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September 17, 2001
Story Minute: Sept. 11. "She wasn't insane--the world was." Unfortunately, for the many parts of the world, it's a way of life...
posted on 11:22:09 PM | link
Welcome to East Timor. The first new nation in 21st century after tubulent history and independence effort. (As oppose to the first war in 21st century... -_-++)
posted on 10:58:51 PM | link
I just learned that in Jeju island in Korea, there's this perculiar superstition. During three days of a year, Gods on Earth leave for Heaven and people take advantage of the period to move, so that the move doesn't upset the Gods residing in new and old homes. This creates flood of moving trucks, people, new telephone lines, local food stores, and whatelse as you can imagine.
Don't discount old traditions and beliefs, is my motto.
posted on 2:31:15 PM | link
webArchivist.org - Help build the Sep11 Attack Archive. Let there be records of today for tomorrow.
posted on 2:12:27 PM | link
Independent: Bush is walking into a trap. "No wonder the Palestinians are fearful. In the past four days, 23 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza, an astonishing figure that would have been front-page news had America not been blitzed. If Israel signs up for the new conflict, then the Palestinians – by fighting the Israelis – will, by extension, become part of the "world terror'' against which Mr Bush is supposedly going to war. Not for nothing did Mr Sharon claim that Yasser Arafat had connections with Osama bin Laden." I know by the fact that even an average American know the Israel attrocities, citing, "They kill a Palestinian as if s/he is a bug."
posted on 1:51:33 PM | link
Salon: Flight 93 hero heard on phone "My sons will be told their whole lives that their father was a hero, that he saved lives. It's a great legacy for a father to leave his children." The importance here is that he saved lives.
posted on 12:58:07 AM | link
September 16, 2001
I thought that "stars in her eyes" were just an expression, but I literally saw a girl with stars in her eyes tonight. Maybe it was lighting above us, but it was magical to me. Her eyes sparkling like that...
We saw American Pie 2 (**) together. It was as funny as the first one. Shannon Elizabeth was still the bomb, with her cutesy fake foreign accent. But whatever happen to Tara Reid??? She was no longer that pretty blond girl in the first one, but a beach girl who just woke up from hangovers. I guess the breakup with Carson Daly very traumatic...
Despite what anyone would say, MJ's Smooth Criminial was a great song, and so is Alien Ant Farm's Smooth Criminial. "Annie Are You OK?" It's kinda stuck in my head now...
posted on 11:35:53 PM | link
I went to a Korean Presbyterian Church on my insistence on my friend today. (I'm Episcopalian) The sermon was from a passage from the Old Testament where Joshua was on the warpath to root out the gentile from the Holy Land--sound familiar? However, the Jew fail to root out everyone as commanded, in result some tribes remained in the land. The Lord sent an angel condeming them not following the God's order, which is essentially a genocide, warning that the remaining gentiles will be the thorns in their side. The preacher went on to say that the Tuesday event was the result of since then, because it's obvious that the Arabs are behind this, and this is essentially a religious war between Christianity versus Islam. I was shocked and dismay that he was actually saying this horrible things instead of love and understanding. He went on to say that he went on the Internet to vote yes on bombings. I'm well-aware of Christianity's aggression, and ashamed of it, yet this shows just a typical religious ferver that shed blood as in the Old Testament instead of moderation and understanding in the New Testament by Jesus Christ who died for our sin.
"What would Jesus do?"
Maybe I have been naive, but I'm witnessing the worst of humanity and I fear I haven't seen all of them, yet. I ended the service with my prayer that may the worst be avoided. (I'm a optimistic pessimist.)
posted on 11:29:39 PM | link
I'm invited to a wedding next month. I'm happy and excited. A wedding is the end and the beginning of love.
posted on 12:48:41 AM | link
September 15, 2001
"The War Prayer" "You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. the *whole* of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory--*must* follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!" Listen!
posted on 1:25:19 AM | link
Scripting News: "The US is the Microsoft of the world... We look to the left and right and see good people and don't understand that there's something wrong at the top. That's what the rest of the world has to deal with. It does matter who leads us. When we vote we don't use our power.
