The Guild 9-11-2003 Remember

Jayson Blair has finally explained himself, blaming his missteps on eccentricity and junk food.
Writing in a light, almost flippant tone for Jane magazine, Blair offers a half dozen reasons why he left "in a ball of flames"
Saying he "didn't hide my crazy side", Blair writes in Jane that it might have been "going too far" when he showed up one day wearing a huge fur coat with a Persian head wrap and Kermit the Frog on his head.
"Apparently, my eating habits also helped sabotage my career," Blair says. "One supervisor summed it up in the Times story: 'I told him that he needed a different way to nourish himself than drinking scotch, smoking cigarettes and buying Cheez Doodles from the vending machines.' But, for the record, it was Doritos and fried mozzarella sticks, not Cheez Doodles." link

Jayson Blair is kinda short...Not that there is anything wrong with that...

Well done - thank you.

Is the public really going to be duped into purchasing this book by "Liar Blair"?

If he was misrepresenting facts during his newspaper job, what's to make us thing he won't do it again, just to sell a book?

If I was a Chairitable person I would pity him.

"Apparently, my eating habits also helped sabotage my career," Blair says.

What's he going to do, sue Frito-Lay?

Here's another nice 9/11 essay, by the comedian Larry Miller:

I TAKE A BRISK WALK around the neighborhood every morning. I love those walks. They loosen my back and get the blood pumping and on mornings after I've had a few drinks (never more than 20 days a month; well, not never, but rarely; oh, skip it) they clear my head.

Olympian good health, though, is not the only benefit. There's kind of a Jeremiah Johnson-thing that happens when modern man slips into his Nikes and heads off alone into the dawn's early light, The Big Lonesome, just a short, suburban left and right from the 7-Eleven. True, one often squanders these brief, reflective opportunities day-dreaming about the woman in the next cubicle at work, but that's probably nothing compared to the paltry fantasies of Jeremiah Johnson himself, who, after all, was limited to those yearly visits from Will Geer.

Both sides of the road are lined with parked cars as I go, but I don't think I ever noticed any of them until the other day. I was power-walking along, heel-and-toe, elbows swinging, hips swaying; in other words, looking like a perfect idiot.

And then I saw it, parked right on the street, a late '60s MGB convertible. Remember those? They were both cool and cute. This one was what they used to call BRG, British Racing Green, that dark forest color. Black interior. Pretty great. Jeff Goldflam had one of them in high school. There were three guys I knew in high school who had their own cars: Robby Riccio had a '69 Volkswagen Beetle, Tony Sacaridiz had a blue '71 Mustang Fastback, and Jeff Goldflam had the exact MGB I was looking at.

I stopped and stared, but not because of the car itself. In the end, cars don't really mean that much to me. I like them, I guess, and if I ever went crazy and got a few, I think my stable would include a '58 Chevy and a '64 Fury III. Maybe a '67 Newport, too. But even though I was looking at this little sports car on that particular morning, I wasn't really seeing it. I was remembering riding in it with Jeff Goldflam and doing sprints at soccer practice with him and the time Leslie Schwartz, who was beautiful, overheard us talking about how beautiful she was, but of course the only really important thing I was remembering was that Jeff worked in the World Trade Center when it came down, and that he was one of the people pulverized.

WHAT DO WE FEEL and how long do we feel it? What have we done, and what should we do?

Most newspapers and TV news outfits have, it seems to me, spent two years subtly saying, "Don't act, don't move, let it all be. Sit and wait, and let the image grow smaller and smaller like a gas station in the rearview mirror. Very soon it will be a dot, and eventually it will be gone completely."

But I don't think I'm going to do that. I don't think I'm going to let it go away. I think I'm going to wade through the shrill self-hate and say, "Go on. Continue on. Clean this up. Win." Because I think that's not only the right way to remember the people who held hands and jumped from those towers, I think it's the right way to remember the soldiers who've died on these first few steps to justice. By the way, it's also the right way to remember every murdered bus rider and every terrified Arab who's spent the last thousand years seeing the sadistic face of the torturer who's about to kill him. They're not his brothers, you know, they're his oppressors, and we are the best thing that's ever happened to him.

That's the choice: Stop, or keep going; keep our promises, or forget we made them; be responsible, or irresponsible; face facts, or ignore them. It's easier to stop, you know. Beating these folks will take a very long time. Decades, probably, and that's if we do everything right.

BUT IF WE TURN AWAY, what shall we do when the boiling lava resumes creeping down the hill and destroying the world? Maybe we should just stop looking? That's a plan, isn't it? Just turn our heads every time a murderer does his victory dance? We could do that.

And the years will pass, and we can all get fatter and sit on sofas that are softer and watch TVs that are bigger. We'll just keep pretending we don't see, and the best way, really, is not to go out that much in the first place. Yes, that's it, we'll all just stay inside again today.

And the entire Middle East, including Israel (which will be gone, finally)--and most of Africa and Asia, too--will look like rural Afghanistan, not one brick standing against another, dust blowing lazily, no shops, no food, people with faces so worn and beaten down they will seem to have been bleached of all humanity and expression. Oh, and every hundred miles or so there'll be a solid gold soccer stadium.

And lots more of us will be dead, too, but we won't have to look at that, either. Until, of course, they can kill all of us.

