Phil -

Thanks for reading and responding to my musings, half-articulate as they may have been. I had no real doubt that individual people, even those like myself with no connection to the tragedy beyond shared humanity, were each undergoing their own agony.

I was unclear perhaps in that my lament regarded statements, and the attitudes they intend to represent, deliberately prepared for public consumption. Certain officials have appeared as more wooden and uninspiring than those they defeated for election: obviously mouthing formulaic words written by third parties, and evidencing by such omission a lack of the human passion the occasion demands. Fortunately, others - Juliani being the foremost example - have been exceptional.

The Inhabitants of this Zone have been, with almost no exception, rational and mindful in their reactions - not only to the initial catastrophe but in discussing what may be to come. I, too, detect no jingoism here. Would that could be said for the world at large...

Mostly, I needed to finally unburden myself - yes, it helped.

E'