The 9/11 recordings are tough to hear…but I’m glad I am hearing them. We’ve forgotten what real heroism sounds like. It is not self-promoting, but selfless – it asks nothing but to be able to move freely to help others. It does not look for blame or escape, does not concern itself with polls, cameras, or how it comes off. Real heros don’t preen or mug. They simply do the job. Listening to all of this also brings to mind... Read more
Some of you might remember that last month I revealed that I seem to be losing my hearing. We’ve had some serious fun with it. My family now can’t tell if I am simply ignoring them or really can’t hear them, which I’m kind of enjoying. Today some test results indicate that perhaps the hearing loss is not an event unto itself, but part of something else…what that might be is still undetermined…I have a veritable smorgasboard before me of... Read more
Mark has moved to WordPress and has a nice, clear cut new design, as well. Make sure you change your bookmark! Read more
Earlier today, I pointed to Varifrank’s big-hearted and sympathetic message to Mrs. Sheehan, keeping her vigil in Crawford, Texas. Now, I direct you to Mohammed’s response at Iraq the Model. Searing, heartbreaking, completely sympathetic to Mrs. Sheehan’s feelings, but… We cried out of joy the day your son and his comrades freed us from the hands of the devil and we went to the streets not believing that the nightmare is over. We practiced our freedom first by kicking and... Read more
I just realized that today is my one-year blogging anniversary! A pal of mine suggested that since I have no idea what to say beyond, “hey, I’ve been doing this a year and it’s been fun and I’ve loved meeting all you folks,” I should perhaps find my favorite post of the last year and slap it up here in a sort of “look at me! I love me, don’t you just love me, too?” bit of shameless self-promotion. But... Read more
The Fire Department on Friday released thousands of pages of oral histories recorded by firefighters about Sept. 11 and hours of radio transmissions, a vast mine of records that evoked anew the chaos and horror of the attack. “Somebody yelled something was falling,” firefighter Maureen McArdle-Schulman recalled. “We didn’t know if it was desks coming out. It turned out it was people coming out, and they started coming out one after the other.” “I felt like I was intruding on... Read more
Too funny! From the Corrections section of the NY Times: An obituary of the actress Barbara Bel Geddes on Thursday misstated the year of her final appearance on the television show “Dallas.” It was 1990, not 2000. A picture caption referred incorrectly to the character she played. It was Miss Ellie, not Ms. Ellie. (Go to Article) I know, I know, for a young, cosmpolitan J-School graduate who grew up hearing “miz” and seeing it spelled Ms, and for whom... Read more
Coming right on the heels of my morning plea for a little more civility and a little less invective comes this email to yours truly: If you fuck with Cindy Sheehan, you will pay That lovely note was followed by both an aol mailing address and a blogger url…so I think I have what I need to make a report to both, quoting the mailer and getting it on the record that he has threatened me for…having an opinion, apparently.... Read more
That’s the sound of political discourse in the United States of America, in the year of our Lord, 2005. It is a rude sound and an unsophisticated philosophy, and it has – sadly – infected large numbers of people in both political parties. On the left, that sound is the sound of people who utterly refuse to find one positive thing in George W. Bush, or to give him the benefit of the doubt on any issue, any at all.... Read more
And it is a big, big-hearted, eloquent, moving and simply sensational response. The best blog-writing of the week. Read more
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