[angkor]

RE your trips to Europe: went on a biz trip to Indonesia a couple months back. As most know, Indo is 80 percent Muslim and has had several recent bombings.

Deliberately went to a few spots where there would be no Westerners beyond myself. Had zero problems, in fact quite the opposite, it turned out great. Enjoyed the trip and the Indonesian people greatly, regretted having to leave. And this was during Ramadan.

It proved once more that the world seems a very dangerous and threatening place when plugged-in to TV or the Internet or the newspaper, for that matter. That's because "the news" is by definition the bad, the extraordinary, the wierd, the creepy. But the real world often doesn't map to "the news": it's more normal, more interesting, and far more accomodating than reporters and the media would have us believe.

By the same token, although this thread is interesting (like a good mystery or horror flik), much of it has no basis in reality whatsoever. There's a lot of self-inflicted angst here.

[hummingbird]

That's because "the news" is by definition the bad, the extraordinary, the wierd, the creepy. But the real world often doesn't map to "the news": it's more normal, more interesting, and far more accomodating than reporters and the media would have us believe.

Thanks for the balance; I'll refer back to your words next time I get worked up and start pinging around the room like a pinball!

[JustPiper]

There's a lot of self-inflicted angst here.

-smile-