Lebanon has new masters; please make them feel at home. Also, are you a brother-in-law of Crown Prince `Abdullah? Tell the truth. I noticed that the first foreign ambassador received by Lebanese prime minister-designate (Najib Miqati, "personal friend of Bashshar al-Asad" as he used to brag in the past years), was the US ambassador in Lebanon. The second one was the Saudi ambassador, followed by the German, Kuwaiti, and then the French. I also was told that Miqati lobbied hard for the job with the UN High Commissioner in Lebanon, Terry Rod Larson (whose previous record includes preparations for the lousy Oslo accords, and who always stops in Washington, DC to take orders before departing for the Middle East, and who wants to tell Lebanese owners of Shib`a Farms that their land is Syrian, and thus Israel can occupy it indefinitely). Apparently, Miqati provided one of his private jets to fly Mr. Larson around. How nice. If you wants to run for prime minister in Lebanon, you need to be a billionaire, with a shady and corrupt background, preferably. Somebody was telling me that presidential contender in Lebanon, Nasib Lahhud, is brother-in-law of Crown Prince `Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (meaning that the wife of Lahhud is sister with...ONE of the wives and divorcees of `Abdullah). But half of the men of the Middle East are brothers-in-law with `Abdullah. Bashshar Al-Asad's uncle, the notorious bloody Rif`at, is also brother-in-law of `Abdullah. An engineer friend of mine who worked in Saudi Arabia was once in charge of building a housing complex with the official names: Housing Complex of the Divorcees of Crown Prince `Abdullah. When Crown Prince `Abdullah visited Crawford, Texas a few years ago, I was told (from a source in a law firm in Houston) that the Crown Prince signed a marriage agreement with a woman for the duration of his visit to the US. I will let you know about his visit this week. Some of you in the US may be brothers-in-law with the Crown Prince by the end of the week.