدة قيادة او قيادتين لم "تشتلق" الى ذلك الا بعدما اكتشف الاعلام ("المقيت") الجريمة الانسانية البشعة! فأين للجيوش التي تتعهد "المقابر الجماعية" بدءاً بجيش صدام، من متابعة الاحلام التحريرية العظام... ساعة تتحول كما في "دمشق – الشام" (على وزن "طرابلس الشام"، تذكرون؟) فيالق أمنية تتهمنا بالعمالة، بينما هي غارقة، منذ زمن رفعت الأسد، في حروب الحراسات "القنصلية" (على طريقة زمن الانحطاط الروماني التي نقلت سوريا عدواها الى الحراسة الجمهورية في لبنانٍ كان قد بدأ يصير غير موجود، فكيف يحتاج الى كل هذه الحراسات ولا تلتهي عن الحراسات بالتآمر؟) وبينما اسرائيل (التي لا نطلق عليها طلقة واحدة الا عندما تجتاح لبنان) تعسكر على بعد كيلومترات من دمشق العاصمة وتحرس مواكب تصدير المنتجات الجولانية معلبة اسرائيلياً في ارضٍ نسينا انها برسم التحرير وضللنا الطريق اليها، كما ضللنا مراراً طريق التحرير الى القدس ولا نزال نظنها تمر في كهوف الارهاب الذي نفرض "موضعته" على لبنان، ساحلاً وبقاعاً وجبلاً و... عاصمة!
معليش. لا نريد ان نشغل الرئيس البشار الآن بأي شيء يلهيه عن حربه "القضائية" على لجنة ميليس. ونكرر دعوتنا للبنانيين الى عدم التدخل، حتى ولا بابداء رأي، ولا حتى بالظن او ارتكاب خطيئة فكر...

حاشية: المؤرخ الفرنسي، عضو الأكاديمية الفرنسية ألان دوكو الذي يزور الآن بيروت قال لبعض من تحدث اليهم في معرض الكتاب الفرنسي انه لا يستغرب النهضة اللبنانية التي يراها لأنه، عندما زار لبنان كوزير للفرنكوفونية، مبعوثاً من الرئيس الاشتراكي ميتران، لخّص تقريره عن مشاهداته بأن البلد الذي كان يعيد تعمير مدائنه بينما كانت الحروب ("حروب الآخرين") مستمرة في هدمها هو بلد، بل شعب يرفض الموت ولن يزول... فاطمئني بالاً يا اسرائيل التي عجزت عن احتلال بيروت، واطمئني بالقدر ذاته يا... سوريا، أياً يكن الأسد الذي يحكمك.

Concert...

2005-11-10T21:06:00.000-05:00

*this post has been modified in the following manner: a major part was deleted in order to fit the author's mood swings.

The Killers.

Changes and Break

2005-11-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!
I am having a couple of exams, which means I am out for a while. In the mean time I am experimenting with the layout of the blog. So nothing is final unless I say it is so :)

Will be back soon though... just a couple of days. Until then, have a great time, and enjoy the last days of above zero temperature.

A Tribute to Samir Kassir

2005-10-26T01:54:00.000-04:00

Please visit SamirKassir.net, a small tribute to a great thinker. The new website was created by a group of students, comrades of Samir and members of his family, with useful information about him as a person, and more importantly about his thought. I am sure you will enjoy it, or at the very least, will find it quite informative.

To me, Samir's death will always be something I would reflect upon. The shock, melancholy, grief and disappointment, are emotions that will haunt me as long as I live. It is a weird connection you make with individuals you get to know only through their words and ideology. I have chosen not to talk about his death, especially at a time when everything and everyone is doing nothing but talk; at a time when some were hailing and almost glorifying Ghazi Kanaan... It is only honorable for Samir Kassir and George Hawi to be rested in peace, silently, while working to make their dreams, our dreams, come true.

You were nothing but a breeze,
along this side of our valley,
so tender, fresh and reviving,
so humble and so pure...

Yet a storm was building inside of you,
...A whirlwind
That plucked one thorn after the other.

You were nothing more than a creek,
That flows away from the river.
Carving a path so new, deep and true,
That will remain in our souls forever.

You said hardships can make you strong,
And our failures should make us better.
All those thoughts you have planted,
Will make you live and keep us together....

I think I have slipped into that bazaar I was trying to avoid, so excuse me.

A.T.

A Conversation (or something like it)

2005-10-11T20:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I had an interesting talk with my program manager (J) infront of our building, during a short break from work:

Me: The weather is getting worse isn't it?

J: I hope it doesn't get colder, once it does, it stays like that for a long time...

Me: (smiles)...so how is work?

J: (sighs) I have to find some rich man who likes old fat lazy women like me...

Me: yeah, you should...

J: (eyes wide open, staring at me) ...

Me: mmmm, So the weather is getting worse! Do you think it will rain?

The Double Helix

2005-10-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I finished reading James Watson's book "The Double Helix". Once I started reading the introduction, I was on it all day. It was so easy to relate to the atmosphere surrounding the events in the book, and the character of Watson himself, the Nobel Laureate who doesn't share the boring, serious and nerdy personality of his colleagues was very refreshing and surprising. It was hilarious to know that the man who made the discovery of his century once decided to heat benzene using a Bunsen Burner!! He got his PhD without completing any organic chemistry courses, which proves my hypothesis... smart people and organic chemistry just don't mix. And it comforted me to know that during most lectures he spent his time day-dreaming about stuff that has nothing to do with science... reminds me of... me.
So after all, a successful scientist doesn't have to be a nerdy prick preaching his superiority to every one within a mile of his pompous self. Which means I will have to change... just kidding!!

Arab "Democracy"--- Pathetic

2005-10-04T23:16:00.000-04:00

Will this Arab "nation" ever learn, or have any consideration for history? What kind of ignorant creatures are these???!!! I bet if it weren't for the presence and control of the American and UN "foreigners" the Iraqis (esp. their leaders) would have established a new dictatorship/dictatorships by now. And still some manage to blame the "west" for ALL our misery with a straight face.

