Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

the961.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 258 posts

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#231

Post by al_mandi »

rayiner wrote: post #150
azth wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that Muslims want democracy (I'm Muslim). Present day democracy generally contradicts and is against Islam, so I'm not sure where you're getting your information from.

I’m from a Muslim country, and I think they do want democracy. What they don’t want is liberal democracy like in the west. Shadi Hamid has been instrumental in helping me understand the distinction between the two things. Here’s a good example: https://mobile.twitter.com/shadihamid/status/144363599537580... . More generally: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/08/shadi-hamid-on-i... What (most) Muslims want is s…

> insofar as the people did make the rules for society

But which rules? While Islam does have certain leeway for certain things to be left to society to decide, not everything is. You will not find any Muslim who will make it an offense to celebrate Eid for example.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#232

Post by tptacek »

rayiner wrote: post #96
fezfight wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the cause of all human on human suffering since the dawn of time is greed. Its almost a tautology so maybe it didn't need to be said. For the record, I'm a Canadian who went to school with countless Lebanese people in Ottawa. I'm a big fan!

Quoted post unavailable.

When someone tells you they're a fan of a culture because of the immigrants and expats they've met from that culture, it's not OK to explain to them why they're wrong by implying that the rest of the culture is unlike them.

This is really epsilon from trolling.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#233

Post by fezfight »

tptacek wrote: post #232
rayiner wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

When someone tells you they're a fan of a culture because of the immigrants and expats they've met from that culture, it's not OK to explain to them why they're wrong by implying that the rest of the culture is unlike them. This is really epsilon from trolling.

Cheers!

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#234

Post by DiggyJohnson »

napmo wrote: post #205
dannylandau wrote: post #172

Cool pics. I'm from Israel and would like to visit Beirut, enjoy the food and people, not sure that will ever be possible in the near future.

Quoted post unavailable.

This is needlessly political and antagonistic. You make no attempt to respond to the best possible interpretation of the parent comment.

No, I am not saying this to dismiss the region’s problems, or defend one side or the other. I am responding to your mode of response specifically.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#235

Post by DiggyJohnson »

DubiousPusher wrote: post #189
DiggyJohnson wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Greed cannot account for all of it. Ignorance, for example, comes to mind instantly.

Well and unscrupulous foreign actors exacerbating a situation for their own ends.

Well I would call that greed. I do think a short list of factors is possible, and greed often preys on ignorance.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#236

Post by picsao »

nsajko wrote: post #152
skippyboxedhero wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100 years? It was basically a first-world country 50 years ago. The decline in living standards in Lebanon is one of the largest ever (Argentina probably the biggest, Venezuela is the other big one, Lebanon is somewhere around Venezuela). Countries can come back (the country that was Austro-Hungary, Slovakia has a city with one of the highest GDP per capita in Europe after massive repeated collapses), but there is (a…

Vague insinuations such as this one always harm the discussion. Why not just communicate clearly? > the country that was Austro-Hungary, Slovakia No, Slovakia wasn't Austria-Hungary, rather it was just a small part of Austria-Hungary (of Hungary, to be more precise). Wasn't even a successor de jure of Austria-Hungary.

No post body was provided.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#237

Post by netsharc »

petre wrote: post #166
netsharc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The date on the top of the article is August 10, 2019. Almost a year later, August 4, 2020, the port explosion happened, probably breaking all the glass of the city. Wikipedia: > The damage from the blast affected over half of Beirut, with the likely cost above US$15 billion and insured losses at around US$3 billion. Approximately ninety percent of the city's hotels were damaged and three hospitals completely destroy…

They should have probably left that wreck of a ship transport its explisive cargo to Somalia or wherever it was going instead of arresting it and storing its cargo. Probably Russian explosives bound for Eastern Africa conflict zones masking as fertilizer.

Your comment is based on unfounded speculation (or at least you don't cite any sources) and I find it just a waste of time...

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#238

Post by petre »

netsharc wrote: post #237
petre wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should have probably left that wreck of a ship transport its explisive cargo to Somalia or wherever it was going instead of arresting it and storing its cargo. Probably Russian explosives bound for Eastern Africa conflict zones masking as fertilizer.

Your comment is based on unfounded speculation (or at least you don't cite any sources) and I find it just a waste of time...

Not speculation, it was based on some article I've read. Here you go:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/world/middleeast/beirut-e...

Except is was not bound for Somalia but for Mozambique. Still Eastern Africa. What do you think they'd use it for? Mining?

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#239

Post by netsharc »

petre wrote: post #238
netsharc wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment is based on unfounded speculation (or at least you don't cite any sources) and I find it just a waste of time...

Not speculation, it was based on some article I've read. Here you go: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/world/middleeast/beirut-e... Except is was not bound for Somalia but for Mozambique. Still Eastern Africa. What do you think they'd use it for? Mining?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/07/middleeast/beirut-lebanon...

What do you think they'd use it for? Terrorism? That's where I call "Speculation!".

Fine, my own further Wikipedia sleuthing says you're probably right, but "I read a line on the NY Times" after being prompted for it is no proof: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/a-hidden-tycoon-afri...

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#240

Post by roenxi »

fezfight wrote: post #85
skippyboxedhero wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Greed existed before 1975. Are you saying Americans aren't greedy? And that is why they are so rich? To be more specific: Lebanon was a country that had avoided the stuff going on elsewhere in the Middle East. The PLO gets involved, and the country implodes.

Yes, the cause of all human on human suffering since the dawn of time is greed. Its almost a tautology so maybe it didn't need to be said. For the record, I'm a Canadian who went to school with countless Lebanese people in Ottawa. I'm a big fan!

1) The cause of all human suffering is desire. The Buddhists have been pointing that out for millennia.

2) Greed is pretty much constant, people have been extremely greedy forever. The cause is the thing that changed to allow that greed to be channelled negatively. We've figured out how to channel greed for positive ends - in the process called a 'modern economy'. Greed is just a fuel, the issue is whether it is burning in an engine or burning uncontrolled.

Post reply on HN