Germany Vs Argentina : Predictions

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It’s the obvious that this world cup means a lot to Lionel Messi.

After winning everything a football player dreams to win: 4 times the best player in the world, and many European and Spanish competitions his lacking trophy is surely the WC.

During this competition, we have seen the Argentinean struggling to win their games, they had tough games against Netherlands (penalty shots), Iran (1-0 at the last minute), Switzerland (1-0 at the last minute) and Belgium (1-0 because of a defensive fault) and they were on the verge of elimination. I believe their qualification to the final was only due to the football genius Messi and to some good luck.

On the other hand, the Germans also struggled in this world cup especially against Ghana and Algeria. However, they showed a solid team with high technical skills and impressive team spirit.  Their defense was very good in their games against France in the quarter final and against Brazil in the semifinals.

The Myth says that a South American team has always won the WC if was organized on a South American land. But this time, I think the world cup will be for Europeans. 

Don’t hesitate to share your opinion :)

PS: This article was written by a guest writer. Please don't hesitate to contribute with us by sending any article you like to share .

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عذراً غزة

عذراً غزة فليس الوقت وقت التضامن معك. عذراً غزة فالمونديال يُلعب ومن يبالي بك.

عذراً غزة فدموع البرازيليين أدهشتنا أكثر من صرخات ابنائك وهم يحرقون...

عذراً غزة فهدير الطابة كان أعلى صداً وأشد إيقاعاً من أصوات القنابل التي أُمطِرتِ بها...

كان ليلاً طويلاً هو الذي جمعني بك يا غزة، ليلاً امضيته أنا أتابع مباراةً سلب جنونها أنفاسي، وامضيته أنت تستعدين أنفاسك من جنون لم يرحم أطفالك. ليلاً امضيته استمتع بطرائف هطلت علينا بكثافة، وامضيته أنت تستمعين لصراخ امواتك تحت وابل من الأمطار الصاروخية. ليلاً ضحكتُ فيه وهزئت، ليلاً هزأ فيه الموت من أبرياءك.

كنا أنا وأنت نجلس على طرف ذلك الليل ذاته تفصلنا بحورٌ من اللا مبالاة، وعواصف من الوحشية، وإنسانية مبعثرة شهيدة.

كان أبناؤك يموتون، يحرقون، يصرخون وكنت أنا أجلس أمام تلفازي أتابع مسار كرة. كان أطفالك يبثرون وكنت أنا مشغولةً أترقب باهتمامٍ بالغٍ أحداث المباراة.

أسكرني الفرح العابث، ومضى ذلك الليل ورفضت أنت أن تهديني راحة الضمير،  رفضتي أن تسامحيني على عبثي الطفولي، رفضتي أن تسامحيني على خيانةٍ أجلستك مسلوبة مغتصبة. مضى الليل ولكن الموت المنبعث من طرقاتك رفض أن يرحل دون أن يقتطف له من قلبي عذاب الضمير.

عذراً غزة، فالبارحة خنتك ولم أواري عاري. عذراً غزة فالبارحة شاركت قاتليك جريمتهم البشعة، ولم يرف لي جفنٌ، عذراً غزة فالصمت عن الظلم شيطانٌ أكبر...

هل تكفي كلماتي لأعتذر؟ كيف أبرر لك صمتي عن المك؟ كيف أخبرك أنك في صباح الأمس لم تكوني أنت النجمة؟ كيف أخبرك أنك لم تتصدري الصحف؟ وأن دموع أطفالك لم تهزنا كما هزتنا دموع البرازيليين؟ كيف أخبرك اننا سرقنا منك حقك بنجوميةٍ ترفعك إلى صفحاتنا الأولى؟ كيف أخبرك اننا اقدمنا على خيانتك مرتين على التوالي؟

البارحة كان دورك أن تعيشي ليلةً أخرى من النسيان، لكنك لست الوحيدة... لكل ليلٍ من ليالينا غزةٌ مختلفة ولكل نهارٍ من أيامٍ غزةٌ مختلفة... غزةٌ يختلف موقعها على الكرة الأرضية ليبقى عبق المها والظلم المستفحل بها ثابتاً لا يتغير...

 Rihab

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Ronaldo Vs Klose, Who is better?

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First let me clarify one thing "I am neither a Brazilian fan nor a German one."

