Sunday, November 26, 2006
Military Junta
The Thai Junta doesn't look so bad after all. Now, under who's boot are our Military men?
Sunday, October 01, 2006
GOODBYE MY LOVE, GOODBYE
(Mario Panas / Klaus Munro / Jack Lloyd)
Demis Roussos (Egypt)
Hear the wind sing a sad old song
It knows I'm leaving you today
Please don't cry or my heart will break
When I go on my way
Goodbye my love, goodbye
Goodbye and au revoir
As long as you'll remember me
I'll never be too far
Goodbye my love, goodbye
I always will be true
So hold me in your dreams
Till I come back to you
See the stars in the skies above
They'll shine wherever I may roam
I will pray ev'ry lonely night
That soon they'll guide me home
Goodbye my love, goodbye
Goodbye and aurevoir
As long as you'll remember me
I'll never be too far
Goodbye my love, goodbye
I always will be true
So hold me in your dreams
Till I come back to you ....
Demis Roussos (Egypt)
Hear the wind sing a sad old song
It knows I'm leaving you today
Please don't cry or my heart will break
When I go on my way
Goodbye my love, goodbye
Goodbye and au revoir
As long as you'll remember me
I'll never be too far
Goodbye my love, goodbye
I always will be true
So hold me in your dreams
Till I come back to you
See the stars in the skies above
They'll shine wherever I may roam
I will pray ev'ry lonely night
That soon they'll guide me home
Goodbye my love, goodbye
Goodbye and aurevoir
As long as you'll remember me
I'll never be too far
Goodbye my love, goodbye
I always will be true
So hold me in your dreams
Till I come back to you ....
Parallels and Paradoxes
Those of us who are not Americans can only look on in wonder at the similar ease with which the ancient rights and liberties of the individual are being surrendered in the United States in the wake of 9/11. The vote by the Senate on Thursday to suspend the right of habeas corpus for terrorism detainees, denying them their right to challenge their detention in court; the careful wording about torture, which forbids only the inducement of “serious” physical and mental suffering to obtain information; the admissibility of evidence obtained in the United States without a search warrant; the licensing of the president to declare a legal resident of the United States an enemy combatant — all this represents an historic shift in the balance of power between the citizen and the executive. Continue
Friday, September 29, 2006
Top Eleven
Geek Porn Names
11. Harry Joystick
10. Dorothy "Dot" Org
9. Alan Cocks
8. Richard Ballman
7. Anita Ram
6. Donny Dongle
5. Steve Jobs
4. L.C. Dee
3. Bender Over
2. Kernel Python
1. Jean-Luc Prickhard
11. Harry Joystick
10. Dorothy "Dot" Org
9. Alan Cocks
8. Richard Ballman
7. Anita Ram
6. Donny Dongle
5. Steve Jobs
4. L.C. Dee
3. Bender Over
2. Kernel Python
1. Jean-Luc Prickhard
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Friday, September 22, 2006
Free speech in Turkey; torture in America

The acquittal of the Turkish novelist, Elif Shafak, on charges of “insulting Turkishness” is good news for free speech. But the very fact that Ms Shafak could face such a charge is damaging to Turkey’s international image and reveals the tensions within the country.
Ms Shafak is a novelist - and one of the characters in her book, The Bastard of Istanbul, made a reference to the Armenian genocide. That was enough to land her in court. The case is an echo of another unsuccessful prosecution last year of Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s most famous novelist. continue
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
For The Friday Prayer
Monday, September 18, 2006
A State of Mind Our Lebanon is
Pope-shmope (That's all it needs to be said about that)
And all you religious pompous asses can shove it. (There is no REASON to argue with any of you freaks)
This weekend’s trip to the Bekaa proved to me that our retarded sisterly neighbors from the North and East (including Arabia), and our asshole cousins from the South will never leave us the fuck be. (Flash-news: Our country is sold to the highest bidder)
And as usual, the problem (enemy) is and always will be from within.
And what was exactly Bachir’s dream when he was murdering (and ordering the murder of) innocents by the troves?
And we keep hanging huge Posters of Thieves and sons of Thieves, Murderers, bearded Freaks, and last but not least, incompetent Bastards in our downtown and other city streets.
And, and, and...(I am not perfect)
Having said all that, I hope to bid all the freaks a fare well. (wherever your final destination may be)
And all you religious pompous asses can shove it. (There is no REASON to argue with any of you freaks)
This weekend’s trip to the Bekaa proved to me that our retarded sisterly neighbors from the North and East (including Arabia), and our asshole cousins from the South will never leave us the fuck be. (Flash-news: Our country is sold to the highest bidder)
And as usual, the problem (enemy) is and always will be from within.
And what was exactly Bachir’s dream when he was murdering (and ordering the murder of) innocents by the troves?
And we keep hanging huge Posters of Thieves and sons of Thieves, Murderers, bearded Freaks, and last but not least, incompetent Bastards in our downtown and other city streets.
And, and, and...(I am not perfect)
Having said all that, I hope to bid all the freaks a fare well. (wherever your final destination may be)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Too little, Too Late...
Nah, it's never too late:
Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Bush: Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you
&
I’m tired of September 11th
Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Bush: Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you
&
I’m tired of September 11th
Friday, September 08, 2006
Regarding the Turkish Troops…
I personally don’t have any objections to the Turkish troops in the South.

