Tonight we were walking to go out to dinner, to a street to catch a cab in the right direction, when I spied a TV set on in an open doorway. There was a telltale scene, another car bomb-the same camera angle, the same flattened car, the same gathering crowd. In the taxi, the driver was distraught; he actually spoke English, so we talked a little. He knew nothing except that it happened 5 minutes before and it was on Monot Street. He stopped the car on the overpass above Monot and we got out and looked. It actually happened on a side street, so all we saw were a bunch of army trucks, people standing around talking on cell phones.

We were headed to Gemmayzeh anyhow, not Monot, so we had our dinner- the hommos was good and garlicky, the moutabal bland. We smoked argileh and listened to the band (oud, drum, vocals). Afterward, we had a drink down the street at a place we have gotten to know. No one had details about the bombing. On the way home, we passed through a checkpoint but were waved right through.

Good news: it appears that no one was killed after all
Complicated news: it appears not to be a targeted, political assasination attempt

Oh yeah, Condoleeza Rice turned up in Beirut earlier today for a “surprise”/”lightning” visit to threaten Syria/Hezbollah.