I am leaving to the Cedars in a bit. I am not sure if we can get there due to the snow and icy road, but we ll try. I had though to pass by home and wish you all a Happy New year.
May you have a promising and fulfilling new year.
Drink a lot tonight, eat a lot, dance a lot but dont drive back home 
PS: Come up with resolutions you are capable of achieving, stay down to earth 
Few days or weeks from now, after destroying all of Gaza, some Hamas member comes out of his rat hole pretends Hamas resisted and life goes on.
Did Israel win ? Of course yes.
Did Hamas win ? Of course yes, it beat its own people and caused their death.
Na3eeman 7assouna !!
English Article (Naharnet)
I ask 7assouna why didnt he pressure Iran & Syria’s officers to help out the Palestinians and resist with their brothers ???
Why doesnt he start another war from Lebanon to help the Palestinians ??
Whats stopping him ?? meen de3isslo 3a danabo ?? M3almo Bashar ? or M3allmo Ahmadinajad natir la ye3la se3er el petrole ?
إن الذي يتحدث إلينا هو الرئيس الإيراني أحمدي نجاد الذي يعمل عنده نصر الله، مشيرا إلى أن المصريين وقواتهم المسلحة لا تلتفت إلى تلك التفاهات
وردا على سؤال حول مغزى وتوقيت تطاول بعض الجهات في حرب معلنة ضد مصر قال جلال إن التطاول على مصر هو من سمات الدول والقيادات والأحزاب الصغيرة التي لا مصداقية لها.
What sickens me more than reading about massacres and death of poor innocent people is reading political parties condemning those massacres, and the issue i am most allergic about is the Palestinian one.
You hear condemnations from March 14, Hezbollah and many many politicians and you ask yourself how the hell are those parties pretending to defend the Palestinian rights while they have been screwing them worth than the Israelis are doing right now for the past 30 years or so.
- Who denied the Palestinians their right to launch attacks on Israel other than Hezbollah ?
- Who denied giving them jobs and making them live like rats till now other than the Lebanese government ?
- Who refuses to give them a working passport ?
- Who massacred them on every occasion they got ?
- Who keep exploiting them now for pure electoral purposes ?
Ja3far and other HA members here,
You have no right to defend the Palestinians, as you hold a direct responsability for their situation. You have no right to address this issue unless you accept reforming the camps and giving them their right to liberate their land.
As for the humanitarian side, you start a war, you should be able to defend your people, if not war casualties will occur and obviously the weaker side will have more kills. Nonetheless, i ask one question:
What would the Palestinians do if they were the stronger side ?
Answer is simple : Look what they did to us in Lebanon, you will know what they are capable of.
This article is taken from tayyar.org (Science Fiction Website)
Honestly, I couldn’t understand what does that mean.
First you read the title, you would think somebody of Martyr Samer Hanna relatives is saying that.
Then you start reading, a very enthusiastic guy Dani Gebrayel is complaining about something he has nothing to do with it.
That article is really weird.
لن نسمح بالمتاجرة بالضابط الطيار سامر حنا.داني جبرايل للعماد عون: يستغلون القضية للتطاول عليك
أنا داني جبرايل حرب الناشط في التيار الوطني الحرّ في هيئة تنورين.
قد يتذكرني العماد عون عندما زرته الى جانب والدتي على اثر إستشهاد الضابط الطيار في الجيش اللبناني سامر حنا، ولهذه المناسبة أوجّه رسالة للآخرين وأقصد بهم من هم خارج هذه القاعة. “التجارة في هذا الموضوع لن نسمح بها، هناك كثر يبغون المتاجرة بها، سامر هو شهيد كلّ الوطن وهو ليس شهيد فئة دون الأخرى. للأسف كثر يستغلون قضية إستشهاد سامر بهدف الهجوم على العماد ميشال عون والقصة لا تهمّهم الاّ من باب التطاول على حضرتكم، فسامر حنا لا يهتمّ بهؤلاء الناس لانّه للوطن وللجيش، والقضاء اللبناني هو الذي يعطينا الجواب لا السياسيين.
مهما بلغت المتاجرة، نذكّرهم بما جرى سابقاً لبعض من تاجر بدم إبنه فخسروا أمام هذا الرجل الكبير الذي إسمه العماد عون لذلك نحن لا نخشى هذه المتاجرة على الإطلاق.
اخيراً أتمنّى على العماد عون أن يبقى طلبي في وجدانه وقلبه رغم يقيني أنّ طلبي هذا موجودٌ في قلبي وعقلي.