Second I would like to congratulate Germany for the spectacular win yesterday against Brazil in the world cup semi-finals, and congratulate Miroslave Klose for breaking Ronaldo’s record.

Klose is indeed a very good player. However, I don't agree on the statements that followed yesterday's game “Klose beat Ronaldo. Kolse is way better than Ronaldo etc….”
Regardless the number of goals scored by Klose in world cup competitions, Ronaldo is still way better than Kolse. Let’s just check the goals scored by both of them in WC and you will notice the difference.

It is very clear that Ronaldo has a better technique and control than Kolse. Just look at his dribble!

Kolse only chooses a good position and makes one little touch profiting from his big body to score.  

Once again congratulations to Klose.  But this will not change the fact that " Ronaldo is the player to watch."

PS: This article was written by a guest writer. Please don't hesitate to contribute with us by sending any article you like to share .

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Brazil vs Germany memes you should never miss :D

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This post is meant for fun, so please Brazilian fans don't feel offended.

If you want to add any meme to this collection please let me know :D

(I didn't really like this one!)

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Waiting for my Lebanese passport.

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Last Saturday, I went to fetch my Passport from the center of general security. Although, it was not my first time there, I was very surprised by how messy everything was.

To be objective, the general security officers (or most of them) were truly doing their best: trying to organize as possible the procedures, insisting on respecting the waiting line and working quickly to answer the huge amount of requests. They were nice and polite, and they tried as much as possible to help us.

While waiting there, I discovered that the reason behind this “chaos” is our attitude and by “our” I mean the people who were waiting.

Most of us do not mind coming late and sneaking to the middle of line pretending that we did not really notice where the line ends. We think it is smartness to ignore others just for the sake of comforting ourselves. We do not respect each other morally of physically. We come with missing paper and ask for “machilna yeha” and when the officer refuse we object and we put blame on this officer because “eno jeyi tsta2wi 3layi”. Moreover, if we know any officer with a good rank we ask him without shame to help us first.

I totally agree that the system of the general security shall be more organized. The procedures shall be done using computers and numeric data; this will save us time and energy. We have the right to be respected as citizens and to get our papers quickly.

However, this does not give us the right to break the rules.

Blaming other for the corruption, we are responsible of, is something we do every single day. We want a modern and organized country but we are not willing to do any effort. We nag about the unorganized public institutions but we forget that the people we blame are part of our society; most probably, they are our friends, our neighbors or our acquaintances. We forget that we are the victim and the executioner, we are the sufferer and the disease, and we forget that we are the only ones capable of changing our lives and build a country for which we all ask.

Just let us think about this every time we cross a red light, every time we text while driving, every time we throw garbage on roads, every time we pay bribes…Let us think about it every time we vote for those who only care about their interests.

Think about it and you will see that we are responsible and nothing is going to change unless we decide to take actions.

Change does not come from nothing. We should work hard to deserve it.

Rihab

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اللي بتطوّل تنّورة!

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"اللي بتطوّل تنّورة" جريمةٌ أخرى ترتكب بحق البشرية...

ثلاثة فتيات، لم يتجاوزن بعد سن البلوغ، يقمن بإلقاء أغنيةٍ أنا شبه اكيدة أنهن لا يدركن معاني كلماتها...

كيف لفتاةٍ في هذا العمر أن تعرف ما هي العورة؟ ومن أخبرها أن جسدها عارٌ عليها أن تستره؟ ومن قال لها أن الدنيا عبارةٌ عن غابةٍ من الوحوش هي ضحيتها؟

في الوقت الذي يجب أن تكون فيه هذه الفتاة تلعب شأن كل الفتيات من عمرها، قرر معتوهٌ ما أن يغتصب طفولتها ويستغل براءتها ويستبيح حرمة قرارها ويجعل منها جسر عبور لكل عقده النفسية الدفينة...

اقنعها أنها في حربٍ دفينةٍ مع رجالٍ قرروا إحتلال جسدها، اقنعها أنها لن تستطيع النجاة، أنها ضعيفة، أن عليها أن تصون جسدها لتقدمه لاحقاً لأول طالب... ولم يخبرها أنه أول مستعمرٍ إمتطى براءتها، أنه أول وحشٍ نهش طفولتها..

لم يخبرها أن النساء يتعرضنا للتحرش يومياً بغض النظر عن لباسهنن، وأن اصلاح المجتمع وجعله أقل هوساً بالجنس وأكثر انفتاحاً هو الحل الوحيد الذي يحميها.

