[T]he 2006 war -- as bad as it was -- could have been much, much worse. People know that. And from that perspective, this rhetoric coming out of Israel is pure genius. Because the worry after the last war was that Israel had lost its deterrence capability. But rhetoric like this -- and its reception in Beirut -- proves that it has not. If Hizballah and its Lebanese allies really do believe that Israel will level the Dahiyeh in the event of a new war, that's great news for Israel because it might deter Hizballah from launching any kind of foolish cross-border raids.

On the other hand, if Israel actually implemented this doctrine in an actual shooting war, that would be beyond stupid.

As I said in comments on the Abu Muqawama site, I obviously can't speak as to what the Hezbollah cadres think about this latest announcement, but I can relay what I've heard in cabs, on the street and from friends here in Beirut.

Overwhelmingly, it seems that this pretty much reinforces the image that most people have of Israelis in the first place. Furthermore, I remember in 2006 that people were initially really mad at Hezbollah for sparking another war, but as soon as it became clear that Israel was attacking Lebanon more or less indiscriminately, people fell in line behind Hezbollah.

Likewise, when Israel makes statements like this, everyone I know becomes immediately more aggressive, sounding a little like Bush: "Bring it on!"

All that to say that I'm not sure the distinction he's making between announcing and implementing attacks on civilian targets is all that important. So while this might have a deterrent effect on Hezbollah itself (and even this, I'm not convinced about), it certainly won't have a deterrent effect on general attitudes of the Lebanese, and certainly Hezbollah's supporters.

truth,
(whatever that is)
dreams,
(which I can't define)
and escape,
(the greatest love of mine)
I drink to you!

inspiration: beirut

Language can feel like a job some days, especially when we are working through exercises like the one in this picture.  Figuring out how to conjugate our verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives...and getting them all strung together correctly isn't too much fun and it makes me wonder, "Will I ever really be able to remember this stuff?"  Just take a gander at the board in this picture...for your pleasure (or pain!), here are some conjugations of some really common verbs ("to can," "to want," and "to have").  Looks like fun, right?!

The interesting thing about language learning, though, is that language is different than learning any other subject, like history or biology, for example.  Language, technically, isn't new "knowledge," it's a new way of communicating what you already know.  When you can't communicate well all of the wonderful things you "know" in and about this world...well, that's when the fun starts!  One of my outlets for outside-the-class practice is with taxi drivers. They love to talk, often don't speak English (especially if someone who speaks Arabic orders one for me), and are they ever willing to help me learn!  And that's why I feel like I have a bucketful of funny (and frustrating) stories that include taxis!

So, the other day, I got in to catch a ride back from a meeting...and I started my normal routine of seeing how far I can make it on the trip before they catch on that I don't understand Arabic very well yet.  :)  Usually it takes about 2 minutes.  So then I say (in Arabic), "I am learning Arabic!!  Can I practice with you?"  They always say "of course" and then we're off.  I ask about their families and how their day has gone.  I ask what their opinion of the weather today and yesterday and last week. And then I run out of things I can say really well...and we're on to stringing together phrases I'm not very good at yet.

On this particular trip, though...the driver really got into helping me learn once we got to the awkward stage. He would point and say in Arabic: "Car", or "Parrot", or "Monkey" (we drove past a pet shop with some caged ones), or "Road," etc...almost all words that I already know...but the game is fun, so I kept playing.  Well, we got to Hamra St...in the picture below and he said a word ("sajra") and pointed out the window, at what I thought was a building.  I thought I'd test out my hypothesis about "sajra" and pointed to a building out on the other side of the car...and he nodded his head.  "Sweet!"  So, I tested it out one more time on and asked him if the place he picked me up at was also a "sajra.""La'," he said, and then he pulled the car to a stop in the middle of this crazy mess of traffic.  The cars behind us started blaring their horns, people started to pull up on the curb to get around us...all while my driver  jumped out of the car, and marched straight over to the "tree" on the side of the street, and clarified that "sajra" means "tree" and not "building!"

It was all I could do to keep a straight face.  He jumped back in the taxi and, "yalla", we made a couple turns and I was home.  Shokran jezilen (thank you very much!!), my taxi-driving friends!!  You help keep my work fun.  I don't understand everything.  Yet.  But I will soon!!

posted by: caleb

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has promised not to cut foreign aid to Israel if he is elected in November, a spokeswoman for Obama has said.