In fact, I believe the Turkish troops will become easier targets for our Tashnag heroes in Bourj-Hammoud (lame joke, I condone no such thing).
Actually, the Turks are welcome as long as they bring with them Ulker chocolates and contestants (Seni Seviyorem to the tall Announcer and former dancer Judge) from the Oryantal Star.

In fact, I believe the Turkish troops will become easier targets for our Tashnag heroes in Bourj-Hammoud (lame joke, I condone no such thing).
Actually, the Turks are welcome as long as they bring with them Ulker chocolates and contestants (Seni Seviyorem to the tall Announcer and former dancer Judge) from the Oryantal Star.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Thus Spake Sarcasm-thustra
Today’s entry is nothing special, it’s about ME. (no not the region)
I do declare that I have nothing to complain about. As long as I block out few facts and some realities, it’s all fine and dandy. (I’ve never taken drugs. I wonder why)
Then I woke up.
The “internets” are screwy in my country.
I give and expect nothing in return, but I do. (oh the shame of it all)
I dislike hypocrites, but occasionally I sure can be one fine example.
Do I want to change myself and the society I choose to live in? You bet your ass I do, but I don’t have the tool sets. (At least I don’t think I do)
I want to get married and have kids sometime in the next, oh I don’t know, LIFE. (where the heck is she, are supplies low of the “right” one, or is she my next door neighbor?)
I don’t believe in reincarnation.
The Red Sox are down the tubes this year and life is HELL
Why the heck do I blog? Why do you even care? Why do I care about your blog?
I’m self employed and there is promise of “a lot of nothing to do” until god knows when. (I’m open to suggestions. Nah, not really. Keep you thoughts to yourself, or better yet, blog about it.)
To the Lebanese/Syrian/Iran/Israeli/US governments a whole hearted fuck you for all your efforts. Fuck you for your goodwill and help in ridding the terrorists of this world. And a sincere fuck you in advance for all your efforts and goodwill in the future.
P.S. I am off to a drinking binge. (chill out, I'm not. Unless, you are willing to join)
Disclaimer: Assume things at your own discretion
I do declare that I have nothing to complain about. As long as I block out few facts and some realities, it’s all fine and dandy. (I’ve never taken drugs. I wonder why)
Then I woke up.
The “internets” are screwy in my country.
I give and expect nothing in return, but I do. (oh the shame of it all)
I dislike hypocrites, but occasionally I sure can be one fine example.
Do I want to change myself and the society I choose to live in? You bet your ass I do, but I don’t have the tool sets. (At least I don’t think I do)
I want to get married and have kids sometime in the next, oh I don’t know, LIFE. (where the heck is she, are supplies low of the “right” one, or is she my next door neighbor?)
I don’t believe in reincarnation.
The Red Sox are down the tubes this year and life is HELL
Why the heck do I blog? Why do you even care? Why do I care about your blog?
I’m self employed and there is promise of “a lot of nothing to do” until god knows when. (I’m open to suggestions. Nah, not really. Keep you thoughts to yourself, or better yet, blog about it.)
To the Lebanese/Syrian/Iran/Israeli/US governments a whole hearted fuck you for all your efforts. Fuck you for your goodwill and help in ridding the terrorists of this world. And a sincere fuck you in advance for all your efforts and goodwill in the future.
P.S. I am off to a drinking binge. (chill out, I'm not. Unless, you are willing to join)
Disclaimer: Assume things at your own discretion
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land
I didn't want to watch this documentary at first. I have seen far too many images of heinous behavior by the Illegal Israeli military occupation of Palestine. I have seen far to many images of the inhumanness by the Israelis, often wanting not to believe what I've seen. However, this documentary is a must see. I hope those Lebanese bloggers with more popular blogs will incorporate this video on their blogs. This documentary must be seen by every American so they may understand, so they may get an inkling of what their hard earned tax money is being spent on. Americans believe in checks and balances. Americans respect and believe in justice. Dear Americans, Israeli Military force goes about destroying fellow humans will to live without impunity, without the necessary checks and balances. Please understand dear Americans, if there is no justice for Palestinians, Israelis and some of us who call this region home will never see peace. And you can bet your bottom dollar that acts of violence will reach your boarders no matter how many guards you employ. After watching this video, do reflect; do ask questions, but ask the right questions. Don’t ask why they hate us? Instead, ask what are we doing (or not doing) to cause them to hate us? If you let the situation in Palestine go on as is, God may have mercy on your souls.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
State of Mind, State of Reality
I think the current situation in Lebanon can best be explained as such:
"...as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones."
-- Donald Rumsfeld in a DoD Press Briefing, February 12, 2002
"...as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones."
-- Donald Rumsfeld in a DoD Press Briefing, February 12, 2002
Monday, August 21, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The NEW Lebanon
YES to Hezbollah the Political Body
NO, and million times NO to its military wing
ENOUGH is ENOUGH (hat tip to Raja)
What Can I do?
NO, and million times NO to its military wing
ENOUGH is ENOUGH (hat tip to Raja)
What Can I do?
Monday, August 14, 2006
War of Others, Once again.
According to Seymor Hersh Lebanon, as usual, is a stage for other wars to come.
If you haven't read his last New Yorker article, please do so. Here is a primer.
