Interesting, if somewhat misleading, article in the San Diego Citybeat, an alternative entertainment weekly there. It describes the author's first meeting with the "Green Goddess". A little bit over the top and wrong in many ways. Hey, let's count them!

1. It is actually not barred in many other countries. Right now, the US is about the only place around that makes it entirely illegal.
2. A real absinthe is not, in fact, bitter.  It has plenty of other tastes, but we here at InAbsinthia have never understood the desire to describe it as "bitter"
3. The chemical name for "wormwood" isn't "thujone". Thujune is merely a chemical released when you use wormwood.
4. He describes its "acrid" taste. Poor fellow. Given the link he produces at the bottom, he must have had the bad fortune of actually thinking that Czech swill is absinthe. No wonder he's complaining about the taste!

He does give a nice thumbnail sketch of absinthe's lurid history. We also had never heard the story of Roman chariot riders drinking absinthe to "remind them that every victory is mingled with bitterness". And he does drink it in the correct fashion; I thought sure I was going to read about flames and all. So, all in all, we've read much worse.