IDF after a long awaited decision started its war on Gaza to put an end to the missiles being launched into Israeli territories. I dont support either parties, but this is the price that the poor people are paying because of a terrorist party named Hamas.
The people voted for Hamas and they are paying the consequences.
We almost paid the price during the July 2006 War had our government supported the terrorists Hezbollah.
I hope the Gaza example will enlighten our dear Lebanese Shiites to wake up and stop supporting terrorists and know that terrorism & violence dont get us anywhere.
Latest Update : Over 200 killed and warplanes are all over Gaza skies hitting everywhere.
I want to personally welcome a new member and contributor to this blog. His nickname is NBG_team, NBG being an abbreviation for Nadim Bashir Gemayel. She is a close friend and will be assisting Sheikh Nadim in his upcoming campaign and has accepted my invitation to write here.
I believe Nadim Gemayel, despite all his disadvantages and weaknesses, presents the best chance to break this vicious political circle we are in, if he makes the right moves and stays away from the corrupt politicians, which he is doing so far.
The young man is not charismatic as his dad is, does not have political experience, but he is honest and clean and those are criteria no other candidate has and are more than enough to start with.
I specifically asked my friend to post here because i want this to be a new experience, like this blog is, of the Lebanese and some of you who might vote in Achrafieh to get to know this candidate and critisize him openly and address him questions, and i will be the first to critisize, that you can be sure of.
No other candidate has done that and i believe its time to make a change
I expect cooperation and interaction and warm welcoming from all of you.
Thanks.
I wanna wish you all a Merry Christmas. Christmas eve was great this year, great good, great atmosphere, holy night
I wish you all the best.
A gorgeous Christmas tree was placed in the heart of Beirut, in the middle of Martyrs Square where our tents used to be before the Cedars Revolution.
Since this is a non-political week and you are not cheerful two nights before Christmas eve, i figured i answer you and try to cheer you as much as possible
So your question was :
Guys have you ever been around someone who acts like he/she is always right and you are always wrong and that unless you follow their advices and orders you are doomed to misery! If so can you please enlighten me what someone can do in these circumstances?
I am quite sure each of us knows at least one person who behaves like you described it, only difference is how close this person is and how influential is he in your life. Having a companion (husband/wife, bf/gf) who acts this way is the “worst” case scenario, having a family member that way is least problematic (unless they are your folks) and having a friend that way is the easiest of the three options.
What you are talking about is basically stubbornness, a characteristic unfortunatelly very common among Lebanese. “I am right cause i said so” wou “chou fahhamak inta” wou “sadde2ne ba3rif a7san minnak” and all those are simply signs of weaknesses and not strenghs.
Whomever doesnt accept to listen to others and wants to impose his opinion all the time and thinks its for the best of people close to him/her has a trust issue and doubts himself more than you think. By Being strict and firm, he/she builds walls to protect himself/herself and appear as confident while the reality is totally different.
How to behave in such circumstances cannot be resumed in one way, as every situation requires a different approach, but you must confront that person in all cases, as it is the only way to get somewhere. You cant accept things as they are, as this could harm you and the person and whatever relation connects you.
I understand you feel frustration but refuse to confront that person in order not to hurt him maybe or direspect him, or you are not brave enough to do so, but you must do it, not by reacting and yelling, but by rational responses and comprehensive but firm attitude.
If he/she cares about you, that person will definitly change its attitude.
If not, i guess you should do things your way if its a family member, see him/her less if he/she’s a friend, and seriously rethink about your relation if its not too late.
Remember its not always about what your heart tells you, for me everything is about reason and only reason, cause the heart shows you roads, but the mind drives you to the destination …
Now smile lanchouf and tell us chou baddik for Christmas
What present would you get to the following politicians:
1- Samir Geagea
2- Walid Jumblatt
3- Nabih Berri
4- Michel Aoun
5- Strida Geagea
6- Nayla Moawad
7- Emile Lahoud
8- Sleiman Frangieh
9- Carlos Edde
10- Hassouna
11- N10452 
So i get to have a say in this year’s Christmas eve dinner and i thought i share it with you guys.
Arabic food is of course out of the question. We are going for a heavy meal this year, no healthy food allowed on that night
First and most importantly, the drinks:
Wine, Wine and more Wine ! Red wine of course .. i’ve got two 1991 bottles and we can warm up with a few recent ones.
Appetizers:
1- Quiche Saumon + Quiche Asperge
2- Nachos + Quessadillas
3- Avocado with shrimps & Cocktail Sauce.
Salads
1- Crab Salad
2- Pasta salad
Main Dish:- Filet Steak
- Steak + Steamed Vegetables ( I am going for a good thick American steak this year, no more filet mignon )
- Baked Potatotes with sour cream, butter & bacon.
