Due to interference from my personal life, I'm resigning my position as Thursday/Friday Winds of War briefer. I apologise now for the lack of briefings in recent weeks, particularly in the light of the war in Lebanon, the busted terror cell in Britain and the overall increase in serious news. No 'silly season' as far as the war on terror goes...
With me gone, there will be a position (or positions) opening up to do a briefing on the war on terror and other news related to international crises and tensions. This is, therefore, not a job for someone who thinks Osama bin Laden sorta has a point, or that the 'spiritual leader' of Hezbollah is a little bit like the Dalai Lama.
It is a job for someone with a real interest in international relations, terrorism and current events. Winds of War alumni include Dan Darling, who works for a think-tank studying al-Qaeda and terrorism; Bill Roggio, who has spent time blogging with the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan; Steve Schippert, founder of the invaluable ThreatsWatch; multi-content providing, tech all-star Evariste of Discarded Lies; and, of course, Winds of Change's own Joe Katzman. Together, with current team-members C.S. Scott and Jeff Kouba, it has and remains a knowledgeable group.
Besides knowledge and interest, it is a job for someone with the time to do it - and do it well. I spend 8-10 hours surfing, browsing and compiling links for a typical briefing. For most people, this is a lot to ask - which is why two (or maybe more) bloggers splitting the task would be preferable.
The position we intend to fill is for a briefing to be posted either Wednesday or Thursday evening (GMT). The briefing would thus contain items occurring between Monday 00:01 GMT to either Wednesday or Thursday 23:59 GMT. The idea is to have a briefing up and ready first thing on Thursday or Friday morning GMT.
Typical briefings include approximately 100-150 links, but quantity is less important that quality. A link/bulletpoint is not required for every single explosion in Lebanon or tribal war in Balochistan. A sentence or two of explanation/background is a good idea - remember that most people won't look at the website you link to. Here is a link to last week's Monday briefing to give the unfamiliar an idea of what we do.
If you would like to audition for the Thursday/Friday briefing slot, email me at eurabiantimes [at] gmail [dot] com. It will be a case of first come, first served. The first available slot will be Thursday 24th/Friday 25th of August - you can choose which day you prefer.
Colt, it's sad to see you go and was a pleasure to work with you when we did the Winds of War together.
For those who may be considering taking on the challenge of compiling the Winds of War briefings, Colt is on the money with the time commitment.
However, I can personally attest that I learned more about global conflicts and the War on Terror in attempting to live up to the bar set by those Colt mentions above than one could likely learn through another means.
Your desire to understand is the only governor on the throttle, providing your focus on such topics is not uncomfortably cramping the more important things in your life, such as American Idol, downloading and filling your i-Pod with mind rot or ranting in comments for the umpteenth time that Hillary Clinton / Rick Santorum is the biggest loser on the planet in some less than original manner.
You simply have to want it. Desire takes care of the rest.
"If you're having fun, it ain't work."
But again, there are i-Tunes to be had. The choice is yours.
And with that, I send all the very best, Colt.
Cheers.
I nominate Chester (not that he would be interested).
Good luck Colt - Fair winds and following seas.
Grim, Grim, Grim
GRIM!
Cordially,
Uncle Jimbo
Thanks. These reports have been a pleasure.
Nicely said, Colt.
For those considering pushing this rock up the hill, another aspect of the job is you'll often have no idea if it's doing anybody any good.
As Steve said, the most important qualification is a desire to understand for yourself this crazy world we live in.