Survivors Healed, but Not Whole "But hearing the story of how Patty crawled out of that room, dutifully dragging her behemoth purse (it weighed a ton, it seemed, with enough odds and ends to supply an army), and this as her colleagues were stripping off their clothes and lapping up water off the floor in a desperate struggle to escape the terrible heat and stay alive -- that was funny.
A half-year after the attack, the reconstruction of the Pentagon is racing along, with crews repairing the broken facade and ready to start roof work today, the six-month anniversary. Harder to mend are the souls of those who were there Sept. 11."
posted by owillis
on Mar 11, 2002 -
2 comments
Report from Ground Zero Brenda Berkman, highest-ranking female FDNY firefighter (25 women, 11,475 men): “[O]ne good thing that has come out of it is that I didn’t have to die to find out how many people care about me. It has really been overwhelming, the love and concern that has been directed to me from women and men from all over the country.”
No female firefighters died in the bombing: “We have fathers and sons on that list, brothers on that list.... But no women firefighters, which was an absolute miracle because a huge percentage of us are in the companies that were hit the hardest.”
posted by joeclark
on Mar 11, 2002 -
2 comments
We Knew? Apparently, the US government was informed in 1995 by Filipino authorities that there were terrorist agents in the US training to crash planes into buildings. I head a blurb about this on the radio and had to dig to find the article... is this something else that is just going to be swept under the rug?
posted by darian
on Mar 6, 2002 -
15 comments
9/11 - the CBS documentary. Okay, so we've heard of, and
discussed the footage of the attacks before, and many of us know that this will be airing on CBS (in the U.S.) this Sunday (interestingly from 9-11 pm). I wonder if anyone (or everyone) will watch? Some people have tried to
halt or delay the showing, but CBS is going ahead, and promising not to show 'graphic footage'. I'm really torn between curiosity and a fear of "too much too soon", and really don't know whether I'm going to watch or not.
posted by kokogiak
on Mar 5, 2002 -
49 comments
Is the New York Times rewriting history? This link claims (and an archives search backs up) that the Paper of Record deleted a bin Laden-related story published two days before 9/11, and now redirects searchers to a story written on 9/12. The story isn't damning, but it does point out how much we knew about him before the event. Is it bad journalism? Bad politics? Extra points awarded for Orwell quotes.
posted by chino
on Feb 15, 2002 -
31 comments
Why Are So Many Americans Cancelling Their Subscriptions To "The London Review of Books"? This letter from
Paul Genova rings true - and
touché - to this European at least. Ever since the very respectable
LRB published its
issue on the September 11 attacks, American readers(and some notable contributors) have been writing in droves to cancel their subscriptions and connections to the journal.
Mary Beard's article(
op.cit.) aroused most of the fury, though others are arguably just as outrageous. In the pages of this most lively of letter sections - graciously available online - this particular correspondence seems to demonstrate an ever-sharpening divide between American and European intellectuals. Are Paul Genova's and other readers' disgusted reactions justified? Are they specific to the WTC attacks or, more worryingly, representative of a wider separation?
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Feb 15, 2002 -
46 comments
"Peaceful Tomorrows" launches tomorrow (Feb 14th). "Peaceful Tomorrows continues the work of family members who took part in the Walk for Healing and Peace from the Pentagon to the World Trade Center (winter 2001) as well as those who met with Afghan families affected by the subsequent bombing campaign (January 2002).
Our goal is to facilitate dialogues on alternatives to war that utilize all of America's collective wisdom, skills and talents. "
Good luck Peaceful Tomorrows!
posted by crasspastor
on Feb 13, 2002 -
1 comment
E911 technology allows for the location of a cellular phone to be determined by the wireless service provider within several hundred feet. As consequence, privacy groups have been extremely resistant to the implementation of E911. In the wake of the September 11 tragedies, however, the balance between privacy concerns and national security to have changed for many American citizens.
Sort of via
2600 This seems to be coming, what do you think?
posted by thirteen
on Feb 6, 2002 -
20 comments
"Everything's changed"? No, very little has changed. Exhibit A: the
upcoming broadcast of the complete "in-the-belly-of-the-beast" WTC collapse video by CBS. Only three "very special" sponsors, and 50 million are expected to watch. Including me. (Hey, I'm a complicated person and/or hypocrite)
posted by luser
on Feb 6, 2002 -
16 comments
It’ll Never Be The Same Again (~2.5mb mp3 down at the bottom there.) After Neil Young’s predictable
homage, Paul McCartney’s song I can’t stand nor can I escape; Bono’s immense display of poor taste; the atrocious "What’s Going On" cover (I laugh at you Limp Bizkit!); I finally found a tune that makes sense of 9.11 for me. Ryan Adams’ "
New York, New York" doesn’t count because it isn’t about that Tuesday. Fine track though.
posted by raaka
on Feb 5, 2002 -
23 comments
What were you saying on the morning of 9/11? I have been very dissatisfied with
this archive of the news on 9/11. I think this stuff has its place. But, it does not help us tell our grandkids how people were reacting that morning. For posterity's sake, I think it is much more important to record what happened on blogs and other online communities that morning. So, I am trying to collect online conversations that took place
immediately after the news of the attacks broke on September 11. I have one link from
here and one from
Slashdot. Sorry if I am missing out on important ones. My hope is that this post will lead to more links to conversations. I am not interested in
war blogs unless they have a reference to a conversation on the morning of 9/11.
