Persiflage & Paroxysm

“The connection of Islam to Arabism is not similar to that of any religion to any nationalism. The Arab Christians, when their nationalism is fully awakened and when they restore their genuine character, will recognize that Islam for them is nationalist education in which they have to be absorbed in order to understand and love it to the extent that they become concerned about Islam as about the most precious thing in their Arabism. If the actual reality is still far from this wish, the new generation of Arab Christians has a task which they should perform with daring and detachment, sacrificing for it their pride and benefits, for there is nothing that equals Arabism and the honor of belonging to it.” Michel Aflak, Arab Baath Party Founder, excerpt from his 1943 book “In memory of the Arab Prophet ” Attacks on Christians, churches in ashes, massive bombs that target Shiite holy places, a country in turmoil, this is what many will remember about Iraq. With the Collapse of the Baath re

One could talk endlessly about the corruption endemic in this city and in the country as a whole, but truly enough is enough. They used to say that the electric tram stopped running in Beirut because it was the only thing that went in a straight line. What an embarrassment it must be for the winning team in the last general election, now that everything seems to be working perfectly, to have this fly in the ointment, to be haunted by this "ghost of Christmas past." By that I mean the perennial traffic problem, the clogged roads, the lack of alternative transport options, the lack of affordable parking, all the fruits of previous administrations' criminal inaction, their refusal to step up and find practical solutions. Hariri's own Party shares a sizable chunk of this blame. They were in office many times before and they showed us about as much imagination in fixing the country and finding creative solutions for our daily woes as... well anyone who has ever been in off