I HAVEN'T SEEN that MGB again, but maybe I will sometime. Could happen, right? Maybe next year. You know. Right around the week after Labor Day.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/111bxywd.asp

Thanks for a most enjoyable read.

I didn't know Brittany Spears had such bad scoliosis.

I thought maybe she was trying to emulate that J-Lo boot-ay.

I had no idea Larry Miller was so worth reading. (Law & Order fans will remember him as the actor/comedian who played a comedy club and restaurant owner who got away with killing his first wife, but was convicted of killing his second wife in a subsequent episode). Here's a snippet from another of his columns:

The Palestinians want their own country. There's just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians. It's a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.

Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won the land in war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, and there were no "Palestinians" then, and the West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no "Palestinians" then. As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation." So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs From The Same General Area Who Are In Deep Denial About Never Being Able To Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death." I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN. How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters."

Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one more thing. No, they don't. They could've had their own country any time in the last thirty years, especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you actually have to figure out some way to make a living. That's no fun.

No, they want what all the other Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel. They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course--that's where the real fun is--but mostly they want Israel.

Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel--or "The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it--for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on God's Earth, and if you've ever been around God's Earth, you know that's really saying something. It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about the great history and culture of the Muslim Mideast. Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one. link to entire article

An FYI:

YOU'VE SEEN George W. Bush in standard presidential attire--a suit. But chances are you haven't seen him in a snowsuit as a toddler, frolicking in wintry weather with another future president, his father. This charming clip alone, taken from a Bush family home movie, is reason enough to tune into All the Presidents' Kids, a 90-minute documentary premiering this weekend on A&E (Sunday, September 14, 8:00 p.m. EST/PST).

The video footage in the documentary is extensive and intriguing. There's the fun-loving Luci Baines Johnson dancing the watusi as a teenager and, later, looking the radiant bride at her White House wedding reception; Amy Carter getting arrested in 1987 for protesting CIA recruitment on her college campus; and John F. Kennedy Jr. speaking candidly at the 1988 Democratic Convention about his ambivalent political aspirations. The documentary provides equal coverage of much "older" presidential children as well. There's the heartbreaking story of 11-year-old Benjamin Pierce, who is said to have been beheaded in a train accident in front of his parents just a few days before his father's inauguration. And at the very beginning there was John Parke Custis (son of Martha Washington by a previous marriage) who attempted to swindle his step-father, George Washington, in a cattle deal. more info

Excellent catch! Kinda reminds me of PJ's style.

Isn't this heartwarming, an elementary school named after a rapist and perjurer?

Clinton to get look at Clinton; Pupils at Compton school named for former president to greet him at new campus Monday.
By Tracy Manzer
Staff writer

COMPTON - The 800 pupils at William Jefferson Clinton Elementary are busy preparing for a visit from a very special guest on Monday. Former President Bill Clinton will tour the school that bears his name and talk with the kindergarten through fifth-grade pupils at the brand new, $16 million facility; Compton Unified School District's first new campus to be built in 35 years.

Clinton Elementary, 6500 E. Compton Blvd., opened for instruction last January within budget and on schedule, according to school district spokeswoman Christine Sanchez. Eight hundred pupils call the school home, although there is room for 1,000. And the school boasts a diverse student body; 80 percent are Latino, 15 percent African-American, and the remaining 5 percent composed of various ethnicities, including Pacific Islander. [You do the math]

The two-story facility offers the latest in technology, including computers in every classroom, a $250,000 computer lab, televisions and telephones in every classroom.

With the school not yet open for a full year, 9.9 percent of the student body was rated proficient in English/language arts and 17.4 percent was rated proficient in mathematics based on state standards. [Well, thank goodness they have TVs in every classroom! That certainly will help!]

Clinton's 11:35 a.m. visit will include an address to the students and 50 employees at the school, as well as school district Superintendent Jesse Gonzales and other guests invited by the school's staff. Fifth- grader Lizeth Rosas will have the honor of introducing the former commander in chief and the students will also give a presentation. source

Won't they need to post a sign stating: "Danger, Sexual Predator On The Loose"?

bent should run for govenor of CA - they love him there.

Pinheads.

I've got a business trip to Boston in 2 wks. I've never been there. Who can recommend one (!) place I should not miss when I sneak out of the seminar? Please keep in mind, my special interests are government and textiles (primarily quilts, but other handiwork, too, especially if it is extremely old).

I would appreciate any and all recommendations.

RIP BKO..

Thank you and bttt.

The only Marine unit left in Iraq, Baker Company, wanted to do something for the 9/11 anniversary. 1st Sgt. Dave Jobe sent an email to blogger coolourtroops.com, telling him what they came up with:

"How are you all doing? The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do something to pay tribute to our fallen comrades. So since we are part of the only Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could think of doing that is by taking a picture of Baker Company saying the way we feel. It would be awesome if you could find a way to share this with our fellow countrymen. I was wondering if there was any way to get this into your papers to let the world know that "WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN" and are proud to serve our country."
Semper Fi
1stSgt Dave Jobe

I wanted to make sure Sgt. Jobe's wish is fulfilled. Pass it along.

Good job troop.

May you all come home very soon.

Dheers guys.

What a wonderful picture of Ted and Barbara, and on a sailboat, too. Thank you for sharing that.