That Day, where where you?
Offline I was in Central Va in my apartment and had woken up 20 minutes after the last tower fell. But upon turning on the TV like everyone was horrified. In the days after I had come across a Muslim woman in a parking lot who was scared shitless when I approached her. I simply told her that most Americans do not blame all Muslims. I had also met a woman who was in New York City and witnessed it. The fear on her face was indescribable when she talked about it.
But unfortunately there is too much truth to the meme "Faith flies planes into buildings". In all that though, if the Hebrew god had never been a spin off of the storm god Yahweh of polytheism, there never would have been Christianity or Islam to cause that horrible event.
What caused 9/11 is the same thing that caused the Dark Ages and as Hitchens put it "The parties of God", are a blight on our species existence and the source of far too much human suffering.
So where were you on that day?
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
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I was on a caribou hunt in Alaska. We had an animal down and put out the tarp to signal the plane to land. When you are up there, the only sign of other humans you see are the planes flying overhead and it was extremely unsettling when a whole day went by without a single plane flying over. Then the next day there weren't any planes and we started wondering if something happened to our pilot who was supposed to do a daily flyby. We didn't know if anyone else knew where we were. So we started discussing our plans for walking back to civilization. It wasn't until afternoon on the 13th when they allowed our pilot to fly out and pick us up and we learned what had happened.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
I had returned to Orlando the night before after spending three weeks in China. We were not supposed to return until the 14th but they cut our trip short for an still unknown reason.
I woke up the next morning and turned on the television. I had turned to the news right after the first plane had hit. I remember the building putting out a tremendous amount of smoke. A little later I watched as the second plane flew in the the second tower.
I thought about the terrified people and knew that it was a terrorist attack from Bin Laden. I had been following the attacks previously in the middle east, such as the USS Cole.
I called in to work and they were all freaking out. The company I worked for was on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in Orlando. They all wanted to go home but the CEO wouldn't let them go.
I remember saying to myself that this all would be forgotten in another 50 years. Do we remember The Maine? Pearl Harbor? The Alamo? For some people, Pearl Harbor still resinates but in time, that too will be forgotten. People who were not alive then to witness it will never connect to the visual hysteria caused on that day.
I also remember telling family and friends that in ten years we would rebuild the towers and that the war would be a waste of time. I remember saying that terrorist were idiots because if they wanted to destroy America they were wasting money trying to scare us, but in reality, large corporations and banks ruled the world. They needed to attack us on the stock market and not via bombs. They should be slowly taking over the large corporations.
Going to work. I found out about it just as I arrived. My husband had been watching the morning news (early for us) and he called in to tell me to turn on a TV. I remember not much work got done that day as almost everyone was watching coverage on TV in a conference room or on the internet.
The next day, when I arrived at the bus stop, we had a middle eastern guy as a driver. He was really nervous. The stop I got on to go to work at that time was the end of the line. And there was a brief wait between when the bus arrived and when it left the parking lot. Passengers kept glaring at him. I had to remind myself that this guy was obviously not responsible and just as obviously scared of his passengers.
I was willing to go along with the spooks that there was Iranian complicity - until I saw an article in the newspaper with photos of the people involved and their nationalities - not one Iranian in the bunch. Then I saw a copy of the supposed document of sale of arms on the internet. The wording was almost identical to the Nigerian scam emails that go around. And that was the only document they could find in support of WMDs in Iran. I knew the proposed "war on terror" was hooey and a waste of time, money, and lives at that point.
-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.
"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken
"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.
As one of this board's resident Canadians, let me tell you that if it resonated any less with me than it did with any American, the difference was miniscule. While one might say "Oh, well if you don't live in the same country, why do you identify more with Americans than you do with anyone else?" well, it's because it's simply closer to home. While a big event with mass casualties in the USA typically happens from within, 9/11 was something that we knew immediately wasn't from within. It wasn't some random American with thoughts of bringing things down...this was as big as it gets. Coming from a Polish family (my grandmother having moved to Canada a couple months before my birth, and living here all my life) I've heard many stories about both world wars from the perspective of being in the worst spot possible, (said grandmother being born in 1914) followed by decades of USSR rule following WWII. These things are all very close to me, but almost all of it happened while I wasn't alive, and it certainly all happened before I was old enough to understand what it actually meant. 9/11 was different.
