Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Daily Star: Lebanon’s Political Woes Are a National Pain in the Ass
This Daily Star editorial means well, it really does. But who could resist pointing out the little Freudian slip… “The only long-term solution to Lebanon’s perineal political woes is to completely overhaul the system. That means drafting a new electoral law that provides a basis for genuine representation in the government and creating mechanisms for … Continue reading
Saad Hariri Takes the Plunge
Cozily ensconced on the fifth floor of Widener Library, surrounded by musty tomes and post-it notes, I’ve finally found a moment to check on the old blog after a fortnight’s hiatus. Luckily, there is actually something to talk about. Saad al-Hariri has finally put together a cabinet proposal and submitted it to President Suleiman for … Continue reading
A Reality TV Show Proposal: “Repair Lebanon”
Hendrik Hertzberg, writing in last week’s New Yorker, describes a fascinating new populist initiative called Repair California, which aims to solve that state’s governance problems (legislative gridlock, huge budget deficits, bureaucratic inefficiencies) through a citizen-sponsored constitutional convention. Here are the salient bits of the article: “California, it turns out, is ungovernable. Its public schools, once … Continue reading
Calling all FPMers
Can someone explain Michel Aoun to me? No need for responses from the M14ers who read this blog: I know what you think of him. I’d like to hear from the FPMers. How to explain Aoun’s latest behavior, from turning down Hariri’s lunch invitation, to insisting on Gebran Bassil’s re-appointment as Telecommunications Minister (when he … Continue reading
Sex, Blogging, and Area Comparisons
Some noteworthy articles to check out: Ben Gilbert has a very good piece in Executive magazine on prostitution in Lebanon. The poor guy risked his life braving the super nightclubs of Maameltein to bring us this exposé, so be sure to check it out. (download PDF – 2.1 megabytes) Lawrence Pintak and Yosri Fouda have … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…