11/10/2008 11:46:00 AM EST
An Introduction, Of Sorts
posted by The Agonist
I wanted to take a few moments to introduce myself to everyone around here. You've probably heard me on The Young Turks show before, usually discussing something global in origin. I'm the founding editor of The Agonist, a foreign policy and financial affairs blog I started in September of 2002, although I have been known to blog at the Huffington Post from time to time.
I'm also an inveterate traveler, my bio can be found here or here. As a matter of fact, I'm in Vietnam right now spending some time investigating the death of my uncle, Paul, here in Da Nang in late 1969. But more on that later.
A few weeks ago Cenk and I tossed around the idea, that since I am spending the next twelve months traveling the world, whether I'd like to be The Young Turk's official 'global correspondent' or not. And so here we are, or here I am, in Vietnam blogging my first Yong Turks' post and in the process introducing myself to you.
More after the jump.
I lived in San Antonio most of my life, not counting the three muggy years in Houston while studying at the University of Houston, but consider Austin, Texas home now. Oh yeah, and there was that one year I was an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, not to mention time spent in Istanbul, a city I miss more and more each day. Between then and now I worked for Morgan Stanley in asset management for 11 years and in sales for Solar Winds software, based out of Austin for a year and then was shipped off to Singapore. Now there is a story. But I finally managed to escape corporate America and am wandering the globe for the next several months, making my way home slowly. There are only two rules to the trip: no flying (only surface transport, i.e. bus, train, car, feet and boat) and I must see penguins in the Tierra Del Feugo or Antarctica at some point. In the meantime I'll be heading to India at some point, then Pakistan and hopefully Afghanistan. After that I'll be going through the Middle East and hope to give Northern Iraq a try at some point, and then Syria, the Palestinian Territories, Israel and Saudi Arabia. But that's a long way off.
Until then I will be blogging here at The Young Turks once a week and will be a regular guest on the show--as travel and scheduling allow to discuss the world, how America is seen from places most Americans will never travel and what America's purpose might be in these new, wonderful days of the Obama era.
If you are so inclined, you can view photos from the last several countries I've visited
here.
