Lebanon Is Not Egypt

Being in the middle – sort of – offers some protection against some dangers but makes positive change at a reasonable pace – nearly impossible and is maddening to those who see how good a different future could be…

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

The title is stating the obvious. Sadly, it’s not that apparent.

It was 2011. The Egyptians took it to the streets. They removed Mubarak. A sense of pride swept around the Middle East. The “Arab Spring” they called it. Freedom this way comes. Everyone wanted to be Egyptian. Everyone was proud of Egypt.

But none so more than Lebanese.

We felt more involved in what was happening in Egypt than whatever was happening back home. Fun fact: January 2011 was our own mini coup happened. Many Lebanese wished they could become Egyptian – patriotic opioids sure run across borders.

A few months later, as the events in Syria raged and the promise of an “Arab Spring” started quickly running down wintery lanes, Egypt disappointed as well. The Lebanese sentiment quickly turned to “Morsi” et au revoir. We had gotten over it.

It is now 2013. The Egyptians took it to…

View original post 925 more words

Death Valley Claims A Heat Title Again : Image of the Day

The heat wave that gripped the western United States this week may have set an all-time record in Death Valley National Park, California. The air temperature rose to 129.2 °Fahrenheit (54 °Celsius) at the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center on June 30, 2013, possibly breaking the all-time record high June temperature for the United States (set in Volcano, California, on June 23, 1902). A sharp bend in the jet stream trapped a strong ridge of high pressure over the western U.S., leading to an extreme heat wave and record temperatures.

The top image above shows the heat emanating from Death Valley on June 30, 2013. The measurement is surface temperature—how hot the land feels to the touch—as measured by the Thermal Infrared Sensor on the Landsat 8 satellite. The accompanying natural color view from the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 shows that the cooler areas are either higher in elevation or covered with plants. In fact, plants cooled Furnace Creek, the site of the record-high air temperature observation. Mesquite Flat and other nearby valleys radiated more heat.

via Death Valley Claims A Heat Title Again : Image of the Day.

When you’re hot, you’re hot! Love Death Valley!

IRIN Africa | Analysis: Barclays to cut Somalia’s remittance “lifeline” | Somalia | Economy | Food Security

Profiteering, as always, is the motive. Bank unwilling to spend money to assure regulators it is on up and up!

As a global bank, we must comply with the rules and regulations in all the jurisdictions in which we operate. The risk of financial crime is an important regulatory concern, and we take our responsibilities in relation to this very seriously,” said Daniel Hunter, spokesperson for Barclays.

“It is recognized that some money service businesses don’t have the proper checks in place to spot criminal activity and could unwittingly be facilitating money laundering and terrorist financing.”

via IRIN Africa | Analysis: Barclays to cut Somalia’s remittance “lifeline” | Somalia | Economy | Food Security.

News in Brief: Deadly flu virus flourishes in lung cells | Genes & Cells | Science News

A strain of bird flu that has sickened 132 people and killed 37 in China this year may have more potential to spread worldwide than the dreaded H5N1 avian influenza does.

The new flu, known as H7N9 avian influenza, latches onto sugars that coat bird cells — and it can cling to sugars on human cells too, Yuelong Shu of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues report July 3 in Nature. That may give the virus the ability to jump from birds to people relatively easily, the team reports.

By contrast, outside of two highly publicized laboratory experiments (SN: 6/2/12, p. 20), the H5N1 virus only grasps onto bird sugars and hasn’t developed the ability to be readily transmitted among people. H5N1 has infected 630 people worldwide, killing 375.

H7N9 grows especially well in lung cells, the team discovered. That finding helps explain why people infected with H7N9 often develop severe pneumonia. But the virus doesn’t cling as well in the trachea, which could limit H7N9’s ability to spread among people via coughs or sneezes.

The researchers also examined blood samples from 90 healthy people who had gotten flu shots in 2012 and 2013. None of them carried antibodies that can fight H7N9, indicating that most people are probably susceptible to the virus.

via News in Brief: Deadly flu virus flourishes in lung cells | Genes & Cells | Science News.

GAME OVER: Egypt’s President Morsi Toppled by Armed Forces

Hope for best! Pray for best!

Egyptian Streets

Protesters across Egypt have erupted into celebration following news that Egypt’s Armed Forces has removed President Morsi from power. The move came following the expiration of an ultimatum that was issued by the Military 48-hours ago, demanding the President respond to the Egyptian people’s aspirations.

In a televised address, the Military ushered in a new era in Egypt’s future and declared the removal of President Morsi from office. Head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, will rule Egypt during the transitional period.

Armed Forces Chief outlined the roadmap for the coming months, which will include:

1. Suspending the constitution and forming a committee to look into amendments of the constitution.

2. Holding early Presidential elections, until which the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court will be in charge.

3. Creating a national coalition government that represents the aspirations of all Egyptians

At the start of the statement, Armed Forces…

View original post 507 more words

Reports: Army-backed plan will include short transition period followed by elections – Middle East – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

21:55 P.M. The Egyptian army has told Mohammed Morsi that he was no longer the head of state, Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reports, quoting a presidential source.

via Reports: Army-backed plan will include short transition period followed by elections – Middle East – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

Don’t engingeers even grow tomatoes? | Garden Rant

The tomato plants are so thick and sturdy, nothing can bring them down.  That’s their story and they’re sticking to it.  Never trust a tomato.  Their goal is to reproduce by getting rotten tomatoes on the ground.  They will fight the trellis, the cage, gravity.  They will win.

Don’t engineers grow tomatoes?  In the hundreds of years tomatoes have been cultivated, the standard support is still an upside-down wire cone?!

via Don’t engingeers even grow tomatoes? | Garden Rant.

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