Il fait chaud au Liban

Le dernier assassinat politique qui a eu lieu à Beyrouth hier confirme que les problèmes continueront dans ce petit pays méditerrannéen.

Pour moi, ce conflit revêt un aspect personnel, car j'ai choisi de me marier à une Libanaise. Et souvent, c'est trop personnel. Comme lors de l'affaire des caricatures de Mahomet: une foule enragée s'est alors attaqué à plusieurs immeubles, dont celui de l'UE, avant d'essayer de pénétrer dans le quartier d'Achrafié, quartier 'chrétien' où habite ma belle-famille. Ou bien quand Israël bombardait un parking à une cinquantaine de mètres de leur immeuble en l'été 2006. Aussi, quand ce dernier chapitre d'une histoire sanglante a commencé, il y a un peu moins d'un mois, quand un attentat eut lieu près du centre commercial ABC, bordant une rue très fréquentée et que tous les habitants de ce quartier empruntent, souvent plusieurs fois par jour.

Hier donc, c'est devenu personnel encore une fois, quand une voiture piégée prit la vie d'un Walid Eido et de son entourage. Personnel, car c'est apparemment un ami de la famille - chose courante dans ce pays d'à peine 4 millions. Mais plus personnel encore car cet attentat a eu lieu à côté du Sporting Club, que j'ai visité à maintes reprises et où ma belle-famille aurait dû être à l'heure de l'attentat. Intervention divine? Coup de chance?

En tout cas, il est difficile de comprendre l'esprit humain, obstiné à continuer de vivre chez soi face au danger imminent...

For those of you who are wondering, my in-laws in Beirut are doing relatively OK, after the car bomb that exploded Sunday night a couple of blocks away from their home in the Christian neighbourhood of Achrafieh...

Apparently, another bombing occurred a few hours ago in mostly Sunni Verdun, also in Beirut.

We've all been painfully aware that 2007 would be a rough year for this small Mediterranean country. This could just be a prelude to what's coming up.

Sigh...

If you're at all interested in France, and what Sarko's elections mean for France and the world, I strongly urge you to read this article by Princeton's Bernard Chazelle that was posted at Tony Karon's Rootless Cosmopolitan.

Le Canada aux Québécois

Quand j'ai déménagé au Canada en 1992 avec ma famille, nous avions d'abord atterri en Colombie-Britannique - je rêvais déjà du Québec. Lorsque, l'année suivante, nous sommes déménagés à Ottawa, je me suis retrouvé nez à nez avec lui. Chaque fois que je traversais la rivière des Outaouais, mon coeur palpitait: je me disais, un jour j'y vivrai. C'est que, pour un Franco-Brésilien comme moi, le Québec était le trait d'union qui manquait dans mon identité: je suis un Français fermement ancré en Amérique; je suis un Latino-Américain encerclé par d'autres Latino-Américains qui parlent une autre langue. Donc au Québec, jadis bout de France en Amérique, aujourd'hui société distincte dans une mer anglophone, je suis chez moi.

Moi même, je ne suis pas un souverainiste. Non. Ceci dit, je ne suis pas un fédéraliste non plus. Si, pour paraphraser ces slogans fédéralistes d'il y a douze ans, pour certains Canadiens, leur "Canada inclut le Québec", pour moi, le Québec inclut le Canada. C'est bien au Québec qu'est né le Canada, non?

On se moque beaucoup cette semaine de la décision de M. Gilles Duceppe de se présenter candidat à la tête du Parti Québécois et le retrait de sa candidature le lendemain. M. Gilles Duceppe est le chef du Bloc Québécois - parti souverainiste dans le Parlement canadien. Pour le Canada anglais, c'est un peu (svp ne m'en voulez pas pour la comparaison que je ferai maintentant) comme si le Hamas formait l'opposition officielle dans la Knesset. Un peu paradoxal. Paradoxal, aussi, le refus de disparaître de ce mouvement, quand on sent que l'indépendance n'a jamais été aussi loin depuis la Révolution tranquille.

Mais le mouvement souverainiste ne peut pas disparaître: il rend service à son pays, le Canada. Car, si laissé à lui-même, ce Canada des Anglais se contenterait de rester en orbite autour de son puissant éléphant de voisin, courant le risque d'être englouti. D'ailleurs, ce risque est d'autant plus réel qu'il semble devenir plus concret avec chaque jour qui passe, chaque camion qui traverse la frontière, avec chaque traité de coopération, d'harmonisation des normes (vers le bas, qui plus est), chaque mise en commun des compétences entre deux partenaires inégaux.