"The surprising strength of Hezbollah’s resistance, and its continuing ability to fire rockets into northern Israel in the face of the constant Israeli bombing, the Middle East expert told me, “is a massive setback for those in the White House who want to use force in Iran. And those who argue that the bombing will create internal dissent and revolt in Iran are also set back." continue
If you haven't read his last New Yorker article, please do so. Here is a primer.
"The surprising strength of Hezbollah’s resistance, and its continuing ability to fire rockets into northern Israel in the face of the constant Israeli bombing, the Middle East expert told me, “is a massive setback for those in the White House who want to use force in Iran. And those who argue that the bombing will create internal dissent and revolt in Iran are also set back." continue
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
The Final Countdown
Dear Prime Minister Siniora:
Thank you for your letter in the Washington Post, and for all your efforts of the past four weeks. However, you have one last option remaining because the U.N. as an institution is no longer of any consequence. You have one last step left in your arsenal of good will and intentions in convincing the majority of Lebanese and the Israelis.
My suggestion:
Charter one of Lebanon’s ancient helicopters and fly down to Tel Aviv. Sit with your counterpart and try to convince them that Lebanese are serious in protecting the border on both sides. Go on their TV stations and try to convince them that this is their last chance to the idea of peaceful coexistence. Come back to Beirut and give the Israelis one week to decide. If they decide that they cannot trust us the Lebanese and insist on occupation, humiliation and destruction of our country, then we (the collective Lebanese) have to make the final decision on how to proceed.
Those who do not wish to participate in this final phase, will be given time to leave on both sides and we’ll have to settle this once and for all.
Because I am sure all of us agree that we will no longer tolerate a long drawn out occupation of a centimeter of our soil. Or will we??????
Thank you for your letter in the Washington Post, and for all your efforts of the past four weeks. However, you have one last option remaining because the U.N. as an institution is no longer of any consequence. You have one last step left in your arsenal of good will and intentions in convincing the majority of Lebanese and the Israelis.
My suggestion:
Charter one of Lebanon’s ancient helicopters and fly down to Tel Aviv. Sit with your counterpart and try to convince them that Lebanese are serious in protecting the border on both sides. Go on their TV stations and try to convince them that this is their last chance to the idea of peaceful coexistence. Come back to Beirut and give the Israelis one week to decide. If they decide that they cannot trust us the Lebanese and insist on occupation, humiliation and destruction of our country, then we (the collective Lebanese) have to make the final decision on how to proceed.
Those who do not wish to participate in this final phase, will be given time to leave on both sides and we’ll have to settle this once and for all.
Because I am sure all of us agree that we will no longer tolerate a long drawn out occupation of a centimeter of our soil. Or will we??????
Out of Pandor's Box
WHO WINS, WHO LOSES according to this article
Winners —
Afghanistan
Arab Shia State
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Free Baluchistan
Free Kurdistan
Iran
Islamic Sacred State
Jordan
Lebanon
Yemen
•
Losers —
Afghanistan
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Kuwait
Pakistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
West Bank
Winners —
Afghanistan
Arab Shia State
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Free Baluchistan
Free Kurdistan
Iran
Islamic Sacred State
Jordan
Lebanon
Yemen
•
Losers —
Afghanistan
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Kuwait
Pakistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
West Bank
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
O Captain, My Captain

Dear Mr. Siniora:
I doubted your leadership skills when you first took the Helm of our government, I doubt you no more.
I doubted your resolve in face of adversity, I doubt you no more.
I doubted You, but not anymore.
In my 31 years, I've never known a truer Lebanese than Prime Minister Siniora.
Thank you Fouad Siniora.
Please make sure you have the best protection around. (check that, the best protection not from around) We do not need another Martyr.
Monday, July 31, 2006
In the Heart of Darkness
Friday, July 28, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Some are finally seeing the light?
from the Washington Post, Israel Will Accept a Disarmed Hezbollah
"Ultimately, the question of Hezbollah has to be dealt with politically," a senior U.S. official said, speaking anonymously because of the new diplomatic effort. "If it disarms and abandons terrorism, it's fundamentally a different group."
"If we get rid of the missiles, then we have solved the problem of Israel," a senior European official said, "and Hezbollah will continue to exist as a political force."
My question to these enlightened souls: Where the fuck were you last week?
"Ultimately, the question of Hezbollah has to be dealt with politically," a senior U.S. official said, speaking anonymously because of the new diplomatic effort. "If it disarms and abandons terrorism, it's fundamentally a different group."
"If we get rid of the missiles, then we have solved the problem of Israel," a senior European official said, "and Hezbollah will continue to exist as a political force."
My question to these enlightened souls: Where the fuck were you last week?
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Why We Will Not Fight Your Fight
A perilous excursion into the distant past, starting seven whole weeks ago
Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel: Everything You Need To Know
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
As the tv networks give unlimited airtime to Israel’s apologists, the message rolls out that no nation, least of all Israel, can permit bombardment or armed incursion across its borders without retaliation.
The guiding rule in this tsunami of drivel is that the viewers should be denied the slightest access to any historical context, or indeed to anything that happened prior to June 28, which was when the capture of an Israeli soldier and the killing of two others by Hamas hit the headlines, followed soon thereafter by an attack by a unit of Hezbollah’s fighters.
Memory is supposed to stop in its tracks at June 28, 2006.
