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NY Times: The Search for Intelligent Life on the Internet. A reminder that many in Europe and elsewhere do care about the US. A Sunday (London) Times article on thoughtlessness and arrogance among Europeans in response to the tragedy in the US. Thank you. Andrew Scott: "I don't think it's possible for us here in Europe to experience the depth of feeling that you Americans must experience over the attack on your nation. Quite simply we are not there." Andrew, I think we could heal from the experience of 9/11, if there are no more attacks. But I think most of us know that there will be more and they will likely be worse. This is not like an earthquake or hurricane, acts of god, that we clean up from and move on. This is a war. Many of the Europeans I'm hearing from are not getting that. Now here's a fact that Europeans are going to have to deal with. Overwhelmingly this country supports its government, and its President. Ultimately you're going to have to too. Better sooner than later. I think the terrorists made a fundamental mistake. It was too strong a wakeup call. They would have been smarter to have aimed lower. Now in the US we have little to lose. John Perry Barlow pushes back, and I return the respect. Since I mentioned my grandparents by name in that piece, I'd like to show you what they looked like. Here's my paternal grandfather, Baruch Winer, playing with me as a small child. I wrote about my promise to him in a DaveNet piece in 1996. My paternal grandmother, Sima Winer. They came to the US in 1941, they were Russians; my grandfather had a soap factory in Rumania before they fled Europe. My mother's family, the Kieslers. From left to right, my grandmother Lucy, my father and mother, Leon and Eve Winer, my uncle Ken Kiesler (he lives in Jamaica now). Seated is my grandfather Rudy, in his lap my younger brother Peter, and all by himself in front playing with some toy, is me. My maternal grandparents came to the US in 1939, my grandmother is the younger sister of German novelist Arno Schmidt. My grandfather Rudy was NY garment district wheeler-dealer, the youngest of eight children from Poland, who scattered all over NY and South America during the war. He owned a string of factories in the southern US, his office was on 33rd Street between 5th and 6th, across the street from the Empire State Building. Brent Silver: Be a FUD-Fighter. John Robb's thinking has changed over the last few hours, much as my own has. People are right when they say that the old world is gone. You can't reason based on the past anymore. None of our experience counts. WSJ: "Before last week, real estate was one of the brightest spots in the fading economy. Now, from Orlando to San Francisco, there are already signs that the terrorist disasters have had a broad — and remarkably varied — impact on housing prices." Al Ahram: "Egyptian officials did not miss the opportunity this week to promote their decade-old call for organising an international anti-terrorism conference as the best means of stamping out terrorism worldwide." James Spahr: "Holy cow! You can easily fit Denver's Mile High stadium inside of the devastated area." Today's song: The US Blues. "We're all confused, what's to lose? You can call this song the United States Blues." Lots more email from Europe. I gotta write about it. In the meantime, I encourage you all to look inside yourselves and make statements about that, instead of pissing on the USA. Are you scared? Great. That's real. Are you scared of the power of the US? That's OK too. Now who scares you more, Uncle Sam or Uncle Osama? Guys and gals, our President was right -- it's time to make a choice, and decide what you stand for. From the US, it's damned simple. We don't want our cities to get nuked. It's probably going to happen anyway. Then, what? If not now, when? NY Times: NY Loves America. Thanks for the reminder! I love New York. "New York gave me so much. An education. A philosophy. Role models. A sense of confidence that comes from being raised in the greatest city man has ever created." Membership is open. You can create your own Love New York page. No problem. |
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