...after the one about the flight crew not radioing one of the worlds busiest airports to look for an item of lost property:

"Before today I did not have a proper notebook in which to write."

This was the day after he was booked. I felt like I was reading the latest in the Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole. I was half expecting Pandora to show up as his legal aid rep and admonish him for mistreating the proletariat.

According to this, Peter Kurth was in prison until August of 2007; yet my calendar says its May 2007. Seems like a very big editing error.

At what point does it occur to you that there is no such date as 20/12/06 and you think to yourself that the date format might be English and not American?

Just curious.

beheading IS quick and easy -- those are just facts. I wouldn't assume that Kurth is gleeful about it happening to anyone.

Ask Nicholas Berg about his beheading, which was long, painful, and gruesome.

i also don't get the passport expiration date thing. Why is it an expiration date if you're not supposed to take it at face value -- how is anyone to know you're supposed to tack 6 months onto the so-called 'expiration date'? What is it, an 'expiration SUGGESTION'? If it was that big a deal, shouldn't some airline person have told him when checking his passport?

Its a safety net. Entrance to countries like England and Ireland are good for three months. This means I can buy a plane ticket for one week, then change it while I'm there and tack on another two months and three weeks to my vacation. What happens if my passport expires while I'm there? What happens if I get hit by a car (likely, since I nearly get run over at least once on every visit there -- which is twice a year -- because I'm looking the wrong way) and I wind up in a critical care unit?

this was a plot line on a CSI episode

Shows like that usually take real-life events and turn them into loose fiction.

Imagine how stunned I was to see the murder of a family member re-enacted on an episode of Law & Order last fall...

She's in state care. From the breakingnews.ie article:

"The HSE, he said, relying on the care order made, had given certain directions that the girl was not to be permitted to leave the State for the termination.

She has claimed that she has been advised by the HSE that the Gardaí have been notified that she is not permitted to leave the State and the care order makes it unlawful for her to leave the State without HSE permission."

The state agency, which is apparently her legal guardian knows her medical conditions (as they would) and they are the ones who informed the Gardai/ (dunno how to make a fada mark in HTML..)

For the rest of us, I suspect it's a don't-ask-don't-tell policy. They certainly don't make you take a pregnancy test to get on a plane in Ireland, so the only way that anyone could possibly know would be if they or their guardian informed the Gardai/ about pregnancy, the plan to travel, *and* the plan to abort, and the authorities would be duty-bound at that point to uphold the law.

Me, I'd go after the busybody HSE worker who blabbed confidential medical information to the police.

also considered a marathon a "womans race", because of the short distance.

As an aside, are these the dudes who do long-distance runs barefoot, or with strips of tire tied to their feet with rope in case they're running over especially-pointy rocks?

Those guys just blow my mind.

I of course am immersed in Western ideals of attractiveness, bla bla bla.

But you know something? I can *feel* when I've gained weight. I feel uncomfortable, wobbly, and sluggish when I get up over 130 (I'm 5'6"). Screw "societal pressures" -- don't people just notice that they feel a whole lot worse when they're overweight? You can't move as easily or as fast, bits of you jiggle and wobble when they shouldn't (or at least shouldn't that much), and you get tired more easily. Why on earth would anyone court or cultivate that state of being? Yikes. Don't get me wrong, I love Doritos as much as the next person, but holy cow do I feel like garbage if I go on a corn-chip bender of any duration.

when you take a trip to the airport today, you are stepping into a fascist country

Incorrect. You are stepping onto the property of a private company.

You do not have the right to enter my office building and scream obscenities at my staff, even if you are a paying client.

You do not have the right to get intoxicated and become belligerent, even if you are attending a private cocktail party.

You do not have the right to frighten my other clients with your alarming behavior.

You do not have the right to enter restricted areas of my office building and refuse to leave when instructed.

If you do any of these things, I will call the police. I will press charges. You will be booked, and you will spend the night in jail or post bail. Your case will either plead or you will face fines and/or jail time. Again, your choice.

The notion that airlines and airline staff are somehow obliged to put up with behavior that would not be tolerated in any other place of business is absurd, doubly so because they are not in a position to simply escort you out the door.

The usual civilized thing to do when somebody has rung the lemons at customs is to turn them around and send them home.

SOP for air rage these days is jail. Bangor, Maine and Gander, Newfoundland have created cottage industries to deal with planes making emergency stops to remove unmanageable passengers.