UN condemns rule change that favours 'yes' vote in Iraq
By Times Online and agencies

The United Nations has attacked rule changes by the Shia-led Government in Iraq that make it harder for voters to reject the draft constitution in next week’s referendum.

The change, which has angered Sunni leaders who oppose the document, was "not acceptable and would not meet international standards", said Jose Aranaz, a legal adviser to the UN legal team in Iraq.

Parliament approved new rules on Sunday which require a simple majority of those turning out to vote to approve the draft constitution, while it would take two-thirds of registered voters in at least three provinces to reject it.

"We have expressed our position to the national assembly and to the leadership of the Government and told them that the decision that was taken was not acceptable and would not meet international standards," said Mr Aranaz.

A number of Sunni Muslims have already called for a "no" vote to the constitution because they believe that its federalist provisions will divide the country. Sunnis form a majority in three provinces in Iraq, but they largely boycotted general elections earlier this year.

"You cannot have two different meanings in one article. It’s using interpretation to your own benefit," according to the UN official who requested anonymity.

According to Article 61C of the Transitional Administrative Law, a two-thirds vote in each of any three provinces is enough to reject the draft constitution in the October 15 referendum.

The original article reads: "The general referendum will be successful and the draft constitution ratified if a majority of the voters in Iraq approve and if two-thirds of the voters in three or more governorates do not reject it."

On Sunday, parliament changed the rules to read "voter" in the first instance and "registered voter" in the second, making it more difficult for those opposed to the draft constitution to reject it.

Lemon Tree

2005-09-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

Remember??!!

I'm sitting here in the boring room
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon
I'm wasting my time
I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I'm driving around in my car
I'm driving too fast
I'm driving too far
I'd like to change my point of view
I feel so lonely
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree

I'm sitting here
I miss the power
I'd like to go out taking a shower
But there's a heavy cloud inside my head
I feel so tired
Put myself into bed
Well, nothing ever happens and I wonder

Isolation is not good for me
Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree

I'm steppin' around in the desert of joy
Baby anyhow I'll get another toy
And everything will happen and you wonder

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
And I wonder, wonder

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can see
Is just a yellow lemon-tree

Film ... Taweeeeel?

2005-09-28T13:13:00.000-04:00

Think of this as a possible scenario:
Le General takes over the opposition, he puts all of the filthy syrian puppets under his wing, basically keeping them under control, while Seniora and the "sulta" work on building the New Lebanon. When the time comes, Le General takes over as president, and works along with the majority in the parliament, but for the sake of our democracy, they would come up with some "clashes". After all, he is the only politician in Lebanon calling for a complete fulfillment of 1559. He has the same economic program as Hariri, and almost the same political agenda.

In the mean time, Jumblat does the same for Hizbullah and Amal. He is their representative in the "sulta". For example, when Seniora comes to the States and abides by the laws of the New Order, economically and politically, Jumblat leads the way in showing skepticism and "fear of being led to an American plot for a New Middle East", Hizbullah and Amal show support and follow the same rhetoric, he backs off after getting certain "guaranties" from Hariri that Seniora has not made any deals under the table, and thus Hizbullah and Amal's position fades in the background, as they too got the same guaranties.

Nice?!!! Over-simplified, but but that's how they would explain it to Bush in the White House (!!).

Wa? Huh? UHHHHAAAAAA

2005-09-27T19:17:00.000-04:00

OK you're pretty ... but you're so fuckin' empty I could fit a whole museum inside your head ... and you don't even have a big head to begin with.

Trafficking In Persons

2005-09-19T18:24:00.000-04:00

I have written previously about the maltreatment of foreign workers (and specially workers from East Asia and Africa) in Lebanon. This report provides an insight into what difficulties these workers go through, and the hell they are sometimes forced to live in:

"In the course of my mission, I have found that a significant number of human beings, women in the majority, are trafficked into and within Lebanon. Unfortunately, their plight seems to remain unknown to significant parts of Lebanese society, perhaps because the victims tend to be foreign nationals or are considered to be of low social status. Lebanon's victims of trafficking are often invisible victims because they suffer in places that remain hidden to the public eye such as private homes or hotel rooms. Many of my interlocutors, including senior government officials, also acknowledged that widely held attitudes of discrimination on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, and gender contribute to the prevalence of human trafficking. Social and cultural taboos preventing public discussion of issues related to sexual exploitation are also a factor."

The report was out last week, the question is, what will be done about it?

A List

2005-09-16T16:24:00.000-04:00

-- Vladimir Ilych Lenin
-- Leon Trotski
-- Mustapha Ataturk
-- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
-- Mahatma Ghandi
-- Nelson Mandella
-- Hisham Sharabi
-- Leo Tolstoy

*I am looking at this list several months after putting it here. It sounds terrible. I thought I'd delete it, but I decided to put a new one instead. So I will be doing so soon- hopefully.

America...

2005-08-30T23:12:00.000-04:00

On one sunny Saturday in the Buckeye state, I decided to give my friend N a vist. She was supposed to be working in her lab, and I had nothing better to do (!!). I was passing through this happy-to-be-back phase, after coming from a visit to Lebanon. I arrived to the building, and what do you know, my friend has already gone. Fate had it that I passed by a green chalk board on my way out, and I- the ever-bored fellow that I am- contemplated doing something "funny".

With an innocent smile on my face, I took a chalk and wrote N a message on the board. The "fun" part was that the sentence was in Arabic, informing N of my visit to her lab. How cute is that?

Two days later (i.e. Monday morning), life was taking its course. I was meeting my advisor, discussing some ideas, surfing the internet, and listening to the new Charbel Rouhana single. But on the other side of campus, a different story was unveiling.