Un Québec indépendant, à moins de joindre l'Union européenne, aurait moins de résistance à la force gravitationnelle américaine. Et le Canada, ou ce qu'il en resterait, y succomberait sans dout, en plusieurs morceaux probablement. Le Québec est la raison d'être de ce pays. Il en est le garde-fou.

D'un autre côté, comme j'ai dit plus haut, je ne suis pas fédéraliste non plus. Ce modèle est en panne, selon moi. On ne peut pas avoir un tout dont les parties rouspètent de devoir partager leurs richesses - je pense au pétrole albertain. On ne peut pas avoir un pays où il est plus compliqué de faire du commerce entre les provinces qu'entre ces provinces et les États américains qui en sont voisins. C'est ça aussi l'ironie du sort: la géographie veut que Halifax et Vancouver soient plus proches, l'un de Miami et l'autre de Los Angeles.

Dans un pays de contradictions, il me semble digne et juste que les souverainistes soient à Ottawa...

(L'image: le Parlement canadien vu du côté québécois de la rivière des Outaouais; tirée de http://www.ccdmd.qc.ca/Quebec/images/high/5072.jpg)

SimCity Dreams Come True

If, like me, you ever played SimCity games, you know the adrenaline rush that comes from building an entire city from scratch. Well, architect Alejandro Gutierrez got to play SimCity lifesize style! The name of the city? Dongtan, a green metropolis built from scratch on the outskirsts of bustling Shanghai.

The aim of the developpers, Arup, is to make this city with a capacity of 50,000 people completely self-sustainable and carbon neutral - focusing on zero energy building, recycling, alternative energy and mass transportation systems, to name but a few of the innovative methods it incorporates. And this is only the first out of a total of 4 such eco-cities Arup has planned to build in China. It carries a price tag of US$ 1.3 billion.

It's good news but no surprise that China has chosen to go down this path, because as its economy shows no signs of slowing down in the near future, the environment will inevitably be the first victim of this unprecedented boom. Of course, a project of this magnitude is also only possible in a highly controlled environment where the government can impose its vision where it wishes (the SimMayor's dream).

For further reading: Dongtan Eco-city (wikipedia), Green Options on Dongtan, Treehugger on Dongtan

Unbiased News

I couldn't believe it when I found this online... This, in my opinion, is what's wrong with America... And with friends like these, Israel does not need enemies, really...
To all the two people who will read me, I just wanted you to know, this is NOT Christianity, no matter what this guy might claim...




Oh, and if you can't stand to watch the whole thing... I can't say I blame you!

Prisoners

J'ai trouvé ce joyau sur un autre site, il fallait que je partage, même s'il est un peu vieux...
I found this gem on another site, I had to share, though I know it's a month old...

Très simple, très discret, très au point et sarcastique...

Prisoners

I haven't weighed in about the Iranian hostage crisis, but it's about time that I did. I'm shocked, shocked, to say the least, that a country would dare to unilaterally detain citizens of another sovereign country without trial, and subject them to questioning. Why, I'm sure it's only the massive media attention that kept them from dressing them up in orange jumpsuits, keeping them in humiliating conditions, and torturing them.

Iran has released them, but we cannot soon forgive this unpardonable violation of sovereignty and rights. Especially given that the British may have been in Iraqi waters. No foreign country has any right to enter those waters without Iraq's permission.

And on it goes.

par/by dru - The Dominion

Who Cares About Global Warming?

Much noise has been made over the last few years about the dangers we face, as fast-paced global warming threatens to dramatically change the environment. Many people claim that global warming is somehow related to human activity, while others deny the clear, scientifically-proven existence of such a link.

While the movement supporting some kind of action has gained momentum within activist circles (à la Al Gore) and the international public opinion, I for one am not hopeful of any significant change over the near future.

In the international relations arena, the divide between those that favour action to curb climate change and those who deny the pertinence of such action is a very clear one: on one side, you have the Bush administration, Australia and Canada (whose previous administration failed to implement the Kyoto Protocol and whose current one has no intention of upholding it); on the other the "rest of the world", including world leaders, NGOs, international bodies, public opinion, etc... Kyoto, without the participation of the United States (25% of world emissions) and of China and India (who ratified but are exempt from emission cuts for the time being) is truly dead.

