Persiflage & Paroxysm

Watching events unfold in Egypt last night again, listening to the reports coming in of the wide spread looting, the absence of a police and security presence, the fall of so many protestors, it dawned on me how truly unprecedented these events have been. Nothing like this has ever happened in Egypt before. Egyptians have typically accepted authoritarian rule for over half a century, before that it was monarchy that had total control, today the people, the good and the bad elements among them, control the streets. Even when the monarchy fell, it was the army that forced change not the people or a revolutionary movement, it was more a coup from within, and one supported by the US at that. This time the people of the Nile have risen like a long slumbering giant after thousands of years to show Mubarak the door and show the world we are here, we are alive and kicking! As I kept the TV on mute through out the night, I started reading William Stadiem's book "Too Rich: The High Life...

What a long day and night where those that passed on our long-suffering Arab world, only for morning to break. What joy mixed with fear and sorrow for all those who died, what new, unfamiliar hope was born out of purifying fire, the people shall not be denied! Listen to your people, thus I say to all dictators. Be kind, be fair, rise above your hurt pride and go into voluntary exile, thus I say to you all. The Arab people shall not be denied any more. If Lebanon's clairvoiant-general, Mr. Hayek, told us through his annual new year's television appearance that the Hero of October, President Husni Mubarak, would loose his grip on power, I would have said nonesense! But God is all powerful and truely merciful, his mercy is great, finally freedom for the people of the Nile. My one wish as I watched the events of last night unfold was for the people to push their way into where the original copy of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is kept and burn in on live television. But then I ...

Bayt Bayrut el adeem. There was a time when architecture was art and function. Makes me sad to think how so much of what is being built today are mere concrete boxes designed to make their owners and builders money but add nothing of value to our city scape. The reddish hue of the setting sun reflected off the snow-capped Mount Sannine. (Disclaimer: the presence of the LF flag in the fore ground is mere accident and is not an indication of political affiliation)

I interviewed the man in June 2000. Our time together was brief and I knew I could not do this great artist justice, my article was limited in scope and in the number of words, alas, the constraints of space in newspapers. The whole time of our interview, he held a pen between his fingers and doodled on a peice of A4 paper. At the end of the interview he handed me the paper with a smile: "here, this is for you." It read: "To Hani with flower from Malangatana 6/6/2000, Maputo." This prolific artist and national hero of Mozambique was full of life, full of ideas and his mind never stopped, even in his doodles he conveyed an artisitic vision that was pure and honest and passionate. Malangatana Valente Ngwenha was laid to rest on January 14 in his home town of Matalana, he was 74. If Lebanon had a revolutuion and an artist for its revolution like Malangatana we would not be where we are today, on the brink of civil war. During Portugese rule Malangatana was imprisoned f...

I have recently taken a very Zen approach to driving and I am feeling great, my anger is dissipating slowly and I feel better during the day. First rule of Zen driving: be alert and think of other road users before thinking of your self, which means: put other people’s safety first, certainly before your ego and before getting to your destination on time. Second rule of Zen driving: be aware of your inner volcano. We are all human and most of us are stressed most of the time. Make sure your pressure cooker does not blow its steam valve while you are driving. Recognize your anger, remember your responsibility towards other road users, let your anger slowly leak out of you, let go of your desire for vengeance, think kindly on others, breath deeply, hold for an instant and then release. Repeat this ten times or so. At the end you will find you've actually forgot what you were angry about. Third rule of Zen driving: be focused, avoid all distractions. Included among the top ten distrac...

It’s a shame how some Christians have reacted to what is a valid concern for our community: that is the dwindling numbers of Christians in Lebanon and the increasing number of land sales in villages to ‘outsiders.’ The later is the result of the country’s economic growth and prosperity being stifled by internal discord within Hariri’s coalition government and the sheer pigheaded stubbornness the Lebanese are so famous for. For a lawyer and legislator like MP Boutros Harb to suggest a law banning the sale of land owned by Christian Lebanese to Muslim Lebanese and vise versa is shocking. Even a moratorium on such sales for 15 years is most certainly and undeniably unacceptable and unconstitutional. The right to private property, a basic pillar of a free society and the right to freely dispose of such property or transfer its ownership, while subject to state tax of course must never be diminished in any way by the state without legal cause. But I have heard concerns being raised from man...