In a statement to the Israeli business daily Globes, a spokeswoman for Obama said he would honor existing agreements pertaining to foreign aid and as such was committed to "increasing aid to Israel to $30 billion over 10 years."

In the vice presidential debate last week, Obama's running mate Senator Joe Biden said their administration would have to hold back on plans to double foreign aid in general in light of the financial crisis in the U.S.

Israel is estimated to receive over $2.5 billion each year in foreign aid from the U.S., in addition to other grants for projects, such as joint military research and development.

and what will these weapons be used for you might ask? well, let's see...:

In an interview Friday with the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Eisenkot presented his "Dahiyah Doctrine," under which the IDF would expand its destructive power beyond what it demonstrated two years ago against the Beirut suburb of Dahiyah, considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

"We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction. From our perspective, these are military bases," he said. "This isn't a suggestion. This is a plan that has already been authorized."

a clue on the vocabulary: villages and neighborhoods are considered "military bases" to the israeli terrorists forces. of course they won't only be used to terrorize and commit war crimes in lebanon. be sure they will be doing the same here in palestine. and maybe in syria. and maybe iran. that's what obama stands for. what was it palin called israel again? oh yes, a "peace-seeking nation." that's right.

An-Nahar newspaper quoted an official US source Friday as saying that US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch had told Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem that the United States totally rejected any Syrian military intervention in Lebanon.

The source said Welch made it clear to Moallem that recent bombings in Damascus and Tripoli should not be used to justify any kind of military intervention in Lebanon.

At least 17 people were killed in a car explosion in Damascus last Saturday. Two days later, a similar blast targeting Lebanese troops killed seven people and wounded 33 others in Tripoli.

Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri lashed out at Syrian President Bashar Assad in the aftermath of the Tripoli bombing, accusing Assad of trying to insinuate that Lebanon, the North in particular, was responsible for the apparently deteriorating security situation in Syria. Prior to Hariri's remarks, Assad told the head of Lebanon's Journalists Union, Melhem Karam, that North Lebanon had become "a real base for extremism and constitutes a danger for Syria."

Meanwhile, a French source was quoting as telling the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper on Friday that Paris believed it was not possible for Syria to send its troops to Lebanon despite Assad's recent remarks.

In a related development, former MP Fares Soueid of the anti-Syrian March 14 Forces said on Friday that French authorities have recently assured a delegation from the March 14 Forces that Syria would not be given the green light to return to Lebanon.

The delegation, including Soueid, MP Marwan Hamadeh, MP Samir Franjieh, and National Liberal Party chief Dori Chamoun, met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner for talks in Paris on Thursday that addressed the mounting tensions between Lebanon and Syria.

Meanwhile, a Russian official was quoted as telling the local Al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Friday said that Moscow was also against any form of foreign intervention in Lebanon.

The paper added that Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov stressed in a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Russia, Golam Reza Ansari, Moscow's complete commitment to stability in Lebanon.

Tags: Assad, Beirut, Damascus, Forces, Hariri, Lebanese, Lebanon, Military, Minister, Newspaper, North, Official, Russia, Syria, Syrian, Trip

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It was the latest in a string
of recent attacks aimed at the army in and around this northern city,
where hard-line Islamist militants seem to be regrouping after their
defeat by the army more than a year ago in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Syrian
officials announced that a car bombing on Saturday in Damascus, the
Syrian capital, had been carried out by a suicide bomber linked to an
extremist group, who had arrived in Syria the day before from “a
neighboring Arab state.” Syria shares borders with Lebanon, Iraq and
Jordan, in addition to Turkey and Israel.

Taken together, the
bombing and the Syrian announcement raised fears of more attacks by
extremist groups in Syria and Lebanon, though political leaders here
drew sharply different conclusions about who might be directing the
violence.

The bombing on Saturday killed 17 people, and it was
the deadliest attack in Syria since the 1980s, when the Syrian state,
which is secular, fought a long and brutal battle with hard-line
Islamists bent on overthrowing it.

On Monday, Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad,
said, “Northern Lebanon has become a real base for extremism and
constitutes a danger for Syria,” according to NBN Television, citing an
as-yet-unpublished magazine interview. Mr. Assad made a similar warning
this month and hinted that Saudi Arabia, engaged in a bitter political
feud with Syria, was supporting the extremists.

