ggevalt's blog

To the YWP community,

It's been sad to me to see that this site has had some small tension over the last few days. A few things got said. A few things got said a bit too harshly. And a few things got misunderstood. Hmmmm. That ever happen in your house?

What's unusual is that it's happening on this Web site. I have been struck over these last two years at the amazing civility and positive spirit that has marked most discourse here. You have created a safe, civil site that is built on trust.

So now that the dust has settled a bit, I just want to say, not to worry. This will pass. Those who have departed for now will be back, or will be checking in from time to time. I'm sure of that. Too much of their souls have been put onto these pages. They care too much.

And that's, maybe, what some of you newer folks may not have understood completely. People really place a stake on this site; they care about it, they put a lot into it. They are proud of what they've done to build it.

There is no one person at fault here. Really. Fact is it's a high-stress, hectic time of year and everyone is probably feeling a bit tired. And pressed for time. Just keep this in mind: YWP is different. Write with emotion but do not REACT with emotion, at least not with anger. Be supportive. Be respectful. Be considerate. Remember your words sound harsher than you intend them; always. Remember, too, this site is about helping each other become better writers.

So hang in there. Keep on writin'.

cheers
gg

For more about YWP's "Blog on the News feature," click here.

The war in Iraq has done untold damage to America's image abroad. - Casualties are definitely down. Other places suddenly seem to need more urgent attention. News coverage is shrinking, as is public interest. All of which may help explain the breath of optimism one can now detect in Washington, and even in some other places, about the war in Iraq. "It will all come right in the end, wait and see," is an expression I've now heard more than once. Other versions of this include "The surge is working," and "Why don't the mainstream media tell the truth about our successes in Iraq?"

[more ...] [Slate]

I find myself spending a lot of time reading about and thinking about the war in Iraq. I grew up with the Vietnam War -- a constant worry on my shoulder because I was almost certain to be drafted once I finished college but, mercifully, Richard Nixon ended the draft shortly before I would have been inducted. The Vietnam War colored all of our thinking in the early 1970s -- on college campuses, in the small towns of mid-west America, in the inner cities where the vast majority of the soldiers -- poor black Americans -- were drafted.

If you want to blog on the news, press the blue "b" button beside the story headline on the right sidebar and blog away. -- GG
Take a gander at this story: Gas May Have Harmed Troops, Scientists Say - More than 100,000 American troops in the Persian Gulf war of 1991 were exposed to low levels of sarin nerve gas. [NYTimes]

This is a disturbing finding, that is that 100,000 to 150,000 soldiers from the 1991 Persian Gulf war may have physical damage due to exposure to nerve gas during the war. The story explains that this gas resulted from the Army's detonation of a munitions warehouse that contained sarin nerve gas.

Victims of Shooting Are Remembered - An amiable senior, a world-class researcher and an avid dancer were among those killed in Virginia. [NYTimes]

This was submitted to us by an anonymous writer from Essex High School. If he or she is out there, we'd love to know who you are. Drop us an e-mail.

Marco’s hands are cracked and worn. When he smiles his face wrinkles up all over, but that doesn’t happen very often. His hair is gray like cloudy days. His nose is crooked; it arches up and then comes back down, rounded on the end. He wears top-of-the-line shiny black shoes. Every morning before he opens the door and heads to work, he sits on the edge of his bed with a soft jersey cloth in one hand and his size eleven, black leather oxfords in the other. He buffs away, shines and shines until all he can see are his round black eyes in the toe of the shoe. His maroon suit jacket is trimmed with gold.