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Tag: 9/11

  • Watching 9/11 all year long

    Watching 9/11 all year long

     
    I have always struggled to know why I, along with many others, watch footage of 911 every year … also several times throughout the year. It seems ghoulish, it seems like we just relive a snuff film in real time every moment. For me, there is a sense of guilt that comes with it because of how it can also induce nostalgia. 

    For me, I become nostalgic for the year I turned 21, the moment when my youth seemed the most buoyant and yet obnoxious.. and a time when things seemed much more simple.

    Ever since the events of that day occurred headlines about it have been taken over by Xenaphobia, warmongers, and conspiracy theories of all nature.  If you were listening to the talking heads and pundits, then you most likely have been told the exact reason why 9/11 occurred.  Some will give you the backstory on the government officials that they believe were actually behind it. 

    Others will tell you about how we should have bombed Middle Eastern countries to smithereens because of their support of the terrorists.  A few may point out how inept American leadership was in the summer leading up to the event. Remember that memo given to Bush during his August vacation ??  

    We do this all the time, we relive the nasty events and try to shad them in a civilized way.  People strive to bring some common sense and normalcy of thought progression as to why things occurred.

    But I don’t believe that is why we watch footage of 9/11, and not why we relive the same 102 minutes time after time.

    I actually think the reason is quite simple.

    For the raw emotion.

    The true and visceral raw emotion that it brings, it seems real. We can relive those days when commercials along with TV coverage of the mundane and trivial was all we cared about. September 11 was the end of the Seinfeld era, the conclusion of the decade about nothing. Stock markets were strong, mortgage loans being given out like candy.. the conclusion came, though, and the piper was paid.

    I can recall the footage of the today show one Bryant Gumbel was cautiously curious as to why some would say the second plane flying into a building was a purposeful act.  Because we were naïve, because we were innocent. A generation that grew up lost in space forgot the space that they were in. The dotcom bubble was first, then everything burst at 9 AM on September  11th..

     

    When I watch coverage from those moments, when I view the footage again, and when I relive my own emotions and memories from that day, I don’t do it in any joy of those who perished.
    When viewing those television moments prior to the breaking news, I actually feel in some strange way like 911 will not happen. When I watch the footage of the ‘Everybody loves Raymond’ interview on CBS before the first plane hit, or the fact that Nokia stock was up 5% and Motorola was closing on CNN, I feel like the next moments actually will not occur. 

    An impossibility..

    Because we all know what occurs next, we all know the planes crash and that the Pentagon is it in that building is fall down, that President Bush is flown around the nation and Dick Cheney is in a bunker in no mans land. We all know that the speaker of the house is rushed out of DC and that news coverage comes to grips with the fact that their world, along with ours, has been changed forever with them only mere seconds.

    But we still watch, and I don’t believe we watch because it’s fun. I believe we watch because even to this day we have not come to grips with this moment and we have not been able to actually make sense of what we saw.

    We’ve gone to war, we debated who is behind the events, we have become divided as a nation and almost 20 years later a much more racist and bigoted world. None of it had to happen, but it did. And we watch the coverage of this day to feel that true and raw emotion because somehow perhaps we get united in our sadness in our anger. Even if it’s only for 102 minutes and it goes away once the replay on YouTube has ended. 


  • A memory of Columbine all these years later

    A memory of Columbine all these years later

    I drew this picture when I was a senior in high school.. after Columbine.

    The most recent anniversary on April 20 made me recount my emotion that day.. the idea that all that was (in my world) changed.. that high school would never be the same again.

    I was grateful to graduate in 1999… I knew that metal detectors and school violence would occur. My entire class did. We collectively realized that we were leaving the school world at the exact right moment.. one eye in my photo cried for the past, the other closed its eye on the future.

    And then only a few years later, when ‘adulthood’ of legal drinking age was achieved by me and the class of 1999, 9/11 penetrated our minds with more illness, more fear.. more horror.

    Columbine was a microcosm event. A smaller more surreal directed event at an age bracket.. 9/11 took it to a whole new level.

    And the rest… the rest my friends.. is history.

  • The class of 18 learns about 9/11

    The class of 18 learns about 9/11

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    I cannot fathom it being 14 years already since 9/11.. I have my personal memories, some I have shared in public settings, others I have kept very secret.. I have those images forever in my mind..    This morning while hearing news accounts of today’s ceremonies planned in the locations hit by terrorism on September 11, 2001, I realized this: The kids born that year, those who first were welcomed…

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  • The striking thing about the 9/11 photos

    The striking thing about the 9/11 photos

    150725155957-08-cheney-911-19729053490-8ffafbb2ec-o-jpg-exlarge-169The National Archives released 350 photos in a Friday history dump .. Those pictures presented the never before behind the scenes imagery of what Bush Administration officials were doing during and after 9/11..

