The Farce of the Lebanese Parliamentary Elections: This is going to be one of the more, or most, predictable election in modern Lebanese history (along with the 1992 election which was largely boycotted by Christian voters). To date, and we are talking about the first round of the Beirut electoral districts, 9 candidates have won their seats before the election on May 29th because they face no rival candidates. Saulange Gemayyel, Michel Far`un, Basim Ash-Shabb, Yeghya Djerijian, Serge Toroserkisian, Jean Oghaspian, Hagob Qasarjian, Ghazi Yusuf, and Ghazi Al-`Aridi are officially elected to parliament before any voter has even cast a ballot. This is Lebanese Hummus democracy. I hear that Sunni public opinion is widely unimpressed with Sa`d Al-Hariri. People are already making fun of his command to the Lebanese people in one address that they utter to themselves, "National Unity", three times when they wake up and three times before sleep. Jokes are being made about that. Charlatan Walid Jumblat, eager for Christian votes before the elections, selected a graduate of the most fascistic of Lebanese Forces factions, George `Udwan, to run on his list in Shuf region. `Udwan was in fact a member of the Tandhim organization (a more right-wing fringe and to the right of the Phalanges) which specialized in brutal attacks on Palestinian civilians during the early phase of the civil war before Bashir Geymayyel eliminated all rivals by force and blood. He was Israel/US candidate for president in 1982, you should remember. The Lebanese cabinet has named the Beirut airport, the Rafiq Hariri International Airport: the $3 billion it cost to expand the airport was paid by Lebanese people, and future Lebanese generations, and NOT by the falsely and undeservedly celebrated Hariri. I will official rename the airport upon arrival: either the Tabbulah International Airport or the Hummus & Falafil airport. I talked to my publisher yesterday; I plan to write a primer on the Myth of the Lebanese "Revolution" as a short book in which I explain the recent events, and dispel myths by Lebanese and non-Lebanese about the hummus homeland. That will be my first priority after my return. I have much to say I am realizing, and the no-aragraph posts here may cause eye diseases to many readers. I will interview a lot of people in this visit, and sample many dishes. On another note, I saw on a kooky Ben Ladenite website that Zarqawi has a new speech. So I thought that I might listen to it and report to readers, only to discover that it was 90 minutes long. Last time I listened to a 90 minute speech by Zarqawi I experienced torture. And now he cites whole passages from Qur'an, Hadith, and classical heritage before getting to the situation in Iraq. I heard Tariq Ali the other day expressing doubts about the existence of Zarqawi. Why do people on the left want to doubt his existence? As much as one opposes US wars and policies, one should have no qualms in opposing some of America's enemies, like Zarqawi and Bin Laden. There is, as I have said before, a nefarious and sinister Wahhabi network in Iraq, and its existence should be blamed on the US war that brought it and it is terrorizing the Iraqi people daily. The other day, I did not see US media reporting on the assassination of reporters working for Al-Mada newspaper in Baghdad. It was the same newspaper that published the names of people benefiting from oild deals with the Iraqi regime (and it included the name of the son of the Lebanese president, among other names). I personally prefer olive oil, and never was tempted to indulge in crude oil.