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I loved it when NPR got the tards all riled up by doing that with the Declaration of Independence
torontoduke
Legend
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Terry was the best
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- Jul 5, 2019
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- Joined
- Jul 5, 2019
- Messages
- 517
Pretty jarring seeing kids on Twitter talk about what happened on this day 18 years ago.
I had to get counseling. Scared to death of planes. I couldn't go to any football games for a while. I remember the first one- I made dad take me home because I saw a plane in the sky. My psychologist gifted me an American flag pencil. I remember proudly taping the American flag to the front door of my grandma's house. It was one that everyone received in the newspaper. Still remember the walk home from school that day. Most kids had already been picked up early. I remember dad telling me that there'd never be another day like this in our lives- crystal blue sky with not a plane in sight. I asked him who would want to hurt us and why. My mom took us to an emergency church service that night. I remember it was absolutely packed- even more people than Easter Sunday. I remember people crying- wailing even. All the lives lost and altered. I can't watch anything 9/11 on NatGeo or Discovery or History without crying. The story about "Salty", the lab who wouldn't leave his owner, really gets me. Dust Lady, Falling Man, Kevin Cosgrove phone call, the firefighters and police and EMS and hatzalah, etc. It just gets to me. Those towers were the most beautiful and awe-inspiring structures I've ever seen. Such power and might. The landmarks of dreams. I'm no psychologist, but I still probably suffer from a little bit of PTSD.
Fuck those bastards.
I had to get counseling. Scared to death of planes. I couldn't go to any football games for a while. I remember the first one- I made dad take me home because I saw a plane in the sky. My psychologist gifted me an American flag pencil. I remember proudly taping the American flag to the front door of my grandma's house. It was one that everyone received in the newspaper. Still remember the walk home from school that day. Most kids had already been picked up early. I remember dad telling me that there'd never be another day like this in our lives- crystal blue sky with not a plane in sight. I asked him who would want to hurt us and why. My mom took us to an emergency church service that night. I remember it was absolutely packed- even more people than Easter Sunday. I remember people crying- wailing even. All the lives lost and altered. I can't watch anything 9/11 on NatGeo or Discovery or History without crying. The story about "Salty", the lab who wouldn't leave his owner, really gets me. Dust Lady, Falling Man, Kevin Cosgrove phone call, the firefighters and police and EMS and hatzalah, etc. It just gets to me. Those towers were the most beautiful and awe-inspiring structures I've ever seen. Such power and might. The landmarks of dreams. I'm no psychologist, but I still probably suffer from a little bit of PTSD.
Fuck those bastards.
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- 517
I mean, I've heard this opinion before- I just disagree. Lots of reasonable minds disagree on this.
I think Yamasaki was brilliant. Look at the sunlight that reflected off the edges, and the powerful and beautiful tridents at the base. Add that onto the sheer size. They were so in your face. For 1972- those things were absolute monsters. Hell, if they were built in any city in the world today, they'd be monsters. I bet the outdoor observation deck was dope.
I believe Yamasaki said he didn't build one tower twice as tall because he "didn't want to lose the human scale"
That's art, my friend.
deeyoukayeee
All American
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- Oct 9, 2012
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- 2,722
I have mixed feelings about this date. On one hand, I lost a close friend who left behind a wife and two young daughters, and that makes me feel sick whenever I think about it. On the other hand, because that event has so truly fucked up the mentality of this country, wasted trillions of dollars, begat the TSA and Patriot Act, and led to the deaths of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of foreigners - mostly innocents - I hate the fact we as a nation hold on to it so tightly. In the annals of human history it was a pinprick in terms of 'catastrophes'. Ten minutes at the Somme or an afternoon at Sobibor were far more horrific and senseless.
The monstrosity that is the museum at ground zero is so out of proportion relative to the Vietnam memorial or the monuments at Gettysburg that it just seems obnoxiously indulgent. I miss my buddy and think we should be vigilant about terrorist activities in our domestic policing and foreign policies, but I think fetishizing this event whose impact was blown out of proportion mostly due to its telegenic nature needs to end.
