[meteorite-list] A Syndicated Column

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From: Walter G. Sullivan <wsulliva_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:48:59 2004
Message-ID: <3BA21325.A1563892_at_ix.netcom.com>

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The barbarians will learn what America's all about - By Leonard Pitts
Jr. Syndicated Columnist

They pay me to tease shades of meaning from social and cultural issues,
to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the
American soul.

But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving
eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit,

must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you
hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our
Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was,
please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. Did
you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to

tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family,

a family rent by racial, cultural, political and class division, but a
family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending
tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae, a singer's
revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're
wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material

goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain
sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -
peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and
to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith,
believers in a just and loving God.

Some people - you, perhaps - think that any or all of this makes us
weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways
that cannot be measured by arsenals. Yes, we're in pain now. We are in
mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality
of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand
that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't

the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.

Both in terms of the awful scope of its ambition and the probable final
death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of
terrorism in the history of the United States and, indeed, the history
of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.

But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us
fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last
time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such
abrupt
and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage,
terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will

bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of
justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you,

I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble

with dread of the future. In days to come, there will be recrimination
and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this

to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic
freedoms.

We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But
determined, too. Unimaginably determined. You see, there is steel
beneath this velvet. That aspect of our character is seldom understood
by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering
is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn,

and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

Still, I keep wondering what it was you hoped to teach us. It occurs to

me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If

that's the case, consider the message received. And take this
message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what
we're about. You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.

Impactika_at_aol.com wrote:

> Hello all members,
>
> And this is mostly for those of you who are in or near Denver.
>
> The Denver Show is going on. Yes, of course there are a few dealers
> and collectors missing, but less than I had feared. The world is still
> well represented here, and discussing, trading our favorite things.
> No, we have not forgotten the tragic events of Tuesday, but we cannot
> allow "Them" to disrupt our lives and the business that is part of our
> lives. Stopping what we are doing would be handing "Them" a moral
> victory. I believe that we must not allow that to happen.
>
> Therefore everything will go on as planned.
>
> The Auction is still planned for tomorrow Friday. Granted our
> Auctioneer is still in San Diego and we still hope that he will be
> able to join us sometime tomorrow. If he does not, we will have to
> improvise. (Michael, if you are online, please start typing, send us a
> complete run down of what to do) Additionally if we do volunteer one
> of us as an auctioneer, I suggest that we set aside the 10% auctioneer
> fee, and give it to the Red Cross. So please everybody, do come to
> Dave Bunk's ShowRoom on 46th avenue and Pecos, starting around 6pm
> tomorrow, the auction proper will start around 8pm. And we will need
> plenty of volunteers.
>
> The Party will also go on Saturday evening, after 7pm. I personally
> believe that by then a lot of people will really need those large
> margaritas.
>
> For additional information and maps please go to:
> http://www.impactika.com/ImpacNews-frame.html
> and click on the link to the Denver Show.
>
> I will be at the Merchandise Mart all day tomorrow, at Alain Carion's
> booth. Please stop by.
>
> See you all soon.
>
> Anne Black
> http://www.IMPACTIKA.com
> IMPACTIKA_at_aol.com
> http://www.TheMineralCompany.com

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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
 
 The barbarians will learn what America's all about - By Leonard
Pitts
 Jr. Syndicated Columnist
They pay me to tease shades of meaning from social and cultural issues,
 to  provide words that help make sense of that which troubles
the
 American soul.
 But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving
 eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem
to fit,
 must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.
You monster.  You beast.  You unspeakable bastard. 
What lesson did you
 hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center,
our
 Pentagon, us?  What was it you hoped we would learn? 
Whatever it was,
 please know  that you failed.
Did you want us to respect your cause?  You just damned your
cause. Did
 you want to make us fear?  You just steeled our resolve. Did
you want to
 tear us apart?  You just brought us together.
 Let me tell you about my people.  We are a vast and quarrelsome
family,
 a family rent by racial, cultural, political and class division,
but a
 family nonetheless.  We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending
 tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae, a singer's
 revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. 
We're
 wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and
material
 goods, and maybe because of  that, we walk through life with
a certain
 sense of blithe entitlement.  We are fundamentally decent,
though -
 peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing
and
 to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of
faith,
 believers in a just and loving God.
 Some people - you, perhaps - think that any or all of this
makes us
 weak. You're mistaken.  We are not weak.  Indeed, we are
strong in ways
 that cannot be measured by arsenals.  Yes, we're in pain now.
We are in
 mourning and we are in shock.  We're still grappling with the
unreality
 of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand
 that this isn't a  special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster,
isn't
 the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.
Both in terms of the awful scope of its ambition and the probable
final
 death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts
of
 terrorism in the history of the United States and, indeed, the history
 of  the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied
before.
But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making
us
 fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the
last
 time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such
 abrupt
 and  monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our
outrage,
 terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism,
we will
 bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit
of
 justice.
I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people,
as you,
 I think, do not.  What I know reassures me. It also causes
me to tremble
 with dread of the future.  In days to come, there will be recrimination
 and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed
this
 to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
 There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic
 freedoms.
We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. 
But
 determined, too.  Unimaginably determined. You see, there is
steel
 beneath this velvet. That aspect of our character is  seldom
understood
 by people who don't know us well.  On this day, the family's
bickering
 is put on hold.  As Americans we will weep, as Americans 
we will mourn,
 and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
 Still, I keep wondering what it was you hoped to teach us.
It occurs to
 me  that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your
hatred.  If
 that's the case, consider the message received. And take this
 message in exchange: You don't know my people.  You don't know
what
 we're about.  You don't know what you just started.
 But you're about to learn.
Impactika_at_aol.com wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Hello
all members,
And this is mostly for those
of you who are in or near Denver.
The Denver Show is going
on.  Yes, of course there are a few dealers and collectors missing,
but less than I had feared. The world is still well represented here, and
discussing, trading our favorite things.
 No, we have not forgotten
the tragic events of Tuesday, but we cannot allow "Them" to disrupt our
lives and the business that is part of our lives. Stopping what we are
doing would be handing "Them" a moral victory. I believe that we must not
allow that to happen.
Therefore everything will
go on as planned.
The Auction is still planned
for tomorrow Friday. Granted our Auctioneer is still in San Diego and we
still hope that he will be able to join us sometime tomorrow. If he does
not, we will have to improvise. (Michael, if you are online, please start
typing, send us a complete run down of what to do)  Additionally if
we do volunteer one of us as an auctioneer, I suggest that we set aside
the 10% auctioneer fee, and give it to the Red Cross.  So please everybody,
do come to Dave Bunk's ShowRoom on 46th avenue and Pecos, starting around
6pm tomorrow, the auction proper will start around 8pm. And we will need
plenty of volunteers.
The Party will also go on
Saturday evening, after 7pm. I personally believe that by then a lot of
people will really need those large margaritas.
For additional information
and maps please go to:
      
<A HREF="http://www.impactika.com/ImpacNews-frame.html">http://www.impactika.com/ImpacNews-frame.html</A>
 and click on the link to
the Denver Show.
I will be at the Merchandise
Mart all day tomorrow, at Alain Carion's booth. Please stop by.
See you all soon.
Anne Black
 <A HREF="http://www.IMPACTIKA.com">http://www.IMPACTIKA.com</A>
 IMPACTIKA_at_aol.com
 <A HREF="http://www.TheMineralCompany.com">http://www.TheMineralCompany.com</A></blockquote>
</html>

--------------685D8E284272358170A90D6E--
Received on Fri 14 Sep 2001 10:24:37 AM PDT

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