By lunch time, the security level in N's building was raised to Code Red (exaggeration). N was called upon in a hurry by her Hillbilly secretary and questioned about a matter of severe importance. The matter? "Does she know anything about the Arabic writings in the department?" Now how pathetic and frustrating is that? 19 people (according to the Hillbilly) asked for a translator to check if the writings were a threatening or a "terrorist" statement of any kind. Nineteen dumb-ass university level students and professional scientists wanted to check what the Arabic words I wrote on a board in the hallway meant!!! We are not talking about illeterate Americans here, not even school-level individuals. How can someone in contact with people from different cultures from every corner of the world, working on the latest in educational and scientific findings feel threatened by something written on a chalk board, just because it is Arabic? How can someone be so lame? And how dumb and pathetic would you have to be to allow yourself to live in such fear?

Anyway, the issue was solved with N blowing some steam off, and calling me to tell me about the "funny" incident. We discussed sending a letter to the Grad School office, asking for an appology or something. We will see about that. It is good this didn't happen during my first year, it would have gotten to me. Now I only laugh and pitty those fools.

... funny America.

The Curse of the Mus musculus*

2005-08-25T14:35:00.000-04:00

I am a scientist. I work with mice. I do make them suffer. I feel bad about it... I really do. I say a little prayer before killing each one of them. Hope they rest in peace.

I would like to convince myself it is for the greater benefit of humanity. And it is actually true (well... unless the benefit of humanity is not a "greater" one- but I digress). It still feels bad though. I mean what should we experiment with? Humans? Some regimes tried it, some are still doing it (Saddam definitely enjoyed it) but it proved inefficient. People are hard to deal with. Imagine having to wait for 9 months each time you make a genetic cross. No way, use flies, mice, frogs or fish... much easier.

What? Not convinced? You still think I am a beast? A heartless sadist? OK here's something to make you happy.

My whole future (at least near future) lies in the womb of one mouse. I have been waiting for this animal to give birth for five months now, and each time it gives me the finger (or should I say the paw?) and shows me who's boss! For God's sake, I only need one pup to finish this project of mine, and be on top of the world. Nobel prize is waiting and a mouse is standing between me and glory. How typical... Is it Karma?? The animal kingdom turning on me now? After all the suffering I've inflicted?

Ahh what the heck, I will wait, it is a battle between the fittest. And we know who won that battle long ago. So here I am, waiting, how long can that mouse hold back its hubby anyway? So there, I have an ally living right in her cage. I'm getting that pup, sooner or later...

But for now, let the Mus musculus enjoy its brief triumph, that Nobel can wait a few more months.

-----
* Mus musculus: scientific name for the house mouse.

Glimpses - Part One

2005-08-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

Lebanon, Summer 2005

1- Lebanese are more sectarian than ever. The new generation and the old. The educated and the illiterate. Things will not change any time soon on this level.

2- Nothing will work in the country unless everything is privatized. I am anti-capitalism, but Marx got it right when he thought socialism could only come after a true capitalist society is built. People and societies need to evolve before they go through revolution.

3- If you wanna be cool, be gay. It seems it is hip to be gay these days! Have nothing against homosexuality, until it starts to become a way of life and a trend.

4- You see more skin in Lebanon lingering around in the streets than any other country in the world... except the parts of Africa where clothes are not a necessity.

5- Every guy has at least two girl friends. Every girl has ONLY one boyfriend.

6- Unless you have suicidal tendencies, do not park your car next to another one on the street. This is everyday mother's-advice.

7- The beach is rated (sometimes over-rated, lol). There are the PG13, the R-rated and the family beaches (not so hip!!). This can only happen in Lebanon. In Damour, they DO ask for IDs.

8- Never have a shower before going into a Taxi. It is totally useless.

9- If you hear of a bomb explosion, don't flinch. No one cares anymore, especially if no casualties are reported. When the Monot street bomb exploded, our family gathring was anything but interested in knowing what has happened.

Nine off the book.
More tomorrow.
Cheers.

Back In The States

2005-08-21T18:18:00.000-04:00

I am back in the great United States of America. I never thought I will ever say this, but I have gladly returned to the land of The Free. Yes, ofcourse, this is an exaggeration, but the experiences I've been through there were more than enough to convince me that our beloved nation will need some more blood and sweat to become a country. And our people will require a century or so of education and beating before they grasp the concept of a country, a nation, and a dignified human being.

I will be posting glimpses of the things I have been faced with while in Lebanon, both to keep them in mind during visits to come, and for you to get an idea about what I am talking about.

In response to my friend Barney, who was wondering what kind of "racism" I was talking about in a previous blog, I will post a newer story about the issue, with some explanation of what goes on in a typical Lebanese/Phoenician human mind. I will be doing all this as soon as my internet provider fixes my connection at home.

This being said, Lebanon has the best landscape ever, the best beaches, and for whoever is in Lebanon and is reading this, visit Janna Sur Mer, it simply is awesome.

It's good to be back,

Abu Takla.

From Teaching to Hisham Sharabi

2005-07-04T14:07:00.000-04:00

I have not written anything about my teaching experience. I have taught Biology for undergraduates for a quarter, as part of my PhD requirements.It was very tiring and time-consuming, yet satisfying and so helpful and essential for my future in academia.

Among the things I wanted to know about and felt important to discover before I started teaching were the level of education the undergraduates have in America, and the grading system, as compared to that in Lebanon.

As an answer to the first question, I found that indeed, our level as undergraduates in Lebanon (and I believe it is the same in other under-developed coutries) is much higher than the level here in the States. This, though, should not fool anyone. It is true that an undergraduate from Lebanon has the answers to theoretical biology questions, more than an undergraduate student here could ever dream of answering, but my experience tells me that the gap which makes all the difference in the educational system is vast, and it is to the advantage of the American. I know saying this will offend most of my fellow Arab teachers who found their american students terribly dumb and lazy-minded. But what I'm specifically talking about is the ability of the american educational system to give a student space to analyze freely, instead of following blindly the words of the book. What we were responsible for as TAs was offering the guidelines of the scientific method. To train the students to use the basics of science. The "true" and "correct" answers were the least relevant. In fact, a "correct" answer did not gain you any points if it weren't reached through "Science". While a "wrong" answer could give you a total credit if it was attained methodically.

