Archive for February 16th, 2014
“I am naked”: Lebanon campaign. The government too is totally naked…
I just got the no longer awaited news that Lebanon managed to form a government that lingered 11 months in “the making”.
And you know what? The new selected minister of Justice, and a candidate for the ministry the Interior and a former chief of the internal security, has been very vocal against the army that is protecting the citizens in the city of Tripoli (Lebanon) from the “terrorist” factions, which are supported or taking cover under the wings of Rifi, the minister.
Mind you that the parliament had last year extended its term for two years on the ground that the political climate is not amenable to election (advancing the same reason to the other confused “Arab States”, like Libya that extended the term of its assembly and a military General attempted a coup to dissolve the “Mou2tamar“)
The “I Am Not Naked” Campaign was posted on February 13, 2014 by champontop (selected as one of the top posts)
I tried a couple of days prior to the posting of this article to copy it, or part of this article or a similar one, from a link on FB in order to develop on it but it was locked. Until it was posted on wordpress.com.
I have posted 3 articles on that subject so far. You may read the first one Viva in the nude ski Lebanon https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/viva-sky-lebanon-jackie-chamoun-photos-before-heading-to-sochi-olympics/
Jackie Chamoun, 22 year old Lebanese Olympian skier, participated in a semi-nude photoshoot 3 years ago. The “making of” got out at the beginning of this week and caused a scandal among stone age media and minister Karami. Lebanon was outraged, they started stripping for Jackie!
At around 4pm on tuesday, I called up two friends of mine:
Carl Halal (photographer/animator/illustrator) and Mohamad Abdouni (art director/FIM2P editor) and told them I wanted to shoot naked people for Lebanon.
Carl called up photographer Tarek Moukaddem and he was instantly supportive and offered us his talent, time and studio! We were now the I’m Not Naked Team.
For all those who know me, know that it was never about the body and the nudity, it was about the message. I never got how so many people complain but few of them do.
As we saw that the #stripforjackie Cyrill Reaidy launched, was already spreading, we thought it was not logical to create a new one. And so we added that cause to our message!
This is not about the pictures we’re spreading.
It’s about Manal Assi & Roula Yaacoub beaten to death by their husbands (who now walk free).
It’s about a minister who’s worried about a beautiful model/athlete ruining Lebanon’s reputation, and that same minister who refused to sign that petition against domestic violence!
It’s about Jean Assi being arrested and thrown in jail for two months for tweeting about the president!
It’s about women being murdered and men getting away with it because they were crimes of honor.
It’s about the Lebanese Army not getting enough attention and recognition for arresting a suicide bomber (and many other terrorists) and getting him to disclose information about two cars that were about to go off!
(The last picture is of Jean Assi, not the other violent man who killed his wife)
We’re stripping to get your attention. And we did.
We could’ve done it in a completely other way, but so many have tried for a lot of years and things didn’t change.
We saw what Jackie’s body did to you, so we tried with our own.
Some of you didn’t understand, families cried or shouted.
Others were outraged that we were a disgrace. Some even told us, instead of stripping, go help these women.
We are, in our way. What are you doing?
Paris, London, Brussels, NYC, Boston, and other cities are joining our cause. It’s not about us. It’s about all of you.
We’re all Jackies.
It can be about Lebanon, but we are starting to think that it is now about the youth, since we’re getting international support.
They’re all shocked of how a 22 year old was attacked for being a model, and not praised for being an athlete.
I think enough was said about the matter. Mohamad has even said it better, I now urge you all “Jackie supporters” to support her by watching her perform on the 21st.
If we can gather around for the world cup, we can gather for her race and thank her for being the drop that mattered and woke us up about all the other issues that need to be addressed!
Before the campaign, I have seen 3 of my friends sharing the Manal Assi story.
After the campaign, my news feed is flooded with Manal Assi, Roula Yaacoub and Jean Assi’s pictures and articles. I think the point has been made!
10 Terrible Secrets Behind Burning Man
1. “Creativity” is a Code word for Sex
We often think of “artists” as sleazy manipulators and nowhere is this more true than at Burning Man, where so-called painters, photographers, sculptors and poets prowl for fresh young flesh to use in their degenerate projects that no one in the real world would ever notice.
2. “Environmentalism” Means Composting Your Own Shit By Hand
Sorry for the coarse language, but these people are foul!
3. Fires Attract Slutty Women
A burning fire excites a woman’s natural irrationality. Hypnotized by the bright flashes of color, she will confuse her emotional neediness with lust.