Let’s go on a brief excursion into pre-history. I’m talking about June 20, 2006, when Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an attempted extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed the car. Instead it killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
Back we go again to June 13, 2006. Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in another attempted extrajudicial assassination. The successive barrages killed nine innocent Palestinians.
Now we’re really in the dark ages, reaching far, far back to June 9, 2006, when Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32.
That’s just a brief trip down Memory Lane, and we trip over the bodies of twenty dead and forty-seven wounded, all of them Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Israel regrets… But no! Israel doesn’t regret in the least. Most of the time it doesn’t even bother to pretend to regret. It says, “We reserve the right to slaughter Palestinians whenever we want. We reserve the right to assassinate their leaders, crush their homes, steal their water, tear out their olive groves, and when they try to resist we call them terrorists intent on wrecking the ‘peace process’”.
Now Israel says it wants to wipe out Hezbollah. It wishes no harm to the people of Lebanon, just so long as they’re not supporters of Hezbollah, or standing anywhere in the neighborhood of a person or a house or a car or a truck or a road or a bus or a field, or a power station or a port that might, in the mind of an Israeli commander or pilot, have something to do with Hezbollah. In any of those eventualities all bets are off. You or your wife or your mother or your baby get fried.
Israel regrets… But no! As noted above, it doesn’t regret in the least. Neither does George Bush, nor Condoleezza Rice nor John Bolton who is the moral savage who brings shame on his country each day that he sits as America’s ambassador (unconfirmed) at the UN and who has just told the world that a dead Israel civilian is worth a whole more in terms of moral outrage than a Lebanese one.
None of them regrets. They say Hezbollah is a cancer in the body of Lebanon. Sometimes, to kill the cancer, you end up killing the body. Or bodies. Bodies of babies. Lots of them. Go to the website fromisraeltolebanon.info and take a look. Then sign the petition on the site calling on the governments of the world to stop this barbarity.
You can say that Israel brought Hezbollah into the world. You can prove it too, though this too involves another frightening excursion into history.
This time we have to go far, almost unimaginably far, back into history. Back to 1982, before the dinosaurs, before CNN, before Fox TV, before O’Reilly and Limbaugh. But not before the neo-cons who at that time had already crawled from the primal slime and were doing exactly what they are doing now: advising an American president to give Israel the green light to “solve its security problems” by destroying Lebanon.
In 1982 Israel had a problem. Yasir Arafat, headquartered in Beirut, was making ready to announce that the PLO was prepared to sit down with Israel and embark on peaceful, good faith negotiations towards a two-state solution.
Israel didn’t want a two-state solution, which meant -- if UN resolutions were to be taken seriously -- a Palestinian state right next door, with water, and contiguous territory. So Israel decided chase the PLO right out of Lebanon. It announced that the Palestinian fighters had broken the year-long cease-fire by lobbing some shells into northern Israel.
Palestinians had done nothing of the sort. I remember this very well, because Brian Urquhart, at that time assistant secretary general of the United Nations, in charge of UN observers on Israel’s northern border, invited me to his office on the 38th floor of the UN hq in mid-Manhattan and showed me all the current reports from the zone. For over a year there’d been no shelling from north of the border. Israel was lying.
With or without a pretext Israel wanted to invade Lebanon. So it did, and rolled up to Beirut. It shelled Lebanese towns and villages and bombed them from the air. Sharon’s forces killed maybe 20,000 people, and let Lebanese Christians slaughter hundreds of Palestinian refugees in the camps of Sabra and Chatilla.
The killing got so bad that even Ronald Reagan awoke from his slumbers and called Tel Aviv to tell Israel to stop. Sharon gave the White House the finger by bombing Beirut at the precise times -- 2.42 and 3.38 -- of two UN resolutions calling for a peaceful settlement on the matter of Palestine.
When the dust settled over the rubble, Israel bunkered down several miles inside Lebanese sovereign territory, which it illegally occupied, in defiance of all UN resolutions, for years, supervising a brutal local militia and running its own version of Abu Graibh, the torture center at the prison of Al-Khiam.
Occupy a country, torture its citizens and in the end you face resistance. In Israel’s case it was Hezbollah, and in the end Hezbollah ran Israel out of Lebanon, which is why a lot of Lebanese regard Hezbollah not as terrorists but as courageous liberators.
The years roll by and Israel does its successful best to destroy all possibility of a viable two-state solution. It builds illegal settlements. It chops up Palestine with Jews-only roads. It collars all the water. It cordons off Jerusalem. It steals even more land by bisecting Palestinian territory with its “fence”. Anyone trying to organize resistance gets jailed, tortured, or blown up.
Sick of their terrible trials, Palestinians elect Hamas, whose leaders make it perfectly clear that they are ready to deal on the basis of the old two-state solution, which of course is the one thing Israel cannot endure. Israel doesn’t want any “peaceful solution” that gives the Palestinians anything more than a few trashed out acres surrounded with barbed wire and tanks, between the Israeli settlements whose goons can murder them pretty much at will.
So here we are, 24 years after Sharon did his best to destroy Lebanon in 1982, and his heirs are doing it all over again. Since they can’t endure the idea of any just settlement for Palestinians, it’s the only thing they know how to do. Call Lebanon a terror-haven and bomb it back to the stone age. Call Gaza a terror-haven and bomb its power plant, first stop on the journey back to the stone age. Bomb Damascus. Bomb Teheran.