Syrian allies in
Lebanon have made similar comments about the threat emanating from the
north, where some 20 people were killed in neighborhood battles between
Sunni Islamist fighters and Syrian allies in recent months. A truce
ended the violence in early September.

Sunni extremists have
struggled to reassert their influence in the north ever since the
summer of 2007, when the army routed the militant group Fatah al-Islam
after a long struggle in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

But
some Western-allied political figures in Lebanon said they feared that
Mr. Assad’s comments, along with the recent bombings, might portend a
Syrian effort to reassert military control over its neighbor — using
counterterrorism as a pretext.

Syria dominated Lebanon
militarily for most of three decades before 2005, when it withdrew in
response to Lebanese and international pressure after the killing of
the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
Last week, Syrian troops massed near the border with northern Lebanon,
in what Syrian officials called an operation to root out smugglers.

“I
think Syria is trying to justify why they need to come back to
Lebanon,” said Misbah Ahdab, a member of Parliament from Tripoli,
voicing an opinion commonly heard here.

Mr. Ahdab observed that
although there were hard-line Sunni militant groups in northern Lebanon
(where the population is mostly Sunni Muslim), Syria also maintained
paramilitary networks there. While Saudi Arabia is often accused of
supporting Sunni radicals as its proxies in the north, the same charge
has been leveled at Syria.

One hallmark of such radical groups
is “takfeer,” the practice of declaring fellow Muslims to be infidels
so as to provide justification for killing them. In their announcement
on Monday about the suicide bomber in Damascus on Saturday, the Syrian
authorities said that he belonged to “a takfeer group, some members of
which were arrested earlier.”

Syrian investigators are trying to
further identify the bomber through his DNA remains, according to the
announcement, which was released by the Syrian state news agency.

On
Monday, Lebanese investigators could be seen sorting through the
remnants of the white bus where five people died in the early morning
bombing in Tripoli. All that remained of the car that held the bomb was
blackened and twisted wreckage.

The 50-pound bomb was rigged to a
Peugeot sedan, Lebanese military officials said, and was detonated by
remote control as the bus passed on a street in an open area near the
Tripoli port. Later in the day, the owner of the Peugeot arrived on the
scene and was arrested, according to Lebanese television, though the
reports suggested he did not know his car had been used in the bombing.

“I
saw dead people and blood on the ground,” said Abdel Qadir Shehadeh,
11, who ran to the scene from his father’s used car lot, about 200
yards away, just after the blast. “The car was burning, and I heard
people screaming. There was broken glass all over.”

Source: New York Times

Incrível como algumas pessoas conseguem musicalizar sentimentalidades, coisa e tal. O que não é o meu caso. Não tenho vocação alguma, nem habilidade motora com instrumentos musicais - até meio que já confessei os meus desencontros quanto à isso bem aqui.

Entretanto, fico demasiadamente contenta em não dispor desses dotes artísticos. Sério. O acaso se encarregou em distribuir qualidades sonoras à quem saberia o que fazer com elas; pra ser mais exata,  conheço dez sujeitos que possuem essas qualidades: Nicholas, Perrin, Jason, Paul, Jon, Kristin, Kelly, Tracy, Heather e Zach. Juntos, eles formam a trupê francesa Beirut.

Essa canção do vídeo, em especial, tem um pedaço que me cativa um bocado: Well it's been a long time, long time now. Since I've seen you smile, o que seria: Bem, tem sido um longo tempo, longo tempo agora. Desde que vi seu sorriso.

Ademais, sorrisos são cativantes.

Certeza que os integrantes do Beirut descobriram como transformar sorrisos em composições, 'A Sunday Smile' é prova incontentável disso.

Midwest Dilemma
Timelines & Tragedies
May 20th 2008
Self Released

Maybe, just maybe, the cooption of music that has largely flown under the radar for the better part of the last decade by soulless corporations can be avoided. The Billboard oriented marketing machines are systematically being dispossessed of their tastemaking power. Major labels, when they can acquire them, harvest artists who have already established a national following from their independent releases. Fortunately for independent artists, a major label contract is no longer seen as always the optimal circumstance for national exposure, sustained industry influence, and market representation. This enervation of the gate keepers has fostered resistance against artistic compromise in nearly all sectors of the music industry. It is evidenced by the emergence of successfully branded indie labels such as Kill Rockstars, Matador, Jagjaguwar, and Saddle Creek; it is evidenced by the successful dislocation of goliath music makers such Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails from their respective and restrictive major label bonds; it is even evidenced by interlabel dealings such as Wilco’s refusal to accommodate Reprise’s critical observations of their seminal release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which led to their auspicious migration to Nonesuch, a label that ironically along with Reprise are both subsidiaries of the major conglomerate Warner Bros. Records.

