Time to Drink the Nile Water

According to reports in the Egytian media, Saudi Sheikh Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, owner of the Grand Hyatt Cairo (which I actually think is the best Hotel in Cairo, if for no other reason than their gym and lobby), poured roughly $1.5m worth of alcohol into the Nile. The whole process, which took place at the back part of the hotel (which takes up most of a small island in the Nile), was observed by a "small committee." I wonder if there was crying.

Some worry that the decision by the Sheikh to no longer sell alcohol may endanger the Hotel's "five-star" rating. Another member of the management said:

“This is one of the things a foreigner would look for at a five-star hotel. As a foreigner, you know, you might need a beer when you have lunch.”

Funny thing is, I think the foreigners most upset about it would be the Saudis.

More importantly, does the ban effect the Hard Rock? LE100 wings and Heineken just isn't the same without the beer.

The Situation in Lebanon

So I've been following the goings on in Beirut and trying to make sense of exactly whats going on. Honestly I can't say I know that much about the situation, or Lebanon in general, but these are the news sources that I have found useful:

By far the best coverage (with virtually up-to-the-minute updates) is Naharnet.

The CS Monitor has good coverage as well here and here(maybe because they actually have foreign bureaus). Their coverage is especially useful for understanding how this started.

As you will recall, Lebanon was the site of political unrest this fall over electing the government. Read a brief summary here.

A Couple of Useful Maps

Over the past couple of weeks I've been bemoaning the fact that I don't really understand the human and political geography of the Middle East well enough. So I thought I would get a couple of maps that I could study to work out some of the more hot-button issues. Namely 1) The religious distribution of the region, and 2) The location of oil and gas in the region.

So far, I've found these two maps to be incredibly helpful. See for yourself.

Religious distribution in the ME (by way of SIPA's Gulf/2000 project):


And this map with petroleum and natural gas sites and infrastructure in the ME (by way of the Global Education Project):


Enjoy. We'll have a quiz on Monday.