Of course they won’t destroy Hezbollah. Every time they kill another Lebanese family, they multiply hatred of Israel and support for Hezbollah. They’ve even unified the parliament in Baghdad, which just voted unanimously -- Sunnis and Shi’ites and Kurds alike -- to deplore Israel’s conduct and to call for a ceasefire.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these little excursions into history, even though history is dangerous, which is why the US press gives it a wide birth. But even without the benefit of historical instruction, a majority of Americans in CNN’s instant poll –- about 55 per cent out of 800,000 as of midday, July 19 -- don’t like what Israel is up to.
Dislike is one thing, but at least in the short term it doesn’t help much. Israel’s 1982 attack on Lebanon grew unpopular in the US, after the first few days. But forcing the US to pressure Israel to settle the basic problem takes political courage, and virtually no US politician is prepared to buck the Israel lobby, however many families in Lebanon and Gaza may be sacrificed on the altar of such cowardice.
Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel: Everything You Need To Know
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
As the tv networks give unlimited airtime to Israel’s apologists, the message rolls out that no nation, least of all Israel, can permit bombardment or armed incursion across its borders without retaliation.
The guiding rule in this tsunami of drivel is that the viewers should be denied the slightest access to any historical context, or indeed to anything that happened prior to June 28, which was when the capture of an Israeli soldier and the killing of two others by Hamas hit the headlines, followed soon thereafter by an attack by a unit of Hezbollah’s fighters.
Memory is supposed to stop in its tracks at June 28, 2006.
Let’s go on a brief excursion into pre-history. I’m talking about June 20, 2006, when Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an attempted extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed the car. Instead it killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
Back we go again to June 13, 2006. Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in another attempted extrajudicial assassination. The successive barrages killed nine innocent Palestinians.
Now we’re really in the dark ages, reaching far, far back to June 9, 2006, when Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32.
That’s just a brief trip down Memory Lane, and we trip over the bodies of twenty dead and forty-seven wounded, all of them Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Israel regrets… But no! Israel doesn’t regret in the least. Most of the time it doesn’t even bother to pretend to regret. It says, “We reserve the right to slaughter Palestinians whenever we want. We reserve the right to assassinate their leaders, crush their homes, steal their water, tear out their olive groves, and when they try to resist we call them terrorists intent on wrecking the ‘peace process’”.
Now Israel says it wants to wipe out Hezbollah. It wishes no harm to the people of Lebanon, just so long as they’re not supporters of Hezbollah, or standing anywhere in the neighborhood of a person or a house or a car or a truck or a road or a bus or a field, or a power station or a port that might, in the mind of an Israeli commander or pilot, have something to do with Hezbollah. In any of those eventualities all bets are off. You or your wife or your mother or your baby get fried.
Israel regrets… But no! As noted above, it doesn’t regret in the least. Neither does George Bush, nor Condoleezza Rice nor John Bolton who is the moral savage who brings shame on his country each day that he sits as America’s ambassador (unconfirmed) at the UN and who has just told the world that a dead Israel civilian is worth a whole more in terms of moral outrage than a Lebanese one.
None of them regrets. They say Hezbollah is a cancer in the body of Lebanon. Sometimes, to kill the cancer, you end up killing the body. Or bodies. Bodies of babies. Lots of them. Go to the website fromisraeltolebanon.info and take a look. Then sign the petition on the site calling on the governments of the world to stop this barbarity.
You can say that Israel brought Hezbollah into the world. You can prove it too, though this too involves another frightening excursion into history.
This time we have to go far, almost unimaginably far, back into history. Back to 1982, before the dinosaurs, before CNN, before Fox TV, before O’Reilly and Limbaugh. But not before the neo-cons who at that time had already crawled from the primal slime and were doing exactly what they are doing now: advising an American president to give Israel the green light to “solve its security problems” by destroying Lebanon.
In 1982 Israel had a problem. Yasir Arafat, headquartered in Beirut, was making ready to announce that the PLO was prepared to sit down with Israel and embark on peaceful, good faith negotiations towards a two-state solution.
Israel didn’t want a two-state solution, which meant -- if UN resolutions were to be taken seriously -- a Palestinian state right next door, with water, and contiguous territory. So Israel decided chase the PLO right out of Lebanon. It announced that the Palestinian fighters had broken the year-long cease-fire by lobbing some shells into northern Israel.
Palestinians had done nothing of the sort. I remember this very well, because Brian Urquhart, at that time assistant secretary general of the United Nations, in charge of UN observers on Israel’s northern border, invited me to his office on the 38th floor of the UN hq in mid-Manhattan and showed me all the current reports from the zone. For over a year there’d been no shelling from north of the border. Israel was lying.
With or without a pretext Israel wanted to invade Lebanon. So it did, and rolled up to Beirut. It shelled Lebanese towns and villages and bombed them from the air. Sharon’s forces killed maybe 20,000 people, and let Lebanese Christians slaughter hundreds of Palestinian refugees in the camps of Sabra and Chatilla.
The killing got so bad that even Ronald Reagan awoke from his slumbers and called Tel Aviv to tell Israel to stop. Sharon gave the White House the finger by bombing Beirut at the precise times -- 2.42 and 3.38 -- of two UN resolutions calling for a peaceful settlement on the matter of Palestine.
When the dust settled over the rubble, Israel bunkered down several miles inside Lebanese sovereign territory, which it illegally occupied, in defiance of all UN resolutions, for years, supervising a brutal local militia and running its own version of Abu Graibh, the torture center at the prison of Al-Khiam.