Through the democratizing power of the internet, and an increasingly ability for local communities of artists to obtain national exposure, we are beginning to see a number of bands release music independent of any label at all. They are the “self-released” categories of burgeoning blogs everywhere (I love me). Even though their trajectory might lead many bands to any number of market deals, their injection into large scale networks of critical discourse through modest industry connections has clearly signal a shift in the fundamental paradigm of artist ascendancy, and this change it seems will be long lasting and far reaching.

From Omaha, Nebraska Midwest Dilemma has caught my attention with their densely organic and texturally rich debut Timelines & Tragedies. While consisting of as much as 10 core members, Midwest Dilemma recorded in bloom with 23 musicians and vocalists, an indication of the ambitious and highly masterful orchestration of the project. As their name implies Midwest Dilemma’s endeavor is steeped in folksy Americana. It not only seeks to lyrically reconstruct the narrative of songwriter Justin Lamoureux’s family as they traveled from Montreal, Canada to Nebraska in the 19th century, but it also serves to define a musical tradition whose flair and flavor has definite regional roots. The Midwest is an incredibly rich landscape that is colored by the lived experiences of both its colonized and marginalized pre-European inhabitants and the various pioneers and traders that eventually came to form the towns and cities that today spot the vast plains, prairies, and bluffs from Wyoming to Ohio. The resulting constructed music culture is as distinct as the Southern-Gothic genre explored by artists like Iron & Wine and Phosphorescent.

Timelines & Tragedies is a string heavy odyssey that incorporates woodwinds and orchestral percussion to accentuate its epic recollection of the Lamoureux family’s journey. Using stories passed from generation to generation through old letters and family folklore, Lamouroux and company have produced an ethnographic testimonial. The record is more than episodic; it is a beautiful and memorizing patchwork of individual characters that in their juxtaposition recount a shared history of the Midwest. The themes, while specifically engrossed in a particular family’s past, speak as much about how we reflect on all stories of exodus. Timelines & Tragedies does an extraordinary job of telling the immigrant’s story, one that distills the shared experience of severed roots and the dismembering and intimidating shift out of the safe boundaries of home into an uncertain future. Each song moves through time toward the present, allowing for each successive generation to contextualize current predicaments with the preceding memory of past struggle. Timelines & Tragedies is a genealogy; it is thick, articulate, and captivating.

As far as Midwest Dilemma’s place in establishing their own relevance beyond the role storytellers, I applaud their emergence as a sign of the times. With their impending tour toward New York City this fall, I look forward to catching a show. I often wonder when this flood of independence might subside, leaving only the most contrived and commercially viable bands to suffer the dictates of the Billboard hierarchy. Midwest Dilemma gives me hope that we have entered a new age of production, one that like the band's own inspiration, relies on local communities and personal relationships to direct ascendancy. Timelines & Tragedies is a debut produced with extraordinary talent and ambition, the limits of which may only be bound by the degree of Midwest Dilemma’s interest in telling their story.

-FF

7/9

http://www.midwestdilemma.com/
http://www.myspace.com/midwestdilemma

Related Sounds
Decemberists
Bright Eyes
Beirut

Tour
10/17 – Omaha, NE @ PS Collective – 10pm
10/18– Ames, IA @ Ames Progressive Office – 7pm
10/19 – Sheboygan, WI @ Paradigm – 8pm
10/20 – Louisville, KY @ The Space at 6th and Oak – 8pm
10/22 - Muncie, IN @ Village Green Records - 7pm
10/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Green Line Café – 7pm
10/24 - New York, NY @ Café Vivaldi - 8pm
10/25 – Biddeford, ME @ Hogfarm Studios – 8pm
10/26 – Cambridge (Boston), MA @ Lily Pad – 7pm
10/27 – New York, NY @ The Living Room – 7pm
10/28 – Hamden, CT @ The Space – 8pm
10/29 – Montpelier, VT @ Langdon Street Café – 8pm
10/30 – Buffalo, NY @ Bon Vivant – 8pm
10/31 – Cleveland, OH @ Barking Spider Tavern – 8pm
11/1 – Chicago, IL @ Red Line Tap – 8pm
11/2 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews – 10pm

Play... Birds chirp, or tweet, or any other such onomatopoeia that describes the enduring sound our feathered friends bestow, ‘Oh, Spectrum’ has begun. Instantly one notices the distinct lack of sweeping string sample loops that Owen Pallett is so renowned and loved for and used to considerable achievement within his previous two full length albums, yet the sound is so inextricably his. The trend continues through this Ep which leads us to wonder on the musical narrative of his coming Ep ‘Plays To Please’ to be released this month, and his anticipated new album ‘Heartland’ to be released in Spring 2009...

