somewhat reliable gossip Fidel's sister Juanita, who lives in Miami and has a long-estranged if still-loving relationship with him, says that the man is "not dead. He's very sick, but he's not dead." I'm inclined to believe that, especially since I also don't think that Alarcón would have put his future political well-being at such extreme risk by lying about it. Unless Raúl has a gun to his head, I suppose--but where the hell is Raúl, anyway? Even Cubans are starting to get a little weirded out by his silence, which is starting to seem really inappropriate and kind of ominous.  ¶ 9:56 AM