Conservatives Shocked By the Power of Money

Op-Ed Columnist: The Uncivil War

Yahoo! News - Analysts: Medicare Drug Costs Will Rise. Isn't it swell how AP articles like this only come out AFTER the legislation passes?

If you read yesterday's jibblog and wondered if I was calling YOU a flake, the answer is no. I was't referencing a particular person but a number of people. It was the quantity that was tough on me. This may indicate that it just hurt my big fat ego a little bit, and that may be true, and that is probably for the good. So you flakers actually helped me on my pathless path toward enlightenment. Thanks!

Here is some really bad news (Thanks MizzShaw). Unfortunately, Iraqi police are now forcibly shitting down TV stations as part of operation "we are a bunch of hypocrites who deserve the world's ire." Articles like these are the tolls of the apoclypse. Then we get GW saying this: "We have protests at home, too. They now have that right in Baghdad as well." --Dubya, on the London protests George W. Bush, please, I beg you-- kill youself. Gouge out your eyeballs with a ballpoint pen, come screaming out of the oval office, and then take the 24 karat gold letter opener your dad gave you at your innaguaration--the one given to him by Mohammed Bin Laden-- and plunge it into your shrimp-Louis-salad-filled belly, and die the horrible death you and your murderious ilk deserve. Please... kill yourself. Oh, and by the way, if there is a heaven, and if pernicious assholes like you get to go there while never-baptised iraqi children go anyplace else, then fuck the evil god that created such a setup and may he die again on the cross asap.

best ever

click now now now

saturday we had a fun time even though it was flake city out there, which was kinda disillusioning. I know it's hard to tell people no, but its way worse to say yes then not show or call. And then when 8 people do it on the same night it hurts a tad. But hey, i've been that guy too. I'm pretty bummed about no band playing all weekend. Now I gotta wait until after thanksgiving. I came up with a cool riff on the guitar. its a kinda new thing for me becuase I took a simple chord thing and rocked it up with slides and extra chords and rhythm stuff... in other words just what I need to become excellent at doing. I spent about 4 hours cleaning out my car. What a mess, now I gotta do my room but im way too tired. good night cruel flakey world.

it's hard to feel sad when skipping down a hill. However, some people have learned to do this.

Pearle admits invasion was illegal

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

I Promise

Not to post any pictures of Michael Jackson.

The get together at Renee's was nice. I was running late because I had a really cool chat with a coworker about lucid dreams and out of body experiences and quantum shenanagins. It was stimulating. Anways, at Renee's only about 1/4 people contacted came, but that's totally cool and to be expected. Nobody from the office came, but I guess that is pretty normal too. I gave really short notice to everyone as this was something I decided to do that very afternoon. Chris, Terra, Anda, Sasha, Ezra, Joe, Erica, & Jeremie were there. We drank and talked and generally had a good time. It was nice to see Joe and to meet his longtime travel companion Erica. Either Renee's or Chris comped me my drinks, thanks! We went to to norms and my briefcase was there with everything which was a pleasant suprise. Chris finished off my steak. Joe and Erica slept over at my place and seemed to enjoy it. Now I'm 25 and it feels OK. Jeremie send me some more photos and I'll post 'em. They don't need to have me in them. Thanks for this one.

U.S. Occupation Launches Media Offensive

Yahoo! News - U.S. Occupation Launches Media Offensive: "In what one Pentagon official called going on the offensive, military public affairs officers also began last week flooding reporters in Washington and Baghdad with press releases on everything from commando raids and weapons seizures to the capture of Iraqi insurgents and reconstruction efforts. " Press releases on commando raids? Orwel much? Please pass me a bucket I think I'm gonna vomit. How much of this propogandized euphistic bullshit will be printed nearly verbatim by our "puppy dog" press? Lots. "Additionally, they are planning a new 24-hour satellite television station to offer more government-produced programming of briefings, military activities and other events in Iraq (news - web sites), defense officials said." Hmm, encourage democracy with state run media... yeeeeeah. Garanteed it will be absurd and make us more alienated and hated. This shit will be available in the US too, I presume-- oh wait we have already Faux News.

