Tonight, “Only the Dead,” a documentary by my old Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware premiers on HBO. I am both anticipating and dreading this documentary. Ware was already well established as the guy with the sources in the insurgency by the time I started my second Iraq journey in early 2004. I met him, Read More

I just emailed the final bit of paperwork, at least for now, for my application for the Foreign Service of the United States State Department. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s the diplomatic corps of the United States. That’s right, I am hoping to become a representative of America. Some have, Read More

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Mike Snowden, of Gadling.com, drew my attention with his find of possibly the least practical map of a round-the-world trip using only surface travel. It’s from Reddit user e80die, who posted it as a thought experiment while he was laid up with a broken leg. He wanted to work out a path to visit, Read More

ESPERANCE, Western Australia—Since my last post, I’ve moved on from Perth. What to say about Perth? I’ll let a great writer take up the intro: “Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen, Read More