He can’t be serious!

Quote taken from Naharnet

Its been five days of violent fights between the Hezbollah and FM & PSP Fighters ..
What started as a “peaceful” demonstration turned out to be a organized “coup” by Hezbollah to topple the government and literally invade their regions ..

Hezbollah controlled Beirut in 2 days time, and forced the government to take back its decisions, however the crisis is still there and i think for the time being, the following solution should make way for dialogue sessions and maybe for a long term solution ..

1- Elect Gen.Sleiman ( even though i still disapprove of him) as president.
2- Form a temporary government of technocrats that will handle the routine work until an official government is formed.
3- Hold dialogue sessions to discuss the new government repartition.
4- Hold dialogue sessions to discuss a defensive strategy for HA. (even though i dissapprove of even considering their weapons as legal).
5- Dismantle all sorts of sitins and demonstrations all over the country ( Down Town, Airport)

Such an approach will unblock the situation and let the government operate normally while the political parties are debating to find a proper way out, that way even if the dialogue lasts months, the country is operation and its people most importantly can live normally and the economy will surely get better.

Nothing is more annoying the Aounists & Hezbollah and other Opposition parties than the fact that the LFers refuse to get involved in the violent incidents …

Hezbollah & Tayyar media have been initimidating the LF since yesterday, and making up rumors about their presence in several spots, yet all news were denied by the LF ..

I warn them and assure them that the guys are all ready and waiting for any HA or Amal thug to put one foot in the Christian regions … and i assure them that they ll only be getting back in body bags if they try to cause trouble in our regions ..

Peace

I’ve heard this argument all day today, and honestly i have only one answer that might sound harsh and that says it all ..

Saying Amal is fighting not Hezbollah is like saying t**** 7ad ba***** … wou fehemkoun kfeye !

I think Hillary Clinton is the American version of Aoun. They both are very delusional and they both only care about the presidency.

I never enjoy getting into those internal disputes, because it just poisons the atmosphere and honestly the solution is not in our hands, the solution is in Samir Geagea’s hands and was since a long time.

The hack was a very immoral act to say the least, and i dont know how Hakim can allow it …
This whole sites issue is way more complicated than just a tag, and here also it is Hakim who should handle it properly …

Anyway, sar badda kess Arak el chaghle … its something we all agree on
Cheers LJ

I keep hearing stories from friends who got involved in a fight on the road when some car cut them off or bumped into them etc ..
Stories about thugs who go down and start cursing and yelling and even get physical even though its their mistake ..

Well this time, it happened with me ..

What Happened ?
A car cuts me off on the RIGHT lane, so i step on the gas and get back on my lane. The driver freaks out, gets passed me from the left and starts cutting me off left and right, i decide to play his game for a bit then i speed and go on his left, he tries to cut me off thinking i will brake, but i dont, i hit his mirror and break it.

Next thing you know, he parks the car on the sideway, goes down hold a big rock and runs towards me ..
I decided to stay still and see what he is gonna do, he comes and tries to hit me with it, i stay in the car and push him away and ask him to calm down, but he keeps yelling and cursing then hits my mirror with the rock and flees ..

I had a friend with me, we could have easily beaten the crap out of him ..

Imagine he had a gun instead of the rock ..
Imagine he had a hand grenade instead of the rock ..
Imagine i was a thug like him and had my own gun or bat ..

Such incidents occur on a daily basis, and most of the time end up badly for one side or both …
Such behaviors are unacceptable yet are very dangerously common among the Lebanese, and its getting worse since everyone is buying guns now ..

I have his name and his address and his home phone, i could get him into jail for a couple of days and make his life a living misery but what for ?

What will i achieve ? I believe it was wrong to even think of reacting to his reckless driving in the first place .. because thugs should be dealt with in a thugish way, and thats a level i am not ready to go down to ..

A big proportion of the Civil war victims was due to such incidents, and i believe the biggest problem we Lebanese have is that we dont know how to talk to each other .. and we think that we get tougher by the number of weapons we have or money or muscles ..

The fact is that we are still not using our brains, but rather our arses ..

I read all the papers today, few forums and discussion boards, articles from here and there, and i honestly cannot find anything to write about anymore when it comes to the Lebanese situation ..

Not that i ran out of topics, i have tons in my head, but i am not sure if any topic is truly worth it ..

How do you expect to talk about politics in a country where politics is everything but what it should be ??