It's strangs how reading a blog moves one back through time. This is in contrast to time's foward progress in a book or journal or a life. In the book we start with the author at the begining and move foward. The reader of a blog, at least on her first visit, find himself starting with the present, or some apporiximation, and moving backward into the past. There are distinct problems with this kind of temporality. Knowing the end can make reading the begining unnecessary, no? Maybe the point is not to read back into the blog's past, but to start when you arrive and move foward with the blogger into that dark night. Avast? Never!

Salon.com | In the lion's den: "Meanwhile, the right's intellectuals and activists had largely scrapped talk of democracy. Some suggested that the Iraqis themselves are our enemy, that we owe them nothing. Pipes referenced 'The Mouse That Roared,' the 1959 film in which a poor country declares war on America, hoping to lose and be rebuilt like Germany and Japan. The implication seemed to be that Iraq is both lucky and greedy. " The neo-con right is NUTS. They are by turns in denial and in outer-space. I'll break it down sometime when I get some moments.

MizzShaw wrote a poem for me: expanding branches envelope the dusty void marked by my birth. Woe are the lonely hours surrounding the mound of earth keeping watch over my dwindling existence. The valencia orange falls to my death.

9.75 hours into the birthday and I've been up and down some sort of emotional EKG but now I'm at the office and feeling well. I've gotten some comic eCards and well wishing IMs and jazz on the hi-fi. I opened the box of instant oatmeal and I greedily went straight for my favorite flavor, which will leave hard work in the days ahead.

Eric Alterman: Altercation. Check him out. He da bomb. He's like an ultra smart billy bob thorton.

Energy bill deal with big corporate tax breaks OK'd

Salon.comLife for oil companies just keep getting sweeter. I wonder why?

no comment

My life is fuckign non-stop. its almost 8 I'm still at work. now I'm off to do some errands. I've never been so busy in my life as I am now. Not sure what I think about it. on one hand im a third dead so its about time, on the other hand I'm all over the place and I think it may be time to focus like a laser beam on one thing or another. Krishnamurti talks about awareness and how when one is completely aware of something then intelligence is maximized (one's sense of self also disappears). I am fractured and therefore dim and self-aware. I guess the trick is to be focused on what one is doing when one is doing it, then you can do whatever whenever and the intelligence is applied. It ain't no easy feat. My dad told me not to be penny wise and pound foolish. He was talking about my car but I think it is a great axiom. I heard on the radio that history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. I like that. Katie's song is sweet. I need more guitar skills. rock and roll is here to go charleston chew for governor done making video games for the day. time to get some stuff out of the old apartment and think about getting older.

A girl at the office painted this. I think it's tres dope:

This SA article is a classic case of "its easier to say somebody's shit sucks than to say something positive, or --god forbid-- make some shit yourself." Regardless, it's really funny and I'm not against taking some wind out of the strokes' sails. Meanwhile the trashing of Primal Scream is really funny, even if I like Primal Scream. Something Awful: "The Velvet Underground was revered for Lou Reed’s unmistakable voice and, even a crotchety bastard like me will admit it, fairly memorably lyrics. These are two qualities distinctly lacking in the music of The Strokes, whose songs usually contain no more distinct message than “life is exciting” or perhaps “life is boring” or, in cases of extreme emotional outburst, “my relationship is either exciting or boring.” "

Tonight the band is practicing again. Were actively searching for band names so email them my way, huh? Me and Katie were kinda into "The Motions" but chris isn't. The name worries me because it's a lot like the strokes, and that's so NYC circa 2002. Other recent thoughts: The Dollops, The Dollars, Four Dollar Bills, The Bleeding Hearts, Stereogram (just had this idea right now as I'm typing), Ken Starr, OMG (just had this now too), Duty Free (just had this idea so now im just talking out my ass ). ok I'll stop. Email me your thoughts.

