Ginny Otte

RyanAir is now offering disposable smokeless cigarettes to passengers as an alternative to sitting on their hands, anxious and getting jittery from withdrawl during flights, having deemed the air quality of their cabins unaffected by "smokeless" cigarettes. These are not traditional electronic cigarettes so I am not sure of the delivery method. Us folks in the US are out of luck, they are on sale at amazon.co.uk for 5 pounds a pack--which is about the same as a pack of traditional cigarettes.

A couple years ago I applauded the release of photographs of soldiers' coffins, draped in our nation's flag, being transported home. I still support this, and see the picture--which identifies no individual soldier--as a testament to not just the price of war, but to the sacrifice of the men and women who defend our freedoms. This sacrifice has been given by generations of soldiers since the beginning of our nation, which was born of war of revolution. Since the beginning of our nation's history, men, then women, have fought and died for us; to show that photo is, in my opinion, a respectful homage to those men and women--to all of them--who have paid the ultimate price for their nation's safety; and a poignant reminder to the rest of us what exactly that price is.

There is another photo, however, I cannot applaud.

Marine Lance Cpl Joshua M. Bernard was mortally wounded when he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade on August 14. He was with an embedded journalist, who had been photographing him and his unit that day; after he was wounded, as he lay dying, she took a photograph of him. The photo is disturbing, bloody, and I will not link to it as his parents rightfully objected to its publication. This photo is not a poignant, grim look at the cost of war; it is an invasion of the privacy of the last frightening, gut-wrenching moments of a 21 year old man's life. It takes this young man's pain and terror and lays it bare in a grotesque and perverse way; this man's final moments should not be fodder for us all to cluck over during our morning coffee or debate the war over or discuss at length the same way we hem and haw over Obama's health care plan. This was a young Marine's life. He sacrificed that life for his nation. Must we cheapen that sacrifice by showing his bloodied body, by seeing his fellow soldiers around him, must we make his parents suffer by seeing that moment over and over and over in the media?

I can't help but think of this boy's mother and father: there for the first moments of his life; there for his first words, his first day of school; there for his first tenuous steps toward adulthood. There to see him off to prom, his first date, to school graduations. There for his induction ceremony. There for his boot camp graduation. There to bury him. Must they also be there to know you are gawking at their boy's death?

As the mother of two military members, I tell you no. No. Spare them that anguish. And let the AP know that they have done a grave disservice to the men and women who fight and die for their right to freely publish photographs.

Hunger hits detroit. Groceries need to be delivered with armed guards.

Someone needs to remind the broadcasters of Brazil that their job is not to MAKE the news. Especially when you have a crime show that focuses on murder and mayhem.

Don't have a baby in Paraguay. Apparently, babies in Paraguay have to come out of the shoot able to say, with conviction, "I'm not dead yet."

...and also be able to tell the doctor what sex it is, apparently.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080601482.html

Twitter in the middle of a DoS attack. Sporatic outages in Facebook, Livejournal.

Send oxygen. I feel lightheaded. In good news though I hear office productivity has gone up about 47% worldwide today.

Imagine showing up for school, to a school that you paid for and have loans out on, and find that the doors are shut and it's closed forever.

That's what happened on 26 campuses of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting today. There goes the next batch of interns.

Apparently a 14 year old boy was killed when the pnuematic lift on his chair exploded, sending shrapnel into his rectum.

George Bush has been offered a job as a greeter in a hardware store.

Once again, the President tells GOP to STFU

It's been a while since I last updated, so forgive me in my tardiness. My brain's been disengaged. There are a two things I'd like to bring up though, from current events; perhaps you will humor me and ponder them:

--Peta wants to rename "fish" "sea kittens." I believe this renaming has caused an opposite effect on me; rather than not eating fish, I am now fully aware that Sea Kittens are tasty with butter and lemon, and that kinda makes me look at Land Kittens and wonder if they should be slathered in barbeque sauce or served with red or white wine.


--we had a remarkable rescue in the Hudson River yesterday, where a plane crashed and due to the pilot's ability and a little luck, no one died. The news keeps saying that the pilot "landed" in the Hudson River. Coming in to work, I heard Opie and Anthony try to describe the difference between a crash and a landing, and had listeners call in with their ideas. I found it so funny I am taking that idea here--yes, STEALING--and sharing the highlights:

*If after you land half the passengers are in NY and half in NJ, then it was probably a crash.
If your plane gets docked at the seaport after your flight, it was a crash.
*If you only get 7 Frequent Flier miles for your flight, you probably crashed.
* If you get to stand on the wings when disembarking, it was probably a crash.
* If you have to do the breast stroke up the aisle of the plane to disembark, you probably crashed.
Have any others?