I see political parties with no projects, no plans, no strategies, no agendas ..
I see politicians changing their minds everyday …
I see militias threatening at anytime the country of new wars ..
I see US warships coming near the Lebanese shore ..
I see Syria coming back step by step ..

I am not disgusted, i love this country … but i dont understand my countrymen ..

We did the hardest task ever, we made the impossible happen, we put the Syrians out, we got the whole world behind us …

We had a golden opportunity as Gebran Tueni once said, and we needed to do one last thing .. but we are failing to do it and every failure is diminishing our chances of saving whats left of this majestic revolution ..

When will we, the Lebanese people, the M14 people, change this whole political crew and get us a new staff capable of running the country, of counterattacking his ennemies, of defending his people, of stopping the terrorists, of implementing accountability in every single institution …

It is not hard, but apparently the Lebanese people dont seem to learn from their history, this disease that they have to forget and move on with whatever they got, despite all achievements, despite the hard work they put …

I dont know the cure for that to be honest ..

I was re-reading yesterday an old debate we had once on the LF forums, and the opening statement my team wrote.
I gathered ideas from all members and put them into a 2 pages text, ideas for the Lebanon we aspire to, the Lebanon we the young generations want.

I thought i share it with you guys, let me know what you think. You will see a lot of quotes from the 300 movie, its mainly cause our team was named the Spartans

“The greatest thing about any civilization is the human person…” , Dr.Charles Malek.

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A Lebanese philosopher and diplomat, named Dr.Charles Malek was the biggest contributor in writing that draft.

His thinking was an inspiration to many western countries, and will be the backbone of our ideology throughout the debate. From 1948 till today, we have violated every single point on that Human Rights draft, killing each others during 25 years of civil war, building sectarian walls and feeding our youth with hatred and paving the way for fanatic and extremist parties to rise.

The Declaration of Greater Lebanon in 1920, The National Pact in 1943, The first independance in 1945 and finally the 14th of March 2005 Cedars Revolution, all are meaningless and empty dates if The Lebanese still label others based on their religion or region and do not claim their rights and freedoms as individuals and as citizens towards their government and their leaders.
Our aim throughout the debate will be to promote this thought through political, social and academic means, while taking into consideration the current situation of the country and our society. After all, we are not here to propose utopic ideas, but pragmatic ones based on the needs of the Lebanese and the chronic problems in Lebanon throughout the past 80 years and more.

We need to reach a point where a Lebanese would be asking himself the same question Queen Gorgo told her king Leonidas.

Queen Gorgo : It is not a question of what a Spartan citizen should do, nor a husband, nor a king. Instead, ask yourself, my dearest love, what should a free man do?

Our political agenda will be based on three major pillars:

I- “Youth is our strengh”

III- Reforming and Democratizing the Political parties and Governmental institutions.

(more…)

So i went to the North this weekend to visit a friend near Tripoli, and i got to go out and hang around a bit in Tripoli and i kept listening to some of his friends talking about the city and the activities going around ..

First of all, you cannot possibly find any pub, night club or whatsoever .. no one DARES to open such a thing because they might get bombed or god knows what …

This is Tripoli i remind you, North of Lebanon, not Iraq.
The Restaurants barely serve any alcohol, of course arguileh ( which is probably 10 times more harmful ) is allowed ..

Added to that, you barely spot any girl around here, i always heard about Tripoli being the gay capital of Lebanon, well maybe thats the case cause you cant find any girls around, so the guys get creative

Sadly enough its quite a nice region overviewing the sea and there are lots of beach resorts, but its all buildings and walls, no spirit in that town ..

I dont think i can last longer than a weekend here, but its a good place to go to if you just wanna relax and lie down a bit ..

Finally, there are still few hours till i get back to civilization !

Fairouz has decided to show up on stage after a long absence in a play named “Sa7 el Nom” In SYRIA !

Now i understand she is an artist and is far from politics, but i believe artists, writers, actors, politicians, sportsmen all should boycott Syria until it gets us our prisoners back, it gets the hell out of our land …

We should all resist in our way, and Fairouz giving Syria the privilege of showing after such a long absence and helping this ennemy have its capital declared the Cultural Capital of 2007 is unacceptable !

Akram Shehayeb urged earlier Fairouz not to sing, but to be honest, i would prefer if he kept his mouth shut ..
Anyone who was a slave to the Syrians and collaborated with them has no right to ask for such a thing .. only those who resisted the occupation can speak ..