Desserts
- Fondu (Chocolate)
Anyone cares to join ??
A Christmas tree and snow falling were added to the page to make us more feel the Christmas spirit
Thanks to Mark.
Enjoy.
Next week is a festive week and i will refrain from writing any political post.
All posts will be related to Christmas in Lebanon and the world and i will get you as many pictures as possible from several regions.
If anyone has any special request, feel free to post it.
واضعو الطائف انقلبوا عليه ورافضوه يطالبون بتعديله
حين يدعو الرئيس أمين الجميل إلى تصويبِ اتفاق الطائف وتطويرِه يعني أنه يعترف به، فليس مَن يُصوِّب ما لا يتمنى نجاحَه، وليس مَن يطوّر ما لا يريد استمراره. لكنَّ اتفاق الطائف، كسائر الاتفاقات الميثاقـيّـةِ والدستوريّـة اللبنانية، وُضع تحت ضغطِ وضعٍ عسكريٍّ متفجِّر، وتدخُّـلٍ خارجيٍّ مؤثِّر، فأتى اعتباطياً يعالج مأزقاً ظرفـيّـاً على حساب الجوهر والمصير. تَـعلّـق به السنّـةُ إذ ضاعف صلاحـيّـاتِهم. مشى به الشيعةُ قبلَ أن يَتجاوزَه حزبُ الله ويُنشِئُ دولته. لم يُـبالِ به الدروزُ لأن دائرةَ نفوذِهمِ قائمةٌ، ومجلسَ الشيوخ ظلّ وعداً. تَحفّـظ عنه المسيحـيّـون لأنه سَلب صلاحـيّـاتِ رئاسةِ الجمهورية، سَدّد طعنةً نجلاءَ إلى المارونـيّـةِ السياسيّـة واستباحَ، في ما بعد، مناطقَهم. أما الدولُ العربـيّـةُ والأجنبـيّـة، فأيّدت الاتفاقَ للتملُّصِ مرحلـيّـاً من “الهمِّ اللبناني” غيرَ عابئةٍ بمدى ملاءمتِه لبنان.
Is replacing Christmas by Xmas a conspiracy ? or is it just another false allegation fanatic people came up with ?
I remember having this discussion long time ago, and it emerged yesterday as a friend of mine was telling me how Ghassan Rahbani on some OTV show was giving Christian lessons to some companies and businesses who had spelled Christmas as Xmas in their ads.
Of course i laughed at first, as Ghassan more looks like a drug addict, devil worshiper, and “super night” addict and is far from anything related to Christianity.
Nonetheless, back to our topic, i think this is all an exageration and a pointless one.
The “X” is used as an abbreviation as “X” represents the greek letter chi.
No one pronounces the “X” even when they write it, and no one is gonna make us forget the Christ by replacing one letter by the other. Of course the Church can issue a statement asking all businesses, schools, institutions and Christian believers to preferably avoid using the Xmas connotation, but making a big fuss out of it is stupid.
Here is the etymological explanation from wiki:
The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning “Christ’s mass”. It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038.[3] “Cristes” is from Greek christos and “mæsse” is from Latin missa. In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ. Since the mid-16th century Χ, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ.[7] Hence, Xmas is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas.
Hahahahahaha !!!
Arab pride at its best
“It is too late to reverse the big and ugly act that I perpetrated,” al-Zeidi wrote in a letter delivered to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to the prime minister’s spokesman.
“So I ask for your pardon,” al-Zeidi wrote, Majid said.
The Iraqi prime minister’s office says the journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George Bush has apologized.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday that reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi wrote a letter in which he asked for Mr. Maliki’s pardon, calling his display an “ugly act.”
Relatives of Zaidi immediately cast doubt that he would write such a letter of his own accord.
The reporter has been in custody since the incident Sunday. He faces up to 15 years in prison, depending on what charges will be made against him and if he is found guilty.
“Russia’s defense ministry has decided to deliver to Lebanon, as part of defense cooperation, 10 MiG 29 fighter jets from our existing contingent,” the Interfax news agency quoted Mikhail Dmitriyev as saying. [Rest of Article]
Even though encouraging, i still find it as a really bad move from the Russians as our army is weak and not ready for such a major step.
Let us rebuild the army’s structure and refine its ideology before making it that strong.
What if Israel attacks us ?
How long would it take them to destroy those planes ? will the L.A dare confront the Israelis in the air ? Will this drag Lebanon into an open war against Israel ??
Russia’s ultimate ally in the region is Syria and whatever it does will only help the Syrians.
