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Tokyo Connection.
Sep. 12th, 2006 12:07 amI don't know anyone in Tokyo, but I'm sure I know someone who knows someone in Tokyo. If you're such a person, then ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kino_kid would like to ask a favor of you.
kino_kid would like to ask a favor of you.Sep. 12th, 2006
Gerald the Gorilla.
Sep. 12th, 2006 02:15 amI'm beginning to really LIKE YouTube. Its amazing how many little amazing bits and pieces I can remember from TV history that I can now find on that site.
Here's a prime example: Gerald the Gorilla, which explains why I now always think of a certain naturalist as David "Bloody" Attenborough.
Here's a prime example: Gerald the Gorilla, which explains why I now always think of a certain naturalist as David "Bloody" Attenborough.
Good News, For Once.
Sep. 12th, 2006 01:26 pmI was awoken to some very pleasant news today. The wheels of the government have ground faster than expected and there was a cheque in today's mail. Its not large as refunds go, but as I was seriously not expecting to see any of this money before Christmas, it counts as a good thing indeed. If nothing else, is shall keep the wolf from the door for another month.
For a more permanent solution, of course, I need to get me a job.
For a more permanent solution, of course, I need to get me a job.
Lots of people wrote about September 11th, 2001 yesterday and I didn't. Anything I might have said could so easily have been taken the wrong way, and I didn't want to challenge anyone else's point of view with my own. That said, I do have a point of view and maybe the day after is a more appropriate time to post it.
The thing is, when I turned on the TV that fateful morning and saw the ongoing attacks, my first reaction after OMG was "Someone's finally done it." I'd been half expecting something of the kind for well over a decade. That doesn't mean it wasn't a shock, or wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't unexpected. Terrorism is a fact of life throughout most of the world and the USA is one of the most hated countries, so it had long been expected by me.
Don't get me wrong; I do feel for the 8000 or so victims who died that day. I just don't feel any more, or any less, for them individually than I do for the victims of the Black July pogroms, the 2002 Bali Bombing, or the Madrid Train Bombing. Somehow, singling out that one major attack on the US seems, to me, disrespectful of all of the victims of terrorism over the last hundred years that we don't bother to stop and remember.
Its as if we're saying that 9/11 was the first terrorist act that mattered, just because it happened in the US. Now, if there was a movement to dedicate 9/11 to the memory of ALL the victims of organized violence the world over, rather than to just one particular act, I might feel compelled to mark it on my callendar and pause on that day to remember them. As is, it just seems so horribly self-indulgent that I don't want anything to do with it.
The thing is, when I turned on the TV that fateful morning and saw the ongoing attacks, my first reaction after OMG was "Someone's finally done it." I'd been half expecting something of the kind for well over a decade. That doesn't mean it wasn't a shock, or wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't unexpected. Terrorism is a fact of life throughout most of the world and the USA is one of the most hated countries, so it had long been expected by me.
Don't get me wrong; I do feel for the 8000 or so victims who died that day. I just don't feel any more, or any less, for them individually than I do for the victims of the Black July pogroms, the 2002 Bali Bombing, or the Madrid Train Bombing. Somehow, singling out that one major attack on the US seems, to me, disrespectful of all of the victims of terrorism over the last hundred years that we don't bother to stop and remember.
Its as if we're saying that 9/11 was the first terrorist act that mattered, just because it happened in the US. Now, if there was a movement to dedicate 9/11 to the memory of ALL the victims of organized violence the world over, rather than to just one particular act, I might feel compelled to mark it on my callendar and pause on that day to remember them. As is, it just seems so horribly self-indulgent that I don't want anything to do with it.