Swine flu hysteria, up close and personal

it's one thing to be in kabul or dubai and read about the absolute paranoiac idiocy accompanying the latest distraction for the masses, but it's another thing to see the hysteria up close and personal...

i spent monday and tuesday nights in dubai prior to flying back here to argentina... in the dubai airport yesterday, i didn't see one person wearing a mask... when i got to the sao paulo airport last night to connect with the flight to buenos aires, i saw a few folks wearing them, notable because i hadn't seen any one wearing them up to that point... the woman sitting across the aisle from me on the flight was wearing one but, lord almighty, the entire airport staff at the buenos aires airport were wearing them... even the taxi driver who took me home was wearing one... when i asked him about it, he mumbled something about being advised to do it on the news, but then, after a few minutes, probably feeling self-conscious, he took it off...

honest to pete... our controllers won't be satisfied until everyone on the planet are turned into quivering rabbits...

p.s. there are a lot of folks who wear masks or scarves over their faces in kabul (not counting the women) but it ain't about the flu... it's protection against the health-destroying pollution...

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Heading back to Afghanistan

yeah, yeah, yeah... if i'm not a candidate for the dreaded fatal disease of "terminal jet lag," i probably will be soon... i'm writing this in buenos aires prior to heading off to the airport for the long, long trek back to kabul... i go to sao paulo, change for a non-stop to dubai (it's a 14-hour flight), spend friday night there, and fly on to kabul on saturday afternoon where i will see this lovely sign welcoming me to the country, a scene that i so desperately wish was their reality... ah, well... stay tuned...

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Welcome to Brazil, George!

this is going to be repeated all over latin america... i'll have something up after the chavez rally here in buenos aires tomorrow evening...

Riot police fired tear gas at protesters and beat them with batons in Sao Paulo after more than 6,000 people held a largely peaceful march, sending hundreds of demonstrators fleeing and ducking into businesses to avoid the gas.

Authorities did not immediately report any injuries, but Brazilian media said at least six people were hurt after marching two miles through the financial heart of South America's largest city just hours before Bush was scheduled to arrive.

Police and anti-Bush protesters also clashed in Colombia, where Bush is scheduled to visit on Sunday as part of his five-nation tour of Latin America.

bush has no idea how much he's hated down here...

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