and, imho, the author did accept responsibility ultimately for his actions, hazy though they may have been to him.

Most interesting, I thought, was the fact that his very bad, inappropriate behavior did not simply result in a fine .... credit cards happily accepted... which I guess is how I would have expected such an air-rage-type of incident to be resolved.

That information and the unexpected vagaries of the British legal system (and the folks met along the way) is worth knowing, particularly for Americans used to the efficiency of the various Law and Order programs in which it seems most folks are able to post bail (stories about the poor are rarely as interesting as those about the affluent) and "getting lost on the way to Rikers" is generally "only" a threat.

It appears on the face of it that despite his extended family's "risk factors", Mr. Kurth is generally considered functioning adult member of society, with no "known associates" and no record. He probably would have done better to simply place the blame on being intoxicated, but it is again worth noting that there were ONLY words exchanged and that his complaints were specific to the situation, i.e. he was complaining to the people who might be able to remedy his situation and, in fact, the only people capable of, say, finding him an empty seat... etc. He was not raving at fellow passengers OR complaining about some outlandish conspiracy theory to suggest his grasp of reality had failed.

Caveat emptor. I thought it was an interesting cautionary tale.

It did occur to me that, regarding his beat down on entering his student's apparently cell, that he was probably unaware of prison "customs" -- I suspect announcing your presence loudly is part of preserving the privacy and security of others ... and that people only "sneak" into another person's cell for nefarious purposes -- to steal or stealthily attack.

I was concerned about AIDS transmission and what, if anything, Mr. Kurth did to protect his various partners or if that was an issue -- he discusses being back in the closet and concealing his HIV status ... but apparently was at time either a willing or unwilling participant .. don't know... but that concerns me a bit.

Also, fwiw, illiteracy is an interesting phenomenon ... Kurth's student's room mate ensured that his illiteracy and dependence would continue. From what I've read, it is not uncommon for others to undermine attempts at learning to read ... much as people undermine another's sobriety... in order to maintain a status quo in which the "other person" has the upper hand.

that's all I gotta add.

I was among those who suspected in early fall of 2002 that war ON Iraq was a "done deal" and that Bush was engaged in window-dressing to sell a war with a country that we had beaten decisively a decade earlier, crippled with sanctions, whose population was already suffering, whose economy was teetering on collapse -- a country with a few tanks but no airforce.

With all the exaggerated threats and seemingly unfounded claims, it was difficult to conceive that it was ALL lies ... and I recall being fairly baffled that we would deliberately send our infantry into the line of fire of chemical and biological agents -- weapons Saddam denied having, weapons which if used would bring the world down on his head, but the only possibly effective resistance in his arsenal (if he still had them, they were still operational, etc.)

Tenet's revelations must be doing VERY.BAD.THINGS for morale of the "honest mistake" crowd.

his best candidate for this role was leaving the country and the rest of his possible candidate phone numbers were on his missing computer AND his phone card wasn't working well ....

I couldn't come up with a "friend in England" to vouch for me, etc. No such person exists.

Similarly, his decision to return to jail in lieu of paying the fine (around $1000) is NOT crazy given that he had figured the system out by then and, I suspect, may well have been expecting and early release due to over crowding. For some people at some times in their lives $1000 is a lot of money and it doesn't sound like Kurth has that happy community of souls who we hear about coming to the rescue of "other people" ... fwiw, I don't have such a community as well, although I do have a high credit limit on my credit card and a family member I might -- as absolute last resort -- petition, but I too would probably chose jail time rather than asking for help from him or anyone else I know if it was an option.

The man behaved badly and stupidly ... and I suspect that expression of contrition and acceptance of "guilt" at the arrival of the police might well have improved the situation considerably.

I'm a little confused that the prison had no special wing for gay inmates or other "quarantine" for known HIV positive inmates, simply to prevent discriminatory victimization and disease spread.

However, after Kurth's crappy behavior on the plane, his primary sin was that of having no "connections" and/or funds.

There but for fortune ....