The Onion | Mom Finds Out About Blog

It happened to me!

Clark Tells Veterans He Backs Amendment on Flag Desecration

Clark Tells Veterans He Backs Amendment on Flag Desecration It's too bad really. To quoth the master (roughly): "The flag is a symbol. It's not the country, it's just a symbol. A symbol that represents... the freedom.... to burn... the flag. Case closed." --My Twisted version of something said by Bill Hicks.

"Many of us who opposed the war in Iraq did so because, we argued at the time, Iraq was successfully contained and therefore no threat to America and that a war over there would distract us from greater dangers posed by al Qaeda, North Korea and Iran. Six months later -- six months after toppling Saddam Hussein, that is, it's obvious that we were right. If the goal of President Bush's foreign policy was to make America weaker, more vulnerable and more hated, mission accomplished." --Paul Begala

"If music be the food of love, play on..." -Shakespeare

I read this on a web site and instantly tears came to my eyes. Idunno why. Anyway, have you ever read a phrase more beautiful? Email it to me.

Yahoo! News - 9-11 Victims' Relatives Criticize Deal

Yahoo! News - 9-11 Victims' Relatives Criticize Deal

I know that sometimes my blog writing leaves something to be desired, but understand that I do this for fun and to communicate, so I write in a stream-of-stupidness style and rarely proofread. Therein is the excitement of reading my personal thoughts stripped of any ornimental trappings or editorial whitewashing... No, the truth is I totally self edit and one of these days I'll start writing an anonymous blog and none of ya'll will know about it but it'll be about 1,000,000x more fascinating and somebody will track me down and my life will get all fucked up and I'll end up sleeping on a blanket just north of hollywood blvd around wilcox or so. Jesse hooked me up with the GRAND THEFT AUTO III DOUBLE PACK! So basically he rules and the rest of us drool. So I'm finally going to be playing the most controversial game ever made. The amazing thing is that in addition to being controversial, it is also amazingly good, and ranks with the very best games ever made. It is unusual for a game to have both gameplay substance and the cheap thrills provided by violence and adult humor. It's remarkable that over two full years after it's origional release it is still many gamers favorite ps2 game, and it is still causing lawsuits. If your kids can't figure out that shooting randomly at cars is a bad idea, hold them back a grade, ok? And also get a vasectomy because you shouldn't be raising kids. Idunno if it's your shitty DNA or your whacked-out parenting, but hang up with your lawyer and call a doctor. ok? In other news, I still suck at the guitar.

Yahoo! News - CIA Report Says U.S. Losing Popular Support in Iraq

Yahoo! News - CIA Report Says U.S. Losing Popular Support in Iraq

what an eventful period... Too eventful to properly blog I'll do my darndest. The 24 hour film marathon was a failure in the sense that we didn't have a proper story and didn't get it in on time so weren't eligible for the contest. This sucks. It's probably my fault that we didn't get it in on time. #1 because we didn't have a story, and I should have made sure we did, and #2 because in thr crunch time I could have put more pressure to get it out with enough time to make the drive to hollywood. On the other hand, there our theme was pathetic (upstairs) and there was no way it could have been cut decently in time. Hell, our too-late cut was rougher than dirt. But we did end up with a completed project despite amazing adversity and time constraints. Mad thanks go out to Jeremie and John, who made it all possible, Allie, Ryan, who helped all the way through the deadline, and John Ryan, who really did some kick ass acting and was just funny as hell all day. Others helped out too, like Russ and Terra. thanks. I don't wanna thank god at all, she didn't do shit for it. In fact I'm pretty sure she was trying to stop the whole thing from happening. well too bad cus ill be psoting it online here in just a couple weeks. Sunday I played with terra and katie and chris.... the new band. It was awesome. We'll be rehersing every friday and sunday. We practiced at one of those places where the drums and amps and pa and mics are all there and its really nice and affordable. $18 per hour. We played "get back" and "girlfriend" (matthew sweet) and goofed a bit and messed with some of Katie's originals. Katie is a really solid guitarist and terra can fucking play drums! It is so fucking awesome i can't even communicate. I bought myself a cheap fender practice amp (frontman g15 series II) to practice at home. I actually have a guitar amp again! Even if it is a $65 one. monday night the four of us (the band) went and sang karaoke at the dume room. it was awesome. chis with guns and roses, terra dueting with everyone, katie drinking everyone's drinks. It was utter rock n roll. I got drunk, I got sick, i got to work late. Good times!

