To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised in some element with the U.S Government did use these tragedy to pursue some fucked up agenda. But I'm pretty sure that Michael Moore, who seems intent on grasping at every conspiracy theory he can, is not the one to be providing be us the information.
posted by wil forbis 9/16/2001 01:56:40 PM

Friday, September 14, 2001
Michael Moore (the “Roger and Me” guy and someone I generally respect) has made some comments about the World Trade Center attack I think deserve analysis and rebuttal (You can read his full text here under his 09.12.2001 entry)

His comments are in quotes.

“Am I being asked to believe that this guy who sleeps in a tent in a desert has been training pilots to fly our most modern, sophisticated jumbo jets with such pinpoint accuracy that they are able to hit these three targets without anyone wondering why these planes were so far off path? “

Where do you get this “sleeps in a tent” idea? Osama Bin Laden is an extremely rich guy, a guy who was born into wealth. He may not be living it up after having to flee into Afghanistan, but he’s hardly some bum on the street. Observe this quote from a Slate.com article published today (9/14/01) "Bin Laden's groups do get funds from his personal fortune, but they also finance operations by dunning wealthy Gulf Arabs and by siphoning off donations to Muslim charities. And the terror organization is cheap. They don't use heavy weapons, and it costs almost nothing to house and train hundreds of men in Afghanistan." This makes two points: One - Bin laden is rich. (e.g. He has a "personal fortune.") Two - It doesn't really cost that much to run a terrorist operation anyway. (I'm sure some people will recite the predictable mantra that Slate is a capalist running dog for the White House blah, blah, so I really only offer the above comments to those of you who aren't paranoid and insane. Also, you'll note that a few paragraphs down that Michael uses MSNBC to substanciate some of his claims, so I figure I'm comped.)

“Or am I being asked to believe that there were four religious/political fanatics who JUST HAPPENED to be skilled airline pilots who JUST HAPPENED to want to kill themselves today?”

Well, yeah, Michael, that’s pretty much it. The truth is, flying a plane isn’t that difficult. Landing a plane, getting a plane into the air, these are difficult tasks – but once you’re up there it ain’t that hard. A friend of mine is training to become a commercial pilot and he’s confirmed this to me several times. On top of that, when I was in a high school aeronautics class, I briefly flew a twin engine Cessna for about 15 minutes. My point is not that anyone can get into a plane and take it out for a spin, but if I can fly a small plane after absolutely no training, surely individuals who’ve be trained at a professional flight school could fly a larger plane.

As for the suicide factor – No, they didn’t JUST HAPPEN to want to die that day. It probably took years of indoctrination via their religion to make suicide worthwhile. The Japanese had no problem getting dozens of kamikaze pilots to die during WWII, why is it hard to believe other cultures could find similarly committed ideologues? Especially a religion that says that if you die a noble death you go to a magical heaven where you drink ambrosia and get tons-o-pussy. Hell, If I believed that I’d be flying planes into buildings myself.

“Maybe you can find one jumbo jet pilot willing to die for the cause--but FOUR? Ok, maybe you can--I don't know.”

You can’t, I can’t… but we’re not charismatic religious leaders. (Ironically, with the fanatics Michael attracts, he probably could get four jumbo jet pilots to die for him.)

“What I do know is that all day long I have heard everything about this bin Laden guy except this one fact--WE created the monster known as Osama bin Laden! Where did he go to terrorist school? At the CIA!”

Absolutely, very important point. But wait… one minute the guy is just some dude who sleeps in a tent who couldn’t train anyone to tie their shoes, now he’s a guy who’s been trained by the most sophisticated covert operations unit in the world. Which is it, Michael?

“Don't take my word for it--I saw a piece on MSNBC last year that laid it all out. When the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan, the CIA trained him and his buddies in how to commits acts of terrorism against the Soviet forces. It worked! The Soviets turned and ran.”