I have posted above the picture of Hisham Sharabi, whose two books I have been trying to read for months now (as most of you noticed). In his memoires (Embers and Ashes) and his "A Cultural Critique of the Arab Society" Sharabi, one of my favourate writers, and most knowledgeable (in my opinion) researchers, stresses quite a lot on this point. He addresses the issue as one of the major features of our "patriarchal" Arab society. Where individuals follow (just like in a herd) the image of the "perfect, know-it-all" father. The father being the political leader, school teacher, charismatic friend, or the head of the family.

Sharabi's analysis leads him to the belief that change towards a more aware, educated (in the real sense of the word), and civilized society of totally fulfilled individuals, can only be reached through breaking this curse of lazy and blind submissiveness to traditions and "convinient" concepts surrounding us. I would strongly recommend Sharabi's books, the ones I've read for him so far are a must read. I only hope the situation in Lebanon gives me time to read the rest of his books and less newspapers and political analysis.

I can say a lot more about Sharabi, his style, approach and philosophy, but this is not the point of this post, I am sure I will write more about his research later.

G Hawi's Last Article

2005-06-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

عانى المسيحيون في لبنان منذ الطائف حالة تهميش، ومرحلة هيمنة فئوية على حسابهم من خلال التطبيق المشوه للطائف، داخلياً، والانتقائي، خارجياً، وتحديداً فيما يتعلق بتنظيم الانسحاب السوري، والوجود السوري في لبنان.لقد تم تنصيب ممثلين مزيفين عنهم في السلطة، وفي المجلس النيابي، لولا قلة ممن التقوا في اطار قرنة شهوان يستظلون عمامة البطريرك، ويستلهمون بيانات المطارنة...وبين الموقف الواقعي، والعاقل، والمتزن للقادة السياسيين المسيحيين المعارضين، والموقف الشعبي المحتقن والغاضب، نشأ تناقض واضح... الى ان جاء اغتيال الرئيس رفيق الحريري، فانفجر الشارع المسيحي كما الشارع السني والدرزي، والتقى الجميع في 14 آذار (مارس)... طلباً للحقيقة، ولإخراج السوريين، ولإسقاط النظام الأمني...غير ان (معارضة 14 آذار (مارس)) لم تكمل الطريق. وطغى الهم الانتخابي على اقطابها. تصاعد انتقاد بعض القادة المسيحيين لبروز دور وليد جنبلاط وسعد الدين الحريري. وبات الهمس يتزايد حول قيادة الدروز والسنة للشارع المسيحي، وتزايد تمايز البطريرك المقصود عن المعارضة الموحدة..وجاءت بعض تكتيكات وليد جنبلاط لتثير الشكوك، وخاصة لقاءه مع قادة حزب الله وحركة امل، وذهابه الى الانتخابات ولو بقانون الألفين.في هذه الأجواء جرى ترتيب عودة العماد عون، بأمل احداث قنبلة فراغية في صفوف المعارضة. ولعب بيان المطارنة بانتقاد صيغة اقرار قانون الـ2000 دوراً في الهياج الطائفي الذي قفز عليه العماد عون، وكل بقايا النظام الأمني مزايدين على ادراج بكركي... ومثيرين اجواء طائفية مقيتة، جرى في ظلها التشكيك بقرنة شهوان، وبمدى مصداقيتها...ولعب الإعلام دوراً بالغ السوء حيث تولت احدى المحطات المعروفة بث السموم الطائفية بشكل ممجوج، وكانت التفجيرات الأمنية قد استهدفت منطقتي المتن وكسروان خصيصاً لإثارة المسيحيين، واخافتهم، وجعلهم يطالبون بزعامة تحميهم!هنا جاء دور العماد عون، فاوض مع وليد جنبلاط وسعد الحريري ليختلف، وليبرز كزعيم مسيحي يريد تحجيم المسلمين، والله يعلم ما هو دور اميركا، وما هو دورالكنيسة في هذه الطروحات التي غطت اتفاقات عون المشبوهة مع ميشال المر وحزب الطاشناق وطلال ارسلان، واخيراً سليمان فرنجيه والحزب القومي وكل عملاء سوريا... وكل الأوساط المشبعة بالفساد... وذلك تحت عنوان محاربة الفساد...ان الشارع المسيحي كان يطالب بزعيم، اي زعيم، أكان عاقلاً ام مجنوناً، وتهيأ له انه قد حظي به... انه العماد عون فكان ما كان في جبل لبنان الشمالي، ثم جاءت الصفعة في الشمال لتشكل ردة فعل قاسية على وجوه اولئك الذين اعتقدوا ان 14 آذار (مارس) قد انتهى...الظاهرة العونية ليست بريئة. ولن تكون طويلة الأجل...لقد بدأ المسيحيون يدركون ان نتائجها الأساسية هي تقسيم المعارضة، ضرب صفوف القوى غير العميلة لسوريا، وتفتيت المسيحيين بشكل خاص في وقت يتوحد فيه المسلمون اكثر من اي وقت مضى!...ذهبت السكرة وجاءت الفكرة، كما يقول المثل!والناس تتساءل: اين هو البرنامج? اين هي المبادئ في ظل التحالف مع ميشال المر والطاشناق وسائر العملاء?اين هي الشفافية ومحاربة الفساد في ظل قبض ملايين الدولارات من عدد واسع من المرشحين، والانغماس في عمليات الرشوة

3ayb...

2005-06-17T00:06:00.000-04:00

Image from Assafir Daily

This image broke my heart. The lady in the picture is a house-keeper for a Lebanese "master". She ran away from the house and only God knows what the reason is. The police, as well as her "owner" are trying to take her back to her working place. Obviously she preferred to go to jail rather than go back, but there was no choice.