The licking flames and the mounting heat become a call to action in the feminine mind, a call that she will recklessly follow into the darkness and lick and mount with delirious intent until the early dawn.
4. The Only Communal element is the Pubic Lice Population
Does this really need any further explanation?
5. I’ll Pass on the Free Massage, Thanks
Where else can you find tender young men freely giving themselves over to hot oils and the curious, calloused hands of a guy who looks like Jeff Lebowski?
6. If Cyclists Ruled the World We’d All Be Screwed
People who worship their shiny bicycles more than human contact are a cause of great concern in our society.
Yet at Burning Man, these freakish, militant outcasts are given free reign to explore the fantasy of a public transportation infrastructure based solely on sweaty hippies. Is it any wonder the whole thing collapses after only one week?
7. “Radical Self Reliance” = Getting Stoned for 168 Hours Straight
Rich white kids alone in nature with no school, work or parents? What do you expect!
8. The “Temple” Offers Bargain-Bin Spirituality for Those Too Cheap to Attend Church
Why invest time and effort into your eternal soul when some shirtless accountant from Duluth can sum up human existence in just 5 hours of bong hits and hacky sack while feeling up your girlfriend’s leg?
9. Sodomy
“Exploring My Sensual Side” means getting pounded in a Port o’ Potty by some gamer geek dressed up as Avatar. With the door open. And a 30-minute line.
10. The Burning of Burning Man Represents the American Phallus
By promoting environmentalism, artistic creativity and wanton female sexuality, Burning Man is attempting to castrate masculinity from American culture.
The giant flaming effigy that closes the event symbolizes a new internal fire ignited within each and every person.
Most will come to understand that this fiery sensation is actually the clap, one of the most memorable secrets that attendees take home with them from the Burning Man experience.
Note: What animal instinct they fear in me? https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/what-animal-instincts-do-they-fear-in-me/
Beirut Rare Green square in Verdun: Cleared for Concrete? High, medium or no Towers?
Posted on: February 16, 2014
One of the last open spaces in Verdun, which is already crowded with shopping centers, will be cleared for yet another ABC mall.
Habib Battah in his The Beirut Report posted this February 7, 2014
Rare Verdun greenery cleared for another mall
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| Photo: Qaph blog |
Have a good look at those trees– they’ll be gone soon, if not already dumped somewhere. Construction has already started according to fellow blogger Gino, who posted this picture today:
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| Photo: Gino’s Blog |
For years the site had been gated, but the gate seemed rather old.
Here is a picture posted by blogger Qaph, who was the first to break the story earlier this month:
In his post, Qaph wrote that the site was formerly the grounds of a St. Joseph school, and judging by the sandstone, it was probably quite old. So why was it demolished? And who sold it to developers?
I had driven by the lot for years but paid little attention to it until I heard Abir Saksouk-Sasso‘s talk about the lack of public space in Beirut at the DiverseCities conference earlier this year.
Saksouk-Sasso, who is part of the amazing performance activism group Dictaphone, argued that despite state efforts to control and limit public spaces, the public has appropriated “left over spaces” and one of these was the Verdun plot.
So why couldn’t the state or the municipality of Beirut (which has an estimated wealth of near $1 billion) save one plot for its citizens?
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| Photo: Skyscraper City |
Plans to build a park were once announced by late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri–at least according to Qaph’s post.
But ironically those leading the mall project are Hariri-owned companies. Did the late prime minister change his mind?
First announced in 2005, the mall complex was to be built by Hariri son Bahaa’s firm, Horizon and Kipco, which is largely owned by the Kuwaiti royal family. Here is the initial press in early 2005:
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| Photo: Skyscraper city |
But those plans, which included a hotel/residential tower and cineplex, have changed markedly over the years. From 2005:
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| Photo: Skyscraper city |
To 2008, where the tower seems to have been reduced significantly, according to this picture posted on Skyscraper city, which still exists on the Horizon website: 
To no towers at all in 2013, according to this rendering published by Beirut.com early last year:
According to a piece in business magazine Lebanon Opportunities, the Kuwaitis are apparently out, and are now replaced it seems by Lebanon’s ABC group at a 40% share.
Meanwhile Hariri’s son Bahaa has switched from Horizon to his other construction company, Verdun 1544 Holding. The project is reportedly worth $200 million.
Do all the changes indicate a decrease or renegotiation in capital or relationships?
One thing is for sure, no company in this eco-system represented Beirut residents’ rights to green spaces or the fate of these trees, which are all probably firewood by now.
Adonis Diaries 