Thanks to Paul over at Finkbine Ln, I was made aware of a petition that might help prevent the building of new towers in the Gemayze district.  Gemayze, for those who don’t know, is an old district full of architecturally beautiful, old, high ceiling buildings and homes that are what I consider a true Lebanese signature.

I keep hearing how Israel is precise about where it hits and Israel kept stating throughout the July war that it was only hitting Hizballah targets and no one out there was believing us when we said they were targetting civilian locations that had nothing to do with Hizballah in some areas. Well, the UN board enquiry submitted its report on the incident that targetted a UN base in South Lebanon that killed 4 peacekeepers. The report states that Israel used a precision-guided bomb and Israeli Foreign Minister spokesman says that their maps marked the UN post as a Hizballah base and said “The report points to the fact that there was an error on our side in the maps that were done manually at the time of the combat.” Looking at the damage done in Lebanon,  I think their map is a map of Lebanon that has entire areas marked as Hizballah areas and not specific locations. 

On August 19th, I posted the last stats I had received as a result of the war:

In Lebanon:
Dead: 1183
Injured: 4053
Displaced: 262 174
Homes Destroyed: 15 000
Bridges Hit: 80
(Numbers from Higher Relief Council)
Lebanese fled Lebanon the past 4 weeks: approximately 350 000 (according to Minister of Interior)
Total Lebanese population: 3,874,050 (July 2006 est.)

And today, according to the Higher Relief Council, the total damage assessed so far financially are as follows:

Electricity:  $244 million
Fuel Distribution Stations: $12 million
Health & Education: $34 million
Housing & Commercial Spacing: $2.406 million
Industry: $220 million
Military: $16 million
Telecommunications: $116 million
Transport: $484 million
Water: $80 million
Yes, I think by looking at the above information that Israel was extremely precise.  If a war targetted “only” at Hizballah caused such damage and destruction, can you imagine if there was an open war on Lebanon?! I fear the entire region would be destroyed, since Israel is extremely precise!

URGH @ the anger I feel inside!

My travel agent just called to confirm that she has found seats for me to and from Beirut on October 22nd and October 27th. I will be spending my Eid holiday in Beirut. I am really looking forward to it. 3 weeks and 1 day remaining.

Heard that song today on the radio, its been a while. I like the guy’s voice, its different.

Lonely I’m Mr lonely,
I have nobody,
for my owwwn
I’m so lonely,
I’m Mr. Lonely
I have nobody,
for my owwnnn
I’m so lonely

Y’all, this one here,
Goes out to all my players out there, man, ya know
That got that one good girl, dawg
That’s always been there man, like
took all the bullshit
Then one day she can’t take it no more
And decided to leave

Yeah
I woke up in the middle of the night
And I noticed my girl wasn’t by mah side,
Coulda sworn I was dreamin for her
I was faintin’,
So I had to take a little ride,
Back tracking on these few years,
Tryin figure out what I did to make it go bad,
Cause ever since my girl left me,
My whole life came crashing and. ,I’m so

Lonely (so lonely),
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own,girl)

I’m so lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
to call my own (nobody to call my own,girl)

Can’t believe I had a girl like you
And I just let you walk right outta my life,
After all I put you through, you still stuck around and stayed by my side,
What really hurt me is I broke your heart, baby
You’re a good girl and I had no right,
I really wanna make things right, cause
Without you in my life girl, I’m so

Lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own,girl)

I’m so lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own,girl)

Been all about the world ain’t never met a girl
That can take the things that you been through
Never thought the day would come
Where you’d get up and run
And I would be out chasing you
Cause ain’t nowhere in the globe I’d rather be,
Ain’t no one in the globe I’d rather see
Then the girl of my dreams that made me be
so happy but now so lonely

Lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own, girl)

I’m so lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own, girl)

Never thought that I would be alone (be alone),
I didn’t think you’d be gone this long, (gone so long)
I just want you to call my phone,
So stop playing girl and
Come on home (come on home),
Baby girl I didn’t mean to shout, (ohhh)
I want me and you to work it out, (work it out)
I never wished to ever
Hurt my baby (Hurt my baby)
And it’s drivin me crazy cause I’m so

Lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own,no)

I’m so lonely (so lonely)
I’m Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
for my own (nobody to call my own,girl)

Lonely, so lonely, lonely,
So lonely, (so lonely),
Mr. Lonely, lonely, so lonely
So lonely, (so lonely, so lonely, Mr. Lonely

We have been hearing for 2 weeks or more Hezbollah and Aoun attacking the government and asking to replace it with a national unity government.

Imad Moussa, who writes in Massira, came up with the perfect 10 points plan. First of all, the new government MUST include the popular and famous leaderships such as Sheikh Wadih el Khazen and Wi2am Wahhab or Sleiman Frangieh and of course leaderships from the Free Irange movement, cause without those great national symbols, we will never be able of achieving national unity and removing the tension among the Lebanese.

