The unbalanced confessional Balance

The Lebanese confessional system is based on ensuring balance between Christians and Muslim with equal representation in the different political spheres. This balance is attributed to the article in the preamble of the Lebanese constitution that stipulates that "there is no constitutional legitimacy for any authority which contradicts the 'pact of communal coexistence'."
Yet, on the other hand that same preamble calls for the "respect for public liberties, especially the freedom of opinion and belief" (and non belief inherently).
Hence, the aforementioned balance, for those who truly strive to reach or maintain it, is only attained when ensuring balance between Christians, Muslims, and Non-believers. The problem of secular people in this so called country is that they do not have a (non) religious "reference" whom no one dares upset for fear of upsetting the balance.

Byzantine debate

Nothing is more harmful to humanity than resisting progress in the name of traditions often used to mean values. Most Arab traditions contradict in essence and in practice human rights, gender equality, and freedom in its widest sense. A debate can only be possible when 1) parties to it speak the same language 2) arguments and reasoning are governed by the law of logic 3) when parties agree that no topic is undebatable.

The family institution

I have rarely seen or known two (adult) generations coexisting under one roof. I am inclined to say that family ties are stronger (if that has any significance in the first place) if children leave their parents house at 18, or even 15. I wonder how young members of the Phalange party (Kataeb) believe in the motto: God, Nation, family, unless Pierre Gemayel, the founder meant, the Gemayel family. The worst of all institutions is the family institution, it just bears the seeds of its own failure.

On my mind

I have faith in you
I put hopes on you
enough for you
What more do you ask
Do you want me to die for you
I am about to die for you
Believe it if you can
enough for you
All my sentences end with you

Fayruz

Dubai-Abu Dhabi

I am leaving to UAE on Friday. Hadi. Do you copy?

Angels falling from skies

Ironically but also very sadly, I always mock Lebanese racism towards migrant domestic workers using the phrase "they fall from skies" referring to the many of them who fall from balconies. Today, they did fall from the skies. The Lebanon gravity refuses to let them leave in peace.

Lebanese tales

A Lebanese Taxi driver told someone (that same one) after hearing about the crash of the Ethiopian plane that a cow that was on board survived the crash and was seen swimming to the shore and carrying a Pakistani who according to the driver survived the crash because he saw the cow and mounted it. The cow then swam with the Pakistani on its back taking it to safety. Had Homer heard the driver, he would have killed himself.

The Trial

I wonder how Kafka had the patience to write "The trial" or although to a lesser extent “The Castle”. No wonder why he hardly finished any book. I struggle nervously when reading Kafka as I struggle when listening to my grandmother moan about every single pain in her body or to her Kafkaesque way in recounting her daily moves and tasks, but I always enjoy his wit and darkness. Besides the controversial "Before the Law" parable, I particularly like Kafka's absurdism and existentialism as in the line "There are also dark moments, such as everyone has, when you think you've achieved nothing at all, when it seems that the only trials to come to a good end are those that were determined to have a good end from the start and would do so without any help, while all the others are lost despite all the running to and fro, all the effort, all the little, apparent successes that gave such joy", and his amusing style as in "A woman's hands will do many things when no-one's looking."
I will name my main character in my new book L.

Lebanese superiority

Said Akl started spreading those anecdotes about the genii of the Lebanese population as individuals and as a community and about their superior (phoencian) gene. He seriously talked about how God created Lebanon and then the rest of the world and how the Lebanese superiority comes sometimes from Plato and other times from Aphrodite. Someone needs to tell the Lebanese that Said Akl's words are mere poetry to say the least.

Sleep

"How can we enjoy sleeping if we are never aware during our sleep that we are indeed sleeping?". The quote is for my sister. Well said! You cannot enjoy sleep retroactively. That is like injecting food through your veins and depriving you of the pleasure of tasting it.

Echos and shadows

Two images from the past in both of which I am standing, absorbed in thoughts, and aiming my sight at the far distance remain lively in my memory: In the first one, I felt sadness and hopelessness and in the second, I felt happiness and hope. I was 10 years old in the first and 18 in the second. At both times, I decided to keep that moment alive in my memory and pledged to remember it for the rest of my life. I still do.

Unavoidable crash

For some reason, I always end up being invited to attend meetings that I am not supposed to -or need not- attend . Of course, this has always played in my favour. But. While I also end up knowing more than necessary, I never used the information malignantly. So far, I have been playing the luck card (and the universe conspiring on my side) successfully and it has worked totally fine to the extent where when luck ditched me I found that I was not well equipped to play the "taking advantage" card. I believe that sticking to a straight path might lead to a wall but you can't make a detour if your car is not equipped with a steering wheel.

My mother

I always hurt her. I never say sorry- she never asks- and she can never hold a grudge. My mother.

Ad-hoc bed

How true this theory of couch is! That’s why someone (that same one) puts emphasis on comfort over shape. It is seen as an ad-hoc bed.

Speaking of rain

My anger is more like rain than like wind. Wind blows everything away. It destroys. Rain sweeps away dust but reinvents life. But beware, when the flood starts, nothing stands in the way.

My Avatar

The rain is back. I can finally reconnect with my Avatar.

Balcony thoughts

The peeing arid field across my balcony is turning into a splendid green garden. Beautiful things might come out of shit. Fertilized with even more shit, the garden might start splashing a dazzling scent. Remember: You have to hurt your muscle to make it grow.