Everytime we have a chance, we as Lebanese waste no time whatsoever criticizing inhumanity and racism when it is far away from home. But when it comes to us, we rank among the most racist, inhumane and arrogant people in the world. If we had the chance, God knows how we would use any control we have over others.

Srilankans, Indians, Philippinos or any person we feel we can abuse is treated as a slave. One can never over-generalize, but this attitude has always been (as far as I know) part of our society. And it is about time that we stop it. This is disgusting, and it reflects in everything we do. We are sinking in our ignorance, and the current situation in the country reflects what I am saying. A people which has no respect for itself can not be expected to respect another. But these helpless, lonely individuals who are prisoners of their poverty should at least have the right to choose where and what or how to work. We are living in the 21st century for God's sake. It is a shame and a pitty. What goess around comes around. And John Lennon is always right: "Instant Karma is gonna get you, it's gonna hit you right in the face". 3ayb, walla 3ayb.

George Nassif on Aoun

2005-06-15T23:03:00.000-04:00

في العونية عسكر على مين؟
اختار المسيحيون، بملء وعيهم او لاوعيهم، "جنرال الرابية" جنرالا أعلى لهم.

لا بأس. فهم أحرار في ان يقرروا من يعجبهم ايا يكن سجله سواء ابتهجت او استهجنت او لعنت او جزعت.
أعرف الاسباب، وقد بسطت بعضا منها (راجع "بلا ضفاف"، "النهار"، الأول من حزيران) بدءا من الاثارة الطائفية، الى قانون 2000، الى التسرع في اقفال لوائح بيروت والجبل، الى اخطاء "قرنة شهوان"، الى تماسك الطوائف الاخرى حول زعمائها، الى شعبوية خطاب الجنرال، الى عطش المسيحيين الى زعامة توازي الزعامات الطائفية الاخرى، وتخاطبها مخاطبة الندّ للندّ...
واعرف ان "العونية" ظاهرة تستمد زخمها من صورة الجنرال المنفي المظلوم، ومن الكره الشعبي للطبقة السياسية والفساد والمال، ومن صفات حسنة على المؤسسة العسكرية تنزيها لها عن مفاسد السياسيين، ومن مخاطبة الجنرال الجمهور المسيحي بلغة بسيطة، غير معقدة او مركبة سياسيا، ومن عدم صدوره عن خلفية ميليشياوية...
لكني، ربما بسبب هذه المعرفة بالذات، اخشى حتى النخاع، وأسأل:
- من هي القوى المؤهلة لان يعقد معها الجنرال حلفا مستقبليا؟ هل هو الثلاثي طلال ارسلان، سليمان فرنجيه وميشال المر؟
- كيف ستستقيم الحياة السياسية، في ما تبقى من عهد النظافة والاخلاق، بعد ان تلقى الرئيس الحالي شحنة قوية من الدعم الماروني، فيما تجري مقاطعة شاملة له من القيادتين السنية والدرزية؟
- الى اي حد ستعود سوريا التي لم تخرج اصلا، الى صلب السياسة اللبنانية (والامن) بعد عودة الروح الى بعض رموزها، وبعد تبرئة عون لها مرتين: مرة من مسؤولية الفساد برميها على السياسيين اللبنانيين، ومرة بتأكيد عون ايضا انها باتت خارج لبنان قطعا؟ وما شكل هذه العودة؟ هل هو الشكل الذي خبرناه سنين طولى، ام ثمة برقع ما؟
- هل سيبقى تحالف 14 آذار قائما؟ ما مصير "قرنة شهوان" في ذاتها كتجمع سياسي، ومن حيث وزنها كشريك مسيحي ضعيف امام جبابرة في طوائفهم؟ وحول اي برنامج جديد ستنعقد الشراكة؟

في الانتخابات، محاسن وقباحات.
في المحاسن، انها جرت اساسا، واتاحت للمسيحيين ان يفصحوا عما يرون.
في القباحات (والمفارقات) ان القيادات المسيحية التي ناهضت الحلم السوري، ودفعت اثمانا دفاعا عن صلابتها، ولم تتّسخ اياديها بالفساد، هي التي عوقبت بسحب التمثيل الشعبي منها، بعد الخروج السوري.
في القباحات ان "القوات اللبنانية" كانت سيدة الساحة المسيحية في ازمنة تشدّدها الايديولوجي والسياسي، وانقطاعها عن الشراكة الوطنية، فلما اعتدلت، وقالت قولا ميثاقيا، تصالحيا، حواريا، صارت شريكا ضعيفا في تمثيل "العصب المسيحي".
هل يعني ذلك ان ثمن الاعتدال والعبور نحو الآخر، هو خسارة الموقع الراجح داخل الطائفة؟
سيستهجن كثيرون مجيبين: لكن خطاب عون لم يكن طائفيا، فلماذا انتصر؟
في اعتقادنا ان خطاب عون غير الطائفي لفظا وتعبيرا، كان في العمق والباطن يلبّي اعمق النوازع الطائفية لدى طائفة كانت مقهورة تحت الوصاية السورية، عندما كان يتصدّى لمهاجمة وليد جنبلاط او الشيخ سعد الدين الحريري (ولو باسم الفساد) فيشبع لدى المسيحيين الحاجة الى من يرفع "رأس الطائفة" ويخرج من سياسة الملاطفة والملاينة، نحو الكلام الفجّ الصادر عن "الكرامة" والندية والمساواة.
كان خطاب عون، غير الطائفي لفظا، يشبع رغبة طائفية دفينة في البحث عن زعيم مسيحي قوي يمنع "أسلمة" البلد وهي التهمة المنسوبة الى الحريري الابن.
وكان خطاب عون غير الطائفي لفظا يذكّر المسيحيين بعصر "العز" الشمعوني، عندما كان زعيم سياسي مسيحي يمتلك جمهورا اسلاميا، ويقدر على تشكيل لوائح يضم اليها مسلمين تحت قيادته، عوض العكس، على ما جرى منذ اتفاق الطائف.
لقد كان الانتصار الكاسح اعلانا عن عودة الطائفة المارونية الى احتلال موقعها الرئيسي في التركيبة اللبنانية، بعد تهميش والغاء وانسحاب، ولكن من موقع الاشتباك السياسي مع زعماء الطوائف الاخرى، لا من موقع الشراكة الذي حاولت "قرنة شهوان" ان تجسّده.
من هنا، خشيتنا من "صدام الطوائف" اذا استبدّت بكل منها شهوة ان تتماسك وتجلس على اسلحتها، ولو كانت سياسية او ايديولوجية، وتتناطح في خياراتها ووجهاتها العامة.
تحدثنا عن القباحات، ثمة ما هو اكثر: الفاجعة.
فاجعة ان ينعقد المجلس الجديد من دون الصديقين نسيب لحود وفارس سعيد، الرمزين الاكثر اشراقا في الحياة البرلمانية كلاً.
لسنوات، كانت الاوساط السياسية والثقافية والاعلامية ترتقب مداخلات نسيب لحود البرلمانية، وهي المشبعة علما وتحليلا وتخطيطا واستقراء، مثلما تنتظر مداخلات فارس سعيد، بجرأتها وتماسكها وطلاقتها.
كان نسيب لحود نائبا من طراز خاص، يحترم عقول ناخبيه، يرفض ان يتوسل الغوغاء والقبضايات والدولار، يحرص على ان يخاطبهم من شرفة المنطق والاستقامة والنبل. لم يجر مجرى خصومه. لذلك، ربما، سقط...
النائبان الرجلان، سقطا بعد استشهاد سمير قصير. "عسكر على مين"؟ ايها السادة؟
جورج ناصيف

