Category Archives: Uncategorized

Egypt Needs a Security Strategy For Sinai

Need strategy and a willingness to serve those who live there…

Nervana

Soldiers who were kidnapped last week sit before a news conference by President Mohamed Mursi after their release

(Soldiers who were kidnapped last week sit before a news conference by President Mohammed Morsi after their release, photo by REUTERS)

I wrote this piece for  Al-Monitor. Look forward to your feedbacks and comments

Last week, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Hamas government in Gaza called on Egypt to revise the Camp David Accords, which were signed with Israel. His speech came after the kidnapping and later release of Egyptian security personnel in Sinai by radical jihadist groups.

The debate about the peace treaty with Israel is not new. It is as old as the treaty itself. The recent deterioration of security in Sinai, however, particularly after the ouster of the Mubarak regime, has reinvigorated the debate about the Camp David Accords. This is especially the case regarding amendment of the security arrangement in Sinai.

It may look like an easy fix; let’s bring the Egyptian army in to…

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Even Ladybugs can be an invasive species and unintentionally kill native ladybugs!

Beetle from East Asia wreaks havoc in US, Europe after being introduced to kill bugs
“Harlequin ladybird shows dangers of alien species as biological control”

The harlequin ladybird was once a stalwart ally of greenhouse owners around the world. Native to Japan, Korea and other parts of eastern Asia, the bright red beetles were prized for their aphid-eating abilities – until they caused serious declines in other ladybird populations. Now, researchers have discovered the harlequin’s secret weapon: a deadly parasite that lives harmlessly in its body but kills other species with abandon.

The findings, published in the journal Science, demonstrate how things can go awry when a foreign creature is introduced into an ecosystem, even when done with the best intentions.

Ladybirds are beloved by humans and are valuable to gardeners, who deploy the spotted beetles to eat plant-munching aphids rather than spray their shrubs, flowers and crops with harsh chemical pesticides.

It is a prime example of an environmentally friendly agricultural practice known as biological control. But one particular ladybird – the harlequin, or Harmonia axyridis – has proved to be a two-faced friend.

The bugs gobble up aphids at jaw-straining speeds, but spread like wildfire once they escape the greenhouse, quickly taking over native ladybirds’ turf in large parts of Europe, North America and other regions.

In Europe, swarms of the pests have started taking wintertime shelter in houses, said study co-author Heiko Vogel, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany.

The residence of Vogel’s own mother has been plagued by the beetles, which can fly through windows, slip under carpets and burrow into any crevice a human home has to offer. “Thousands of beetles – even if they are nice-looking – crawling into your house is not fun,” Vogel said.

German researchers analysed the harlequin ladybird’s haemolymph – its blood, essentially – under a microscope and found extremely high spore counts of a single-celled fungus related to the parasite Nosema thompsoni.

With so many spores in their haemolymph, “you should be dead”, Vogel said. The researchers soon realised that somehow, the beetle’s immune systems had managed to tame the spores. The findings offer a cautionary tale for biological control. Vogel said: “You should think twice before you introduce an alien species into a new , even if it’s for a good reason.”

Source: South China Morning Post

“Sad” Lebanese News: Myriam Klink Doesn’t Run For Elections

Abdul Latif Zein running against time? or last time?

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

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I can hear you weeping all the way over here. But after much talk on the matter, all with a brief stint on a reality TV show devoted for the matter, Myriam Klink hasn’t run for Lebanon’s upcoming elections, if they will happen to begin with.

Her name is not among the list of Orthodox candidates for Metn (link) and she has denied running as well via a statement (link).

Of course Klink not running wasn’t her choice. She pulled up in her pink hummer in front of the ministry of interior and had all the necessary papers ready when she received a phone call from someone who threatened her with the electoral boogeyman also known as “teshtib.” At that point, her manager decided that the political situation in the country is too unsafe and dirty for Klink to run so he took the papers…

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Egyptian Aak: Week 21

As per usual, she is right on the mark on many things. I do wish that the government stops making excuses and finds people who can make things work!

