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Cola Barbir! – Pink Taxis

By on March 12, 2009 in Lebanon

banet-taxi

Hamra 3ayneh? Cola Barbir? Dawra? London????

These cute pink taxis will take you anywhere you want only if you’re… a woman (Talk about sex discrimation?), this is what “Banet Taxi” is all about, female taxi drivers in pink  Peugeot 206 cars serving women only OR women accompanied with their spouses.

The idea is not new in the arab world, a similar service is available in the United Arab Emirates, so Nawal Yaghi Fakhri (the owner of “Banat Taxi”) did not come up with something innovative, she actually even imitated the same color as in the pink taxis of UAE. However, I like what she did, good for her she was the first to introduce this service to Lebanon and take advantage of an unsatisfied need for the Lebanese ladies which is to let them feel “extra secure” when traveling from one place to another, not to forget the need of some ladies who like to use a ”

If you’re interested in Banat Taxi, you can contact them on these two number: 04/419006 or 70/286896. And remember, it’s for Women only!

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Lebanese movie HELP banned

By on March 12, 2009 in Lebanon

help

Yet another movie ban, this time it is Marc Abi Rashed’s turn to have his movie “HELP” banned in Lebanon.

In brief, “Help” is the story of a teenager named Ali who lives in a van in Lebanon. His life suddenly turns upside down when he meets Thuraya, a prostitute living with a gay man. The movie has nudity and an excessive use of inappropriate words.

The reason of the ban is still not clear, at least to me. The movie was initially given the license to be shown in the Lebanese theaters on contdition that it will be restricted to viewers above 18 years old, later on he head of the censoring body was replaced and his successor withdrew the authorization! Some claim it is because the movie is too much for the Lebanese audience to accept, while others say that it is because the lead actress “Thuraya” who has appeared naked in the movie, and happens to be Joanna Andraos the daughter of the Lebanese MP Antoine Andraos, which might negatively affect his campaign in the upcoming election in June 2009.

In case authorities gace the license back to “HELP”, I believe it will make double the profits it was supposed to make before, becuase people will be eager to watch it after the fuss that the ban issue has created!

I leave you now with the movie trailer I found on YouTube.

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From Hamra to New York

By on March 9, 2009 in Lebanon

hamra-street

Is it only me? Or do others also feel that Hamra resembles to New York? (Tsu2, I’m not out of my mind yet).

I used to rarely go to Hamra until recently when I got bored of all the other places like Downtown Beirut and Achrafiyeh, which are currently being heavily invaded by “wozziyyeh” teenage boys and girls especially on weekends!

Few weeks ago I went there in a hopeless attempt to find some new nice spot, and I was surprised by how beautiful Hamra is! Although I live in west Beirut, but since ever Hamra meant “traffic jam” to me, so I have always avoided passing by there. It isn’t like I have NEVER passed by Hamra before! But I’ve never passed and noticed the nice places I’m observing today.

The numerous neighboring shops, the cozy restaurants and cafés and the cozy streets, they all remind me of New York. I know that for some people there is no way to compare, but I have almost re-experience the same feeling I once had in New York everytime I go to Hamra for a walk.

I can call the Hamra area as “Little New York”… and no, once again I tell you that I’m not out of my mind yet!

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Riad Salameh honored in NYSE (Video)

By on March 4, 2009 in Lebanon

In reference to the previous post, here’s a video showing Riad Salameh rinigng the bell in New York stock exchange when the stock market opened on Monday morning. Don’t expect too much from the video, it’s just about some ding ding ding! But I thought of sharing it with you.

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Somebody got it right in Lebanon!

By on February 28, 2009 in Lebanon

The governor of the Lebanese central bank Riad Salameh will be honored on March 2nd at New York’s Wall Street by ringing the bell when the stock market opens next Monday morning. This kind of honorary celebration is only hosted for elite economic figures in the world.

This comes as a reward for his achievements and strategic decisions through the global economic crisis. And thanks to him, banks in Lebanon had one of their best financial years!

Below is what the Los Angeles Times wrote about his success story during the crisis:

Throughout history, men braved the odds to perform great feats. Outmatched generals snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Titans of industry gambled on bold innovations to reap jackpots. Athletes tested the limits of human endurance in quests for glory.

Riad Toufic Salame, the governor of Lebanon’s central bank, is not one of those men.

Instead, the silver-haired banker became a hero by playing it very, very safe. In 2005, he defied pressure from the Lebanese business community and bucked international trends to issue what now looks like a prophetic decree: a blanket order barring any bank in his country from investing in mortgage-backed securities, which contributed to the most dramatic collapse of financial institutions since the Great Depression.

So as major banks in America and Europe were shuttered or partly nationalized and thousands of people in the U.S. financial sector were laid off, Lebanon’s banks had one of their best years ever.

Read the full article here.

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The good, the bad and the ugly!

By on February 14, 2009 in Lebanon

The good:

Today was the 4th commemoration of Rafic Hariri’s assassination. Most of the companies were off today (except the one I work for) so the best thing was the empty streets in the morning, the road from Sodeco to Jdeideh took 7 minutes via Achrafiyyeh! Ya3ne reit kil yom 14 shbat.

The bad:

In the afternoon we got amused in our neighborhood by fights between people retruning back from the martyr’s square and others from Amal and Hizbullah (I assume).

