The irreplaceable Michael Totten is now in the Balkans tracking down the influence of al Qaeda and the mujahideen. They seem to be having trouble inculcating their values.
Exhibit 1:
“Most people know nothing about your country,” I said to Fana and Lumnije.
“The majority of us would not like to be perceived as a Muslim country in the real sense of the word,” Lumnije said. “Because we are different. Even geographically we are European.”
“We are not European,” Fana said and laughed, “we are American! We are the 51st state!”
“Kosovo is the most reliable,” Lumnije said.
“It is a small country,” Fana said, “but you can rely on us completely.”
Exhibit 2:
Erotic literature for sale on the street, Prizren, Kosovo
About Lance
I want to thank everybody who has encouraged me over the past few years to do this. I doubt it will hold but a few people's interest, but that is okay with me. Special thanks go to Peter over at http://www.liberalcapitalist.com.
I value my privacy a great deal, so I will guess you will have to get to know me over time to find out much. I am in the financial services, wealth management, investing or whatever you want to call it business. I have children, my oldest is entering college.
I have no great or imposing academic background, my grades varied from high enough to get invited to an honors program at my university to frustrating enough to cause my father great grief. My major was history, with a minor in ethics. My main interest towards the end was in the history of economic ideas before life took a turn and I ended up never going on to graduate school. However, I have a fair knowledge of history, economics, investing and would probably be considered well read. My tastes are eclectic and I pretty much find the entire world interesting.
I have an enduring interest in how people learn about and analyze the world; my posts here will examine this topic in detail over time. I make no claims to be above the very biases and errors I see in others, in fact it is my belief that we are incapable of escaping them, only moderating their control over us.
I am a member of no political party, but I would broadly consider myself a man of the right. I am inclined to free market economics, limited government and a fairly narrow view of the role of the state. A small L libertarian if you will. However, if you are looking for broad based "the left believes..." or "wingers are so...." types of attacks on liberals, conservatives, neo-cons or whatever enemy you want to slam, look elsewhere.
Lance
There’s a lot of nations on this planet that could benefit from being annexed by the United States of America and introduced into the process to become full states. The same way our “original” states came about.