I was 15, in high school at the time (just beginning grade 11). Of all days, I was sick at home that day. Waking up early that morning, realizing I was in no state to go to school, I went back to sleep, obviously with no idea what I was about to wake up to. My older brother was in his first year of college at the time, and upon arriving to school himself, saw everyone in front of TVs. Most people went home, including himself. I was awoken after the second plane strike, but before either tower collapsed. My brother woke me up saying "America is under attack. The twin towers both got hit by jets!". Now I'm a person who is able to wake up for 45 minutes or more, go back to bed, and forget everything that happened in my brief period of wakefulness. Due to that I'm hardly straight thinking shortly after waking up. I wasn't sure whether to take him seriously for a second. But I darted out of bed surprised by the level of seriousness and urgency in his face. I went to the TV as quick as I could, saw what was going on, with replays of the second plane colliding, and simply couldn't believe it. Of course it was real, but it took time to process that that had really happened. Even 12 years later, it's difficult to get that image out of my head of...well...everthing. The panic, the hysteria...people jumping out of the buildings...that will never stop being hard to think about. It's one of those things that will resonate with me for the rest of my life (as long as my memory is working as it should anyway).
My heart breaks for anyone and everyone who lost someone close to them due to this senseless violent act. Also I feel nothing but the utmost respect for all who were at ground zero, be it first responders, firefighters, police officers, paramedics, or any brave civilian who were just there, doing what they felt was their duty, whether it was their job, or whether they were simply compelled to do so as a human being.
Canada and the USA will make jokes at eachother until the cows come home most days. Today is not that day. Today is the day that if it weren't for the distance between myself and all 310+ million of you, I would give a hug to all of you, and say nothing, but listen to whatever you all want to say. If every September 11th, I got all the time in the world before I decided to actually go to bed, that's how I would spend it.
Theists - If your god is omnipotent, remember the following: He (or she) has the cure for cancer, but won't tell us what it is.
I'm old enough to remember where I was on Nov.22,1963. Third grade at St.Theresa's in south Brewer Maine, doing paper mache' heads on baloons, when I heard that news.
On Sept.11, 2001 I was at work in Mississauga, doing pretty much what you see in this video (the realy is me at 1:01 to 1:50) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlwgenlmThw . At around 11:00 AM one of our sales people told us a plane had crashed into WTC, he'd heard it from his wife who was home watching TV at the time, I thought it was an accident, but I was too busy at the moment to ask details. By 12:25 PM I was takeing my lunch break in my car when I heard the worst news I could imagine. Both towers were down, the pentagon was hit and a once empty field in Pennsylvania was a crash site. No casualty numbers yet but I always think in terms of numbers, I was thinking between 20 to 30,000 could have been killed. At 4:00PM I'm home watching CNN. I felt a great sense of "relief" when I heard the dead "only" numbered 3000 or so. Then I felt guilty for the "relief". What I fet afterward was best described above by Jabberwocky. Thank you Jabberwocky.
btw that TV show was filmed in 2003 and the producers thought I looked better in front of the camera then the 4 men who actually worked those stations. I was the line engineer in that department, that's why you see my "clean" hand at one point , real operators wouldn't have clean hands or uniforms; ahhh the magic of Hollywood North.
edit} HELP. That video doesn't connect to anything but when I search [ How it's made - Solid tires ] can someone here fix it or explain it.
When you see the kind of machinery I worked with for 32 years you'll better understand how I can be so incompitant around computers. Thanks in advance for any help.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
It touched the lives of tons of people all over the world. Over 80 nationality backgrounds(citizens, naturalized citizens with family or ancestors from elsewhere) and all the world's major religions had dead represented. There was a reason it was called "The World Trade Center".
