tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53745182011-12-27T21:40:30.670+02:00Reflections on life, good-and-evil, family, humanity, and anything else that occurs to me, usually when I travel. Right now I am on a 6-year trip through Lebanon, the homeland I had never really lived in before.Walidnoreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-3443171284417499632009-01-16T08:10:00.004+02:002009-02-15T13:05:19.824+02:00

Another deep thought from Cody- "Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?"- "No, but last time you wanted to be a firefighter."- "No, this time I've decided what I want to be. Do you want to know?"- "OK."- "I want to be the boss of everything. I want to be president."- "That's great. You'll have to work hard at it."- "OK, I can work hard. But daddy? Do I have to be black?"

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-28851786703057925732008-02-08T17:10:00.000+02:002008-02-08T17:21:13.533+02:00

Cody's Wisdom Cody is going to be 4 this month.Today he asked me :"Do kids become anything they want when they grow up?"- "Well, yes, if they can work hard enough to become what they want."- "OK, I want to be a firefighter, so do I have to work hard?"- "You have to be pretty strong, but it's not as hard ..."- "But, you know, when kids are as big as you are, then they do not want to be anything

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-37718566227833787692007-08-03T17:49:00.000+03:002007-08-03T17:52:26.023+03:00

Cut-and-Paste JobThis from the August 3rd New York Times(speaking about Hawaii Five-O)Evil makes McGarrett angry, but when he speaks, his voice is startlingly gentle, exuding a quiet control that a beleaguered generation of parents surely wished they had when facing the forces of social decay.TYPICAL CRIMINAL: You’ll never get me, McGarrett. TYPICAL McGARRETT: You stay smug, and I’ll stay

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-89235080428740282452007-07-19T16:46:00.000+03:002007-07-19T16:47:47.755+03:00

Something to read. If you can.

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-85427143412725116442007-07-13T00:31:00.000+03:002007-07-13T00:33:35.505+03:00

Lebanese blogger fatigue is for real. Nothing is left to say. Any readers who stumble across this may feel free to suggest any other topic for me to blog about.

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-72866160172414921992007-05-22T18:38:00.001+03:002008-01-18T13:01:39.009+02:00

Bruce WillisThere's a rumor that all the news you hear about Lebanon is part of the roll-out plan for the movie "Die Hard 4."-"You brought down a helicopter - with a car !!"- "Yeah, I was out of bullets"

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1168543412875115652007-01-11T21:05:00.000+02:002008-01-18T13:09:11.591+02:00

We Gave at the office With a new year starting, my siblings and I had to pay yet another installment of estate tax towards a sum that was due in 2003. Somehow we decided to pay in installments based on some expectation of an estate tax amnesty that was floated by the late Rafic Hariri before he died. Goerge W wanted to do the same for a time window thet maybe he expected George H W to not

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1166734989413874232006-12-21T22:45:00.000+02:002007-01-11T21:32:39.170+02:00

Yalla Bye Word has come down to us co-conspirators ;-) to stop all anti-government actions for the holidays, so here's something completely different. Why do so many Lebanese say "Yalla bye!" when taking theire leave? I mean, "Hi, keefak, ca va" on a T-shirt is good for a chuckle, but "Yalla bye" is actually really heard pretty much everywhere. It finally occurred to me why.Our native

Walidnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1166348617436352102006-12-17T11:35:00.000+02:002006-12-17T11:43:37.753+02:00

If You Love Lebanon, Set It FreeHear Hear. The titla above, and the article below (apart from the bold references to Shia interests), sounds like it may have been written by a linguistically endowed member of Michel Aoun's inner cirlce. In fact, it was written by "Robert Grenier, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s counterintelligence center" and published in the New York

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1166271881088283742006-12-16T14:22:00.000+02:002006-12-16T22:19:52.443+02:00

Is Syria holding the remote control?Perhaps the most effective slur against the opposition is that they are doing Syria's bidding. Most Lebanese remember to well how the Syrian occupation destroyed their livelihoods with a combination of zero government accountability and economic corruption.Most Lebanese also very fondly remember how one man, Rafik Hariri, was able to come up with a formula

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165834204711038822006-12-11T12:44:00.000+02:002006-12-11T13:01:26.703+02:00

It's simple ; It's complicated With access to all the satellite TV stations controlled by different factions, I hear rousing speeches from both sides of the current debate in Lebanon all the time. Some come close, but none so far have convinced me to change my view that the current cabinet is bad for the democratic future of Lebanon, and that the current opposition is more in tune with the true

Walidnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165616154122638942006-12-08T23:35:00.000+02:002006-12-09T13:08:45.856+02:00

I don't get it I was busy when Hasan Nasrallah gave his speech, but I listened to a re-run later. I do not understand the bloggers who are angered by it - except if they only heard the snippets on CNN. The way I heard it, the guy was saying "I have proof that XYZ tried to kill me personally, and nevertheless in the intertest of preserving our nation for our chilrdern, I forgive them all and

Walidnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165498220605191822006-12-07T14:35:00.000+02:002006-12-07T19:40:37.800+02:00

Elevated DebateThe following comment is from one guy writing on another guy's blog. I moved the debate here to avoid being buried under less relevant issues.If Hezbollah is so democratic...try something for me. Take your fellow protesters and march down to Dahieh and surround Nasrallah's compound (if you can even get that far), then demand that he turn over his weapons to the Lebanese Army. The

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165350402290333562006-12-05T22:25:00.000+02:002006-12-07T18:38:47.310+02:00

And they dare say that our protestors are not as photogenic as theirs?

Walidnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165322718706580522006-12-05T14:37:00.000+02:002006-12-05T21:29:47.123+02:00

Random ObservationsAs I drove into Beirut today, the most eerie feeling was the lack of reception for the BBC station on my radio. Was that an omen? As I approached the camp-in zone, black-unifromed army personnel were re-routing traffic around the area, and traffic was on the light side of normal. The side of the overpass overlooking the tents was also under guard, possibly because it had

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165242045235343342006-12-04T16:18:00.000+02:002006-12-07T02:04:31.210+02:00

Karl Popper By sheer concicence, I ran across the following passage in my work-related reading. Isn't my job the best?We may distinguish between two main types of government. The first type consists of governments of which we can get rid without bloodshed — for example, by way of general elections; that is to say, the social institutions provide means by which the ruler may be dismissed by the

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165159249522075412006-12-03T17:14:00.000+02:002006-12-05T14:30:39.773+02:00

Little Suleiman Frangieh gave a speechI never liked the guy much, ever since I learned of his existence after his father was gunned down in a gangland-style home invasion when he was 2 and I was maybe 8. But today his speechwriters came up with a turn of phrase that I felt compelled to translate. He said:"History usually remembers kings and sovereigns much more than it remembers their subjects.

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1165087609611072322006-12-02T21:13:00.001+02:002006-12-02T21:26:49.616+02:00

Taking to the streetsSo far it's only been television and blogs for me, but I have a mind to go report live from the massive demonstration downtown. I was there for the March 14 2005 demonstration, and I remember distinctly that the majority of the people did not choose to go down to the downtown sit-in until it had gone on for several weeks. The impetus was a direct challenge by another party

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1164739988107079542006-11-28T20:20:00.000+02:002006-12-06T18:54:29.410+02:00

One ManToday I picked up a hitchhiker on my way to Beirut. I knew he was going to ask for money the moment I noticed the rosary around his neck as he stepped into the car. Overt religious symbols worn by non-clergy usually indicate an intent to predispose others towards charity. Sure enough, he spent the first ten minutes of the ride entreating God to reward me with sucess, health, and the

Walidnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1164363352532673722006-11-24T10:28:00.000+02:002006-11-28T23:34:19.946+02:00

Staying Home It seems that I am not the only one who feels that staying home is the only sane response to the radical polarization of political rhetoric in the country. Banks are closed, and I don't know what else, because trade associations, not political factions, called for it. It's inconvenient, to be sure, but incredibly sane in this atmosphere .So what, one may ask, is this "atmosphere"

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1164194778340444472006-11-22T12:55:00.000+02:002006-11-22T20:45:13.083+02:00

Oh BoyOnce again things are happening in Lebanon that vaguely interest the outside world. I got no less than 6 calls from the BBC wanting the inside scoop on how everyman is coping with the latest assassination. Here's what I had to say:People are scared. Really scared this time. Evidence?I was teaching a class when the news came in and people wanted to go home. I took about half an hour

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1159736339207124212006-10-01T23:49:00.000+03:002006-10-01T23:59:48.003+03:00

First ImpressionsI am indeed back in Lebanon. I have 8 days to empty my apartment, so I might wind up blogging less becasue of the time constraint. Or I might wind up blogging more because of the greater need to put off working.The first new thing I got driving around Lebanon was the profusion of billbnoards offering reconstruction loans. They all sound very charitable and patriotic, but

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1159156319537346122006-09-25T06:48:00.000+03:002006-09-25T06:51:59.536+03:00

PatentsToday I discovered how to search for patents onione. I wonder how my ideas will fare if patented. Anyone out there know?After all I have more talents than just poetry...

