What Spaw said.

Jack the Sailor, I agree with your comment about individuals, not ancestry. I just read in this morning's paper that a Sikh organization showed up for a memorial service for Californians killed on 9/11 wearing solid red, white or blue turbans. It seems like a nice thing to do, underlining diversity, but may also have been inspired by fear.

The bombing happened to begin on my birthday. That wasn't really the present I had in mind. I celebrated my birthday Monday night with dinner in an Afghani restaurant. They had an American flag in the window--partly sentiment, I'm sure, and also partly self-preservation, to try to fend off idiots. Inside, as an obviously longtime part of their regular decor, they had a poster that said "Free Afghanistan." I mean, I figured they were here for a reason, and not back home hanging out with the Taliban.

By the way, it was about the best meal I've had in 20 years. The Helmand, on Broadway, if you're in San Francisco. Expensive, but worth every penny!