Aside

Doesn’t anyone want to go to the RCR show with me? C’mon . . . It’s only $10!

This man is my new hero. [Stolen from Saheli Datta] My only chance was to stay calm, I told myself. “Moo mishkilleh, ana sahafi,” I shouted — pidgin Arabic for “don’t worry, I’m a journalist.” It didn’t make any difference. I was frog-marched through the throng at a rapid clip, an Arab TV crew filming what was shaping up to be a juicy scoop — a live execution of a Westerner. Mindful that these might be the last shots the…

So I saw this t-shirt on the Persians LJ site today and was amused. And then when I clicked “To view other Arabic t-shirts” (even though that one was in Farsi, not Arabic) I came across listings for t-shirts that said: “Kiss me, I’m Arabic.” C’mon guys, get it right. Arab is the people, Arabic is the language. Is that so hard?

Well, this weekend was busy and fun. Friday night was spent with Aaron, first getting some Zachary’s on College, and then over at Paul Boutin’s place. Besides feeling really out of place by being at least eight years younger than everyone else, I did learn that Salam Pax has a movie deal. And speaking of which, what’s with this six week hiatus? Saturday, following picking up Rachel from the airport, I exchanged Lauren & Josh’s graduation gift for Season 1…

I got a C in Econ 100A. I’ll say it one last time. Fuck Econ. I have a perfect C average with my Econ courses here at Berkeley (C+ in Econ 1, C- in Econ 100B) — good riddance. Without you I could have had honors.Oh well, it’s over now.

I was informed by my major advisor that I’m not getting honors, even though I went through all the motions and what not (I didn’t make the GPA requirement). Oh well. I’m still glad I did it. So over here at my new digs at B2, I have a colleague called Todd Lappin, who apparently is a big fan of international music as I am. I traded him some Tarkan, MC Solaar, Positive Black Soul and others for some Mandarin…

Right Hook, Salon.com May 19, 2004 The sentiments speak for themselves, but what is perhaps most disturbing is their reach. “Savage Nation’s” syndicated radio host Michael Savage, already infamous for telling a gay caller to “get AIDS and die” (MSNBC fired him for that), boasts 6 million American listeners per week, according to the nonprofit watchdog group Media Matters.org. On May 11, while repeatedly calling Abu Ghraib “Grab-an-Arab” prison, he launched into this little tirade: “I think there should be…

So far, Business 2.0 is great. Factchecking stories have become my duties, and that’s well — you can imagine how that is. But I’m liking it so far, and I have two postings in the B2Day blog here and here. There are loads of bananas and apricots in the kitchen for the staff today, so that was cool. Last night I volunteered for the pledge drive at KQED which was fairly straightforward. In the volunteer raffle I won a CD…

Wow, two in a row. The Gray Zone. The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. RumsfeldÕs decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of Žlite combat units, and hurt AmericaÕs…

Thanks to those of you who came all the way up to Glen Ellen for helping celebrate graduation. It’s just now dawned on me that I really don’t have anything hanging over my head. Well, except for that annoying stop-sign ticket that I have to do traffic school for, but other than that, it’s all over. I’m ready to fall asleep. The chili was great (thanks Nate!) and the pies were great (thanks Rachel!) and everything else was great (thanks…