August 25, 2001

What was I doing on August 25, 2001? I don't know, I don't remember. I don't think it was a very important day in my life, clearly not if I don't recall anything special about it.

Checking back in CNN's news archives I see reports about fighting in Macedonia. Macedonia? Do I remember that? Well, the Balkans, yes, there were problems there throughout the 1990s. But I don't think I paid much attention then, far away and not that important, really, in the bigger scheme of things unless you happened to live in Macedonia which I didn't then and don't now.

The Powerball Lottery hit $295 Million. I didn't play the lottery and I'm pretty sure I didn't pay any attention to the size of the jackpot.

The Kursk disaster was unfolding. This I remember but that the Russian military had fallen on hard times and that its government was lax in responding to this tragedy hardly seemed like news then or now.

And Gary Condit was THE story of course. I remember that. Gary and poor Chandra Levy who had gone missing and nobody knew where.

The Taliban had detained international aid workers in Afghanistan. Ah, the Taliban. Those fanatical Islamic nuts who I knew were running things in Afghanistan and playing footsie with some guy named Osama Bin Laden. Clinton had fired off missiles at them I remember back when our embassies got blown up somewhere in Africa. Probably didn't make much of an impact but then who really cared? We're talking third world terrorists here. Good at blowing things up in backward places far away for some crazy reason.