Enthralling Zeid and the Wings Valentine to Beirut / Brickbat to Lebanese Republic President Michel Suleiman

Before the violent Lebanese strife from 1975-1990, which tore Beirut apart, it was considered by many to be the Paris of the Eastern Mediterranean. It's still a beautiful, enthralling place to visit, and its charm is framed eloquently by this music video which calls the Lebanese president to task for his administration's authoritarianism (like arresting people for Facebook "insults" to the president....)

From Youtube:

Monday, June 28. 2010

Sign the Petition!

Dear Mr. President,

It is unfortunate, on so many levels, that 3+ people have been arrested for insulting you on Facebook.

And that the Minister of Justice Ibrahim Najjar has defended and encouraged the arrests.

And that the media uproar is at most tepid.

And that you have not intervened to right the wrongs that have been committed.

This at a time when:

- forest fires are raging
- Saida's landfill stands tall
- israeli planes are buzzing
- israeli spies are running amok
- traffic accident fatalities are soaring
- oil has been 'discovered' along the Lebanese coast
- gun-toting football fans pull the trigger with impunity
- electricity rationing and tire burning have become pass-times
- the unrelenting tourist surge is overwhelming our infrastructure
- trigger-happy millionaires escape prison and remain above the law
- the government is fighting to pass an unconstitutional e-transactions law
- over 25% of the population live below the poverty line (less than 4$ a day)
- I still pay 45$ for a 512/128 kbps DSL Internet connection with a 4 GB cap
- we are uprooting 800 yo olive trees from the South to plant them in our villas
- Lebanon has dropped to 130 of 180 in the global corruption index, worse than Syria and equal to Libya