We're satins?! Well, if we can't be silks, I suppose satins is ok...

Pakistan, of course, already has nukes. I find this situation as scary as what's going on in Iran.

Pakistan scares me too. It's an unstable country held barely viable by a dictator, and always at a state of war with India.

A military dictator whose top military officers would dearly like to get rid of him and get back to terrorism as usual.

Satins?

Geez, can't I be velvet, instead? Or, at least, wide wale corduroy. Yeah, I know it's out of style, but I love the noise it makes.

We could be silk satins, but I guess charmeuse is hard to spell.

A friend of mine who used to work for an NGO that was involved in disarmament issues told me that India and Pakistan came perilously close to nuclear war, over Kashmir, in the early 1990s, but this was not reported at all in the media.

But I thought Pakistan didn't get nukes till the late 90's...

This is OT, I hope Meg doesn't mind.

I received an email from a Nigerian guy I met in Greece, he was a CD seller (black-market CDs, of course) who would travel from island to island during the summer, selling CDs to tourists. He was a very sweet guy, a Christian whose parents had been killed in one of Nigeria's many wars, and he had a sister and a brother still back home. Every black-market CD seller in Greece btw, is from Nigeria, they have some racket going, I'm not sure exactly what or how.

Anyway, I had gotten a friendly email from him about a year ago and then didn't hear from him again, which is normal, we weren't friends or anything. But two days ago he sent me an email begging me to do something for him to come to the States. He said "I know you're not an embassy but please, can you do something?" It was funny and sad at the same time. I read recently that Greek authorities really cracked down on the black-market CDs, much to the pleasure of US and Greek music companies, and I wonder if this has affected him and hence the email.

I feel sorry for him and helpless at the same time. And I feel like a coward because I'm ignoring his email--there's nothing I can do for him and I don't know what to tell him.

Ok, psych session over :-)

"Officially", they weren't "nuclear" until May 1998.

And even though India exploded its first nuke in 1974, for some reason they were able to maintain a fiction that they were "not nuclear" until they exploded their second nuke, a few weeks before Pakistan's in 1998.

And remember, Israel is still officially "non-nuclear".

In the big parking lot next door, fire engines are doing a sort of "roadeo".

It's fun to watch.

Poor guy. I hope he finds something to do .

Oh, c'mon, Ev, I'm not going to spend the whole friggin' day just staring out my window. Sheesh.

He's in Greece illegally, ev, all of the Nigerians are. The police have been turning a blind eye to this black market for years. But with the recent crackdown, I think it's most likely that a lot of them will be deported now.

Frank, LMAO!

zorkie, eee. I hope he doesn't have to go back to Nigeria.

Wow - does Michelle Malkin read bloggie?!

Cool! joem - Michelle also linked google graphics from bloggie's photoshop masters, RIP and AM42 :-)

Franco,

Where in Pakistan? Cashmere?

Satin. Cashmere.

I love it.

LOL, Mike! :)

I would rather be a nice chintz.

florie, I have a collection of chintz tea pots and cups and saucers. And then I saw a Polish Pottery store in Seattle and fell in love with that:)

My mom collects miniature teacups and pots too, MM.

I love the look of old-fashioned chintz..

Since we moved, I'm getting all these home decor catalogues. Here's my latest fixation, Marine Momma - metal wall hangings!
My favorite comes in alabaster


or copper...

Cool, huh? They are a little out of my price range but it's fun to windowshop :-)

I'm a new visitor to this site and just wanted to say how glad I am that someone has told the story about the cat in Mohammed's sleeve and how cats are loved in Iran. I live in rural Arizona and people around here have never heard of this. As a cat lover, I am glad to be able to say a real live Iranian wrote this. Thank you and keep writing.

Hi Ann - I hope you like cheese. Stick around there are some great folks here.
OK, I am really going to bed now!

I found this site on Michelle Malkin. Wait a minute, I've been here before!
I had emailed her that link. Now maybe she's hooked! I take full credit, of course.

Oh yes! You're that famous Fergie guy!

So how was your trip? :-D

BTW Zorkie,

A bit of advice regarding your Nigerian acquaintance:

Do you know if he is Christian? If so, given the imposition of Sharia Law in much of Nigeria, including the persecution of Christians, could he claim status as a refugee fleeing persecution?

You may also want to check with the Lord of the bloggers himself, Glenn Reynolds. His sister-in-law is Nigerian and may be able to provide some insight as to how these Nigerians (especially if they are Christian) can avoid being sent back.

Yes, he's a Christian. Greece doesn't grant refugee status that easily, it actually has the lowest number in Europe when it comes to accepting asylum seekers. There are hundreds if not thousands of him in the same position in Greece. Thanks for the tip, Max :-)

It was great. I had a blast, but I've been paying for it, especially at work. The band's busy, too, which is of course good news! I'll do a GA post when I can...for some reason, though, most of my pictures seem to be inside pubs.

Then he should try another country. I don't know who would be most amenable, but if he is resourceful enough to get a one way ticket to the USA (I figure either Easyjet or Ryanair must have a cheap fare to London, and he can find a cheap fare from there), this might actually be his best shot.

I would venture there are hundreds of thousands of Nigerians already in the USA, and he is probably resourceful enough to tap into that network.

And you want to know something -- I bet if he has to leave Nigeria for good, there's no place he'd rather be than America.

Wow, that's Jefe?
What a disappointment. All this time I was under the impression that this was Jefe...

To continue with the Satin theme, please see my post It's not Cashmere it's Muslin - Bombs over Bombay