I previously linked to an article of what to do in Lebanon in 48 hours. But as blogger Lebanese Lantern shows us, you can have a Beirut blast in less than 24 hours. Of course, as a requirement, you have to be as energetic and tireless as her can-do guest.
Links
2
Sep 10
Serving Alcohol During Ramadan
We talked about this before but Now Lebanon‘s Paige Kollock actually did some research. She went to restaurants and talked with people on the street. My takeaway is that restaurant/hotel owners have all the discretion, things are getting a bit more strict than before and Christians are resentful.
1
Sep 10
Looking Back At A Horrible Summer
August wasn’t so cool. The Lebanese hated it. Louisa Ajami told August “See you in hell”, and Michael Karam used its passing to look back –with humor of course– at a very bad summer season:
there is nothing like living in the dark and 100 per cent humidity with no AC to create a sense of community spirit. No longer did one have to overcome the awkward silence in elevators (when they worked) by staring blankly at the cell phone. Now neighbours could complain about the state of the nation for a few seconds and then feel much better about pretending to send texts.
Looking at the bright side of a dark situation..
1
Sep 10
The Onion Takes On Islamophobia
The funny people at The Onion introduce us to “Scott Gentries”, a man who Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About Muslims:
Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was “perfectly happy” to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world’s second-largest religion.
Funny if it weren’t so common. Rarely have the fictional characters of the Onion sounded so real.
31
Aug 10
Finally, Bellemare Speaks.
After a long silence, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s prosecutor finally spoke with the media.
Mr. Bellemare clarified in an interview with NowLebanon some very important matters like political influence over the STL, the role of leaks, politics in Lebanon, phone tapping and how strong his case is. Read the whole thing.
Here’s one of my favorite passages where Mr. Bellemare explains the concept of “circumstantial evidence”:
You want to prove that it rained today. You prove that the pavement is wet, you prove that there was nobody who cleaned the street, etc. In itself each of these facts does not mean anything, but if you put them all together, you can conclude at the end of the day that it rained. This is what circumstantial evidence is. I am strongly of the view that circumstantial evidence is more powerful than direct evidence.
30
Aug 10
Ke7ayet.com Is A Place For The Lebanese To Explain Why Their Lives Suck
Ke7 stands for “Kiss Ikht 7ayete“. The site is modeled after the very popular FML (Fuck My Life) and is unsurprisingly getting a lot of entries. You should check it out and share your own gripes.
30
Aug 10
They’re Now Burning Mosques In America
Who needs Alqaeda propaganda when some Americans behave like this?
Bonus: Check out this great article in the Washington Post by By Edward E. Curtis IV: “5 myths About Mosques In America”
29
Aug 10
Internet Users In Middle East
Here’s an online slideshow that shows you how many internet users there are in every individual country in the Middle East and North Africa. The data should have been put in a single table, but the website decided instead to maximize pageviews and user frustration.
It’s worth checking out. Some of the figures are quite surprising. For instance, Jordan has almost twice as much internet users than Lebanon, and Syria almost 4 times as much.
Update: Armigatus puts the figures in a table
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I have been blogging about Lebanese society and politics since February 2005. You can also find me on 
