Quiet, for now

Streets are quiet and we have a new Prime Minister, nominated by the democractically elected majority, approved by the President. Hecka tall billionaire Najib Mikati (apparently you don't have to be tall but you do have to be a billionaire), is Sunni as required by the constitution. The US spin is that Mikati is the Hezbollah candiate, and that the whole new government is Hezbollah-led (not true, though their huge and powerful private army is hard to ignore) and that US aid to Lebanon will be discontinued. That may not be such a big deal, as the aid is microscopic compared to that given to our neighbor to the south. The French are more pragmatic, and the EU "urges Mikati to seek the widest possible concensus" in forming a government. Which he has vowed to do.

But the Hariri assasination tribunal report will rear its ugly head again soon, the new govenrment having vowed to quash it and the old government, backed by the US and France, vowing to air it. That is currently scheduled to happen Feb. 7.

For now, schools and shops and banks and traffic and nonstop building construction are normal.