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1158556954849537712006-09-18T08:16:00.000+03:002006-09-18T08:22:34.860+03:00

Back to non-war programmingOK, this was never meant to be a war blog, so here we are back to my wanderings.Questions from a pre-schoolerWhy all the time we have to be good?Not all all the time, but if everybody was mean to other people, then no one would be nice to you.Is outer space on top of the sky?Yes, you can say that. It's actuyally on top of the blue day sky but not on top of the black

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1158129682361915252006-09-13T09:29:00.000+03:002006-11-30T10:42:53.460+02:00

More derivative workWhat is SuccessCoolTo laugh often and muchOh brother where art thouTo win the respect of intelligent peopleCheckand the affection of childrenCheckTo earn the appreciation of honest criticsCheck - thanks, everyone :).and endure the betrayal of false friends;CheckTo appreciate beauty;CheckTo find the best in others;working on itTo leave the world a bit better, whether byyes?a

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1157992401100990892006-09-11T19:24:00.000+03:002006-09-11T19:53:54.953+03:00

From my research departmentI cannot take credit for the material below, but it is more interesting than my weekend, which involved introducing three young children to the joys of public transport in the San Francisco Bay area.Chronicle of higher EducationInternationalFrom the issue dated September 8, 2006A President's Beirut DiaryBy JOHN WATERBURYFor most of the nine years that I have served as

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1157677573457327802006-09-08T03:56:00.000+03:002006-09-08T04:06:15.423+03:00

Where is Walid?There is not much to report in the political arena - airport opened, roadside bomb assasinations return, political name-calling all around. On the personal level, I am getting ready to go back without the wife and kids. It's a sad time. Silly rumors of depleted uranium and sea-bourne carcinogens provide a cheap excuse for the non-thinking person, but my son said the honest

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1157088819862394572006-09-01T08:32:00.000+03:002006-09-01T08:33:39.876+03:00

No CommentAMNESTY INTERNATIONALPRESS RELEASEAI Index: MDE 02/021/2006 (Public)News Service No: 226 31 August 2006Lebanon/Israel: Israel must disclose details of cluster bomb attacks and accept a full investigationAmnesty International today called on Israel to immediately provide maps of the areas of Lebanon into which it fired cluster bombs during the recent conflict to enable their

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1156973744622100322006-08-31T00:31:00.000+03:002006-08-31T07:50:29.800+03:00

Lots of people still writing from LebanonI just spent another morning exploring a new universe of blogs. Thanks Eve.I'll add them to my sidebar later. Correction: added them today...For now, here's something worth seeing: Building-side poster photographed in LebanonThis is especially funny to those of us familiar with the "Keep Walking" ad campaign, which has been around for decades in countries

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1156896003865299212006-08-30T02:32:00.000+03:002006-09-01T03:59:07.446+03:00

Dream Sequence I woke myslef up from a dream on Sunday with a silent scream. I was in a heightened state of emotion, and yelling out something like "The law does not allow it, sir. The F-ing CONSTITUTION does not allow it."The preceding sequence of events in the dream was long and involved, but it boiled down to me being in the inner circle of the Bush cabinet. I had used to have a commanding

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1156556166273279832006-08-26T04:32:00.001+03:002006-08-28T04:32:18.436+03:00

Wait For It If you click this, what do you see? and how long deos it take? Leave a comment, and if you are shy tell me in the comment and I will block its publication and email you back. If you do not tell me you are shy, I will let the comment appear.

