Beautiful, horrible Beirut elegy by Robert Fisk

Posted on Lebanese blogger site. Best of Robert Fisk, sometimes chilling and scary portrait of middle Eastern militants, as he did elsewhere with Arafat, Bin Laden and Dustum, with uncanny ability to describe what it is like for people on the other end of the gunsights, the beauty of the place and the horror of what is happening and has happened. Be sure to read last paragraph and listen to the song.

I like the comment of the (Lebanese?) person who posted it:

At Sunday, July 23, 2006 1:17:27 AM, Hilal Chouman said...

arch.
although i may oppose him in some political opinions, i liked the way he presented the scenes.. as if it is afilm..
i consider it a very nostalgic piece

The other bigger crisis? Amazon drying up fast

With all eyes on the Lebanon crisis, is this the other bigger crisis, like the opening scene in a disaster movie. A second article in The Independent echoes:

"And it comes hard on the heels of a warning by an international group of experts, led by the Eastern Orthodox " pope" Bartholomew, last week that the forest is rapidly approaching a " tipping point" that would lead to its total destruction."

"Studies by the blue-chip Woods Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down.

Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern hemisphere, including Britain, and could massively accelerate global warming with incalculable consequences, spinning out of control, a process that might end in the world becoming uninhabitable."

Now what?

While they did not stop the war before it started, the unprecedented demonstrations, protests and criticism laid the groundwork for current skeptical public opinion, even in the US. This is a huge outcome, a major reversal for the conservative tide of the last decades. While shallow, the skepticism is broad and persistent. So, now what? In 1974, when Nixon resigned, the rapid fall of a seemingly unstoppable conservative juggernaut from enormous stupidity and arrogance shocked his critics and left them somewhat flat footed.

More in next post.