smoker

Has anyone managed to get their hands on a copy of Blood's A Rover by James Ellroy yet? I paid a college girl in New York to go to a book signing of it yesterday (and she said that Ellroy was super nice and asked all sorts of questions about me and my travels because he was amazed that someone halfway around the world would pay someone just to get a signed copy of his book) and she's mailing it to me now. Lord knows how long that thing will take to get here in the mail, so if anyone has started reading it yet and can give me a little taste of what I'm in for, I'd love to hear about it!

I loved Atlas Shrugged. Dagby Tagbert is a wonderful character and Ayn Rand had some wonderful ideas. Unfortunately, her ideas did not anticipate the type of weird derivative trading and credit that would develop in the late part of the 20th century. Her ideas work perfectly for the industrial era she was in where creating better steel or a better railroad or a better something was easily measurable and could and should be rewarded. Her idea of the best and the brightest working the hardest and getting the most rewards is wonderful. The problem now is that our best and brightest were working on turning banks into casinos instead of actually creating valuable physical products and once that gets into the mix it breaks the formula she so excellently created. Yes, I do have to give democracy credit for the good it has done for the world. But I also have to remember that Hitler was elected as was the current corrupt douchtaggers running Afghanistan. Sure, it's better than, say, the way North Korea is run, but it also creates insane choices. In America I think part of the problem is that people are more dedicated to their churches than to their own self interest so they vote for what they think God wants, rather than what would be best for the country. I'd much prefer a system where educated atheists voted and the God folks stayed in church praying to zombies where they belong.

If you live outside of the United States for 11 months of the year or more the IRS gives you an automatic 79k tax write off.

Seriously. Democracy is what got us eight years of George Bush and it's now what's fucking up the health care debate. If the president and congress didn't have to worry about elections in a year and a half they could just give us universal health care coverage and ignore all this douchnozzles at these bullshit town hall meetings. I sometimes feel like there should be some sort of qualification to vote - like a college degree or something. You see these people protesting and read interviews with them and you realize they have no idea about anything they are protesting about. They just know that some dude on Fox news told them they should be angry and so they are. The people are fucking sheep - and dangerous ones at that. And, most of the people protesting are the ones who would benefit most from free health care. Certainly anyone holding a sign saying "Keep the government out of my medicare" is not someone bright enough to be allowed into a voting booth. As it is all democracy has given us is the right for the insane uneducated masses to choose from one of two different members of the elite class every four years. Why don't we cut out the middleman and just let the elite classes pick from their own and let the rest of the country go back to watching American Idol?

The Cold Six Thousand is worth the effort - and it's not all three word sentences. He has some variation. It's closer in style to White Jazz than anything else. And, the thing is that once you read American Tabloid you need to know w hat happens to Pete Bondurant - who is one of the best characters in crime literature ever. Also there's this sense of them having to live with the weight of the JFK hit that is amazingly well done. And, it explores the ideas of compartmentalization in amazingly interesting ways. I loved My Dark Places - it lets you know just how batshit crazy the dude really is.

Gmail is by far the easiest and most secure way to back up your documents. I've been doing that for three years and haven't even gotten close to my storage limits.

When do I get to own an aviator?

Can you phrase that in English, please?

Have you ever read Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?" That's what Thailand is all about. The death of the American Dream and true freedom and good food and hot boys and girls. It's about letting yourself go and then when you go home not telling people exactly what you did because you want it on the QT and very, very hush, hush.

I'm going to change mine first thing in the morning! I just cant' decide if I want Hunter Thompson or James Ellroy!

Yeah. They are awesome. I'm not convinced by all the crap you see online about them helping you lose weight or anything. I just think they taste good. And they encourage me to get more fruit in my diet.

Yes, I was joking.

Kinda like chocolate and strawberries mixed together.

The thing is that the GOP is so insane right now that dealing with them in any meaningful way is impossible, but we have a president who wants to deal with them anyway - even if they are batshit insane.

Any channel that pays Glen Beck to say anything doesn't deserve any respect.

I can't tell from this story - does she have a dick?

The emails make me feel special.

This explanation should be on the homepage.

How did he screw it up in bed so much as to only get a 2 out of 10?

I love to learn more about Laos.

It's considered racist because a popular Southern expression is "You lie, boy!" directed at black men. True, he didn't use the word "boy" but he sure implied it.

You do get a 79k IRS tax break if you live outside the US.

I find it hard to believe there are 83 countries more corrupt than Thailand.

That link rocks!

Thiamo, I'm Catholic and it wouldn't bother me.