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1156552818220346192006-08-26T03:32:00.000+03:002006-08-30T23:04:03.746+03:00

Found some more I found some more boggers from Lebanon, and I decided to share the links with anyone who might still be reading my blog here.Also, I'm thinkging of saving a keystroke and calling this a bog. Any opinions?This guy has videos on his blog. I must learn how to do it too. Stay tuned.Another blog seems to be posting every day now, which I'm not...Finally, there is even a whole map

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1156358316418113422006-08-23T21:22:00.000+03:002006-08-23T21:39:22.413+03:00

Worth NotingReconstruction Jihad by the New York TimesDoom and Gloom from the Daily Star

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1156283345891944322006-08-23T00:41:00.000+03:002006-08-23T00:52:19.960+03:00

Mortgage anyone? Yes, I know the real estate boom is over, and, no, I am not trying to find myself a niche outside Lebanon as a loan broker. I just decided to add Google search and Google ads to my blog (did anyone notice the bright green hit counter on the right?). And the first Ad they served up was entitled "Islamic Mortgage"! Hah! As if! My view on interest rates is that they they are a

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155836395022216682006-08-17T20:08:00.000+03:002006-08-20T11:38:51.130+03:00

What to make of HezballahThe actual news today is a rewind of past events. Beirut Airport opens on Tuesday, the American University of Beirut opens on Monday, and Hariri assaisl Assad today. So let's dig deeper into more interesting topics from yesterday. Some say that Hezballah is a dangerous example for bad guys everywhere, others say that it is an example for good.Fine words, but how does it

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155763506531519482006-08-17T00:24:00.000+03:002006-08-17T01:49:01.266+03:00

Not much new going on.Lebanese bickering.Israelis for "Peace Now"

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155562375040846212006-08-14T16:32:00.000+03:002006-08-14T22:06:19.496+03:00

From my research department New Yorker ArticleFarid El-Khazen in "The Daily Star": Disengage Lebanon from regional turmoil

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155559835997004052006-08-14T14:29:00.000+03:002006-08-17T00:37:18.316+03:00

The Battle AheadPretty much back where we started, give or take a few billion dollars. Damages here, damages there, lives lost, higher oil revenues. Now is the time to recall what I wrote two weeks ago, about how Hezballah can cease to be a renegade force while continuing to be the qualitatively superior backbone of resistance against real or perceived threats by Israel. I will not repeat my own

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155399470166175612006-08-12T19:17:00.000+03:002006-08-12T19:17:50.236+03:00

Article praising Seniora in Haaretz "Copyright 2006 Haaretz. All rights reserved"

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155348689001829952006-08-12T04:13:00.000+03:002006-08-12T09:22:09.850+03:00

One Little thing OK, so they voted unanimously for the cease-fire. Israel wants to fight through Sabbath, but one hopes that they recognize the politically suicidal nature of a last-day retribution run. But I am worried about one little thing. The two sides are supposed to declare victory and go home. It makes sense. No more missiles, yay for Israel. No more powerlessness against air strikes, yay

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155238929651877542006-08-10T22:14:00.000+03:002006-08-11T22:38:15.366+03:00

Let's... go home!The time has come for both sides to declare victory and go home.The tactics of Hezballah have now earned their place in the history books, and fighting on will not change that one way or the other. The principle of a "well organized militia" has now found its rightful place in the military history of the 21st century. Lacking the conventional strict oversight needs of a

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1155070966546432322006-08-09T00:02:00.000+03:002006-08-09T08:46:05.333+03:00

Thanks to my research departmentFreespeech: ArticleThe End of Lebanon? - by Ran HaCohenA Bad Status QuoCivilian Resistance in LebanonI don't know how it's going to end, but the underlying fact is every man has his breaking point. In this case, it's every nation. Unless some compromise is reached, what we have here is a three-way race between three random processes. Which will happen first?Will

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154774795948084532006-08-05T13:46:00.000+03:002006-08-05T16:41:52.546+03:00

Emails I got Dear Colleagues,I hope you are staying safe and out of harm's way in these horrible times.Please distribute the following information to your contacts about two upcomingactions in Washington D.C. (Aug. 6, Sunday and Aug 8, Tuesday) and about aglobal action (Vigil) organized by Amnesty International US for Monday, Aug. 7.Please urge your friends and contacts to participate. Thank you!

