Tunisia and France: A little too close for comfort?

EGYPTIAN CHRONICLES takes issue with France’s seeming cosines to the Tunisian regime and Ben Ali, writing as follows:

“Sarkozy has made an awful mistake when it stood beside Ben Ali and his dying regime.France is the largest trading partner with Tunisia and many of French political elites have got properties in Tunisia’s finest areas like for instance minister Michèle Alliot Marie herself is said to own a villa there. The French administration thinks that it will lose a lot if it stands against Ben Ali , will it has to think of possible Shah’s scenario now without Khomeini , it can lose everything now. If Ben Ali’s regime down and the Tunisians decide to publish the Ben Ali’s regime leaks , you will find many scandals involving big French names”

QIFANABKI posts an excerpt from an article he wrote in Foreign Policy, describing Hizbullah’s options as such:

“The opposition’s walkout had an air of inevitability about it, but also one of desperation. Hezbollah now faces the difficult task of bringing to power a new Sunni prime minister — under Lebanon’s political system, the premier must be a Sunni — who would heed its call to end Lebanon’s cooperation with the STL. But even if the Shiite militant group musters the majority in parliament to do so, it’s unclear what the practical effect of its victory would be. The STL indictments will emerge regardless of who sits in the premier’s chair in Beirut, and funding will come from other states even if Lebanon declares that it will no longer contribute financial support to the court.”

You know you’ve often wondered – AMERICAN BEDU gives advice on what expats apparently refer to as ‘the two-stepper’ (a toilet used throughout Saudi Arabia, Africa, Asia, and parts of Latin/South America). She’s even included a (clean) demonstration video…

Describing a grudge:

“Grudges can last for so long. Sadly they linger especially between close ones, for when you feel such terrible emotions towards someone so dear and near, how do you find the courage- no the hearts- to tell them? To face them? How do you storm out on a beloved? When you’re feeling so hurt and betrayed, how do you share it? Do you show your wounds to those who hurt you the most?"

"And isn’t it a bit sad when those who supposedly love you the most, those who are the closest to you hurt you? Then again, it’s these people in fact and these only who have that power.”

JAZARAH takes his new Samsung Galaxy Tablet to the beach. Show off.

A submarine, a tractor, a moped, a crane and a airplane… CHOCOLATE MINTS IN A JAR with a really quite random post.

BEIRUTSPRING continues to assess the situation in Lebanon in regard to Hizbullah, this time centering on a quotation by Andrew Exum that argues “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean there’re not out to get you.”

“to an outsider, Hizballah looks like the big bully in Lebanon — which it most certainly is. But from within the organization, all many can see are enemies: Saudi Arabia, Israel, March 14th, the United States, etc. Just because you’re paranoid does not mean people are not out to get you, and we know that Hizballah’s domestic enemies have conspired with forces outside Lebanon to weaken Hizballah’s standing”