*****************************************************

And the stupidity of Jumblat from AlBalad:

منذ احتفاله بالنواب الفائزين في انتخابات المراحل الانتخابية الثلاث، ممن خاضوا المعركة على لوائح "المعارضة" لا يفعل النائب وليد جنبلاط سوى "حشر" حلفائه المفترضين في الوسط المسيحي ودعم منطق خصومهم القائل ان جنبلاط لا يركن اليه وبالتالي لا يجوز التحالف معه!
وبدأت القصة في ردة فعل جنبلاط المتسرعة على انتصارات العماد ميشال عون في المتن وجبيل وكسروان، ثم تكررت في لقاء المختارة عندما حرص على التذكير بموقعة سوق الغرب الشهيرة ليتبعها أمس بتصريحات يرسم فيها حدود جبل لبنان "من الجبل الى الضاحية" مضيفاً "هذا هو جبل لبنان ولن يكون هناك ثنائية في جبل لبنان (...) والشريك المسيحي أعطى 30 % من الأصوات وان كانت نسبة قليلة، لكنها نسبة صلبة تؤكد الشراكة والتنوع في جبل لبنان، وإذا كان الغير في مناطق أخرى قد فسر نتيجة جرف "التسونامي" فالتسونامي الى أين؟ مهما كانت نتائج الشمال فإلى أين".
لا يدخل مثل هذا الكلام في اللحظة الراهنة في سياق خدمة حلفاء جنبلاط الشماليين الذين يخوضون بعد غدٍ معركة ستحدد موقع التحالف المعارض، بمن فيه جنبلاط نفسه، في المجلس النيابي المقبل، فليس الوقت وقت تقييم للمراحل الانتخابية. لأن لدى الجميع ما يقولونه في هذا الخصوص، وليست حركة جنبلاط المستعجلة في "ظروف أمنية" لا يزال يشكو منها، كبيرة الإفادة لأي شريك، لا للذين خسروا ولا للذين يجهدون لجمع أصوات تؤهلهم للفوز.
ويطرح كثيرون سؤالاً لماذا يفعل جنبلاط ذلك وهو يعرف ان كل ما قاله ويقوله لا يوظف إلا في إضعاف الشركاء؟ ويحار هؤلاء في أمر الرجل الذي لعب دوراً أساسياً في "انتفاضة الاستقلال"، ويتذكرون انه لولاه لما كان لشبكة المعارضة ان تتسع في أيامها الأولى لتحولها من مجرد "معارضة مسيحية" محصورة في طائفة محددة الى معارضة خارقة للطوائف أعطتها رعاية الرئيس الشهيد رفيق الحريري أبعادها الوطنية الواسعة.
ويتذكر هؤلاء أيضاً الدور المركزي لجنبلاط خصوصاً بعد جريمة 14 شباط في إطلاق الحركة الشعبية الاستقلالية الواسعة، رغم التهديدات والتهويلات التي حصلت والتي أسهب هو شخصياً في كشفها والحديث عنها.
ولذلك هم يسألون الآن، لماذا ينكفئ جنبلاط الآن الى مواقع انطلق منها أصلاً ليكتسب شرعية وطنية رحبة؟ وهل كل ذلك بسبب خيارات الناخبين في الجبل أو حتى خيارات المرشحين وفي مقدمهم العماد عون؟
الاستقلال والحرية والسيادة تستحق من جنبلاط شباط وآذار، وانتخابات الشمال الحامية تستحق مواكبة مختلفة تماماً، مهما كانت الكلمة التي سيقولها لبنانيو المحافظة من القرنة السوداء الى ميناء طرابلس، وعندما يكتمل عقد المجلس النيابي سيصبح على الجميع ان يتصرف أولاً بوصفه مسؤولاً عن بلده... ثم على سبيل التفكه الاهتمام بشؤون العشيرة والطائفة والذكريات.

2005-06-09T14:05:00.000-04:00

The Article by Firas el Amine is worth reading... thanks Eve.

What Would Remain of Samir Kassir?!...

2005-06-08T19:00:00.000-04:00

"You scarred the body of the dragon far too many times, until it couldn't take it anymore".

