toot toot, a la Beirut!

not so much toot toot

Just heard and saw the flash of the Verdun blast. All ok....

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 1:32 PM 0 comments

israeli jets

I heard the jets go by yesterday, and saw their trail not more than 10km off the coast as the crow flies.

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 9:37 AM 0 comments

we're ok, you're ok

So we're at home watching CNN. Ahmad Fatfat, minister of youth and sport (he's a powerful man actually), just spoke from downtown, where things are pretty calm. I was just there to go get Heather, since I couldn't reach her on her mobile. (Dad, it was fine!) Key leaders on both sides are doing their best to prevent escalation. Smoke was rising from car fires made earlier, but I can see the moon and stars. Anyway this is all too complex to write about. Feel free to skype -- armenvar -- as I'll be on and offline tonight.

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 9:02 AM 0 comments

commuting photo

Was scanning photos this morning. I did see this on my way to work (courtesy of Yahoo images) yesterday. Things are back to normal today, except for the unnatural haze in the sky due to the smoke. The smoke might seed clouds and create snow in the mountains for this weekend's skiing. I feel guilty discussing leisure when obviously many suffer here in the country. On the other hand I don't agree with their tactics nor do I think they're effective.

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 10:47 PM 0 comments

all ok here

we're ok in our apartment, as we hear thankfully of the dismantling of the road blockades. here's a pic of what we woke up to this morning, the largest tire fires on the way to the airport. please remember that on the ground, life is much more nuanced than presented in the media. for example, this plume was gone within minutes, replaced by the haze that loomed over the city until the winds blew them away. tonight the stars are above (more than I usually can see) and quiet reigns. or another example, how Christians are among the casualties because they battled one another with sticks and bottles in some towns in the north. the fear of civil war seems to have won today!

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 1:08 PM 0 comments

tires in streets

I saw a car burning in today's protests driving to the office. Maybe 20 people were gathered to see the old red Benz on fire, and it's placement in the street was intended to block traffic. Lucky for me it wasn't in my way, so I rubbernecked for about two seconds and went on. I think I'm becoming accustomed to such things now, sadly.

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 4:35 AM 0 comments

links back...

The sites that link to this blog:
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/459.shtml
http://www.blogscope.net/?q=port%20jounieh
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0607&L=justwatch-l&D=1&O=D&P=54841
our friend chiara:
http://chiaraji.blogspot.com/2006/07/blog-from-lebanon.html

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 6:01 AM 0 comments

energy efficiency

This article on Lebanon's debt and IMF's call for privatization seems similar to this one two years prior. And they were both before the summer war and subsequent rise in debt to 180% of GDP. $3B of $4.5B in income goes to servicing debt, though a good portion of this spending on Lebanon's banks. This isn't the place for a discussion of privatization or public finance, however. IMF's claims that funds to pay for debt can come from privatizing the inefficient electricity authority, which subsidizes fuel and energy in the country to the tune of $100M a year, and creates demand for pollution when it doesn't meet local energy needs and people use diesel generators.

Normally this blog is for personal posts, so here's the transition. The black dust in our room shows we personally experience the downside of old diesel engines. I've seen Lebanon discuss energy and even renewable energy in the context of privatization and public debt, but seldom mention energy efficiency initiatives, which I would think would be quite helpful.

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 2:03 AM 0 comments

what's actually happening in lebanon

I don't know actually, but I do know that Tony "Snowjob" and Condi Bush, er, Rice, are full of BS when they announce that the US won't negotiate on the future of Lebanon with Syria and Iran. Finally, they've reached the point where countries are negotiated and therefore totally disempowered. Ironically, empowerment is a fundamental value of the very democracy they're supposedly fostering. I have now reached adverb heaven with that sentence. On the ground, 1.2M people -- Christians and Muslims -- have a voice that isn't being heard by the Saniora government. Their politicians' (aka Nasrallah et Aoun) fundamental issue is the right to have veto power over decisions, which as Americans clearly know, don't get made in Congress because of a two-party system. These protesters don't trust that elections will give them a sense of security -- Americans' #1 issue also. Fears of a Shia state in Lebanon are founded, but not avoided by ignoring the voice of those who wish to be heard. Pics from the protest soon.

Labels: lebanon

posted by Armen Vartanian @ 11:05 PM 0 comments