Although I still don't know the why of it, it seems this one comes from a Jewish tradition where tying a red ribbon around a crib was believed to protect a baby from The Evil Eye.
In fact the one area where ties are flourishing the jetfighter disappointment aside —is defence.
Many find jobs through career services, where ties with recruiters depend on the track record of prior candidates.
This is a tribal country where ties to a tribe are more important than any tie to a community.
That would hardly do at a 227-year-old 227-year-old 227-year-olde still required for boys in class.
But their fiat does not reach down to the branches, where ties of loyalty (and corruption) bind local managers to local officials and businessmen.
There are also fears that the crisis next door could reignite armed conflict in Lebanon, where ties to Syria run deep.
Mr. Chalabi, wearing a suit and tie in a country where ties are still suspect for being too Western, seemed to revel in his surroundings.
It's where masculine footgear runs to tasseled loafers, where socks have clocks and where ties are rep-striped and, whenever possible, red.
This remains a country where ties of kinship and clan trump justice, and where the money brought by the West has made corruption into a way of life.
Like thousands of Libyans, the Megrahis are adjusting to the new, uncertain political climate, where ties with the former regime are automatically suspect.