اللي بتطوّل تنّورة 
اللي بتطوّل تنّورة 
حاميي جسمها من الشباب
ساترة العورة ومسرورة

إشاربها على قلبي غالي
قمطتها تاج مثالي
ثوبها واسع وفضفاض
لا ضيّق ولا بيلالي

بتتأنّى بمشيتها
من حياها وحشمتها
عاملي كتير احتياطات
حتى تستر عورتها

محتشمي وما بتتكبّر
متواضعة ومش مغرورة 

مهذبي - كتير بهمها 
رضا أبيها وأمها 
بتحافظ على الصلوات
بتتصدّق ما أكرمها

كل ما تشوفها بتتمنى
بتقول يا ريتها عنّا 
السمعة ما تقدّرها بمال 
أطلبها شو بتستنّى

أظفر أخي بذات الدين 
بلا ما توقع بالجورة

بالشتا هيي دفياني 
بالصيف فكرها بشي تاني
بتفكّر بحرّ جهنّم
تطلب عفو الرحمن 

بتمشي مشيي رزيني
لا خايفي ولا حزيني 
مش رح تهاجمها وحوش
بحجابها هي مصوني

علم وثقافي وأخلاق
وسمعة حلوي ومستورة

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Lebanese reactions to World Cup: Personal conclusions!

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Last Friday was the quarter final of the World Cup between Brazil and Columbia, so I went with my sister and some friends to watch the game in Beirut Water Front as we thought it would be a cool place.

When we arrived, and since we didn’t have a reservation in the VIP* part, and because we are not VIP, we bought our “ordinary” tickets and sat with the “ordinary” people at the stadium.

The place is nice, with two big screens, music and food and drinks kiosks, so we assumed that we will have a good time. What we didn’t foresee, was the age of the crowd that we were sitting with: 90% of it was aged between 13 and 20 years; I can safely say that we were the oldest group there.

I don’t need to tell you about how the Lebanese get overexcited during the World Cup, I’m a huge Brazilian fan myself, but what I witnessed Friday was far beyond a football game excitement. It was specimen of our society, of the young generation that will be responsible of our country in the future, and honestly, I was not impressed at all.

A brief description would include the presence of spoiled self-centered teenagers, many of them bragging about their smoking and drinking publicly, with expensive cell phones and cars (for those who are old enough to drive or maybe not), noisy as hell (not only when their team scores) and many of them are rude and disrespectful.

I’m writing this filled with anger and sadness. Surely, my generation is not better than theirs, nor the older generations are better than us; but the ugly truth is that our society is not moving forward, it’s recreating itself from generation to generation, recreating citizens who are only concerned by the trivial. Citizens who burn an obscene number of fireworks if the football team that they cheer for wins a game, and participate in ridiculous convoys  at 2am celebrating the achievement of another country’s football team without any regards to others.

If only we could just stop for a moment and think about our achievements. I’m not denying our right to be happy, but we owe it to ourselves above all, to build a country, a state and a modern society. We owe it to ourselves to care about what is really important for our future, and then maybe someday, we’ll burn fireworks and participate in convoys when we reach the moon or declare the end of corruption in our country.

*As you all know, in Lebanon, either you are a Very Important Person which means that you have a lot of money or willing to lavishly spend the little money that you have or you are a normal persons which is our case.

Abir Lebbos

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beIN lawsuit against Télé Liban.

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Finally a bit of justice!

The judge of urgent matters Mrs. Zalfa Al Hassan rejected the lawsuit filed by beIN sports against Télé Liban over broadcasting rights, saying the case lacked jurisdiction.

Télé Liban decision of broadcasting the World Cup was a brave step. The director Mr.Talal Makdessi said that "he is willing to sacrifice his job so all the Lebanese would be able to watch the matches".

A huge number of Lebanese have no access to satellite channels especially those who live outside Beirut, Télé Liban is their only chance to watch the games.

Mabrouk Télé Liban!

To read more about the case.

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Redefining relationships: when a Facebook poke becomes a marriage proposal.

