Images of World Trade Center Fire Plume from Space
I think these are some of the most terrifying images of it all, really.

Mike's Message 9/12/2001 [from blogdex]
Michael Moore goes and reminds us to look at ourselves for some of the reasons behind the terrible events... I don't think it excuses anything; as I said -- no rational American of any party wanted this, and I'm uncomfortable with just looking at the actions of this adminstration or the last one -- they all played a part in the sequence of events that created monsters of earlier this week....

With the dust (literally) still settling in NYC, one of the thoughts one goes to is how we are to blame, and some of the internal US poltics to it. No American wanted this; and it was unthinkable (and still is unthinkable).

We probably created these terrorists; monsters left over from an ideological war of economic systems that are now have gone against us. We should have focused more attention on them when we cut back on our military after the end of the cold war. The current administration probably paid too little attention to the middle east in the early months of their adminstration, as the situation there deteriorated over the last year or so.

One of the things that I'm also going to be aware of are some small, little things that sometimes were tolerant of terrorism in various forms. The local Irish-themed bands that include IRA songs in their set lists, which frequently put me a little off-ease, will probably even make me more uncomfortable in the future; even though I like many of the other songs those bands perform. As there were still disgusting actions brought on by both Catholics and Protestants there... (and I think it's a valuable thing to think about before one starts to go off against Muslims generally -- I believe that most people are good people; and the extremists aren't by any means representative...)

I don't know what I'm really rambling on about here... just a few things on mind. I'm not really sure this is the time to think about past poltics though; whether it's the people I've heard raise concerns about whether the person who was selected as President is up to the task, or the comments about previous administrations might have done. None of them wanted this. And we need our leaders to live up to their positions right now. I hope and pray that they are all wiser in the future than they might have been in the past.

Well, I picked up my Doctor Who DVDs today. I was looking forward to getting them yesterday, but of course events made that impossible. It's a cursed series when it comes to america, it seems. (For those of you who aren't Doctor Who experts, the series first started in the UK the day after the JFK was assassinated.)

One of the people in the store before me saw the DVDs and was astonished -- "why would anyone want to buy that crap". Ah well. Some people just don't understand.

I had a conversation with one of the managers of the Suncoast about alarm systems. It was sort of odd.

I've put in all three of them and skimmed through them, and they all look pretty good. Especially Spearhead from Space, which looks fantastic, amazing, and the best Doctor Who ever has on any television I've ever owned.

They're great.

(I might do a more complete review at some point as well.)

The Problem With Retaliation by Robert Wright
Why not rushing to respond -- and making sure we get evidence on who is responsible -- is good.

Another good column on yesterday.
Today, I'm going to get my Doctor Who DVDs that I couldn't get yesterday and watch one of them with my cat. Life will continue as it does; and we in the civilized world are better than they are, and will prove it every day.

11 September 2001: A Strange and Terrible Day
Something I found worth reading.

I don't have much else intellegent to say. I might have other notes on things.

Do you remember the made-for-tv-movie Special Bulletin? It probably aired 20 years ago, when I was just old enough to understand what was going on in the story; and even though I knew it wasn't real, I had nightmares for months.

This time, it was real. I wasn't able to get to sleep until 3:00 AM or so. I tried not to watch any TV last night, I just couldn't handle it.

It looks like my earlier message didn't show up in any fashion to be useful.

I don't know what to say on a day like today. I don't think anyone does.

I'm thankful that it sounds like my friends in NYC and DC are ok -- though I fear I didn't forget anyone. Though I'm terribly saddened for all of the people that lost loved ones today; or those that are injured. And for our country.

I used to be optimistic about the future. I'm not sure I am anymore.

I just don't know what else to say. I just want to hide, escape...

take care all of you.

I don't have much to say on this, as it's too terrifying to contemplate -- and I have friends in NYC, but if you, like me, are trying to find news sites with pictures, and finding that cnn or are overloaded, try a UK news site like Sky.com

This is really terrifying.

I saw Ghost World over the weekend, and I really recommend it. It's fantastic.