Nervana

ethipia(President Morsi in Ethiopia was welcomed by the Mining Minister. Photo via Almogaz)

Main Headline

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

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The Conclusion of Dahye’s Missiles: Tripoli Is Not a Lebanese City

I cannot imagine that the art of self-delusion has reached such levels in Lebanon that the north of the country has left in a manner similar to the south some years ago. The world and the people of all Lebanon – need one Lebanon!

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

2 missiles fell in Beirut today, targeting Hezbollah’s stronghold Dahyeh. Nobody knows why the missiles were fired.
They could be to serve as further proof for the need to extend parliament’s mandate. They could be to show that Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria is not inhumane but very needed.
They could have a multitude of reasons. But I don’t really care.

Minutes after Dahyeh was hit with the two missiles, the level of panic rose to enormous levels. Lebanese media was all over it with live coverage from the sites of the missile launch, conspiracy theories along the lines of المؤامرة على سوريا were being thrown around, to name a few.

Our minister of interior Marwan Charbel was the first Lebanese official to visit the site in question. More will soon follow because can you imagine them not visiting an area that was just targeted with two missiles?

Guess again.

Over…

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Chinese Tourist Damages 3000-Year-Old Temple in Luxor

Sigh… Wish Egyptian government was willing and able to better protect its share of the world’s treasures.

Egyptian Streets

A Chinese tourist damaged a 3,000-year-old site in Luxor causing outrage in China and Egypt after photographs taken by an embarrassed Chinese tourist were publicly shared on Chinese social media.

The tourist carved “Ding Jinhao was here,” while visiting Luxor in Egypt. Chinese social media and newspapers were quick to condemn and identify the offender, and the incident has attracted widespread criticism in China with headlines such as “China’s Tourist Shame.” The vandalist has reportedly been identified by Chinese internet users as a 15-year-old  middle-school student from Nanjing.

Shortly after the outrage, Ding Jinhao’s parents issued a statement to Chinese media.

“We want to apologize to the people of Egypt and to people across China,” said Ding’s mother.

According to Chinese bloggers, several tourists attempted to remove the markings themselves, resulting in the white smudge that appears in the photograph above.

In recent statements to the media, The Ministry of…

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Lebanon Mountain Trail inspires youth

Way too many dead birds or really bad shots for so many shotgun shells in one place.

Leelouz Café

Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) is a 440km long hiking trail connecting Lebanon’s northern villages by its most southern ones. The idea was born many years ago, and thousands of people have already marked their steps on that enchanting trail.

To maintain a clean and attractive trail, the LMT organizes punctual events where people, young and old, gather and clean up part of the trail.

Few weeks ago, a Lebanese school called Melkart participated with one of their classes in cleaning up part of the trail in Baskinta area (part 15 on the map) from its thousand empty gun shells, gathering no less than 50 bags of shells in only two hours! Indeed a wonderful achievement, making young people aware of the disastrous state of neglect in some places, and the continuous effort that it entitles to sustain their country with a minimum of cleanness.

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Educating kids, creating awareness around the…

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What happens when the pursuits of “skinny” and “strong” collide?

Fit and Feminist

By now I’m sure most of you are familiar with the saying “Strong is the new skinny.”  It shows up fairly regularly on fitspo images and in fitness circles as a way of promoting a new standard of female beauty, one that is focused on strength and physical power instead of weight loss and restriction.  The words are often accompanied by photos of women showing off glistening muscles while they pose with weights or perform feats of bodyweight strength.  If you have spent any time at all in the fit-o-sphere, you’ve seen what I’m talking about.

Now, I support the general idea behind the phrase.  I would prefer that women – and men, really – work to cultivate their bodies’ abilities rather than fight against them in an attempt to meet our culture’s incredibly fickle beauty standards.  But I also have some issues with the execution, which, as I…

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