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When 31-year-old Nafis Joon agreed on touring Facebook headquarters on June 23, 2014 with her boyfriend, 32-year-old Steve Kawalit, she had no idea that that he wanted to propose to her, with the blessings of Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Everything started in 2007, when Nafis Joon, a dentist, received a poke from Steve, a digital marketing manager, who was a total stranger to her. After responding positively, Nafis and Steve began chatting online, and then moved to meeting in person in Toronto where they both live. Since then, things became more serious than just a poke.

So it was kind of “logical” for Steve to propose to Nafis at Facebook’s headquarters since this social media engine was the catalyst of their relationship.

The proposal moment

Picture: Via Nafis Joon’s personal FB account

Nafis and Steve were very discrete about how they met since it would sound kind of awkward to their entourage. But nowadays online dating leading to more serious relationships has become a fundamental part of a busy and fast life. We can’t but think about how the Internet and social media engines have affected our lives and our relationships. Is it a bad or a good thing? There is no rule that would determine it. Whether you go for the “old live” dating or choose online dating, it’s your commitment that defines your relationship.

The proposal is available on video, on Nafis Joon’s personal FB account. To watch it click here.

Pascale Asmar

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Almaza new Ad: Epic!

Good one Almaza!

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Football predictions France vs. Germany and Brazil vs. Colombia

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France vs. Germany

In the first round, France showed a spectacular football performance beating Honduras (3-0) and Switzerland (5-2) in the first two matches. The players showed a wonderful team spirit, and the performance of Benzema, Valbuena and the amazing 21 year old Juventus player Paul Pogba was very special. 

French were a bit weak in their third match against Ecuador. They didn’t score any goal although they had many shots. Probably because the qualification was secured and Didier Deshamps chose to rest some players like Valbuena.
In their game against Nigeria in the second round, they had difficulty in scoring in the first half due to the combination GIROUD, BENZEMA. The coach took a very good decision by replacing Giroud by Griezman and they scored two goals. Concerning Germans, they performed a beautiful show in their first match against Portuguese beating them 4-0 (not to forget that Portugal played with 10 players), their performance against Ghana and USA was weak; Ghana was pretty close from surprising us.

In the second round, they faced the tough Algerian team and they won 2-1 in the additional time. The Algerians were fighting hard and playing a very good football, the Germans showed good performance in their second half while showing at the same time clear defensive gaps. In my opinion, the game between France and Germany will end in the official time by a draw of 1-1 and I won’t be surprised at all if France won.

Brazil vs. Colombia

The performance of Brazilian team in this world cup was poor. With the shining star Neymar and some arbitrary errors, the Brazilians had barely pass to the second round. Until now, they did not impress me at all. Their performance against Chili in the second round was also poor; they were a bit lucky in this game, and thanks to the brilliant goal Julio Cesar keeper they were saved in the penalty shots. The Colombians were impressive, they won easily all their matches even without their greatest player Radamel Falcao. However let us be authentic, they didn’t face any real opponent (Japan, Cote d’Ivoire, Greece and Uruguay without Suarez). In my opinion, this game will end in the official time by a draw of 1-1.

Please don't hesitate to share your opinion with us.

PS: This article was written by a guest writer. Please don't hesitate to contribute with us by sending any article you like to share .

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تسعة أشهر من الأمان

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عامٌ ونصف عاشت تمارا تتحمل عنفاً كان يطالها بشكلٍ شبه يومي، انتهى بمحاولةٍ للقتل وآثارٍ دامية من الصعب غفرانها...

تمارا، الضحية الجميلة التي سعى كثيرون إلى تحويلها إلى مجرمة، ستعيش الآن تسعة أشهر من الأمان بعد صدور الحكم بحقّ حسين فتوني، معنِّفها، بسجنه لمدّة 9 أشهر ودفع تعويض 20 مليون ل.ل. كعقوبة لاقترافه جرم الضرب والإيذاء.

تسعة أشهرٍ من الراحة ستعيشها تمارا، تسعة أشهر لن يكون الخوف فيها رفيقها الدائم، تسعة أشهر تستعيد فيها القدرة على الرواية بعدما حاول زوجها اقتلع عينيها... تسعة أشهر تنام فيها تمارا مطمئنة...

ولكن ماذا سيحدث بعد انتهاء المدة؟ من سيحمي تمارا وأبنتها من قاتلٍ لم يتوانى عن أذيتهما؟

تمارا الضحية تستحق أن تحظى بالعدالة الكاملة، عدالةً تحاسب الزوج وتقاضيه تحت جرم "محاولة القتل" ...تسعة أشهر من الأمان ليست كافية.

