Enough of security forces, already

The latest issue of Al-Manshour, Lebanon's leading left wing magazine, is available online (in Arabic).

Summary of expectations for 2008: more poverty, more repression, more security ...

Zina Kiwan reveals that:
According to Lebanon's 1946 labour law
Article 44: the minimum wage must be sufficient to satisfy the necessary needs of the employee and his family.
Article 46: re-examined to determine the minimum wage whenever economic conditions change.

In fact in 2008:
Approximately 60 percent of people live below the poverty line
A family nedds $800 per month to cover basic needs
Estimated inflation: 30-40 percent
The government trheatens to increase the value added tax (TVA) to 18 percent