Arabic and culture

"In his inaugural address to parliament last December, the Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri kept mispronouncing words and whole phrases in Arabic, smirking the entire time. Not only did the Georgetown-educated, English-speaking Mr Hariri laugh at his mistakes, but he also cackled when Nabih Berri, the speaker of parliament, asked him if he needed someone to help him out. Being bad at Arabic is almost like being bad at an obscure sport, say croquet: no one particularly cares if you fail to grasp the quaint and overly complex techniques needed for mastery of the subject." Let us make it clear. Mini-Hariri was admitted to Georgetown because his (now dead) daddy had made a big contribution to the university. Hell, if you donate billions to Harvard, a potato owned by the donor would be admitted to the college. (thanks Abbas)