Rihab

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وطني الشهيد.

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أنظر إلى وطني ولا أعرفه... في عجقة الانفجارات والتعصبات الدينية لم أعد ألمح وجهه الجميل، وجهه الذي اغرمت فيه ولأجله أقاوم كل يوم...

اليوم قام مجهولون بإلقاء قنبلةٍ على قهوةٍ شعبيةٍ في حيٍ من أحياء باب التبانة. أربعة جرحى سقطوا ضحية أناسٍ يعتقدون أنهم يملكون ألحق بالتحكم بحياة الأخرين وبحّد حريتهم... أربعة جرحى جريمتهم الوحيدة أنهم لم يصوموا، أنهم لم يستمعوا لتلك التحذيرات الحاقدة التي حاولت لأول مرةٍ من تاريخنا أن تقاتل الصائمين...

لن أتكلم الأن عن تلك القرارات البلدية التي حاولت أن تفرض الصوم على الموطنين، لن أتكلم عن دولةٍ غائبةٍ تعيش حالة غيبوبةٍ طويلة الأجل، لن أتكلم عن نوابٍ باعونا بدل المرة ألف مرة، لن أتكلم عن تطرفٍ غدى وجهاً يومياً لطرابلس، سأتكلم فقط عن رعبٍ بدأ يجتاحونا، عن خوفٍ من غدٍ ظننا بسذاجةٍ خبيثة اننا بعيدون عنه...

سأتكلم عن وطنٍ يتقاتل فيه المتطرفون، عن انفجاراتٍ تندلع بغير هدى، عن ابرياء يموتون، وأطفالٍ يتيتمون... سأتكلم عن وطنٍ نعيش فيه بالصدفة ونموت فيه بالصدفة... سأتكلم عن وطنٍ قتلناه بخيانتنا المتتالية، بانتمائنا لأدياننا بدل الانتماء له، عن وطنٍ ذنبه الوحيد أنه وطنٌ بدون شعب...

لبنان ينازع، يتخبط على فراش الانفجار، أنفاسه ضعيفة، ودقات قلبه بالكاد تسمع...

لبناننا سقط ضحية مرضٍ عضال اجتاح جسده المنهك ورماه قشةً في مهب الرياح... لبناننا ينازع ونحن امله الوحيد. لكننا فقدنا ثقته بنا، خسرناها يوم أشحنا أعيننا عنه وتركناه وحيداً... لبناننا يحتاجونا فهل نلبي النداء هذه المرة.

Rihab

Photo credits: LBC

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Atheism is invading KSA.

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This year, KSA publicized the Penal Law for Crimes of Terrorism. The new regulation included terrorism provisions used to criminalize and to charge virtually any Saudi citizen or association  that would criticize the Saudi system or Islam. Article one in the latter provisions recited “Atheism and Questioning the Islamic Sharia” as terrorist threats.

“Calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based.”

Declaring atheism as a crime, by the Saudi leaders, matches perfectly the political/religious system of KSA.  However, why did KSA wait until now to take these precautions? Is atheism really threatening  the kingdom?

Although, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch Joe Stork in an interview to the Chicago Sun-Times, described atheism in Saudi Arabia as a “kind of a non-issue”, the traces of nonbelievers or doubter are spotted.  

In 2012, the Saudi authorities jailed Hamza Kashgari, a Saudi poet and journalist, for two years without trial after sending three tweets containing unconventional thoughts about Prophet Mohamad.

Similar thing happened with the founder of “Free Saudi Liberals" a website that discussed religion in the KSA, Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years jail, 1000 lashes and a fine of 1 million riyals ($266,600).

Fahad Alfahad, Saudi human rights activists, declared to the Global Post: “I know at least six atheists who confirmed that to me. Six or seven years ago, I would not even have heard one person say that. Not even a best friend would confess that to me.”

Despite all these effort to suppress people and rule them by the unquestionable religious power, some people fight and express their free thoughts believing that a day will come when the power of mind conquers the power of religion.

I cannot see how faith could be forced over people by law. Threating people, jailing them, and hurting them physically and psychologically would not protect the kingdom forever. Declaring a low against atheism is a clear confession of its existence and of its capacity to threaten the system.

You can forbid people from talking but you cannot control their ideas.

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.

John F. Kennedy


Rihab

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