The ten points require one condition, that Michel Aoun unconditionally becomes president and gives us a speech ‘akhou 2ikhto’ for his 6 years term.

Point 1 :

Work on improving the Hezbollah tunnels to pass under all Lebanese houses and link Maroun el Rass and Khiyam to Klay3a then to Bnech3e and reach Rass Baalbeck. Trucks are available for carrying the weapons and necessary tools.

Point 2:

Open a branch for Hezbollah in Koura where as Orthodoxes will elect its head, and opening another branch in Bourj Hammoud blessed by St Vartan, and not to forget Bcharre and Basta and Karakul el Druze. This Spreading will help unite the Lebanese in a way even God wont be able to break us.

Point 3:

Adding a symbol on the legal ids fo every Lebanese that recognizes the ‘Divine’ and historical victory, and a different symbol for every Lebanese who shook hands with Jefry Fieltman or compliments him during interviews, and removing the nationality from every Lebanese woman who wears a bikini on the beach in Tyr and looks at a spanish or Italian soldier. Cleaning Lebanon from all those collaborators and traitors is an essential step towards national unity.

Point 4:

Opening a sporting club in Jounieh and appointing Iranian Revolutionary guards to supervise it and train Kisirwan’s youth.

Point 5 :

Asking the Pope to apologize from what he said concerning Islam and prepare future apologies for anything he might have to say later on, and if he doesnt apologize we start a jihad.

Point 6:

Publishing posters of Pr.Lahoud, the symbol of national unity, on all Book covers, even Children books.

Point 7:

Suing the Belgian Judge Serge Brammertz in a Syrian-Lebanese court if he was found guilty in accusing any of the Syrian regime members of the Hariri assasination. Syria is our sister after all, we cant risk to lose her for 1 million and a half Lebanese.

Point 8:

Removing the 14th of March out of the calendar, and making March 30 days instead of 31.

Point 9 :

Spreading the culture of shoes and speeching using shoes and ‘Sarami’ is the first step towards National unity.

Point 10 and my favorite :

Throw stones at any journalist that critisizes in any way the leader of the popular revolution and the symbol of national resistance The born-angry minister Hajj Ali Ammar. That is the only guaranteed way towards achieving national unity as proposed by Hezbollah.

Cheers,

Even though one always is determined not to mix work and peronal life, one cannot simply ignore his feelings for a person he sees almost 8 to 10 hours a day.

However, i feel it is really bad to date colleagues at work, because it will affect ur work sooner or later, cause if you happen to break up, it will cause tensions and if not others will start critisizing and talking.

 I have been tempted several times, but everytime i wouldnt go all the way. It just didnt sound right to me, and i think i was correct in my judgment.

 What do u think ?

This study might not be that reliable, but i thought i share it with you

because it does give a convincing explanation. Let me just remind you that Al Manar claimed more than 1.5 million were down there.

Study was done by CEDRE ( Centre D’Etude, de Developpmenet et de Recherche) and distributed by Loubnanouna group.

1- The event was done near the Hadath ‘Mecanique’ building.

2- The number of chairs used is almost equal to 25 000 chairs.

3- The approximate number of people seated is equal to 25 000.

4- The total Area used for event is equal to 85430m2, calculated using the software Mapinfo. By substracting the area used for the chairs, we will have 16 668 m2 left.

5- A person holding a flag and standing still needs at least 1m2, therefore we have at max 17 000 people standing.

6- If we add those to the people seated and the ones standing, and with a 20% margin error, we ll obtain almsot 50 000 which represents the number of people who attended the event.

Baghdad Burning, a blog I have been following for years has been turned into a play (Al Hayat).

Free medical check-up organized today in Zahle by the Kataeb (Al Balad)

The Massaya vineyard sent emails out to everyone in its database, offering $15 - plus free food and accommodation - for two days of hard work on September 21 and 22. Ghosn chose the eight most able-bodied young people from the 23 interested applicants, based on their answers to questionnaires. (Daily Star)

Women are drooling over the UNIFIL boys! What is it about us women? Some new blood and we get all giggly! From past experience I know there isn’t much interesting stuff to look at but well, actually there are some good looking hunks to look at and there is a chance of meeting someone interesting, but would you go to the South to start a foreign man hunt?

Also in regards to jobs at UNIFIL, their job requirements and application also seem to be circulating. I even received a copy last night from my friend Malfono.

So so far, the UNIFIL boys have saved a man from drowning, got women gushing all over them, and are offering jobs in the South. Aren’t we glad we have these foreign troops on our land? (note the sarcasm)

Article on daily star regarding the matter here

So far I have seen Nayla on a harley (as seen below), Nayla on a vespa (as seen here), and Nayla with a darak (as seen on TV) …. did she get on 3 different bikes to get to Sunday’s Mass?? I’m just curious!  Now what really adds to my curiosity, is how did her hair not mess up??