BartCop Volume 1192

BartCop Volume 1192: "Tensions between U.S. forces and Iraqis in the Shiite Muslim enclave, Sadr City, rose Monday after the head of the U.S.-appointed municipal council, Muhanad al-Kaadi, was shot and killed by an American soldier guarding municipal headquarters. The U.S. military said the shooting occurred Sunday when al-Kaadi got into an argument with a soldier guarding the council headquarters. The statement blamed the altercation on 'his refusal to follow instructions of the onsite security officer who was enforcing' regulations 'in accordance with the rules of engagement.' An American medic administered first aid and rushed him to a military clinic where he was pronounced dead, a U.S. statement said. Al-Kaadi, who spoke fluent English, had been trying to improve relations between the Americans and residents of the impoverished community." --Associated Press"

Salon.com News | Carter: U.S. missteps embolden dictators

Salon.com News | Carter: U.S. missteps embolden dictators: "the Nobel Peace Prize winner said an erosion of civil liberties in the U.S. has ``given a blank check to nations who are inclined to violate human rights already.'' "

Salon.com Books | Dictionary editors to keep "McJob": "McDonald's may not be ``lovin' it,'' but the editors of the Merriam-Webster dictionary say ``McJob'' is a word that's here to stay."

Salon.com | Gore vs. Bush, Part 2

Gore vs. Bush, Part 2: "But a lot of other changes have taken place that a lot of people don't know about and that come as unwelcome surprises. For example, for the first time in our history, American citizens have been seized by the executive branch of government and put in prison without being charged with a crime, without having the right to a trial, without being able to see a lawyer, and without even being able to contact their families. President Bush is claiming the unilateral right to do that to any American citizen he believes is an 'enemy combatant.' Those are the magic words. If the president alone decides that those two words accurately describe someone, then that person can be immediately locked up and held incommunicado for as long as the president wants, with no court having the right to determine whether the facts actually justify his imprisonment." -- Al Gore Think about this, this isn't some conspiracy theory or wacky left-wing socialist blog, this is Al Gore. You can no longer doubt that fact that, "American citizens have been seized by the executive branch of government and put in prison without being charged with a crime, without having the right to a trial, without being able to see a lawyer, and without even being able to contact their families." There is NO excuse for this. There is NO state of affairs which makes this acceptable. There is abominable and unacceptable and we need to DO something. What, I'm not sure except do the best we can to elimante Bush in '04.

Yahoo! News - Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War

Yahoo! News - Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War

l'problem

classic debate going on via TV, radio, or dinner table. DAD: "getting rid of saddam was good cus he tortured people and stuff." DAUGHTER: "Yeah but that's not why we did it because this administration supports plenty of regimes who violate human rights Uzbekstan, the Pakistanistan and the Saudia Arabia come to mind. Dubya's dad and granddaddy reagan himself used to supported Saddam, and he was no saint even back then." DAD: "So does that mean getting rid of an evil dictator is bad? Of course not, doing so is always good and not supporting the war means your believe Saddam's oppression was OK." That's usually where a commercial break or dessert comes in. Why is it a problem that the us is hypocritical? Anybody? The answer could be a 50 page thesis, so try to expand this stuff internally: bias proves that all the bad shit saddam did was neither a necessary nor sufficient cause for our attacking him. therefore it is obvious to everyone world wide that this is not the cause of the PRE-EMPTIVE attack. since the true cause is not clearly articulated by the president it leaves everyone who already fears the us as a super power to imagine it for themselves. many will imagine that it was a grab for oil, cronyism for bush's friends, religious ideology, or whatever. This is what people worldwide will think, whether or not these are true reasons is, for the sake of this argument, not important. Many people will use these possible causes to galvanize people for their own purposes (to recruit terrorists, for example). in the modern interconnected world where we are still quite vulnerable in many ways this kind of poor statesmanship puts US citizens directly in danger. And for that we're killing out soldiers, and iraqis (how many?) and paying billions.

