Er, no...it's like a Yemeni journalist studying English for a few years and then coming to work at a paper in New York. What's wrong with that?

My dad is super addicted to those little spray bottles that squirt saline up your nose. But instead of buying them new from the pharmacy, he just buys contact lens cleanser in bulk containers and refills his squirt bottle. He's all "what, it's just saline and it's cheaper!" but I kinda think that's crazy talk. …

And the next Nita and the next and the next ad infinitum?

(The link to Salon is a good interview with a journalist who just wrote a book on modern slaves)

While I understand the impulse to want to "buy" her so she can be safe from the trade...please don't support the organizations that buy people in order to "save" them. Not only does it actually fuel the trade in women (leading to an increase of trafficking), but buying someone out of prostitution or slavery, rarely…

He's so hot I almost forgive him for fighting against Slovenian independence.

Amazing story. But I have a hard time with the idea that the story shows 'us' how lucky 'we' are. It ain't luck that has us living the life we live. Just like it ain't luck that the Iraqi women are living the life they do. Luck has nothing to do with it. Geopolitics, colonialism/empire, history, religion,…

@booglass: oh, it's definitely the latter. I'm relying on internet anonymity here. Feels good to finally say it out loud though, huh?

I'm ashamed that I recognize the rehab guy with glasses (who attends the group meetings with Dr.Drew) as a dude who had a cameo as "doc" in 7th Heaven. He taught Matt a lesson about life. It made no sense, but I watched the episode at least twice. I couldn't place his face when I first watched Celeb Rehab, but I…

I watched this show in Bosnia and it was a little different than the American version. One wife went to Podgorica, the other to a town in Serbia and then they took care of each other's families and houses. They met back up at the Montenegrin/Serbian border, gave each other kisses, bottles of wine and other treats…

Jobs where a person gains power over others tend to attract psychopaths. Being in combat can do bad stuff to a person, but it is also possible that this guy chose to join the Marines because it would be opportunity to act this way with impunity.

@bitcholympian: No, but your bad-ass weeping pitbull tat does.

Why this sorta shit bugs the crap out of me is that this rich white girl gets $100,000 to tell a story that is not her own, while all the people who live that life get $0. The worst thing is that the story rang false, and from the excerpts I've read, sucks.

@syneblue: I really like the 1,2,3 idea.

@esmemurphy: AFS which allowed a teen in their charge to drop 50 pounds in four months? The family that mistreated him?

In my exchange group there was a girl who was receiving unwanted comments from her host father - and they couldn't move her as they had no place else for her to go.

The bit about students being discouraged from being in contact with parents and friends disturbs me. If you are in a great family, you're very emotionally mature and you are having fun, no problem. But if you're not, it sounds disturbingly similar to being in an abusive relationship, where you are cut off from…

Meh. It's a job. I don't let my employment define my identity, it's a transaction where I sell my time for money. If he feels that he's straight, then who I am I to say different? He's right, men in straight porn generally make very little compared to the female actors. It makes sense to do gay porn. You become…

One dead found in the wreckage of the US Embassy. The riots followed a massive rally (trains and buses to Belgrade were free for the day) against Kosovar independence. Some pretty inflammatory things were said by PM Koštunica, as well as tennis player Novak Đoković and celebrated filmmaker Emir Kusturica (who, btw,…

That's some straight up psychopathic behaviour, which is pretty standard amongst con artists. I work at a farmer's market on weekends, and have been burned on bad $20 bills before. It really makes you want to cry when you take money for deposit at the bank and they confiscate it. It chaps my ass that I do…