Our new interior minister Ziad Baroud has announced that starting September, the ISF will start penalizing drivers who dont wear seat belts, exceed certain limits, use the mobile while driving etc etc ..

The plan was to alert the citizens in the first two weeks and then start giving tickets for those who violate the rules. Now as much as this is a good measure, it should first be applied everywhere in Lebanon and not just in Beirut and its surroundings or wherever there are people willing to pay. In other words, it should be applied in Dahieh and all regions under HA or any other armed group control.

Second of all, the ISF should be raising awareness among the people when giving out those tickets and not making the people hate them and disrespect them more. Tickets are supposed to teach people not to do the same mistakes again, but when a policeman lets go a woman for passing a red light because she spoke nice to him, or even worse a policeman crossing a red light without wearing the seat belt, or a policeman letting people pass on a red light, then it appears our new minister only wants to collect money and i am sure thats what all people are thinking.

Last day, i was on my way home and i almost crashed into the cars in front of me ( not to mention those behind me almost crashed into me) when we were surprised to see a policeman after a long fast turn standing in the middle of the road stopping everyone speaking on the phone. It is not a policeman’s job to surprise the drivers and endanger others just to give a ticket !!

Similarly, ISF had an obsession about setting up a checkpoint after the Nahr el Kalb tunnel after midnight, where cars would be coming back home speeding like crazy and going into the tunnel, exiting at full speed to find a traffic jam … u figure out the rest ..

I have many many other stories to tell about the ISF and their idiotic money-seeking measures, but then i ask myself why should i expect anything at all from an organization founded on corruption, bribery & incompetence, and a country filled with filthy politicians and blinded supporters revoting for them on every election.

I wanna wish all our muslim readers Happy Holidays !

2 days after the explosion in Damascus, and about 45 days after the first one of its kind, here they are again, this morning an explosion hit a mini bus transporting Army soldiers and some civilians, some 10 killed or injured are reported, and I’m confident the same people planned and executed the 3 explosions.

Now the question should be what is the relation, and I think many of you girls and guys have already answered the question, cause it seems, and since the summer of 2007, the Syrians are trying all they can to return to Lebanon through the north gate, mainly Tripoli, and at the same time they are implementing there own part of the deal done with the Americans and Israelis, so they are assassinating some of the officers involved in Hariri’s death, while blame it on the extremists.

I can say they are playing it so smart, so for us to be aware and abolish the plan.

I see a real danger up in the north, but again innocent civilians and soldiers are paying the price. 

SUGGESTED BY LEBANONJON

27 Sep 2008
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

No fisticuffs reported, but attendees at a Washington, D.C. reception Thursday evening witnessed a caustic exchange between John Hajjar, U.S. director of Lebanon’s pro-democracy World Council of the Cedars Revolution, and Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, an ally of the Hezbollah terrorist organization.

According to sources, at approximately 7:00 p.m. (Eastern), Hajjar was introduced “in a surprise move” to Salloukh at a reception for Lebanese Pres. Michel Sleiman hosted by the Lebanese ambassador at D.C.’s Omni Shoreham Hotel. (Sleiman was in town this week meeting with Pres. Bush and senior administration officials.)

When Salloukh extended his hand, Hajjar refused his; putting his hand in his pocket.

“I will not shake hands with people working for Hezbollah!” Hajjar said.

Salloukh responded, “You should leave here!”

Hajjar replied, “No! you should leave here! I’m an American citizen!”

There was a temporary hush in the immediate area of the reception room. Attendees were reportedly sitting their drinks on tables, anticipating some level of escalation. Both men walked away.

A few hours following the reception, I spoke briefly by phone with Hajjar who confirmed the incident.

“I also said to Salloukh, ‘Are you Lebanese or an Iranian? Choose!’” said Hajjar. “He was stunned, end of conversation. It’s amazing to think that these people believe they can ‘make nice’ at cocktail parties and maybe go to your kids’ weddings, and then the next day they are lobbing bombs or trying to assassinate you.”