People don't sacrifice themselves for no reason. Let's find out what it is. And if we did something wrong (no doubt we did) let's apologize, ask for forgiveness, and then ask how we can do better. It's clear now that when we screw up we're going to feel it. And let's not waste the unity in the rest of the world.And let's not waste the unity in the rest of the world. We now have the attention of the leaders of all the other countries. We've got to find a better use for it than use it as an excuse to unleash our anger through military force."
posted on 12:39:16 AM | link
Lingua Franca: The Artistic Animal. (from RobotWisdom) "First, the arts appear to be universal. No one has found a culture that lacks them. Second, they consume a large portion of available resources. Third, the arts give pleasure. Our internal motivational systems reward us for making and appreciating the arts the same way they reward us for having sex, spending time with friends, and eating nutritious food: The experiences feel good. And fourth, young children engage in the arts almost spontaneously... Together, these four facts suggest to Dissanayake that natural selection long ago rendered the arts a standard component of human behavior."
posted on 12:21:03 AM | link
Lingua Franca: How Milne Works (from RobotWisdom) "Yes, the brand: In 1964: year after The Pooh Perplex was first published Disney acquired the film and merchandising rights to Milne's books and proceeded literally to redraw the characters. Although the results were decried by some as vulgar corruptions, lacking the charm or intelligence of Shepard's originals, they have proved fantastically lucrative. Disney's Pooh is even more successful than Mickey Mouse, and the company recently paid $350 million to renew its rights through 2026, when copyright expires."
posted on 12:16:01 AM | link
Still falls the rain...
posted on 12:05:20 AM | link
September 14, 2001
I've been reading too many words lately. Therefore, I'm offering various web cartoonists tributes to the recent tragedy. Sinfest offers Peace. User Friendly offers a virtual hug. MegaTokyo believes it's the failure of conscience. KungFool connects with love. DorkTower remembers all the good people alive... and lost. Joy of Tech can't help but shed tears. However, I believe the Alice Comic summed all up best.
"All strangers are relations to each other"
Arabian Proverb
posted on 9:05:10 PM | link
 Nintendo GameCube hits the street in Japan, in the worst possible launch date ever thanks to Tuesday's event. Photos of the launch shows that people are not glee with the joy or excited of this new machine. However, exclusive new Bio Hazard/Resident Evil franchise that remakes the entire classic games so far, not to mention of inclusion of new games, should entice gamers for the years to come.
posted on 6:42:42 PM | link
"Are you from Afghanistan??" Shit! My heart jumps whenever the broadcaster mentions North Korea in the list of possible rogue states behind the attack. Just imagine you have to be apprehensive because of your origin/color/religion. And America is built with the freedom and racial and religious tolerance? And I'm the least to be a paranoid. When I'm like this with a mere mention of the words, what do you think the effect of the Muslim people in the US???
Together with me now, "Are you from your native nationality here??" *shudder*
posted on 12:24:14 AM | link
September 13, 2001
The Guardian: They can't see why they are hated. "But any glimmer of recognition of why people might have been driven to carry out such atrocities, sacrificing their own lives in the process - or why the United States is hated with such bitterness, not only in Arab and Muslim countries, but across the developing world - seems almost entirely absent... US political leaders are doing their people no favours by reinforcing popular ignorance with self-referential rhetoric... So will calls for the defence of "civilisation", with its overtones of Samuel Huntington's poisonous theories of post-cold war confrontation between the west and Islam, heightening perceptions of racism and hypocrisy.
It is this record of unabashed national egotism and arrogance that drives anti-Americanism among swaths of the world's population, for whom there is little democracy in the current distribution of global wealth and power. If it turns out that Tuesday's attacks were the work of Osama bin Laden's supporters, the sense that the Americans are once again reaping a dragons' teeth harvest they themselves sowed will be overwhelming.
