Heroes: Everyday and Extraordinary People

I am pleased to host part of the Cotillion for September 13th. My co-hostesses are e-Claire (Now Chocolate Covered!), Portia Rediscovered, and Mary Katherine Ham of Townhall.com C-Log. And all of these can also be found at the main Cotillion site.

Heroes are everyday people in extraordinary circumstances. Heroes are also extraordinary people. Whether in fiction, or in life, heroes show us what is possible in the world; what we should strive for in our own lives.

The photos below are of a few women I deem to be heroic. If you don't recognize them, clicking on the photo should provide some additional information. (Some information is provided below.)

Tammy, of A Mom and Her Blog offers us Another point of view. Distressed that news about Hurricane Katrina has pushed the news of our troops in Iraq out of the spotlight, Tammy offers us some emails - from a service wife about her husband's deployment to Iraq, from a MSgt. near the end of his deployment, and from her husband "a former (and still current…at heart, at least) Marine."

Ith of Absinthe & Cookies (a bit bitter, a bit sweet) has a problem with some of the sentiments at one of the telethons raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Who are "Our People?"

Raven of And Rightly So! offers a September 11th remembrance "of what happened that fateful day in September," As busy passengers boarded their flights…

Annika offers some thoughts on Faith In The Face Of Tragedy And Job. She deals with religion and the question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

It's the age old question. Why do bad things happen to good people? What does a person of faith do when tragedy strikes? How does one deal?

Given the effects of Hurricane Katrina, these are questions worth considering.

Oddybobo at Bobo Blogger tells us that Pete Needs Our Prayers. Fellow blogger and gunblogger Pete of Shakey Pete's Shootin' Shack has suffered what seems to be a stroke. She sent along some Gun Pron to cheer him up.

Jane from Armies of Liberation brings us some information on Journalism in Yemen: A Battle for Truth in the Age of Terror. I can't imagine a more heroic act than trying to stand up to dictatorial regime.

In Yemen, opposition and independent journalists perform their duty to the nation in an extremely hostile environment. This Western ally, the Yemeni government, at times behaves quite criminally and brutally, and it prefers to do so without international or national media attention. As a result, Yemeni journalists are repeatedly attacked by security forces, the judiciary, and the official media.

Yemen, is rarely mentioned by the US and then only as “an important partner in the War on Terror.”

Baldilocks takes a look at death, and our attitudes toward death in Not Fearing the Reaper. We attempt to hold off the inevitable, and hope we don't meet the disaster, either the natural, or the man-made variety.

On a certain level, it's puzzling, even amusing, all our efforts to put off the inevitable. But, yes, I’m still not smoking, will be in the gym tomorrow and am stepping up disaster preparedness around here.

She also examines how one's faith shapes these attitudes.

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs brings to our attention Shotgun Sean - Posterboy for NRA/Second Amendment. Sean Penn was apparently carrying a a shotgun through the streets of New Orleans.

On Tuesday the Hollywood Liberal looked more like Charlton Heston, prowling the storm ravaged Delta loaded for bear.

I guess the boating thing didn't work out in the long run. And to think I didn't know he was a friend of the Second Amendment. Pamela has a few related observations about the MSM generally.

Are You Conservative examines the structure the EU would use to handle emergencies, such as natural disasters in If You Think US Feds are Slow off the Mark... What is the European thinking if a natural - or man-made - disaster overwhelms the resources of a single member state? The structure of the EU response is surprisingly similar to that of the US.

Kathy at Cake Eater Chronicles tells us about a Citizen Photojournalist who Shoots Some Amazing Stuff. He provides a view of New Orleans before, during and after the hurricane and during the flood. It is worth the time to get a first hand account of what happened.

Cross posted at TFS Magnum
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Sgt Leigh Ann Hester: First Woman since WWII to be awarded the Silver Star
Ellen MacArthur: Sailed around the world, single-handed, on a 75ft. Trimaran setting a world record.
Iraqi Woman: Her picture became synonymous with the success of the Iraqi election.
Eileen Collins: First woman to pilot and later to command the Space Shuttle.

Posted by Zendo Deb at September 13, 2005 03:55 AM