What sickens me is that if you listen to many on the right they'd act like it was an attack on Christianity and only white Christians died.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
I was in New Jersey when it happened. My hometown borders the New York City skyline and there were areas that you could see the clouds of black smoke billowing all across the sky. My uncle and a couple of friends of mine were trapped in the Lincoln tunnel with backed up traffic for hours. Cell phones were out, electricity and power were out, and it felt like I was in the middle of some movie.
People all over the streets of my neighborhood were gathering around radios, and in each others homes to watch the news. Rumors were flying wildly about what might be going on. The first few hours were REAL chaotic, because no one knew if it was over or not. No one knew who was responsible, no one knew if even more attacks were on the way. Nothing.
For some reason, I was off of work that day. Can't remember why. I had turned on the television to watch the news and was looking at the World Trade Center explosion. I was thinking that it was a freak accident and then that second plane flew around and smashed directly into the building. I remember my mouth was just wide open with astonishment.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
I was in the living room in my college apartment, trying to finish a database project. One of my roommates got up earlier than normal and turned on CNN. For the most part, I was trying to ignore the TV and work. I kept glancing over and noticed a building on fire, not knowing what was going on. Later, I saw the damage to the Pentagon, which is what got my attention. While I was watching, I saw the jet crash into the second tower live.
Needless to say, I stopped working on the project for the rest of the day.
i was on my way to anthropology class when someone (i think it was my roommate) remarked, almost off-handedly, "someone crashed a plane into the world trade center." my immediate response was, "what kinda fuckin' idiot does that?" then our professor came in and said the second tower had just been hit and we knew it was no accident. we went to the girls' dorm lobby and switched on the tv. we saw the second tower collapse live.
i felt like a prick at the time for it and i feel like a prick now, but i gotta be honest: my first thought was, "fuck, i'm drafted. that's it. it's happened."
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I think you probably was not the only one that had that thought.
Truth to be told, I actually remember thinking, (once the initial shock had passed) "Fuck, I had better get to the market and load up on cigarettes, booze, beer and food. The looting is about to start."
Several clerks in the store were worried about the possibility of a draft.
Hell, I got home and although lights and electricity were off/on (it was worse in some areas) I did not move from the battery powered radio that I had to listen to each new update.
I literally thought that I was experiencing what people in a nuclear war would feel like.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
Well you aren't the only prick. I had been out of the military for only 8 months and was getting used to being back in civilian life and just starting to get my shit together. I was in the reserves so one of my first thoughts was "fuck, they are going to want me back", if my medical status wasn't such a clusterfuck they probably would have.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
The only reason I recall anything about that day, other than the fact I thought it was odd that TSN would show a movie when I turned on the tv that morning, is because the media hammered at it for 12 years and continues to. It was hardly a big deal compared to a dozen other things that happened within a year or two on either side of 2001. But because people decided to escalate it out of proportion it became a big deal. And now the world is far worse off overall. The terrorists won.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
i was scared not so much of what happened but what the consequences would be, especially with that batshit redneck in the white house. i swear, i remember watching him making his "if you're not with us, you're against us" speech and thinking he looked like he was one tickle away from blowing his load in his pants. he was so getting off on going to war. fucker.
i remember telling my wife that if the world were decimated because of his bullshit and i survived, that human piece of trash, assuming he survived too (which would be likely), had better be in a bunker somewhere with all his secret service goons still intact, because i would personally do everything in my power to get to him and make him die slowly. my sincerity actually scared her a bit.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I think that is a personality type issue with humans in evolution. I do understand wanting police and military, I do. I think those are unfortunate aspects of reality. But in my life I have heard people I know and stories in media where those in position of power froth at the thought of "getting the bad guy" as if everything is a Dirty Harry Movie or John Wayne movie.
If I were in charge of recruiting for military or police I WOULD NOT want people that find glee in this. The honor isn't in being proud of doing it. The honor is in wishing your job didn't exist at all.