Occupy a country, torture its citizens and in the end you face resistance. In Israel’s case it was Hezbollah, and in the end Hezbollah ran Israel out of Lebanon, which is why a lot of Lebanese regard Hezbollah not as terrorists but as courageous liberators.
The years roll by and Israel does its successful best to destroy all possibility of a viable two-state solution. It builds illegal settlements. It chops up Palestine with Jews-only roads. It collars all the water. It cordons off Jerusalem. It steals even more land by bisecting Palestinian territory with its “fence”. Anyone trying to organize resistance gets jailed, tortured, or blown up.
Sick of their terrible trials, Palestinians elect Hamas, whose leaders make it perfectly clear that they are ready to deal on the basis of the old two-state solution, which of course is the one thing Israel cannot endure. Israel doesn’t want any “peaceful solution” that gives the Palestinians anything more than a few trashed out acres surrounded with barbed wire and tanks, between the Israeli settlements whose goons can murder them pretty much at will.
So here we are, 24 years after Sharon did his best to destroy Lebanon in 1982, and his heirs are doing it all over again. Since they can’t endure the idea of any just settlement for Palestinians, it’s the only thing they know how to do. Call Lebanon a terror-haven and bomb it back to the stone age. Call Gaza a terror-haven and bomb its power plant, first stop on the journey back to the stone age. Bomb Damascus. Bomb Teheran.
Of course they won’t destroy Hezbollah. Every time they kill another Lebanese family, they multiply hatred of Israel and support for Hezbollah. They’ve even unified the parliament in Baghdad, which just voted unanimously -- Sunnis and Shi’ites and Kurds alike -- to deplore Israel’s conduct and to call for a ceasefire.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these little excursions into history, even though history is dangerous, which is why the US press gives it a wide birth. But even without the benefit of historical instruction, a majority of Americans in CNN’s instant poll –- about 55 per cent out of 800,000 as of midday, July 19 -- don’t like what Israel is up to.
Dislike is one thing, but at least in the short term it doesn’t help much. Israel’s 1982 attack on Lebanon grew unpopular in the US, after the first few days. But forcing the US to pressure Israel to settle the basic problem takes political courage, and virtually no US politician is prepared to buck the Israel lobby, however many families in Lebanon and Gaza may be sacrificed on the altar of such cowardice.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Time for some INTROSPECTION
This is what my mind says and agrees with:
I'm borrowing this comment, from Jamal's site, without asking for permission, from Sunday, July 16, 2006, .
"ghassan karam said...
Jamal,
I do not support or agree with the wholescale destruction of the country that the Israeli invasion is inflicting on innocent civilians. That the above is cruel, unjust and might be ultimately ineffective against its originally stated objective must NOT blind us from the seminal issue that if we the Lebanese, wish to have a non dysfunctional state then we have to stand up and lend our officially elected government support to take action against HA and to send the Lebanese army to the borders. It is crucially important that we recognize our failures and take responsibility for our actions or lack of actions in this case. This does not either justify or condone the Israeli aggression but it will seek a solution by addressing the essential issue that brought all of the current crisis about.
I see nothing wrong in condeming in no uncertain terms the HA violations of the blue line and yet at the same time taking a strong stand against the wanton destruction of Lebanon by the IDF. The above two issues are not separate as many seem to be saying. They are an organic whole and it would be totally unrealistic to condemn one side without addressing the other.
If you wish to help establish a strong and sovereign Lebanon, and I am sure you do, then we have to stop our denial of the implicit role that we have all played in creating the current situation. Yes Jamal, each of us has played an important role in setting the stage for the present situation because we have failed to live up to our responsibilities as citizens. We have accepted a status quo that we condemn privately but do nothing to change it publicly. We have abetted the creation of a state within a state and we have allowed the pols to coopt and steal a popular revolution. We are , each of us, part of the problem and the understandable emotional reaction when a country is being systematically destroyed in front of your eyes is only part of the story. Actually I submit that when we are going to operate under the assumption that only if the aggression will stop then all will be well is a dream, a mirage , and a dangerous illusion. It only shows that we are not ready to face the responsibility of building a democracy and it even suggests to me that maybe to have a functional state of Lebanon is not meant to be. It is up to us as it has always been to either move from one crisis to the other (1958, 1975-1991, 2005-present) or to once and for all establish a modern state on solid democratic principles. If it so happens that the legitimately elected government wishes to declare war then so be it but we should not allow a privately armed group to hold us hostage. We have agreed to be taken hostage and we have not resisted the hostage takers. We have failed ourselves and the future generations. We must remember our role in this crisis if we are to ever formulate a meaningful solution that addresses the root problem and not only its surface phenomenon.
6:21 PM "
And the Heart, the heart says a lot things...
I'm borrowing this comment, from Jamal's site, without asking for permission, from Sunday, July 16, 2006, .
"ghassan karam said...
Jamal,
I do not support or agree with the wholescale destruction of the country that the Israeli invasion is inflicting on innocent civilians. That the above is cruel, unjust and might be ultimately ineffective against its originally stated objective must NOT blind us from the seminal issue that if we the Lebanese, wish to have a non dysfunctional state then we have to stand up and lend our officially elected government support to take action against HA and to send the Lebanese army to the borders. It is crucially important that we recognize our failures and take responsibility for our actions or lack of actions in this case. This does not either justify or condone the Israeli aggression but it will seek a solution by addressing the essential issue that brought all of the current crisis about.
