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Category Archives: Looks Like Beirut

Trenton at Night Sounds Like Beirut

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New Jersey, USA

Sounds of gun shots ringing through the night in Trenton, New Jersey is, according to South Ward Councilman George Muschal, similar to the sounds of Beirut:

A city shooting that targeted two officers late Monday dominated part of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, with Police Director Ralph River Jr. and South Ward Councilman George Muschal sparring over the department’s handling of the incident.

[...]

Muschal said he’s out on the city’s streets every night, and sometimes it sounds like Beirut out there.

I’ll be dispatching a Looks Like Beirut certificate to George Muschal soon.

Last shot of my trip - Promise by Serge Melki -- via flickr

Last shot of my trip - Promise by Serge Melki -- via flickr

Edward James Olmos Compares Riot-Ridden LA to Beirut

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California, USA

20 years after the Los Angeles riots, actor/activist Edward James Olmos describes the scene to the Hollywood Reporter:

Actor and activist Edward James Olmos says Hollywood on Thursday night “looked like Beirut, like an all-out war going on.” Seeing someone in the street who had been shot in the headby a shop owner “broke my back,” Olmos says. “I almost ran over him with my car.”

I believe a “looks like Beirut” certificate is definitely in need.

Beirut panorami by Luciana.Luciana -- via flickr

Beirut panorami by Luciana.Luciana -- via flickr

Australia’s Newcastle compared to a Friday Night in Beirut

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Newcastle, Australia

As my pal Rabih (over at SkyscraperCity) perfectly pointed out: “it’s been a busy 24 hours for bigots in Newcastle, Australia news rooms“.

Speaking at a Hunter Valley Research Foundation function at state Parliament yesterday, Infrastructure NSW chairman and former Liberal premier Nick Greiner issued a blunt assessment of the central business district of NSW’s second city [Newcastle] as “looking a bit like Beirut on a bad Friday night”.

“So you’ve got a choice. You leave the CBD looking a bit like Beirut on a bad Friday night, or you get rid of the rail line. I do think it’s as simple as that.”

The Herald also decides to spice things up with a poll on the topic. Here is the question:

Nick Greiner says Newcastle looks ‘‘a bit like Beirut on a bad Friday night’’. Is he being unfair?

Here are your choices and the results (at the time of my posting):

  • No, the CBD looks like a war zone. (49.1%)
  • Yes, I love our CBD and see its potential. (23.2%)
  • Yes, unfair to Beirut. (27.7%)

Anyone else furious? Oh but of course it gets better.

Newcastle Liberal MP Tim Owen says he would not compare the inner-city to Beirut, but agrees with former Premier Nick Greiner that the rail line removal will be a catalyst for renewal.

MP Tim Owen “has concerns” on what is happening on the streets of Newcastle but wouldn’t go as far as comparing it to Beirut. Furious yet? But wait, there’s still more.

Australia’s ABC has two photos comparing Beirut to Newcastle. Here’s an undated photo of Beirut (I’m assuming taken in 2006) with no context whatsoever:

ABC: Rubble in Beirut

ABC: Rubble in Beirut

And here’s their photo of Newcastle:

ABC: Newcastle's inner city at night

ABC: Newcastle's inner city at night

Angry yet?

Downtown Beirut - November 2007 -- via Wikipedia

Downtown Beirut - November 2007 -- via Wikipedia

Attack Against UK Hoodies Leads to Attack on Beirut

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Linday Johns of the Daily Mail hits out at the idea of “hiring hoodies” as recommended by the UK’s Employment Minister. In his ran the pull out a looks like Beirut cliche:

Employment Minister Chris Grayling’s plea yesterday in a speech to the Policy Exchange think tank for British companies to “hire a hoodie” is laudable but misguided.

The problem being, of course – as anyone who has worked with the hoodie brigade knows only too well – that many hoodies have rendered themselves quite frankly unemployable by any right-minded, intelligent mainstream employer because of their lack of grammatically correct spoken English, inappropriate choice of apparel, surly demeanour and faux-macho, “street tough” attitude.

[...]

With their “game face” firmly fixed on like a mask – the “screwface” which they choose to adopt, as they perceive it, in order to survive life “on the streets” (acting as if the streets of first-world London are akin to real war zones like Beirut or Mogadishu) – they do not inspire or engender positivity, but only exude menace and negativity. It is a harsh truth that people are more disposed to be friendly to someone who is smiling, not scowling at them.

Real war zones? Like the London riots last year? There is also a sense of irony where Lindsay attacks these people for failing to grasp the English language but seems indifferent to the use of cliches. Lindsay, your Looks Like Beirut certificate is on its way.

Beirut taxi ride! by whatleydude -- via flickr

Beirut taxi ride! by whatleydude -- via flickr

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