Tom Harb, secretary general of the WCCR, later told me: “We must also recognize that many in the Lebanese-American community have been – and are – critical of the fact that a pro-Hezbollah minister accompanied the new president of Lebanon to Washington, D.C. But according to diplomatic protocol, Lebanon’s foreign minister must accompany the president. This means that Iran’s eyes follow President Sleiman wherever he goes. Sleiman should not have brought Salloukh with him to Washington.”

Today, Naharnet is reporting: “Washington has criticized Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh for allegedly leaking to the media details on the summit discussion between President George Bush and his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman [Sleiman] at the White House. [More here]”

In an international environment that is increasingly soft-soaping and lending legitimacy to butchers like Hezbollah and their allies – the fact that the likes of Salloukh would even be attending a cocktail party in the nation’s capital (one-month before the 25th anniversary of early Hezbollah’s bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, and less than five months after Hezbollah’s murderous rampage in Lebanon) is beyond reason – I salute Hajjar.

But after all, I’m an old Marine rifleman.

Moghnieh then Sleiman and now another explosion very similar to Moghnieh’s bombing ..

17 dead and 14 wounded today.

What’s happening in Syria ? God knows .. its all too mysterous to come up with any conclusions ..
With 7 different intelligence agencies, complete secrecy, no news, no media, no nothing .. everything is possible, but this is by far the most dangerous explosion and the first of its kind in years in Syria ..

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian state TV reports a car bomb explosion in Damascus has killed 17 people and wounded 14.

Al-Jazeera TV says the car bomb exploded near near a Syrian intelligence post at Sidi Kadad area on the highway to Damascus airport.

Explosions are rare in Damascus and the country is tightly controlled. But a car bomb last February killed Imad Mughniyeh, a top Lebanese Hezbollah militant who is wanted by the United States for terror attacks since the 1980s.

An LFer and a Marada thug die cause of a poster, next thing you know is Hariri & Hezbollah agree to remove all posters from Beirut … why dont Geagea & Frangieh do the same ??

Whats the point of posters in the first place ? Why would Hakim want his supporters to stick his pictures on the street ?? I mean seriously ..

I understand putting pics of Bashir or Kamal Jumblatt or Rafik Hariri or any martyr or founder of a certain party, but i’ve had enough of that tribal mentality our people have ..

Do you see anyone in the states hanging George Bush’s picture on the streets ? or Tony Blair ? or Angela Merkel ??

Do we really wanna end up like Palestinians who are too busy preparing wallpapers for their martyrs and killing each others for a space on the wall while the Israelis are enjoying whats happening ??

Is that too much to ask ?
Even though i think Frangieh is a low-life uneducated thug, but he did make a point even if he did not mean it ( he definitly didnt) ..
li bi7ebbo la Samir Geagea yi3alle2lo Sourto bil beit .. same for Frangieh, same for Aoun same for every politician …

I saw this post on a site called “Yella Vote”

The post is an attempted rally called “ACTION ALERT: Unhealthy “Obsession”

The article attempts to rally individuals to protest the showing of a movie which speaks out against radical islam.

La7za, Excuse me, I respect all aspects of a balanced election but “Unhealthy Obsession”?

Before you attempt to counter the importance of this film please ask yourself the following:
-Is radical Islam real - YES
-Have they declared war on the West (USA, Europe & the world) - YES
-Have they tried and are repeatedly trying to cause extreme harm - YES
-Have they taken tens of thousands of lives of innocent civilians - YES

We are most certainly in a war against radical Islam and that is undeniable.

So I challenge you, instead of writing and voicing opposition to a film that reminds people of the dangers of not being vigilant and steadfast in a war that is real, use your words and your voice in an effort with your fellow countrymen against those who are using Islam in a way that it was most certainly not intended.

We are a society, and a civilization, not a congregation.
Religion is a personal choice, not a national requirement.
Respect your religion and respect your countrymen alike and fight against those who do not.

Muslims and the people of the world alike fight in our armies, they fly on our planes, live in our cities and died in our towers.

So to the author, the readers and all Muslims, I challenge you…

I challenge you to join us in combating and ridding the world of the radical evils that slander your religion.

I challenge you to defend your countrymen and your religious fundamentals against those who will use any means to spread indiscriminant death and destruction.

But most importantly, I challenge you to remain focused and steadfast in this fight and not be distracted with petty posturing and calls for unnecessary opposition.

