Scott Barstow

The Triumph of Good - Remembering 9/11

Yesterday, September 11, was a witches brew of emotion for me.  I was up early, playing tennis with my daughter as the sun came up.  It’s one of my great pleasures in life, being out early and just enjoying her company.  She went to play a tournament match an hour later and lost, ending a pretty good weekend for her.

I listened to the radio broadcast on NPR of the various ceremonies at the sites as I drove to and from church later in the morning.  The singing of the national anthem by the Brooklyn Youth Choir was amazing.  If you didn’t get a chance to hear it, you can listen to them it here.  Listening to the families read the names of their lost relatives was almost too much.

When I returned home from church, I saw an amazing story on CNN of the water brigade of 9/11.  In the space of nine hours, all manner of boats moved over half a million people off of the south end of Manhattan.  It was the largest evacuation by water in world history, larger than the evacuation of Dunkirk in WW II.  It was completely unplanned and ad hoc.  It was carried out primarily by volunteer boaters and tugboat drivers who were no more sure of what was going to happen next than anyone else.  They risked their own lives throughout the day to ensure others would live.  There were stories of people jumping from the piers as boats were leaving and catching the rail, barely able to pull themselves onto the boat.  

Last night I saw a 60 Minutes interview with Ali Soufan, an FBI agent in charge of interrogating some of the early captives in the manhunt for Al Qaeda.  He has a book coming out today that I intend to read.  I also heard an interview with Lauren Manning, who was burned severely over 80% of her body on that day but has lived to tell an amazing story. Her book is another that is going on the list to read.

Like anyone else old enough, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on 9/11/2001.  We saved the newspaper from the next morning, and we come across it periodically when we are moving things in the house.  I always stop to read it and look at the pictures.  

There is a lot of talk about how we are winning the war on terror.  As Dan Carlin has talked about, I am not so sure we have won anything in the last ten years.  We have lost thousands more American lives in protracted wars that have no end in sight.  We have lost freedoms at home.  Our government is over its head in debt, due in no small part to fighting two or three wars at a time.  

You know what, though?  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  We may be royally screwed up right now, but after taking in the events of yesterday I am convinced that we will be back.

What was your most memorable moment from yesterday’s ceremonies?

The Cure for the Recession

One of the TV shows we like to watch every week is CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.  It is a quirky show that has some really interesting topics not seen anywhere else.  A few weeks back, Anthony Mason interviewed President Obama during his bus tour through the midwest.  

During the latter stages of the interview, Mason talked with a few “ordinary Americans” from each party about what they had heard from the President and what they thought about it.  The use of the phrase “ordinary Americans” by any politician is one of the most condescending phrases ever uttered, but I won’t talk about that here.  What really bothered me was listening to each of the people interviewed talk about what Obama was or was not going to do for them, and how he would or would not be able to solve the economic woes.

I have some bad news for anyone that thinks the politicians are going to solve the economic problems.  It’s simply not going to happen.  As a matter of fact, they will do anything they can to screw it up further.  So, here is my cure for the recession:

• Stop looking to Washington or your state capitol to solve anything.  They are interested only retaining more power and influence.  That’s not a cynical view.  It’s the way it is.  Doesn’t matter what party it is, either.  
• Stop waiting for the messiah to show up with all the great ideas that will make this bad stuff disappear.  We are in the s**t, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.  We got ourselves here, and we will need to dig ourselves out.
• Turn off the news.  I mean it.  Stop reading the newspaper, stop watching CNN, stop reading about all of the bad news and just go to work on making your life and those you care about better every day.  There is a lot of great stuff happening.  Companies are doing great things, individuals are changing the world.  Get involved with one of them or start your own thing.  Yes, I know we have 8 or 9% unemployment.  That means that nine out of every ten of us has a job.  There are countries that would kill to have that.  Not saying I don’t empathize with the unemployed, but it’s not ALL bad news.  Tim Ferriss wrote about ignoring news in his book a few years ago, and I have not watched a regular newscast or political discussion in at least three years.  It’s too depressing, and it affects your outlook on life whether you want to believe it or not.

That’s it.  That’s my cure for the recession.  JFK had it sort of right.  Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for you and those you care about.  Then go do it.  

Tax Day

Today I would like to celebrate a few things in light of it being the day ( officially ) that all of our taxes are due. It’s a day where lots of people like to gripe and moan about how much they pay in taxes. I would like to offer some counterpoints. They are true for me, and I hope they are true for you.