I was in Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Not many people had TV's. We were glued to radio and went wherever we could to see the news on TV. It was several glum days. But Israeli TV did a clever thing. It put Danny Kaye's "The Inspector General" on TV. I was at a friend's watching the news. We watched the movie and I talked to a lot of people who also did. We all agreed it was a good thing. For a little over an hour, we forgot ourselves and the situation. We laughed more than we would have otherwise. And we felt a sense of relief.

Danny Kaye actually came to Israel and put on shows. Again, it was a relief that allowed us to endure the tension.

Here, TV showed the towers falling over and over and over. It became meaningless. A couple of friends and I went that first weekend to a movie. We felt guilty but also, relieved of tension for a while. There was one channel here did practical things like telling which subway lines were running or which roads were open. I think they also started the phenomenon of showing pictures of the missing. They said people came by with pictures of missing people and started putting them on their mobile truck.

One of the worst things for me was seeing Dan Rather on Letterman I believe saying something about how if Bush said something, he would stand back and salute. That is not what I wanted from the press.