awesome

National Public Radio will announce today the largest donation in its history, a cash bequest from the will of the late philanthropist Joan Kroc of about $200 million.

various and sundry

I saw a bumper sticker this morning that said "I support president bush and our troops." The administration is like a beer company that puts hot girls in their commericals so people will think "girls good, beer close to girls, beer good too." Does anybody know anybody personally who does not support our troops? What would that even mean? Does not supporting the troops mean that you want them to be hurt? If so, then what does a bumper sticker like "I support president bush and our troops" imply? I support our troops so much I didn't want them to get put in harm's way to begin with. Does Bush support the creeping number of troops coming home in "transfer tubes." Ya know, those dead soilders who the media isn't allowed to photograph. He doesn't suppot the troops who died in the helicopter attack enough to give a speech about them to the American people. Why not? He is afraid of the opposite of the beer-girls effect. "dead soldiers bad, Bush talks of dead soldiers, Bush bad too." What a piece of shit leader. Damn daylight savings for taking the deer and marine life out of my morning commute. I joined a french server in R63 last night and got mad props for even trying to speak french. Since the game was developed in montreal many french canadians play. It was cool. They made fun of my governor elect when they found out where I lived. They complained about american gamers who don't like canadians or the french these days. I was watching some strange show about busting old myths and they were talking about the supposed study where they flashed "your thirsty" in movie theaters and everyone went and bought drinks... We'll the science minded myth buster guy said that the experimenter later admitted that, "not only did he pad the results, but he never even conducted the expirement to begin with." Does it take a degree in philosophy to comprehend what is wrong with that statement? I think not.

I'm listening to a funky beat and, yeah, it's the truth: Sure it's almost 7:30 and I'm at work, and yes I worked over 200 hours last month with more coming my way, but I can't complain. I've got people knocking on my door (proverbialy only) and more shit to do in life than I can. Actuallly that's a problem for in my life. Growing up probably means accepting that I can't do everything I want. I need to make choices about where to spend my time. But I still WANT to do it all: hold down a full time job, be in a band, play games, watch the best shows, read the good books, see the good movies, love the good people, develop myself personally and socially and mystically and intellectually, sleep, learn foreign languages, travel, be fit, play ultimate frisbee. Is it all doable? Maybe, but for one with a tendency for low energy and illness it is so indescribably hard. I'm trying though, I really am. Well I'm not playing ultimate even a little. Friday @ midnight me and a whole crew are have 24 hours to complete a video short for a movie making marathon contest. We get the topic of our film friday night and turn in a finished product saturday night. Good times! I've got a DP, producer, editor, audio slave, all sorts of equipment, and presumably actors and actresses. I'm directing and am most assuredly the least experienced person in the group. Good times. Sunday I'm playing with the new band dealio. Chris, Terra, Katie are all in and maybe one other. Should be awkward and bad sounding and fun. I booked us a space at one of those fully equiped rehersal spaces. 18 bux an hour. damn good deal I think. Carry on.