No change can come from the top on climate change: those who can enforce change will not betray the industries that pollute the most, because they are direct or indirect beneficiaries of industry. Most declarations of politicians concerning curbing emissions is mere lip service, as what really drives the world is the bottom line: profit, re-election, consumerism, comfort, all of which can be neatly tucked into that most American (indeed, Western or globalized) of ideals - the pursuit of happiness, which means that not enough consumers care enough to demand a change in attitude from their elites, or from themselves.

What I am getting at is that the whole discussion on whether or not climate change is man-made is deeply flawed. Rather, it sidesteps the issue. If you deny human activity as a catalyst for climate change, then clearly there is no issue. If, on the other hand, you agree that the current fast-paced climate change is related to human activity, then you wallow in self-pity, blaming the lack of will of those who are in the position of actually bringing the mass scale change that is necessary to revert the trend.

But, as I said, both sides have missed the real issue: human misuse of the world. Whether or not our activity is causing global warming does not matter. What matters is that it is NOT sustainable. Changing from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Recycling is a great thing, although very little of it is done on a global scale. Organic food? Great, if you can afford it.

Clearly, though, those solutions (including carbon emission reduction) are but band-aids, typical of the Western-turned-global mindset: we treat the symptoms without addressing the disease. Have a problem? Pop a pill and keep moving! What we need is a paradigm shift. We need to change as a society, as individuals even. I could go first, but what's the point - are you gonna follow???

Hometown Baghdad

La puissance de l'internet est qu'elle permet à des mortels comme vous et moi de passer outre la censure imposée par les grands médias. Hometown Baghdad suit le quotidien de jeunes irakiens, qui subissent ce conflit si lointain pour nous occidentaux. Ce sont d'ailleurs ces mêmes jeunes qui filment leur propre 'téléréalité'. Ça vaut le détour, pour nous Occidentaux qui nous plaignons de nos vies confortables.

Foreign Policy Commentary by MADtv

Sorry for the week long silence. Pascha celebrations and exams have kept me busy these last few days and will continue to until the middle of next week.

For now, I wanted to share this video a friend of mine brought to my attention.

CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK: The Apple iRack

Reflections of an Orthodox Christian

Another Pascha (Easter) is upon us. Pascha, the Resurrection of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ, is the greatest celebration of the Christian year. I wanted to share with you two experiences I had this past week – experiences characteristic of the Lenten struggle.

As with any celebration, Pascha requires preparation – after all, no one goes to a party without some kind of preparation. Yet, year after year, I am surprised to recognize myself in these words sung in the Matins of the Bridegroom (Holy Wednesday evening): “Your bridal chamber, I see adorned, O my Saviour, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter.” The realization that this verse speaks of me was brought home by the fact that I arrived in church one full hour after the service I was supposed to be reading for started. Talk about being in tune! We tend to think that we are adequate – that we are doing just fine, that we need no healing, no betterment, no repentance. It is moments like that one on Wednesday that really should serve as a wake-up call.

I had had another moment like that last Sunday – Palm Sunday. Together with my wife, my brother and some friends, I half-heartedly agreed that we go to an Antiochian Orthodox parish. That particular parish, where we have many friends, is renowned for its chaotic Palm Sundays: one must come early in order to secure a spot or risk being relegated to the basement, only to watch the service on TV screens! Also, it’s very noisy – Orthodox churches are known for the brouhaha that accompanies services, as people are encouraged to feel at home in church, not in a museum. But at that particular parish, Palm Sunday busy-ness is like being transported to the streets of an old city in the Middle East. I often compare it to being in the merchants’ quarter, or souq.

So there we were, in that souq service (granted, it really wasn’t as bad as previous years), me holding on to any fault I could find. It got pretty bad, I started to want to just walk out of the church. It was then that I had my realization: God’s murmur in my heart (for God never yells) demanded my attention. As I was agonizing over the constant re-tuning of the choir before each and every response – wishing I was back at my home parish, that soft voice told me: ‘Stop focusing on details. You’re here to be with Me. Just be with Me.’

