Come on, is this a serious question?

It is fair, though, to think that some ongoing international stories should be discussed here, even when they're not making headlines. I think people just aren't used to doing that yet, although meades especially has been good at doing that for us in the past.

On the one hand, of course we all feel vaguely guilty about being not much more than ambulance-chasers, followers of headlines -- but it is hard to talk usefully about parts of the world that are genuinely foreign to you. I suspect that many babblers are interested in reading what anyone has to say about, eg, Africa or Latin America, but have little to add. That's usually my situation.

The Middle East is heatedly debated for the OBVIOUS reason that it is of life-and-death importance to everyone. I fear that, if the Palestinians go under, as appears more than possible at the moment, all North Americans and Europeans will be facing an entire generation of understandable if never justifiable terrorism. Maybe it is healthier to stop thinking about that since most of us can't do a bloody thing about it -- I don't know. I just think that it is an obvious fact.

I also have personal connections to Central and Southeast Asia, and am unhappy with all the imperialist adventures there whose history I know.

[ 12 August 2003: Message edited by: skdadl ]

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It is fair, though, to think that some ongoing international stories should be discussed here, even when they're not making headlines. I think people just aren't used to doing that yet . . . of course we all feel vaguely guilty about being not much more than ambulance-chasers, followers of headlines . . .

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Thank you for supporting my little bureaucratic point about list titles.

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If you hold my glasses backwards and look at a map of Toronto you can actually see little tiny people waving.

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Particularly during surfing season.

[ 12 August 2003: Message edited by: 'lance ]