One of those mind battles

Have you not at least once in your life thought of just leaving all you have and everyone you know at once, your house, your family, your friends, your job, your country... just leaving without a notice, without a word, without a note, to a place where no one knows you, a place where you have no past, a place where you start anew? Just pack and leave and never return hoping you will be forgotten. Such an immature thought? maybe, but as immature as it might sound as tempting it becomes. It crosses your mind in adolescence and keeps hunting you throughout adulthood. Some did it. They were called cowards by those who lacked the courage. Sometimes, it takes more than a luggage to leave.

Game of hypotheses

"Les hypotheses en science comme dans la vie sont toujours dangereuses" Albert Camus.
In dealing with people, analyzing situations, events, and personalities, or understanding a sequence of events or attitudes, I rely on sets of hypotheses and start weighing them according to facts. It is sort of a hobby or a game that I enjoy playing in secret and I find pride and joy in proving my hypotheses. I also rate those hypotheses as true, strong, or weak as in Hadith. Very dangerous as Camus says, those hypotheses can consume you but they can be fun too. If you are a good observer and have a good eye for people's attitudes and behavior you can take one example as your lab mouse and lay out some hypotheses such as why they act the way they do or why they have such a trait, etc. and start testing your hypotheses with time. You can go as far as understanding their childhood and acting as a psychiatrist. The less you know the person the more you are apt to success. Closeness can distort vision.

Super Babies

A two year old baby I know has been trying lately to walk on the wall. After a number of failed attempts, she asked her mother "why can I walk on the floor but not on the wall?". Her mothrr was puzzled and couldn't really find an answer suitable for her age. The baby hadn't discovered the ceiling yet . Babies these days look nothing like babies of my generation or the previous ones. Back then Tom didn't have a jet plane and Jerry didn't fly on a rocket. I have been forcibly watching Tiji lately and I was truly amazed by the subliminal messages and the amount of learning they air to babies. Babies do know more than you think although they look stupid only had they learned to speak back in the womb.

Counting Deaths

If someone's job was counting the number of deaths per day, would he really care how each one died? He would certainly hope less people die but for pure counting reasons.

Feminism: Another perspective

I love Ounsi El Hage the philosopher more than Ounsi El Hage the poet. I will not comment on his poetic side now and I don't believe I do have the right in the first place but I might do so at a later stage. I don't have an opinion about his poetry at the moment although he is blamed for paving the way for hundreds of poets-wanna-be's whom I despise. In his last article -or is it better to say piece of writing- in AL-Akhabar, he subtly criticizes female feminists referring to a saying by Baudelaire and I tend to agree with him. You do not need to reject beauty and despise the female masses and all they do from wearing makeup, shaving their armpits, putting on high heels, using their secret weapons to attract, and highlighting their femininity, to be a feminist. And he was also right to refer to all the contemporary female authors in the Arab world, the wide majority of whom being feminists, who indeed care for their appearance (Alawiyya on the side although I worship her but take Ahlam Moustaghanmi for example).

Smiles and laughs

I discovered that I have two types of laughs not to mention the million types of smiles. My smile can reflect sarcasm, shyness, boredom, indifference, apathy, empathy, sadness, anger, sorrow, love, likeness, cheerfulness, etc. But I only have two types of laughs and they can be discerned if you know me from the position of my neck: A true laugh where my neck leans backward and a fake laugh where my neck leans downwards. I smile more than I laugh, and I only use my fake laugh when I cannot avoid laughing because it socially seems as a necessity not to offend or hurt someone. I don't know if my neck position is a universal feature of body language but I do know that I have a quite good control over my facial muscles except for my lower lip which betrays me. Someone I know (that same one) would tell in a second what I am feeling just by looking at my lower lip. In cases of embarrassment or when I am shaking in my shoes, he would look at my lower lip and laugh (backward).

House of Saddam

I like the movie and the actor playing Saddam was brilliantly convincing although the movie was very soft on the American role during the early years (rise of Saddam and Iraq - Iran war). It is the best I have seen or heard about Saddam's personality and I liked the psychological analysis attributing his personality to his early childhood and the beating he was subjected to by his stepfather. The man had a serious obsession in inflicting fear in others obviously stemming from his subconscious attempts to beat the fear and terror he felt every time his stepfather came to beat him. An oversimplified examination would lead to the conclusion that what happened to Iraq and what is to follow came as a result of a man beating a child.

What are you willing to lose?

I tend to put all my energy on one purpose, task, person, or thought, being extreme in many ways. That had always paid back and results had always exceeded my own expectations. But I lost a lot on the way. I think that's why I like that anecdote about the king, the visitor of the palace, and the glass of water.

Nostalgia

I miss Yemen for some reason. I miss the camp. I miss the shitty hotel. I miss the adrenaline. I am going to Syria next week. Dull. Hopefully Yemen will be next. It is said that nostalgic feelings slowly start crawling back to you after a while. That's why people start being nostalgic about their childhood when aging.

Keep adequate distance or get in trouble

What is more interesting: to travel around the world as a tourist or as part of your job? I have done both and I have always enjoyed travelling as part of my work than as a tourist although when on duty I don’t get to see much of the touristic sites but I get to see more of the real life. I also get paid for that. Someone (that same one) will argue that it all depends on the kind of job you are doing. Of course I don’t mean travelling to attend meetings or to give presentations. Well, it seems that I am in the mood of arguing today and I did victimize a few people at work. So Warning: Stay away from me today. I don’t promise I will be in a different mood tomorrow. It seems that PMS is real although someone (that same one) would want to argue about that.

Blogger's block

I need to remember that most probably refreshing my blog's page without posting does not bring me a new post.

Only somkers will love this

Bad joke on smoking: A non smoker once said to his smoker friend: Don't you know that smoking is slow death! His friend answered: I am not in a hurry.

Funny

A sweet baby I know as a big baby discovered humor by smelling his feet and then faking a death.