I see nothing wrong in condeming in no uncertain terms the HA violations of the blue line and yet at the same time taking a strong stand against the wanton destruction of Lebanon by the IDF. The above two issues are not separate as many seem to be saying. They are an organic whole and it would be totally unrealistic to condemn one side without addressing the other.
If you wish to help establish a strong and sovereign Lebanon, and I am sure you do, then we have to stop our denial of the implicit role that we have all played in creating the current situation. Yes Jamal, each of us has played an important role in setting the stage for the present situation because we have failed to live up to our responsibilities as citizens. We have accepted a status quo that we condemn privately but do nothing to change it publicly. We have abetted the creation of a state within a state and we have allowed the pols to coopt and steal a popular revolution. We are , each of us, part of the problem and the understandable emotional reaction when a country is being systematically destroyed in front of your eyes is only part of the story. Actually I submit that when we are going to operate under the assumption that only if the aggression will stop then all will be well is a dream, a mirage , and a dangerous illusion. It only shows that we are not ready to face the responsibility of building a democracy and it even suggests to me that maybe to have a functional state of Lebanon is not meant to be. It is up to us as it has always been to either move from one crisis to the other (1958, 1975-1991, 2005-present) or to once and for all establish a modern state on solid democratic principles. If it so happens that the legitimately elected government wishes to declare war then so be it but we should not allow a privately armed group to hold us hostage. We have agreed to be taken hostage and we have not resisted the hostage takers. We have failed ourselves and the future generations. We must remember our role in this crisis if we are to ever formulate a meaningful solution that addresses the root problem and not only its surface phenomenon.
6:21 PM "
And the Heart, the heart says a lot things...
Demand End for Offensive

Around 2,000 people marched in Israel's commercial capital of Tel Aviv on Sunday to demand an end to the punishing offensive against Lebanon that has left some 150 dead, organizers said.
"Yes to a prisoner exchange," chanted the demonstrators, referring to the key demand of Hizbullah that snatched two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, unleashing the Israeli offensive.
"Yes to peace," "Our children want to live," cried the mixed crowd of Jewish and Arab demonstrators.
The rally, organized by half a dozen Israeli pacifist groups, lasted around two hours before being dispersed by police.(AFP) (AP photo shows Israeli policemen arresting an Israeli left wing demonstrator in Tel Aviv)
Naharnet.com
Beirut, 17 Jul 06, 07:48
Saturday, July 15, 2006
When will we bridge our differences?
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Vote for Pedro

I miss watching the games live. The World Cup is great, but it will never match my love for the game of Baseball. RED SOX Baseball.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Good old Albert
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Mad TV - Apple's iPad
Mad TV has produced one of the raunchier iPod spoofs we've seen to date (meaning: probably not safe for work) in the form of an advertisement of, how shall we say, pads for women who 'think different'. The 'iPad' ad wins bonus points for coming complete with a spoof of the iPod silhouette ads and a mock voice-over of Bono.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
I toot my vote
This the order I voted
1. Welcome to My Lebanese Dream
2. Rampurple
3. Beirut Spring
4. Ramzi's Blah Blah
5. Mysterious Eve
1. Welcome to My Lebanese Dream
2. Rampurple
3. Beirut Spring
4. Ramzi's Blah Blah
5. Mysterious Eve
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Do you see it?
It doesn’t look like much now, but it has potential, no?
Well look at it (if you need more convincing, you're welcome to my home). It is just sitting there, but I can hear it calling. It is calling to let us know that we need to tell our local government to build a Park with water fountains, hiking trails and some wildlife (tamed of course). It can be done, I don’t know who to ask or write to. Any Suggestions?
I would hate to see another friggin building get sprung.



Well look at it (if you need more convincing, you're welcome to my home). It is just sitting there, but I can hear it calling. It is calling to let us know that we need to tell our local government to build a Park with water fountains, hiking trails and some wildlife (tamed of course). It can be done, I don’t know who to ask or write to. Any Suggestions?
I would hate to see another friggin building get sprung.



Monday, May 29, 2006
Take a Chill Pillllll (prozac is your friend)
Believe me, I'm all about the positive energy and good vibes, but some people are bringing me down, down to Chinatown (very original, i know). Folks (not bloggers, eh maybe some), life is to damn short, stop taking yourselves so seriously. The fact that I'm blogging about this somehow feels like it defeats the purpose of something (according to Lao Tzu).
Moving right along.
Jazz on the radio. We only deserve couple of hours a week? Can't we (jazzists) all come together on this and fight the powers that be?
Nahr(river) Ibrahim. Not bad for a stream. Pics available for a reserved few (not really).
For those psychoanalysts out there, is this normal behavior (my nonchalantness) for someone who is going through a huge culture shock (again)?
Tayeb, please have the best week of your lives, and keep it to yourselves, because I really don't care. :)
Moving right along.
Jazz on the radio. We only deserve couple of hours a week? Can't we (jazzists) all come together on this and fight the powers that be?
Nahr(river) Ibrahim. Not bad for a stream. Pics available for a reserved few (not really).
For those psychoanalysts out there, is this normal behavior (my nonchalantness) for someone who is going through a huge culture shock (again)?
