Update 2-4-03


Hi,

I don't know how appropriate it is to mention the space shuttle Columbia here.  But it simply feels wrong not to.  As Paul DeMartino just wrote:  Events last Saturday once again tested our fortitude in the face of tragedy.  Is this another sign that we shouldn't plan too far into the future?

Then, too quickly, on to further thoughts of war and patriotism:

From Irene Augustine Wehn:  I, too, was a demonstrator against the Vietnam war. But what we are facing today just seems totally different.  I spent yesterday volunteering at Camp Comfort, a mini-camp for children who lost parents on 9/11. Watching the kids release balloons tied with messages to their lost loved ones was heartbreaking.  It also made you so angry at those who caused this much suffering, with no remorse.   

From Judy Hartstone:  Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11.  Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.  By all accounts, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are not allies.  So, we are not going to war because the safety of the United States is threatened.  Once again, we are going to war for money, specifically, for oil.  And to finish "Daddy's war."  Read Thomas Friedman of The New York Times when he writes about the deterrables like Saddam Hussein, who love life more than they hate us, and the undeterrables like the suicide bombers of 9/11, who hate us more than they love life.  In my opinion, the solution has a lot more to do with the internal politics of Arab countries than it does with an American-led war on Iraq.

From Larry Rugen:  Good all around write-up.  Are you sure you're not publishing a newspaper?  I always enjoy the read.

From Martha Morenstein:  All we are saying is give peace a chance!

From something I read on the Internet:  "I think I appreciated America most the day I was able to march freely and peacefully in Washington."  

From The New Yorker, February 3rd, 2003:  The United States has been wrong, politically and morally, about Iraq more than once in the past...  The price of being wrong yet again could be incalculable.  History will not easily excuse us if, by deciding not to decide, we defer a reckoning with an aggressive totalitarian leader who intends not only to develop weapons of mass destruction but also to use them...  A return to a hollow pursuit of containment will be the most dangerous option of all.

The range of our opinions about a war, as well as people's polite reluctance to be lured into a discussion, reminds me of, I think, an old Mad magazine parody of Pogo.  The earnest hedgehog was drawn into activism on the advice of a cartoon colleague, only to get himself severely trounced.  "Why did you ever tell me to 'Learn Politics and join a party?'" he plaintively asks.  "I didn't," he's corrected.  "I told you to 'Learn parlor tricks and go to a party.'"

Some business:  

From Emily Kleinman Schreiber, '61:  Booker Gibson's brother passed away, and his funeral will be on Wednesday.  Booker's e-mail address is bgibson@optonline.net if you want to write him.

From Hy Rosov:  I noticed Linda Isaacson's name mentioned in your last update.  Do you have her e-mail address?  I would love to get in touch with her.  (I had to tell Hy it was actually Linda Iaquinto that Allen Moss was referring to.  But if anyone happens to have Linda Isaacson's address, please forward it to Hy at:  chaihy@aol.com.)
Also, I was recently asked if I was still a member of Classmates.com -- because someone wanted to contact Gary Gray, whose name just turned up on their list.  I'm not a member, but I keep promising to rejoin, as, in addition to Gary's name, others' -- like Roberta Grodin's and Ellen Sue Brody's -- have lately been added there.  Another site some of you probably know about, but I've only newly found, is WhoWhere.com.  It's also a search engine for people, and, for a moment, I thought that I'd found Bill Brady.  But he'd already moved.  I may have an address for Tom Connolly though, and for Bob Brashears.  As before, it's easier to find listings for guys than for women who have married and changed their names.  In any case, I'll try writing Tom and Bob soon.
 
And, no, I haven't started consolidating the photos on the home page yet, so I can add in others.  Life keeps getting in the way.  But, soon.  Well, by spring.  Or something like that.  Hell, the next big reunion isn't until at least 2005.

Social news, again from Paul DeMartino:  We had another informal New York gathering at Lily Flanagan's this past Sunday, and it was attended by Dennis Shapiro, Danny Stellabotte, Mark Yetman, Louise Wiemer, Robin Feit, Rosemary Mercurio, Joan Aries, Barbara Endy, and yours truly.  As usual, a good time was had by all, and to those unable to attend, you missed a nice party.  We plan to get together again on March 23rd, this time at the Japanese restaurant on 5th Street in Valley Stream (yes, it's still there).  We also discussed getting together to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the 37th Reunion, and that party will be held on Saturday, May 3rd.  We know the 37th Reunion was held in April, but due to holidays and the fact that Barbara Blitfield Pech and Gayle Ulrich are coming in from Florida, and Peter Rosen and Jerry Bittman are expected in from Virginia and Nebraska, we will have it in May.  There is also a plan for a pool party at Mark Yetman's in late July.  As always, all Falcons -- especially those from the Class of '65 -- are welcome to join the festivities.  Those interested can contact me for details, at the usual address:  PINA_1@msn.com

Finally, some other verbal twists of the Pogo variety, forwarded by Robert Fiveson and Barbara Blitfield Pech.  It's a song, folks, so sing along.  You'll quickly guess the tune:

When an eel bites your hand,
And that's not what you planned,
That's a moray.

When our habits are strange,
And our customs deranged,
That's our mores.

When Othello's poor wife,
Becomes stabbed with a knife,
That's a Moor, eh?

When on Mount Cook you see,
An aborigine,
That's a Maori.

A comedian ham,
With the name Amsterdam,
That's a Morey.

When your chocolate graham,
Is so full and so crammed,
That's a s'more, eh?

When you've had quite enough,
Of this dumb rhyming stuff,
That's "No more!" eh?"

The home page:   http://hometown.aol.com/falcons1965a


Rich