Beirut: for the rich only

"A recent study on property prices produced by the real estate advisory agency, RAMCO, shows the average price of apartments in Beirut has risen to $1.091 million. "Those who want to live in Beirut need to get richer to own property in the capital," states the study. The city's native population can no longer afford to live in it. Their income levels are very far from meeting the minimum standard of living in Beirut. The rentier system in Lebanon kicked out its original residents with mid-level income or less, turning it into a center for the filthy rich, those who benefit from the rents to increase their wealth. And this is how the system works in Lebanon. The Lebanese system, with its politics, clientelism, confessionalism, and classism, has led to an unjustified soaring of prices of apartments." (thanks Basim)

the right to occupy everywhere

" "We are here with a simple and clear message -- the Jordan Valley is Israeli," Sa'ar said." "Levin said Israel has the "inalienable right" build in the Jordan Valley."

Wecome the Gas Princess: heroine of Western media

"Ukrainians remember that in the 1990s, before the braids, Tymoshenko was a shrewd businesswoman with dark hair and a dark side: tough, unrelenting, unforgiving, and in a league with then-Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. She amassed an enormous fortune in the natural gas business. People started calling her "The Gas Princess." "

EU is Apartheid regime's largest trading partner

"But EU diplomats say business with firms operating in the settlements, such as skincare company Ahava, represent less than 1 percent of all Israeli-EU trade, which last year totaled $36.7 billion, up from $20.9 billion a decade earlier. The European Union matters because it is Israel's largest trading partner and it is the only place where murmurings of sanctions have so far been raised outside the Arab world, where only Egypt and Jordan have formal ties with Israel."

It is not that outrageous given the Zionist claims on Palestine

"Muslim groups are demanding Spanish citizenship for potentially millions of descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain during the Middle Ages."

images from Venezuela

"This article provides graphic evidence of how some postings on social and other media have reproduced images culled from elsewhere and portrayed them as depicting events in Venezuela." (thanks Amir)

US expenditure per soldier per year in Iraq

"UN peacekeeping operations themselves do add around $8 billion a year on top of the base budget (of which the U.S. provides around $2.2 billion). Still that’s only about the same as the defense budget of Singapore or the Netherlands. Or compare the $8 billion global price of these operations with an estimate of the annual cost of air conditioning for U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20 billion (it turns out it takes a lot of fuel to air-condition a tent). For less than one-half the cost of keeping those U.S. troops cool, the UN supports 15 peacekeeping operations from Mali to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Lebanon and Pakistan, involving 83,000 soldiers in all. One big reason for the cost effectiveness of UN blue-helmets is that peacekeeping forces (overwhelmingly from developing countries) are supplied at bargain-basement prices: a little more than $12,000 a head annually. The U.S. spent about $800,000 per year (PDF)—60 times as much— per soldier in Iraq." (thanks Laure)

Sleazy media of Saudi princes

This is one of the top news stories on the site of Al-Arabiyya (the news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law): "Prince Salman jokes with a student in Japan." Kid you not.

Exclusive. This is the amazing device invented by Sisi intelligence service which can cure AIDS and C Virus

Prince Muhammad bin Fahds made a contribution to Prince Muhammad bin Fahd--kid you not

 

It says that Prince Muhammad Bin Fahd made a 15 million Saudi Riyal contribution to the Foundation of Muhammad bin Fahd. The Prince thanked himself for his generosity and promised that he won't steal the contribution.

If Lebanese Army soldiers train by eating snakes, Saudi speical forces train by eating rabbits. Kid you not.

Samples from the sleazy media of Saudi princes: Al-Arabiyya again

The most widely read article on the website of the news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law has this headline:  "That is how I married Ahmad `Izz, the father of my twins".  Are there no journalism awards for the media of Saudi princes?

When a Muslim man is lynched in CAR, it is not a story with a headline in US media

 
"A group of soldiers in the Central African Republic lynched a man they suspected was a rebel minutes after hearing the new president's promise to restore security at a ceremony to reinstate the divided country's armed forces.

