Graham Allison and Taqiyyah; and the new Lebanonese secret chicken recipe. Yesterday, I attended the Lebanese Communist Party's rally in memory of George Hawi. The UNESCO hall was full, and tens of people, if not more, stayed outside. It reminds one to not categorize all people, any people; dissent and anti-conformity lives on, everywhere. Foucault noted somewhere in History of Sexuality that where there is power there is opposition. And there is opposition. I listened to the speech of the Jordanian Communist Party leader's speech. It was good. And then the secretary-general of the French Communist Party made a speech, and it only bitterly reminded you of the times when the French communists were a power to contend with. And then PLO's Sultan Abu Al-`Aynayn gave the most lousy speech: he even dared to claim that Fath leaders only negotiated in the open, and that Fath never recognized Israel, etc. As the lies accumulated, Samah wisely suggested that we leave, and we left, cursing Sultan Abu Al-`Aynayn and his opportunism. Hariri Inc freed him to use him against Hamas/Syria. Najah Wakim denied to me that he supported the arrests in Syria, and said that he will soon sign a statement against them. I urged him to make a special statement to denounce the arrests in Syria. I don't think he will. Al-Hayat reported on its first page a week ago that US AND Iraqi forces have arrested "anti-Iraqi" elements in Iraq, no less. I kid you not. Look it up. The foreign occupation army now determines who is Iraqi and who is not. What a time. I ran into an official of Human Rights Watch in Beirut. They plan to open an office here covering Syria and Lebanon. He told me that he is aware of my constant criticisms of Human Rights Watch and their love affair with right-wing Lebanoneeeese lawyer, Muhammad Al-Mughrabi. He authorized me to report that Human Rights will at last begin an investigation of attacks and murders of Syrians in Lebanon. If any of you have information, feel free to send to me, and I can forward. So much to cover and very little time. And then I get this from John in Tokyo: now, Graham Allison wants to pontificate on Shi`ite Islam. Have you noticed that almost all US academics, especially those who don't know a thing on the Middle East, are now posing as Middle East experts? You have to read what Allison has to say on Shi`ism and Taqiyyah, and he thinks he is being smart. Is Richard Nixon a Shi`ite by the way, because I remember him engaging in double and triple dissimulation during Watergate, or are Westerners genetically incapable of dissimulation? Wait, as a Shi`ite-born, does that I mean that I am dissimulating? What if I am dissimulating that I am dissimulating? And what if the last line was dissimulation? Or the last line now? That would confuse you all. And I can pretend to confuse you out of a genetic propensity to dissimulate? Mini-Hariri is in France. He cried today. He wanted to meet Gen. De Gaulle, but then found out that he is dead. But he really knew that Napoleon is dead. "I am not that stupid," he told his agitated advisors. A well-connected journalist just told me that Mini-Hariri asked for a complete list of names of the staff at An-Nahar and their affiliations. I visited the offices of Al-Akhbar newspaper: Joseph Samahah gave me a tour of the place, and I was very pleased with project. I am so eager for the launch, I told them. I don't eat meat, but I tried some shish tawuq with Avian flu flavor in Beirut. I was impressed. I found out that the Avian flu adds a crunchy flavor to the chicken. In Beirut, you have to pay extra for the Avian flue flavor of the chicken. They now call it the Lebanonese secret chicken recipe. I have to run now. Turn off the light after me. And remember that the Avian flu in Lebanon is superior to all other Avian flu cases anywhere. Why? Because this is Lebanon.