Why isn’t Lara Fabian coming to Lebanon anymore?

Fabian performed at a concert in France in 2008 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel’s establishment in 1948, reportedly saying at the end of a song that she loved Israel. She has also performed in Israel on a number of occasions and attended pro-Zionist meetings. [Link]

What a blasphemy! An artist saying that she loves the country she is singing in! This has never happened before. I don’t know what’s wrong with those people at the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon (CBSI). Who gives a damn about the political allegiances of an artist? She’s here to perform on Valentine, not buy Israel some rockets!

The funny thing about this group is that it’s inconsistent in its boycotts. Let’s take a look at the artists who performed in Lebanon this summer:
- Tom Jones [Interview with Israeli TV] [Tomes Jones tour in Israel]
- Armin Van Buuren [AVB concert in Israel- 2007] [AVB Concert in Israel - 2008]
- Shakira [Shakira in Israel] [Shakira Makes a Star Turn at an Israeli Conference]
- Inna [Inna in Tel Aviv]
- Scorpions [Concert in Israel planned on May 2012]
- 30 seconds to Mars [Concert in Israel in 2010]

I don’t think I need to continue listing all the artists that came to Lebanon and had performed in Israel before or visited Israel. This non-sense must stop and whomever is behind those campaigns must be sued for being an ignorant.

[High-Res]

After almost 4 months of bickering between different political parties, the General Labor Syndicate and the economic committees, it seems that we’ve finally reached a solution to the minimum wage raise.

Nahhas’ plan was refused as it should have always been. You can read more details about the adopted plan [Here] and check out the increase you should be getting on your salary in the table above.

Noting that this bridge should have been taken down since October, let’s hope we don’t have to wait for the bridge to collapse to have it changed and hold Charbel accountable if another tragedy takes place.

The decision has been taken to remove the Jal el-Dib bridge “as soon as possible” in order to avoid a possible “disaster,” Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Tuesday.

Charbel reassured that “there is no need to panic,” saying the relevant authorities had taken the “necessary precautions.” [Naharnet]

I offer this post to all the Lebanese and NON-Lebanese who died in the building collapse in Achrafieh. May they rest all in peace and let’s hope such incidents will never be repeated.

What saddened me today is that one of the Sudanese workers who died used to work in the same building as I did. I used to see him every morning bringing the garbage out. He was a very polite and calm individual. I wish I knew what his name was.

Here’s an incomplete list of the people who died:
- Anna Maria Abdelkarim, 15 years old, Lebanese.
- Jihad, Farhat & Charlie Naim (3 brothers) & their father Tanios Naim.
- Laith, the deaf and mute boy.

If anyone has a complete list of the victims, please do share it as I cannot find it anywhere.

Now that a building has collapsed in Lebanon, Lebanese are all of a sudden worried everything’s gonna fall on their heads, including the Jal el Dib bridge. However, that didn’t stop them from using the bridge yesterday as I went there around 8 pm and traffic was normal.

Meanwhile, someone’s apparently getting impatient and is trying to take down the bridge himself.

The verdict for the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that killed 90 people, including 52 Lebanese is finally out and we still don’t know what happened.

Lebanese version:

Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi revealed on Tuesday that the probe in the 2010 crash of the Ethiopian plane off the Lebanese coast, in which all 90 people on board died, points to a pilot error. “The truth is in the Lebanese report, the pilot is completely responsible for the plane crash,” the minister said during a press conference held at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International airport.[Link]

Ethiopian version:

Ethiopian Airlines said Tuesday the 2010 crash of its jet off Lebanon was likely caused by sabotage, a lightning strike or was shot down, rejecting an official Lebanese probe blaming pilot error. “The aircraft disintegrated in the air due to explosion, which could have been caused by a shoot-down, sabotage or lightning strike,” Desta Zeru, vice president of flight operations for Ethiopian Airlines, said in a statement. [Link]

Did we really need two years to come out with such conclusions? This is pathetic!

Pictures taken at Cave Ksara and St.Rita’s Capella in Zahle.

Thanks Rachid

An Internal Security Forces member was injured in a gunfight with robbers of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the southern city of Sidon at dawn Monday, the National News Agency reported. [Naharnet]

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Thanks Joe!

[Picture taken 7 hours ago of the site by Gino]

According to Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, the search operations were called off and the equipment were retrieved from the scene of the building collapse in Ashrafiyeh [Naharnet]. The final death toll rose to 27 people while 12 people were reported injured and no one is missing. This statement was given an hour ago.

As of 9 pm yesterday, the Red Cross reported 27 deaths, 12 injuries and 4 to 9 people were reported missing, all of Sudanese nationality. Why did the search stop if there are still people missing?

In other news, there are around 20,000 buildings risking collapse according to MP Mohammad Kabbani!! [Link]

Can’t they move their logo to the right? Is that so hard?

On a positive note, they display the time unlike LBC.

If we can’t expect authorities to stop this vehicle, can we really expect them to detect risky buildings and take the necessary measures to prevent its collapse?

Thanks Jossy!

I overheard some people express their relief that a large number of residents were non-Lebanese in the building that collapsed. In fact, 10 Egyptians, 9 Sudanese and 2 Jordanians were reportedly living in that building.

When are we going to get rid of those sick mentalities?

What happened yesterday in Achrafieh was another tragic incident that showed the lack of responsibility of officials, the unpreparedness of the security forces and rescue teams but also the lack of accountability towards the people we vote for.

Everytime a building collapses, we are told that there were previous warnings and everyone knew. Take a walk around Achrafieh and most Lebanese areas and you will see there are tons of buildings that could collapse any second now.

Some are blaming the old buildings’ owners, others are pointing at the government, but the truth is Lebanese are becoming very negligent and taking a nonchalant and passive attitude towards all issues.

We cannot blame the building’s residents but had they been warned, why didn’t anyone take an initiative to move them out?

- Had the building owner warned local MPs, ministers, mayors and officials or even the media, I am sure someone would have reacted.

- If the buildings’ residents are poor and don’t have money, they or their families could have raised the issue to local MPs or municipalities and many NGOs and associations. They could have also helped them relocate. Unfortunately, one resident was moving out with the help of some family members but it was too late as the building collapsed.

I am not trying to point fingers at anyone here, but rather urge Lebanese to raise their voices whenever their lives are endangered and draw attention before it’s too late. There’s no use in yelling and cursing officials and politicians when the tragedy occurs as this will never bring back the dead.

Having said all that, I urge all building owners and residents to warn the authorities of any old or new building in a bad shape and make sure their voices are heard by all means possible because Lebanon is not ready for more tragedies like this one.

Last but not least, our prayers go to the victims’ families and to those still stuck under the rubble.

I was just watching the live coverage of the 5 story collapse on MTV and I have to say the studio news anchor was incredibly annoying. She kept cutting people off and then when another news anchor was interviewing the head of the hospital where they had taken the injured to, she interrupted them abruptly telling them they had to stop because the news was about to start. THIS IS THE NEWS! What the hell are you talking about? I can’t believe she cut them off so they could go into the news.

A 5-storey building has collapsed on its tenants in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Fassouh. 30 people were inside the building at the time it collapsed and 7 injuries have so far been reported.

Update: A 15 year old girl was reported dead. Her name is Ann-Marie Abdel Karim. For more information visit the DailyStar website [Here]