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154729739353999842006-08-05T01:15:00.000+03:002006-08-05T01:16:33.083+03:00

Links Ending the neoconservative nightmare - Haaretz - Israel News

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154692731719608872006-08-04T14:08:00.000+03:002006-08-04T15:01:57.933+03:00

It's just disgusting What I've been reading in the news is pretty horrible. People saying that Israel can't be targetting civilians becasue Beirut does not yet look as bad as Grozny. Or that this would be a perfect site for a neutron bomb. Whether it's ignorance or malice, I have to say what I know.Back in the Lebanese civil war, we had snipers. A sniper shoots everyone who is trying to cross a

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154468353037284322006-08-02T00:32:00.000+03:002006-09-17T02:54:04.680+03:00

We made it to California Priceline got us from Atlanta, Georgia to San Francisco on the same day as the US Government chartered World Air flight got us to Atlanta from Cyprus. I briefly wondered if this was one of those companies implicated in the CIA "extraordinary renditions." The term "fly by night" took on a new meaning when we arrived in Atlanta after a red-eye flight and found all the

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154334936901002132006-07-31T11:15:00.000+03:002006-08-02T00:46:27.943+03:00

It looks like Atlanta, GA The plane leaving today from Cyprus will take us to Atlanta, Georgia, as far as I can tell. Since I last blogged, we have spent one night on a cruise ship (4 bunks in a cabin with private shower) and two nights in a temporary camp in Cyprus (400 people in three large convention-center exhibition halls, with foldable cots, air conditioning.) For the first time in my

Walidnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154004531419633882006-07-27T15:47:00.000+03:002006-07-31T09:19:32.490+03:00

There is a good chance we will be leaving tomorrow on a US evacuation boat. I'll post again once we get somewhere. Including somewhere like right here if we do not leave.

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1154003852388434062006-07-27T15:33:00.000+03:002006-07-27T15:57:17.656+03:00

It's not just me The whole mood was just not as friendly, to put a kind face on it. Fewer cars in the streets, and the crazy-fast driving is back. On Monday, for the first time in my life, a car, a Lebanese taxi cab no less, stopped to let me use the pedestrian crossway (zebra crossing) before I jumped ahead into traffic to block its path. Wednesday was back to the usual disgruntlement. One

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153896826277168102006-07-26T09:50:00.000+03:002006-07-26T14:31:24.650+03:00

Insomnia ... It's finally sinking in. I am down to the level of detail where I ask questions like which American state gives the best trade-off between home prices costs employment opportunities, or which car brand gives the right trade-off between running and acquisition costs. So we are really leaving. It's pretty hard to leave a place where you have good memories not knowing when you will

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153804121967963922006-07-25T08:03:00.000+03:002006-07-25T21:06:39.620+03:00

Not leaving until ... Well, I spoke to a lot of people yesterday. Most have a cut-off date, somewhere in August, beyond which, if things are not settled, they would consider leaving. The date for us has all along been August 3rd, before we panicked a bit when the American embassy announced that they were going to stop the assisted evacuations. In reality, they will slow down the rate of

Walidnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153716736462543722006-07-24T07:45:00.000+03:002006-07-25T03:15:20.820+03:00

Dilemma Now that the U.S. Embassy Urges Departing Americans to Proceed Directly to ... the processing center, the decision of whether to leave or not has become immediate and stressful. We are just playing at being refugees right now, while staying in the basement of the house my father built. We face some probability that food, gasoline and drinking water will run out, and an even smaller

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153638415487930852006-07-23T10:03:00.000+03:002006-07-26T06:32:37.293+03:00

Thanks Hey everyone I got the Friedman articles sent by Ichiro, Mark and Rindi. Thanks, you can all stop now :).Yesterday we all went and got haircuts at my regular barber, in preparation for leaving. We bought lollipops and popsicles for the boys because the boys' regular barber down in Beirut used to give them out for free and the association was too strong in our pre-schoolers' minds for us

Walidnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153551047844020152006-07-22T09:44:00.000+03:002006-07-22T15:44:57.186+03:00

AppealI heard yesterday that Thomas Friedman has written an article equating Hezballah with Hamas, and I'm dying to read it. I really like the guy and I agree with 99% of what he writes, so I have a burning curiosity every time an exemplar of the remaining 1% presents itself. So if anyone out there can cut-and-paste the text from the "premium content" section of NYTimes.com, or just scan and

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153490491924223302006-07-21T16:57:00.000+03:002006-07-25T22:09:44.583+03:00

Better OK, emotionally we are all faring much better. The "humanitarian sea corridor" to Cyprus is open, and lots of people are coming into Lebanon for whatever reason, although 99% of the traffic is out. US consular officers have called and reassured us that their ships will continue to run until the last American who wants to leave has been shipped out, via Turkey or Cyprus, all the way to

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153399308911887622006-07-20T15:27:00.000+03:002006-07-21T21:24:36.496+03:00

