Extreme Othering Reprise

In a previous post I opined on the propriety of the military's polciy for interacting with civilians in the Arab world, particularly Iraq, saying that lack of cultural sensitivity causes more hearts and minds to be lossed than gained. I heard on NPR while heading home from work that there was a publication in an Army periodical which stated the same thing, and that it was particularly shocking for the Army to print this opinion.

Not to say I told you so, but...

Borderliner

Many devoted followers of this hugely popular site are wondering, "Where is Borderliner"? It will only be a matter of days before they take to the streets. Who can forestall this civil unrest? Only the Borderliner! Come out of hiding!

Sesa Me Ewurade, Sesa Me O

I was just thinking how after I had stopped my wanderings and had locked myself in a cube in corporate America I used to sit and, sometimes for hours, daydream about swaying palm trees and ancient temples, minarets and thunderous waves. It was a feeling not unlike those I had as a child trapped in a classroom, wishing I was on the playground or off adventuring with my cousin Paul.

I don't do that so much anymore, hardly ever in fact. I wonder what is happening. I wonder if I don't need to daydream like that because I'm settled now, or if I have been "institutionalized". All this normalcy was never normal to me before- is there a universal preferable state in which man should exist? I don't know, but I do know that I find it somewhat disturbing that I am no longer disturbed by the fact that I not only am not in an Arabian bazaar (soukh) but no longer feel the overpowering need to get to one (or a Polynesian beach, or a Korean mountaintop, or...)

I am changing into an unchanging person, and I don't know if it should scare me or not.