About 20 uniformed soldiers accused a member of the crowd of having belonged to Seleka - the mostly Muslim rebel group that seized power in a coup last March, before stabbing him repeatedly until he was dead.

A soldier stamped on the lifeless body, which was then dragged nearly naked through the streets as residents looked on and took photographs."

a peaceful "revolution"

“We will go with weapons,” said the protester, who leads one of the more militant groups in the square. “I swear it.”

Hero of Western governments

"Oleh Tiahnybok

Tiahnybok is the head of the nationalist Svoboda party. Yanukovych did not offer him a position in the government in January. Tiahnybok credited the emergence of fanatical and often nationalistic soccer supporters for a change in Yanukovych’s tone since then."

A conversation between Saudi King and Muhammad bin Nayif: an actual transcript

An actual transcript from 2009 from the news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law, Al-Arabiyya (my translation):

"Prince Muhammad: I was in the gathering, may god extend your life, and I was receiving people, and one wanted to surrender.  The day he came, may god obstruct him (and he was obstructed by will of God), by his claim, he detonated himself and he was the only one who was gone, may god extend your life.
King Abdullah: Praise be to God, praise be to God.
Prince Muhammad: Praise be to God, I bring the good news to you that I am well, praise be to god.  And when I saw you right now well...may god extend your life.
King Abdullah: And the enemy is obstructed.
Prince Muhammad: And the enemy is obstructed, and the evidence is, may god extend your life, I was not hit at all, and he went in seventy pieces.
King Abdullah: Praise be to God. Praise be to God.
Prince Muhammad: And thanks to God, may God extend your life, my affairs are good and all is good. And this increases our determination, God willing, in work, and God willing, to remove this deviant group--all of it.
King Abdullah: This is the will of God over everything.  And thanks God that you are well and fine and no harm is on you.  Praise be to God, and whatever was gone from you is a service to your religion and to your homeland, no question about it.
Prince Muhammad: May God extend your life, this is a great honor to me.
King Abdullah: Sacrifice.  But you took a risk, o Muhammad.  Or the guards with you, my brother. You should have let them search him but
Prince Muhammad: The error is mine.  I was the one who said: no one touches him, may God extend your life but
King Abdullah: in your private home?
Prince Muhammad: in my home, in the regular reception following dinner, may God extend your life.
King Abdullah: praise be to God, lord of the world."

Garrick Utley died: a model foreign correspondent

I should not always generalize. The US has had its share of (rare) model foreign correspondents.  Utley was one of those.  His coverage of world events was exemplary and I can't think of one US foreign correspondent like him today.  This is a man who was fluent in French and German and his reports from foreign countries were not your typical, ignorant, sensational stories that you associate with US foreign coverage.  I liked and respected Utley and my condolences to his widow.

leakers

How come leakers are heroic only when they leak information about governments that are not aligned with the US/Israel?  And how come spies are heroic only if they spy on governments that are not aligned with the US?  "The Australian-born Mossad agent who committed suicide while imprisoned in Israel on undisclosed charges leaked sensitive intelligence to Iran, according to a new book by investigative journalist Rafael Epstein."

Libyan police arrested six Qataris at Benghazi airport on Saturday as they tried to board a plane to Turkey using forged Libyan passports

"Libyan police arrested six Qataris at Benghazi airport on Saturday as they tried to board a plane to Turkey using forged Libyan passports and carrying almost $146,000, airport security sources said. Western diplomats in Libya worry that Benina airport in the eastern city of Benghazi is being used by Islamists to travel to Turkey in order to join anti-government rebels in Syria."

Repression that is consistent with Western policies

"Indeed, the Bahraini government, which hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet and which has been seeking to turn the protests sectarian, is the one using external forces, such as the Saudi forces, against its own people while it accuses the protesters of being loyal to other regimes."

US interferences in Venezuela

"March 28, 2008: The cable reports on a meeting between U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR) and López, noting that "The Senator and his staff discussed possible media strategies with Lopez and methods for getting his positive message to audiences in the U.S." " (thanks Amir)

Breaking news: Sisi Military command has found or will soon find....

"cures for AIDS, c virus, and swine flu".  Egyptian media are recommending Dr. Sisi for the Nobel Prize in medicine.

