In other news....
More from the presses....
posted at 4:54 PM | mail | message

History
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. -- George Santayana

This is an interesting article by Caleb Carr. I read one of his fictional accounts of a serial killer in 1880 New York city: The Alienist. Here is his take on the "Why?"
posted at 2:43 PM | mail | message

Today
Things are slowly returning to normal as my ulcer is beginning to make peace with my body. I checked out Moulin Rogue this weekend, which I found pretty entertaining. For some reason, it was just the distraction I needed to catch up on five days of close to no sleep.

At work, things are moving in the right direction. Here's one somewhat inspiring quote from our ceo, Hank Paulson: "....But let me also suggest that there is an even larger issue at stake. The terrorist attack was clearly an attack on the U.S. and its capital markets. And, given the importance of the U.S. capital markets, it was an attack on our global financial system. We are determined that our company is going to be a force for stability. We are not going to allow terrorism to win.....Those who attacked us have as their goal to close down Wall Street, disrupt the capital markets, and severely damage the global economy. And we must say no.".
posted at 1:57 PM | mail | message

A Smile? Why the fuck not.
Looks like a new Austin Powers flick is coming out soon: Goldmember.
posted at 12:05 PM | mail | message

Update
One Liberty Plaza just went down today from it's close proximity to WTC. Everyone was out, but it was where some of the goldman offices were. It's likely to be demolished, and I had a few friends of mine that worked there. Unreal.
posted at 11:28 AM | mail | message

Sleep is not an Option
I find it impossible to sleep. Every knot in my stomach is tweaked at the thought of what will come next. Somehow, I will have to find a way and go to work tomorrow and do something positive for my friends and colleagues that been seeing this up close.
posted at 3:09 AM | mail | message

London
The streets of London have a calm that cannot be described. You expect that when you walk on the street, you will see layers of white dust, and the carnage that we have been watching on the television. All that remains is this biting tension in the air, and the unheard screams of many innocent people. In that silence, the anger, resentment, disbelief, and pain continue to grow and although a retailation is inevitable, all we can expect from it is more cities full of silence. I'm sad to say that I am scard of what is yet to come.
posted at 3:50 PM | mail | message

This is so fucked up. This was sent to me from a friend of a friend. I thought it was point enough to post
me again. i dont even know what to say. obviously this has been a rather traumatic morning. to set the details straight, i worked in wtc 2, wtc 1was hit first. sitting at my desk i felt it and looking out the window saw a cloud of debris falling from the other tower (because of the angle you couldnt actually see one tower from the other). needless to say, i went straight for the stairs, i lost most of the people in my group at that point
but assume everybody did the same. i worked on 77 and by the time i was down to 50 there were announcements being made over the intercoms that it had been an isolated incident in wtc 1, and we should all calm down and go back to our desk. fuck that, i kept going down. the stairwell was packed and moving at a walking pace. somewhere around floor 25 we felt the second crash. by the way that the building shook, i honestly thought it was going over right then. i was holding onto some random guy to keep my balance. pure mayhem ensues, although i must say i am impressed that no one seemed to get trampled. there was smoke in the stairwell by the time i got to about floor 10 (not sure where that was coming from) but everyone was escorted out in a relatively orderly manner. outside was pure and utter choas. people running every direction, ambulances, cop cars all screaming around. no cell phones were working and most pay phones werent either, but eventually i found one down in a subway that i called XXXX from. i was about four blocks from the builing then and after ealizing that it was useless to try to find any of my friends from work, i began walking uptown, away from the buildings. several blocks later, i turned around among screams and gasps to see the building i had just been in collapse. i had made it to 14th street when the second one fell. now i am at laura's office at 53rd st. i cant even comprehend the number of people who must have been killed down there today. there were thousands of people on the street around it. this sort of thing should never happen, but how are we to prevent it? i dont know.
posted at 8:42 AM | mail | message

Tony Blair Said it Best
“THERE HAVE BEEN the most terrible, shocking events taking place in the United States of America within the last couple of hours. We can only imagine the terror and carnage there and the many, many innocent people who have lost their lives. This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of life" Tony Blair, Priminster of the United Kingdom.

There is nothing I feel right now but complete and total shock. The world that we know and live in will never be the same again. To all those reading, please stay safe and keep hope that we will get past this vial disregard for human life. My thoughts are with you.
posted at 11:32 PM | mail | message

Holy Shit. A 737 just tore a hole through the world trade center in NYC.
posted at 2:03 PM | mail | message

Nose is Running

Well, flu season is back in full swing in london as I battle the first of probably many fall colds. This time, I'm going to fight fire with fire.

posted at 10:31 AM | mail | message

Intraduction Disclaimer
No warranties, either express or implied, are hereby given. All software is supplied as is, without guarantee. The user assumes all responsibility for damages resulting from the use of these features, including, but not limited to, frustration, disgust, system abends, disk head-crashes, general malfeasance, floods, fires, shark attack, nerve gas, locust infestation, cyclones, hurricanes, tsunamis, local electromagnetic disruptions, hydraulic brake system failure, invasion, hashing collisions, normal wear and tear of friction surfaces, comic radiation, inadvertent destruction of sensitive electronic components, windstorms, the Riders of Nazgul, infuriated chickens, malfunctioning mechanical or electrical sexual devices, premature activation of the distant early warning system, peasant uprisings, halitosis, artillery bombardment, explosions, cave-ins, and/or frogs falling from the sky.
posted at 11:18 AM | mail | message

Bon Voyage
24 hours in Munich, Germany is the plan for the weekend of September 21st. I've already started to get ready with this crazy german. You can too! That should make my travel map almost to the one year point.
posted at 12:15 PM | mail | message

posted at 11:51 AM | mail | message

Slash, Burn, and BBQ

Bucking trend, Goldman sticks to staff levels - Despite the onset of a slowdown in the global economy, Goldman Sachs refuses to introduce a major programme of job losses in order to reduce cost. During the recent boom, Goldman increased its work force by 76%, compared to the 39% increase in the size of Lehman Brothers, although their profits also increased by a greater degree. The decision to retain the increased number of staff is being widely interpreted as a reflection of Goldman's belief that any recession will be short lived. Investors in Goldman Sachs do not appear to share the bank's optimism, as was made clear when Fidelity Investments, a major Goldman Sachs shareholder, sold around 2 million of its share in the second quarter of 2001.-- Wall Street Journal Europe, p.18, 06/09/2001 (pack 2)

posted at 11:00 AM | mail | message

Word
England kicked the shit [two in a row?] out of Albania last night in another World Cup qualifier 2-0. It was slightly less exciting than the Germany game, but it was good non-the-less.

phlegmatic (fleg-MAT-ik) adjective
1. Having a sluggish temperament; apathetic.
2. Calm or composed.
posted at 9:36 AM | mail | message