Demotix - The street wire

As simple as that, Demotix is within the reach of every person who sees news happen before their own eyes. They take a picture, upload it, tell us the rapid story behind it and is published on the website of Demotix.com

Moreover, if your story is different and appealing to major online media newspapers and magazines, they might buy it from you.

More about the process here.

The thing is, the world is becoming more and more internet oriented, the world is huge, awkard, crazy, disastrous, unfair and weird things happen everyday everywhere, and big major medias do not have immediate access to it. With portals such as demotix, it makes it easier for every person, the citizen journalist, to transmit as fast as they can, anything that happened before their eyes to the online community, and if it is really something worthwile, the major medias will want to have their hands on them.

Lebanon Aggregator for y'all

Don't forget to visit www.LebanonAggregator.com for a round-up about blogs from Lebanon, about Lebanon and to Lebanon.

If you are Lebanese, or a resident in Lebanon or just blogging about Lebanon, submit your blog URL to www.LebanonAggregator.com

October 16, tune in to radios and TVs

“Call for Life” is not just a title of the CCCL’s new project, It is CCCL’s message!
CCCL is calling for your support, for the support of all the community in its mission of saving young lives.
This unique project is done for the first time.
October 16 will be CCCL’s day on all TV & most radio stations of Lebanon. You will be seeing CCCL Spots & Ads all through the day (from 7:00 am to midnight) calling for donations. Read more here

Moreover, apparently, October is the month for raising awareness about Cancer, so Go Pink!

Hopefully with more awareness and donations for the fight against cancer, more people will overcome this ugly sickness and survive...

A simple reminder that Poverty still unfortunately exists - Blog Action Day 2008

Poverty is not a new subject, I believe it existed since the first forms of societies. Moreover it is exactly understood as back then it was maybe this consequence had justified causes and reasons, but now what justifies it?

The problem with poverty is the vicious circle that they sank in those poor people, and now who cannot get out of it. It is not only a deprivation of food, clothing, shelter and those common necessities that most of us take for granted, it is also the deprivation of opportunities to learn, go to school which would lead those people into not having opportunities to obtain a good employment.

There are many things you as an individual can do, or even better as a group, you can start by raising awareness on the subject, more like, reminding people that this sad situation still exists. And what else you can do? You can donate to NGOs that do actually try to provide those common necessities to poor people and opportunities to learn in hope that one day they can go about it on their own.

Or you can simply while browsing online, visit www.freerice.com, for every word you guess right, you give 20 grains, how does it work? find out here.

This is Blog Action Day, and these are things and action you can do and adopt.

Lebanese expatriates to be able to vote from abroad?

I have received an email from www.lebanese-abroad.com concerning the electoral law and lebanese expatriates voting from abroad, below is an extract:

The election law voted by the Lebanese Parliament has finally recognized the right to vote of those Lebanese citizens residing abroad at the consulates and embassies.

This is a giant step.

However, and in spite of the infallible support of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior, the members of the Administration and Justice parliamentary commission, and a large number of MP's to whom we express our thanks, the text does not contain any measures guaranteeing the effective exercise of this right as of the 2009 elections.

[...]

I did not find anywhere on the net whether these news are valid or not, or maybe not publicized yet, however I have to honestly declare that I do not agree with expatriates voting from abroad. The thing is the whole electoral law and system in Lebanon is false and has a lot of loop holes.

For example, it is a bit illogical that a person has to go to where he/she is registered (born by default) in order to vote, usually somewhere far from where they live where the voted parliament members wont directly affect or improve the person's area and way of life and transmitting their own voices to the parliament, instead of doing it where he/she lives (let's say for the past 10 years). There should be different and more effective rules concerning voting, situations should be thoroughly studied to be able to re-write a good electoral law.

We know that this law can be manipulated to make a certain team win more seats than the other, we know that this law is functioning the way it is now, because some poor people still vote due to a receipt of a certain amount of money, and other do it because they're sheep, and others because they're greedy. And leaders in Lebanon make use of the ignorance and poverty of some Lebanese.

But in a utopic world, maybe we'd have a better electoral law accompagnied with a better understanding of voting, of elections, or parliament, of government and of politics.

Valet Parking at Beirut Airport

I think Lebanon and Lebanese people have become too obsessed with Valet Parking. Sometimes the Valet dude takes the car and parks it 2 meters away, they don't even let you park it yourself in some restaurants, they confiscate all parking sports by placing these yellow thingies, either you have to go park it back in your house or give it to them.

Mooreover, some Lebanese people have gotten too lazy (including me) to try to park it a bit far. Even the smallest and most modest restaurants have Valet Parking. What's next? Hospitals? Gyms?