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I read about the TB infected traveler a few days ago and while the blogosphere is rightly upset over the incompetence of the border patrol agent who let the guy in, what really struck me was what a selfish bastard the guy who was infected is.

"We're sitting in a hotel room in Italy and we're looking at each other and we're on our honeymoon and the authorities are coming in hours," the man recalled. They made the decision to run.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

But I still think she's hot

I used to love Angelina Jolie. I really did. But lately? She's really starting to bug the hell out of me. Especially since she said what she said about her biological daughter Shiloh being "a blob" and feeling "so much more" for her adopted kids.

I know that calling Shiloh "a blob" was taken out of context, but whatever, she just told her kid that she "feels so much more" for her brothers and sisters. Is it really poor Shiloh's fault that she is the biological child of two huge egos Hollywood celebs?

Anyway, I was just reminded about how much Angelina annoys me by this article regarding her latest adoption in Vietnam.

Of course, the argument in Jolie's favor is, "So what? As long as she's saving the little kid from poverty, who cares about the rules?" But the rules exist for a reason - to protect the kids. You screen adoption candidates because certain people aren't great prospects, they don't have stable situations, and bad things can happen. Am I saying we should be worried that Angelina is a bad mom? No. But why should we assume that, just because she's rich and famous, she will necessarily be able to give the kids she adopts a better life? If she's really such a wonderful mother, then let her go through the process like everyone else. She'll be vindicated in the end. The only reason she's circumventing the rules is because she doesn't want to be inconvenienced. Movie-stars get used to being fast-tracked, moved to the front of the line, let in through the side-door. And Angelina is no exception. However, if she's really such a great advocate of adoption as she claims, then she should have more respect for the rules. She shouldn't turn the adoption process into a farce. She should set a better example for other prospective adopters. Her behavior frankly makes her seem very selfish and unconcerned about supporting a system that, after all, exists to keep the kids from harm. But, of course, it's all about Angelina, isn't it? What Angelina wants Angelina gets.

(emphasis mine)

Not just useful in China

In case you were wondering, I still have the "cacas" (my roommate Joe's twist on the way little French kids say doody). Pepto just isn't cutting it so we ventured over to the 13th arrondisement/Chinatown in search of some "zhen lu wan" (a Chinese remedy for the cacas).

Unfortunately, even the Chinese in France are somewhat prone to frequent and extended break-taking and there was no one at the medicine counter for a good 15 minutes. When the woman finally returned I was told rather unapologetically that no, we don't sell that here.

But I did come home with some rice crackers, soy bean drink, asian pears, peaches, dried squid and a precious bottle of aloe drink. Oh and I got to go into stores and communicate with the store clerks just like back in the states! No hand gestures necessary! Except I was speaking in Chinese and not English.

It's funny, I think by the time I get home my Chinese will have improved a lot more than my French. Because whenever we go into Asian restaurants here I can't speak French, they can't speak English, so we meet at Chinese.

Labels: Homesick, Stereotypes are true, Things that are gross

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Al-Jizzy

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but our French cable gives us access to the news broadcast run by terrorists, aka Al-Jazeera.

Since its broad-casted in English here I decided to give it a whirl this afternoon as opposed to my usual diet of CNN/BBC/SkyNews (which can be really dry but, of course, we don't get FoxNews here).

I happened to flip in during a commercial break (commercial breaks are rare in France) and this is what I heard/saw:

(Image of Saddam Hussein with a noose around his neck)

Voiceover: Saddam Hussein, despite his obvious flaws, still had a vision for Iraq.

(Flash to image of Jimmy Carter)

Jimmy Carter: It's not a fence, it's a wall, 12-feet tall in some places.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Taping my own mouth shut

There's so much I want to say but so much of it all of it is not politically correct and while normally I wouldn't care, I'm actually a little bit worried about who might stumble across this site and feelings that might get hurt, etc. so I'm just going to keep quiet about it. For now. Until I can't stand it anymore and my head explodes and all the non-PC thoughts just come flowing out uncontrollably. Hopefully it won't be until after May 15th though, because by then I won't care.

In other news it is now freezing in Paris. Literally. It snowed yesterday and I refused to leave the apartment. Today it didn't snow so I went to class. Snow isn't supposed to happen in "real life" only in "vacation life." You know, like when you purposely drive up into the mountains to ski, and thus see snow.

Anyway, I'm going to go before I say things I don't want available on the world wide web (just yet).

Labels: Paris, Stereotypes are true