About Lounsbury

Why this blog and who the hell are you?

The obvious response to the first, why the bloody hell not? To the second, none of your fucking business. I am not, however, the amusing picture, nor did I put it up. The editor did, but it retains much entertainment value.

However, let us delve a bit deeper and be a bit more reasonable.

Why my side blog here?

More or less because the owner, financier and mistress of the main site felt having my personal reflexions on the side would be amusing part of a blog package. I also thought some venue in which I would take whacks at what I see as simple-minded rubbish written about the greater Middle East – North Africa region and correct the ignorant mumbling whankers would be fun – continuing my Lounsbury on MENA livejournal (which I despised as a venue).

As I largely wrote the ‘Aqoul statement, let me not repeat it, for it covers largely my general thinking in this area, made a bit more reasonable as a statement for others.

For my own little space, I am going to write about whatever I bloody well feel like, with as much abusiveness as I feel like. Largely that will be on the MENA region, being an expat, being corrupt, and from time to time my various personal business schemes (suitably dressed up so that they will not be blown by an accidental reading here.

Now, the second obvious questions is quite simply, who the bloody hell am I? I am me. I prefer not to be particularly revealing about what I do, etc. as being so would substantially inhibit my commentary, which sometimes touches on people I know and work with “in real life”

As a general matter, however, I will confess to working in the private sector, largely in finance, although previously in more operational sectors, across the MENA region. I also represent that I speak the relevant languages for the region, except for farsi, which I am most clueless about, with a great deal of fluency. Having spent more than a decade in and around the region, I flatter myself in saying that I have more than a modicum of practical knowledge of the region – and I am just scholarly enough inclined to be more valuable than some sun burnt whanker of an expat whose knowledge of Arabic is limited to merely issuing badly pronounced orders.

Now, as to where I stand on things, that should emerge as obvious, but as a general matter I consider myself to be a classic liberal – which in US terms might be rephrased as moderate libertarian – across the board, but with a particular penchant for economic liberalism, especially as it applies to the MENA region.

Last Updated January 28, 2006 05:46 AM