Irony today is thus a mixture of self-detachment and self-absorption: an unwillingness to take a stand and an eagerness to see the strange workings of fate in mere thwarted desire.

WSJ: Book Review: A Case for Irony

Is this self-consciousness this creates simply a form of detachment, and if so, why do we need to feel so detached?

NPR: Moby Checks in with 'Hotel'

The shooter was assigned to a small Special Operations Forces detachment working on so-called village-stability operations, a plan to raise local self-defense forces to protect Afghan villagers from the Taliban, a military official said.

WSJ: Shootings Fray Afghan Ties