But for every "terror network" that is rooted out, another will emerge - until the injustices and inequalities that produce them are addressed." Will the Americans look at this historic moment back with the pride or the shame?
posted on 11:38:55 PM | link
"Pray not to be sheltererd from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them."
- Rabindranath Tagore
posted on 10:54:49 PM | link
the Love Tree, from a Korean comic, I Love You. All you need is love...
posted on 3:07:52 PM | link
IKONOS provides Hi-resolution views of the Pentagon and World Trade Center Attacks. The images are still coming in...
posted on 2:25:23 PM | link
Where to, now?
The dust is clearing. The shock has been absorbed. People are now responding with more clear and rational tone than before. However, only the governments are on hyperdrive to use this occasion to satisfy their means and justify their existences. The US spends billions on its intelligence with huge network of satellites, computers, among one of most diverse branches of governement: FBI, CIA, NSA, Army/Navy/Air Force Intel, and what else. Yet they couldn't detect and prevent the determined terrorists. FBI's Carnivore and NSA(?)'s Echelon will go on, invading people's privacy, snoop on American's allies just in case something like this happens.
Much to my dismay, President Bush's responses have been very predictably typical Bush/Republican speak. I've mentioned already that this is a war in making yet, I had a faint hope that the President would show some self-restraint and calmer head prevaling in this emotional time. Nope. The troops are mobilizing, the carriers are positioned, and the jet fighters are armed with latest missiles. They are probably heading to Afghanistan, where its people fought against the Soviet invasion in the 80s, and now they will most likely fight against the Americans. The same nation who helped them to fight against the Soviet. The same nation who taught them all the guerilla tactics and flight skills utilized in this attack. This small and poor nation would have to stand against two mightest nations in the world in just span of two decades.
While American media is busy portraying the extremists dancing on the streets after the tragedy, the most of the world is wry of so-called shattered Pax Americana. Although not everyone is forthcoming those small fraction of extremists in the face of barbaric act, the people around the world views this as the America's entry to the post-Cold World order, where America did its share of harms. Don't you think those countless bombings and cruise missiles did not earn any animosity around the world? Americans don't realize the depth and the breadth of anti-American sentiment prevalent around the world. The policeman of the World, she ain't. Try more of the Thug of the World. Do you know that there are at least dozen demonstrations against American atrocities around the world at any given moment? They are not just confined to the Middle East nations. This situation is eerily similar to the first presidency of President Bush in early 90s when Iraq invaded Kuwait. President Bush was resolute in foreign affairs, but he lost the sight of domestic affairs that failed to gain his 2nd presidency. Now, the economy and the social orders in precarious state, this tragedy strikes, forcing 2nd President Bush to change his agenda to fight against terrorism, before so many domestic problems captivating the Capital before Tuesday...
I can never trust a person who claims to act in the name of the people/the nation/God/the justice/etc. They are hiding behind the names to perpetuate the dominance over the others. Terrorism cannot be tolerated, but I have feeling that this new war against Terrorism will be America's 2nd Vietnam, another war against drug that shows no sign of easing even...
Everyone lost something since the Tuesday. The economy is hit, the lives are lost, and the whole world lost its sense of direction in new millenium. I feel hopleless and powerless before the wheel of time racing forth toward the inevitabilty of armed conflicts and resolutions that will cause more damage and more tears. I'm horrified by some Americans' racial and superior attitudes that beside Americans, and its Western allies, the other people lives are no concern. This is the same kind of attitude that brought the Terrorists to involve innocent civilians to armed conflict resolutions with the Terrorism.