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy
on Feb 1, 2002 -
48 comments
10 Days in September: Inside the War Cabinet The Washington Post today publishes the first of an eight-part special series, by investigative reporters Dan Balz and Bob Woodward, on the US government's -- and more specifically, the Bush Administration's -- initial response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The series is based on interviews with President Bush, Vice President Cheney and many other key officials inside the administration and out, and is supplemented by notes of National Security Council meetings made available to The Washington Post, along with notes taken by multiple participants.
This is what journalism at its best is all about...
posted by verdezza
on Jan 27, 2002 -
19 comments
Mideast vs West. From a conservative-libertarian point of view, what's wrong in the Muslim world, what caused 9-11, and how to fix it. Even if you don't agree with the author's conclusions (maybe
especially if you don't agree with the author's conclusions) the piece is worth reading, as an exceptionally clear and forceful articulation of these ideas.
Link found on Arts & Letters Daily.
posted by Slithy_Tove
on Jan 26, 2002 -
19 comments
The worst banner design ever? I've seen some tasteless advertising in my day, but this simple animation leaves me speechless. Is there any depth to which advertisers will go to hawk their services?
posted by mathowie
on Jan 21, 2002 -
56 comments
I like to watch... A disturbing video combining September 11th scenes, professional sports, and pornography. NOT SAFE FOR WORK. I won't post this otherwise, but maybe they have something to say about voyeurism brought on by mass media exposure...
posted by Samizdata
on Jan 13, 2002 -
54 comments
Keep on rockin in the free world.
You go Neil!
"People for the American Way, which once described the goal of the PMRC censors as "to bring children and parents together on music selection," gave Neil Young its Spirit of Liberty award at a December 11 Beverly Hills banquet. Young used the occasion to proclaim his support of the USA/Patriot Act, which became law on October 26. "To protect our freedoms," Young said, "it seems we're going to have to relinquish some of our freedoms for a short period of time."
One of John Ashcroft's favorite rockers?
posted by martk
on Jan 11, 2002 -
48 comments
Toxic Exposure Near Ground Zero EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said a week after the attacks: "I am glad to reassure the people of New York...that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink." Yet now: "Dust taken from an air vent in the apartment building's hallway contained 555 times the suggested acceptable level for asbestos.....Many of those who live or work downtown report strikingly similar symptoms: nosebleeds, sore throats, bronchial infections and an endless racking cough." How long do we need to wait until we see some full blown
investigative reporting?
posted by Voyageman
on Jan 8, 2002 -
29 comments
God's role on 9-11 from the article "As the various interpreters of God's will appear and crash airliners into buildings, or on the contrary assert that God frowns on people crashing airlines into buildings, or that God will help our blessed nation in its quest for Osama, or that God will help Osama to escape, one might ask again an epochal question: huh?"
posted by onegoodmove
on Jan 5, 2002 -
46 comments
Moussaoui appears on September 11th charges
Surprised not to see this posted, given the amount of coverage the attacks have been getting here at MeFi.
"In the name of Allah, I do not have anything to plead," Mr Moussaoui, a French citizen said. "I enter no plea." The judge took this as a not guilty plea which was entered into the record.
posted by tomcosgrave
on Jan 2, 2002 -
29 comments
Another excellent editorial by Thomas Friedman. "I have no problem with nation- building in Afghanistan, but what I'm really interested in is nation- building in America — using the power of Sept. 11 to make our country stronger, safer and a better global citizen in the world of Sept. 12, beginning with how we use energy." (nytimes.com Member ID: metafi, password: metafi)
posted by homunculus
on Jan 2, 2002 -
27 comments
Sacred Commerce? Funny, I walked daily to work past the World Trade Center, and have been in the Middle East more than once, but it never occured to me to connect the WTC with Islamic architecture until I read this.
posted by MidasMulligan
on Dec 31, 2001 -
1 comment
Prophets of doom In June 2000, Lynne Palmer, a 69-year-old Las Vegas resident, published her
Astrological Almanac for 2001... On page 95 of the book, buried among advice on the best days to go to the movies and worst days to lend people money, Palmer had written, in an odd combination of the obvious and the prophetic: "Avoid terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."
posted by raaka
on Dec 31, 2001 -
23 comments
S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse So, in the face of our media's shameless propaganda campaign, we have taken it upon ourselves to intuit what the intentions and goals of this war truly are. In what is surely a departure from our traditional NewsVideo format, GNN presents S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse. Culled from over 20 hours of television footage recorded over a one month period and across 13 networks, S-11 Redux is a sound-bite blitzkrieg that challenges the messages we have been fed from our mainstream media and the government it serves. Be warned - this video moves quickly and will require at least two viewings to digest its full impact. You may never be able to look at the coverage of S-11 and its post-impact coverage the same way, ever again
posted by Niahmas
on Dec 24, 2001 -
31 comments
Giuliani is Time's Man of the Year. For a year when the choice would have been hard before 9/11, this seemed like one of the most obvious choices. It's feel-good and he really did do a lot to rally the city. Were you expecting it? Should they have chosen Osama bin Laden or the firefighters?
posted by onthestereo
on Dec 23, 2001 -
67 comments
Where are the Women? The western media has seen an uncharacteristic deficiency of women's voices in the wake of September's events. Can this be attributed to a "war time" atmosphere? It's certainly not due to a lack of women whose lives have been effected.
posted by Fenriss
on Dec 14, 2001 -
17 comments
McCarthyism Watch: "The fact that they asked for anything but flag stamps did raise a question for the clerk." At which point do the anecdotes about irrational patriotism and paranoia add up to a genuine cultural shift? I mean,
stamps?
posted by muckster
on Dec 12, 2001 -
53 comments