"Propaganda is to democracy what violence is to totalitarianism. The techniques have been honed to a high art, far beyond anything Orwell dreamt of." -Chomsky (written over 20 years ago)

from snopes.com

Claim: A man has been stranded at a Paris airport for more than a decade. Status: True. Origins: What follows is one representative newspaper account of the strange story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri, a man without country, trapped by his lack of papers in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, since 26 August 1988: [Boston Globe, 1997] He could be any passenger waiting for a flight, sitting patiently on a red plastic bench in Charles de Gaulle Airport's Terminal One, luggage piled neatly by his side. He sips a cup of hot chocolate and scans the crowd, occasionally cocking his head to listen to the airport announcements. He peruses a book, Hillary Rodham Clinton's "It Takes a Village." But Merhan Karimi Nasseri is going nowhere. He has been waiting for a flight out of France, he says, for 10 years. Nasseri was expelled from Iran a decade ago for his political views. Through a series of fateful missteps, he landed here without any documents. Since then, Europe's increasingly stiff stance toward refugees and his fragile mental state have kept him at the airport here in legal limbo. His is a story of broken hopes and bureaucracy, of a trip across Europe in search of a homeland that became a journey into mental chaos and despair. And it is a story of a man who has searched for his family, only to find an adopted one here, at Charles de Gaulle. "He's like a part of the airport. Everyone knows him," says Muhamed Mourrid, the manager of the Bye Bye Bar, pointing to the spot where Nasseri, 47, has lived for a decade. "That's his table, his chair, his place." Adds Marise Petry, a Lufthansa clerk, "He's one of us. We even get letters for him." Among the annals of horrific refugee tales, Nasseri's story is remarkable for its pathos and complexity. It begins in Iran in 1977, when Nasseri, fresh from studying in England, was expelled for protesting against the shah. His expulsion left him without a passport. Nasseri came to Europe. He bounced from capital to capital, applying for refugee status and being refused, again and again, for nearly four years. In 1981, his request for political asylum from Iran was finally granted by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Belgium. That decision gave him refugee credentials, which in turn allowed him to seek citizenship in a European country. The son of an Iranian and a Briton, Nasseri decided in 1986 on England with the hope of finding relatives there. He got as far as Paris, where in 1988 his briefcase containing his refugee documents was stolen in a train station. Nasseri boarded a plane for London anyway. But when officials at Heathrow Airport found he had no passport, they sent him back to Charles de Gaulle. At first, the French police arrested him for illegal entry. But as Nasseri had no documents, there was no country of origin to which he could be deported. So he took up residence in Terminal One. From its circular confines, he and his attorney, the Paris-based human rights lawyer Christian Bourget, battled to define his status and send him to London. In 1992, a French court finally ruled that Nasseri had entered the airport legally as a refugee and could not be expelled from it. But the court could not force the French government to allow him out of the airport onto French soil. In fact, Bourget said, French authorities refused to give Nasseri either a refugee or transit visa. "It was pure bureaucracy," said the lawyer. French immigration authorities have no comment on the case. Bourget and Nasseri then focused on Belgium, where they hoped to reclaim Nasseri's original refugee documents. But Belgian refugee officials refused to mail them to him in France. They argued that Nasseri had to present himself in person so that they could be sure he was the same man to whom they had granted political asylum years before. But, inexplicably, the Belgian government refused at that point to allow Nasseri to return there. And under Belgian law, a refugee who voluntarily leaves a country that has accepted him cannot return. In 1995, the Belgian government finally told Nasseri that he could retrieve his refugee documents if he agreed to live in Belgium under the supervision of a social worker. Nasseri refused. He said he would move only to Great Britain. And so here he has remained, year after year. At first glance, the dignified man does not appear to be a refugee who