some guy in lebanon

The vast majority of Americans (and citizens of the West in general) will awake soon, if they haven’t already, to staggering debt. Let’s assume that the average American’s debt load is similar to the average Public Debt per Capita, roughly $30,000. That seems about right, given that average credit card debt, when you check around [...]

Dear Israel,
Congratulations. Since you’re so good at starving a caged population of almost a million and a half people to death and then, to add insult to injury, kill more people in one day than they’ve killed with their toy rockets in a year, only to be asked politely by the Bush Administration to “take [...]

Although I find their analysis a little hackneyed and sadly standard, this is a nice article about the current calm and the future challenges facing Lebanon. As Nick said, “Using an unknown business man as the central pillar of a tired argument does seem like a stretch.” From the article:
Construction cranes dot Beirut’s Mediterranean skyline. [...]

Merry Christmas friends and family!
Missing you all as I sit here with Nick, Catherine, Andrew, Fidelius and Meg. All my love,
Will

The wanderer is at the feast of Saint John, with its tents, archery contests and country food. Suddenly, a clown begins to mimic his gestures. People laugh, and the wanderer laughs, as well, and invites the clown to have coffee with him.
“Commit to life!” says the [...]

I spent this afternoon at Microsoft Lebanon’s beautiful offices in Downtown Beirut, discussing Open Source Technology, software piracy, and several Microsoft initiatives. Their publicist also sort of offered me a job…! Prior to my meeting I had lunch with Nick in Martyr’s Square - We didn’t have much to say to each other, but it [...]

So Bernard Madoff has admitted that the Financial Services and Management division of his company is essentially an enormous Ponzi Scheme. $50 Billion U.S. is at stake, as are the subsequent investments of hundreds of millions of dollars hedged on money, debt, and guarantees from Madoff’s organization. In the end, charities are being closed, and [...]

A simple update - Life is getting both more and less complex in Beirut - More complex as my job evolves into more and more of a consulting position, less complex as I get to know the city better and settle into a routine…
Other than that, there’s isn’t too much to report - I’m looking [...]

I know I haven’t been good at keeping up this week but things are well. Thought I would share a photo of this amazing car I saw on Gemayze St as well, and a sight of Eckhart Tolle on Hamra St:

This is a great little article I stumbled upon thanks to Reddit - A quote:
In my defense, usually what happens is that the thing is described to me in general, vague terms and it sounds great, and I say, “sounds great!” and then I see the thing a little bit closer, and it’s awful, and [...]