I was glad to read the following editorial by The Daily Star

The size of the Lebanese Forces gathering that took place on Sunday was nothing like that of Friday’s Hizbullah rally, but the speech delivered by Samir Geagea was reminiscent of the one given by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: Each man offered an interpretation of the war with Israel that ended last month, but neither provided much detail in terms of what to do next month - or next year. Both have expressed openness to the idea of renewed and even expanded dialogue, but as Lebanese history has made abundantly clear, occasional expressions of good intentions are not enough to overcome decades of inter-communal mistrust and government mismanagement. Only substantive give-and-take can begin to surmount these obstacles, and Parliament is the only appropriate venue.

Added responsibility therefore rests on the shoulders of Speaker Nabih Berri, whose power and prestige have been enhanced by his conduct during the war but who has failed thus far to make the most of his political rejuvenation. The national legislature has long been a province of Berri’s authority, and the limitations placed on its purviews practices by the Syrians are no more. It is time for Lebanon’s legislators to meet the challenges facing the country head-on by transforming their chamber from a debating club that periodically obstructs the other branches of government into a more business-like institution that unambiguously stakes out its territory and consistently acts assertively within it.

This country needs a Parliament in which MPs can reconcile what are some very different perspectives by hammering out compromises that allow new laws and procedures that serve the interests of all Lebanese. Berri’s chief partner in the carving out of a new space for productive and practical legislative work figures to be Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, but the assistance of people like Geagea and Nasrallah would also be invaluable in communicating to the public that whatever their differences, the country’s political leaders are willing to work together.

When Parliament becomes a factory floor for the manufacture of the new Lebanon, there will still be plenty of time, as should be the case, for spirited debate. The difference will be the existence of a functioning process that keeps the wheels of the state in motion toward today’s clearly defined goals as tomorrow’s are being discussed, all in an adult fashion. Members who want to use incendiary rhetoric will find themselves outnumbered by those who want to work. Polemical exercises will likely remain popular at party rallies, but the legislature will have moved on to a higher order of utility in the service of a people who will emphatically not miss the bad old days.

If you are a Lebanese blogger living in Kuwait please leave a comment here.

So far the Lebanese bloggers in Kuwait I am aware of are:

Mark and Nat
Fractal
Fonzy
Maze
Tal
Sita
Fadibou
Mar
Jazz (at least half of him )
Chikapappi (?)

Recently on one of the blogs, I commented on concerns of disease spreading as a result of the recent demolition in Lebanon.  Well today Al Balad has an article in regards to concern of disease spreading in Dahyeh.  Sorry but the article is in Arabic.

Thank you Eve

Blogging Beirut has posted an amateur video that has interesting shots of the old Lebanon here.

If you know of any Lebanese blog that has not been listed on the Lebanese Aggregator please inform me. New blogs are being created daily and it’s apparent that I am not aware of all of them.

So far 195 266 Lebanese blogs have been listed.

I did some minor tweakings to the header today.  There was some confusion with my blog since it was no longer listed under Rampurple but under N10452.  I rotated the picture so that the female is on the left so that way I can place Rampurple & N10452 without any confusion.  I changed the color of the text and it is no longer a link plus added the blog title underneath.  I am aware that the information under the title is tiny but it’s good enough for me.

More changes will be coming soon, maybe a major change if I do have time.

Enjoy!

How does one boycott something if he wasn’t invited in the first place?

Read here 

Last night me and some friends went out to the Hilton Resort to bid farewell to our friend “jareer” since she in moving to Dubai on Thursday.  It was quite an adventurous, hilarious, frustrating yet pleasant night.  Read more about it here

People keep questioning how “Lebanese” I am and if I am/not Lebanese at all.

I say to these people, I always was, am, and always will be Lebanese.

I will still stand by points

NO to warlords
NO to a civil war
NO to ANY foreign country occupying the slightest piece of land in Lebanon or interferring in us.

Sometimes, I wish I can take everyone involved in Lebanese politics/ war and trash them in my recycle bin, and delete forever.

I repeat my What I want post:

IF you consider that being non-Lebanese than that is when I have to question YOU

“In the name of God

We, Muslims and Christians,

Pledge that united we shall remain

To the end of time

To better defend our Lebanon”

Gebran Tueni
March 14, 2005
Martyrs’ Square

Well yesterday after my basketball training, i felt like having dinner somewhere, but no one wanted to go out. This is like the first time none of my friends would go out, and i called more than 8 friends, no one !

No one was in the mood for going out, even my cousin and brother said no. I mean this sounds silly but am not used to not finding anyone to have a snack with specially at night.

I thought i d go have dinner myself, but i thought i d look stupid, so i just headed home.