09.11.08
Posted in Remembrance at 1:59 am by Sulla
I was checking out the site that gives me my weekly Bleach fix when I saw a curious press release link:
Dattebayo celebrates the passing of another 9/11
I couldn’t help but click, but I was anxious about what I would find. It’s been seven years since that dreadful morning, which seems both an eternity ago, and and also like only yesterday.
This of course may leave many of you surprised, shocked, and perhaps even offended by our implication that such events could ever be a cause for celebration. Many of you may have seen the title of this news post and instantly assumed that we meant to poke a sore spot.
Certainly, that site is known for poking sore spots.
Did they? You be the judge.
I can’t say I agree with all of it. But it gave me something to think about.
There is nothing to celebrate in the devastation that murdered thousands of our citizens and traumatized millions more. But the determination that rose from those ashes…the people on United flight 93 who fought back in the first battle of this war…the millions of Iraqis and Afghanis who no longer live under tyranny, struggling and not yet safe, but free…the members of our armed services and their families who have endured great hardships for tour after tour of duty, but so often reporting for hard duty with a genuine commitment to the mission and the people who depend upon it…
For too many, that day is a dim memory. Too many have twisted it to fit their warped concept of the country and its place in the world.
But there is indeed, much to celebrate. In our sorrow, there remains much to be grateful for. In our remembrance of that day, may we remember the things that gave us comfort: family, friends, faith, freedom. Remembering our national heritage of wiping away the blood, standing fast, and pressing forward when we have been knocked down. Remembering a brief, shining moment when much of the world rose and said, “today we are all Americans.” Some have not backed down from that, and we have discovered and rediscovered friends the world over.
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07.10.07
Posted in Rants, Remembrance at 2:59 pm by Sulla
“There is a deep, abiding, unshakeable satisfaction in a life of complete failure.”
–Edward Abbey (h/t Svenbonk)
A year ago today, Don’t Hire Dr. Deborah Frisch was launched in response to the outrageous – and ultimately actionable – comments of a former U of A adjunct lecturer on the Protein Wisdom blog over the Independence Day 2006 weekend.
Believe it or not, she’s still at it. But so is the blog that Sinner launched, along with its successor site devoted to more diverse and friendly pursuits, Teh Squeaky Wheel.
Given all the bs thrown by Dr. Demented – the July 2006 blogorrhea was simply the most visible of her tantrums – SOMETHING was bound to grow.
Congratulations to Sinner and the whole VBS gang on its first anniversary of doing well by doing good.
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05.28.07
Posted in Remembrance at 1:10 pm by Sulla
I got to work early on Friday. I walked by the cube of a coworker who was there when I left at 2am the day before.
“Did you go home?”
“Nope.”
He was one of the coworkers who made my first year on the job so memorable. A young man with old eyes, he had served in the Balkans with the Army a few years earlier. He had many stories, but when pressed for a certain type of stories, carefully steered clear.
We talked for a bit on Friday morning, and by turns he had me laughing, and welling up. One of the things he said struck me hard: “there are two things you can do that will endear you for life to someone who’s served. Shake his hand and say Thank You; and invite him to your table. You don’t even need to speak with him. If you do, be prepared for a wild ride, because the enlisted folks tend to be a bit rough around the edges. But that acceptance, that acknowledgment – that means the world.”
It’s a small thing. Almost too small. That it could mean so much, because it’s so rare, is very sad. And I thought – after years of knowing this guy, I’ve never shaken his hand.
So I did. A small thing…but it still brings tears to my eyes. I like to think I support the troops…but how much? Not as much as I can.
There’s a veterans hospital in my city. I read today that Gene Simmons went there recently to visit our troops from Iraq and previous battles. He chastised Hollywood types for not managing the short drive down the 405, but they can swing private jet flights to Washington DC to rally against the war. I read that, and felt guilty. Hollywood might not be showing up…but neither have I.
That’s going to change.
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