The steady, ever ready Richie Sheirer, good shepherd of the Office of Emergency Management during the September 11 attacks and in the months thereafter, passed away this week, at 65. He represented the paragon of public service in a time of dire crisis and will be widely mourned and missed.

Don Van Natta in today's New York Times expounds on what has long been reported: that British journalists (or investigators working for one or more British tabloids) allegedly hacked into the telephones of the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks. Suspicions had been raised when callers heard clicking sounds on their telephones, secondary conversations while on the line, odd playbacks or erasures of voice messages--and salient facts about their lives and losses appearing in the U.K. press just days after those subjects were discussed over the phone. The Justice Department is investigating.

Peace.

And health, inspiration, productivity, reward, bliss, fulfillment. Too much loss and heartbreak in 2011.