Mind Soup

Today, March 12, is the world day against cyber-censorship. This day was initially launched by Reporters without Borders in 2008 and "is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all." Below is a quote from the March 12 website: The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.  However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adop...

Screenshot of " A Separate State of Mind " MIND SOUP :  A Separate State of Mind  is a new blog on the Lebanese blogosphere which discusses life, music, politics, movies and thoughts of a Lebanese youth, Elie, who is one of my best friends. I have been trying to get Elie to start a blog since I created Mind Soup two years ago (2nd birthday coming up on Feb 21 :D) but his laziness and procrastination delayed it. He has had some guest posts here on Mind Soup but now he took the plunge and after some quick trial with tumblr, he started his full wordpress.com blog:  http://stateofmind13.wordpress.com . A few things you might want to know about Elie: He's a huge Carrie Underwood fan that I started calling him a Carrieoholic.So you should definitely expect to see some posts about her. He likes country music and pop (Britney Spears anyone?) He likes to watch movies, and I mean a lot of movies, so he will be posting some movie reviews. His taste in mo...

I was doing some google search a while ago and I was totally struck by  google.com 's front page. Google.com (not even the Lebanese version  google.com.lb  that I don't use because it returns the search in Arabic even though I try to change it all the time) has the Lebanese flag on its main logo to celebrate Lebanese Independences day which falls today (November 22). I'm glad that at least google is giving this day some attention. Personally, I don't care that much since I don't believe that Lebanon is completely independent anyway. Ironically if you press on the link, you would see this leads to a search result for "Lebanon Independence Day". The third result for this search would be:  PressTV - Iran hails Lebanon Independence Day . Could my point BE any more proven? Snap shot from google.com Happy Lebanese Independence Everyone!

I was in Baalback this past weekend with the AUB Ambassadors and the new students showing them around Bekaa and AUB's farm (AREC). What caught my attention is that everywhere I looked, there was a guy or a stand of Hezbollah T-shirts. What's worse is the look on the seller's face when you decline to buy a shirt from him. Seriously, I don't want to buy a shirt from you! I wouldn't even take it if you offered it to me, even if it was covered with gold! Is this how Hezbollah is now funding its illegal weapons now? (By the way, rumors are that these shirts are Made in Iran...) © Mind Soup © Mind Soup

Pastor Jones during his press conference CNN :  A Florida pastor Thursday called off his controversial plan to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. The Rev. Terry Jones of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center, standing with a Florida Muslim leader, also said the imam who planned a mosque and Islamic center near ground zero in New York has agreed to move it to another location. But the imam who appeared with him said that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf in New York agreed to speak with Jones about possibly moving the center. A spokesman from Soho Properties told CNN producer Vivienne Foley that "the Muslim community center called Park51 in lower Manhattan is not being moved." Jones, meanwhile, said he will travel to New York on Saturday to meet with Rauf. The pastor appeared at an afternoon press conference with Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, who said he will make the t...

The following is a repost of Fisk's article from The Independent  on Sunday. He is talking about the incidents of CNN senior editor Octavia Nasr and the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Frances Guy . I might have guessed it. CNN has fired one of its senior Middle East editors, Octavia Nasr, for publishing a twitter – or twatter in this case, I suppose – extolling Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah of Lebanon, calling him "one of Hizbollah's giants whom I respect a lot". Well, he wasn't Hizbollah's man, but no matter. He was definitely a giant. A man of immense learning and jurisprudence, a believer in women's rights, a hater of "honour crimes", a critic of the theocratic system of government in Iran, a ... Well, I'd better be careful because I might get a phone call from Parisa Khosravi, who goes by the title of CNN's "senior vice president" – what these boss types do or what they get paid for their gutless deci...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran announced Wednesday it has successfully launched a 10-foot-long research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space — a feat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said showed Iran could defeat the West in the battle of technology. The launch of the Kavoshgar-3, which means Explorer-3 in Farsi, was announced by Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as part of Iran's ambitious space program. It comes a year after Iran sent its first domestically made telecommunications satellite into orbit. The program has worried Western powers who fear the same technology used to launch satellites and research capsules could also deliver warheads. Iranian state television broadcast images Wednesday of officials putting a mouse, two turtles and about a dozen creatures that looked like worms inside a capsule in the rocket before it blasted off. Vahidi gave no details on the research and the report did not disclose when or where the launch took place. The rocket is...

An unconfirmed report by the Russian Northern Fleets suggests that the devastating Haiti earthquake was caused by a United States Navy "earthquake weapons" test, which was intended to be used against Iran. On Thursday, Digital Journal reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States of causing the Haiti earthquake, which killed more than 100,000 people, through a tectonic weapon. Chavez also accused the US of trying to use the deadly earthquake to occupy Haiti. According to an unconfirmed report by the Russian Northern Fleets, the tragic earthquake in Haiti was caused by a US navy earthquake weapon that went "horribly wrong," reports Press TV . The weapons test was originally supposed to be used against Iran but caused the cataclysmic earthquake in the Caribbean country. The purpose of the earthquake weapon being used against Iran, according to the Russian report, was to topple the current Islamic system in the country. Vive TV reports tha...

Also a while back, I wrote this article in AUB's student newspaper (Outlook) about Obama receiving the Noble Peace Prize. You can read it below. Surrounding a lot of controversy, American President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Prize for Peace during a ceremony on Thursday December 7, 2009 in Norway. The fact acknowledges the paradox of receiving this award as the U.S. is embroiled in two wars, while maintaining that instruments of war have a role in preserving peace. In his acceptance speech, Obama told Nobel Committee members and guests in Oslo that achieving peace must begin with the recognition that the use of force is sometimes morally justified. "Make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms." Obama also used the Nobel platform to exhort allies to help eradicate terrorist extremism in Afghanistan. "I understand why ...