Spring to Winter

TV screens filled with people in reports from Arab countries make it is easy to forget more remain unseen. To those the Maronite Patriarch, Beshara al-Rai, called attention. He also confirmed that what is happening in Syria worries Lebanese.

Map by World Sites Atlas (sitesatlas.com)

“Rai said Lebanese were

 divided by events across the border, and he feared the shock-waves could have an impact in Lebanon, home to Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims, Maronite and Orthodox Christians, Druzes and Alawites—the same sect as Assad.”       Read more from Reuters.

Refugees, Presidents, Remembering

Caritas Lebanon prepares to welcome more Syrian refugees. The death toll, since the Syrian government began its offensive against its people 11 months ago, exceeds 8, 500 by a recent report. Almost as many refugees have arrived in Lebanon, according to Najla Chahda, Director of Caritas Lebanon’s Migrant Center. The link contains an audio interview.

The U.S. celebrates Presidents Day. The CSM released some little known facts about George Washington.

The untimely death in Syria of NYT columnist and Pulitzer winner, Anthony Shadid, leaves a large hole. Mr. Shadid’s “closest Iraqui friend and journalism colleague” remembers him.

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Wiki-image by Reaky of Washington signature is used according to CC BY-SA 3.0.

No Fuel, No Bread & Urgent Plea

The dearth of fuel and of butane gas in Egypt means bakeries are unable to bake bread. The lack of subsidized bread in Cairo and beyond could lead to riots, according to the “head of the bakeries division at the Federation of Egypt Chambers of Commerce.” Reported in this afternoon’s Egypt Independent.

Earlier, in Syria, an activist in the severely besieged city of Homs begged for help. Dead bodies in the video are not visible in this version by the Telegraph.

Look Into Egyptian Slums

One fact given no sustained coverage after the 25 January 2011 revolution in Egypt is that the "vast majority of the victims...came from underprivileged backgrounds." Amnesty International reports that the "new authorities have the opportunity to address one of the key demands of protesters: to prioritize the needs of millions living in slums."

The AI video visited one slum on land owned by the army, and its occupants have experienced forced evictions--they are a fraction of the 12 million Egyptians who live each day in similar conditions.

[Source: Amnesty International Tweet ]

Wide As Well As Long

The length of parades or of demonstrations impress. Width is easily overlooked. In Yemen a demonstration was both. The four miles of people demonstrating at the risk of their lives appears expressways-wide.

The Atlantic Wire tweeted this yesterday. That post includes a second video of people armed with stones against an armored vehicle.