Ahh, the irony
Jason made me go see "Resident Evil 2" last night.
I'm continually amazed at how filmakers choose to waste film. (JK, J. Not that it wasn't bad; it was awful. But it's good spending time with you, man, even if we are in a theatre full of freaks.)
In other news--my father is super anti-Islamic. This is a popular topic at family dinners; I usually freak out and call him disparaging things like "ridiculous" and "uniformed" (vulgar, right?) and declare in a really shrill voice that you can't judge 1 billion people by the acts of a few radicals, and then I bring up the Crusades or the Dark Ages. Here's where the irony comes in:
Cat Stevens refused entry to US
Agencies
Wednesday September 22, 2004
A passenger plane carrying singer Cat Stevens to Washington was diverted to another city 600 miles away yesterday so the musician could be escorted off the flight by FBI agents and sent back to Britain.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said the singer, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam, was denied access to the US "on national security grounds".
Flight 919 from London to Washington was diverted to Bangor International Airport in Maine, after US security officials were told Mr Islam was aboard.
He had been allowed to board the flight after United Airlines officials initially failed to spot his name on a watch list, the TSA said. The plane, carrying about 250 passengers, was held at Bangor for more than three hours before being allowed to continue its journey to Washington.
Mr Islam was questioned and told he would have to leave the US. His 21-year-old daughter, who was travelling with him, was allowed to remain in the country.
The singer was born Steven Demetre Georgiou to a Swedish mother and a Greek Cypriot father in London. In the 1970s he recorded a succession of popular albums, including Tea for the Tillerman, Catch Bull at Four and Teaser and the Firecat.
After his conversion to Islam in 1977, he gave up recording and performing for 17 years, but issued an Islamic album in 1995 and appeared in concert in Sarajevo in 1997.
He became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983. In July 2000, he was denied entry to Israel amid reports that he had donated tens of thousands of dollars to militant Palestinian group Hamas.
In a statement released by his record label Universal Music at the time, he said: "I want to make sure that people are aware that I've never ever knowingly supported any terrorist groups past, present or future."
I think it's adorable when adults use the phrase "never ever" in serious conversation. I think I might be prompted to feel twitterpated over someone strictly based on his use of that terminology. Seriously...my affection is that easy to earn.