Yeslam hal Tem! (God Save Such Mouth)

This blog used to think that no other politician can even dare to compete with Weam Wahhab when it comes to rude vulgar statements. Who can forget his famous "I consider the Tribunal as low as my sleepers" ??

But I stand corrected, as our orange General out-passed Mr. Wahhab and by far. In a conference he held almost an hour ago, Aoun was "in the zone", using all his skills to fire vulgar and rude remarks, especially to Mr. Amin Gemayel.

One of note, however, which defeated Mr. Wahhab's past statements was "When it comes to honesty Shiekh Amin, you can hardly reach the level of my trousers' belt".

How lucky are we with our politicians??!! I'm sure the other side will "entertain" us with much of the lovely comments and statements!

Shame on you......

Lebanese Are Suffering....Even When It comes To Bread!

While the country is being torn in the middle of the end-less political crisis, the Lebanese are witnessing a new problem on daily bases. The bread sack has been facing a slowly-but-surely reduction in its weight, recently stated by Albalad newspaper to have reached 1.110 kg!!

I guess we are to say good bye to our world wide famous bread, unless some sort of miracle (though this blog disbelieve in miracles) is to happen and take this poor country out of its misery....

How To Really Analyze The Situation....

I came across a very interesting article by David Kenner on NowLebanon site reagarding Tripoli's Bloc last statement.. I have to say it is really satisfying to know that there are people out there who are willing to see farther than their own noses, and write an excellent analysis that takes into consideration all sides of the truth.

Let me know what you guys think....

Tripoli Bloc...What Next?

Nothing can show how media can manipulate political events better than the way media has been handling the last statement by the Tripoli Bloc leaded by MP and Minister Mohamad Safadi.

The opposition's media did not miss the chance to start talking about the end of "March 14th", and how this position from the Tripoli Bloc shows how "Fragile" this alliance really is.

Even pure M14 supporters seems to be fallen for the propaganda of the opposition, as Mustapha has mentioned in last post at beirutspring.com.

Nevertheless, one should always search for the truth behind all the loud mouths, and the easy way to do that is to take a minute and actually read the Tripoli Bloc's statement.

In their statement, they clearly mention that "وحيث أن تشكيل حكومة اتفاق وطني بإعطاء المعارضة الثلث الضامن يجب أن يترافق بتعهد جميع الأطراف والتزامهم المشاركة في انتخاب رئيس الجمهورية وعدم الاستقالة، وإلا أصبحت جميع المؤسسات الدستورية تحت قبضة الأقلية؛ وهذا نقيض الميثاق والديمقراطية، وقد يفتح الباب أمام نزاعات خطيرة." "And since forming a national unity government by giving the opposition the (safe third) has to be combined by a pledge from all parties to ATTEND the presidential election parliamentary session and NOT to resign from the government, or else all constitutional authorities will be with the minority, and this is the OPPOSITE of democracy, and would open the door for serious conflicts".

This statement clearly shows that what Tripoli Bloc is saying is that they are willing to go on with a unity government as long as the opposition gives its word to ATTEND the presidential election session, REGARDLESS of whom is to be elected.

Now one would ask "Why did the bloc decide to make such a statement now?" Well, there are many reasons for that. One of them is the bloc's intention to make the public opinion (and especially the Tripolian one) realize that this bloc is not a blind follower of the Future bloc (Safadi and Hariri were political rivals competing for Sunni's leadership in Tripoli before they became partners in M14 alliance), and that the bloc does have the upper hand when it come to Tripoli (Last elections results showed a vast difference in votes to Tripoli Bloc's candidates (Safadi 104711, Kabbara 96922, Fadel 99284 and Abdel Aziz 94760), compared to Future Movement's ones (Fatfat 89169, Jisr 93903 and Allouch 92015)) and they are not to be taken for granted. Another reason would be that M14 is trying to make a back-door channel through which it would see the opposition's reaction to such approach if it is to be adopted by the majority.

In all cases, one would be crazy to actually believe that Tripoli Bloc would be interested in ending its presence as an integral part of M14. Same thing goes for the rest of M14 parties which realize that each and every one of them can't function alone in the recent circumstances.

