I am a life-long news junkie occasionally haunted by recollections of the images...

[Poll_Blind]

...I've seen. I do not seek them out but there are some times when I feel people who consider themselves citizens of the world must endure viewing very graphic images in order to be marked by the horrific nature of such realities. So they may never forget.

A very mild case, in comparison to some events, but no-less-shocking is the close-up of the oil-covered seagull which is on CNN.com's main webpage now. While I am not a proponent of forcing people to view the horrific realities of our human condition, and expect the same respect, there are times where an editor has taken that choice out of our hands.

Take a good long look at that bird if you can stand it. I am unable to distance myself from the hellish reality that bird endures (or endured before death) and the horrible plight that some humans face every day. I find it as disturbing as any image of a street execution I've seen, any recounting of a woman raped by soldiers and left for dead. While I give vastly more weight to human life and suffering, I believe animals have a consciousness which is not so different from our own.

And, again, I am so-marked and will never forget that image, what it means, how the situation came to be, and my responsibility as a human being to try to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

I know it is a hopeless battle but one which some of us choose to endure. If only for the sake of not being able to stand ourselves for not doing anything. And it is that empathy which separates us from the others.

PB

[Captain Hilts]

1. The pelican enslimed in oil on the front page of the Wash Post. 50 days later the prez gets tough.

I just can't look at it.

[meegbear]

2. The Falling Man will always be in my memory