The crazy must be gods

I spent a little time perusing the Ouwet Front website today and I have to say, the people who post there are completely insane. I attempted to partake in the Geagea lovefest by commenting on one of their embarrassing posts, but alas, it was not meant to be. Their comments are moderated, and mine has yet to clear the Ouwet Front censorship gauntlet.

Here's what i wrote:

5. faylasoof | October 21st, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

I’m no fan of Aoun, much less “Dr.” Geagea, but I have to say that you do yourselves and your political beliefs/ambitions/followers/leaders no favors by posting this inane drivel. It’s a testament to Lebanon’s sorry excuse for a political culture that followers of this leader or that stoop to such intellectually challenged nonsense to “put down” their opponents.

Grow up and at least pretend that you respect our country and its future by engaging in a more mature discourse.

Or do what I do, which is bash them ALL for the lying, corrupt, murdering, hypocritical, genocidal maniacs that they are, no exceptions.

This website/blog/Geagea-shrine is imbecilic. Stop worshipping your leaders and hold them accountable. Do something - anything - to help our country, and stop disrespecting yourselves and your homeland.

It wasn't until after I clicked 'submit' that I was informed that my comment was "awaiting moderation." Figuring that there was no way they would allow the comment through (every comment I saw on the site was in fawning agreement with the fawning poster, so they either have a VERY homogenous reading base, or they don't believe in freedom of expression), I decided to taunt whoever moderates the comments there:

6. faylasoof | October 21st, 2008 at 4:47 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Dear moderator:

I DARE you to allow my previous post to be shown.

Or, you can go ahead and prove you’re a coward.

Love and kisses,
faylasoof

A quick jab at the weak point of Geageaniacs the world over - their legendary bravery (especially when the enemy is asleep, defenseless, or pleading for mercy). Impulsive? Yes. Slightly childish? Probably, but I couldn't resist. There's something about mindless adoration that baffles, disgusts, and at the same time intrigues me, and I feel the need to poke it with a stick just to see what happens.

It's been a few hours, and our esteemed moderator hasn't bitten yet. I will now post a comment on Ouwet Front containing a link to this post. I think that may make the internet implode.

UPDATE: My comments made it through. Both of them. And I got a nice response from one of the Ouwet Front bloggers:

10. N10452 | October 21st, 2008 at 8:01 pm

Faylasoof,
You are the imbecile who dont even read our posts before spreading your bull shit here ..

And i dont need to prove to anyone anything … so khaffif falsafe cause hay2itto 2essem 3ala mousamma ..

I'm a little insulted.

28.75 hundred hundred hundred hundred dollars

Saudi Arabia, according to this "well-known Saudi writer and journalist" has been very generous to Lebanon:

In the last two years Saudi Arabia has giving over 2,875 million dollars for the reconstruction of the Lebanese regions after the July war. One thousand million dollars of this money was deposited in the Central bank and another 1,000 million dollars was the amount of money that Saudi Arabia had pledged to give, at the Paris 3 Conference. The latest Saudi aid to Lebanon was 44 million dollars to meet the needs of the current academic year.

This is the Saudi aid to Lebanon. It is clear, open, with defined objectives. It does not give anyone the opportunity to speculate and claim that the Saudi aid is meant for just one region of the country and not the rest of it.

Ah, the Saudi Press. That bastion of free thought, expression, and objectivity. Yes, the Saudis' generosity is welcome. Any help from anyone is welcome. But Asharq Alawsat cannot possibly print statements like those above and expect anyone to unquestioningly swallow them whole.

Out of 2.875 billion dollars, 1 billion was deposited in the Central bank. Fine. Another 1 billion was pledged at the Paris 3 conference. Fine. The latest Saudi aid to Lebanon was 44 million dollars. Fine.

That adds up to 1.044 billion actually given to Lebanon. So where did the other 1.831 billion go? To me, and correct me if I'm out of line, that sounds anything but "clear, open," and "with defined objectives." It sounds markedly unclear, closed, and with very vague objectives.

Saudi Arabia is rich. We get it. And it likes to help its Arab neighbors. It's very noble, generous, etc. But please, please do not insult our intelligence, Mr. Diyab, by claiming that anything Saudi Arabia does, including its philanthropic pet projects, is done in a transparent, clear, open, or even close to approaching unbiased manner. And when you do wish to insult our intelligence by making such a claim, at least have the decency to back up your comments with numbers that add up.

Oh, and in case you didn't know, there is a word for 'a thousand million'. It's called "billion".

If I were a citizen of the United States...

...

• I would be ashamed of myself and my fellow country(wo)men for allowing our government to wreak the havoc that it has.
• I would feel incredible guilt for dragging the rest of the world along as we drove ourselves to economic and moral ruin.
  
• I would be unable to fathom, let alone express my regrets to the millions of innocent people who have died because of my country's desire to 'get ahead.'
• I would do something about it.

The American people hold the fate of the world in their hands.

It is sickening.

In the eye of the beholder?

Very nice photos of and commentary about Lebanon. It brings a tear to my eye to think of how we take it for granted, and what it could be if we only worked with rather than against each other. Call me corny, but some of the comments on the digg page for this post really did move me to tears.

Wow

During my daily browsing escapades, I ran across this blog:

postsecret.blogspot.com

and I fell in love with it.