Nomenclature: And so was the turnpike from S'tockb-ridge to Bahstan

A word if I might about my name.

Bahstan is small republic in the distant east in which I spent many years. From 1990 through 2006 it was ruled by a succession of petty despots from an hereditary oligarchy most of whom came from neighboring republics. They obtained control through traitorous bargains that secured the collusion of an indigenous warlord of the region of Ma t'pan, T'omassa fin' Iran. At the beginning of 2007 democracy returned to Bahstan but the looting conducted during the 16 years of despotic rule have left the country poor and in serious difficulties when it comes to redressing the many grievances that the oligarchs have left behind.

In fact, the last Bahstan oligarch, the particularly slippery chameleon, M' tromnie bin Ute, is now attempting to take power in the wider region though the dangerous cult from which he draws his influence may drag him down more than support him. We can only hope. The popular credit of the party of the oligarchic plutocracy in the land is at historic lows because its outrageous excesses have brought that party into well deserved ill repute. That disgrace may protect the broader society from bin Ute and the horde of power-mad fellow despots and petty warlords vying with him for supremacy. We can take little comfort, however, in the fact that bin Ute is second to the even more odious Giul 'yani, former ruler of an especially violent and criminal police state.

In any case, you now have a primer on the origins of my name. I bear it proudly in the hope that the return of democracy can return Bahstan to its former glory that even the unintelligible local satrap, Me-nino, cannot dim.