November 2006 | Letters to the Editor
Our Readers Respond
September Editor’s Note
Thank you. I have always been shocked to hear that a frog would tolerate being boiled to death. Mr. Gore will have to find another metaphor, though he used this myth to good purpose in his tale of the Inconvenient Truth. We are so much worse than frogs, and will probably unwittingly drown, roast, and boil long before we awaken to the loss we face. But I still have hope that all those who love the earth and respect the diversity of its peoples as well as its creatures and ecosystems can help the rest make the changes needed to save our lovely earth, for all our sakes. Thank you for your work on Common Ground and all the best in your new job there.
— Megan Black, Director, Vandhana Dance Company, www.kathakdance.org
Black Rock City Comes of Age
Burning Man is about many things to many people, but one thing I find to be consistent is that it’s about change in the most expansive sense. When burners (and media) complain that it’s “not the same,” then maybe it’s time for them to find another learning experience.
When you learned all there was to learn in kindergarten, did you stick around and tell all the incoming 5-year olds that kindergarten’s just not the same anymore? That the snacks aren’t as good, the hokey-pokey is so played out and counting to 10 is so easy? I’m not saying that Burning Man is juvenile—there are incredible opportunities for evolving beings of all ages to create, express and expand. I just think media coverage arguing that it’s “sold out” is evidence of the media’s need to expand its perspective than anything.
When you’re over it, stop going; you’ve probably learned all you’re capable of learning there. When you find yourself complaining that it’s grown too big or too tame or too much of whatever it is you resist, then you’re probably not open anymore for the business of expansion that can happen there. That doesn’t mean the opportunity to grow and expand is lost for everyone else, or that your opportunities to grow elsewhere in your life are lost either. Just know when to move on so the “newbies” can create new experiences that aid their expansion and expression. Please don’t stick around to insult others who haven’t experienced anything like it before, or those who still manage to find newness in every changing moment.
— Emily Liolin, San Francisco
The 9/11 Credibility Gap
This piece from our September issue generated a lot of mail and phone calls. Much of your response was congratulatory, like the letter directly below from Mr. Bhaerman. And much of it was negative, like the letter at bottom from Mr. Sarner. Our thanks to everyone who took the time to to craft a considered response to the interview. We’re just happy to keep the conversation going.
— The Editors
Thanks for interviewing David Ray Griffin! And thanks for moving the “up-wising” along.
— Steve Bhaerman, wakeuplaughing.com
My name is Todd Sarner, and Mark Bingham, one of the passengers of United Flight 93, was my lifelong friend. I cannot express to you how disappointed I am to read your interview with David Ray Griffin in the September 2006 issue that, among other things, claims my dear friend didn’t speak to his mother from the plane that day because he first identified himself by his full name. That a business man who started nearly every conversation that way all day long on the phone accidentally said, “Mom, this is Mark Bingham” while in the middle of a highjacking and while trying to coordinate information with other passengers is hardly evidence for anything but an insanely high level of stress. When I see posts on the internet or get a email from some unstable conspiracy theorist, that’s one thing. To see this insensitive drivel in your publication without any basis is astonishing.
Let me be clear. I am suspicious of government, particularly this one. There are real questions about 9/11 that have to be answered. The mainstream media consistently doesn’t do their job and forwards talking points rather than doing their job. However, to put out conspiracy theories based on “I don’t think this makes sense” rather than actual facts... On one hand, there are these facts: 1) Mark knew that his mom was staying at his aunt and uncle’s house and called there, 2) he spoke to his aunt for a few moments and then asked to talk to his mom, 3) he talked to his mom, the closest person to him in the world, for a few minutes and told her what was going on and surely fearing for his life. The “facts” in Mr. Griffins argument? “What person has ever talked to his mother and used his last name? That’s so absurd!” He then goes on to theorize that “voice morphing” software may have been used. Um, OK.
You are no better than the big bad mainstream media when you print crap like this.
— Todd Sarner, San Rafael
Journeys: Doored!
I just read Charles Shaw’s “The Art and Grace of Being Doored” and I enjoyed it immensely. I wanted to cheer when I read the bike cop’s response to the cab driver (“Cause gas is too expensive and people are dying for oil, man! Now give it a rest and pick up a newspaper sometime.”), and again when Charles decided to “act from a place of patience and maturity and defuse the whole incident.” I live in the Denver metro area and haven’t been hit on my bike yet, but if I am, I hope to react even half as well as Charles did.
— Craig Maxwell, via email
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