If you want a job simply for the title, or the glory, you are a fucking idiot, and to me, a danger to humanity. Bush had something to prove to daddy and to the world. He was a emotional rash moron who went with his gut and nothing he did shows any realism or pragmatism to how it would end up.
We don't need Dirty Harry or John Wayne as leaders.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
I was in college and it was early morning and I was listening to the radio and ABC Radio News mistakenly thought a Cessna plane hit the World Trade Towers. Only when the second plane hit they knew it was terrorism.
I immediately knew it was Islamic terrorists. I mean it sure as hell wasn't the Hare Krishnas!
Click here to find out why Christianity is the biggest fairy tale ever created!! www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm www.JesusNEVERexisted.com
only because they don't have the resources. the hare krishnas can be pretty fuckin' violent. they definitely don't hold to the hindu ideal of ahimsa, and their founder, who was an utter piece of shit, preached militancy. they've been known to physically attack people whom they feel are encroaching on their "territory," especially other religious people passing out literature. they view the "karmis," people outside the cult, as being completely worthless, and it's unimportant if they live or die.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Thanks for the warning iwbiek, there is a hare krishna temple being buildt across the street from my house in Guyana, and now you tell me they are not only noisy but violent!! How are they going to react to an atheist who host christmass charitys for Hindus and Muslims?
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
well, they don't usually go out of their way to fuck with people. they don't have the resources or manpower for that. i'm just saying, their carefully crafted hollywood peacenik image is total bullshit and all one has to do is google a bit to find that out. they're not pacifists at all, nor are they even that interested in converting people. they're more interested in using high-pressure sales tactics to get you to buy spurious translations of the gita with commentary by their charlatan founder prabhupada at inflated prices, so they can kick that back to their leaders who live like kings.
i wouldn't be surprised if a few of them try to slip into your events with the orthodox hindus and then peddle their bullshit there. prabhupada did state many times that the followers of krishna consciousness would enslave and even massacre at will the karmis at the end of the present world-age (yuga).
this site has a great, free autobiography of a guy who is ex-hare krishna. he talks about all their classic cult methods: constant work for no pay, being forced to cut off your loved ones, being kept on a low-nutrition diet of mostly starchy and sweet foods, repetitive mantras, insider lingo, constant competition for meager praise, etc. he also mentions being praised for being violent and aggressive to anyone who tried to mess with them.
http://www.madafterkrishna.com/
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I have never heard the Hare Krishnas are militants in any way. Whenever I saw videos or read quotes from the founder, Sri Prabhupada, it was always about peace.
Click here to find out why Christianity is the biggest fairy tale ever created!! www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm www.JesusNEVERexisted.com
They would hardly be the first religion to NOT practice what they preach.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
of course. every founder religion is selective in how it quotes the founder, especially to the general public.
do some research. prabhupada was an egotistical, racist, sexist control-freak who basically abandoned his wife in india to come to the US as some sort of guru, because americans don't know any better (especially in the '60s) and they have deeper pockets than indians. he preached whatever suited his needs at the moment and that included endorsing violence. in fact, one of the few things that often turned off his starry-eyed, naïve hippy converts was his endorsement of wars in southeast asia.
he's in the same class of phony gurus who duped self-centered westerners as maharishi mahesh yogi, satya sai baba, and sri chinmoy.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Exactly !
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
But Looney Christians are even worse! FAR FAR WORSE! Remember Christianity is the only religion that has murdered people on every single continent except Antarctica!! A few hundred years ago the Pope gave knights permission to RAPE and MURDER!! Christianity is literally the Devil's religion! Nothing comes close to the evil they have perpetrated! It should've died out with the Roman empire! I know Islam is worse now but historically they weren't.
The Mughals in India worked to find common ground with Hindus and didn't forcefully convert most of them but look at the Christians in Europe. They pillaged and plundered throughout Europe with their whole "convert or die" mentality and converted the entire European continent to a bullshit Middle Eastern religion!!
And I haven't even mentioned all the Bible verses that say you must convert to their religion or DIE!!
Click here to find out why Christianity is the biggest fairy tale ever created!! www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm www.JesusNEVERexisted.com