Just A Small Town Girl

US Government wants to racially profile British citizens. Ignore the NY Times bullshit headline. It's not a loophole. We allow British citizens into the country without a visa. If someone is a British citizen, they don't need a visa. Now they want to require a visa for British citizens of a certain ethnic background. And the way the Bush regime operates, they'll probably go ahead and do it over the objections of the British. Of course, one wonders what exactly they hope to accomplish by adding this extra level of bureaucracy and pissing off our best ally, given that pretty much everyone else in the world already thinks we're off our rocker. I mean, we can't find KNOWN terrorists (Osama's still out there and probably laughing his ass off at us), who expects they're going to be good at picking out unknown potential terrorists? Who genuinely thinks this won't turn into an exercise in routine harassment and lead British citizens with ties to Pakistan to simply avoid the USA (and think less of us and resent us?) Being racist assholes won't win minds and hearts. And if you really want to fight terrorism, that's exactly what you need to do.
*sighs*
When will get grownups in charge of foreign policy again? The current idiot squad has apparently learned all they know about diplomacy, intelligence, and negotiation from Hollywood action flicks of the sort that usually feature lots of gratuitous explosions.

haven't heard what the tabloids have to say yet, but i can say that the reaction from the england team and former manager is exactly the wrong reaction. the boy needs a good kick up the arse and to be told to get control of his temper or learn to love warming the bench. instead, they're coddling him, and he'll do it again. it's just a matter of when. (sven has also said the ref told him the card was for the kick to the portuguese player. but i bet the shove after and the mouth didn't help.)

england win the ashes!


edit: i have to say, i've never seen a sport before, guys or girls, that involved so much hugging, both individual and group. (and before anyone says it, it wasn't just the english.)

learned where the brit term "berk" comes from today. i always figured berkshire was involved somehow, but i didn't realize it came from rhyming slang. (if anyone's interested, the rhyming slang is "berkshire hunt.")

she thought it would brighten my day. and it did.

100 rudest place names in britain

just heard on the radio (british, obviously):

"the state of florida is bracing itself for severe tropical storms. hurricane charley is churning through the carribbean and could hit the atlantic coast late tonight, while tropical storm bonnie threatens the pacific coast."

the PACIFIC coast? damn, florida got big since i left!

jeez. three cheerful mornings in a row. amazing what a difference your living environment makes.

also amazing how many assholes can fit into one lane at the pool. there were far, far too many of them yesterday. i have a very finite tolerance for stupidity, and 15 minutes in the pool exceeded it and then some.

oh, and my sister (scarletorchid10) is awesome. she's helping me indulge my itunes habit for us prices instead of uk prices. thank you, lauren. :)

about the weather:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/12344692?source=Evening%20Standard
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3533934.stm

the weatherman on the bbc just said it might be "muggy again" on saturday.
it does not get muggy here.

(yes, i'm still packing.)

Who said you were alone? That person doesn't know what he or she is talking about. You have friends in high places. You have allies that you never imagined coming out of the woodwork and offering their services. Your work or debt load becomes ever so much lighter when others are willing to help. Your fears vanish. Your worries are meaningless. Feel the power of your awesome support system as you move ahead. Seize your objective by the collar and the seat of its pants, turn it upside down and shake everything valuable out of its secret pockets.
some days i really like my horoscope.

in other news, the british are mad. completely, totally, certifiably, barking, raving lunatics. it is supposed to go into the 80s today (high 20s for those of you who think in celsius.) despite this fact, which was well publicized on the morning news and weather report, people are wearing long sleeves and jackets. i even saw one woman in a coat. and all this was on the TUBE, the place where it is inevitably at least 10 degrees hotter than outside!