The European Union and specifically the Euro zone have no good or interest in banishing (getting rid) of the unified currency called “Euro”. The Euro is an important sign of the unification of the economies of 17 European countries giving them more competitive advantage in comparison to many rising and developing nations in the world as well. Second, it is a better way for them to open up their borders for transfer of goods, services, labour, and skills among them. Then, this is a manner for those countries whether advanced like Germany, France and Holland for instance or less developed (with all respect) in Europe like some countries in Southern Europe to stay protected from both inflation and recession. These are some advantages of the Euro currency, which faces some challenges now and countries adopting it are trying to resolve the problem of accumulated public debt.
Read more »
Will The Euro Currency Persist?
Lebanese Electricity Sector
I do remember year 1990, the first day in my whole life as a 7 years old, to see the feeble light coming out of the old lamps in my house. That was a big deal, why? Because that was the day electricity was restored to my village after 15 years of bloody dark civil war.
Though the electricity at that time had a severe voltage drop enough to have the TV producing half a screen, fridge not to work at all, and certainly our Attary console to be useless, we were happy to see an improvement, we were happy to see the lights on, without hearing the roaring noise of our private motor.
Well… it is 2011 now… things have improved a lot since then. Now we do get around 18 hours of electricity per day and every electrical appliance in the house works quite perfectly. If we look at things from this perspective, things do look pretty good. But guys lets not be too optimistic, the numbers might show a different story…
I’m going to discuss this from several aspects:
يحيا النظام المدني العلماني في لبنان
من أفضل الطرق أو المحفزات لتطور لبنان هو تخطي مرحلة الطائفية والمذهبية للوصول إلى العلمانية والنظام المدني، لكن هناك مراحل وخطوات يجب أن نمر بها قبل مثل إعتبار الكفاءة في التوظيف بدل المحاصة الطائفية أو واسطة زعماء الطوائف…
يجب فصل الدين عن الدولة لأن الدين لله والوطن للجميع ، هناك خالق واحد لهذا الكون ، فهو سبحانه ألله رب العالمين أجمعين وليس لفئة أو مذهب دون غيره. الدين يجب أن يكون معاملة وإيمان، فلا يفرق بين المجتمعات والأفراد، بل يجب فصل الدين عن الدولة.لكم من أشخاص غيروا مذهبهم لمجرد غايات دون قناععة فعلية…
أما الإيمان فيكون في القلب والبيت ودور العبادة (مسا جد أو كنائس أو غيرها…)، فهذا يتماشى مع حرية الرأي والمعتقد…
لكم نادى الشهيد كمال جنبلاط بالعلمانية وبالتساوي في الحقوق السياسية والمدنية بين جميع المواطنين دون تفرقة . مثال آخر هو الشهيد رفيق الحريري(رئيس الوزراء الأسبق في لبنان) الذي قال أن كل مذهب يعبد الله على طريقته . لقد ساعد الفقراء بمؤسساته وعلم طلابا من مختلف الطوائف والمذاهب دون تمييز.
واليوم إتفاق الطائف الذي أنهى حربا أهلية دامت 15 سنة وينص على إلغاء الطائفية
والإنتقال التدريجي إلى النظام المدني الحديث فهو مدخل للتطور والإصلاح.فلنقتدي بدول العالم المتقدم في أوروبا وأميركا الشمالية حيث القانون المدني يسري على جميع المواطنين من كل الأعراق والمذاهب وحتى رؤساء الوزراء والجمهورية بلا تمييز ولا حصانة لأحد.
فغدت الكفاءة والقانون هو المعيار…
وكانت أوروبا عانت من حروب مذهبية وأميركا من التمييز العنصري بين البيض والسود .أما اليوم نرى الرئيس أوباما يصل إلى رئاسة الجمهورية…
,وأتمنى أن نصل نحن في لبنان والعالم العربي بعد هذه الثورات الى هذا الوعي والتطور لأن عقارب الساعة تسير فقط الى الأمام…
Will History Repeat itself in 21st Century?
Will Tunisian revolution in 2011 be like the French revolution (in 1789) that has contributed to the development in European social, political and economic reality?
By that manner, the Tunisian public revolution that has taken place in these recent months will definitely contribute to change the entire world especially North Africa, Middle East and the developing world. It has taken place without clear foreign interference as in the case of Iraq where the regime of Saddam Hussein has been removed by invading troops. The direct causes were spread unemployment, high prices (inflation), low average income, corruption and suppression. (Wages that are between $300 and $400 per month are not sufficient to afford the rising expenses of any average family size.) This was speeded up by a young unemployed man who burned himself; he encouraged his fellow country men to revolt (as we can see now in the neighbouring country Egypt few weeks later). The citizens in Tunisia have overthrown the regime of president Zein El Abideen Bin Ali who ruled the country for 23 years and was accused of corruption and dictatorship. Likewise, at the eve of the French revolution, there was poverty, high prices of goods and long time oppression. The French revolution destroyed the regime of the king of France in July 1789 and devastated the prison of Bastille, which had been long the symbol of oppression in France. They confiscated the large properties of lands that were owned by the Church and the clergy men (who ruled in the name of religion) and they sold them to raise funds and make economic reconstruction. (Now they are taking control of the property of the previous Tunisian president.) They abolished the previous social privileges such as exemption from taxes for landlords and clergy men.
The Lebanese Jungle
I am writing this to express my frustration from the way things are in Lebanon and i hope things will change soon.
I want to:
1- Express my frustration from every hour we spend in darkness with the absence of electricity and what it carries of financial and cultural burdens. Every Lebanese is given two choices every time a planned or unplanned power cut occurs.
Option A: Stay isolated from the whole world and enjoy an evening on the light of the candle,
Option B: Pay private Generation Bills, since you have no other financial burdens to worry about.
Recent View on Economic Improvement in Lebanon
Recently, it has been obvious and clear that Lebanese economy has surpassed local unstable political situation and the global financial crisis in the past years; thanks to the careful and smart monetary policy of the central bank (that avoided much investment in highly risky financial tools and kept away from giving loans without taking adequate guarantees and making enough assessment for each bank customer who requests a loan). The governor of the central bank, Riad Salami, has been rewarded an international prize because Lebanese banking management and system have been proved successful. Besides, Lebanon has been one of few countries in the world that has had an economic growth of 9% and 8% in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Read more »
Top Lebanese Newspapers
Major Lebanese Newspapers and digital media resources are:
- Al Nahar Newspaper: http://www.annahar.com/
- Assafir Newspaper: http://www.assafir.com/
- Al Mustaqbal Newspaper: http://www.almustaqbal.com/
- Al Balad Newspaper: http://www.albaladonline.com/home.php
- Daily Star Newspaper: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
- Al Akhbar Newspaper: http://www.al-akhbar.com/
- Al Anwar Newspaper: http://www.alanwar.com/
- Al Aliwa Newspaper: http://www.aliwaa.com/
- Now Lebanon News: http://www.nowlebanon.com/
- L’Orient Le Jour Newspaper: http://www.lorientlejour.com/