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Andean political ecologist seeking...

Submitted February 28, 2004 - 4:34 am by Trevor Top
JUSTICE!

That's how I ended up here just a few months ago and transferred my AOL monthly debit to Narconews.com. I could become this site's poster boy: "I cancelled my AOL account and diverted the money to Narco News, it's the best decision I could've made. It's the best diversion for the money AND the mind on the Net!"

I've posted a few notes and even applied for the SAJ fellowship, which I recommend reading if you are interested in the other half of my life/purpose on this planet. Plus, I could use some rigorous authentic journalism training.

By way of introduction (I wrote this when I posted the Reporters at War note), I'd mention that I spent early 1992 in Croatia, working for Pacifica Radio and Duetsche Welle with Joel Brand. I then spent the next five years in Prague with the likes of Matt Welch, Ken Layne and Robert Eversz. Having been more radicalized as an undergrad in the late Cold War era, Eastern Europe was a wake-up call.

I worked at the UCSB Daily Nexus war/editorial room when CNN gave us the first-ever "live" war under Bush I; then listened to war coverage on NPR, when I could sneak away at Sheppard AFB, under Bush II, while I was in USAF technical school training. I joined the LA ANG after 9/11 when it seemed the lessons to be learned were: greater awareness of danger (wherever it occurs), civic duty, and a renewed sense of responsibility to our future for its fragility had finally "hit home."

In between BWI and BWII (also known as the internecine Clinton period) I lived in Prague, mostly, and travelled extensively through the former East Bloc working for the Soros foundations, specifically the Central European University. I started a non-profit to house my literarily ambitious creations: the Prague Summer, Latin America, and Russian Writing Workshops. The one in Mexico was the most bi-cultural and dearest to my heart, but I clashed with academic behemoths and lost (or that's my rationalization for dropping the ball).

The  city-that-care-forgot N'Awlins has been my US base since Prague. After spinning my wheels for a few years and being patriotic after 9/11, I received a fellowship in Latin American Studies at Tulane University, where I am currently enrolled.

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