TERRORISTS ATTACK THE USA, my commentary.
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[ Help the National Disaster Relief Fund: amazon or paypal ]
-------------------------------------- 7:45 am PST
Fuck fuck fuck. By now you've heard the news. The horrible ugly news. When terrorism rears its ugly head, no matter where in the world it happens, I feel like curling up into a ball in my bed, bawling for the loss of life, and repeatedly chanting that there are still good people in the world ... somewhere there are still good people in the world.
It pains me to think that there are some sick fucks who are rejoicing this unbelievably sad, sad event.
- 9:43 am
I am still unable to grasp the full .... damn, I don't even know how to put it. It feels like some horrible movie. Both World Trade Center towers are down, the Pentagon is billowing smoke, visuals of planes burning are flashing across my TV screen.
The word "war" is being spoken far too many times.
- 9:45 am
And now, it is sickening me to listen to politicians attempting to lay blame within US organizations as to why something like this could happen.
- 9:56 am
More than a few news stations and sites out there are encouraging people to donate blood. There will be a huge demand.
- 10:01 am
How could something like this happen?
- 10:10 am
If you can't access the news sites, google is keeping cached versions of news stories and you can get into the "backend" of some news sites: cnn and wired.
- 10:19 am
A "before" shot of the World Trade Center towers:
- 10:33 am
Three photos of the second plane approaching and then crashing into the second of two attacked towers.
- 10:39 am
Another "before" shot of the towers, how beautiful it was:
- 10:44 am
Though reports of death and destruction stream across my TV screen, I'm touched by the effort on the web to bond together, share information, reach loved ones, and report their news.
- 10:57 am
At the moment, I am listening to Henry Kissinger on CNN say that he believes the US will and should retaliate with a "systematic attack". He agrees that this attack is similar to Pearl Harbour and that the response should be similar.
- 11:22 am
I just heard George say: "freedom was attacked by a faceless coward and freedom will be defended ... make no mistake, the US will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts ... we will do whatever is necessary to protect America and Americans."
- 11:26 am
Time lapse of plane crashing into the World Trade Center towers:
- 11:31 am
Taliban ambassador condemns the terrorist attacks in the US.
- 11:35 am
One of the two planes which struck the towers was bound for San Francisco from Newark. Our airport has been completely closed and evacuated. I cannot even begin to imagine or even strive to offer words of comfort for those whose friends/family/acquaintances were on that plane.
- 11:41 am
As a helicopter just passed overhead, I began to think of the servicemen/women who helped and are helping nationwide. And I am thinking of those whose lives were lost in trying to save a fellow human being. A short while ago I heard an interview with a woman who said she dove to the ground to cover a baby from being hurt by flying debris - now that's heroic.
- 11:45 am
New York City Mayor: "This is a vicious, unprovoked, horrible attack on innocent men, women and children ... one of the most heinous acts in world history."
- 11:52 am
New York City Mayor: "There have been no reports of lawlessness or looting ... in an hour or two we can give you an update on the plan for tomorrow ... right now the city is on a state of alert ... everything is being done to keep things secure ... there is no question we have lost police officers and fire fighters ... everyone should, in their own way, say a prayer ... terrorism can't stop us."
- 12:04 pm
George Shultz: "There has been an act of war of the worst kind, namely against civilians ... as well as an act of war against the Pentagon ... we have to learn what's coming and pre-empt it ... we have to look to our own security ... American life will pick up ... but we're not going to allow these terrible people to change our way of life ... we will find out who they are and we will get rid of them ... but we will not change our way of life."
- 12:16 pm
Video clip of tower #2 collapsing. [1.93 mb, use QuickTime to view].
- 12:28 pm
Another view of the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center tower #2:
- 12:40 pm
Palestinians celebrating, post-attack:
- 1:10 pm
One of the support buidling of the World Trade Center towers is also now on the verge of collapse.
- 1:13 pm
Because of debris and the risks associated with buildings that have partially toppled, rescue workers are not able to access the trapped survivors, if any. Can you imagine what must be going on in the minds of those trapped individuals? I certainly cannot even begin to imagine, however I do feel an intense feeling of helplessness.
- 1:18 pm
FBI has still not received any claim of responsibility.
- 1:21 pm
The World Trade Center towers were actually designed to withstand the impact of Boeing 707's, but not the larger 767's which were used in the attack.
- 1:26 pm
I'm watching an amateur video on CNN right now, taken by a doctor who happened to be walking around with a videocam. The amount of dust and debris which was scattered below the buidlings is amazing. It truly looked like a scene shot on some other planet. The bravery of the rescue workers and other citizens is humbling.
