Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Nasrallah Overreaches?
Two nights ago, Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah gave a speech in which he, for reasons I can’t quite comprehend, re-opened the file on the events of May 7th 2008. It seems that the Future Movement’s latest round of campaign billboards — which feature slogans like “We won’t forget,” “They won’t return,” and “We won’t leave you,” … Continue reading
Lessons in Medieval Campaign Finance Law
Conspiracy Chronicles series, no. 5 We are frequently told that these elections are the most expensive, per capita, in the history of the universe. Recently, I asked an opposition MP running for re-election how much he was spending on billboards and TV appearances. “Well, I just can’t afford to spend the kind of money that … Continue reading
Kishk, Awarma, Apples, and Hashish
View from a ’72 Benz C250 series, no. 6 I went out for dinner last night with some family visiting from out of town and a few friends. We piled into a service taxi heading down Hamra Street and gave the cabbie the address. As the old Benz lurched its way down towards the sea, … Continue reading
Pollsters Predict Lebanese Election Results
We’re less than four weeks away from the elections, and al-Akhbar has done us a service by aggregating the predictions of four prominent Lebanese pollsters: Jawad Adra, Abdo Saad, Rabih al-Hibr, and Kamal Feghali. Here’s a summary of the article. All four experts agree that the following districts are sewn up. For the majority: Akkar, … Continue reading
War of the Camera Phones
A few weeks ago, a video of Walid Jumblatt saying nasty things about his allies appeared on YouTube. This week, a new video has popped up, which has Jumblatt’s arch-rival Talal Arslan calling on the Syrians to make Jumblatt “pay the price” for his betrayal of the community. What is it with Druze leaders and … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…