I tend to shy away from topics related to faith in my posts, as I believe it to be a very personal matter. This post will not create precedent from that respect. It is not really about faith, even if written from a faithful's point of view. It is about guilty silence. It is about... Continue Reading →
They are too strong, tool powerful for us mere mortals. They pledged allegiance to gods too vile, to masters too dark. They have taken our jobs, our homes, our families, our dreams, and trashed them on the altar of Filth. Photo by Jo Kassis They have branded us with the shameful iron of the corrupt... Continue Reading →
Behold. A hardcore right-wing capitalist, very vocal on free enterprise and economic liberties, a bit too much to the taste of a fellow hardcore left-wing socialist, desperately trying to bring this impenitent capitalist to his views and into atonement, but to no avail, taking solace in another hardcore left-wing socialist steering so much to the... Continue Reading →
Votre honneur, Je ne sais comment débuter cette plaidoirie, d'une part car je ne sais jamais comment en débuter une, d'autre part car le sujet que je souhaite plaider a été tellement rabâché que ça en est devenu le cliché le plus éculé de l'histoire moderne. Je tiens pourtant à rajouter sans prétention ma pierre... Continue Reading →
Chère amie, Je t'écris ces lignes sans trop savoir où elles nous mèneront, sans trop savoir pourquoi je prends la plume. Il est une heure treize du matin. Je n'ai ni la clarté des idées ni l'assurance du verbe qui légitimeraient un titre à cette missive, en introduction aux lignes qui devraient ou auraient dû... Continue Reading →
I wrote a couple of posts on Lebanon recently, back to back, and it drained me out. I've never been good at managing sorrow or anger. So I thought I would write about something else for a change. And then I saw this long-forgotten picture on social media... It was taken 27 years ago. A... Continue Reading →
1:00 AM, somewhere in France. Pink Floyd playing in the background, and I, wrapping up my previous post before publishing it. Comfortably Numb. Or Confortablement engourdi since we are somewhere in France. A masterpiece of progressive rock if you ask me. And by the time David Gilmour was kicking his haunting second guitar solo, hell... Continue Reading →
Dear Revolutionary Wherever you are, you would be glad to know that Revolution today is a word on everyone's lips in a small country on the verge of oblivion in the middle east. Photo by Joe Kassis According to your fellow Lebanese revolutionaries, revolution is the only way forward, the last chance for their homeland. I... Continue Reading →
I met him many years ago. I was new in town and like most people missing home, I would go there looking for, I don't know, solace, or maybe memories. I found this old piano instead. He was sitting in a corner of the western lounge in the Lebanese parish of Our Lady of Lebanon... Continue Reading →
Mais les vrais voyageurs sont ceux-là seuls qui partent Pour partir, coeurs légers, semblables aux ballons, De leur fatalité jamais ils ne s'écartent, Et, sans savoir pourquoi, disent toujours : Allons ! Charles Baudelaire Photo by InstagramFOTOGRAFIN People sometimes ask me if I'm ever coming back. Like for good. Most if not all of them are... Continue Reading →
Two countries, both dear to my heart. One which chose me and one which I chose. One where I came to life and one where my children were born. One which gave me the words and one the means to speak them out. Lebanon who gave me birth and France who adopted me. One I... Continue Reading →
Or how on earth has Lebanon managed to fall short of the podium on the Misery Index. Yes dear readers, there is a misery index which classifies countries based on a misery score. Without getting into the details of how the score is computed, top of the list is the most miserable country in the... Continue Reading →
I am not an economist by any stretch of the word. And for a long time, I had no clue about basic economic subjects, everyday stuff really. Like where do banks get the money to remunerate my saving account. Or what is backing up the currency I use everyday, what is it that gives it value.... Continue Reading →
In the aftermath of the default of the Lebanese government on its debt on March 19th in 2020, the Lebanese pound reached abysmal lows versus the US dollar. Up to that point, the Lebanese government, or more precisely the Banque du Liban, had always followed a policy of strict pegging of the local currency to the... Continue Reading →
The Idea Sounding Board 