Mind Soup

When you hear “Lebanon” and “government” in the same sentence, what comes to mind first? Sectarianism, money wasting, no electricity, no water, no jobs, bad internet, expensive living, taxes, wasta? The list goes on and on… Lebanon does not only have a beautiful landscape, it’s not only a touristic destination, it’s not only a clubbing hub, but it is also rich in resources that can help the Lebanese stand on their own feet. Lebanese are proud of that and are ready to fight for Lebanon, that’s the only thing they all agree on. But are we fighting for the right reasons? Do we participate in protests and political gatherings to improve our current state of living or just because our leaders tell us to? A couple of years back, Israel tried to claim the traditional Lebanese Hommos (Chickpeas) dish with tahini as their own. The whole Lebanese community from different sects and religions stood together and defended the Lebanese-born dish by breaking the Guinness Book of records for th...

My reader's probably know that I have been a staff writer (on-again off-again) during the past year for Outlook, AUB 's "official" student newspaper. I am very pleased to announced that today afternoon, and after giving it much thought and discussions with very close friends, I have resigned from Outlook. Originally, I had a more criticizing, straight to the point and possibly harsher resignation letter, but due to the requests and recommendations from highly influential people, I decided to go with a more "professional" approach. I didn't want to get in trouble for 'pointing the countless flaws' of the new editor-in-chief [who may or may not be related to powerful figures at AUB]. After all, I don't want to get stuck (again) in AUB's secret intelligence tangled web and get fired tyrannically from something totally unrelated ( reminder ). So below is my simple resignation letter addressed to Outlook's board and staff: Dear Ou...

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Definitions of  Wasta : Wasta (Arabic: وَسْطة) is an Arabic expression that loosely translates into ‘whom you know’ or 'clout'. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasta Intercession or mediation by people on behalf of others to whom they are connected by friendship or blood en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wasta