The media is all agog because the AP published a picture of Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard as he lay mortally wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan . Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is incensed because the corporal’s father had requested that the picture not be published in order to avoid further grief to the family. During the Bush administration news photographers were not allowed to photograph coffins returning from Iraq and Afghanistan . Apparently it was not a good idea for the American people to discover how many good young men were dying for their country. It was as if our nation could fight two wars overseas while maintaining peace and tranquility at home. The Obama administration now allows such photographs to be taken provided the families of the deceased say it’s OK. But this is a different case. The photo was taken in the field – there was no chance to get the family’s prior permission. It was taken along with many other photos of activity in the ...
My alarm clock goes off every morning at eight, except for the few times when I have a breakfast date. Usually I wake up about an hour before that, or at least I partly wake up. It is important that I remain in a “not quite awake but not quite asleep” state, because I consider that time as the germination period for whatever seeds happen to have blown into my head.