I was filled with joy at this realization, and I spent the rest of the service just conversing with the Lord in my heart. Alas, as is often the case, such states of grace are gone far too quickly. But thankfully, this weekend I will experience that joy yet again, as we are all invited to the great banquet of the Lord - even those (especially those) of us who have 'no wedding garment' that we may enter.

For all are invited, as is stressed in the sermon by St. John Chrysostom read aloud in all Orthodox churches around the world:

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.

If anyone is a wise servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.

If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him keep the feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of his delay. For the Master is gracious and receives the last, even as the first; he gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden; feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted; let no one go forth hungry!

Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn his transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free.

He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into hades and took hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted his flesh! And anticipating this Isaiah exclaimed, "Hades was embittered when it encountered thee in the lower regions." It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains!

It took a body and, face to face, met God! It took earth and encountered heaven! It took what it saw but crumbled before what it had not seen!

"O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?"

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!

Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen, and life reigns!

Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!

For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the First-fruits of them that slept.

To him be glory and might unto ages of ages. Amen."

Christ is risen! Le Christ est ressuscité! Cristo ressuscitou! Христос Воскресе! Χριστός Ανέστη! !المسيح قام Kristo Amefufukka! 基督復活了! ハリストス復活！

À venir / Coming soon...

世界据雷欧

NEW FEATURE!

French is not your thing? Some of my French articles are now available in English. Visit The World According To Leo!

NOTE: English posts on this site will NOT be transferred over (unless you clamour for it, that is)

La température monte au Moyen-Orient

(go to English version)

Quand on a accueilli l’année 2007 à Beyrouth, on sentait un certain malaise dans l’air. Cette année serait pleine d’événements, pour le meilleur ou pour le pire. En cette fin de Carême, on voit que les choses commencent à bouger. Au Liban, la situation continue bloquée : l’opposition continue à étouffer le centre-ville tandis que la majorité parlementaire, appuyée par les Etats-Unis et la France, prie pour un miracle. Mais, la situation au Liban, on le sait, ne se résoudra pas sur place, mais bien entre Damas, Téhéran, Riyad, Washington et Paris.

Curieusement, d’un seul coup, le Moyen-Orient est en ébullition. Tellement de choses se passent sur autant de fronts, qu’il est difficile d’en cerner la signification (à moins de faire partie du club fermé des princes de ce monde).

D’abord, pour l’énième fois ces dernières semaines, Condoleeza Rice accumule des miles entre l’Amérique et ses myriades visites chez les Israéliens, les Saoudiens, etc. Vladimir Poutine aussi a effectué sa propre tournée dans le monde arabe récemment, afin de signaler à Washington que la Russie entend avoir son mot à dire dans cette région charnière.

Mais tout cela n’est rien comparé à la fébrilité à laquelle on a assisté depuis la semaine dernière : Rice est de nouveau au Moyen-Orient. La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel, en tant que présidente de l’Union européenne, s’affaire elle aussi à discuter avec Olmert sur la proposition de la Ligue arabe sur un plan de paix totale entre le monde arabe et Israël, ainsi que sur les relations entre le gouvernement assiégé de l’Autorité palestinienne et l’État hébreu.

Plus tôt cette semaine, les médias russes annonçaient avoir pris connaissance de préparations pour une attaque imminente des États-Unis sur l’Iran, prévues pour ce Vendredi saint (ou lundi de Pâques, selon d'autres). Ces informations auraient été cueillies par les services de renseignement russes. Sauf que normalement ce genre d’information n’est pas divulgué sans raison, et il faut toujours se demander pourquoi une telle ‘fuite’ a lieu. En parallèle, la capture par Téhéran de soldats britanniques, accusés d’avoir envahi les eaux territoriales iraniennes, tandis que l’on assiste au plus grand déploiement de navires de guerre dans le Golfe depuis 1991.

Parmi les plans américains, les défenses balistiques (missiles sol-air), les forces aériennes et les installations nucléaires iraniennes seraient visées. Évidemment, ce type d’attaque s’effectue à l’aide de bombes nucléaires tactiques surnommées bombes ‘propres’ (euphémisme), ou encore mini-nukes. Selon une de mes sources (tu sais qui tu es, merci!), ces bombes sont de l’ordre de 13 kilotonnes (à titre de comparaison les bombes larguées sur le Japon étaient de 20 kilotonnes). Elles seraient utilisées, selon les stratèges américains, afin de transpercer le sol et atteindre des bunkers enfouis. Où ces bunkers sont, et quel est le risque à long terme pour la population civile, je l’ignore.