Touring with Beirut has certainly inspired an experimentalism one would no doubt expect from a one man loop station, and with enigmatic use of the Beirut horn section, synth, organ and percussive interludes replacing moments where once meandering strings would travel motionless through our ears, this Ep doesn’t sound far removed from a hybrid ‘Belle & Sebastian’/’Sufjan Stevens’ collaboration. So, straight talkin’, interestingly above very good.

After my euphoric introduction to this fellow in the forests of Latitude festival, the year 2007, it is hard for me to be overtly excited about the new melodic path young Pallett has found himself strolling down, but magic of first discoveries aside, a wonderful addition to his repertoire indeed and I, like many, will be awaiting what surprises he has in store for our daydreams down futures silken streams…

marston...

De la Marble Arch, cum ieşi în Oxford Street la dreapta şi imediat prima tot la dreapta, pe lîngă cinema Odeon, este traseul pentru un Liban rapid în Londra. De cum treci de cinematograful cu damf de popcorn (următorul inamic pe lista de interdicţii a britanicilor, după ţigări), capitala bătrînului imperiu miroase altfel, a cofetărie şi a tutun de shisha, adică de narghilea. Emblemele pietroase şi denumirile ţepene englezeşti de pe clădiri dispar, accentul impecabil de Londra devine pe nesimţite tot mai stricat, firmele încep să fie scrise în diverse litere exotice şerpuite şi te scufunzi încet în micul Beirut din inima Albionului.

Te uiţi în jur şi te întrebi ce e cu soarta englezilor la cămaşă albastră cu berea într-o mînă şi cu ţigara în cealaltă, în picioare, pe trotuar, ca osîndiţii, care aici sînt de negăsit. În locul pub-urilor austere, cu bere caldă şi acidă, mîncare dubioasă, meciuri cu Chelsea la plasme, proorociri despre bursă şi mirosuri de cantină a săracilor, aici stau întinse cît toată strada terase generoase, încălzite de radiatoare mai puternice decît rotisoarele, cu scaune de sultan pe care boieresc arabi netulburaţi în exerciţiul plenipotenţiar al fumatului de narghilea colorată în toate aromele de portocală, smochină, cafea cu melasă ori cireaşă - nectarul şi ambrozia prinţilor care domnesc peste deşerturile cu nisip, miraje, petrol şi geopolitică.

Pe stradă, nici urmă de picior dezgolit şi de rochiţă scurtă de englezoaică născută cu pint-ul de bere în mînă - femeile au chipul acoperit şi merg la trei metri în urma bărbatului. "Fish and chips" e o blasfemie, iar alcool nu se găseşte nici măcar în termometre. Aici este Edgware Road, cartierul general al arabilor în Londra.

Evident că sînt prin zonă cu treaba. După ce termin de filmat un material despre băncile islamice - sau băncile Sharia - nu mă lasă, totuşi, inima să plec. O cafea banală pe o terasă la margine de lume mi se pare o răsplată minimă pentru moralul meu mereu în nevoie de stimulente. O biată cafea pe o terasă unde singurul loc liber, după voia lui Dumnezeu, Allah sau cum vreţi voi să îi ziceţi, este lîngă un englez astenic şi ras în cap, despre care aflu totul în mai puţin de 12 minute.

Colegul scrie la o revistă pentru bărbaţi, dar nu despre loţiuni de bărbierit sau despre prezervative care nu se îndoaie de la mijloc, ci face autobigrafii despre bărbaţi care chiar s-au dovedit demni de numele ăsta: reporteri de război vestiţi din Vietnam, militari care s-au aruncat peste grenade ca să îşi salveze camarazii şi au scăpat ca prin minune sau, mai nou, despre bărbaţii care cîştigă concursurile de poker pe un milion de dolari. Îl uimesc şi eu după ce o intimidez pe o tînără ţigancă cerşetoare venită să ne ceară "fifty pi, pliz". Îi răspund în româneşte cu tupeu şi femeia, zîmbind că a priceput mesajul, se înroşeşte, face stînga împrejur şi dispare. Asta îmi dă un nou subiect de discuţie - ce sînt maneliştii şi cu ce dăm prin locuinţă ca să scăpăm de ei.

