Shockin' Y'all

FBI Seizes Global Indymedia Servers: Reason Unknown

"Indymedia has learned that the request to seize Indymedia servers hosted by a US company in the UK originated from government agencies in Italy and Switzerland. More than 20 Indymedia sites, several internet radio streams and other projects were hosted on the servers. They were taken offline on October 7th after an order was issued to Rackspace, Inc., one of Indymedia's web hosting providers.

"By taking down 2 servers more than 20 Indymedia sites were affected in different countries globally as well as several unrelated projects. Indymedia considers this extremely invasive operation a a serious threat to the Freedom of Speech worldwide."

I found it on Warren's site with a link to the BBC. I searched for the story on Yahoo News and came up with a link to the BBC story--I guess it's not a very big story here in the U.S. Huh.

supplies are limited

There Are Many Kinds of Crushes

STRANGER CRUSH--knowing when to fold 'em:

"One day back in 1896 I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry. And as we pulled out there was another ferry pulling in. And on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on, and she was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all. But I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl."

From CITIZEN KANE, screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles.

There Are Many Kinds of Crushes

COOL CRUSH--they are famous, and I will never meet them. Maybe they are dead. Maybe they are more made up than real, in the first place. But they clever, and sometimes they are pretty, and always they have charisma. They make movies, they write books, they dance interpretively, they juggle or they play the harp. Perhaps they do all of those things, but they never brag. Or maybe they do brag, but I don't mind. Most of my friends do not understand, but those who do--oh, my. Those who do!

There Are Many Kinds of Crushes

FRIEND CRUSH--we're pals. Oh boy, but we're pals. We pal around and take in movies and maybe grab lunch. We talk on the phone and we send funny emails and sometimes when I'm laughing alone (sock puppets in the mirror) or with others (making up breakfast cereals), I think to myself, "Oh boy, my pal would laugh at this too."

For a while, at first, I thought we might be dating. Boyfriends were not spoken of, but then neither were dates between ourselves. Every time we hung out I thought, "This time I will kiss her, or I'll know we're just pals." And each time I would not kiss her, but there was always an alternate explanation.

My friends might say, "She likes you. She definitely likes you, why would she write/call/drop in if she didn't like you?" But I just couldn't tell.

Or, I knew she liked me, and our hands might brush while we walked, or our shoulders would meet and our arms would press together during a movie, but afterwards there was no reference of either. It turned out she did have a boyfriend. Maybe she wanted to break up with him, or maybe she didn't but she still wasn't happy, but either way what happened afterwards between us, between pals, was not discussed.

"Maybe she's gay," friends might say.

And I start to say, no, she's not gay, but I wind up saying, "Well, she is kind of tough. She pins me when we wrestle."

"Yeah, but you're skinny," they tell me.

A lot of things are left unsaid. This is a confusing kind of crush.

There Are Many Kinds of Crushes

BOY CRUSH--non-sexual, but endearing. Like the friend-of-a-friend I don't have much in common with, but am awfully fond of all the same. We have no reason to hang out together, but sometimes we trade clever emails. "If only I had a sister," I think, "I'd set her up with you."

But sometimes the boy crush is not attractive, like the boy in my class who is so, so funny, and who sometimes looks at me when he makes a joke to see if I am laughing. But we do not talk casually. How can we? I have not made a new friend out of a boy in a long, long time. I do not know how to do it anymore. I don't even know if I"m allowed to do it anymore . . . can grown-up boys make friends of other grown-up boys when they don't want to kiss them? How does it work?

There Are Many Kinds of Crushes

CLASS CRUSH--on that girl in my class. She sat across from me that first day and I caught her looking at me and she caught me looking at her. Our teacher said we had to have study partners that we would trade contact information with. I figured when he said it was time, when he said it was time to choose, when he said it was time to choose our study partners I would look up at her and she would look up at me and we would be partners and we would date and we would kiss and we would make babies and we would fall in love. Our teacher said it was time. I looked up at her and she looked up at the boy next to her, so I looked up at the girl next to me, and that's who my study partner is.

Sometimes we still look at each other, the crush girl and I, but she always leaves very fast and I always have many things to put away.

Killing Me Softly With Your Handsome Head

I'm a big politics nerd, but I admit my interest has waned sharply these past few months. I was all aboard the DEAN Train last winter and early spring, but since Kerry took over I've been shuffling my toe in the dirt and saying, "Well, yeah, okay, I guess so."

But these debates have really gotten pretty hopeful. I voted Gore last time around, but even then I had a funny feeling things weren't going to work out. I had the same feeling through this summer, but after Kerry last week and Edwards tonight I'm starting to feel hopeful. I missed the Edwards-Cheney debate, what with school and all, but from what I'm hearing Edwards mopped up. Then again, I'm checking places like Atrios and DailyKos--they're fair, but they're also openly Kerry-Edwards supporter. I hope the polls reflect the same and Kerry keeps climbing.