Bedouin chose his nickname because of its nomadic connotation. The individual who attacked him as a terrorist was roundly condemned and was later banned from the site (I believe the only person ever banned) for his complete lack of civility and self control. With that one exception I think the general spirit of mutual respect, camaraderie and a little patience that is the nature of this site has been extended to all members of the BA.com community. I asked about him because I missed his friendly, experienced and well informed comments and the slightly different and cosmopolitan viewpoint he brings to this site. In light of the thread a few weeks ago concerning lost members, I am hopeful that Bedouin is either too busy to stop by or has simply moved on to other interests.

We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.