Should Taleb Meet with the Maronite Patriarch to Discuss the Political Future of Lebanon?

6) These idiots from the #Lebanese "civil society" cannot grasp that we must avoid a revolution.
They practically ALL end poorly (BTW the American Rev. was a separatist movement, not a revolution).

Work on gradual evolution. Pick the least bad PM.https://t.co/kEAPxFC5Pc

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) July 27, 2021

Is It Collapse if the State Is Replaced by Something Better?

Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai has implored Lebanon’s patron saint to help save the country from “total collapse.” https://t.co/WOxFyT5mSk

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) July 20, 2021

Maronite patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai implores Lebanon’s beloved St. Charbel Makhlouf's intercession to overcome Lebanon’s crisis https://t.co/yeje1A3t5Q

Via @CatholicNewsSvc pic.twitter.com/pbSC8U2GtL

— Our Sunday Visitor (@OSV) July 20, 2021

But Will the Non-Christian Lebanese Be Offended?

In response to a letter from the bishops and patriarchs of Lebanon asking for European intervention as the country plunges even further into a black hole, Europe’s bishops have pledged support and have asked government leaders to take action.https://t.co/wwrUwRLDcs

— Crux (@Crux) May 27, 2021

Beirut Vocal

Lovers of Fairouz, check out this rendition of "Bint al-Shalabiyya" by Lebanon's premier choral ensemble, @BeirutVocal, directed by my mother @JanmarieLive. pic.twitter.com/HAS6OwYd4X

— Elias Muhanna (@QifaNabki) February 22, 2021

There Is No Obligation to Uphold a State

Maybe a more politically sustainable order could result from the collapse of "Lebanon."

CNA: Maronite Catholic leader calls on international community to ‘help save Lebanon’

Federalism Movement in Lebanon

Now, PRINCIPIA POLITICA is read in #Lebanon. #Federalism is unavoidable. https://t.co/OYLUy68jY3

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) September 28, 2020

Lebanon is about the size of Connecticut, with about twice its population. If federalism is warranted for Lebanon, how about Connecticut? And if American states should be broken up, then our obsolete federal system (which makes an appearance now and then) should be replaced.

Maronite Patriarch Speaks Out

Post by Zenit News Agency.

St. Paul's Basilica in Harissa, Lebanon

A couple of photos. Another photo. Melkite!

Watching EWTN - Pope Benedict looks a bit older - his face seems thinner.

Pope urged to recognise Palestinian state

Patriarchate of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center

Related:
A Divine Liturgy in Rome, 2 years ago

Updated:
Zenit: Pope's Question and Answer Session During Apostolic Trip to Lebanon
"Christians and Arabs Have Built These Lands and Must Live Together"

Benedict XVI's Address Upon Arriving in Beirut
"Your Joys and Sorrows Are Constantly Present in the Pope's Prayers"

Benedict XVI to Visit Lebanon

Rome Reports: How to watch Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon live

website for the visit (which you will not find at the RR link)

EWTN will be covering the trip:

Apostolic Journey To Lebanon: Visit To Basilica Of St. Paul (Live)
Fri. Sept. 14 at 11 AM ET & 10 PM ET
Pope Benedict XVI visits the Basilica before signing the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

Apostolic Journey To Lebanon: Meeting With Government Officials And Representatives (Live)
Sat. Sept. 15 at 4 AM ET & 5 PM ET
The Holy Father meets with the President of Lebanon, and the Prime Minister and Speaker of the Parliament. He also meets with the heads of Muslim communities before going on to pronounce an address to political and cultural leaders.

Apostolic Journey To Lebanon: Meeting With Youth (Live)
Sat. Sept. 15 at 11 AM ET & 10 PM ET
Meeting with Youth in the square across from the Maronite Patriarchate of Bkerke.

Apostolic Journey To Lebanon: Mass And Angelus (Live)
Sun. Sept. 16 at 2:30 AM ET & 11 AM ET
The Holy Father will celebrate Mass (and Angelus) at Beirut City Centre Waterfront and consign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

Patrick Cockburn on Lebanon

Welcome to Lebanon: Graveyard of the Arrogant
By PATRICK COCKBURN

Lebanon may be the ‘battleground of the Middle East’, as Hirst’s subtitle suggests, but this does not explain how it has become such a lethal trap for its tormentors over the last thirty years. The very absence of government appears to make the country easy meat, but would-be occupiers find that there is no uncontested local authority to co-opt or intimidate. Lebanon is high up on the list of countries which Washington think tanks patronizingly refer to as ‘failed states’ with the implication that they are political basket cases where foreign powers are justified in intervening because of the absence of a sovereign power. But the think tankers seldom mention that it is in these supposedly ‘failed states’ that the US has suffered its worst humiliations in the years since 242 US marines were blown up in their barracks beside Beirut airport by a suicide bomber in 1983.

American intervention in states without effective governments has been almost uniformly disastrous. After the Marines were killed Ronald Reagan hastily withdrew survivors from Lebanon and invaded the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada by way of diversion. The debacle in Beirut was not unique. Ten years later the US intervention in Somalia ended humiliatingly after the bodies of US helicopter pilots were photographed being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. Post 9/11, easy initial victories in Afghanistan and Iraq seemed to show that the US was the super-power it claimed to be, but early successes turned into draining guerrilla wars in which the $500-billion-a-year US military machine was baffled by a few tens of thousands of guerrillas. Conflicts expected to be short and victorious turned out to be long and inconclusive. The very puniness of America’s opponents made failure to win more damaging and withdrawal more humiliating.

Also from Counterpunch:
Dave Lindorff, A Whistleblower Bounty on Corporate Crime
Gatien Elie, Allan Popelard and Paul Vannier, France's New Rural Ghettos
Tom Genrich / Michele Parry, Back to the Land in France: Settler's By Choice
Ralph Nader, The Spectulator's Rebate

Ignorant Americans should refrain

from talking about things they do not know...

What Really Happened in the Lebanese Elections? By ESAM AL-AMIN
Yup, Tom Friedman Gets It Wrong, Again

Plus two by Dr. Larison -- Let’s Not Get Carried Away and Another Thought On Lebanon.