    There are scenes of Dick Cheney with his feet on his desk, old style computer and phone cords abounding, watching the World Trade Center burn on in computer.. There is one shot of Cheney and Condi Rice staring at papers.. One image of President Bush shows him with a look of fatigue and almost confusion on his face while speaking to aides:

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    The pictures were released after a FIOA request was filed for old images–the pictures are being used in a Kirk Documentary being produced by Colette Neirouz Hanna.
    You can see all of the images released here on the National Archives FLICKR account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/sets/72157656213196901/with/19917058105/

    I had a gut reaction when I saw the images.
    I recalled my own plight and where I was in life during 9/11 immediately.. I recalled being 21 by only 9 days when the attacks occurred.. I remember racing to my computer and updating my website with news of the event.  There are a million more bits of memory I recall from that day, ending with Art Bell signing onto to Coast to Coast with open lines of people mourning the Americans continent’s horrorshow ..  I am sure many who see the photos will recount the entire day again, play it in their head over and over.. What we saw that day, regardless of the whos whats or whys, was tragic and also had an indelible effect on the psyche of those who lived during it and in the aftermath of it..

    The other striking thing about the photos: The lack of the President .. It is quite apparent that the bunker Cheney found himself in was where the action was. The decisions were being made. This is where that choice was rendered to shoot down a plane–though we are told that shootdown did not occur..

    At the time, I presume, many of these photos were taken, Bush was zigzagging across America and being told not to land in D.C.  If you recall reports of that day, we were told that the President wanted to return to Washington but was told it was too dangerous, finally getting back to the White House that night shortly before his 8pm address to the nation from the Oval Office. In the photos released by the Archives, we see a man on a mission and on in charge: Not the President, but Dick Cheney calling the shots.

    In all fairness, the FIOA request is focusing on Cheney in the aftermath of 9/11.. But that is the other amazing part: How Cheney seemingly was in charge after 9/11.

    I think history will explicate a very different story from any narrative presented in the past 14 years (14 years already…Think about that, as well.)
    I can envision a future history book that is able to be presented (probably not on paper) taking into account all of the upcoming revelations about 9/11 that are sure to be seen as secret papers and files, photos and briefings, become releasable after enough years go by.

    I also think that regardless of when they are released–14 years or 40 years from now–the people who are alive who witnessed 9/11 will have the same visceral reaction any time they see the grainy images and antiquated technology presented in photos of officials from that fateful day on a beautiful September morning, 2001.

  • Bin Laden’s will revealed – & interest in Illuminati, 9/11 conspiracy theories

    Bin Laden’s will revealed – & interest in Illuminati, 9/11 conspiracy theories

    Bin Laden’s will revealed – & interest in Illuminati, 9/11 conspiracy theories

    This from the RT report:
    “Among the books that intelligence officials say belonged to Bin Laden are Obama’s Wars, Pulitzer Prize-winner Bob Woodward’s account of the current administration’s roles in overseas conflicts, and two works by American academic Noam Chomsky. There was also a copy of the US government’s report on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks attributed to bin Laden and reports on Iraq, Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda, among others. There were also more than a dozen items related to France or the French economy, including factsheets and a list of French shipping companies, and books on the illuminati and 9/11 conspiracy theories, such as Bloodlines of the Illuminati and The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11.”

    Now tell me, why would the mastermind of 9/11 be interested in theories he didn’t do it?

  • Twas the day before 9/11

    Twas the day before 9/11

    Obama prepared to order airstrikes in Syria as part of strategy against Islamic State »

    Foreign-policy experts he consulted with say he believes he doesn’t need Congress’s approval.

    It was discussed tonight over dinner, the WASHINGTON POST reports..

    It reminds me of being in my early 20s again.. the debate on the TEE VEE sets around the nation: Does George W. Bush have to get Congressional approval to go to war… Democrats said yes. Republicans said no.

    Fast forward.. another enemy, or the same.. but another war coming, it would seem.. and this president now believes that he does not have to get any official Congressional approval to act against ISIS. Or Syria. Or someone, somewhere.. or everyone, everywhere..?

    This from the POST:

    Administration officials have been working in recent days to enlist the support of the nation’s political establishment to help sell their strategy to the American public, which Obama will address in a prime-time speech Wednesday night. The president met with the top four congressional leaders Tuesday, while his aides held briefings on Capitol Hill.

    And there are a few more things at play..besides an approaching war.. First, there are Congressional elections this year. Second, there are high emotions the night before the anniversary of 9/11.. third, how would the world react.. And how imminent is it?

    The POST has something on that:

    There is no indication that a U.S. strike in Syria is imminent, and the Obama administration has signaled that a stepped-up U.S. effort in Iraq, in conjunction with an international and regional partnership, is probably the first step in combating the Islamic State’s advances.