Once again – great and very valuable point that should be kept in mind during all this. We have some responsibility here. However, again it completely destroys your original assertion. You’re saying that bin Laden could send the Soviet Army running (remember, they’re not exactly the Keystone Cops) but he couldn’t organize a terrorist scenario such as the World Train Center attack? If you asked me what’s more difficult – kicking the world’s second most powerful army out of your country and flying planes into two incredible large and prominent targets – I’d have to go with the former.
posted by wil forbis 9/14/2001 11:57:22 AM

Thursday, September 13, 2001
Five reasons that the film Rock Star sucks:

1) It has one of those "What? That's it!?" endings.
2) It promotes the ridiculous idea that faggy, coffeehouse rock replete with whiney, Eddie Vedder vocals is somehow morally superior to blistering, ass-kicking heavy metal.
3) Why does only half the band have British accents?
4) Considering the story is loosely based on Judas Priest, it makes vague allusions that Rob Halford was kicked out because he was gay. If they can substantiate homosexuality as the reason for his dismissal - more power to them. If not, they should avoid peddling rumors.
5) Mark Wahlberg's descent into debauchery, frankly, isn't very debauched. I've attended high school keggers with more sin.
posted by wil forbis 9/13/2001 11:12:31 AM

Wednesday, September 12, 2001
At least one positive note about the whole bombing thing is that at least the perpetrator isn't one of these guys that will appeal to all those "I hate America" types that hang out on college campuses and arty cafes. After all, Bin Laden has some pretty right wing views. He thinks women shouldn't be allowed to drive. He thinks women should work in seperate areas from men. He thinks women shouldn't be educated.

It's a shame really... he's got all these great ideas but he's still a scumbag!
posted by wil forbis 9/12/2001 05:14:23 PM

Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Turns out Mike, the guy who sent me the original report on his view of the bombing, has discussed even more on his web journal. Very compelling reading here: http://www.mikedaisey.com/journal/index.shtml
posted by wil forbis 9/11/2001 06:33:24 PM

Ahh, Tony... ever the voice of reason.
posted by wil forbis 9/11/2001 05:27:26 PM

I received this from my old acquantence Mike Daisy, now living in New York:

"I am writing this from downtown New York. In a perverse reversal, I have no way to contact anyone except through my high-speed wireless internet connection--phones are out, and electricity in the area is intermittent."

"The media will ultimately tell the story better than I, but I can tell you that there is massive loss of life. The sky is black with ash, the people have been panicking and fleeing in unadulterated terror. I have never seen anything like it. It is very difficult to breathe, even with your mouth covered--the ash blows down the streets and burns your eyes. It feels like the world has ended. When the screaming started and the crowds began to run after the second plane struck it was a horror film running in overdrive, jumping frames and cutting in and out. Time got lost--I don¹t know how long this went on. I have a cut on my leg. I ended up in a Wendy¹s where a huge number of us took refuge. I don¹t know where the workers were--I helped get water for people."

"I am starting to see emergency workers, and the streets are clearing somewhat--at least the first waves of panic are passing. I¹ve seen bodies draped in white sheets--it took me a time to realize those were bodies, not injured people; they must be out of room or not be able to get them to the morgues or the hospitals."

"I¹m headed for the Brooklyn Bridge to walk out of the city. I¹m going to stop at any hospital I find to give blood before leaving. If anyone reading this can, please donate blood--I heard from a medic that the hospitals are already running out."
posted by wil forbis 9/11/2001 01:37:47 PM

Monday, September 10, 2001
Whoa, sounds like you got a full on stalker there, Jesss. Leaving multiple messages on someone's answering machine is exactly the sort of thing I used to do when I was stalking my last girlfriend. Hmmm, speaking of her, I really should go down to the basement and give her her daily gruel.
posted by wil forbis 9/10/2001 05:02:01 PM

Sunday, September 09, 2001
Damn, you know who turned out to be a babe? Tina Yothers. That's right, Tina "Frodo" Yothers, the ugly sister from "Family Ties." People mag has an article on chicks from the eighties and they had a picture of Tina. She trimmed off some of the Christmas ham and has a kind of techno-goth look now.

Oh yeah, Justine Bateman is a born again Christian who makes hats.
posted by wil forbis 9/9/2001 10:44:59 PM

You know, since my last entry was so violent and hateful, I thought I'd make up for it with this charming poem I wrote.

Puppies are fuzzy
Kittens are too
If I could do anything
I would dance with the clown men from venus
posted by wil forbis 9/9/2001 10:37:30 PM