On the terrorist attack topic -- I was reading some posts here (on other blogs) and articles, etc. and I have to say I agree somewhat with the editorial in the San Jose Mercury today - so many people are taking this attack and using it to forward their pre-existing agendas and that's annoying. I just read one about how what we should learn from this is to be more environmentally conscious. How that came from this attack is still beyond me - and I did read the entire post. There are many issues here and so far I've had several conversations with my roomates and others on US foreign policy (a topic about which I am woefully uneducated), violence, spirituality (a word I generally hate for its blandness), and other topics that I generally avoid in polite conversation. Yet never once have I thought of pollution, except in terms of the dust in NY, or gender relations. (Someone apparently gloated about how it was the *men* who stopped the terrorists and caused the plane to crash in PA - how do they know? And even if they do, I don't necessarily think that proves anything about the vast majority of gender related issues. I don't think men and women are exactly the same. I feel that sameness and equality are too often confused. Harrison Bergeron is a story that I highly recommend. But I still think that if I do the same job as a male co-worker, I should be paid the same amount. Thankfully I work at a company where I am pretty sure this is the case.)

Wow, am I off topic here. Yes, off topic. I don't think the events of Sept. 11 have anything to do with gender equality or environmentalism. I resent people who use the tragedy to forward their own agenda. That is almost as bad as those who are using it to price gouge or solicit donations for non-existent charities.