tecoyah

Today marks an anniversary, to many one we wish to forget. To some a reason for anger, mourning, or fear. Because each of us will express our feelings on this day in different ways, I thought an open thread to vent, or just talk would be of benefit.

May the losses this anniversary reminds us of, be remembered in peace.

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Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

NoSoup

Y'know, it's actually quite amazing. After all this time I still pretty much have thought about 9/11 daily, even if they are only fleeting thoughts. I still can't get over how much it has changed things, and not for the better.

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Just in case you were wondering...

ShaniFaye

My thoughts are with anyone affected in anyway by 9/11 with the loss of family and friends.

No matter what anyone thinks about the "hows" and "whys" of what happened, the pain caused by that day is shared with you by people all over the world.

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Strange Famous

9/11 was a huge cultural shock to America... because it destroyed people's sense of safety and security. People do not think of, for example, that more Iraqi civilians have died in the recent action there than died in this terrorist attack on NY. For me, it just makes me wish we could live in peace.

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

pan6467

I may be hated for what I am about to say but frankly I don't give a damn because it is how I feel.

9/11 was not that horrid compared to what other countries go through. I wouldn't even call it an act of terror as the targets were targets to begin with. Terror to me is making the populace scared to leave home. That didn't happen on 9/11 or since.

This is not to say that it was a horrendous event and a heinous act against mankind. Nor is it to say I do not feel for those that lost loved ones. It is simply a statement that says I personally was not scared.

To me a terroristic act would have been hitting Disney or highways or gassing the subways.

Yes, we lost lives and 2 buildings and part of the Pentagon but again compared to Isreal, Lebanon, Japan (when their subway system was gassed), Cambodia, the Sudan, Nigeria, Bosnia, Iraq, Chechnya, Vietnam, and countries where innocent people die every day just walking down their street or children being blown to bits because they wanted to play in a field, our loss is not terroristic to me. I still went to the chiropractor that day, I still went out and conducted life. A true terror act would have had me at home scared what was going to be hit next.

To me this was an act of war that occurred on our shores and that is it. An act of war I had no problems with against those responsible. However, it was politicized and used and still is used to further political agendas and personal hatreds and to instill fear, hatred, prejudices, and so on into the US public, not by those responsible for 9/11 but by our own government and politicians.

I remember 9/11 and most of all I remember 9/12 because it did bring the country closer. It brought the world closer and instead of warring against innocent countries and not getting the people truly responsible we have lost that closeness and we have created more hatred and anger towards us.

So, I thank God that we didn't have true terror 9/11 and that for a few days we had a nation that wanted to work together and a world that very easily could have found peace. However I curse and hold my head in disgust by those who have capitalized on this event to further their own cause and damage the world and innocent people in the name of my country.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Strange Famous

One thing I do remember, was after 9/11 spontaneous outpourings of sympathy from the populations of even the most hostile countires. In Iran there were demonstrations against the attack and popular rallies in support of America, in Russia the American embassy was encased in tributes and flowers laid down by the Russian people. I remember American flags being hung up in windows all round Ipswich, the local paper publshed a fold out paper US flag and loads of people pinned it up in their windows.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Stompy

I agree w/ pan.

I mean, yeah, it sucked and all, but I don't think of it any differently than when it was bombed in 1993 or when the Oklahoma building was bombed.. just a higher death toll.

I don't feel any differently about my saftey or security, and I don't think anyone else should, either. If saftey/security was really a problem, there would've been more "terror attacks" since 3 years ago. That was a one in a million shot for the terrorists and I bet they'd never be able to do something on that scale again.

I think people shouldn't buy into the "terrorist boogeyman" junk that the media/politicians spew out. Any time 9/11 or terrorism is mentioned, it's just in one ear, out the other for me because it's really just a crutch for politicians that would otherwise have absolutely nothing going for them.

If it was really a problem, it would happen more frequently.. and trust me, it would, because they REALLY want to get us. Right now, you have a better chance of winning the lottery than you do of being caught in a terror attack, so I'm not really concerned.