But then again, opposition's media couldn't stand not to go after such a statement, empty it from its meaning, and take what suits its beliefs, and make a story out of it, claiming that M14 alliance is about to collapse.

But the question remains, why up till now, hasn't any of the rest of M14 leaders commented on the Tripoli Bloc statement? I leave that to your own analysis

One Year....Lessons To Learn

Exactly one year ago, we all were full of hopes and dreams about an amazing summer to come, the best ever since 1975. For many of us, that summer was supposed to be the beginning of a new era in Liban, an era of prosperity, where long-lived dreams finally become a reality, where Liban regain its ever famous glory as the "Switzerland of the East".

Unfortunately, all these dreams were assassinated, as the ugly face of war brought Liban 20 years back, leaving nothing but destruction and death. Meaningless war, in its causes and results, killed, or let me say postponed (because we will never stop dreaming, and we will never stop seeking our dreams to become a reality) till later.

One year later, as we look back and remember the awful war, there are lessons to be learned, there are facts not to be ignored.

Liban will never win by wars, wars can only weaken our country, and brought destruction, poverty and death. Our economy is on continuous decline, our main artery of income, tourism, is running out of hope, and we are loosing hope day by day.

Peace is what Liban needs, and peace is what will make Liban and the Lebanese true winners. Realizing that Liban is unique in its surrounding is what we need to understand. Liban should become first in our priorities list, then come the rest of them. Liban has paid enough in the name of Arabism, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It's our time to rest, and start thinking about our country, and how to bring it back to exactly what it was and should always be, a fountain of democracy, prosperity and tourism.

Please, do not start about victory, we have t face the ugly truth; Liban didn't win the war. When we loose thousands of innocent lives, and when quarter of our population becomes refugees, and when our infra-structure is ruined, we can't claim victory. True, Israel didn't win the war, but that doesn't mean we won it! We shouldn't be proud of the last war, we should make sure that such madness never to happen again. We should teach the next generation that war means one thing and one thing only; destruction and death. But what we should teach ourselves before teaching our next generation is that nothing worth human lives being taken away. Only when we realize that our life means more than logos and loud idealism, can we see our dreams becoming real.

God bless Liban, and guide its people to realize that they were blessed by being Lebanese, and they should live up to that.....

What Are You Doing on 7-7-7??!!

Beirut is witnessing an unusual "crisis" these days. No, it's not a political nor a security kind of crisis, it is a "what to do on the lucky day 7-7-07?" kind of crisis!!!

Most couples (if not all of them) are planning to get married on the lucky three seven date; "We're very excited about that, it is something that happens once in the whole history, and we will be part of it!" an excited pride-to-be is telling her friends. "I think it is a great idea, though we've been living a nightmare trying to get everything organized; all churches, flower shops, catering agencies, hotels are fully booked!".

It seems that even though the intense situation in Liban is very unstable, yet Lebanese are not willing to waste such an important date goes by. Churches, Islamic ma'azoun (Religious figure who complete the marriage services in Islam" are fully booked for the event. Hotels, flower shops, catering agencies, and everything related to wedding is on "Red Alert" trying to make as much successful weddings as possible, and of course prices have doubled and even tripled because of that.

Another good thing is tat many people are coming to Liban on that day especially to attend weddings. "My best friend is getting married on 7-7-7 in Beirut, and I've wanted to come to Liban this summer since I couldn't last year, so it's going to be very amazing I hope" a lady said about her plans to come to Liban.

Casino De Liban is witnessing an unexplained demand on slot machines and gambling on the lucky number 777. Many people are planing to spend the day there hoping that they could get lucky and hit the jackpot.

Young boys and girls are planning to go to night clubs and celebrate the day in their very own way. Many bars and night clubs have announced special offers on the 7-7-7 night.

As it for me, I'm planning to move in to my new apartment on 7-7-7, hopefully this will be a new good beginning in my life :)

Beirut, once again, is facing instability with its undefeated desire to live, and the Lebanese are showing yet one more time how much they love life, and how much they treasure Liban. But what about you? What are you doing on 7-7-7? Share us with your thoughts....