sleeps on an airport bench because he has nowhere else to go. His clothes are clean, his moustache well-trimmed. He keeps his one blazer covered with plastic wrap, hanging from an airport cart. His belongings are carefully packed in a frayed suitcase and a stack of Lufthansa boxes. Nasseri nods hello to a clerk, who calls him "Alfred," his nickname here. He follows the news closely, thanks to the most recent Time magazine, which the postman has just dropped off. And he loves to discuss the new selections from the Book-of-the-Month Club. "I just keep on reading, every day," said the soft-spoken Nasseri, a courtly gentleman who rises and offers his seat to a visitor. "I just keep waiting here." His pallid complexion is testament to his inability to cross the airport threshold to the outside world. He walks to the doors of Terminal One and absorbs fresh air as they swing open. But he never steps outside. His hollow cheeks and thin frame show the limits of the generosity of airport staff and strangers to help with his meals. Nasseri's confused account of his plight speaks to the psychological price he has paid in his fight to become a man who belongs somewhere. "Nobody could suffer all he did and stay normal," noted Bourget. The sad truth is this: After fighting for years to leave the airport and apply for citizenship elsewhere, Nasseri was afraid to do so when the opportunity arose. Belgium offered Nasseri the chance to settle there, but he refused. "Now, I think he will stay in the airport until he dies," Bourget concluded softly. His bizarre tale has brought him a degree of fame. He has been the subject of news reports from Finland to Britain. His life story became a 1994 French film, starring Jean Rochefort. Nasseri gets fewer visitors now to punctuate the long days down on Terminal One's boutique level, ringed with stores and small cafes. But he still has a following who help clothe and feed him and lift his spirits. "He does no harm to anyone," said Papa Starr, manager of the Les Palmes restaurant. "Everyone cares for him here." Several times a week, the airport priest stops by to visit him, as does Dr. Phillipe Bargain, the airport doctor. Many staff regularly visit him at his table for a cup of coffee and a chat. "I get lots of cards at Christmas," he said. "I call it my American Christmas." His life follows the quotidian airport cycle. He wakes at 5:30 in order to shave in the men's room before passengers arrive. He reads all day long. At night, he waits until the airport stores are locked before he brushes his teeth with the toothbrush and toothpaste from a complimentary airline travel kit. Weekly, he rinses out his clothes overnight in the bathroom. Nasseri is renowned throughout the airport for his refusal to ask for help. "We have a colleague who gave him clothes, but he returned them, saying 'I'm not a beggar,'" said Crystelle L'Hospitalier, a Lufthansa clerk. But he has to eat, and accepts occasional meal vouchers and francs from stewardesses and airport staff. As the years have slipped by, it has become increasingly clear that Nasseri will never leave Charles de Gaulle. His airport years have made him "crazier by the day," on the topic of his future, said airport doctor Bargain. When he talks about flying to London, the staff here greet him with understanding smiles. "An airport is kind of a place between heaven and earth," said Danielle Yzerman, spokeswoman for Charles de Gaulle. "He has found a home here." Nasseri is known for his honesty and refusal of charity. On two occasions he turned in billfolds full of money that had been mislaid by passengers. Airline and airport personnel push meal vouchers on him so he can eat. "French fries are my favorite," he confides. "It's not a very healthy diet, but I get enough." According to Nasseri: "When I think about the past 10 years, I realize that it is all wasted time," he says softly in clear but accented English. "I would like to leave this airport, but I need to get my identity papers in order first. It's not a normal life to stay in the airport for so long. It gets boring." On 17 September 1999, an international travel card and a French residency permit were put into Nasseri's hands. With them, he's now free to leave the airport, either to take up residency in France or to fly to another country that will allow him entry. He refuses to sign them, however, because they list his nationality as Iranian, and he wants it listed as British. He remains at Charles de Gaulle airport, determined to stick to this point rather than face life outside the terminal. -Barbara "terminal boredom" Mikkelson

