Oooooooh! This looks Good! December 29, 2006
2006 Draws to a Close December 28, 2006
As we lock down the shutters on 2006, the stroll down memory lane seems irresistible.
The New York Times has a great interactive Year in Photos worth checking out. Go to the link and scroll down to the 2006 Year in Photos. Featured prominently is last summer’s Israel-Lebanon war. Decide for yourself.
The Reuters 2006 re-cap has quotes, including this one pertinent to my current venue of choice:
I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology. Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, April 11.
The Reuters site also has images. Great ones in Cuba and Iran of Fidel Castro and the above mentioned prez shot by stringers and a fab one of Shaquille O’Neal by Hans Derek.
My favorite-a-licious girl nasties at Go Fug Yourself haven’t put together a comprehensive 2006 re-cap but their description of dragging themselves from “brandy soaked nog-comas” is worth the trek.
I leave this entry with ruminations.
Recently I filed a story on Rwandans in Israel. The work spurred me to read and check out the film Sometimes in April to learn more about the 1994 genocide because my strongest memory of the period was a colleague’s stories upon returning from the carnage. Until Rwanda, he had thought he was a hot sh*t, conquer the world journalist. He came back shell shocked. And almost every journalist I’ve talked to or read has noted that of all the war zones they’ve covered – Sarajevo, Mogadishu, Lebanon, etc – Rwanda was the absolute worst.
The same is happening in Darfur, Sudan. Now. There are a gazillion ways to help out and get involved from letter writing to petitioning to donating cash to donating time and talents. Worth thinking about.
Over and out
Schvitz? Don’t Mind if I Do, Thanks December 24, 2006
Self exaltation is a lovely thing.
This here link takes you to my article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.
Mwahaahaahaahaa..I am simply Shameless in my self promotion. Hee hee. Blush Blush. As usual.
After you read the article with great rapture and you have finished reflecting…
Wish yourself and your family A Merry Merry Christmalicious (if it’s your thang).
My 5-year-old is running around our Tel Aviv flat singing: “We Wish you a Merry Christmas”…Where in tarnation did he get that tune in the Holy Land Central vacuum of virtual non-existent Christmas cheer?
On Cartoon Network dot com. Go on over. You’ll see what I mean when you watch the front page video which shows, by the way, that Joe Barbera – creator of The Flintstones, Tom & Jerry, Scooby Doo, etc. – has passed. What a legend.
Enjoy, mes petits choux…
Ho-Hum Saturday December 23, 2006
Public Service Announcement December 22, 2006
Mmmmm Donuts December 19, 2006
Happy Harmonica! December 18, 2006
Empty Journalist Moments December 14, 2006
There are crap moments on every job and yesterday I had several. Unfotunately, there will probably be more.
The first time was years ago while working as a television producer covering the aftermath of a suicide bombing. A camera crew and I went to a man’s house to interview him. He and his wife had recently married and his adoption of her children had just finalized. We showed up a few hours prior to her funeral. His first wife had also been killed by a terrororist.
The man was in shock and I could not bring myself to ask him anything. I sat in silence. Realizing I was at a loss, my colleague the cameraman stepped in with questions in my stead.
After all, there really is nothing you can ask someone in that situation.
Yesterday I sat with a group of Rwandan survivors of the 1994 genocide who are currently in Israel. One, Jean-Pierre, agreed to tell his story.
Speaking quietly through a Kinya-Rwandan translator, he described hiding in bushes and watching Hutu militia men machete family members and toss grenades into surrounding bushes where other children were hiding. I lowered my head, gulped backed tears and pinched myself into not crying. Jean-Pierre lost both parents and four siblings.
When he finished telling his story, I said “thank you very much” with warmth that felt hollow. Thanks for sharing your personal hell. How odd, when you think of it.
During a college internship at a local news station in the U.S., an anchor once shared in confidence that whenever he was sent out to interview surviving family members, he would sit in the car outside the house, phone the executive producer and relay: “Nobody’s home”.
Insanity Producing December 11, 2006
This is the type of story that makes me want to scream in fury, beat a tabletop, weep and curse in frustration.
For those not up to playing “follow the link”, it’s a piece about three boys – aged 6-9 – who were gunned down in Gaza City today as they prepared to go from car to school. It was a “send a message killing”. The boys were all sons of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ chief intelligence aide. Abbas/aide are members of the moderate Fatah faction. Gee, I wonder what faction could have been behind the murders?
It is mind boggling. It is wrong. And so overwhelming it hurts to contemplate.