- 1:37 pm
Another image of the plane crashing:
- 1:40 pm
An image of the boom:
- 2:08 pm
The Israeli Prime Minister, in an act of solidarity, declared tomorrow a day of mourning in his country, to "share in the sorrow of the American people".
- 2:58 pm
I'm watching missiles flying across the sky in Kabul, Afghanistan. Celebrations or attack?
- 3:10 pm
An image of the Pentagon, post-crash:
- 3:13 pm
Sign in here if you're in/around the attacks and are ok. You can also look for your loved ones' responses.
- 3:15 pm
Here is CNN's chronology of events today.
- 3:31 pm
Flying missiles in Kabul about half an hour ago were related to their civil war, not an American attack.
- 3:35 pm
Almost nine hours have passed since the attacks.
- 3:37 pm
Home video of second plane crash. Time lapse video of towers collapsing. [via kottke].
- 3:46 pm
As always, filepile and Metafilter are on top of things. This image was from filepile.org, as were a few above:
- 3:53 pm
Photo spread showing the towers before the crash, during the crash, as they collapse and then an empty skyline.
- 3:57 pm
The President has returned to the White House. Speech will be aired at around 8:30 pm EST. I'm assuming this will be splattered all over TV.
- 4:00 pm
Fighting in Kabul appears to have stopped.
- 4:02 pm
Nearby Marriott hotel (NYC) may also collapse.
- 4:06 pm
Robert Gates: "This sense of horror [in the general public] is likely to turn into a sense of outrage ... "
- 4:11 pm
James Woolsey: "...indignation and action is not enough, we need to have indignation and action against the real perpetrators ..."
- 4:13 pm
Hagel (sp?): "This was a very sophisticated operation ... the world has never seen anything this sophisticated ... I would think it quite unlikely that it would be a homegrown, domestic group involved ..."
- 4:17 pm
Report anything you may know to the FBI about today's attacks HERE.
- 4:23 pm
Yet another photo essay, from New York.
- 4:28 pm
Though I'm Canadian, I just heard what appeared to be a spontaneous singing of "God Bless America" on TV and that got me crying.
- 4:38 pm
Reports say that there will now be much, much, MUCH tighter restrictions/inspections when travelling by air. I travel for work a low and I'm wondering what it will be like for me, an Indo-Canadian living, working, and travelling in the US. It's the least of my problems though.
- 4:42 pm
Numbers of injured and/or killed cannot yet be reported. It's presumed that at least half of the firefighters involved are missing.
- 4:44 pm
Rescue workers are expected to approach the towers tomorrow, more "crush" injuries are expected from the rescue effort. 78 NYC police officers are missing.
- 4:50 pm
Holbrooke: "Any government which shelters the poeple who did this have to be held equally responsible as an act of war ... the administration is 90% certain that [Osama Bin Laden is reponsible] ..."
- 4:52 pm
"The landscape of New York City has changed, the Empire State building is now the tallest building ... but the landscape of all of America has also been changed."
- 4:58 pm
Bob Graham: "The number of potential suspects ... is relatively small ... At this point, there has not been a single primary suspect identified. We are going to ... reassess our ability to identify and prevent this kind of event in the future. We know we have lost some of our eavesdropping capability ... "
- 5:04 pm
H. Clinton: "This is an attack on America ... we will support [the President], both in the retaliation and in re-buiilding New York. ...the numbers of people who are injured ... I think it will be terrible. I'm very proud of NYC ... [Bill is] outraged ... tomorrow, you'll see that the Senate and the House will be back in session... we'll be getting down to the hard work of determining what we need to do ..."
- 5:07 pm
200 firefighters are presumed dead.
- 5:13 pm
As mentioned on the news, I'm assuming that, for fear of some type of terrorist attack, most city centres are quite deserted.
- 5:13 pm
Allbaugh: "...we have over 5000 people at FEMA, and every one is deployed ..."
- 5:18 pm
"Officials say pattern of attacks matches bin Laden’s methods"
- 5:21 pm
Quotes from world leaders about today's attacks.
- 5:23 pm
Much needed story about kindness and bravery.
- 5:33 pm
George: "Today ... our very freedom came under attack ... thousand of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts ... our country is strong ... today our nation saw evil .. we responded with the best of America ... our military is powerful and it's prepared ... our first priority is to get help to those who are injured ... the search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts ... we will make no distinction between the terroists who commited these acts and those who harbor them ... we stand together to win the war against terrorism ... none of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom ..."
- 5:35 pm
Almost 12 hours since the first attack.