FrazzledWe are getting more worried and tempers are beginning to flare. Is the aerial bombing getting closer to us? Are we under greater levels of rationing? No on both accounts. We have just been listening to American officials on TV, both for general consumption (Rice, Gonzales) and for the departing American evacuees whom we hope to join. They are diplomats, so the words are sweet, but

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153301257575417482006-07-19T12:23:00.000+03:002006-07-24T07:06:30.290+03:00

What's Going onAs before, no direct hits here, not even loud noises. The F-16s overhead are just specks in the sky (when the fog lifts) and their droning, clearly discernible, remains distant. We do, however, now have refugees in the public schools. According to one eye witness, the only response from the refugee aid organizers to those who volunteered was that it would be nice if someone

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153226980853552892006-07-18T15:48:00.000+03:002006-07-24T07:06:26.963+03:00

Here's another way out A friened of mine wrote :I went to Syria on a bus hired by the travel agency Five Stars Tours in Hamra. We left Beirut around 14:30 on Monday and got to the Syrian borders in Masna3 around 17:30, through mountain roads and side roads. We passed by Jamhour power plant and Mdeirej as they were being hit. The borders would have been a piece of cake except for a problem we had

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153224659405440472006-07-18T15:10:00.000+03:002006-07-24T07:06:24.993+03:00

Personal UpdateWelcome to the World of Turkish Airlines!!! Lots of people we know (American faculty and students from the American University of Beirut) left on a bus to Turkey sent by the Turkish government and open to people of all nationalities who want to travel on from Turkey. There are many more airports in Turkey than there are in Cyprus or Syria, so this is probably the best way to get

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153131328678508522006-07-17T13:14:00.000+03:002006-07-20T22:31:38.760+03:00

Local UpdateThanks to everyone who wrote. One day I will have access to a broadband internet connection on which I can respond to every one of you, but with my modem I will have to confine most of my responses to this blog. What we see here is a tripling in the price of produce and some reduction in the range of terrible things that we can expect to happen - in other words some set of rules has

Walidnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1153062495307411922006-07-16T18:02:00.000+03:002006-07-24T07:06:39.250+03:00

Maybe I can use this medium to send out some of the things on my mind as we sit here in the fog 700 m above sea level in Lebanon, relatively safe from the aerial and naval bombardment aimed at Beirut, the environs of the Israeli border, and various strategic point all along the coast. What is going on?Very simply, a bunch of people are firing heavy weapons at each other, and a lot more people,

Walidnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1148922070221034502006-05-29T19:58:00.000+03:002006-05-29T20:01:10.233+03:00

Dog ate my homework.In this case, YAHOOis the dog. The Geocities page I had used as a repository of my friends' poetry has disappeared. What with teh hard disk crash last summer, I now have irretrievably lost them. Irretrievably becasue I had editd them extensively after getting the author's original text, so even if they still remembered where to find a text copy of their version, what I had

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1110358314444179632005-03-09T10:40:00.001+02:002006-07-24T07:06:31.126+03:00

Another highly emotional day. Michael Young's article conveys the logical argument against what was said at the rally of stooges yesterday, but the emotional dimension is what I want to talk about. "Yes, we want to find Hariri's killers" said the Hezbollah leader, whom we once admired, but his whole speech was a defense fo a status quo that makes it not only impossible to find the killers, but

Walidnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1110102532607817992005-03-04T10:29:00.000+02:002006-07-20T22:31:39.176+03:00

In my classes, I teach budding managers the importance of asking the "WITI" test: "Why Is This Important?" And, regarding Harir's assasination, I think a lot of the media in the West still don't get it. Not that the media in the Arab world has anything to say on the matter either, since they are too close to the road kill to see the fender that fell off.Cute methaphor, you say, but what does it

Walidnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1109076259703454162005-02-22T14:38:00.000+02:002005-02-22T15:03:46.970+02:00

A poem inspired by the "Valentine's Day Massacre" of 2005:My mom is dead, and father cries "For shame""If you should leave this house, you are disowned"I know his temper and the way he blames.But leave I must, and little can he know,as I recall the same words yesterday,directed at the grand and loving dame,that neither point of view that cries out "shame"when someone dares protest, nor fear of

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1109075776789142582005-02-22T14:36:00.000+02:002005-02-22T15:07:11.173+02:00

Another letter to the New York Times:To the Editor,I appreciate Ambassador Moustapha's attempt (published on February 22nd) to rally the faithful behind the Syrian point of view. I note, however, that those protesting Syria's as yet unacknowledged interference in Lebanese affairs include more than long-time opponents who reluctantly toed the party line but whose anger has now eclipsed their

