Non-billionaires Also Die in the Middle East: In the documentary At-Tawafan by Syrian director `Umar Amiralayy--who to his discredit, despite great and critical work in the past--did a fawning and uncritical documentary on Rafiq Hariri, he (sarcastically) shows a Syrian Ba`thist official justifies the government practice (now abandoned) of imposing military uniforms on students in all schools in Syria. He said that Hafidh Al-Asad got the idea from...North Korea (the Lebanese right-wing opposition has also been copying patriotic rituals from that government too). Patrick Seale once told me that the Syrian English language daily is modeled after the North Korean English language daily. On another matter, I cannot believe--no I believe it--Lebanese political opportunism. Politicians who for years sang the praises of the Ba`th and of the Syrian regime are now pretending to have been critical of Syrian influence in Lebanon all these years. These were the same people that you read their names having lunches and dinners at the headquarters of Rustum Ghazalah (the head of the Syrian mukhabarat in Lebanon). I heard Walid Jumblat today. Unbelievable. It looks like he is getting ready for another 180 degree switch. He does this with great regularity, you know. And Yusuf Shahin (the great Egyptian director): why did he also have to sing the praises of Hariri on Future TV (Hariri's own station)? Would he have praised him if he was penniless? He even managed to sneak praise for Hariri's sister, and wife (but to his credit he did not praise Hariri's cousin). I once spent time with Shahin in DC and liked him very much. Now schoolchildren read their obituaries of Hariri on Future TV. Spare me. Stop the insanity, now. This is driving me crazy. When will it stop. How many more Palestinians will have to die before we notice that non-billionaires also die. They just dont get noticed by Kofi Annan.