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Thanks, Geezer.  I've done  lot of "newsy", LQD, and incidental diaries in my time, but I occasionally ask myself - "why am I doing this, and have I anything new or unique to contribute that justifies my writing a diary?"  I don't want to be just a reporter or  smartassed columnist. I had two "newsy" diaries on the stocks almost ready to go when I asked myself that question again, and wrote this diary instead.  Your comment encapsulates why I am doing this.

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Jun 17th, 2010 at 08:08:27 AM EST
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Geezer's right. Your diaries hit a resonate tone with me for just that reason: they are personally revealing. Not only do I go away with new information, I also come away feeling that I have had the opportunity to get to know you better, as a fellow human being, as I have had the chance to take a glimpse into your life and what makes it so. I think that's very special indeed.
by sgr2 on Thu Jun 17th, 2010 at 08:47:24 AM EST
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Except that I am uncomfortable with making me or my experiences the issue.  The issue is always the larger picture of injustice or the consequences of tribalism.  If I ever felt that my writing diaries here was becoming a self indulgence I would just have to stop. I don't do novels or autobiography.  I do do, (in my own small way) economic, social and political change.  Sometimes we have to change ourselves if we are to be able to help change the bigger picture, but ultimately it can't be just about us.  What frustrates me is people not fulfilling their potential - out of fear, repression, lack of knowledge or support.  My poem above is about a time when I feared it could not be done.  My only purpose in publishing now, for the first time, is to encourage others to to believe that it can be done.  And the Saville Report is one of those small victories that make life worth living.

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Jun 17th, 2010 at 09:18:00 AM EST
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Whoa there Frank, that wasn't what I meant at all. Perhaps it's my uncanny ability to show up at the wrong place at the wrong time, saying the wrong thing. Please allow me to try again. What was meant is that when a diary is set to a personal experience it reveals itself differently than a diary which only sets forth facts. If ones believes that everyone and everything is connected in some way, then it stands to reason that if we can attempt to understand and solve the problems of one, we have a better chance of solving the problems of others.
by sgr2 on Thu Jun 17th, 2010 at 11:17:47 AM EST
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I agree, but my comment was intended to speak to the issue of "Diaries" becoming so depersonalized that they come to be technocratic documents. At the heart of it, the story is about the many relationships among people and policy. Without the personal connection, the story is without a fundamentally important component, and fails.

Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.
by geezer in Paris (risico at wanadoo(flypoop)fr) on Sun Jun 20th, 2010 at 01:32:12 AM EST
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