Friday
On the way to work this morning, was listening to Rush Limbaugh… as she often does, much to my NPR-loving chagrin. He opened his show discussing the news about the death of former Arizona Cardinals football player Pat Tillman.
The death of an ex-football player isn’t extraordinary, in the grand scheme of things. The reason that this story is interesting is because Tillman, after four years with the Cardinals, turned down a three-year, seven-figure contract to enlist in the Army in May 2002. And, not only did he join the Army, he became a member of the Army Special Forces, as a Ranger in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
He made the decision after returning from his honeymoon with his wife, Marie. Several of Tillman’s friends also have said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks influenced his decision to enlist.
“He knew what was important to him, and he made his decision and stood by it,” said quarterback Eli Manning.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in an interview just last week on National Public Radio last week, pointed to Tillman as an example of bravery — the topic of McCain’s new book.
“He gave up over a million dollars as a safety for The Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army as a ranger after 9/1, and fought in Iraq,” said McCain. “And it wasn’t a moment of crisis or strife that motivated Pat Tillman. It was the recognition that the United States was under attack and he volunteered to defend it.”
-taken from an AP report
As you may have gathered from my first paragraph, I am not a fan of Rush Limbaugh. But, he made a point with which I wholeheartedly agree: While it’s sad that Tillman died, over 800 U.S. service men and women have died in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. And, in Limbaugh’s words: “Every one of them was a Pat Tillman.” Amen. They all died fighting for something that they believed was a worthy cause. Just because they weren’t well-known to the general populace doesn’t make their deaths any less noteworthy. Just ask the family and friends that they have left behind. It also reminded me of something that I wrote on 11 Dec 01:
Art imitates life. I’m not sure what the exact quote here is, but that expresses the sentiment well enough. Tonight’s episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “The Siege of AR-588,” was about a crew of Starfleet officers who were holding a captured position. The DS9 crew showed up to bring supplies and stayed to help defend the position for a while. After they returned to the station, Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) was talking to one of his officers about the latest casualty reports… and he said,“No, they’re not just names. We must remember that.” Such a simple and profound statement. This first aired on 18 Nov 1998, but its relevance and timeliness is what I’m after here.
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day was this past Friday and many also took the time to reflect on the events of this past 11 Sept. We remember not only the events of these days, but also the fact that there were people involved in those events. People who fought. People who died. People who tried to help others to make sense of the chaos and madness as it swirled around them. Not just names. People. “No, they’re not just names. We must remember that.”
NPR Stories
Fresh Air – Rebroadcast of an interview with Barry Manilow.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I like his work. (And, I discovered that he did not actually write I Write the Songs; Bruce Johnston, of The Beach Boys, did.) As they were leading into the interview, they played a couple of verses from Copacabana. I started singing along with the radio. I’m sure that it must have been an amusing sight for the drivers around me. And, I don’t care.
Stray Toasters
- Courtesy of : Harbin Snow and Ice Festival. Amazing.
- From whatis.com comes a good definition of “Chameleon Card”, a technology that I first heard of at least a year ago.
- Pet peeve: People who can’t seem to suss out the difference between “aw” (Definition 3) and “awe.” Similar irritations include the misuse of: there/their/they’re, your/you’re and sight/site.
- Welcome back to .
- : Since I’m almost a week behind with this: 139, 153, 158, 148 and 133
- …and, thanks for Fandom Escapist Election 2004 badges.
- Salt Lake Acting Company is putting on a production of The Goat (or Who Is Sylvia), by Edward Albee. The radio ad describes it as: “A play about a man, a goat and forbidden love.” With a tagline like that, what more could I possibly add?
- From Backwash: Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments
- For : The Top 100 Print Ads
- How to Be Nonviolent
- Lawmaker’s bill would ban pants worn too low
- Also by way of Backwash: Pro-Choice Public Education Project The ads were the item listed on BW, but the site is interesting.
- Wow. That’s the best way to describe the CGI in this demo (16.3 MB, QuickTime) for a special effects company. If you take a look at the “Portfolio” section of their site, you might recognize snippets from shows/ads that you have seen.
That’s it. I should do something productive before the day’s through and it’s time for Friday Night Bitch Session Coffee.
Namaste.