    I still recall when the President went to the airwaves to announce that America needs to strike Assad in Syria—and arm the rebels.

    The tables surely have turned.

    The real question I ask is this: Does America really want to hear about a new potential battle the night before they honor the souls who perished 13 years ago?

    Meanwhile:

    ISIS Threat: Fear of Terror Attack Soars to 9/11 High, NBC News/WSJ Poll Finds »

  • The literal party on the grave site of 9/11 victims

    The literal party on the grave site of 9/11 victims

    I listened with some amazement to Clyde Lewis Friday night.. he had a very interesting take on his GROUND ZERO radio program concerning the controversy of the 9/11 gift shop–I am sure you heard about it by now..

    I also learned something new.

    There was something much more offensive that took place within the ‘hallowed’ halls of the museum than the gift shop selling chotchkies..

    As Clyde Lewis writes on his page:

    As the Gothamist reported, “The National 9/11 Museum opened to the public [May 21], with dozens of museum employees on hand to assist visitors through exhibits, numerous Red Cross workers and chaplains eager to help those who needed comfort… President Obama dedicated the museum last week in a special ceremony that was by invite only. There were mostly politicians and a few of the victim’s families in attendance.”
    And, of course, select members of the media – which did not include that Gothamist reporter who was actually thrown out.
    But those honored visitors were told to leave because only the VIPs, which included former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, were allowed back inside for a black-tie cocktail reception, the NY Daily news said. It is said later this summer there will be a family restaurant opening up in the facility.
    The creepiness here is evident, the cocktail soiree was being held on the site where it is believed many of the victim’s remains are still buried and many people feel that it is also a bit sick to open a restaurant on the site.
    The museum’s cocktail hour took place near the “remains repository,” where 8,000 unidentified body parts are being stored.
    Now that it has opened to the public, there are mixed feelings about the museum. While some see it as a place where people can reflect on the tragedy, some see it as politically exploitative and not as dignifying as maybe a wall with names or a monument.
    Again, our censored Gothamist reporter noted: “There’s a warning in front of the entrance, “The exhibition may not be appropriate for visitors 10 years old and younger. Adults accompanying younger visitors should exercise discretion before entering.””
    Upon arrival, the scene is set up like a Halloween spook alley in a posh library. Scorched car doors, salvaged firefighters’ uniforms, banners, toys, and a destroyed fire engine are preserved forever and on display at the museum.

    Never knew of this party.. this sick, sick party..

    A cocktail hour on the grave of 8,000 body parts..

    There seems to be something very ghoulish about that choice, don’t you think? A little vampirish, perhaps?

    The blood lust, the pain.. the suffering.. all beneath the feet of the elite and wealthy as they sip their champagne.

    Their riches are thanks to the thousands dead.. A little more honor is due than a cocktail hour on top of a grave site..

    Clyde Lewis goes on to write more,

    For $64.00 you can purchase survival tree earrings and $39.00 gets you a hoodie emblazoned with an image of the towers. There is also a collectable [sic] cheese plate you can purchase as well.
    Victims’ families didn’t ask for this, they didn’t expect their family members to be important deaths for eternity and have their remains in a containment hold piled behind a locked door in a museum that doubles as a mausoleum with an adjacent Shake Shack.

    Disturbed yet?

    The full article *(and show*) from Clyde Lewis is worth the read and listen.

    I would dare say, if you have any sense of morality, you’d be a little grossed about the goings on within the public building..

    The remains of all of those body parts being at this location seems to be one of the worst decisions made..

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  • The tacky world of 9/11 gifts

    The tacky world of 9/11 gifts

    Inside the 9/11 museum’s offensive gift shop »


    The New York Post goes in depth.. Apparently a lot of really tacky but expensive items are for sale in the shop.. Hoodies with the twin towers and $39 heart shaped rocks with overused slogans on..


     One woman who lost a son was quoted in the Post article.. She said, “To me, it’s the crassest, most insensitive thing to have a commercial enterprise at the place where my son died”…

     WE have all seen these gifts, whether it’s in your local thrift shop or on the corner being sold by a street vendor. Some has been …ok.. others? Nah.

    Be proud, US of A. Tacky is America. Come on, we still sing “Proud to be an American” more often than the national anthem.. no matter what Lee Greenwood did, he made a bundle off of the weird emotions of Gulf War I ..
    We sell tacky things here.. You’d have to think those Chinese slave laborers who put together such profoundly graceless items are wondering what the hell the people in the free world are buying them for..

     But the question really remains: Should profits be off the list of what the 9/11 memorial is tasked with? After all, they have quite a hefty debt to pay back.

    In fairness, it’s a debt so high that overpriced ground zero hoodies will never pay back..
    But tacky?
    Yes. Corporations know a thing or two about that.