Digital Ink Los Angeles

“In our blessed and mostly peaceful society we’re not as familiar with courage as we once were. We ascribe the virtue to all manner of endeavors that only really require skill, fortitude and a little daring, the qualities Pat Tillman showed on the football field. Pat’s best service to his country was to remind us all what courage really looks like, and that the purpose of all good courage is love.“
– Senator John McCain
Pat Tillman’s memorial service, May 3, 2004

Pat Tillman was an excellent football player. He was also an heroic soldier. He gave his life for a cause most Americans still can’t quite comprehend, except to say there are bad people who wish our nation harm, and men and women like Pat Tillman have a desire to defend everything this nation represents.

Every once in a while, an “Outlier,” a 1%er, a SuperGOOD person comes along, and their exceptional character necessitates their destiny. For Tillman, it was a sad ending to an otherwise extraordinary life. Only now, after years of cover-ups and back-room bureaucracy, have the facts surfaced about his death. Like much of war, they are not pretty.

Pat Tillman, Sr., in a letter written in 2005 to The Washington Post, stated that supposed “mistakes” by Army higher-ups were part of a pattern of conscious misconduct:

“With respect to the Army’s reference to ‘mistakes in reporting the circumstances of [my son's] death’: those ‘mistakes’ were deliberate, calculated, ordered (repeatedly), and disgraceful — conduct well beneath the standard to which every soldier in the field is held.“

Writer and “New-New Journalist” Jon Krakauer has a new book, “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman,” which attempts to expose the facts behind the Pat Tillman tragedy.

Whatever the truth may be, Pat Tillman will always be a hero. On the 8th Anniversary of 9/11, Digital Ink Los Angeles remembers the people who’ve sacrificed everything for the love, not the glory.

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Heroic displays of courage are commonplace in professional boxing. Arturo “Thunder” Gatti boxed in some of the most dramatically contested matches of all time, his fights nominated for the Ring Magazine “Fight of the Year” an astonishing six times — and won four times.

The most famous of all these fights is the Mickey Ward vs. Arturo Gatti war on May 18th, 2002.

To start the ninth round of this eventual Ring Magazine 2002 “Fight of the Year,” Mickey Ward hits Arturo Gatti with a left hook that breaks Gatti’s ribs. Ouch! But Gatti gets up, and just when Mickey thinks he has Gatti beat…

View the YouTube video of the 9th Round of Mickey Ward vs. Arturo Gatti – I.

The LA Times is reporting that Arturo Gatti was found dead in his hotel room yesterday, July 11, 2009, the victim of apparent homicide. Evidence at this time points toward his Brazilian wife, who he was seeking separation from.

Arturo Gatti was a man who knew no fear, who challenged himself constantly to be the best boxer and the best person he could be. He was human, full with flaws and imperfections.

A typical Arturo Gatti quote:

“I was feeling healthy, but you never know what’s going on inside your body. I just didn’t know what was going on. I was feeling good, but sometimes, because I have a big heart, my attitude is I always feel good. I don’t want to go to the hospital for nothing.”

But the “heart” of Arturo Gatti is something a boxer can never learn. Arturo “Thunder” Gatti will always be known — like Diego “Chico” Corrales — for having the courage and determination of a champion.

No man could break world-champion Arturo “Thunder” Gatti‘s heart, but a woman did.

In the words of Charles Bukowski, “Many a good man have been put under the bridge by a woman.”

She’s almost an alien, the way she gets attention on tabloids. Now that Transformers is everywhere, expect her face to be everywhere, as well.

The results of surveys showed that blogs receive more traffic when celebrity photos of death and nudity are featured. To consciously maintain sponsor-free status, every once in a little while, Digital Ink Los Angeles
has to succumb to these parameters, as well.

Given the recent bombardment of the King of Pop and all his irreverent fatal glory, Megan Fox will be the featured celebrity.

Though not quite nude, as was advertised, the photos accompanying this blog post should suffice in their intent. Contemplative admiration, with potential fits of disbelief. Is she really real?

Foxy. And rich. She’s the Queen of Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. That’s entertainment 2.0.