Muhammad bin Nayif and commissions on arms purchases

Mujtahid reports that Muhammad bin Nayif is now in the business of arms contract.  He may net "more than 25 billion Saudi riyals".

UAE money and Sisi republic luxury

"In mid-February the Egypt subsidiary of the UAE-based Emmar signed a protocol with the Egyptian Defense Ministry which clears the way for the construction of Emmar Square, a mixed-use development with open-air shopping for international luxury brands. The development is part of the company’s exclusive Uptown Cairo. Emaar is the developer behind the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. The Egyptian Defense Ministry is in many ways Egypt’s largest land owner/manager and the massive property that is now being developed by Emmar with Uptown Cairo’s exclusive residential clusters and golf course is/was owned by the military and was previously unavailable to the market." (thanks Yusuf)

Why won't America ratify the UN convention on children's rights?

"This year the spotlight was on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been adopted by every country apart from Somalia, South Sudan and America...Opponents of the treaty say it would usurp American sovereignty, a long-standing fear about the UN among some conservative Republicans. There is a fear that the social and economic rights established by the treaty could provoke lawsuits demanding that the government pay for these things. To address such concerns, America generally ratifies human-rights pacts with the condition that they will not overrule existing laws." (thanks Nabeel)

The Kingdom of horrors continues to fight magic, sorcery, and political dissent: Western leaders bow down in awe

"The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) was praised for its recent decision to allocate a team to combat cybercrimes and go after some accounts in the social networking website Twitter that promote pornography, magic and sorcery. This goes with the objective of getting rid of these vices before they spread.

The decision of the Haia to activate its awareness and to monitor social media violations, which are difficult to control and purify in terms of contents, is extremely important in order to protect society and the youth, especially those who frequently visit social networking websites with good intentions. They should cover all websites exploited by evil and immoral people and not only on Twitter alone. They should include Keek, FaceBook, Gamezer and others. " (thanks Basim)

Journalism of An-Nahar newspaper of Lebanon

From "Ibn Rushd":  "Nahar publishes a fake scoop from France Dimanche, which is a cheap tabloid, much worse that The National Enquirer".

What is billed as "19 Stunning Pictures Of An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Wedding"

  Rouba sent me this link and wrote: "Thought you might want to have a look at the comments and title on huffington post regarding photos of an orthodox jewish wedding. Had they been muslim... Sexism should be condemned in any context."  She is right of course. It is amazing that sexist standards and practices within the Jewish religion (or branches in it) are not only not condemned, they are seen as exotic and "stunning" and very cute.  Can you imagine pictures of that nature from a Wahhabi wedding receiving such favorable coverage?  

sexually abusing cows: in the US

I saw this story on Huffington Post and thought: can you imagine if this happened in a developing country? The story would have been on the front page of all US newspapers and animal rights groups would be all over the airwaves calling for severing ties with that offending country.

The Improbability Principle

"You’re pretty harsh with people who believe that there’s some kind of magic or divine intervention that makes these coincidences happen. Do you think that this takes the whimsy out of strange occurrences? 
All I’m doing is saying, Look, you can explain these things using natural laws. Whether it takes the whimsy out if it — I don’t think so. I don’t think it takes the magic away — the psychological magic, I mean. I think the wonder is still there."

Exclusive for the New York Times: anything related to Israel

Any article any reference to Israel is fit to print in the New York Times. Look at this boring and lame article. This is a guy wrote an article about a visit he had taken back in 1990 to Israel.  It has nothing to offer except to tell readers that Saddam lobbed missiles at Israel.  Since 1990, Israel has sent rockets and bombs over Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, not to mention assassination and bombing campaigns in places from Lebanon to Iran to Dubai to Iraq.  You my try this experiment: send an article to the New York Times in which you say that you once at a potato in Israel and that the experience made you sympathize with Israeli terrorism.  I bet you that it will be published.

Western media and governments

It is fair to say that when it comes to foreign policy, almost all mainstream Western media serve as government media.  I mean, if they disagree (as the Washington Post does over US policies in Syria) it is usually under the category of "Why aren't we dropping bombs there".