I think 9/11 made me change the way I look at this country.. in a bad way. All of a sudden everyone was patriotic, putting flags on their car being all supportive when just 24 hours prior they could've given a shit less. Just goes to show how easily impressionable the general public is I guess.

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powerclown

I'll try to make this productive instead of dumbfounded. I should know better by now around here.
One of those, "You'll never forget where you were that day" events for me. A unique event in history that came out of nowhere.

What I remember most vividly about 9/11/01:

-My parents were in Manhattan that day, on vacation with friends. My dad called me and said to turn on the tv. He said the city was shut down, all roads/tunnels closed, streets empty. He was calling from within the hotel via his cellphone, saying the hotel was closed and everyone was in the bar getting sloshed, watching the tv.

-The global outpouring of sympathy & condolence. The silent, panning images on tv of the worlds' capitals, with their flags at half-staff, their church bells tolling, their people gathering in crowds holding candlelight vigils. The civilized world's leaders united in their expression of shock, disbelief and outrage. The Giant Headline in the newspapers. Magazine covers devoid of text, simply a picture. Sporting events cancelled.

-The manner in which Bush addressed the country the following 3-4 months. Articulate, honest, resolute. Strong and from the heart. Particularly the speech he gave standing atop a pile of rubble at ground zero, bullhorn in hand, arm around a fireman.

-How the cockroaches ran screaming for the shadows, pausing abruptly from their evil work - shaken themselves by the magnitude - and pleading their innocence. They understood fully the nature of the giant they awoke.

-People in certain foreign countries dancing in the streets.

Ustwo

Since I don't want to flame in this thread I will have to ignore a few posts, some of you amaze me to no end.

All I can say is never forget, never let it happen again.

There is evil in this world, and it can not be ignored, it can not be reasoned with, and it can not be tolerated. For to long we ignored it, assumed it would never hurt us, and we didn't want to look like global bullies. It bit us in the ass.

I will never forget what I saw that day. I have the image of a man in a suite who jumped to his death burned into my mind forever. The press says they won't show those pictures again since they would only stir 'hatred', they don't have to be shown to me, I remember them as if I saw them yesterday.

I can't imagine what those who had to do the cleanup saw and felt.

And while I am amazed how some people can be so blasé about the attacks I am glad we are doing something besides saying nice words and waiting for the next attack.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

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Cynthetiq

I've been looking at the lights all night... from my living room when they first turned on to me walking around the lower east side...

OpieCunningham

9/11/01 was indeed sad. Like many extraodinary events, no one will forget the circumstances of how they found out it was happening.

Being 3 years on now, these days I'm more disappointed and annoyed that the event has been used so poorly, cynically and with such tragic consequences by the jingoist American's who have failed this country in so many ways.

The arrogance of the "I will never forget" crowd is shocking, considering no one is suggesting anyone could or should forget. That it has been used as a rallying cry for artificial patriotism instead of the lust for revenge that it clearly is, is disappointing beyond all measure.

pedro padilla

i watched 9 11 on european tv. i was at first really shocked by the average joe in the street reaction. " yeah, thats horrible but paybacks a bitch. americas been doing that to everyone else for 50 years." thinking about all the global nastiness in our closet, it really is surprising the US stayed untouched for so long. current policy is only creating more danger of an encore.

Rdr4evr

I agree with Pan and Stompy on this one. There is already a thread about this titled "Three years" and I posted my opinion in there. In short, 9/11 was horrible, but nothing that crazy or surprising. America has been killing innocent civilians for years, and in Iraq, death tolls on the innocent range from 10,000 - 30,000. Do I think what happened was horribly tragic? Yes. Do I think its one of the worst terrorist attacks ever? No. Bush's terrorism has killed three to ten times that many people in his near 4 year term.

Yeah, and it seems they could give a shit less right now too. The flag fad seems to have dissappeared. Dont worry though, when another major attack happens, the flags will be back up for a good month or two.