Tayeb, please have the best week of your lives, and keep it to yourselves, because I really don't care. :)
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Good Morning?
Tayeb(i like this word), I’m up in the morning about 6:30 doing my semi yoga/stretch routine that I have very recently picked-up (you know, to be more flexible for the ladies) and what I hear on the radio? Country Western. Travis Friggin Tritt. Eh Rouh Baa. How do you suppose one’s day should start with TT on the radio in LEBANON of all places. I mean isn’t it enough that we have to put up with Celine Dion on the french stations? I can put up with La Cosa Nostra running the country, but TT and Celine I shall not, period. This Revolution Has No NAME.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
SUN Day Kenafibjeben
Tayeb:
My Lebanese street slang is definitely on the up and up. Yaani, I'm remembering phrases and words I haven't used for many many moons. Moving right along. With Delirious and Maldoror, I attended the latest blogger get-together, and of course, I brought some chairs and had a blast. Many thanks to Linalone for the invitation. It was a pleasure meeting some of the bloggers I have come to know this past year. Definitely looking forward to the next meet-up. Now, off to Sea Sweet for some Kenafi.
My Lebanese street slang is definitely on the up and up. Yaani, I'm remembering phrases and words I haven't used for many many moons. Moving right along. With Delirious and Maldoror, I attended the latest blogger get-together, and of course, I brought some chairs and had a blast. Many thanks to Linalone for the invitation. It was a pleasure meeting some of the bloggers I have come to know this past year. Definitely looking forward to the next meet-up. Now, off to Sea Sweet for some Kenafi.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Secrets Out
In the constant attempt for world governments to syphon off wealth from their own populace, the government of Lebanon has been secretly working on a formula to reduce expenditure, especially for their elederly. Apperantly, they have found a solution. The government of Lebanon has broken ground in establishing one of most stress filled enviornments for its citizenry that according to most current census, by the time an average Lebanese male and even female (at this point) reach ripe old years of their 50s and early 60s, it is pretty much guranteed that they will drop dead from heart failure.Yes, I've been in Lebanon for 5 days and already have learned to Bull Shit like one, or the ability may have resurfaced while being dormant for some years abroad. The one positive so far, for 50 bucks a month plus $300 for the modem, the speeds at which I can surf the net is not so bad for a 3rd world country. (sample size = 2 days)
I sincerely hope you will have a wonderful day, I know I will.
Basterd Child :)
I sincerely hope you will have a wonderful day, I know I will.
Basterd Child :)
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Fish n’ Flush Aquarium Toilet

Just too bad that you have to turn your back to the aquarium in order to use the toilet properly.
This kit is a great starting point for nearly anyone. The Fishn'Flush Toilet Tank Aquarium Kit comes with only the highest quality components. Each part is carefully selected for it's performance, reputation, and ability to enhance the Fishn'Flush Toilet Tank Aquarium Kit that it accompanies. This kit is a great starting points for nearly any aquarist. All Fishn'Flush Toilet Tank Aquariums are low voltage and safe to assemble and enjoy.
Just add gravel, water & fish!
The Fishn'Flush Toilet Tank Aquarium Kit Includes:
* 1/4 thick wall injection molded Acrylic Aquarium with Base
* 1/4 thick wall injection molded Clear PVC toilet tank
* Top mounted push button flush mechanism with easy removable lid
* Custom Under Gravel Filter
* Air Pump
* 2 Nine inch Artificial Plants
* Basic Aquarium Guide
* LED Light Fixtures
* Water Conditioner
* Flush Valve
* Fill Valve
Note: Fits two bolt tank to bowl configurations with a 2 inch flush valve and a bottom mounted fill valve inlet.
Description
Dimensions
L x W x H
2.2 Gallon Aquarium Volume Fishn'Flush
19.5" x 8.5 " x 13.75 "
Item #
Description
List Price
FNF2500
2.5 Gallon Fishn'Flush Toilet Tank Aquarium Kit
$399.00
Monday, May 08, 2006
Damn, I knew it. I chose the wrong Profession.
| You Should Be a Musician |
![]() You have a rare combinations of talents: an ear for music, nimble fingers, and the willpower to practice. You could master almost any instrument you choose to play (if you haven't already!) |
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
By the way

I missed you my dear old blog, but I have nothing to complain about. No one or thing to praise. Actually that's not true. I'm enjoying the discussions taking place at LFB, and what different members bring to the table, might I add the real round table in our country by far. Hail to you all for you are perfect with all your flaws. :)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Secret to a long life - get even more often
PEOPLE who smile a lot and say "have a nice day" are headed to an early grave while the grumpy stay fit. (more)
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
VW Cojones
Volkswagen says it will remove billboards in New York, Los Angeles and Miami after receiving complaints that a word used in an advertisement was offensive to Hispanics.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Sports Weekend in SD
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Enough of this Bullshit

Is it just me or this “National Dialogue” looks more like the scene from the first Godfather episode where all the bosses sit together and amend their slices of the Lebanese pie?
I would give my left nut to have them all wiped out like in the scene in Godfather III, even if Michael goes down with them with all his nephews.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Nude Race Ban
The mayor of a New Zealand town wants a nude cycling race to be called off - because the participants won’t be wearing helmets. (more)
Monday, March 13, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
Saturday, February 04, 2006
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