The image of Samir kassir in our minds is that of a distinguished thinker, a gifted writer as well as a prominent political analyst of the previous couple of decades. He was in the center of the fight for a democratic, strong and immune Lebanese society... Through his writings and activism, he sent one blow after the other to symbols of oppression and corruption, making him a speaker of the people's minds, aware of their dreams and aspirations.

The shock of Kassir's assasination was devastating for the Lebanese people looking forward towards the future with optimism and excitement. A very essential part of their Lebanon was eliminated with such coldness that brought disgust and despair.

A lot has been said lately about politicians and comrades of Kassir making use of his assassination- of his blood- to reach their goals. To me, it is those people who preach and speak of ethics who are the cheapest kind of hypocrits. Take Michel Aoun as an example, Kassir's death was an embarassment to his previous allegations about the end of the police system and its guards. While Aoun himself was overheard planning to use Samir's death to push forward his electoral campaign, he wanted others to simply show sadness and move on.

If the "General's" words of wisdom were to be followed, what would remain of Samir Kassir? What would remain of the cause he died for? If Guevara's cause were to die or be neglected after his assasination, what would be of the dream he held? Why so? Because sacrificing the soul is in the middle of this same fight against ones enemies. Death in itself is an action and a statement in war. That is why the death of Samir Kassir should be the end of those who were his enemies while he was alive.

The Lebanese brain is a very strange one indeed. As much as I hate to be seen as defending an action of Walid Jumblat, I simply can not see how it is not a betrayal of Samir Kassir not to stand up and call for the "old guard" of the police state in Lebanon to follow in the steps of their Syrian masters!!!

I refuse to treat Samir Kassir's death as a simple act of murder, for what was targeted was much more than the man himself. It is an assasination of a dream. Nothing would be left of Samir Kassir if we forget what he stands for and forget who his enemies were and what his cause was. Nothing would wash away the shame and guilt if we simply forget who was threatening Samir Kassir's life, years before it was stolen. The people who detonated the explosive in his car might remain unknown for some time, but those who were scarring the face of Samir's nation, suffocating his dream and mutilating his -our- cause are well known. And some of them are still out there in power. How can we not ask for their removal and punishment?

Samir Kassir

2005-06-04T12:16:00.000-04:00

I will not tarnish the purity and sincerity of my melancholy and sadness by articulating them into words, I'm not that good of a writer. It is wiser to try to understand Samir Kassir... through his writings. (in Arabic)

2005-05-26T21:29:00.000-04:00

Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

In Our Minds...

2005-05-26T21:22:00.000-04:00

In Robert Zemeckis' movie "Cast Away", Tom Hank's character is left all alone on a deserted island. He transforms himself from a city guy to one living deprived from any social interaction.
An important part of the adaptation process was him creating his own friend. It was nothing but the volleyball he had with him on the ship. That volleyball became a friend that almost cost him his life at one time during the movie, while he was trying to "save" it from drifting away from the shore of the island.

At another instant, when Chuck (Hank's charactrer) was leaving the island and woke up to find that his friend (i.e. the ball) has fallen off the raft he built he almost gave up his whole plan just to keep the ball with him.

This "thing", the volleyball which shared all that experience of isolation with him, was his only friend who he could talk to, and at times provide advice (in Chuck's head ofcourse) and much needed help. It gained life and became a soul of its own.

Ofcourse that was only a movie, but in my opinion it goes much farther! In situations when we have no friends, we are willing to go to an extreme of creating our own out of pets, or even things.

I find this interesting since it is also similar to us imposing a figure on people which does not necessarily reflect their real personalities.

Images of best friends, idols, politicians and other people we feel connected to. I believe this behavior plays a pivotal role in the life of all of us. In a way it is ironic that much of our concepts are some times (maybe a lot of the time?) nothing but illusions of our own creation.
This is starting to sound a bit budhist, I think the books I'm reading have something to do with this!!! I'll stop now...

Our Patient God

2005-05-23T21:13:00.000-04:00

I was coming back home after a long day at work. I passed by the Chinese restaurant, picked up a chicken curry dish and went to the bus stop and waited. Five minutes later, the East Residential Bus arrived- not my bus. Out of it came a guy wearing very old and dirty clothes. He sat on the bench inside the bus stop, and started humming some sort of song.

It was a sunny day, with blue skies and a lovely breeze. Something very rare in Ohio. You could say I was enjoying the moment. My morning presentation went well, my adviser was happy and I was heading home for some rest before I could continue writing my project progress report. Yes, it was a fine day.

I looked around at the man next to me. I saw him move from the bench and headed towards the trash can. He looked inside of it- his back to me. He turned my way. I looked away and pretended I was day-dreaming. He looked inside the trash bin again, and removed a plastic bag, opened it, and started humming again.

A girl passed by, he said something to himself. As if justifying his action. The girl got into the stop and took a seat close to me, when a lady said hello to her and approached as well. It was clear the lady was one of those people who harrass you for one reason or the other. She started talking to the girl, with a big smile and know-it-all kind of way. She was spreading the word of God she said. The girl told her she didn't believe in God, and, instead believes in evolution.

"I believe in evolution", the lady striked back "but how can you not believe in God?"

She was very astonished, she sounded like she was!

"There is a lot of injustice in the world" says the girl, "isn't God supposed to stop injustice?"

"Ofcourse he will... but He is a VERY patient God", the angelic, tender lady said.

My bus arrived, I picked my stuff, gave the man five dollars and got in. He was eating the dinner he got from the garbage, the lady was still busy trying to win a believer into God's party, the poor girl was struggling for justifications, and I was wondering whether God would want them to sit around and masturbate their thoughts about Him, or just notice the injustice sitting right next to them and do something symbolic about it.

Maybe they are only being VERY patient as well.