"To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail," wrote Mark Twain. Do you bite the dog back because the dog bite you in desperation after cornered for years and years? There so much at stake, and the path here from on are fraught with so many possible missteps and hazards. Drenched in blood and pain... I cannot continue.
posted on 2:18:49 PM | link
Cubix Robots For Everyone. New CGI animation from... Korea! Woohoo! Next Pokemon in making? (I hope!)
posted on 2:06:58 PM | link
September 11, 2001
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
- Ghandi
His words keep me sane in the face of this insane tragedy. I bid you good night and hope to see brighter tomorrow.
posted on 9:06:54 PM | link
Ryuichi Sakamoto in NYC. "It feels like a movie. I saw it with my own eyes on top of the roof, then went down to the street to take pictures. There isn't any fire or smoke here. I'm right nearby a large hospital, and lots of people are being carted in right now. It's like a war. I'm worried about what comes next." from Videon Senki.
posted on 8:42:59 PM | link
Economist.com: America under attack. "Ironically, New York was a city with one of the best anti-terrorist contingency plans in the country. But those plans were aimed at a biological or chemical attack. And the situation room where the response was to be co-ordinated was in the World Trade Centre, of all places... One thing is clear, however. The devastation in New York and Washington is testimony to a massive failure of not only American, but western intelligence." No doubt about it.
posted on 8:27:21 PM | link
More images of the attacks today.
posted on 8:12:34 PM | link
WTC Disaster #2. It is a warzone...
posted on 8:11:21 PM | link
Animus Rex has devasting close photos of today's tragedy. Only 8 blocks away!
posted on 7:50:22 PM | link
 The echoes of the explosions are already heard around the world. Formally living close to NYC, I cannot help but shocked like everyone else. Fortunately, my friends and family are safe. The phone lines are jammed, but fortunately, the Internet is alive, and my bro and friends are online to speak of the horror. I can't believe it won't be the same city I onced walked in...
An event like this exposes the fragility of our world, our society, and the people. There's no mistake about it; This is a war, with new dimensions unlike any other before...
As I read the articles, watch the video feeds and the pictures, it is very surreal. Today is a day just like any other day, but nothing will be the same beginning today.
posted on 11:40:57 AM | link
Diesel: Save Yourself. (from gmtPlus9) It gotta be one of most freakish advertisings I've ever seen. Not to mention one confused message. They are peddling what?
posted on 2:16:51 AM | link
Salon.com: Movies the way God meant them to be seen. Ebert is on a crusade here. It's the reverse of TV-sizing. Ironies of ironies.
posted on 2:01:23 AM | link
September 10, 2001
I downloaded Max Payne demo and much to my dismay, it didn't run. Although the demo claimed it will run on Voodoo3 cards, the game refused to run because "low on video memory" with lowest possible graphic effects. I know my system is just more than a year old, yet I cannot believe my system is partially obsolete to run this high-demanding game today. Sigh. I still got few classic games to play...
posted on 11:05:25 PM | link
TodayInHistory.
posted on 10:52:45 PM | link
"Violent Femmes" by Stephanie Mencimer "The key to any good action film is an inverse relationship between the amount of special effects and the amount of dialogue. Talk too much and the heroine loses her mystique and starts to remind men of their ex-wives." I LOVE this line! ^_^;;
posted on 10:41:52 PM | link
AIBO LATTE & MACARON Room. Damn cutie doggie. I wonder how my cat will fare when one of them comes home with me? ^_^;;
posted on 8:51:51 PM | link
Movies101.com: Simply put, "Audition" is one of the great horror films of all time. I'm hearing the buzz loud and clear.
posted on 3:51:22 AM | link
Molecules with Silly or Unusual Names. I wish they were common enough to help me study for my chemistry/physic tests back in HS/College...
posted on 12:14:33 AM | link
Barbelith: Laboratory: The Autopsy. "Those who have dissected many bodies have at least learned to doubt; when others, who are ignorant of anatomy and do not take the trouble to attend to it are in no doubt at all." I'm always fascinated with this practice. The dead also have tales to tell, so a saying goes.
posted on 12:04:29 AM | link
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