Because the other one was closed due to length.
People are real tense around my house.
My brother in law is in the national guard and said he was on alert.
My husband is a Saudi Vet.
We heard a rumor about calling people back up from ten years back of service.
Yeah, rumor, but still worrying. My mind is running rampant with wild ideas and nightmares.
Yes Persephone, the day to day kids trying to beat on each other seems worse today than any other. All they have done is bicker and fight.
Scott keeps snapping on them, and I remind him that they don’t understand, and then he snaps on me.
Bush just got off TV. Comments?
I found it interesting that he made sure to indicate that it’s not only terrorists we’re after but “those who harbor them.” Othere than that, he didn’t say anything I didn’t expect him to say, but I am glad he seemed rational. I’m not sure if I would be so calm under similar circumstances.
I mean I’m pissed; I can only imagine his rage as my leader.
(not that I voted for him, but I figure now is not the time to bitch about too much.)
I just got back from the airport. I was bound for Boston, obviously, I didn’t make it. I’ve just spent the last several hours shuttling fellow passengers around the DFW area finding housing them housing for the evening.
Anyway, I just thought I’d share that a friend of mine was in a meeting on the 102 floor in the South tower and made it out before the plane hit. So all is not lost, he said there was little panic, and everyone he was with made it out safely.
I now know what to do with my $300.00 refund. I’ve already written out the check to the Red Cross.
I just listened to him on the radio. I liked what he said. Short and to the point. “We’re pissed, we’re going to find you, and you and anyone that’s helping you is gonna pay.”
I also thoguht that throwing the 23rd Psalm in there was a nice touch. I found myself reciting it with him.
I thought he did a good job of conveying that the main purpose of the attacks, which was to cause chaos, failed for the most part, since everything remained as calm as it could be.
The part about attacking both those responsible and “the ones who harbor them” was a bit chilling, though. Basically, it was just telling Afghanistan that if Ben-Laden was responsible, we’re coming after them.
I was a little annoyed by him saying we were a target because we’re a “beacon of freedom”.
I mean, let’s be honest about it, OK?
I don’t know, Jack, I wish he had shown some emotion. I don’t mean that I would have wanted a rabid person spewing venom. However, he seemed so monotone … I don’t know, I would have prefered a little anger in his voice, a little choking up when talking about the tragedy.
Just MHO, though.
it’s the ones that are calm during tragedy that you need to be afraid of.
I’m sure I’ll get flamed for this but: GOOD. If some one/nation does get it into their heads to harbour whomever is responsible, then we should take action against them as well. I’d like to see the person(s) responsible flayed alive, and I would hope that we do whatever possible* to see the responsible parties held accountable and punished (though there is nothing dire enough they could do to punish them severely enough in my eyes).
*By whatever possible, I do not mean killing and/or torturing any innocent people.
I posted this on another message board, and since I’m still thinking, I’m going to post it here as well.
I’ve not been able to reach my friend Ned yet. Actually his fiancee, since he’s active military. The worst thing is that I know he was supposed to go to the Pentagon one day this week to do some work. I don’t know if it was today, or if it would have been later in the week, but I know I’m scared for him.
I’ve been in a state of shock since I heard. I was in a seminar for work, and when it started at 9, someone said that a plane had hit the WTC. I don’t think most of us believed it. Then we got a break at 10, I went to smoke a cigarette, and someone from my class came out after checking the news. He said “both towers and the Pentagon, and two of the planes were out of Boston.” My brother lives in Boston, and travels to NY a lot for work. Once I heard which airlines it was, I was pretty sure it wasn’t him, but those fears weren’t completely relieved until I talked to my mother after I got home from work. Then I went over to church and 6PM Mass was packed. It’s never that full in the middle of the week. I cried a little, because I was, and am, worried about Ned. Now I’m home, and I need to eat dinner. But my stomach is churning, and I feel like I could ralph if I eat anything. This changes everything. Since about the time that I started high school (1987), the US has been safe. Those deep fears about nuclear war that I grew up with were gone, the cold war was over. Now we, as Americans, have to remember that we are not invulnerable. We are, in fact, more exposed than some other countries, because we are a nation that is free. We are able to speak up, to hear things that anger us and say things that anger others. Despite what happened today, I pray that we don’t change deeply, that we remain a free nation, one that is willing and able to help the world, to accept those who seek asylum. Because if we are deeply changed, we will not be America. And I do love my country, despite the problems that it has.
Please, send your good thoughts and prayers out to everyone. The entire country is affected by this, but mostly to those in NY, DC, Pennsylvania and Los Angeles who are most directly affected by this.
Lsura
I think I’ve figured out what, besides the horrible number of deaths and all the destruction, bothers me about this. My heart goes out to everybody involved; I can hardly imagine what it must be like.
But here’s what, in a way, pisses me off the most.
