Beirut, Monday Morning

Reader comments (2)

• johndoe says Oct 1, 2012 12:17 pm

  Nice bougainvillea flowers in the foreground.
  But that’s not really what I’m writing about.
  A while back you stopped commenting about OVDI and I believe stopped taking new cases.
  Could we have one last blog post based on your experience with OVDI and optouts in particular?
  I understand you’re probably sick of this, but someone like me who’s in it would appreciate any info.

• Phil Hodgen says Oct 1, 2012 12:36 pm

  That’s the Hariri Mosque (well, technically the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque) named for the assassinated Prime Minister who is buried there. It is on Martyr’s Square, so named to honor some nationalists who were hanged by the Ottoman Turks in 1916. The statute in the square to honor their memories is riddled with bullet holes. The photo is taken from the roof of Le Gray Hotel, where I am staying. Nice hotel.

  As for the OVDI, I will write about this once our final opt outs are complete. I do not want to jeopardize the completion of my remaining cases by commenting publicly.

  Yes, we stopped taking on these cases, mostly because I think the program is insane on stilts, and the thought of telling an ordinary person they have to pay a zillion dollar penalty made me angry and sad at the same time.