Barrel Bombs and Western media

Of course, barrel bombs are despicable weapons that the lousy Syrian regime never dared use them against the Israeli occupiers of Syrian lands. But to read Western governments reactions to the barrel bombs is beyond what I can bear.  The hypocrites are faking outrage at barrel bombs? Really? US bombs over Iraq and Afghanistan (or over Lebanon in the 1980s) were more merciless than barrel bombs?  US bombs are far deadlier and far more devastating and far more destructive and can be as imprecise as barrel bombs.  Somebody will now say that the US use "smart bombs".  To that I will say that in the Iraq 1991 war, the US only dropped 10% of smart bombs out of the total thousands of bombs dropped over Iraq.  And some 90% of smart bombs are dumb bombs: they miss their targets.  Finally, in the Afghanistan war up until March 2002, 25 % of all bombs and rockets dropped by US over Afghanistan missed their targets. And you know the story of US drone bombings. So a plea to Western governments and their subservient media: please spare me your fake outrage.

Tymoshenko and Western media coverage

Western governments dare to feign outrage at Russian interferences in the affairs of its neighbor, Ukraine. Yet, what Western governments seek (and blatantly) is the replacement of Russian interferences with Western interferences.  Just the other day, it was mentioned in Western government accounts developments in Ukraine that Western government insisted that Ms. Tymoshenko b released from jail.  Imagine.  And when Western governments want to score points in a country, they typically disregard legal and constitutional procedures to get their way.  And they forget that their side in the Ukraine was defeated in the polls and not through military coup.  The failure of the Orange "revolution" (just like the failure of the Potato "revolution" in Lebanon) was really at the ballot box and not through a military takeover (although Western media still insist that the cabinet of Hariri was "overthrown" by Hizbullah when in actuality a leader of a small parliamentary bloc, Walid Pro-West Jumblat, simply switched side--a normal democratic occurrence in other countries.

On Sex Panic in Lebanon

I normally agree with Comrade Maya but in this article I disagree with her in the first section (but I agree in the two other sections).  I do disagree with her take on the Jackie Chamoun affair.  Let me begin:  Maya says: "Her qualification for the premier international sporting event is itself a success".   Her qualification is a mere success of capital; she comes from money and lives in Europe and her family can afford to teach her skiing unlike most Lebanese families.  Maya says: "Almost immediately, people reacted, both positively and negatively, to Karami’s announcement."  In fact, Maya: the reactions to the one perfunctory statement by Minister Karami was uniformly negative and people attacked him from different sides, and he had to retract and you should have mentioned that he later made a statement that she is welcome in Lebanon, or words to that effect.  Then Maya said: "But what was the image of Lebanon that Karami wanted to protect, and why was the site of a female athletic body—and athletes, given that their bodies are their work, are rightly proud and confident in them— so threatening to that image?"  The stupid sentence by Karami was not that significant and could not be said to be sexist--in itself: he most certainly would have made a similar statement if a Lebanese athlete appeared in a semi-nude calender.  Then Maya said: "In fact, the amount of nudity displayed by Chamoun in the photo shoot was no more than any male swimmer in an athletic competition".  Well, even if you and are agree to this unique analogy, but governments and athletic authorities well outside of Lebanon disagree. This is hardly a Lebanese standard about nudity.  Then Maya said: "Chamoun’s displaying of her body, the very thing that enables her to compete at such high levels, sealed her fall from national grace."  What fall of national grace, Maya?  No one knew who she was until the pictures were posted.   What was astounding about the case, for me, at least: is that Ms. Chamoun rose to national prominence and acclaim merely on the basis of her semi-nude pictures.  Lebanon falls on the other end of the spectrum here, where revealing parts of the female body (in any context) is seen as heroic, just as some would regard the covering of the female body as heroic.  Chamoun became a heroine and there are thousands of fans who flocked to her FB page, and she has more supporters and fans than Mr. Karami.  I basically agree with you, had things did not turn the way they did about the case. 

How come those anti-Semitic attacks are not covered in US media?