Love your God, your country and your neighbors.

-WEK-

The winners of the March 8 Special Olympics are listed below

CATEGORY1: Fastest time to french Embassy in a normally aspirated M113 Armored Personnel Carrier

Winner Gold Medal : Michel Aoun (World Record)
Time : 3 Minutes 14 Seconds

CATEGORY 2: Fastest Time to underground bunker under Israeli Attack

Winner Gold Medal : Sayyed Hassan (world Record)
Time : 3.25 Seconds

CATEGORY 3: Fastest to defend Syria for anything

Winner Gold Medal : Wi2am Wahhab (World Record)
Time: 1 second

CATEGORY 4: Fastest Assassination executed from Syrian orders by a Team

STATISTICAL TIE AWARDS 2 GOLD MEDALS
Winner Gold Medal: Team SSNP
Winner Gold Medal: Team Hizballah

Time : 14 hours 4 Minutes 13 Seconds

CATEGORY 5: Endurance in Longest time spent Defending Syria in a single speech

Winner Gold Medal: Sleiman Frangieh Jr. (World Record , March 8 Record, Syrian Record)
Time : 2 Hours 23 Minutes

CATEGORY 6: Fastest Conversion to Syrian Agents in modern Lebanese History

Winner Gold Medal: Team FPM : Michel Aoun, Gigi Bassil, Nabil Nicola
Time: 0 seconds

CATEGORY 7: Fastest to blame Israel for Syrian attack on Lebanon

Winner Gold Medal: Mohammad Raad (World Record)
Time : 2 Seconds

Proposed by Nabil Salameh

Two political opponents, who have different views for Lebanon, different aspirations, different ideologies, not to forget their deep religious differences, manage to meet and reconcile …

Samir Geagea & Michel Aoun still cannot meet and shake hands …

Yesterday, the “Transparency International” organization (a global organization which takes Berlin as headquarter) issued its latest “Corruption Perception Index” for the year 2008, in which our dear Lebanon was sadly ranked 102^nd among 180 countries included in the report. This rank considers a retreat from last year’s position (99^th) as well as the 2006 classification where it was ranked in the 63^rd position. But even though the position is getting worse, the grades given saw some improvement since 2005 (after the end of the Syrian occupation), since Lebanon earned an average of over 3 points in the last 3 years after scoring only a poor 2.7 points in 2004.

Of course nothing to be happy with this ranking, and it isn’t a surprise for anyone, since we already knew that we suffer from corruption in Lebanon on all levels, but what is sad about the issue is that we came in a really late position among Arab countries (11^th among 20), with only Mauritania, Egypt (both 115), Libya (126), Comoros (134), Yemen (141), Syria (147 – the only good news in the report), Sudan (173), Iraq (174), and Somalia (180) coming behind.

Maybe it shows how much we are losing, but also how much others are gaining on us, and not only regarding corruption, but concerning other signs of civilization, education, culture, and others.

This reminds me of lots of things we are losing in Lebanon, mainly our lifestyle that others were envying us for having, and were trying and still to do the same.

We are losing our education level, and here I remember a while ago hearing that Lebanese students used to score more than 95% in the Toefel test, but lately they couldn’t manage to score more than 73%.

It is a sign of backwardness caused by corruption in everything in Lebanon, and that’s why we are lacking the simplest services, such as electricity, water, telephones, medical, educational (we were the best in the last 2), good social security, and security as a whole.

Obviously we have our whole sectarian, policitical, and administrative system to blame, but we should not only hold our governments and politicians responsible for that, we should also blame ourselves, because we the Lebanese people have been contributing a lot in this regard, since we still have the culture of “Wasta”, “Tozbitat” and Bribery among others, so to help our score to improve in corruption, let us first try to abolish that culture, and do something without seeking “Wasta” first, and without trying to bribe the public servants.       

