Life goes on as norm in the Middle Eastern blogosphere with much discussion about politics, politicians and their many promises and failures. However one clear distinction can be noticed in the Lebanese blogosphere, the argument of who won the recent war in Lebanon. The question however is not who gained from this conflict, rather it appears to be who can shout we won the most//loudest.

The findings from the Brammertz Report, a study into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, was cause for discussion. BOB, from Bob's Blog found several interesting points in this report and highlighted them in his post on the Lebanon Bloggers Forum entitled My take on Brameretz report. This report and the many protests organized by political powers in Lebanon have brought back memories of the Cedar Revolution, the series of protests in response to Hariri's assassination, leaving many wondering what has changed since March 14, 2005? For those who have never seen nor heard of the Cedar Revolution, I will add some protest-photos at the bottom of this post.

Wrapping up the Lebanon discussion I am happy to say atleast something positive has been noted as a result of the recent war, Ramrumple writes about Lebanese womens reaction to the influx of UNIFIL boys into southern Lebanon.

Across to the United Arab Emirates next where improvements are being made to the worrisome level of internet censorship ! Keefyboy from Adventures in Dubai posts about the UAE's only telecom company Etisalat unblocking some of the most popular sites on the internet, possibly in response to the imminent launch of a second telecom company du.Grapeshisha also writes a compelling post labeled the Dollar value of banned sites in the UAE, which addresses the issue of banning popular community building sites like myspace and comparing this with the need for banning sites that actually deserve it. Grapeshisha argues that the UAE, which prides itself in being technologically advanced should not be restricting the internet medium, but rather working with the medium to create a friendly environment for Muslim populations.

Before finishing up with a very brief description of what's going on in Iraq there is an important topic to mention; this month (beginning upon the sighting of the moon on September 23 this year) is Ramadan. While some bloggers mention how this holy month been taken to far, used for profit and missunderstood by some who partake in the ;fasting;, secretdubai from Secret Dubai Diary explains that Ramadan is actually about the cleansing the soul. Despite being a holy-month dedicated to spiritual cleansing and self sacrifice, not much has changed in Iraq where extremists are rampaging with killings, after killings, after killing and worse. (MAKE SURE YOU READ THAT LAST LINK), and finally it amazes me how some Iraqi's can maintain their sense of humour, even in times like these...