Două ore mai tîrziu, Edgware Road nu mă lasă să plec acasă. Cînd eram cu un picior în metrou, un român despre care nu ştiam foarte multe vrea tam-nesam să stăm la o cafea. Şi stăm. Şi constatăm că eu şi cu băiatul ăla, webmaster şi expert IT la costum impecabil englezesc, plecat de acasă de 12 ani, avem în comun prieteni dintr-un trecut care ne-a legat fără să ştim: Robi, rockerul din Dej, Luci Sepultura, metalista satanistă recent pocăită, pe vremuri îndrăgostită lulea şi fără speranţă de prietenul meu Octav, un insensibil care nu îi împărtăşea sentimentele, Eternal Mourning şi alte cîteva trupe de rock din underground.

Spectacolul continuă, însă, indiferent la discuţiile noastre. Lîngă noi, pe aceeaşi terasă, şase tineri arabi care au mîncat shaorma de miel, au băut cîte două ceaiuri mari şi au fumat două shisha se ridică de la masă şi o iau la sănătoasa hlizindu-se. "Fug de datorie, trag clapa permanentă", un motto universal valabil. Unul dintre ei, grăbit să tragă clapa, îşi uită telefonul mobil cu clăpiţă pe masă. Aparatul nu rămîne orfan multă vreme: un trecător, suficient de bronzat, îl vede, îl ia cu un gest firesc, îl evaluează, îl bagă în buzunar şi pleacă mai departe, în aplauzele tinerilor arabi de pe terasă. Pe terasă, chelnerii fac dispozitiv de siguranţă şi deja mă simt mai protejat: ospătarii stau acum cu ochii pe clienţi ca pe butelie, în special pe ăia care dau semne că au cam terminat de mîncat.

Cu datoriile achitate, îmi croiesc drum către Marble Arch, printre cerşetorii care vorbesc o limbă suficient de familiară oricui a văzut filmul "Gadjo Dilo". Doar că ăştia de aici umblă deghizaţi în haine de arab sau de indian. Sătul de frig, iau un taxi, să mă aducă înapoi în Londra lui Benny Hill şi a Măriei Sale, Regina, a stăpînului Westminster, a lui Sherlock şi a berii cu gust de leşie expirată. Supriză, şoferul se dovedeşte sîrb, născut în Vukovar, un oraş pe care soarta l-a aruncat puţin mai la nord de frontiera dintre Croaţia şi Serbia, mai mult decît şi-ar fi dorit Srdan şoferul. O dau imediat pe sîrbeşte şi omul îmi mărturiseşte cît se consideră de norocos: cu o zi înainte, a avut-o client pe Annie Lennox, căreia i-a spus cît de mult o iubeşte, iar Annie l-a luat de mînă şi l-a privit în ochi. Deja e convins că nu a venit la Londra degeaba. Ne despărţim cu urări de "Cuvaj se!" şi "Zivela ţara ta!" reciproce.

Despre ce e povestea asta? Nu ştiu nici eu, să zic drept. Pentru mine, aşa arată o zi fără evenimente senzaţionale la Londra.

This weeks 405 Debate is another 'Who's version is better?' affair. This time its a four way wrestling match to see who's version of 'Hallelujah' is the best!

Take a listen below and give us your opinion!

Leonard Cohen (Original Version)

[audio http://captainsdead.com/weedking/cohen/2/06%20Hallelujah.mp3]

Jeff Buckley

[audio http://broadcasterhouse.com/carrotrope/buckley/10%20Hallelujah.mp3]

Beirut

[audio http://www.whokilledthemixtape.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/beirut-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-cover.mp3]

Rufus Wainwright

[audio http://www.anyones-guess.com/listenhere/rufushallelujah.mp3]

Let the debate begin!

so I stole it...

and here is his music. enjoy.

everything about this music video makes me feel like I am in love

beirut on myspace

Não é falta de vontade, descaso ou descomprometimento.

