In the era of Syrian domination, there were rules and taboos. I could not visit Lebanon for years when the Lebanese Public Security Department deemed a chapter I wrote for a book on Lebanon (Peace for Lebanon? Edited by Deirdre Collings) to be in violation of those rules. It was "insulting" to the personality of Hafidh Al-Asad, as the official press release stated at the time. Today, in the era of US-Saudi domination of Lebanon, there are new rules and taboos. You are not permitted to oppose Hariri Inc, or to review the lousy financial and political record of Rafiq Hariri: they want you to erase from your memory the most corrupt era of Ilyas Hrawi (a president (allegedly) on the payroll of Hariri) in which Hariri ruled supreme with the full support and coordination of Ghazi Kan`an (who was, unlike Rustum Ghazalah) a close ally of Hariri. And in the new era, you are not supposed to challenge "international legitimacy" or to suspect Israeli, American, and Saudi interferences (the French provides only a sideshow and a smokescreen), or to inquire about the background and motives of Detlev Mehlis. For my readers in Germany, if you know anything about the background of Mehlis, please email me. I heard a German TV station ran a special on him, if you know something about that, please email me. Oh, and I would like some Milka chocolates as they are not easily available in the US.