"One of Ukraine’s Chief Rabbis, Moshe Reuven Asman, urged Jews to leave capital city Kiev following a reported anti-Semitic attack on two Chabad yeshiva students in the city last month, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported."

Documentation methos by Reuters: only for journalism students around the world

From Krim:  ""Assad is now benefiting from the deployment by Tehran of hundreds more military specialists to Syria, according to Iranian sources familiar with deployments of military personnel, Syrian opposition sources, and security experts."

So Iranian sources who are familiar with Iranian military deployments conveniently inform their enemies on the Syrian rebel side about Iranian military involvement in Syria? And this is reported without a shred of skepticism by Reuters?"

Get out: a Saudi prince is visting

"Tourists looking forward to a dream holiday in the Maldives have had to change their plans after a Saudi prince reportedly booked out three entire island resorts exclusively for himself.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is understood to have taken over the five-star paradise resorts for nearly a month.

It is believed the 78-year-old heir to the Saudi throne paid £18million ($30million) for the  resorts of Anantara Veli, Naladhu and Anantara Dighu from February 19 to March 15.

According to a report on the website maldivesfinest.com, the Saudi prince was due to arrive in the Maldives with a floating hospital, a luxury yacht and more than 100 bodyguards.

But the last minute booking has upset ‘normal’ holidaymakers who have had their reservations cancelled.

Posting a review on the travel website Trip Advisor, one disgruntled holidaymaker who was due to stay at the Antantara Veli resort, wrote: ‘Our reservation was cancelled with NO notice and we were informed only AFTER we contacted them.

‘Back in December we booked the Anantara Veli in an overwater pool villa for a four night stay in early March."

Dalai Lama changed his mind about capitalism after meeting the president of AEI--kid you not

" Now, he added, “I develop more respect for capitalism.’’"  But this is what I don't understand: Dalai Lama believes that sleep is the best form of meditation, so why does he not stay sleeping?

Meet this Saudi liberal (a former volunteer in the Bin Laden movement in Afghanistan)

According to Jamal Khashuqji, the well-known Saudi Wahhabi "liberal", the Jihad in Afghanistan was nice and dandy until the Egyptian organizations joined the cause there.  There is a theory among Saudi supporters of the House of Saud that Bin Laden was a very nice and reasonable guy but that Dhawhairi steered him in a bad direction. Kid you not. I am told that even Prince Turki (who still has nice words to say about Bin Laden in cocktail parties) believes that.

The Syrian (oppsition) dictator

The hope of the Western governments and Western media, General Doctor Engineer Musician Lawyer acrobat, Salim Idriss, calls Ahmad Jabra a "dictator".  What is cute is that Western media (especially the Syrian "revolution" groupies among the Beirut-based Western correspondents) all cover up the bitter infighting among the Syrian "moderate" armed groups.  In fact, commanders of 17 battalions of the Fee Syrian Army rejected the order of ousting Idriss.   Yet, Western media are most complying: they tell the correspondents that Idriss is the great while hope, and they write: he is indeed the great white hope.  Then they tell them: no, his successor is the great white hope, and they write: no, his successor is the great white hope. They did the same with every single leader of the Syrian National Council and the Syrian National Coalition. Every choice of Qatar and or Saudi Arabia and or the US was hailed as the best choice ever.

Best consequence of Arab uprising

The best consequence of Arab uprisings is the dramatic decline in the appeal of democracy and the ballot box (given their easy manipulation by wealthy governments and local billionaires among other factors).  Did you notice the apathy of Libyan voters this week?

Failed coup in Libya

How come the failed coup by Khalifah Haftar in Libya barely got any mention in the Western press? Is it because he is one of the closest allies of the US government in Libya?

When the US overthrows democratic government

"When is it considered legitimate to try and overthrow a democratically-elected government? In Washington, the answer has always been simple: when the US government says it is."

American anti-Asian racism

"Caricature, the meat of stereotype, works best when loosely rooted in distortions of truth; exaggerated appearance, for instance, serves to reinforce negative impressions while building misconceptions. American caricaturists misrepresented different racial and ethnic physiognomic characteristics for the most sensational outcomes."