Hayda FPM reporter

Yaret bass fi 7ada min Hasroun yikhabberna kam Fpmer fi honeek .. 1 or wa7ad wou noss ?
التيار يفهم من كلامكم أنّ شوكة التيار الوطني الحرّ لا يمكن كسرها في قضاء بشري؟ يجيب الحصارنة “شوكتنا لا تقتلع، وقضاء بشري معروف بتنوّعه السياسي والعائلي، والإنفتاح، تصرفات “الجعجعيين” عندنا ولادية، لأنّ إرسال شاب متحمس لتخريب سهرة التيار الوطني الحر، بوضع المفرقعات لن يجدي… الناس تحبّ السهر والأمان وتكره المشاكل بعكس قوات جعجع الهاوية للمشاكل. ونتمنّى هذا العام أن يقلعَ قواتيو جعجع عن التصرّف بولدنة لأننا عازمون على المشاركة في سهرة التيار الوطني الحرّ، ونأمل من الجيش تأدية واجبه.

When will Sleiman Frangieh apologize to the family of Riad ??
When will Michel Aoun apologize ??

Who shoot this unarmed man and killed him during the Black Tuesday ? Who sent his thugs to the street to block roads and cause riots & chaos ??

Just a reminder for those who seem to forget what Sleiman Frangieh did only 1 year ago ..

R.I.P Comrad Riad

It is always nice to see Lebanese come up with inventions or take initiatives in many fields, and it was nice hearing about this young Lebanese student building his own car and the first Lebanese car.

However, one should be realistic and pragmatic in his approach, and i was dissapointed when i saw the outcome of the presumably first Lebanese super car ever built.

You wanna build a car, you cant decide to imitate Ferrari Enzo firstly, you should start with a normal , car and then improve, specially when you are on a low budget ..

Frem F1 car is powerede by Volkswagen-sourced 2.0-liter and reach up to 124 mph, the interior is very cheap to say the least and the whole car design is honestly ugly.

Autoblog posted about it and pretty much hammered its creator !

Nonetheless, we can only show support to this young Lebanese.

It appears to me many of those so-called politicians but that i call parasites or scumbags did not even understand Hakim’s apology yesterday and thought they were concerned !!

Hakim did not apologize to Karami, nor to Chamoun and definitly not to Frangieh !!
Hakim will never apologize for things he did not commit and that he was accused wrongly of !

Hakim yesterday apologized for the Christian people who were harmed by individuals in the name of the LF during the war, and who were mistreated at some people and who were victims of some militiamen’s misbehavior at some point ..

Hakim apologized for the thugs that polluted the LF’s image …

Nonetheless, i have short but meaningfull replies to those parasites and to Aounimal.

To Frangieh: Did you apologize for the family of Joud el Baye3 and all the Kataeb members your dad & brother killed ?? Did you apologize for the Church massacre your family committed ?

To Karami: You are disgrace to yourself and to your family and to your nation. You are nothing but a low-life and a trash can to the Syrians.

To Aounimal: You still cannot digest the numbers that showed up yesterday, go water your flowers, and while you are doing that, try to think of the mothers of those soldiers that you left behind to die in cold blood and that you never asked about again …

The only one that made sense today was Michel el Murr.

One thing can be said about that day, is that it was a complete success for the LF party and its leader, organization-wise, crowd-wise and to a certain extent political-wise.

Hundreds of thousands attended the event, yet no incidents reported. High levels of organization and coordination, almost nearing perfection. Theme however ( huge posters of Martyrs from 1982 till now, Sheikh Bashir, Rafic Hariri, Rene Moawad, Francois el Hajj etc ..) was in my opinion misplaced and a bit disrespectful to our martyrs, i will elaborate on that point further in my post.

As for the political aspect, today’s speech was very different from the ones Hakim gave before, and in more Pros than Cons and will definitly bring positive outcomes in the elections, if it is materialized and some gaps filled.

