Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis

In the spirit of cooperation, the Ministry of Energy and Water along with the Ministry of Agriculture have unveiled an innovative plan to provide short term relief due to Lebanon’s cold winter and severe power shortages, note however, you won’t actually feel any warmer but after a little while, you just won’t care.

Spread The Love

                   Not the flu! Stay home and get well soon!

Hey Baby! What’s Cooking?

                              Young and tender…..yum.

Shooting Blanks

   The Lebanese government has threatened to remove illegal billboards by the end of 2011. Are they serious or shooting blanks? Is January the worst month on record for sales of outdoor ad space?      Did the advertisers hear the complaints about visual pollution?      Maybe the copywriters simply ran out of things to say……          And didn’t find anything “inspiring” worth copying.

The Show Must Go On…..

                             but just someplace else.

Women Unite!

       
           Together, we are stronger than the sum of our parts.

The Sky’s The Limit

Today, Middle East Airlines takes delivery of the 5000th Airbus A320. Congratulations! Mabrouk! 5000 Mabrouk!  Enter to win free tickets!

The Winter Of Our Discontent

The tragic loss of life and homes in Ashrafieh, the disturbing idea of rape between husband and wife or anyone else for that matter, playing russian roulette with decaying, crumbling bridges, relentless traffic jams, keeping your family warm and clean on 10 amps, an impotent government, the WWW struggles with SOPA, PIPA and DMCA and even Saad Hariri got bit by the Twitter Bug. It’s been a tough winter. Maybe it’s time for a nice cup of tea and a nap.

I Hate Mondays

                Ok. Well, how do you feel about unemployment?

Same Old Song

You won’t get this sofa “for a song” so better bring some do-re-mi.

Friday The 13th

            Here’s the answer to Lebanon’s perennial problems.   
                             Luck,dreams,hopes and wishes. 

                                        PlayLeb.com

Fear Factor

    Fear Factor should just be a TV show……. not where you live.

Marital rape. Should there be a law against it? Yes. What if it can’t be enforced? It should still be illegal. It’s already immoral. When she said “I do” that wasn’t a general consent to anything, anytime, anyway. Lebanon’s ratio of men to women is 7:1. Could Lebanese women be the next revolution? They’re getting angry and it’s hard to hide from your mothers, sisters and daughters. The protest begins January 14th.

                           March Against Rape 

 

Fill’er Up

Gas in Lebanon is so expensive that service drivers stop for 5000LL, expensive sport car drivers quietly ask for 10,000LL. A full tank gets you sparklers and a cork popping.

Banking In Beirut: The Musical

Lebanese banks have good reason to sing and dance. The Global Economic Crisis meant record deposits. Now uncertainty from regional unrest, growing public debt and the curiosity of the U.S.Treasury Department is tempered by the perfect trifecta of vast gold reserves, reliable remittances and Lebanon’s legendary banking secrecy laws. Maybe we’ll see Riad Salameh do a little dance in Banking In Beirut : The Sequel

And The Winner Is….

                                     Nadine Labaki

Not So Black And White

Quitting smoking is the #1 resolution most people make and by day 4, it’s the one that most people break. Next year it might be a little easier for you. The Lebanese government ban on smoking will take effect and you won’t be tempted with ads like these unless, of course, that ban ends up like our well intentioned annual resolutions.

Big Deal

2011 was the year of the Arab Spring, leaving Lebanon to ironically appear amazingly calm and steady. Lebanon’s finances suffered from a slow summer season along with a banking scandal detailed in this New York Times report. BeirutSpring.com has a nice round-up of Lebanon’s non-political stories for 2011.
The Port of Beirut continues to be a major success story with phenomenal growth this last year. Lebanon’s ancient history of shipping and trading thrives here as does the age-old custom of bribes at the port.
City Daily Photo Theme Day- Photo of the Year- Click to view all participants 

Happy New Year!