I checked my e-mail this morning and found *537* messages (of whom about 20 were personal and the rest Brin-L. Arrrgh and thank God I can speed-read. (Here's hoping this hasn't been a *slow* week.)
I know I have a few e-mails on here to respond to, and I will, slowly but surely. (very sorry, John... I know I disappeared in mid-argument. I'll pick up the thread again. Am going to read all this mail first, then start responding.) Attended a wake and then 2 funerals this past week / weekend related to the WTC tragedy. As a result, I haven't much been in the mood to chat. Anyway, Thomas Friedman's column in today's NYTimes was really incredible. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/02/opinion/02FRIE.html An excerpt: "Their constant refrain is that America is a country with wealth and power but "no values." The Islamic terrorists think our wealth and power is unrelated to anything in the soul of this country — that we are basically a godless nation, indeed the enemies of God. And if you are an enemy of God you deserve to die. These terrorists believe that wealth and power can be achieved only by giving up your values, because they look at places such as Saudi Arabia and see that many of the wealthy and powerful there lead lives disconnected from their faith. Of course, what this view of America completely misses is that American power and wealth flow directly from a deep spiritual source — a spirit of respect for the individual, a spirit of tolerance for differences of faith or politics, a respect for freedom of thought as the necessary foundation for all creativity and a spirit of unity that encompasses all kinds of differences. Only a society with a deep spiritual energy, that welcomes immigrants and worships freedom, could constantly renew itself and its sources of power and wealth. Which is why the terrorists can hijack Boeing planes, but in the spiritless, monolithic societies they want to build, they could never produce them. The terrorists can exploit the U.S.- made Internet, but in their suffocated world of one God, one truth, one way, one leader, they could never invent it. " If anyone needs the full text, let me know. Jon