Pros :

- The introduction was excellent, Hakim clearly blasted all those who call the LFers thugs & criminals, saying those same thugs & criminals were the first ones to go down on the streets to defend those people labeling them, and died for them ..
لكن حبل الكذب قصير وقصير جداً، فحالما دقت ساعة السلام، كنا، نحن المجرمين الفاسقين المارقين قطاع الطرق اول من لبّى النداء.
عجباً عجباً، ان قاومنا فنحن مجرمون وان سالمنا فنحن متواطئون

- Public apology was excellent, and i’ve been calling for that a long time ago, apologizing for all those who committed atrocities as individuals in the name of the LF and pollute our image and disgraced our Cause in the past. Hakim too full responsability for them and apologized to God and to the people, a brave move that needs to be materialized on the ground IMHO, by opening offices of complaints for those people, paying them indemnities, apologizing to them, meeting up with them, let them know the past is behind and we as Christians must forgive each other.
في هذه المناسبة الجليلة، وبقلب متواضع، صاف، وبكل صدق و شفافية، أمام الله والناس، أتقدم بإسمي، وبإسم أجيال المقاومين جميعاً، شهداء واحياء، باعتذار عميق، صادق وكامل، عن كل جرح، او أذية، او خسارة، او ضرر غير مبرر، تسببنا به، خلال أدائنا لواجباتنا الوطنية، طوال مرحلة الحرب الماضية،

(more…)

I love it ! I wish he had done it long time ago …
This is we gain people’s hearts and gain their confidence gain ..

Of course this should be continued by crucial steps to materialize this apology and consider paying back somehow all victims of those so-called LF thugs who polluted our image and insulted our cause in the past ??

Nonetheless, it is an excellent step.

جعجع: في هذه المناسبة الجليلة، وبقلب متواضع، صاف، وبكل صدق و شفافية أمام الله والناس، أتقدم بإسمي، وبإسم أجيال المقاومين جميعاً، شهداء واحياء، باعتذار عميق، صادق وكامل، عن كل جرح، او أذية، او خسارة، او ضرر غير مبرر، تسببنا به، خلال أدائنا لواجباتنا الوطنية، طوال مرحلة الحرب الماضية

سلام على من يحب السلام وعلى من لا يحب السلام، فلاسلام ارادة الله وغاية الطريق ومن انطلقنا واليه نعود سلام عليك يا رفيقي بيار اسحق شهيد الحرية والانسانية والوفاء والشمال والمورة والقوات اللبنانية
سلام نحملك اياه الى رفاقنا الذين سبقوك
ليست الشهادة بحد ذاتها ما يوجع الشهيد واقاربه ورفاقه ومجتمعه انما الوجع في محاولات انكارها وتشويهها وتقزيمها سعيا لضرب خصم او ربح صغير. يمكن للكذبة ان تقتل انساناً لكنها لن تتمكن من قتل الحقيقة وحقيقتنا محفورة في اجسادنا وعلى ارض الواقع من قرى صنين وهضاب زحلة سليم عاصي ونصري ماروني
ومن قلعة الصمود في عين الرمانة وأشرفية البشير الى روابي بلة وأرز الرب دماء تسقي هذه الارض ليبقى الانسان ولبنان. انتم شهداء كل لبناني عندما بقي وطن بقي للناس جميعا لكن البعض يرفضكم ولا يريدكم ولا ذكراكم وبطولاتكم ولا انين امهاتكموابائكم واولادكم ورفاقكم. يتهمونك بشتى التهم ويحولون بطولاتكم الى جرائم ويرمونكم في مقابر جماعية وهمية ويصورون رفاقكم زوراً وتزويراً
يهزأون من أدائكم للواجب يوم عز الواجب ومساعدة المحتاجين عندما غاب الجميع واضطررتم للدفاع عن الوطن والحفظ على السيادة وتهريب البضائع الى سوريا وقبرص فقلبوها ضدكم وصوروكم مجرمين ومرتزقة
لكن حبل الكذب قصير وقصير جدا فحالما دقت ساحة السلام كنا نحن المجرمين قطاع الطرق أول من لبى النداء. القاضي والداني يعلم دور القوات اللبنانية في انهاء الحرب والولوج الى مرحلة السلم. فإن قاومنا نحن مجرمون وان سالمنا نحن متواطئون فعجباً عجباً

Those are coming our way if we dont stop them soon

Rescue teams on Sunday continued the hunt for survivors in the ruins of Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel, where a massive truck bomb killed at least 60 people including the Czech ambassador to Pakistan.

Around 200 people were wounded in the suicide attack on Saturday night in the heart of the capital, which came just hours after Pakistan’s new president gave his inaugural address to parliament and vowed to stamp out terrorism. [More]