The monstrosity that is the museum at ground zero is so out of proportion relative to the Vietnam memorial or the monuments at Gettysburg that it just seems obnoxiously indulgent. I miss my buddy and think we should be vigilant about terrorist activities in our domestic policing and foreign policies, but I think fetishizing this event whose impact was blown out of proportion mostly due to its telegenic nature needs to end.
Bullettoothtony
All American
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The 9/11: Inside Air Force One documentary that aired on the History Channel last night was riveting. I'd seen something similar before but this was new and had a lot more detail, more and updated interviews, etc. Really detailed account of how the president experienced that day aboard the plane.
If you missed it I highly recommend you catch it when it re-airs or some other way.
If you missed it I highly recommend you catch it when it re-airs or some other way.
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2019
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I am sorry about your friend.
I completely and vehemently disagree with the pinprick and fetishizing comments. America and its crown jewels of New York and Washington was/is the shining city on a hill. I know you disagree given your previous Yoorup comments, but that's life. People disagree.
I do agree with you about the TSA, Patriot Act, and the war with Iraq that followed. W Bush was an intellectually stunted chump.
They plan should have been to rebuild both towers immediately- twice as tall- and focus on getting OBL. Fuck the Taliban- who cares. Just get OBL and Al-Qaeda. And give the 9/11 responders/etc. healthcare subsidies for life.
Iraq War was soooo dumb and out of left field and distracting and unnecessary. Fuck Bush forever.
I am glad to see Trump apparently didn't want a war with Iran. Kudos to the bad orange man.
deeyoukayeee
All American
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Pinprick was probably the wrong word. It was far less damaging to this country, in reality, than a pinprick. It is our continued scratching of this insignificant wound that has caused the infection.
And yes it is fetishized. Watching TV yesterday and surfing around the internet, I saw and read accounts by perfectly reasonable people that were borderline hysterical. The only country I can think of off hand that hasn't gone through something orders of magnitude more tumultuous than 9/11 in the last century is Canada. If I lived in London or Paris or Delhi or Moscow or Jakarta or Tehran or Harare or Caracas or etc, etc, etc and saw Americans acting like the world ended because two buildings fell down and the bad guys knocked down a wall of the Pentagon, I'd reflexively think 'grow a pair'.
And really, the terrifying thing isn't so much how shattered about it so many people seem to still be, but the obvious proposition: What will happen when/if something TRULY devastating happens to this country? Given our immoderate reaction to 9/11, the logical answer is pretty depressing to think about. This is why I wish we could ratchet down our overwhelming egotism as a country.
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I would say 9/11 is the worst thing that will happen to us. Knock on wood. The big threat would have been China in 50-100 years, but their stupid population controls may have ended the war before it began. Their economy will never reach its full potential, and therefore neither will their military. Their social and political issues will also hurt it. By the time they reverse those ill effects of the 1 child rule and the draconian social/political system, the USA will have filled in all its empty space out West and down South. Russia is desperately clinging to relevancy, but they will ultimately fail. Their population numbers are gross, and it's not attractive to immigrants.
You are equating America to other countries, and I do not agree with that. Trivializing 9/11 to fit a political narrative of inclusion and worldliness and neoliberal utopia isn't something I can get behind.
We are not the UK, France, India, Russia, Indonesia, Iran, Zimbabwe, or Venezuela. Stuff like 9/11 should not happen to us.
You may not like this attitude, but I truly believe it is what separates us and makes us the world leader. We march to the beat of our drum. Guns, healthcare, system of measurements, football, attracting immigrants, the list is endless. Almost every important innovation and watershed moment since we were founded- cars, phones, TV, movies, flight, internet, skyscrapers, military, outer space, porn, United Nations, NATO- we either invented it or did it better.
I have no connection to Texas , but I think Texas is a great microcosm of America. Bigger is better in Texas, right? Look at the Cowboys stadium and the Texas State Fair. And you compare it to the states like California and NY that are hemorrhaging business and people to Texas. There's a reason for that.
Hell, our first national monument that I can think of is a giant dick dedicated to George Washington. The alpha male strain in this country will never go away, because freedom and liberty are alpha qualities.
I understand that the young crowd and the "educated" crowd vehemently disagree with most of what I'm saying, and that's fine. America gives you that right. Ironic.