Hajj Ponzi

A major Ponzi scheme of Madoffesque proportions has come to light in Lebanon. The twist here is that the crook, "Hajj" Salah Ezzeddine, took cover under Hezbollah's popularity in South Lebanon and made off with $1.2 billion according to As-Safir.

The man behind the 12 year old scheme also ran a publishing house that specialized in "resistance books" and a Hajj tour organizing agency. His PR events for Dar El Hadi always had a list of invitees that included HA ministers and MPs which was then used by Ezzeddine to build his image of a pious trustworthy investor who is close to "the party" and made good on 40% returns on investments in "Iranian Steel"... and quite steal it was.

As with every scheme of this sort, hundreds of people have lost al their life savings and are extremely angry, some at Hezbollah itself. It is still a developing story as Ezzeddine is in custody of Said Mirza who in an unrelated note came under an intense attack from Jamil El Sayyed yesterday.. Meanwhile the Finance minister is missing in all of this scandal but in his defense he is digging for a way out of Lebanon's financial dilemma.

Who will carry the torch of Elie Beik?

Ok, I can't burry my head in the Berdawni any longer. I have to admit that I might have been wrong when I said previously that the elections did not matter. My stuttering voice in parliament Elie Beik Skaff lost and I have to come to terms with that. Albeit Elie Beik will continue tirelessly to caretake the national agriculture while his replacement continues to be a figment of a constantly absent mind. Kudos to Elie Beik.

But as the cliche goes, all good things come to an end. I have to overcome the pain and start looking elsewhere for someone to shoulder my legislative concerns, someone to take it on the chin for me, someone who will speak for me until he grows hair on his tongue which apparently is a real medical condition and not just a Lebanese saying. Hairy.. shoulders...talking...chin.....hmmm... but of course how could I miss him ...His excellency Mr. Bear Arabia, Elie Marouni. Who makes a better mentor than someone who was patient enough to teach a bunch of 10 year olds, including my 10 year old self, the right way to speak the mother tongue. But I don't know why I just don't see him filling the shoes of Elie Beik. Maybe I'm just an ungrateful student, the nerd in me is probably not over the 13/20 grades because "no one deserves higher than that in Arabic composition", or I might still hold a grudge over the time he hit me with a yardstick. Do they still hit students in schools here?

Anyways, moving on to other candidates, we have Oqab Saqr.

Ok next, there is Ziad Qadri. Ok he's not exactly from my electoral district, but close enough. There is someone who is my age, we grew up in the same place, we ran in the same circles, so naturally we should have similar concerns and that makes for an excellent representative. The problem is that he's been awfully quiet. That's actually not a terrible thing given that generally the campaign ran by the rival camps was pure sectarian drivel and lacked any real issues. So maybe Qadri was waiting for the right moment to speak so his words can make an impact.

He finally spoke yesterday. Enough was enough, something had to be said. The mockery of the people cannot continue. Leaders have to step up and put things in their right places. He condemned how some are "unfairly picking on the Saudi role in Lebanon, and accusing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of obstructing the formation of the cabinet." He added an expression that basically says "honey will always attract bees."

I knew he was the one...move over Elie Beik... finally someone who will defend the Saudis for me.

The night Israel will never overcome...

Avigdor Lieberman, racist extraordinaire, can yap all he wants about destroying Lebanon and exterminating Arabs, as he and his war criminal buddies in the Apartheid state of Israel poorly attempt to repaint history in a more favorable hue.

Three years ago the Israeli air force went on a killing spree which they tried to mask as a military operation. But as the dust settled and investigations concluded it became clear that while Israel earned a lot of civilian blood spillage cred; militarily they earned themselves an unsurmountable lead atop the greatest gaffes in the history of men in uniform.

So to understand why Israel's top brass is overly macho with their threats these days, we shall recount the events of a night that the State of Israel will Never overcome...

On the evening of August 1st, 2006 champagne was being chilled at the Israeli military intelligence headquarters. As we'll discover later the use of the term intelligence will prove to be very lose. Excitement was hard to hide as the sun sunk over the Mediterranean because in the third week of the war the hard work and the billions of dollars spent were going to prove well spent. Ground battles were still raging near the border fence in the outskirts of Maroun El Ras and in the Khiam Valley a couple of kilometers deep into Lebanese territories. That didn't discourage one of the globes best equipped militaries from shoot for the sun or at least the city of Sun a couple of hundred kilometers beyond what was proving to be the unpenetrable land borders.

An Ultra-elite commando unit consisting of tens of ultra-elite super zohans disguised as Lebanese military were dropped off somewhere in a scarcely populated of Lebanon western mountain range. Everything was going according the plan concocted by the ultra-brilliant minds of Sayeret Matkal and Shaldag. With the tops down and enjoying the midsummer night breeze they approached the town of Jammaliyah, Baalbeck. Here the ultra-brilliance of the operation starts to come to light for this town is known to be a red town and not particularly a yellow stronghold on the Lebanese political color scheme. Historically, Hezbollah's security apparatus has earned the reputation of being very tight while sticking to "safe" and familiar territory; so for the Israelis to discover that Hezbollah would actually go against their modus operandi to throw off the Israelis is nothing short of miraculous intelligence gathering. The job that hundreds of bunker busting bombs missed was nearly complete as they knocked down the door and nabbed 5 senior targets including the biggest of them all, Hassan Nasrallah. Game, Set, Match...the war is won...

One story says that a Palestinian accent gave the elite commandoes away. It was probably the Lebanese military that figured out the impostors in Jamaliyyah. In any case the Israelis will surely come out of this snag as air cover was on its way to save the day. Gun battles raged between Lebanese resistance fighters and the fumbling Matkals and Shaldags. After the first round of air raids it was clear that the take off will not be without a heavy price. Battles raged all night in this small Bekaa valley town with non-stop air raids by the most advance murder technology. Civilians without any formal military training grabbed whatever they could get there hands and joined in the fight. Of those were comrade Awad Jamal Eddine, his son Hassan, and nephew Maxim who came out to defend their village. Primitive hunting rifles engaged the ultra-elite killing pros or what was left of them until the early morning hours. 19 villagers including 4 children where killed. Israeli war propaganda insists that its military was unscathed in battle, but an unusual number of soldiers died in that period from a pretzel choking epidemic.

Whatever the price Israel paid on that night must have been worth it as Hassan Nasrallah was on an Apache headed back to the Apartheid state where he will be humiliatingly paraded as Israel's ultimate war trophy.

It took 3 weeks for Israel to absorb the shock, admit the mistake, and release Hassan Nasrallah, a grocer from the outskirts of Baalbeck.

It took 3 years for Israel to absorb the shock, admit the hate, and unleash Avigdor Lieberman, a bigot from what is today Moldova.