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1109014935355939802005-02-21T21:22:00.000+02:002005-02-22T14:59:06.656+02:00

Superman died last week. Here in Lebanon, it feels as if we have lost more than a philanthropist, leader and economical miracle worker. We have lost a superhero. We have lost someone who had powers that we neither understood nor believed existed. Someone who, because of his powers, chose to suffer burdens for the good of all that no combination of us could hope to bear. All of last week we have

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1076480859338242842004-02-11T08:27:00.000+02:002005-02-21T21:22:40.523+02:00

I feel silly, like I have no life or something. Re-reading what is on this blog, I mean. Someone with nothing better to do thatn write letters to the New York Times. That's not me.Then again, someone with nothing better to do than blog every single day is not me either.

Walidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-1057651104954323552003-07-08T10:58:00.000+03:002003-07-08T11:10:08.586+03:00

I was moved to write to the New York Times again today. The original article if you can find it My letter Your reviewer (July 7th, "Harry Potter and the Childish Adult") missed the point of J.K. Rowling's ficiton. In lamenting the lack of "supernatural and inhuman creatures — from whom we thought we learned our sense of good and evil", Byatt betrays a yearning for a historical epoch when

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-954288582003-06-08T10:21:00.000+03:002003-06-09T00:19:11.000+03:00

Essay from 8 May 2003 The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have done to you. ”Isn’t this the basis of all morality? The Rule, or something that sounds like it, is resonates in the sayings of Jesus Christ, Rabbi Hillel, and Plato, and this is just from freshman year readings. Hamurabi tried to legislate it, Phil Collins set it to music. Surely no one alive today can be unfamiliar

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-954276282003-06-08T09:23:00.000+03:002003-06-08T09:23:26.703+03:00

Update from 19 April 2002 Dear Friends, I finally got around to it - a diary entry for one day in my life as Assistant Professor of Engineering Management. I could see the minute hand of my watch through half-closed eyes. It Was at the top notch - on the hour. But which hour? If it's 8:00 am, then I'm late for my 8:00 am lecture. I squint and see that it's actually 6:00 am. I can sleep for

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-954268032003-06-08T08:46:00.000+03:002003-06-08T09:22:30.000+03:00

Letter form 16 November 2001 Hi Remember that it is just as easy to kill a thread by over-feeding as by starvation. Be glad that we are as sporadic as we are! Given the passage of time, only more of the same is happening. Aidan continues to be popular with all, form the butcher to the bookstore owner to all the girls on campus. Students tell me that they have fun with my assignment,

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-954266002003-06-08T08:37:00.000+03:002003-06-08T08:49:50.000+03:00

Back to updating with "Historical" writings Wanderings from 18 Aug 1998 You wanted me to send you some wisdom. Professionally, I should comment that I'm in the information business, and academically my scope fits into the knowledge paradigm, but wisdom is something else entirely. Wisdom is what you feel in your bones. And in my bones, all I feel is an increasing awareness of my ignorance. My

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-951850332003-06-02T13:02:00.000+03:002003-06-02T13:02:52.813+03:00

OK, so this is not really a blog. So sue me. I found a real blog by someone I actually know. Kirsten has one.

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-941031182003-05-10T16:46:00.000+03:002003-05-10T17:45:13.000+03:00

Blah. I still can,t for the heck of me figure out how this blogging thing works. Where are the member directories?

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-940406512003-05-09T11:15:00.000+03:002003-06-08T09:31:55.000+03:00

28-Dec-1997 - 9:30 pm Dear Diary- It's the end of my first day in Lebanon. Amber street lights dominate the constellation on the mountain slope across from the valley outside the balcony. In fact, I can probably see electric lights form at least three mountain ranges, one behind the other, Twinkling traces of finally electrified civilization. Pinpoints of light on a mountain slope always

Walidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5374518.post-940406182003-05-09T11:14:00.000+03:002006-06-07T15:55:43.680+03:00

Ancient - written from 1988 to 1998... just by coincidence, later yesterday I felt somewhat restive and went out to window shop, walked into the bookstore where most of what I had read during my adolescence had come from, and picked up a copy of "Franz Kafka's Letters to Milena" for entertainment. Reading that inspired me to write another letter, but I am not above using the same quotation in two

Walidnoreply@blogger.com