The guy showing his back is a Lebanese called Joseph Abou Fadel. He is presumably a political analyst? The other guy is a member of the Syrian Opposition. I wish they kept filming and showed us the whole fight.

For those of you who missed Alloush vs. Chaker fight, click [Here].

After the collapse of the Achrafieh building, and rumors that the Jal el Dib bridge could collapse any second, the authorities decided to close down the bridge and widen the adjacent road.

This all sounds great but why did they block the entrance to the O&C Fresh Market? What’s the use of all those piles of concrete blocks separating cars coming from inside Jal el Dib and those coming from the highway?

The movie was released on the 5th of January, which is less than a month ago, and was showing in Cinemacity but is now only showing in Sodeco theaters.

I’ve heard that there are some violent rape scenes in the movie which have forced theaters to show it at a late hour and then restrict it to one theater, which is really stupid.

There are tons of violent movies out there and I don’t see anyone complaining. Added to that, the movie is apparently great and scored an impressive 8.2 on IMDB. Isn’t it easier to just restrict it to people under 18?

You can watch the trailer [Here].

Update: Visual replaced with correct one

This is a parody created between friends as a critique of the explicit themes adopted by some artists in the music industry on both the Arab and international scenes.[YouTube]

I don’t know what people like about this video. I like the message behind it but that’s about it.

I’ve been to Olio Pizzeria, The Chase restaurant and Empire theaters in Kaslik in the past week and I could not detect 3G in any of them. In fact, I didn’t get even get Edge. Weirdly enough, you get full 3G coverage if you go across the street from Olio to Casper & Gambini’s.

Watch the first act for more proof that Lebanese Police & Chicken are inseparable. KFC should set up a branch in every police station to enhance their performance.

If you missed out the first one, check it [Here].

Civil Defense teams succeeded on Saturday in extinguishing a fire that broke out at Beirut Mall in al-Tayyouneh. The fire, which was caused by electrical wire friction, erupted in three power generators at the mall at 9:00 am. [Naharnet]

It looks like a big fire as it erupted at 9:00 am and was only extinguished an hour ago. No news yet on whether the mall was badly damaged or not.

Update: Another fire erupted just now at Beirut Mall which will be closed today.

Update2: Check out pictures of the fire displayed on LBC website.

I didn’t know we had an area called the Greek Fridge (البراد اليوناني) in Beirut, Lebanon. It’s apparently near Sed el Bouchrieh.

It would be interesting to know why it’s called that way.

Quotidien léthargique. État comateux. Cherté de vie en crescendo. Et l’on s’adapte. Embouteillage encore, tempête de pluie, coupures d’électricité, immeuble qui s’écroule. Demain tout sera oublié. C’est le mythe d’un pays qui ne cesse de se mentir à lui-même. [Full Article]

A very nice article by Hala Moubarak featured in today’s L’Orient le Jour on the few hundreds of young Lebanese born in wartime and still hoping to change this country for the better.

I always thought Lebanon would be ahead of other Arab countries in terms of freedoms, but according to this report, Kuwait is ahead of us in terms of freedom of press.

Here’s a list of the top 20 countries, as compiled by Mark from 248am.com:

1- Kuwait (78)
2- ****** (92)
3- Lebanon (93)
4- UAE (112)
5- Qatar (114)
6- Oman (117)
7- Algeria (112)
8- Jordan (128)
9- Tunis (134)
10- Morocco (138)
11- Iraq (152)
12- Palestine (153)
13- Libya (154)
14- Saudi Arabia (158)
15- Egypt (166)
16- Sudan (170)
17- Yemen (171)
18- Bahrain (173)
19- Iran (175)
20- Syria (176)

PS: In order to stay safe and not be labeled as a Zionist, or accused of attending their meetings, I censored Country #2.

According to Al-Akhbar website, Lara Fabian is after all coming to Lebanon after news spread that she had cancelled her performances after being threatened.

I am not sure how accurate this information is, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

The government decided to back red diesel prices during winter for some of Lebanon’s coldest areas. As a result, the price was slashed from 29,300 to 26,300LL.

One day before the expiry date, around midnight, 8 million liters of red diesel were distributed by the Tripoli Refinery at the discounted price of 26,300LL.

The next day, they were sold to the Lebanese at 29,300LL according to some reports, which means that profits of 3000*(8,000,000/20) = 1,200,000,000 (or 800,000$) were made.

Fingers are pointing at Energy minister Gebran Bassil for being behind this scandal, and investigations are underway with the Tripoli refinery officials.

You’d expect the minister or officials to resign following such a scandal, but I say it will be forgotten within a week time.

Update: According to the head of Audit bureau, Judge Aouni Ramadan, the amount of diesel sold neared the 100 million liters and not just 800,000$. [Naharnet]

Update2: I corrected the profits made as the 8 million liters should have been divided by 20 as pointed out by few readers. That doesn’t however justify stealing money still.

Did anyone else notice the swastika?

On a different note, the swastika wasn’t created by the Nazis. They have been used for centuries by Buddhists and Hindus as a symbol of auspiciousness. I remember seeing a lot of swastikas in the markets of Kolkata, India. [Link]

Via Joe’s Box