É a falta do tempo que espreita sossegado o nosso descabelamento cotidiano.

Esperamos que a semana de vocês esteja transcorrendo de forma mais mansa.

O vídeo acima é do grupo Beirut, que será séria e profundamente analisado no Disco Compacto dessa semana.

Um abraço e não se esqueçam de conferir o PDF da edição 32 que já está na rede. Veja ou reveja!

Julliane

The bomb, placed under a parked car in the Bahsas neighbourhood at Tripoli's southern entrance, was packed with nuts and bolts and police suspect the device was detonated by remote control.

Soldiers and policemen guard a bus after it was hit by a blast on the main road in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, September 29, 2008.

(Omar Ibrahim/Reuters)

It blew up as the bus headed towards Beirut during morning rush-hour in Tripoli, where a similar explosion in August left 14 people dead, including nine soldiers, in the deadliest attack in Lebanon in three years.

Counterterrorism Blog considers both attacks are connected:

The attacks - coinciding with the recent strengthening of Syrian Army forces on the northern Lebanese-Syrian border (and various unconfirmed reports of Syrian special operators who have perhaps been crossing into Lebanon since at least early September) - may well be a coordinated effort fitting into a broader plan for Lebanon on the part of the Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis.

Dr. Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, tells us:

"What we are now witnessing is a rapid unfolding of the Syro-Iranian terror campaign aimed at achieving several interconnected goals.

"The explosions in Lebanon are aimed at intimidating the Lebanese Army, the public, the politicians; and pressure all to accept an increasing role for Hezbollah and Syria within the country's security apparatus. It is interesting to see the back-and-forth between the terror attacks against the Army and the statements made by Hezbollah and pro-Syrian politicians calling for a defense strategy to 'protect Lebanon': As if the message is: 'You will continue to be attacked until we are in charge of security.'

"On the other hand, security related incidents and bomb attacks inside Syria appear to be sending a parallel message. The regime is eager to call itself a 'target of terrorism.' Hence, the accusation is now leveled at so-called factions inside Lebanon, meaning the mostly Sunni anti-Syrian politicians. Which leads to Syria's so-called legitimate action against an enemy based in Lebanon.

Technorati : , Alawites, Beirut, Islamism, Lebanon, Syria, Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah Axis, Tripoli, terrorism, terrorist attacks
Del.icio.us : , Alawites, Beirut, Islamism, Lebanon, Syria, Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah Axis, Tripoli, terrorism, terrorist attacks

As the divides between the Muslim and non-Muslim world, and within the Muslim world itself, seem to be getting worse - not better - it is time to hear the story of an Islamic spiritual leader who has persevered for fifty years to bridge them. This is the story of His Highness the Aga Khan and the community he leads, the Ismailis, told for the first time through film.

Middle East Premiere at the Beirut International Film Festival.

AN ISLAMIC CONSCIENCE: the Aga Khan and the Ismailis
directed by multiple Emmy-award winning filmmaker Bill Cran

Beirut International Film Festival, Beirut, Lebanon
Oct 5th - 7:30pm * Oct 6th - 5pm * Oct 7th - 10pm
Empire Sofil - Achrafiyeh
Post-film discussion with Filmmaker/Producer Shamir Allibhai

Trailer: http://www.AgaKhanFilm.org
Blog: http://agakhanfilm.blogspot.com
Screening Schedule: Beirut International 8th Film Festival

All related posts on Tajikistan premiere

Related article: Islam as a mosaic - A look at the Aga Khan and the Ismaili people

Woke up way too early today. Will take a nap later.

Beirut-Nantes

Track

Video

Lyrics

[chorus]
Well it's been a long time, long time now
since I've seen you smile
And I'll gamble away my fright
and I'll gamble away my time
And in a year, a year or so
this will slip into the sea
Well it's been a long time, long time now
since I've seen you smile

Nobody raise your voices
just another night in nantes
Nobody raise your voices
just another night in nantes

Oh non je t'en prie, nous ne sommes pas chez nous.
Oh je t'assure que ce n'est pas grave.
Non laisse moi !
Mais qu'est-ce que tu as aujourd'hui ?
Je sais que les hommes me dégoûtent. Vous ne pensez qu'à ça.

(Translation:
Oh no please, we're not at home.
I assure you, it doesn’t matter.
No, leave me!
What's wrong with you today?
I only just know that men disgust me, you're always thinking about that.)

[chorus]

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