All the Beirut news.

Did you really think Aoun would settle for Carlitto making fun of him ??
He came up with another joke on himself and beat Carlitto’s joke by far …
AOUN: IRAN IS A COUNTRY THAT RESPECTS PLURALISM AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION & BELIEF ..
الايرانيون يحترمون التعددية وحرية المعتقد، ومجتمعهم يقبل الآخر على عكس بلدان كثيرة [...]

Quand j'aurai du vent dans mon crâne
Quand j'aurai du vert sur mes osses
P'tet qu'on croira que je ricane
Mais ça sera une impression fosse
Car il me manquera
Mon élément plastique
Plastique tique tique
Qu'auront bouffé les rats
Ma paire de bidules
Mes mollets mes rotules
Mes cuisses et mon cule
Sur quoi je m'asseyois
Mes cheveux mes fistules
Mes jolis yeux cérules
Mes couvre-mandibules
Dont je vous pourléchois
Mon nez considérable
Mon coeur mon foie mon râble
Tous ces riens admirables
Qui m'ont fait apprécier
Des ducs et des duchesses
Des papes des papesses
Des abbés des ânesses
Et des gens du métier
Et puis je n'aurai plus
Ce phosphore un peu mou

France24
La Syrie et le Liban ont établi des relations diplomatiques mercredi pour la première fois depuis la proclamation de leur indépendance il y a plus de 60 ans, un premier pas vers la normalisation de leurs rapports marqués par une longue tutelle syrienne sur son petit voisin.
Le ministre syrien des Affaires étrangères Walid Mouallem et [...]

It struck me, my first time in Lebanon in 2005, how little poverty I saw. No beggars, no people scouring the garbage, hardly any street-vendors, panhandlers, little kids trying to sell gum or polish shoes. Maybe I was blinded by the bling of the upper class, or maybe it was indeed hardly there. I remember asking my friend about it. After all, she often complained about Lebanon being ‘not even’ a third-world country. Her answer was that Lebanese people were too proud: nobody would let anybody in their family get so poor that they had to display it for the rest of society to see. Bedouins would go around begging, she said, but Lebanese people would always make sure that no one could accuse them of not taking care of even their most remote family-members.

I stumbled upon the website for the Khatt Network for Arabic Typography again today and it is even more interesting than I remember (with a lovely new interface). "The Khatt Foundation is a non-profit cultural foundation dedicated to design research and cultural exchange between Europe and the Arab World/Middle East." You can join and become a member of the community, post announcements, notices, thoughts, designs. Check out the news section for events, conferences, calls for submission, exhibitions.

Another muslim convert is added to the long list.

Why on earth those who are described in the press as fanatics willing to die for their beliefs would use mentally challenged people to plant their bombs after converting them to Islam ? I think the phenomenon deserves scrutiny.

And more scrutiny.

After a long absence here I've decided to try blogging again. It will be different from my earlier blogging, which was done from Beirut during the year we lived there, 2007. Since January 2008 we've been back home in Baltimore, MD and I've felt less inspired to use this platform for expression. However, I'm not ready to give it up just yet. Posts will still revolve around photography and the Middle East, but fairly broadly. I hope you'll check in once in a while and see how it goes. Michelle

استقبل نائب رئيس “حركة التجدد الديموقراطي” النائب مصباح الاحدب في منزله في طرابلس، نائب رئيس بعثة دولة الكويت المستشار طارق خالد المحمد، وعرض معه التطورات الراهنة.
بعد اللقاء، قال المحمد: “ان الزياره للنائب الاحدب هي تأكيد على اواصر الصداقة التي تربط سفارة الكويت مع النائب مصباح الاحدب، ومن الضروري ان نقوم بزيارة عاصمة الشمال لما لها من اهمية لجهة التواصل مع النائب الاحدب ولمعرفة الاوضاع عن كثب في طرابلس العاصمة المهمة بالنسبة للكويت”.

 
النائب مصباح الأحدب مجتمعاً بالرئيس فؤاد السنيورة - دالاتي-نهرا
التقى الرئيس السنيورة نائب رئيس “حركة التجدد الديموقراطي” النائب مصباح الأحدب الذي قال بعد اللقاء: “وضعت دولة الرئيس بما تم تنفيذه من مقررات لإغاثة مدينة طرابلس، لا سيما ان هناك بعض العرقلة التي تنعكس سلبا على المواطنين في منطقة باب التبانة، وقد أعطى دولة الرئيس تعليماته بشكل مباشر لاتخاذ التدابير اللازمة لتنفيذ ما تقرر في أسرع وقت ممكن، فالتخطيط تم وضعه ولكن يجب ان تجري عملية التنفيذ بطريقة جدية”.

See this MediaLine story. This story mutated throughout the day from Israel killing a teenager and finding petrol near him, to him being killed in the midst of throwing bombs in 'post-1967 territory' (whatever that is - do they mean OCCUPIED TERRITORY?):

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian as he tried to hurl firebombs at a Jewish community in post-1967 territory on Tuesday.

My parents are coming into town for a visit tomorrow, and I can hardly wait to see them. In the meantime, my father alerted me to another newspaper article on Elkader, the small Iowa town with big Algerian roots that I have blogged about before. I learned something from this article: that Algeria is as proud of its Iowa connection as Iowans are of their Algeria connection - and foreign governments taking pride in their links to Iowa is not something that happens every day :). Thank you for helping Elkader’s citizens recover from this summer’s flooding, Algeria.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Que m'avez-vous apporté,
Monsieur le Curé ? (bis)
Des souliers blancs pour danser,
Simone, ma Simone,
Des souliers blancs pour danser,
Ma petite mignonne.

Quand est-c' que vous m'les donn'rez
Monsieur le Curé ? (bis)
Quand tu sauras travailler Simone ma Simone
Quand tu sauras travailler ma petite mignonne

Je voudrais me confesser,
Monsieur le Curé. (bis)
Quel est ton plus gros péché ? Simone ma Simone
Quel est ton plus gros péché ma petite mignonne

C'est d'un peu trop vous aimer.
Monsieur le Curé. (bis)
Il faudra nous séparer Simone ma Simone
Il faudra nous séparer ma petite mignonne

Oh ! oh ! alors j'en mourrai,
Monsieur le Curé. (bis)

والآن جاء دور الجنوب…وتساهم كالعادة مؤسسات تجارية لبنانية، يعتقد انها ممولة من مستثمرين خليجيين، في بيع عقارات لبنانية الى مستثمرين اكثرهم خليجيون، معظمهم سعوديون. ما هو الهدف الغير معلن؟ الجواب معروف، فالاعلام اللبناني يكتب كل يوم عن محاولات تغيير الديموغرافية الجغرافية بعد التغيير الديموغرافي السكاني.
قد يبدو للوهلة الاولى ان التغيير يستهدف المسيحيين اللبنانيين، ولكن بعد [...]