Monday, September 17, 2001 The Salon article "Rally round the flag: I love Old Glory. I just wonder if I can take it back from the creeps who've waved it all my life" sums up exactly how I feel about the number of flags I've seen flown around here lately. For most of my life, the American flag has been the cultural property of people I can't stand: right-wingers, jingoists, know-nothing zealots. It's something that hypocritical politicians wrap themselves in. It's something that certain legislators would make it a crime to burn -- a position that's an assault on the very freedom that the flag represents. It's something brandished at times like these by idiots who say things like, "Let's go over there and burn those rag-heads!" posted by Dori Smith on 9/17/2001 09:44:04 PM | Link Clearly, better air security is needed. But some of the FAA's proposals won't really add to security; it's more like they're taking action to seem like they're doing somethig. Hey, Wait a Minute: Why Punish the Skycaps? notes what measures won't work, and which ones are more likely to do some good. posted by Tom Negrino on 9/17/2001 09:33:50 PM | Link Sunday, September 16, 2001 I haven't posted anything for more than a week, not because I don't have anything to say, but because every time I considered posting, I found that other bloggers had generally said it first and as well or better than I could have. Thanks for your words, folks. Then yesterday afternoon, I went into Horror Overload, and had to stop watching and reading the news. The stuff the news networks are now showing, like those poor pathetic family members holding up the pictures of their relatives, was just too heartbreaking for me to take anymore. I took yesterday evening and all day today off. Read a book. We went to a planetarium show about black holes today. Played multiplayer Starcraft with my son this evening. Watching a movie tonight. Trying to get back to some equilibrium. Can't get back to normal; that's too much to ask. But I can at least catch my balance again. posted by Tom Negrino on 9/16/2001 09:42:56 PM | Link Hal from Blivet wrote this piece, which brought the first smile to my face in several days. Thanks, Hal and Audrey! posted by Dori Smith on 9/16/2001 09:36:54 PM | Link Saturday, September 15, 2001 Last month, I whined about a site that didn't support IE/Mac. Oddly enough, everything seems to work fine, now. I'm a force for good in our time, I guess. posted by Dori Smith on 9/15/2001 06:08:40 PM | Link I feel a strong need to blog something in response to the @#$%^& by Ann Coulter, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson, but given the flack I got just for linking to someone else's statement on evolution three months ago, I don't feel comfortable doing so. Instead, I'll just say that my cat thinks that everything in the Middle East has gone downhill since the Egyptians stopped worshipping Bast, and that we ought to go over there and convince everyone to start again. Me? I think that his viewpoint has at least as much going for it as that of the #$%^*s I mentioned earlier. posted by Dori Smith on 9/15/2001 05:28:30 PM | Link Quote of the day: I figure that there are two kinds of authors...Those who write because they think all existing books suck and they could do better, and those who feel they are living a lie by holding themselves us as experts. There are probably other motivations, such as wanting to make money, and other inspirations/fears as well so I'm over-generalizing. But I don't recall ever reading a great book and saying "I want to be an author because this book inspired me." If a book inspires me, it is more likely to be humbling and to dissuade me from writing my own. -- Bruce Epstein posted by Dori Smith on 9/15/2001 11:58:15 AM | Link Friday, September 14, 2001 Dave writes on Mir Tamim Ansary on Afghanistan, which makes some excellent points. Someone on a mail list I'm on said today that, from his perspective, the best outcome for this whole tragedy would come from dropping several million Real Goods catalogs on Afghanistan, each with a gift certificate attached. Think about it: it's a whole lot cheaper, a whole lot more targeted, and a whole lot more likely to bring about a positive result. posted by Dori Smith on 9/14/2001 05:10:01 PM | Link Thursday, September 13, 2001 The always-insightful Robert X. Cringely on To a Man With a Hammer: Some Thoughts on the Pentagon and World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks. How much freedom are you willing to give up to ensure that this doesn't happen again? posted by Dori Smith on 9/13/2001 04:33:11 PM | Link Wednesday, September 12, 2001 No posts yesterday, and it'll most likely be light today, too; we're still just trying to process all that's happened. To the best of our knowledge, no one we know was hurt. My cousin who works for Morgan Stanley at the WTC was (thankfully) late for his train yesterday, and other friends have all reported that they're safe. We here want to pass on to everyone our best wishes and sympathy for those in pain, and our hopes for the future. posted by Dori Smith on 9/12/2001 01:24:21 PM | Link Sunday, September 09, 2001 Salon reports that a School offers scholarship to gays. The theory is that gays come out to the parents, the parents refuse to support the kid in school any longer, and the scholarship program will then step in and support the student, allowing them to remain in school. Makes perfect sense to me, in theory. What happens, though, when the straight kids start claiming that they're gay in order to qualify? Will students have to provide references? My parents (more or less) annually announced that they weren't going to pay for my education any more, and I did a number of fairly stupid things in order to stay in college. Claiming that I was gay in order to get money would have been a vast improvement. I support what this program is doing, I think that it's a good idea, and I think that these kids need all the help they can get. But the people running it really, really need to at least think the application process through. posted by Dori Smith on 9/9/2001 09:00:00 PM | Link Due to be published November 16? I guess I'd better get writing, posted by Dori Smith on 9/9/2001 07:47:35 PM | Link The latest blogmeme to go around is to search for your name or your blog's on Google, and see where in the rankings you show up. Here's how we rate: Dori: My personal site showed up as #'s 1 and 2, and this blog came in at #6. Smith: I was surprised that I showed up as high as #56--wow! No blog links, though. Tom: Not in the first 100. Negrino: Given the rarity of the name, it's not surprising that you have to go to #30 before you find one that isn't Tom, and this weblog showed up at #8. Backup: This blog came in as #2. I sense a product placement possibility here. Brain: This blog is #16. I really have to wonder, though, how many people searching for information on brains are finding what they're looking for here. posted by Dori Smith on 9/9/2001 07:29:00 PM | Link

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