EVENING NOISE IN BEIRUT

Since the end of the civil war over two decades ago, Beirut has become a major tourist destination, famed for a variety of cultural activities, upscale restaurants and nightlife. But every time I come to Beirut, I notice and am deeply annoyed by a different, decidedly downscale nightlife. Especially on weekends, a certain type of people take over the streets. They basically are a rowdier, noisier version of the cruising culture that used to exist in the US before gasoline prices and environmental consciousness both went up.

Thursday through Saturday night, the streets are alive with noise. People in souped up cars and loose mufflers gun their engines, squeal their tires, and roar down major streets late into the night. It's the same with bigger motorcycles. And then, there are the scooters. They buzz around in all directions, against traffic, and run red lights.

All this takes place in a city of tall buildings; the noise reverberates among them. And most of these buildings include residential flats, where people are trying to watch TV, carry a conversation, or sleep. Some of these buildings are hotels where people are probably appalled that all this is allowed. Even early Sunday morning, as this is being written, I can hear car engines gunning down a nearby thoroughfare, taking advantage of the absence of rush-hour traffic and marring the twittering of pet birds, wild birds, and doves.

Needless to say, pedestrians need to be extremely cautious and look BOTH ways, regardless of whether the light is green or red.

An entire generation has grown up in this culture of inconsideration for others. There is no reason why peace and quite can't be imposed. The Lebanese government has been able to prevent civil war from returning. It has managed to ban smoking in indoor public places fairly well (but with some loopholes - more on that in a future entry). It effectively imposed a hunting ban for several years (before it expired and hunting was allowed to return without regulation). It is truly a shame that it has not chosen to crack down on the noisy mayhem that descends on Beirut every three-day weekend. (Friday is a day off for may people here.) People are indirectly being told that it's okay to speed down streets, annoy other people in their homes, and generally behave like jerks.

For the sake of raising a generation with good manners and morals, it is time to crack down on this nonsense!

In-Your-Face Climate Change in Lebanon

Just before I arrived in Lebanon, I saw on Facebook photos of the country engulfed in a reddish haze. Around this time of the year, Lebanon occasionally gets heat waves from the deserts east of it, often accompanied by a dusty haze, and I thought it was just another one of those.

This time, as I found out after I arrived, it hadn't been just dust hanging in the air. It had been a full-blown sand storm from Africa (to the southwest) with high winds similar to the ones that plague Arizona, only from much farther away. At other times, Lebanon has been hit by unusually heavy rain that has resulted in flooding and even deaths. Heavy rain has become more common in September; in the past, there rarely would be more than a sprinkle or two late in that month as fall approached. A couple of years ago in September, one torrential front after the other passed over several days, dumping a total that probably exceeded Phoenix's average total for the entire monsoon season. And now, since I arrived in Lebanon on April 12, it has been raining, often heavily, every single day, wreaking havoc with my hiking plans. This is highly unusual for April, at the tail end of the rainy season, and would be considered a long streak even in winter. One plus - it has washed away the dust left over from the African storm.

Here's my guess of what's happening; I did not go online to research it. Lebanon lies at the east end of the Mediterranean and gets its storms from the west. As this inland sea warms up, there is extra evaporation. All that water has to end up somewhere. The mountains of Lebanon intercept it and bring it down as rain. It also could be due to shifting wind patterns. If it is true that global warming may result in more rain at either end of the winter season, that is actually good news, as it will shorten the fire season and nourish vegetation that might get stressed over the increasingly hot, dry summers. Perhaps Lebanon will luck out with climate change and not suffer the fate being predicted for Arizona and the American southwest - a hotter AND drier climate and huge wildfires that, by some long-term forecast, may end up decimating most of Arizona's Ponderosa pine forests.

Many people here who might have casually heard of global warming/climate change agree that "the weather is changing". Hotter, more humid summers are a big complaint by many Lebanese. No one complains about the idea of global warming/climate change being some United Nations or leftist conspiracy to deny "our God-given right" to drive, pollute, ban urban sprawl, and otherwise live a wasteful lifestyle.

As this goes online, there is more thunder and refreshing rain outside.

Smoking Culture on the Wane in Lebanon

I am happy to report that tobacco ads have totally disappeared from the thousand of billboards of Lebanon. They were banned in 2011, and just a handful were still around then when I visited Lebanon, so it was no surprise now; still, it leaves a satisfying feeling. Also, there did not seem to be anyone breaking the smoking ban inside the airport, unlike what I observed on previous trips.

On Saturday, I was invited to lunch at La Piazza near Downtown Beirut. After 1 PM, people poured in until the place was essentially full. And yet, no one lit up cigarettes. On the way out, I saw a no-smoking sign, and complemented the servant who was seeing us out on this. I would later feel like a fool for doing that when a friend reminded me that the Lebanese government had banned all indoor smoking in public places! (I even raved about it on Facebook at the time!) There was an outcry at first and forecasts of businesses shutting down, just like there had been in Arizona a few years earlier when voters snuffed out smoking in restaurants, bars, and other indoor places. And, just like in Arizona, people got used to it and then welcomed it. Not only did it not hurt business; it just attracted non-smokers who might have otherwise stayed home.

My friend told me that the law is actually being enforced quite well by the government; a remarkable achievement in a country where laws are routinely broken. You can report a rogue smoker to the restaurant manager, and he can call the police. Many people have been busted and fined. People can still still smoke; you see them out on the street by restaurants, smoking in the sun, heat, and traffic. People can still smoke at restaurants with outdoor seating. I noticed that ashtrays inside have no cradles for cigarettes; they're for pumpkin seed shells, nut shells and such; the ones outside do have cradles.

I never thought I'd ever see this in Lebanon. After all, my school yearbooks from the late 1960s and early 70s feature ads by Marlboro, Winston, Kent and such! Both teachers and older students routinely smoked on the campus. It took years, even decades, for smoking to be marginalized in the US. Hopefully Lebanon is going down the same path; just faster.

Next on the agenda is a hefty tax increase on tobacco; it was part of the law but has yet to be implemented.

Now, if only the same can be done with the mayhem that passes for bird "hunting" in Lebanon...