This is 2001. This is The Future ™. And humanity has, yet again, screwed itself up, wasting its potential. I am still pretty young (25) and have been, in a sort of silly way, looking forward to this year and beyond for most of my life.
So what did we do in the late 20th century? First, we sent men to the moon. Not very many of them, but they must have all had real nerve to go with 1960s technology. But, ah, our MOTIVE is what screwed that up – we wanted, after all, to beat the evil Russians. We couldn’t let a bunch of Commies beat us to the moon. So what do we do when we’ve been there a few times and are just starting to learn about the place?
We quit going. After all, we beat the Russians, and it was so expensive, and what were we getting out of it anyway?
Then the program damn near got a death blow when I was nine, when the Challenger exploded. I remember that day very well. The shuttle program, which had been just cranking up to speed, comes nearly to a dead halt.
So, the theory is that the money we don’t spend on the space program should fix things here on Earth. Do you see a fix for world hunger? There’s a lot of potential in genetic modification, which is only a quick version of what we’ve been doing for thousands of years with crops anyway, but we’re scared of it. Yes, it is scary, but if we don’t do it how are we going to learn to do it better?
Racism? Sexism? Still here, all right, just in more hidden forms. We haven’t really gotten past SAYING they’re bad, not if you really look. Racism is incredibly insidious.
World peace? Even a reasonable facsimile thereof? Screw that. Turn on CNN. We’re at war, even if we don’t know who WITH. And before today’s attacks, somebody has always been at war with somebody, it just hasn’t been US for a while.
This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. And that pisses me off immensely. It’s The Future. ™ And we still haven’t gotten past caveman urges. It’s not a very big leap from “Oog. Hate. Kill!” to, “I don’t like them, let’s kill them in God’s name.” Crap like this just should NOT STILL BE HAPPENING.
I feel personally betrayed by the darker side of human nature.
opposed to the ones that are calling for mass murder?
One thing I noticed about Bush’s speech tonight is that he abandoned the word “cowardly” for “evil.”
A good thing, IMHO - “cowardly” never quite sounded like the right adjective in the past, and it doesn’t now. “Evil”, though, is.
Bloody hell. I just learned about all of this. I caught a ferry into Hong Kong this morning, from our place in Disocvery Bay (an expat community, with lots of Americans). No wonder the ferry was so quiet.
My heart goes out to all people suffering as a result of this senseless violence.
We as a nation most likely won’t. But me, as an individual, well, I’m afraid I have.
Is anyone else dealing with changing long-held opinions about stuff, or is it just me?
For years now, I’ve felt we’ve spent too much money on defense and intelligence. Now I’m feeling like I’ve got “kick me, I’m a moron” tatooed on my forehead.
I’ve also been pretty much a pacifist (except for being pro-death penalty). Don’t like war, don’t like violence, want it all to stop and want everyone to just play nice. Now, the very core of my being is just screaming for vengeance. Swift and terrible vengeance.
I’ve had opinions about things change over time–key words being “over time.” Age and experience have led me to question my beliefs. I’ve held on to some, altered some, and completely chucked a few others. But this…this changed a lot of things for me, very suddenly. The only word I can think of to explain it is “bewildering.”
I got home from work just after the second plane crashed in NY. I didn’t know anything had happened until my gf called me over to the TV as soon as I came through the door.
Had some real panic when I remembered my parents were flying from Boston to Alaska today. I got through, and they’re ok. The flight wasn’t until the afternoon (now cancelled, of course).
I have to go to work again in a few hours at an English Conversation school. I know what everyone’s going to want me to talk about, but I’m not sure I can yet.
Shit.
–sublight.
My wife was home today with our younger two sons. She of course had to explain to Sean, who’s four, basically what had happened and why she was so sad. Sean knows one of the things we do when someone is sick is make them a card, so he asked for some paper so that he could make some cards for us. He sat down and made “hope you feel better” type cards for everyone in the family…
Here’s the one he made for me:
"Dear Dad,
Something bad just happened and I’m writing on a blue piece of paper.
Love, Sean"
They all got extra long hugs when I got home from work today.
I had kept it together all day long, just barely. We spent all day at work watching the network feeds off satellite, and I barely kept myself from breaking down in front of clients or co-workers, even kept myself from getting physically ill a couple of times. Not even Sean’s letter gave me more than a momentary choke. I had to stay strong and confident for them, they’re unsure and worried.
And then I sit down to catch up on the news here, and I read Monster’s post. Goddammit
The news has had quite a few people who were on upper floors (80th floor, 90th floor) of the WTC when the planes hit. Hopefully, this is a good omen about the number of people killed.
This morning, at work, I heard one report about a fire on the Mall in DC. Was that the reported fire at the Old Executive Building that a few Dopers mentioned in the other thread? Anyone know anything more about that?
Also, does anyone have a link to a good map of the World Trade Center that can still be accessed?
Just to clarify: the news has interviewed quite a few people who were on the upper floors…