Remembering 9/11

I grieved, in my own way, by posting a tribute to a single 9/11 victim on my blog. And then, tonight, I heard the last few minutes of George Bush's address to the nation. My grief turned to rage as I heard that son-of-a-bitch spin his web of lies into a message intended to frighten us, make us forget his role in the state this world is in, and try to generate support for his mean-spirited and utterly irrational response to the world.

The people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks were victims of madmen reacting to their perception of the West. The people who are dying in the battles of today's world are victims of those same madmen, made more powerful by the cruel and stupid actions of another madman.

Tribute to Daniel Hal Crisman: Victim of 9/11/2001 Terrorist Attacks

Daniel Hal Crisman was 25 years old when he died on September 11, 2001, as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Just ten days before, he had been made a permanent employee of March & McLennan Companies, after working there as a temp on tentative status. His new role was training coordinator. His girlfriend, Danielle Zazula, was quoted by the New York Times as saying that “He really felt like he had made it. He felt like he had achieved a level of success in his life,” after learning the news of his training coordinator job. Daniel met Ms. Zazula at a poetry workshop, according to the Times, where both of them read some of their work. Daniel had taken up photography not long before he died.

On September 11, 2001, 2996 people died as a direct result of the terrorist attacks. When one considers the personal story of just one of them, the magnitude of the tragedy becomes almost incomprehensible. And, looking at what has happened since that time and all the people who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq and throughout the middle east, the magnitude of the horrors of terrorist attacks, war, revenge, and hatred become even more incredible.

When I agreed to post a tribute to him on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 2001, I decided I would do a bit of research to find out more about him. All I had, initially, was his name. I found the information above by doing some simple searches online. I was struck by the fact that a number of people who did not personally know him expressed, in online postings, their sympathies to his family and shared their sorrow at his loss. More information about him and comments left by friends, family, and strangers can be found here.

While I do not support the Bush Administration's ongoing 'war on terror,' I do deeply grieve for the men and women and children who, for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, suffered at the hands of religious zealots whose warped sense of justice would allow them to behave as evil beasts.

Here's to the memory of Daniel Hal Crisman.

Sushi, baby!

This is the sign above the sushi place in Arlington, TX where we ate on Saturday evening. It was very good sushi, though we have had better. The service was rather slow and inept, but got better as the evening progressed. We didn't eat as much as I would have liked, inasmuch as I would have had to have mortgaged our home and our future. Our menu consisted primarily of sashimi: albacore tuna; sesame seared tuna; and conch. We also had unagi (grilled freshwater eel) and wasabi crusted salmon roll. One interesting aspect of the place was that most of the sushi chefs were twenty-something Americans; most sushi spots we visit have Japanese men doing the work. The relative lack of Japanese sushi chefs notwithstanding (there was one Japanese guy who I took to be the leader), the food was good. Turns out the place was the original location of what is now a two-restaurant "chain" in the DFW area. You can learn more about the place at www.piranhakillersushi.com.

For your information

My second thoughts about urging that Path to 9/11 be pulled have turned into third thoughts. For reasoned arguments attacking the right-wing lie-mongering film, read what The Fat Lady Sings says about the film.

OK, now on to things unrelated to my intense hatred of right-wing pigs who would rewrite history.

Here are links to random "Words of the Day" from dictionary.com:

simulacrum
peremptory
moil
panegyric
factotum

Path to 9/11---Ashamed of Bookburning

I received email messages today that encouraged me to sign petitions urging the president of ABC to pull the docu-drama, "Path to 9/11." I read the messages, allowed my outrage to well up inside me, and did as requested. I urged others to do the same.

Now, I'm having second thoughts. While I think the docu-drama is loaded with bullshit and fabrications and is obviously intended to turn swing voters into Republican voters, I am not so sure urging censorship is the right thing to do. The more comments I hear from both the left and the right, the more I think both sides are running on empty hatred and are abandoning the core principles of fairness and justice and, importantly, freedom of expression. I truly, totally HATE some of the lies that lay at the core of the film, as I understand it. But there have been similar attack films that aim their venom at conservative Republicans and I have probably laughed at them and found them to be less than offensive.

My failure to find offense in films that attack Republicans and conservatives is...a failure. If I were truly as progressive as I'd like to believe I am, I would find both forms of free expression obnoxious and annoying...but I would not call for their censorship.

So, here's where I stand at the moment. I condemn the manipulative use of 9/11 and the fears it calls up and I will argue against it and try to convince people that it is what I believe it to be. But I will not support censoring it. Let the assholes screen the film and then let the righteous wrath of the public spew down on the makers and get lots of press. In future, if I encounter a similar attack, based on lies and manipulation, by 'progressives' against conservatives, I will be just as vocal about it. I will condemn it and suggest to the makers that they should be ashamed of themselves and will urge anyone who will listen to defend the makers' right to show it.

It won't bother me much if Path to 9/11 doesn't air, but I am ashamed of getting involved in, and encouraging, the moral equivalent of bookburning.

Today

Here it is, September 7, 2006, and I have not confirmed my plans for the remainder of the century. I should have organized all the New Year's Eve parties from now until December 31, 2100, but I have been beastly lazy. So, I have no parties planned, not even the party to celebrate my 53rd birthday. No one else, I should add, has made plans for that party, either.

I will celebrate on my birthday this year, though. I will celebrate the beginning of a crazy time of my life, during which I will have lots of fun, convince lots of people to join me in the quest for fun, and laugh and smile a lot.

My question, of course, is how to do that. I don't know. I just will. I may have to rob banks, steal diamonds, and use credit cards that belong to dead people. But I will have fun. And those around me will experience the same enjoyment.

Happy gluteous maximus.

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin's death this week, at the tragic end of a stingray's barb, was awful. I did not know much of him, but he obviously meant a great deal to many, many people. He was an admirable guy, from all I've been able to gather. I often thought his TV shows were silly and irrelevant. But I guess I was wrong about his depth; he appears now to have been a man who was not at all shallow. He appears now to have been a strong, important advocate of nature. I wish I'd paid more attention. I wish his family peace and his fans happy memories.