9/11 Ten Years On

[The Brain]

Why would anyone call the Pope a terrorist when Nazi pedophile is correct?

I thought he was a Sith Lord?... 

He's a man of many feces.

[sbr]

Why would anyone call the Pope a terrorist when Nazi pedophile is correct?

I thought he was a Sith Lord?... 

He's a man of many feces.

I didn't know he was Austrian.

[Valmy]

10 years on many Afghans haven't heard about the events of 9/11, a photographer and US soldiers try to explain to ordinary Afghans, soldiers and policemen why they're in Afghanistan.

Video is just 5 minutes long:

http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/display/playlistref/100911/clipid/100911_4onafghan911

Really we have a thread about 9/11 ten years later and this is what comes to mind?

Today we were busy helping all the refugees from the fires that are destroying homes across Texas so it had sort of the feeling of invoking the spirit of that day in our work.  Alot of things have happened in this country and the world since then.  It is kind of amazing what a different era we stepped into.

I have a sense of disappointment when I reflect on that day 10 years ago.  A horrible thing happened and it continues to be a bad thing as we work through the consequences.  The other negative is this narcissistic attitude where people act like 'OMG this happened in AMERICA' as if the USA is somehow on a different planet where bad stuff never happens is also kind of odd.  Fortunately the media usually spews stuff like that.  Most people I talk to have it in good perspective generally.  Life is full of challenges and we need to meet them with the most courage and decency we can muster I guess is what I take from it.

[Ed Anger]

I have a sense of disappointment when I reflect on that day 10 years ago.

I get incredibly pissed off.

[Ideologue]

Our narcissism is backed with nuclear weapons.

[Zoupa]

I have a sense of disappointment when I reflect on that day 10 years ago.

I get incredibly pissed off.

I just get sad. I was watching it on cnn that day. I was not really taking it in until the 2nd tower collapsed. About 10 minutes later they managed to send a camera crew somewhat close. Apparently firefighters wear some sort of electronic device that emits a beep beep sound when they stop moving. The whole area was deathly quiet, except for dozens and dozens of those beeping things all around the rubble. That's when it sunk in, like a punch in the gut.

[CountDeMoney]

Apparently firefighters wear some sort of electronic device that emits a beep beep sound when they stop moving. The whole area was deathly quiet, except for dozens and dozens of those beeping things all around the rubble. That's when it sunk in, like a punch in the gut.

Hundreds of duress transmitters.  And not a single firefighter to be found.

[jimmy olsen]

Apparently firefighters wear some sort of electronic device that emits a beep beep sound when they stop moving. The whole area was deathly quiet, except for dozens and dozens of those beeping things all around the rubble. That's when it sunk in, like a punch in the gut.

Hundreds of duress transmitters.  And not a single firefighter to be found.

http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/091101rescuers.html

[jimmy olsen]

Anyways, my memories for what it's worth.

I was 19 and at Bard College, and had just arrived in the school cafeteria that morning. I vaguely heard something on the radio, a plane had hit the WTC. Was still half asleep so I wasn't really listening and thought it must have been a small plane or something.

Got to the tables and saw the TV. Can't remember if I saw the 2nd plane hit or not, I saw the replays of that so many times that day that it's a bit of a blur. I distinctly remember watching the 2nd Tower collapse. I was with a professor I worked for when the 1st collapsed so I didn't see that one happen live.

A lot of students were from or had parents/siblings working in NYC and they were sobbing uncontrollably.

I remember watching the news in the campus movie theater. The image of the 2nd plane impacting on that big screen is indelibly seared into my mind. Remember Senator Dodd comparing it to Pearl Harbor and some kid yelling out incredulously something like "they're not going to start a war are they" and myself thinking "you're a god damned moron if you think this isn't gonna start a war".

[Barrister]

You know, I found I simply could not watch the endless 9/11 rememberances that my wife was very interested in.  I remember 9/11 very well - and visiting NYC for 11/11 brought it home very strongly.  It just made me very uncomfortable to watch.

[sbr]

I have refused to watch most of the coverage, not much desire to relive that day though I haven't been able to avoid everything.  I don't live in a vacuum though.  I thought the NFL did a very nice job today without going over the top.

I posted this elsewhere about where I was that day (straight copy/paste):

I am a contractor, an electrician actually, and I was on my way to work at the Portland Airport, they were just finishing up building a new terminal and we needed to finish working on the new security checkpoint and x-ray machines; the attacks happened right around 6AM here on the west coast.

Just as I was parking at the shop to meet the guy I was riding in with I heard the guy on the radio mention something about a plane hitting a World Trade Tower; to be honest I thought so little about it that I forgot until about 30 minutes later as we were getting close to the airport. I mentioned what I heard to the guy was riding with and he turned on the radio where we heard about the second plane and the fact that there were other 'missing' planes in the sky. I figured there is no way they were going to let us into the airport through the contractor's entrance but we showed our badges and were waved right though and onto the tarmac like nothing was wrong.

Once we got to our parking place and got inside the terminal things were already pretty insane, by this time all outbound flights had been canceled and the airport was absolutely swimming in people with no where to go and no idea what was going on. Most everyone, including all of the construction workers there, were in a coffee shop or restaurant watching the TVs. About an hour after we got there our boss called and told us to get the hell out of there since no one still had any idea what was going on. That was the best idea I had ever heard so I had tools put away and ladders chained up in record time when we found out the customer was insisting we stay and finish the job. . Unfortunately we didn't have much choice so we pulled everything back out and went back to work.

The entire day was surreal, it is amazing how much of that day I remember compared to a normal day. Me and my kids were living with my folks at the time and my mom's family was in town from St Louis, they were supposed to leave two days later but ended up stranded in Portland for almost an extra week.. It was my grandma's birthday and I remember how bad I felt for here even though she was like 80. The most horrifying thing was sitting on the couch with my uncle and seeing the 'replays' of the people jumping out of the windows from the 100th floor or something; I can't imagine a situation where that is your best choice. My kids were 7 and almost 6 and I asked if they talked about it in school that day and they did a little bit but obviously not much. The kids mom came to pick them up and I couldn't deal with it anymore and I went upstairs and played my brand new PS2 game Dark Cloud the rest of the night.