History repeats itself - and the people in charge of things like our obscene military budget don't seem to learn from history.

No matter the stated intentions of the politicians who lead the charge... No matter the piety and professionalism of the men and women in uniform in their killing machines... No matter the righteousness of their cause... No matter how quickly and sincerely the opposition lays down their arms...

Suffering is war's gift to everyone involved - and to those who happen, unfortunately, to find themselves just a little bit too close to the action.

We cannot approach war with our smart bombs and cruise missiles and multi-million-dollar aircraft with the false notion that the pain and suffering of war is meted out only to those who "deserve" it and that all innocents are spared.

Just askin...

Regardless of his intent, and I seriously doubt that Kerry intended to say that the 140,000 troops in Iraq are there because they are dumb and haven't taken advantage of education opportunities (whether or not that statement in of itself is true), it was an extremely stupid, unprofessional and embarrassing thing for him to say.

Would all lefty grownups who run into John Kerry over the next two years please beg him not to run for President again?

Hooray for Tim Grieve!

"chas" referred to Pelosi's reaction to Carter's book. I'm not familiar with this event. Can chas or someone else elaborate, please?

Beautiful - shocking - wonderful. Who is Stephen Elliot? We must know more!

You don't have a link to the book at Amazon - you're missing out on the affiliate commission for all of us who are going to buy the book.

I just noticed that the "Softer Side of S&M" answers alot of questions:

http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/11/29/elliott/index.html

I was more-or-less raised middle-class New England atheist and I am married with a teenage daughter in a more-or-less middle-class New England atheist household today.

Christmas has always been a wonderful and special time for me because of the magical excitement experienced as a child - or now, as a father, through the eyes of my own child or nieces.

My wife is a non-Christian immigrant from a non-Christian country and culture. This doesn't stand in the way of her loving Christmas.

Let's not confuse the separation of church and state with overt displays of Christmas (or Xmas) cheer. Opening school or government ceremonies with public prayer or displaying the Ten Commandments in a federal courthouse are offensive acts that don't have a place in our multicultural secular society. Santa Claus, however, is an atheist and he loves children of all faiths.

The "War on Christmas" is an illusion. Nobody is going to take Christmas away from true-believers and us non-believers will continue to take our tiny children to see Santa Claus, we'll continue to erect Christmas trees in our living rooms, we'll keep putting candles in the windows and lights on the trees in the front yard and we'll spend the day with the family.

So there.

It would be nice if this excerpt was accompanied by either the author's bio or a Salon Q&A/interview. I am particularly interested in understanding appx. when these dinnertime conversations took place. A crude date comparison (my father being born in 1942 vs. 1923 for James Furiya) makes Linda appx. 20 years older than me - mid to late 50s? Did these conversations take place in an atmosphere of immediate postwar austerity or were these better times?

My interest in the book has been piqued. I am very curious to find out what James Furiya's wartime experience will have been. If he was born in 1923 and was in Japan as a teen he would have almost certainly been swept up into the war. If he was able to return to Northern California prior to Pearl Harbor he would almost certainly have been detained like so many other Japanese-American Californians.

I've added the book to my Amazon Wishlist.

Coincidentally, Slate has a related article by Michael Lewis on their front page today. Lewis' is about his wife (Tabitha Sorenson!) giving birth in Berkeley. I was a crazy UC Berkeley undergrad 14 years ago who became a father at an Oakland hospital. I enjoyed both Pollack's and Lewis' articles.

http://www.slate.com/id/2157157/nav/tap1/

If the story of the Hottentot Venus appeals to you, I highly recommend Paul Di Filippo's science fiction novella collection, "The Steampunk Trilogy." One of its three stories is about the Hottentot Venus.

Paul Di Filippo is one of my all time favorite science fiction writers... See: Ribofunk.

First - I loved Class of '93. I was class of '88, myself, but your book meant a great deal to me. Thank you.

Autrey didn't contemplate financial reward when he jumped onto the tracks to save that young man.

Autrey performed a selfless act - and lived - and was rewarded by a grateful city afterwards. There is no reason to question this sequence of events. There will always be heroes who act selflessly... They may or may not be properly recognized afterwards.

Donald Trump's gift to Autrey doesn't taint Autrey's deed. It is a simple act of appreciation from one member of a grateful community. Whether or not Trump rewarded Autrey doesn't matter. At that moment, when the train was bearing down on the young man, Autrey jumped into the breach and did what most of us could only imagine doing: he risked his life in front of his two young children.

Somebody could write Autrey a check for a million dollars and it wouldn't change the sheer bravery and selflessness of his act one iota. Shower him with gifts - he deserves it.

Did he expect gifts when he jumped? Of course not - and that's all that matters.

Hooray for Wesley Autrey and everyone before and after him who have selflessly placed themselves in danger's way in order to save the life of a fellow human being.