Ethan Van Drunen

who wins?

Jason Bourne vs. Jack Bauer

Kosovo Parody

Look, Marines can be FUNNY! Click on this: Kokomo-Kosovo by the Big Boys!

CorD Magazine

CorD Magazine is a pretty in-depth magazine here in Belgrade. In a lot of ways it's similar to Washington's www.thehill.com or www.rollcall.com .
I think ISB has an interview with them on Friday. Here is an excerpt from a great interview they did with British Ambassador Wordsworth:

Do you think that the entire region of the former Yugoslavia needs to see the setting up of a truth and reconciliation commission that will help the people of all the former republics understand exactly what went on where and to whom?
I think that there’s a great lack of understanding in the region, and I do think we need to see some process aimed at helping people really understand what happened – what was done in their name, what was done to them, what the consequences were, etc. This is because it’s very hard for the people to understand what needs to happen now if they can’t understand what happened ten years ago. The information is there, via reports of organisations like the UNHCR and others, but most people don’t access that information and we end up with a very one-sided picture on all sides; the governments are still not giving people the full story.

The ideal, I suppose, would be one day to have a single school history book in all the countries of the region, telling the story of what really happened and ensuring that young people have an accurate account of the former country’s break-up. That’s something that needs to be worked towards, because you can’t achieve real reconciliation between the peoples and countries of this region until everybody accepts what was done to others in their name, and what was done to them in the name of their neighbours. The fact is that many people suffered appallingly in this region, and we need to reach at least some common level of understanding on what actually happened.

My hope is to use Panos methodology to get this process started. I've used Panos before, with mixed results... (the Garhwal villagers and my 7th graders got in a fight and started throwing rocks at each other, so we weren't able to collect any more interviews). Hopefully we'll fare better with High Schoolers in the Balkans this time around...

A walk in the woods brings me back to Rousseau

Just yesterday, while Jamie and I were taking a hike through the Kosutnjak woods, a tree was nice enough to offer me some advice. "Shake off the burden of servitude and embrace the freedom of Virtue! Skip and dance and be merry!" he said.
"I am often merry, and what makes you think I am a servant?" said I.
"The look of your face, the way your eyebrows furrow, the way you look without seeing, the manner of your walk. There is an unseemly weight upon your entire countenance. You may be merry, but there is an unseemly weight of responsibility. Must thou 'ought'?"
I was taken back by the tree's powers of observation, and the tension in my spine told me that the tree was right. I halted on the switchback and stared into its branches.
"Perhaps I have only that weight which I choose, only those responsibilities which give me purpose and meaning" I replied.
"Responsibility is never a thing in and of itself. Do you think it is my responsibility to stand here and offer shade and habitat? No, it is my honour and my delight, so I do it gladly and gaily."
"Welp, see you later." said I.

Grace, honour, praise, delight,
Here sojourn day and night.
Sound bodies lined
With a good mind,
Do here pursue with might
Grace, honour, praise, delight.
- Rabelais

whiskey, mystics and men - by Jim Morrison

Well, I'll tell you a story
Of whiskey and mystics and men,
And about the believers and
How the whole thing began.
First there were women and
Children obeying the moon,
Then daylight brought wisdom
And fever and sickness too soon.
You can try to remind me
Instead of the other, you can.
You can help to insure
That we all insecure our command.
If you don't give a listen,
I won't try to tell your new hand.
This is it; can't you see
That we all have our ends in the band.

And if all of the teachers and
Preachers of wealth were arraigned,
We could see quite a future
For me in the literal sands.
And if all the people
Could claime to inspect such regrets,
Well, we'd have no forgiveness,
Forgetfullness, faithful remorse.
So I tell you, I tell you,
I tell you we must send away.
We must try to find a
New answer instead of a way.