Fairouz will sing inevitably, sing in Damascus that will be declared Cultural Capital of the Arab world ..
Fairouz will sing for Syria, the enemy that has spoiled our festivals on a yearly basis, that stole Beirut’s soul and kicked out its youth and assassinated its finest young men & women ..

Shame.

It was 1988 and I was in class. Monsif National School to be exact. It was an ordinary day at school but something odd was happening up in Baabda.

Something very odd in fact. But lets tell it like it is, why lie anymore?

It was always about you wasn’t it.

You couldn’t be content to leave well enough alone. You couldn’t just say ” gosh I am so lucky to be here”. Nope. You had to go fuck the whole shit up.

First you started with the folklore.

Calling the people to come camp out like it was Lalapalooza or Woodstock. Yeah to hell with school and work, just come hang out, right?. You had to bring them up because you were scared like a little squirrel gets scared when it is picking up a nut. Only you were the squirrel and the nut at the same time.

You couldn’t say ” enough is enough” . No, you had to have the people singing and dancing and shouting and more than anything praising you. Nobody really knew that you were protecting your ass from attack by having a human shield 24 hours / 7 days a week. they didn’t know that you were a coward back then. You were talking such a big game to everyone with all those soldiers defending you.

Nope it didn’t stop there, Somehow you got people to go to every school and every classroom. You weren’t content with just talking a lot of shit and beating your chest like King Kong on too much crack cocaine. No you had to collect all our lunch money too. Yes sir , you ;the most honest politician in Lebanon, needed to get donations from every child who wanted a man2oushe instead.

So you even got the school administration to beg for you.

I was in class, yes I was. I wasn’t happy to be there and I was even less happy when the door knocked and the school counselor walked in.

“Everyone should donate money to General Michel Aoun” . Huh? donate my good lunch money???

What kind of bullshit crap is that?

But sure enough they walked around with a big jar and literally stole our valuable, useful, food purchasing Liras.

I can never forget watching my 5,000 LL drop into that thieves excuse for a collection jar. Gone it was, and gone was my Pampa Ananas juice and Man2oushe with banadoura and Labne. Gone I tell you. GONE.

GONE FOR WHAT?

Gone to the General of the Sha3b el Gasheem thats for what. I wonder how many millions and millions of dollars were collected from poor unsuspecting children in that year of infamy.

But let me tell you something. I haven’t forgotten. NO SIR I HAVEN’T . Not one piaster of those 5000 excellent man2oushe buying LIRAS

Yes you crazy deranged cocksucking orange son of a bitch,

I WANT MY 5000 LIRAS BACK , ASSHOLE!

In fact I want the future value of 5000 liras with a compounded interest of 20% ( the interest rate back in those days) with a coefficient multiplier to make up for the devaluation of our currency ( which you helped to do dumbfuck).

I want every cent of those 5000 Liras back for a number of reasons.

Here are the top 5

1. I didn’t want to give it in the first place, you literally forced people to give up their money, KIDS IN SCHOOL NO LESS!

2. You took the money under the premise of FIGHTING SYRIA!! YOU LYING SON OF A WHORE

3. You ran away like the pansy assed, lilly livered, yellow rat coward bastard that you are and on top of that you left all your men to die you lowlife.

4. You ruined the color orange for me for the rest of my life.

5. You claim to want to open the files of corruption, and put all the thieving politicians away

WELL START BY GIVING ME BACK MY 5000 LIRAS YA 7AYAWEN!!

Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a human being like no other and for us Christians the son of God ..

Jesus Christ was an extraordinary man, a perfect individual for all to follow, that committed himself to his father’s teachings and died for them and for us …

Throughout the centuries, We as Christians misinterpreted his teachings at many times, worked against his will at many times and killed each others in his name …

In Lebanon, we are still doing that, what started as a Cause to defend Free Christianity turned into a bloody fight between brothers .. I just wish we can get back to this man, and try to do 1% of what he did … and i am not referring to the Church here, nor to praying every Sunday … let us put all those behind, and look up for that great person, for that great God ..

Two quotes sum up what i just said, two quotes that express my feelings on us Christians today:

“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Ghandi

“In truth, there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. ” Friedrich Nietzsche

I honestly dont remember the last peaceful and joyful Christmas we had in Lebanon .. in fact i dont think i ever lived one ..
However one thing i learned is that one must ignore everything around him and remember that this month is a holy one and that on the 24th, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a joyful event that cannot be matched to anything else ..

So let us feel festive for a change, let us enjoy this month despite everything around us, let us feel Christmas, Christians & Muslims, all Lebanese ..