- 5:36 pm
Investigators are "confident" that Osama Bin Laden is behind the attacks.
- 5:39 pm
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak also said his guess was that "a Bin Laden organisation" was responsible. Here's Osama Bin Laden:
- 5:41 pm
Oil and gold prices surge: "It is going crazy here. It is worse than the Gulf War."
- 5:44 pm
Animated image of the wtc crash.
- 5:49 pm - why am I doing this?
As I began my day today, with a phone call from my sister in Ottawa, I felt a much stronger and greater feeling of loss. A little part of me and whatever little faith I had died this morning.
Of course, I still do and will for some time have this sense of loss - however, a part of the reason why I continued with this "coverage" was to help with my own "healing", and it has indeed helped. I truly appreciate all the kind comments and e-mails letting me know that you've felt the same way through what I've written.
- 5:51 pm
Some known victims.
- 5:53 pm
Fires still continue at the Pentagon.
- 5:55 pm
"The destruction of the World Trade Center buildings is likely to take an enormous human toll on the financial community — and limit its ability to recover quickly. "
- 6:01 pm
Image of the layout of NYC's World Trade Center.
- 6:15 pm
I just walked down to my lobby and saw a man in his 20's or 30's, holding his head in his hands and sobbing. It really hit home. Being on the West Coast, the whole attack feels somewhat distant, even though we know that planes were bound for LAX and SFO. Watching this man, I felt my eyes swell with tears - I don't know what he's going through, but he's right here and appears to be alone.
- 6:21 pm
Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund
- 6:32 pm
John Kerry: "in every American .. there's an intense burning fury and a determination to do what's right ... we need to make certain that those countries that sponsor terrorism and support it ... are as much of a part of th eproblem as the terrorists themselves ... have faith in this great country ... we're united as a Congress behind our President ... this is an act of war ... this is a stealth enemy ... there's a great certainty about where the fingers point ... "
Dianne Feinstein: "I think there are many of us that feel this was an act of war against the United States .. the WTC is a symbol of America ... this was a major attack ... we've got to work with our NATO allies: Russia, China and the moderate Arabs ... the US must respond"
Fred Thompson: "Technology allows bad people to do bad things ... there are several other threats out there .. missiles ... cyber-terrorism ... we need to address these across the board."
- 6:37 pm
IN/around NYC - call 1.518.431.7600 to offer your help if you're a physician or a trained to give medical assistance.
- 6:42 pm
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks on the World Trade Center (true?).
- 6:49 pm
I've received messages from the Blogger status page and a Livejournal user's page stating that they were overloaded. Apparently, the weblogging community is all over today's events.
- 6:51 pm
Ship: "Once on board, it wouldn't be at all difficult to get into the cockpit ... I don't believe any airline pilot would intentionally fly into the WTC, even with a gun at his head.".
- 6:55 pm
An image of a desperate jumper:
- 7:02 pm
NY Firefighter: "We have found no survivors ... the building is non-existent."
- 7:06 pm
At St. Vincent's Hospital in Lower Manhatten: 327 patients, 62 criticial, 55 are firefighters, 3 have passed away. They're the hospital that have received the most patients. What's being said is that there are many, many, many victims (alive and dead) still in the rubble.
- 7:10 pm
A fitting quote? "In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb ... The third big war will begin when the big city is burning" - Nostradamus, 1654
- 7:18 pm
"two conclusions seem very likely. One is that the original pilots on the United and American flights were removed from the controls, probably by being killed. The other is that the people who replaced them in the cockpit were skilled pilots, probably with jetliner experience and training, and at least with special preparation in the systems and controls of these planes"
- 7:21 pm
On a day like today, it's REALLY annoying dealing with pop-under and pop-over ads on news sites.
- 7:27 pm
All fingers are pointing towards Bin Laden.
- 7:30 pm
A chilling image of people trapped in a WTC tower:
- 7:34 pm
Some gas stations are charging up to $5/gallon. I filled up for $1.97/gallon this afternoon.
- 7:45 pm
FBI has begun the process of executing search warrants for several locations (homes and PO boxes) in Miami and Daytona, based on info from the passenger manifests.
- 7:47 pm
An Israeli webloggers perspective: "According to our sources the fourth plane was shot down by the Americam Army before it manage to hit it's target: The White House."
- 7:53 pm
Speculation is that teams of 3-5 individuals wielding knives commandeered the 4 planes.
- 8:02 pm
Noon EST tomorrow, air traffic will be up and running.
- 8:11 pm
"Palestinians in Lebanon greeted the news of the devastating attack on American targets on Tuesday with jubilant gunfire, dancing and cheering."
