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Indonesian Travel Journal: Poverty or the Highs and Lows of Instant Gratification

I didn’t have internet service at my house this week. There was nothing wrong with the service. I paid the bill and magical signals were coming through the cables hanging high up above the street. I say magical because I don’t understand the ins and outs of how I can sit down on my couch in Jakarta and communicate with people all over the world through invisible electrical impulses. What’s more, I don’t really care how it works, just that it does. And when it fails, I get the tiniest bit cranky. 

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Breaking: Chilean Miners On Their Way to the Surface, One by One

Updated: I awoke this morning to the fantastic news that all of the miners are on the surface, as of approximate 1 am, GMT. Two rescue workers are also up. Three men still underground.

 

As of 6:30 a.m. GMT, the first three miners are out. The BBC has a fantastic live feed and live blog, which you can see here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11489439

 

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Stuff I Want to Learn: Sociology Edition

Yesterday, I went to the mall. This is not a new occurrence. I go to the mall almost every day. It is where the grocery store and the office supply store are, as well as the Starbucks and many, many restaurants. To get to the mall, I ride for about 10 minutes on a mini-bus, filled with people heading in my direction. Yesterday, the driver stopped on the way to fill up his tires. The compressor was owned by a guy who had set up a little business for himself on the side of the road. That’s also no big deal.

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Watching the Elections from Afar

Is it really just over a month until election day? I guess I'd better apply for my absentee ballot. Don't worry. I will. But at the risk of being scolded, I have to admit, I don't care all that much. It's okay to judge me for my apathy. Two years ago, I was Judgey McJudgerson. I couldn't believe why anyone in their right mind would vote for John McCain or choose not to vote at all. Actually, I still can't really believe why someone would make one of those choices, which is why the absentee ballot will be duly completed--albeit without a single ounce of enthusiasm. 

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Indonesian Travel Journal: Oh, the Places I'll Go

Hi folks! I'm glad to see so many new Dagbloggers. I'm in the middle of an epic holiday but I'm planning on spending a good deal of time in October, catching up on my Dag reading. 

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Indonesian Travel Journal: Happy Holidays!

Lebaran is this weekend which means I have successfully completed my first Ramadan in a Muslim country. I wasn't affected much. My area of the city has almost as many Christians as Muslims, so the restaurants were still crowded at lunch time. I was more careful about eating, and drinking alcohol, outside during daylight hours and I didn't eat in front of my Muslim co-workers prior to sundown, but other than that, life went on normally.

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Stuff I Want to Learn: Boogey Boogey Boogey

It’s an election year. That must mean it’s time for Congressional representatives to announce support for ridiculous Constitutional amendments and for state leaders to instill fear in the population by creating all sorts of boogeymen, like (imaginary) undocumented Mexicans running roughshod in the Arizona desert, beheading (imaginary) poor, unsuspecting, hardworking, freedom-loving, salt of the earth Americans.

Which has me wondering: why is discussing problems and solutions like grown ups so unpalatable in America?

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Societies Fail: We Might Have to Get Over It

 

We know that environmental disasters have led to the downfall of civilizations. We know that, in other cases, it is greed and largess that has tipped the scales. Some societies have fallen victim to outside invaders or disease; others simply disappear, leaving no easily-followed clues as to their demise. I suspect those that crumble under their own stupidity are difficult to document, historically speaking.

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Biography
Orlando is a teacher and aspiring novelist, living a mysterious and reclusive life somewhere in Asia. She used to live a reclusive and mysterious life somewhere in Indiana until Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence became national figures, making it far too humiliating to continue residing there. In her spare time, she travels the world--or her small part of it--snapping pictures and writing down random thoughts to share with the dagblog crowd.

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