so my dad's brother-in-law is this wild and crazy guy. in a certifiable sense. he's been developing this conspiracy theory centered around the azores and portugal for almost 30 years now. i don't really see what he's getting at, but he's a nut. along the way, he's obtained a phd in portugese history (possibly the most useless degree of all time), and has been deported out of every practically every country in europe.

he's all up in the public health system now, which kind of worries my family because they're trying to force lobotomy-inducing drugs on him, and it would be sort of sad to watch this guy devolve from mild-mannered eccentric to a drooling meat slab. of course, he could refuse the treatment, but there are consequences to that.

another thought that's been lurking in the back of mind is: what if he's right? i mean, conspiracies and dirty deeds are committed everywhere, all the time. what if he had spent the last 30 years obsessing over east timor? there's a lot of truth out there that the general public doesn't want to face, which creates a willingness to silence the eccentrics that run after it.