Thursday, February 7/2013

Martina back and checks on Beirut. Yes,possible, so off we go to consider. Check the Canadian foreign advisories and come up with "avoid all but necessary travel." The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the gold standard, is cautious but less dogmatic - and more helpfully specific. The problem, of course, is Syria, and possibly Israel. Worst possibility probably a demo closing the road to the airport. Online checks with people recently there reasonably encouraging. Actually the Canadian foreign advisories in general have a rather unpleasant tone not shared by other countries' foreign offices - and not true in the past of Canada. It's rather as if the primary intent was not to protect Canadians but to limit government responsibility and liability, and one of the unfortunate side effects  is that the advice becomes less useful and less trustworthy.