Before it’s too late, the representatives of the 14^th of March coalition should reconsider any step towards amending the constitution and electing General Michel Suleiman.

Such a move would not only be a major setback to all of March 14’s endeavors in the past two years, it will be a blow to each and every one of us who went down to Martyrs’ Square on March 14, 2005.

The word is out and it’s spreading rapidly. Yesterday’s hawks are now acting like wet defeated chickens unless this is a bluff – in which case we would definitely be reassured. But what happened exactly? Has the futile Christian paranoia exerted by the Hizbullah- Theofascist ally, General Michel Aoun, finally made its case? Are we abandoning ourselves to the overt Islamic threat in Lebanon and their madman ally? But first, who is Michel Suleiman and what do we know about him?

General Suleiman was appointed by the Syrians as commander of the Lebanese Army in 1998. This fact for sure is not assuring.General Suleiman was at the head of the army when – to name a few events –: a) we were banned from demonstrating; b) we were summoned by the Lebanese Army secret services because of our political opinion; c) we were tortured by the Lebanese Army to “confess” whatever they wanted us to confess; d) mass arrests occurred on August 7, 2001 and demonstrations were violently and publicly crushed in front of the Palace of Justice two days later; e) Ramzi Irani disappeared and was found dead in the trunk of  his car (I will leave a question mark on that one). These facts are also not reassuring.

Now to give Suleiman some credits, he did not stand in the way of the demonstrations that were banned by Omar Efendi Karame’s government between the night of February 27 and 28, 2005. (Just for us not to forget, the decision to ban them was issued by both Sleiman Franjieh and Elias el Murr). In other words, he didn’t stand in the way of the emancipation of the – now fainting or six feet under – Cedar Revolution.

He also commanded the harsh battle – led by our brave soldiers – against Fath el Islam, thus crossing Hassan Nasrallah’s “Red Line”. This also gives him an extra credit. However, I resorted to conspiracy theory questions back then which are still unanswered. He also filled in the security vacuum after his predecessor finally found his place in “the garbage of history”. But why did he do that? Was it national duty or personal ambitions?

There are two undeniable facts that are uncomforting. The first is that General Suleiman denied all Syrian connection to Fath el Islam, he therefore sought to exonerate them from this crime. The second fact is that he is connected to the Syrian regime more than we know. Hi brother in law, Gebran Kuriyyeh was the official spokesman of Hafez Assad. He also recently paid a visit to his Syrian friends. Needless to mention is the Syrian-era reformed Lebanese Army creed that depicts the incestuous relations between the two countries…

Reassuring? No, I don’t think so. You don’t think so. We -14^th of March supporters – all don’t think so. So what is happening at the head of our pyramid? Why are the leaders excelling in disappointing us after praising our patience and promising us to reap the ripe fruits of our long march? Mind you, it’s not just a 2 year battle we’re talking about. It’s a struggle that has been going on for a century to say the least…Why? It’s all because of us, Lebanese Christians.

Just when the Arab and Lebanese Sunni community subscribed to the “Lebanon First” objective, just when the international community joined hands to secure our independence, we had to blow it. How? Let’s call this phenomenon the Orange General.

The Orange General and his presidential obsession Part Deux (Part One was in 1988) will always be remembered as the second blow to Lebanon’s independence. The first blow was when his misadventures paved the Syrians into the last free stronghold in Lebanon in 1989. Back then, the Syrians came in through the main gate. The Orange General is now allowing them back in through the window. His alliance with the Safavid’s Qizilbash division in Lebanon – which certainly goes against the laws of nature – and his supernatural arrogance has put the Christian community in an undesirable situation. 

The bearer of the Christians’ idiocies and sins, none other than the Patriarch Sfeir, was cornered recently in naming a president. Aoun’s escalating threats and scare tactics concerning the Christians’ future and the “Sunni takeover of the republic” prompted our Patriarch to push for Suleiman’s candidacy.  I hope this candidacy is bubbling in the media just like Michel Edde’s candidacy was. Otherwise, I hope there’s something good about Suleiman that we do not know about… 

ya general if you and your followers have forgotten history has not…

you claim to represent the Christians?

is this who the Christians want as leader??? –> click here

Is this what you preach ya general el rabieh???

is this what you aim at??

Shame

I hope those kids that follow you these days wake up soon and find out what you really are before the damage grows bigger to this already threatened community of ours.

Today we mark the end of an era, the era of La77ouss ..