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Jesus Day

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Toxin du jour (Dihydrogen Monoxide)

Urban Legends Reference Pages: You can tell which day a loaf of bread was baked by the color of its plastic twist tag?)

jello is made from bones and hides

Me at work a few weeks ago. I'll be here A LOT the next few months as we crunch out some games. No, I don't wear a headless phone thing, it was a mic to test in-game voice technologies.

Gertrude M. Jones Word has been received that Gertrude M. Jones, 81, passed away on August 25, 2003, under the loving care of the nursing aides of Heritage Manor of Mandeville, Louisiana. She was a native of Lebanon, KY. She was a retired Vice President of Georgia International Life Insurance Company of Atlanta, GA. Her husband, Warren K. Jones predeceased her. Two daughters survive her: Dawn Hunt and her live-in boyfriend, Roland, of Mandeville, LA; and Melba Kovalak and her husband, Drew Kovalak, of Woodbury, MN. Three sisters, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren, also survive her. Funeral services were held in Louisville, KY. Memorial gifts may be made to any organization that seeks the removal of President George Bush from office. Published in The Times-Picayune on 10/2/2003.

is bush jesus?

CBS pulled it anway

accurate reagan

what a leader

ripped from mediawhoresonline.com: Yahoo! News - White House: Resolve in Iraq 'Unshakable': "Bush, spending a long weekend at his Texas ranch, said nothing in person about the helicopter shoot-down Sunday, a day in which three other Americans, including two civilian contractors, also were killed in Iraq. "

so funny

last night Sasha called me up around 20:00, I'm still at work, and he reminds me that it is rumored that Keith Richards may show up at The Joint tonight. So obviously I tel him I'll meet him there, which I proceed to do. Every monday at the Joint a buncha renowned old rock men, and one young girl, play rock covers to a crowd of true rock and roll lovers and other freaks of nature. Its a fun scene, with old folks, young folks, black folks, white folks and so on. The singer dude was Jimmy Page's first choice for Led Zepplin, or so the story goes. Plant played on the stage with them two weeks ago, so why not Keith tonight? The guitarist, bassist, and drummer are all session and touring dudes who've played with the stones, niel young, and tom petty respectively. They play great sounding rock n roll without a lot of frills. During the first set they mentioned a couple times how anything can happen on "this stage" and to stick around, which me, chris, anda, sasha, and jeremie all did. But we didn't get keith. Set two started with Revolution #9 and went from there into an awesome honkey tonk woman which got the crowd going. We could sense something was going to happen. Smiling girls pressed toward the stage with youthful, not-quite-quivering, anticipation. Then you will never guess who went up onto it.... you'll never guess. Please try... It was... Fred Durst. Truthfully we had heard it might be in between the sets, but it was still a bit of a shock, or more of a slap in the face. He said "I want to get deep here with everyone for a minute." Me and my crew were all looking at each other nowingly and making fun. Durst proceeded to render that song "no one knows what it's like." Man, I thought I was a hack singer! Seriously bad, off key, ugly, uninspired. Trust me, I was probably 10 feet from him or less. After that he left the stage (thanks god) and the band did led zepplin's "nobody's fault but mine." That's not the song title is it? Well anyway they NAILED it, the drummer kicked ass and did those wierd counter rythms perfectly, the guitar screamed, the bass thumped, it was amazing. After that I took off and my ears were totally numb. I'll be back there soon.

TheStar.com - Pentagon keeps dead out of sight "But today's military doesn't even use the words "body bags" — a term in common usage during the Vietnam War, when 58,000 Americans died. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Pentagon began calling them "human remains pouches" and it now refers to them as "transfer tubes.""

ripped from bartcop:

BartCop Volume 1192: "'We no longer live in a free country according to definition of Dubya: On October 3 this year, he said, 'See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop 'weapons of mass destruction.' ' -- Alex Mnats "

me hiking a malibu canyon this weekend: Thanks Jeremie

Oiling up the draft machine?

I kinda doubtthis can be true, but I'm posting it before I read it. I'll have more on this later.

"The audacity, vacancy, and prejudice of various cultures is evinced by the fact that each claims 'love of food' as distintly it's own." - Jordan Blackman Oh I'm so right there. I don't care if your italian, french, jewish, Chinese, WASP, Mexican, it makes no difference, in your culture's heavy self-celebratory NPR style BS you will make a comment about how important food is to your culture or how much people in your cultural group like to eat. Provincial mofoes, it's food, do you really think it is just your group's deal? It is the same with dignity, taste, love, god, and other perinnials.

I've been wanting to blog all weekend but i messed up my PC installing a new HD (120 gig) and a DVD RW (wierd polaroid brand). Now I'm at work and happy to be here. Good morning ya'll.