Jane Fonda handled SC better than 99.9% of his other guests. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and why (remember the drubbing SC gave her at her last appearance). And she did it with class and style. I loved it. As much as I enjoy SC, the tables were 100% turned and he ended up being the most embarrassed/flummoxed "guest" of the Colbert Report I've ever seen. It was poetry in satire.

No surprise CDG made the list but where's MCI?

MCI was a great airport when it opened and the "future" included jetways to the front and rear doors of every plane. But the layout failed to anticipate security requirements; they were coming on-line as skyjackings became an issue. The result is one of the most bizarre airports that should definitely have made the list of weirdos.

Just came through CDG a couple of weeks ago for the first time. Wow, what a challenge. Arriving from downtown Paris via train, we had absolutely no idea whether to get off at CDG A rail stop or CDG B. Turned out we needed to get CDG A, Terminal #1, Hall 4, Concourse C, Gate 91. How exciting to peel that onion without any fore knowledge of what we were in for.

We started near Terminal #2 knowing only that there were three terminals. We arrived at the airport with 2 hours to spare for a hop to Frankfurt and we got to our gate barely 20 minutes before departure. Part of that was the horrific check-in line for Lufthansa/United.

Throughout the ordeal, the airport/airline employees (who obviously deal with the chaos daily) were surly and impatient with the herd of travelers. Having expected surliness from the French based on reputation and not finding it but once or twice in a couple of weeks, CDG made up for the lack.

CDG is one of the adventures of international travel.

Every working stiff has encountered the type of individual described by the LW; a snake-in-the-grass who is very smooth, convincing, charming and able to use those talents to their personal advantage at the expense of others. I have memories of a few such individuals from my past and I still hold them in high contempt.

Nuts to the notion the LW has to treat this individual as someone they've never met; there's no reason to discard their advantage here. Unlike the rest of us who have to figure out what they're dealing from scratch, the LW knows who and what this person really is. That can insulate the LW from the charm and direct exploitation and positions the LW well to undermine the co-worker's ability to charm and exploit other co-workers. An occasional suggestion to the right person that "you may want to recheck her/his work for ..." isn't a confidentiality breach and could go a long ways toward the LW's other co-workers coming up to speed on this person all the faster. It may take some time but, in the end, the sociopathic co-worker will be gone. Unless...

Mr/Ms Sociopath is aware of the coming reunion, foresees the concerns the LW would have and, as these characters can be so good doing, is already or will be scheming to undermine the LW.

Either way, it's going to be an interesting workplace for awhile. But, IMO, it beats the hell out of being in the dark about the snake that just slithered into your office.

involving a 20-something failure-to-launch and I fear a future for this ward as dim as your sister's. I've been thinking on this hard for many months and I continue to worry the problem in my head on a daily basis without much new insight.

But one thing I figured out might be useful to you. For our problem child's entire life, it's been a "we'll do this in return for you doing that". It's taken years to realize for certain that she's never done her "that" part. So, doh, we're now at a point where it's "you do this and we'll do that (maybe)." It's been a tough transition and we slip occasionally (I just did again today). But it's a shift.

Put differently, we do nothing for her until she's done for herself. We've let her know we'll do for her but not until she steps up and does something first.

Seems kind of obvious today but it's been years getting here.

Shrub that much authority.

there is a real confusion among Americans about why [public opinion of the United States in virtually every country over the last 6 years has declined enormously] is, and they have a hard time understanding why that is

What Americans are YOU talking about? Every American I know understands quite well why. Even the wingnut supporters of Bush.

Being in a similar situation (though not so advanced) involving a 25 yo step daughter, I was surprised to learn that you can't just kick someone out of your own house; the laws protect people from being dumped on the streets without due notice. This applies to ANYONE: renters, guests and even squatters. If you want them to leave and they don't want to go, you have to evict them. Surprising but true. It makes some sense if you think about it but, in the moment, can be quite aggravating. Go through the eviction process. It's not hard, does NOT require a lawyer and, maybe, receiving an eviction notice from mom will wake this guy up a little.