I do what I do because I have always done it.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that, having done what I do over a considerable time, I have become adept at it. But another reason is that it is more acceptable from a societal point of view to establish continuity and therefore predictability in my persona.

Where does the line get drawn?

The passing of Patriarch Pavle, for whom all the respect paid to his memory was and is well deserved, allowed for some rather questionable decisions on the side of the government and media in Serbia.

There is abundant evidence to support the hypothesis that I am writing to you now from Serbia. Although I do not feel under any obligation to prove to you where I am, I certainly do not feel the need for someone to tell ME where I am.

And then along comes the Tourist Organization of Serbia.

All around Belgrade this summer, billboards and posters have sprung up. They have pictures of enticing foods, they have catchy slogans luring the idle passer by to dream about voyages to exotic places. When you look closer, you see that (Hey!) it is the food you had for lunch, and (Wait!) this is advertising for Serbia!

Let it come to no one as a surprise: Novak Djokovic did NOT walk on the moon.

Nor did he cure tuberculosis, invent the wheel, pave the Information Superhighway, or single-handedly create the heavens and the earth in six days. To my knowledge (and I could be wrong), Mr. Djokovic was not responsible for the breaking down of Apartheid, the lifting of the Iron Curtain, or the forging of lasting peace in the Middle East.

He may, of course, have assassinated Bin Laden. No one knows quite WHAT happened there...

Fear. Hatred. Xenophobia. Paranoia. Jingoism. Isolation. Zealotry. Bellicism. Ethnocentricity. And bigotry.

Good morning, America.

I woke up this morning not to any kind of “New America” but to an America that has finally allowed its baser instincts to chew through the leash on which they have been held for many years and take charge.

I just came back from a conference on business ethics. The panel was quite distinguished and spoke very well of the need for more ethical conduct in business. The conference was organized by AmCham Serbia, presided over by the rapier tongue of Yugoslav Cosic, and included panelists from abroad, from the business community, and from the government. Many good points were made. Many heads in the audience nodded. But, sadly, we do not have these conferences because we are highly ethical beings and market participants.

We have them because we are, generally speaking, stinking liars and crooks.

In order for me to have taken this photo - which I recently did at a Belgrade toy emporium which will remain Nameless for Legal Reasons - several Stupid Things had to happen.

First the manufacturer had to come up with an idea for a game. He proceeded then to "invent" tic-tac-toe. Realizing, as he must have, that even in the People's Republic of Some Country which will Remain Nameless for Legal Reasons people played this game for centuries already, he had give it a marketing spin. "Let's make it a LEARNING game, Mr. Chang." Mr. Chang (not his Real Name) then thought about it for awhile and came up with this:

 

What happens when we are ALL in?

I think that the Great Military Minds sitting in the hallowed halls of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels clearly owe a debt of gratitude to our illustrious Prime Minister for his steadfast refusal to sign up.

Kostunica, in telling the world that he is against Serbia’s joining NATO, is actually positing himself as a safeguard of the alliance’s continuity. If we were ALL members, then who would we oppose? Who would the alliance bully into submission? From whom would NATO protect us? If we were all members in this heretofore rather exclusive club, how could we be the envy of the rest of the world – if the rest of the world also carries the club card?

While my memory is not the sharpest or the best in the world, I think I can manage to remember where I am. Most of the time anyway.

Still, it never ceases to amaze me at how many times, in the course of a normal month, week, day, and (on bad days) hour, people will invoke this sentence as a definitive argument and statement of fact.

On Friday, I will not be eating.

According to many, this might be a good practice for me every day, but I will be hungry on Friday because I just added my name to the Hunger Strike Against Hunger action set for Friday, October 16, 2009.