2005-05-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

Nafnouf

الى تقلا

2005-05-19T23:42:00.000-04:00

أشتاق اليكِ, ويقتلني هذا الفراغ الذي يطوّقني من كلّ الجهات. يعتصرني الألم وصار صدري بركاناً صامتاً وصرت أيّوباً جديد. فكلّ شيءٍ منذ غيابك في سكوتٍ مطبق. وكلّ أيّام حياتي صارت تكراراً مقرفاً وقاتل.ا

انّي لا أحسُّ بشيء. لا ألوان في عالمي الموحش. لا رائحة للفصول ولا طعم لصداقة, أو لعلاقة أو كلام. توقّفت ساعتي على موعد الفراق. فأضحت لحظة الحزن تلك تختصر أحداث حياتي ومشاعري كلَّها.ا

أنا لا أعرف كيف أعيش الان. لست أدري ان كانت هذه اللقطات المتكرِّرة في مسلسل أيَّامي تستحقُّ اسم الحياة أصلاً. أنا هنا, رجلٌ وحيدٌ في دنيا واسعة, لا بل في غابةٍ باردة بعيدة, أينَ منها دفء عالمكِ السّاحر؟ أحتاجكِ بقربي, ففي وجهكِ مُختصرُ كلَّ ما أردتُ أن أحيا بقربه. وفي عواطفك تشتعلُ أحلامي وتُضحي حقائق صافية طاهِرة.ا

انّي لا أعرف الفرح الّا بسماع ضحكتك الطّفوليّة البريئة, تعيد اليَّ كلَّ ما كنتُ أخشى أن أفقده في تراكم الأيّام ومرور السّنين. أعدتِ براءتي, بل أنقذتِ روحي من أن تصير رقماً اخر في عالم الكبار الأسود بجدّيّته, المقفر في فراغه, والمهلكِ في ملله وتصنّعه.ا

متى نعود سويّاً؟ اشتقتُ الى الحياة... لا أريد أن أبقى ميتاً هكذا. لا أريد أن أبقى ضائعاً مشوَّشاً كما أنا. عودي هيّا اشتاقت عيوني لضوء نهارك المشعِّ السّعيد. والعصافير وبيوت القرميد, كما أشجار الصّنوبر والبلّوط البرّي على تلال لبنان بانتظارنا. أحلامنا هناك لمّا تزل بين ربوع تلك الحقول الزَّكيَّة العطِرة, تتنعَّم برائحة تراب أرضنا بعد مطرٍ ربيعيٍّ طويل.ا

ها أنا عائدٌ فلنلتقي هناك. فعيوني قد جفَّت مقائيها منذ زمن, وقلبي قد صار قلبَ كهلٍ في جسد شابّ, وأنا لا أريد أن أضيع شبابي أكثر الّا وأنا في حضنِك الدّافئ النّاعم.ا

2005-05-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

Beirut

2005-05-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

My companion for the moment... Mr Hemingway.

We Have a Satellite

2005-04-26T00:35:00.000-04:00

After a long wait, and years of deprivation and stagnation in the cultural, scientific and economical status in the Islamic world, things are on the brink of major change and revolution.

Yesterday, (24 April 2005) was a day to remember in the history of this nation of believers and heavenly masses and holy rulers. Yesterday, the Organization of Islamic Conference declared to the world that a new satellite will be sent to orbit.

Aim? to unify the lunar calender... the new satellite will be able to detect the exact time of the start of every lunar month. Yes, we are finally there.

The dismay of all opressive, atheist western nations vibrated all around the planet, for at last this part of the world (i.e. members of the OIC) is using technolgy and vast resources of money for a goal that could turn around the balance of power in the world.

God be with us...

Deadly Flu Kits Around the World

2005-04-15T22:52:00.000-04:00

When nature is not showing us its wrath, we volunteer to do the job- nothing new in here, right?

check this out:

2 nations Lebanon and Mexico never received deadly flu kits: WHO
April 16 , 2005
CBC News

GENEVA - Some samples of a pandemic flu strain accidentally sent to labs around the world never made it to their destinations in Lebanon and Mexico, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Officials at the United Nations health agency aren't sure that the samples were actually sent, however.
"Some of the countries and laboratories never received anything," said the organization's flu expert, Klaus Stohr. "They were on the address list of the college, but never received anything."
WHO officials are trying to confirm whether kits were shipped to Mexico and Lebanon before launching an intensive search for the supposedly missing samples, he said.
Beginning in October, the College of American Pathologists mistakenly sent 3,747 international laboratories a strain of H2N2 influenza similar to the one that killed 4 million people when it sparked a 1957 flu pandemic.
It was contained in kits used routinely to test for pathogens.
Flu vaccines have contained no protection against the H2N2 strain since 1969, so people below the age of 37 have no immunity against the disease.
Researchers at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory detected the mislabelled samples on March 26, warning WHO that the H2N2 virus was being distributed instead of the less dangerous H3N2 strain.
Of the 18 countries whose labs received the samples, 12 have now confirmed that the virus material has been destroyed, Stohr said.
That accounts for two-thirds of all the labs that received the kits.

Nike

2005-04-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

eunoia

2005-04-12T19:38:00.000-04:00

book cover

Conspiracy of Fools

2005-04-12T19:29:00.000-04:00

There is this book by Kurt Eichenwald (writer of "The Informat") "Conspiracy of Fools" which I need to talk about.
I rarely advise someone to NOT read a book, and this is one of these occasions. Unless you are a business major writing a paper (and a boring one probably) about the implosion of Enron, you'd rather stay away from this 750-page modern-day business epic. Actually it reminded me of the movie Troy. It is nothing but history and a detailed look into the activities of these executives who lead Enron into destruction. I was certainly expecting much better from a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Flat style, useless details, empty characters, and endless monotony.
What a waste of time it was. I really hate it when this happens.

America's Phobia

2005-04-12T01:26:00.000-04:00

There is no day that passes without me being amazed by American's excessive fears and phobias. There seems to be something in the essence of this culture that nurtures fear and doubt. Check this article out:

Should We All Be Stocking Tamiflu?

2005-04-11T23:31:00.000-04:00

Tamiflu

Day One

2005-04-08T17:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome.