The NYTimes: The Phantom Towers.

Excite poll for Wednesday, September 12, 2001: Which freedoms would you be willing to compromise in order to wipe out the threat of terrorism?

 
This will be a day long remembered. Terrorism has claimed its bloodiest toll in the States 'til date. Living in a country that has had to deal with terrorism for almost two decades now, I am shocked by these events, but not surprised. For far too long, US state policy -- at least to us mere mortals -- has seemed to follow the notion of "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", and the US' own record in exporting terror is not exactly spotless (you will notice that terrorist groups, whomsoever they are sponsored by, have a way of biting the hand that fed them). Just as it was not possible for the US to insulate itself from WWII, it will find it difficult to insulate itself from terrorist acts -- and the Lord knows that they have plenty of enemies ready to commit these acts given half a chance. Sixty years ago, a sleeping giant was awakened, and though we do not have a president of FDR's calibre at the helm today, if the giant even half-awakens today, something good will have come out of the all the mayhem and destruction of yesterday.

From the Washington Post/ABC Poll the night after the bombing:

Would you be willing to give up some of the
liberties we have in this country in order
for the government to crack down on terrorism,
or not?
           Would be    Would not       No
           willing     be willing    opinion
9/11/01      66           24           10
5/14/95      52           41            7 
4/20/95      59           35            7

Of course, as the Post says, "Results of overnight polls that attempt to measure opinions about fast-changing news events should be interpreted with extra caution".

The ending of Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor has a 747 crashing over and taking out most of the US Congress.

The Scobleizer: My letter to President Bush (written before the address). And Our Disaster Experience Has Changed.

NY Times: Web Offers Both News and Comfort.

The Guardian: US pulls the plug on Muslim websites.

Five hundred websites - many of them with an Arab or Muslim connection - crashed last Wednesday when an anti-terrorism taskforce raided InfoCom Corporation in Texas.

The odd thing is, this story is dated September 10 2001. The raid itself happened "last Wednesday", which would be September 5. Did they (counter-terrorist agencies) suspect something was afoot, I wonder.

Stephen Levy: Did Encryption Empower These Terrorists? And the million dollar question: would restricting crypto have given the authorities a change to stop these acts?

Pat Farrel: No amount of cost effective structure will prevent all possible future attacks.

Some of the best coverage of the WTC/Pentagon attack, as expected, comes from the Washington Post, which I find reading more than the NY Times these days. Case in point:

There was not even the grace of instant death. Instead, there was time to call from the sky over Virginia to loved ones, fingers pumping cell phones, voices saying quick, final goodbyes.

Urban legends in Internet Time - shaped, propagated, and publicly debunked, all on the very same day.

John Barlow: If we hate them, we will become them. John Barlow is vice-chairman, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

George W Bush: We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. Amen. The Government of India could probably use that line, too.

These days I am experimenting with that other Blogging tool, Radio Userland. With a bit of luck, I might actually be get something up soon.

The Register: Senate lap-dogs Hollings, Stevens urinate freely on public's leg.

MP3.com does throw up a few gems from time to time. Case in point: The Goldberg Variations.

BBC News: US U-turn on Microsoft Breakup. Anyone surprised?

BBC News: Delhi children make play of the net. Everyone knows, after all, that a computer is so complex that only children can use it. :-)

Joshua Allen: Palaces of Abstraction.

After a brief hiatus, ChaosZone! is back on the web. Of course, the Blog, being hosted at GeoCities, continued to work.

The New York Times: In Technology, Supply Precedes Demand.