---------------------------------------------- Serious satire "Humor is a funny way of being serious" -Thomas Edison -------------------- To have your emails deleted please write to me at renatoobeid@hotmail.com -------------------- Copyright© 2001-2010, Renato Obeid   Archives April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 January 2009 April 2009 October 2012 << current prequel   "Top blog/Renato Obeid's World/Today's pick: This rambling weblog is worth reading not so much for its satirical posts but more for its insight into the minutiae of life in Lebanon, including the etiquette of road accidents and how to hire a taxi.” -Jane Perrone, The Guardian my profile audio

renatoobeidsworld   Sunday, November 27, 2005   SWISS VOTERS ENDORSE REFERENDUM PROPOSAL TO BAN GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS - would you like fries with that? Although I’m a fan of Swiss direct democracy (where the people’s consent is required on any major issue) I think that voting on what to have for dinner is taking it a bit too far. 7:00 pm Saturday, November 26, 2005   TOURIST RIPPED OFF BUYING WATER PIPE IN MIDDLE EAST – WORLD FIRST - put that in your pipe and smoke it! Spent a lovely afternoon with my friend Eric (“Ezza” in "Australian"), his wife Vera and his sister Lesley who are visiting from the UK. Ezza bought two water pipes (complete with plastic carry case with shoulder strap) from a specialty water pipe shop in Jounieh to take back to the UK as presents. We later saw them for half that price at a homeware shop in Beirut while looking for a nativity scene for Vera, although Ezza insists they were of lesser quality (he would wouldn’t he). Maybe Ezza should have stuck to gifting Schott’s Almanac – a compendium of fascinating facts and trivia that he got me from the UK. We couldn’t find a nativity scene that was portable enough to fit in a suitcase so Ezza undertook to build one for Vera when they got home. Sounds like a Viz comic strip in the making to me. My favorite item at homeware heaven was a gaudy plastic statuette of Saint George slaying the dragon (missing the sword) for only 7500 lira (maybe the sword is an optional extra). Legend has it that Saint George slew the dragon at what is now Saint George's Bay in Beirut.The dragon returned last February, engulfing the Saint George corniche in a fireball that killed Prime Minister Hariri and twenty-two others. 8:00 pm Monday, November 21, 2005   Before I became computer literate, almost four years ago, I couldn’t even turn a computer on, now I can’t turn it off. 3:15 pm

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