Pour sa part, Nancy Pelosi, chef démocrate du Congrès américain, est en Israël et devrait se rendre à Damas, probablement pour donner un ultimatum à la Syrie – either you’re with us or you’re against us, qu’ils disent. Si Assad ne fléchit pas, il risque la possibilité d’une attaque israélienne via le Liban-Sud.

C’est possible que tout cela ne soit que de la rhétorique (appuyée évidemment par des porte-avions et une concentration massive de marines sur la frontière irano-irakienne. Pour sa part, selon le quotidien Haaretz, aucune préparation de ce genre n'a lieu présentement, ce qui n'empêche le Hezbollah, la Syrie et l'Iran de mettre en place des dispositifs de défense contre une guerre en été - que ces derniers n'initieraient pas cependant.

Ce qui est sûr, c’est que QUELQUECHOSE est en train de mijoter au Moyen-Orient. Au Liban, on attend...

"TV for the Internet age!" and Xingu.net

Most people like to watch TV. In an age where cable-TV providers offer us consumers hundreds of channels with nothing worth your ever-shrinking time, some people have taken matters into their own hands and have given us the power to make TV.
The principle is quite ingenious: segments called 'pods' lasting no more than 4 minutes, made partly by ordinary webizens (no, I did NOT just create a word), presented to the viewer in a 'shuffle' randomness. Ideal for the 21st century internaute, whose attention span is shorter than ever...
Mesdames et messieurs, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Current TV. (go on, click on the link)

On unrelated news, Brazil has decided to deploy its latest hi-tech weapon in order to protect the environment: the Internet. More on this strange story, here.

J'accepte des donations (CAN$, US$, €, £, etc...)

Je viens de décider ce que je m'offre comme cadeau cet été (avec VOTRE aide):



Merci d'avance, les amis!

(Non, ch'uis pas sérieux... Ouf, on peut rêver, non?)

Christ and the Tao (基督 和 道)

A while back, while book-browsing at John Hadjinicolaou's bookstore, I found this curiously titled book, Christ the Eternal Tao. I bought it on the spot, thinking it would look perfect on one of my dusty shelves (so many books, so little time!).

One day, a Chinese woman came over and I thought, arrogant that I am "Hey, this is the perfect tool to preach to them Orientals!"... Turns out, she's a devout Catholic. She took the book anyway, and has vowed never to return it, as she fell in love with it...

So, I was very happy to find this article that summarizes (for you and for me) what the book is all about.

Bonne lecture

Leçon d'histoire

Tout le monde sait très bien que l'Australie a été découverte par les Britanniques (ok, d'accord, au moins moi j'en étais convaincu). Eh bien non! Il semblerait que ce sont les Portugais qui ont exploré sa côte est: Selon un article publié ici et selon Wikipedia, "Le premier Européen à visiter l'Australie est l’explorateur portugais Cristóvão de Mendonça en 1522."

Là, je tu m'épates!

This is one angry kid!

I stumbled on this video a couple of days ago... I thought I'd share with y'all...

Vue sur la mer

On entend beaucoup parler des conflits en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient, du terrorisme et du fondamentalisme. Cependant, à tout moment, des dizaines de conflits 'mineurs' sévissent partout dans le monde, sans que les médias ne s'y attardent longtemps.

Comme j'ai passé la majeure partie de mon enfance au Brésil, je vous invite à regarder ce reportage sur les violences actuelles dans les favelas de Rio:

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/fr/dossiers/grands-reportages/20070228-Rio-violence

I finally got my Bachelor's. So what now?

After 12 years of avoiding the brutality of the real world, I am finally a worthy member of society: in a couple of weeks, I am to graduate! Having swallowed text after text, theory after theory, I am at last ready to get out there and leave my mark...

Graduating from International Relations carries with it the dubious distinction of my being able to work nowhere and everywhere. Not only do I have to find a job - I have to invent a job for myself... But don't cry for me: I think this is actually appropriate for our present age. The world needs new ideas, a fresh start. The world needs the right dose of idealism, of naïveté, of pragmatism and cynicism. Ça tombe bien! The world needs me!

Now all I need to do is convince you...