I witnessed a Mercedes being literally destroyed by around 15 guys armored with iron rods (w mish 7a ni3lon 3an mouyoulon il siyeisiyyeh halla2 3al hawa).

The ugly:

The Mercedes I mentioned above had 5 passengers, and the 15 guys with the rods were beating the hell out of them INSIDE the car. I don’t know the reason why the car has stopped by these guys or why the driver was unable to drive it away of them… but anyway it was a very disturbing scene.

Update:

The horrible:

One of the readers asked wether I reported what I saw to the authorities or not. I was actually in my car with my brother, and there ware soldiers 20 meters away from the fight, so when we passed by them my brother was like “What are you doing here? There’s a fight there and people are getting beaten!!”. Now guess what one soldier answered, “3am nshimm il haw”… (w no comment).

I hope “anon” has an answer by now.

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Cedar Island

By on January 29, 2009 in Lebanon

It all started in Dubai with the Palm islands, followed by the Pearl island in Qatar, and soon we might have the Cedar Island here in Lebanon at the cost of Damour!

Covering an area of 3.311.731.60 squared meters in the touristic coastal area of Lebanon, the Cedar Island lends itself as a luxurious residential, commercial, and touristic project. Its geographical location along the Lebanese coast allows it to play a vital role in attracting tourists and VIP residents looking for an exotic lifestyle or escaping from the city.

I’ve read about this project in different new sources and to my knowledge there are still some doubts about realizing it. However, if you check the project’s website, you notice like the project is on its way to be started.

An interesting project indeed, but the question is: What is the enviromental cost for this artificial Cedar Island??

Updates:

  1. There are a couple of groups on Facebook, one supporting the project, and the other is opposing it.
    Via Nihil Declaro.
  2. I tend to agree with this guy, who wrote a post titled “The island of Dr. Moron“.
  3. Check this interesting article about the environmental cost of the artificial islands in Dubai, the article is followed by a response by an environmental scientist from the Nakheel project of Dubai.
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Download Waltz With Bashir

By on January 25, 2009 in Lebanon

Just in case you still have not heard of this Israeli movie which has been banned in Lebanon.

In 1982, Ari Folman was a 19-year-old infantry soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. In 2006, he meets with a friend from the army service period, who tells him of the nightmares connected to his experiences from the 1982 Lebanon War. Folman is surprised to find out that he does not remember a thing from the same period. Later that night he has a vision from the night of the Sabra and Shatila massacre the reality of which he is unable to tell. In his memory he and his soldier friends are bathing at night by the seaside in Beirut to the light of flares descending over the city. Folman rushes off to meet another friend from his army service, who advises him to discuss it with other people who were in Beirut at the same time to understand what happened there and to relive his own memory. The film follows Folman in his conversations with friends, a psychologist and the reporter Ron Ben-Yishai who was in Beirut at the same time.

The film takes its title from a scene in which one of the interviewees, the commander of Folman’s infantry unit at the time of the film’s events, grabs a light machine gun and “dances an insane waltz” amid heavy enemy fire, on a street festooned with huge posters of Bashir Gemayel.

When the movie was banned, Dr. Tarek Mitri (Minister of Information) said the ban is silly because people can get anything from the internet. And he was right, the movie is widely available on the internet now.

So how to download it?

  1. It is available through torrent sites. You first have to install a torrent client, I recommend BitTorrent wich you can download from here.
  2. Get the torrent file that will let you download the movie. I already uploaded the torrent file to +961, and you can click here to get it.
  3. Assuming you have installed the BitTorrent client by now, double click on the torrent file and wait for the movie to completely download.

Update:

Download the english subtitles for Waltz With Bashir by clicking here.

Note that you should place the subtitles file in the same directory as the movie file, the subtitles will then appear automatically when you play the movie in your media player.

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Orascom & Zain: Welcome to Lebanon!

By on January 14, 2009 in Lebanon

I assume you all know it by now, the 2 new mobile operators to replace Alfa and MTC Touch will be Orascom and Zain (formerly MTC).

We have been promised since Gibran Bassil became the minister of telecommunication that a third operator might be introduced to the market and hopefully impose competition, which will result in lowering prices (happy us!). I was surprised though that this didn’t happen…

Anyway, while checking the Tayyar.org website today I came across this flash new:

“The contracts between the new operators and the government are different now, the two companies will be profiting from the working phone lines, which will help in lowering prices and providing a better service” (It seems like Alfa and MTC Touch were previously getting management fees only).

Well, let me tell you something Mr. Bassil, what we have in the mobile telephony sector right now is a duopoly, it’s actually a monopoly since the two operators are controlled by the government, but let’s assume it’s a duopoly. Do you know what kind of pricing strategies are followed in such cases? ANYTHING but price wars!

Seriously, come to think of it! They both have almost the same prices, and they’re sharing the market almost equally. Why would they want to go into price wars and risk lowering their profits? In case there will be a price decrease, they will BOTH agree on it. No marketer will ever work against the good of their firm. I doubt there will be a significant decrease in price by the way, we will never reach what’s set in Egypt and other Arab countries for example.

So, Mr. Bassil, you seem to be just like all the previous ministers (until time proves me wrong), you promised us the stars and delivered nothing until now. We’re being robbed and we will always be robbed!

Ya3neh we’re getting raped and might as well like it! Otherwise we get no phone line!

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