posted by ML | Post a comment
Washingtonpost.com: Thousands’ Workaday Scenario Turned Surreal reveals some amazing coincidences of people who had relatives both aboard the planes and in the office buildings. Overall, a long but v. interesting recap of the chronology of events as told by the people involved.

posted by JF | 17 comments
Roger Ebert says: Make it green

If there is to be a memorial, let it not be of stone and steel. Let it be a green field, with trees and flowers. Let there be paths that wind through the shade. Put out park benches where old people can sun in the summertime, and a pond where children can skate in the winter.

posted by ML | Post a comment
N.Y. Times: At 8:48, Two 'Normal Guys' Are Transformed

It was the first time that day he let himself cry. He dropped to his knees and prayed. Students in the church stared at him, and he realized that they had no idea what he had just experienced.

A policeman tried to calm him. "You're in a state of shock," the officer said.

"I'm not in shock," said Mr. DeVito, weeping and covered with grime. "I like this state. I've never been more cognizant in my life."

Sunday, September 16, 2001
posted by EK | 39 comments
Absolutely disgusting
This is too incredible and maddening to not discuss. Some of you may already know about this, but for those who don't (from a NY Times article):

The Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson set off a minor explosion of their own when they asserted on television on Thursday that an angry God had allowed the terrorists to succeed in their deadly mission because the United States had become a nation of abortion, homosexuality, secular schools and courts, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the A.C.L.U., People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'

Friday, September 14, 2001
posted by JF | 11 comments
Hijacking Clues May Be Red Herrings

The terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon Sept. 11 practiced near-perfect operational planning, coordination and execution before their mission but left behind obvious evidence leading to other operatives who may have supported the hijackings. This begs the question of whether these evidence trails were intentionally left in order to distract U.S. law enforcement from other terrorists.

posted by JF | 3 comments
Pictures from around the world.

posted by ML | Post a comment
From an ABCNEWS.com article:

Sean Bitner [father of 3] clutched a flier with a picture of his wife, Angela Susan Perez. She worked on the 103rd floor...

As he waited and cried, Bitner urged those around the nation watching the disaster not to take their loved ones for granted. "Appreciate them - what else can you say? Appreciate them. Appreciate what you have."

posted by SU | 47 comments
Music
In all the chaos of news and information this week, I stopped listening to music only to rediscover this morning how healing it can be. If only for a moment, it's nice to turn off the TV, to silence the radio, and listen -- to be absorbed in the rhythms and textures of sound. What are you listening to?

posted by JF | 14 comments
Giuliani
Though this entire mess, Giuliani has proven to be an incredible pillar of strength and reason. I haven't heard many people talk about him yet, but I think that once the smoke has cleared and semi-normalcy regained, Giuliani will come out as one of the biggest heros of the day. NYC is lucky to have him.

Thursday, September 13, 2001
posted by JF | 5 comments
3 Airline Employees Test Security

Three Northwest Airlines employees intentionally breached a security checkpoint at Sky Harbor International Airport as flights resumed Thursday. Two ground crew employees cleared the checkpoint with a pocketknife and a corkscrew while a pilot passed without proper identification, airport spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said.

posted by JF | 60 comments
Michael Moore speaks out and gives his opinion on the recent events. Including:

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!.

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. Bin Laden was grateful for what we taught him and thought it might be fun to use those same techniques against us.

We paid and trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s who killed over 30,000 civilians. That was OUR work. You and me. Thirty thousand murdered civilians and who the hell even remembers!

posted by SU | 2 comments
Random Thoughts

• Here in Colorado, some 2,000 miles away, I am struck by the ability of this event to influence the emotions of everyone in this nation (and beyond). We've all lost something this week. Some of us have lost friends and family. But all of us have lost degrees of comfort and gained more than a little fear.
• I went to a movie searching for a few hours of escape but soon realized there was no escape. A woman behind me in the movie theater began crying during a relatively unemotional scene, having reached the edge of her ability to cope.
• My father's birthday was today. Part of me is glad he is no longer around to experience the bloodshed. Part of me wishes now, more than ever, that I could give him a call and see how he is handling the news.
• Konrad Lorenz: "Innate aggressive drives are responsible for human beings' frequent recourse to warfare." True? False? I just don't know.
• Technology is not always the answer
• Encarta on warfare

posted by JF | 9 comments
Emotions
I'm often surprised by my own emotions. As someone who generally keeps his emotions buried deep inside -- even hidden from himself -- the current turn of events have really let them flow.

Of note: Shed a tear last night when I saw the top of John Hancock building beaming a brilliant red white and blue. Shed a tear this morning when I saw a tattered American flag flying from one of the semi-boarded up windows of Cabrini Green -- one of Chicago's most desperate public housing projects. And, shed a tear when I heard on NPR that the Star Spangled Banner was played this morning at London's changing of the guards.

I'm not sure if the tears are proud tears, sad tears, patriotic tears, hopeful tears or tears of desperation, but it feels good to let them go.

Wednesday, September 12, 2001
posted by JF | 11 comments
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat donates blood. [via Yahoo!]

posted by ML | 25 comments
In the deluge of coverage from 9/11, what sticks with you the most?

For me, the images of the planes actually flying into the twin towers and then the bodies flying through the air (imagine the physical pain and/or state of mind that drives a non-suicidal person to plunge to their certain death) are so surreal that they remain difficult to process.

Two less obvious news snippets I saw were also extremely resonant. The first was a fireman taped (on MSNBC I think) in between the collapse of the two towers. He is preparing to return to "Ground Zero" after leaving. The reporter asks him if he's worried about the second tower collapsing. He says, "Yes, I am worried about it." The reporter then asks if he feels like a hero. He responds, "I don't feel like a hero. My friends are in there and I need to go look for them. I'd like to think you'd do the same." He then buttons his firemen's coat and turns to walk back toward the WTC. The knowledge that minutes later the second tower will collapse, quite possibly on him, is chilling.

The other piece was an ABC report that follows a woman and her two children as they frantically search for their husband/father who was in the WTC. The despair is palpable as they crisscross the city in search of him or some authority who can help. After hours of searching, there's no sign of him so they head to a staging area. Then, out of the corner of the screen you see one daughter start sprinting across the street. She spots her father and embraces him. The other two follow and the camera captures the tearful reunion. Powerful stuff.