I say despite all the troubles we are going through, despite everything that might happen in the next few days, i am overjoyed that we are done with this traitor, this useless piece of shit, this fucked up president, this scumbag, this Christian-killer etc etc etc ..

I will be celebrating tonight the end of la77ouss and i am sure the greatest majority of Lebanese ( those who believe in Lebanon that is) will be celebrating with me.

Cheers wou Allah yighamme2lak wou la yireddak ma7al ma inta rayi7 ..

I never felt that good since Hafez el Assad died ..

You can keep feeding him bananas till 12 though.
Enjoy yourselves.

As his father Amin said… “Pierre 7ay Fina” is not a slogan, it is a feeling.
His memorial this year fell on Thanksgiving…and I don’t think this is a coincidence. We should give thanks with all our might, give thanks for knowing him, give thanks that we have the capacity to remember. Give thanks for being lucky despite everything.

Yes, we are lucky, because no matter how much we go through, no matter how many meddle in our affairs, no matter how desperate the situation becomes, we will always have people amongst us that are ready to stand up for what they believe in.
People like Pierre who lived a short but eventful life.
Pierre would not and did not give up. He lived his entire adult life with one aim, one goal…a Free, Independent Lebanon.
A country that would be able to stand on its own two feet. A country that would guarantee a decent life for its citizens. A country that would give its younger generation hope in the future, not just hope in a visa.
Pierre did not get to live his dream fully. He was killed on 21.11.06. He was shot… a cold, brutal death. Yet his death is a wake up call to all of us.
One Pierre died and was burried?
but how many more can live again in his footsteps?
One Pierre cannot hold his children anymore?
but how many of us should now cherish every moment we have with our families?
One Pierre cannot be with his wife anymore?
but how many us should hold on tightly to our loved ones in his memory?
Pierre would never fully die…because his memory lives on through each and every one of us.
Every tear we shed today is a symbol that we will always remember him. A symbol that even though we should naturally move on, yet we should never forget.

My words are simply a drop in the ocean of his achievements…and they are simply a small testimony to his life.

Pierre 7ay Fina..

What can i say ?? you can eat it at all times, at all occasions, it just tastes better …

My favorite meal is the Labneh plate ( or grilled Halloum plate) with vegetables and a Zaatar man2ouche …
I thought i share my food experience this time, for all those nostalgic ..

Some smart ass will come out and tell me this is a personal post, i say this is what keeps us coming back to Lebanon, and this is what should be posted to encourage Lebanese abroad and show them we are still enjoying our traditions and our food ..

Enjoy.

PS: All pictures are taken by me, no effects no nothing, just the way they are

I was having today a very long and intereting debate, which started of with the assassination of Dany Chamoun and led to other political assassinations throughout our history and the ‘arguments’ that some refer to to justify killing their opponents and whether there are certain circumstances that could justify killing a person ..

It is true that most parties had a bloody history in Lebanon, and all leaders wanted to take control of their people, either by force or by bribbing their opponents .. and by force i mean eliminating ur ennemy physically ..

In the 70s, there was a struggle within the Christian militias, and Bashir Gemayel came out victorious after eliminating all opponents, and many were eliminated physically, starting with Marada and Frangieh followers and then Safra ..

Could this bloodshed be avoided in anyway ? Was Bashir capable of fixing things politically but he decided to take the easier way ??

Frangieh was already harrassing and killing Kataeb supporters in the North, Noumour el a7rar in Safra were causing too much trouble … can one unite armed militias in the middle of Palestinian presence without referring to force ??

I argue that Bashir had a greater goal, but to get there, one had to adapt with the current circumstances, since we were in war … but is that enough to justify the killing ?? I say yes & no ..

Yes because one cannot fight with his pen or his articles in times of war, when Palestinians were there along with Syrians and co, but was it impossible to reach an agreement with Dany the same way it was reached with Amine Gemayel in North Matn ??

No because i strongly believe one can find other ways to marginalize the other without eliminating him physically, and i strongly believe there is always another way to solve things ..

Keep in mind that this thread is in no way attacking Bashir, but is rather tackling the use of force in general ..

The Church defends the use of weapons or any tool to defend your property or when threatened .. but many cases do not apply here ..

If you look all over the worlds, Ataturk managed to create Turkey by force, while Indians did it peacefully, Americans had freedom & democracy ideas imported from the West, so they adapted and formed their country ..

As for us Middle Easterns, we are still on this killing mentality wishing that our political opponent to die and get sick