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Really disenchanted with the concept of getting on aeroplane anytime in the next 20 years. Just so you know. Remember this entry, where I said I really hate flying? And this one, where I said flying into England from America was a really bad idea, on accounta both countries being such prime terrorist targets and how BushCo tends to do its utmost to piss off Muslim extremists and maybe even taunt them to "bring it on," or some other such sophomoric fucking bullshit, and that I really, really, really did not want to do so and maybe should have my head examined for booking that particular round trip? Yeah. I. Told. You. So. You all told me to relax and breathe and take a chill pill and all that bunk you tell crazy people to calm them down so you can slip the straight jacket on over their head while they aren't paying attention, and then it turns out MY FEARS WEREN'T SO ENTIRELY UNFOUNDED, WERE THEY? HUH? HUH? HUH? HA. I especially like this article, explaining how, even though England has downgraded its terror threat level, that's just because they no longer consider the threat of someone blowing up a plane "imminent." It by no means means they don't expect someone to blow a plane up. Because oh, they totally expect that. Just, you know, not right now. ::sigh:: I actually would be a lot happier if they didn't relax those stringent travel rules they had in effect for 5 days, and they didn't allow liquids or gels or electronica onboard, because I'd feel a whole helluva lot safer getting on a plane where someone probably had to work pretty fucking hard to sneak chemicals and detonators onboard, but as I predicted in a comment thread over on DailyKos, that shit fell by the wayside real quick. You know why? Because it was costing the airlines money. So they're relaxing security even while telling me they still expect an attempt to be made to blow up a plane. I guess the airlines are willing to risk my life in order to save themselves any economic loss. That's mighty big of 'em, I gotta say. I really appreciate being put ahead of their bottom line like this. It's kinda like a big game of Russian Roulette, only British Airlines doesn't have to put the gun to their temple and squeeze the trigger, they just use my head. Here's some random freakiness. I got mail from someone I know who tends to vote Pub, and this person had this to say about the Pakistanis being the ones to bust open the whole plot and inform British and US intelligence: "Wow, where did you hear that? What we're hearing here is that the Brits were still tracking all this stuff and wanted to get more hard evidence so they could get a conviction, but Bush/Cheney pressured them for political reasons to come out with it now. It wasn't really going to happen soon - they hadn't bought tickets and many of them didn't even have passports yet." Right off the bat, I have a few problems with this version of events. 1. You do not close down the *world's busiest* international airport for an entire day and cut 30% of the flights in and out of it for a length of time as yet to be determined on a freaking whim. 2. The Brits had no hard evidence, but they made over 40 arrests and threw the world's busiest international airport (thereby fucking up untold other airports across the globe) into a spin because Bush/Cheney asked them to? For *what*?? A really stellar photo-op??? 3. BushCo goes insane and shrieks treason if the NYTimes carries an article about unconstitutional wire taps that have been going on over a year, on the grounds that it warns "the terrorists" they might be under surveillance, but they would ask MI5 to go ahead and blow the story wide open on an undercover operation bigger than September 11 before any of the persons involved had passports or tickets or really could be held for anything at all other than possible harsh language and bad attitudes? Riiiiiigggggghhhhhhht. Seriously, I have to know where this is being spun. At any rate, life over here is definitely interesting, and looks to stay that way for a while. I actually got a little edgy on the Metro today. I went back to Carrefour, to buy the duvet cover and groceries I couldn't get yesterday, and on the way there, this guy sitting two rows in front of me turned around and made eye contact with another guy sitting at the rear of the train and nodded at him. That guy nodded back, leaned out of sight toward his knees, and then he and the woman sitting across from him got off together at the next stop. At that point, the guy near me leans over and starts messing around for a very long time with something out of sight in or around the seat in front of him, and I think, "you know, I'm sure it's nothing, but I think I'll get off at the next stop." Which I did, along with that guy. Nothing happened, obviously, but it was a little weird, that chain of events, and for the first time since I got here, I seriously thought about how really, really easy it would be to jack people up at rush hour here. Kinda gives new meaning to that recorded announcement they play at the stations in both French and English, telling you to report suspicious behavior or packages. It used to say "don't attract pickpockets." Now it says don't get yourself blown to bits. Nice. And on that note, let's do a meme. Just cause I think we could all use a little nice. 1. what curse word to you use the most? 2. do you own an ipod? 3. what time is your alarm clock set for? 4. how many suitcases do you own? 5. do you wear flip flops when it's cold? 6. would you rather take the picture or be in the picture? 7. what was the last movie you watched? 8. do any of your friends have children? 11. what cd is currently in your cd player? 12. do you prefer regular or chocolate milk? 13. has anyone told you a secret this week? 14. when was the last time you had starbucks? 17. do you think people talk about you behind your back? 18. did you watch cartoons as a child? 20. what movie do you know every line to? 21. do you own any band t-shirts? 22. what is your favorite salad dressing? 23. is anyone in love with you? 24. do you do your own dishes? 26. do you currently want any piercings or tattoos? 27. what's the weather like? 28. would you ever date someone covered in tattoos? 30. how many hours of sleep do you need to function? 31. do you eat breakfast every morning? 32. are your days full and fast paced? 33. do you pay attention to the calories on the packages? 34. do you use sarcasm? 35. are you fussy about spelling and grammar? 36. have you ever been to six flags? 37. do you like mustard? 38. do you sleep on your side, stomach or back? 39. do you watch the news? 40. one of your scars: how did you get it? (Years later, btw, this scar would earn me honorary guy status, as nearly all guys have a scar under their chin, and nearly all of them got it playing football. I actually got the scar in my eyebrow playing football, but that's neither here nor there, really.) 41. who was the last person to make you upset? 42. do you like anybody? 43. why did you do this survey? Peace out, copyright 2002
- 2005 Katie Doyle; all rights reserved
In which Katie shares sad news - Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2015
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