- 8:14 pm
WTC collapse:
- 8:21 pm
There are cell phone calls being made from people possibly trapped in the WTC. Holy shit.
- 8:25 pm
From dollarshort: "The online Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund provided by Amazon.com has gone from $2,000 to $38,000 since I last looked. This, in hardly an hour span of time."
At this moment, it's almost $97,000.
- 8:26 pm
Two or three men have been arrested near the George Washington bridge. There were tons of explosives inside their van.
- 8:31 pm
New York City mayor: "There are well over 1000 rescue workers down there right now ... as far as the number of people in the building, that will be in the thousands ... "
Police also reported that the van that had been stopped DID NOT have explosives.
- 8:33 pm
You can call 1.212.560.2730 for more information on missing people or people who have been recovered.
- 8:35 pm
Over 300 firemen cannot be accounted for at this time. They believe that most have perished, 265 are confirmed dead. The number for firefighters' families to call: 1.718.999.2541.
- 8:37 pm
Police department's family members can call 1.718.677.8238.
- 8:40 pm
15 minutes since I last checked, the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund has gone from $97k to $105k. If you are able to, do do your part too. Please. Dammit.
- 8:43 pm
Building and structural engineers will wait for daylight tomorrow to inspect buildings surrounding the WTC to see if rescue workers are able to enter.
- 8:45 pm
You can also donate money to the relief fund via PayPal.
- 8:49 pm
On CNN, for the first time, I saw the first plane smash into the WTC tower.
- 8:53 pm
Some leads from an unnamed official: on one of the planes, there was a keyed microphone open - they heard "duress". There were no transponder codes pushed on any of the 4 hijacked planes. There is a 4 digit code that pilots can push to indicate a hijacking - it didn't happen on any of the planes.
- 9:00 pm
At least two people in the basement of the WTC have called relatives in Seattle to let them know they are alive. Take a second and imagine how helpless those relatives feel.
- 9:02 pm
For some reason, the voice of Stone Phillips is not at all comforting at this time.
- 9:10 pm
Why do the media keep asking if we had "specific" warnings about this attack. Don't they think that if we did, something would be done? Maybe I'm missing something.
- 9:14 pm
What I'm hearing now is that the hijackers ORDERED people on the hijacked planes who had cell phones to call their families to tell them where they were and that they were about to perish.
- 9:17 pm
If you have the means to do so on your webspace, link to these two sites and encourage donations to the Red Cross' National Disaster Relief Fund: 1) amazon or 2) paypal. Thank you.
- 9:30 pm
Luckily, there was a doctor's conference in NYC today and physicians from all over the world lent a helping hand. That's what I like to hear.
- 9:34 pm
Israeli official (prime minister?): "I believe that together we can defeat this process of evil ... all the Israelis stand as one with the American people ... we are ready to provide assistance at any time ... we bow our heads and share in the sorrow of the American people."
- 9:38 pm
"What happened in the United States today is a consequence of American policies in the hottest region in the world" - an Islamic Jihad official.
- 9:41 pm
Up to 800 possibly dead at Pentagon.
- 9:50 pm
The Amazon Red Cross relief fund donations are now at $140k - it was at $97k at 8:25 pm. Awesome.
- 9:55 pm
Video clip of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center tower.
- 10:00 pm
I just heard the term "The new New York City skyline". Ugh.
- 10:01 pm
On account of all the dust, the sniffing dogs are not even able to find survivors.
- 10:05 pm
Story titles of the major networks:
Attack on America - NBC
Terrorism Hits America - FOX
America Under Attack - CBS
America Under Attack - ABC
America Under Attack - CNN
America Under Attack, World Trade Disaster, America's Day of Terror - BBC
US Under Attack - CBC
- 10:05 pm
Bernie Gross: "The crews flying the planes were very skilled pilots ... they were able to displace or kill the original pilots ... the chances are 50/50 [that we'll find the flight recorders] provided that they didn't have to sustain fire for a long time ... the sophistication of these pilots is such that they might have turned off the recorders"
- 10:25 pm
I'll always remember that my phone rang this morning at around 7:30 am PST, with my sister's voice on the other end of the line, telling me about today's tragedy and checking to see if I was allright.
When the phone rings at an unusually early or late hour, the first thought that crosses my mind is that something bad has happened. I wish that today my instincts had been incorrect.
- 10:45 pm
And that's the end of my 9-11 commentary. Please remember to give blood and to donate money to the Red Cross' Disaster Relief Fund via amazon or paypal.
I'll summarize more of my feelings tomorrow.
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