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. . . . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
. . . . . In dedication to
. . . . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm everyone who was lost
. . . . . or lost someone
. . . . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm September 11, 2001:
. . . . . Anada 433
. . . . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm "This Is Big"
by Schoolboy
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09/30/01
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Bigger than Kennedy, bigger than Diana, almost as big as WWII. This
is stuff you read in history books. This is the sort of thing you learn
about sitting in hot dusty classrooms and only occasionally wondering what
it might have been like to be around then.
Many Europeans think that the US has finally been born into the world
for real and is at last realising how much it is despised as a country and
that being "America" does not make it untouchable. Some Europeans have long
been annoyed that the citizens of the USA insist on claiming the word
"American" for themselves when, in fact, America is a continent, a land
mass. Canadians can't call themselves Americans, nor can Peruvians yet that
is what they are. They live in the twin continents of North and South
America. But, for some reason, US citizens have commandeered that
definition. A sign of supreme arrogance some say. Almost as arrogant as
the WTC itself.
I don't subscribe to most of this, as it is far too cynical. I am a
cynical person but, hell, this is different.
I was at work at the time (it was 2pm British time) and I was relying
on overloaded news websites to get any details. The BBC's crashed very
quickly so I tried ABC's (Australia's state broadcaster) as everyone would
be asleep there and got to follow the story. Colleagues had friends in the
buildings and the group that owns my employer had one employee on the first
plane.
The thing about this is that makes it hard to fully process is you
wonder what you should focus on? The human tragedy, the act itself, the
American angle, the reasons for this event or what this will do to the
world, the way the media handles this, the effects only in my country, how
my job has been affected, and it goes on.
The sheer scale of this event cannot be overstated. For the first
time in history 42 European countries and their TV and radio stations paused
for a 3-minute silence on Friday. Never has a silence been as long as 3
minutes.
This is going to affect oil prices, gold prices, the world economy,
day-to-day security measures across the world, taxes may go up if a
prolonged conflict is entered into, insurance will go up do to the sheer
cost of repair, air tickets will go up to pay for the security staff and
equipment, there'll inevitably be more racially motivated violent attacks on
anyone will dark hair and a moustache or beard, skyscrapers will be
redesigned. And this is just some of the effects.
The images are the most indelible ever. There is not just one wobbly
shot like the Zapruder film but multiple angles of planes in high quality
footage, with sound. We have taped phone messages from doomed office
workers and mobile phone calls from passengers. We'll soon have security
camera footage of the suspects boarding the planes. We'll see dozens of
photographs, amateur and professional video footage and we'll remember it
all. Everyone alive today will have a corner of their brain in which these
images will be stored and we will think back to it every time we see another
effect of that Tuesday for years ahead.
The attacks were like some demented Hollywood pitch, "Titanic meets
Air Force One." People jumping out of 80th floor windows, passengers voting
to fight the hijackers, an oblivious President being informed in front of
the cameras sitting in a school. And then on Thursday the terrorists
weren't happy with the first take of their attempts to get the White House
and Camp David so they set they brought in some stand-ins to do a reshoot.
Now real films are having to be reshot. "A.I." still has the twin
towers standing way into the future but submerged in water. T oo late for
the cinema release but will they still be there on the DVD? I doubt it.
"Spiderman" and "Collateral Damage" are in trouble and I bet several
recently greenlighted projects will be rethought too.
But let's be honest, how can any film now ever trump this real event?
Will this be the death of the blockbuster now that the ultimate nightmare
has already happened without the courtesy of waiting for the vital plain-
clothed cop, nearing retirement, to pause trying to get back with his overly
glamorous ex-wife and save everyone with a toothpick and a fluorescent
hardhat? Nobody was there with a Hispanic catchphrase and black sidekick to
stop this and that is what America must start getting used to. The rest of
the world has been trying to tell them that for years.
We could go into all sorts of fundamentals about the root cause for
this situation but what I can't understand is how ostensibly Christian
leaders (Blair, Bush etc.) are happily choosing to ignore the annoyingly
inconvenient lines in the Bible about turning the other cheek, walking the
extra mile and, in the Lord's Prayer, forgiving those who trespass against
us. They instead are choosing to go with the Old Testament eye for an eye
message.
This thing will bring the unchristian out in all of us and will test
Bush (poor, pathetic Bush) to his psychological and diplomatic limits.
I'll be walking around will two fingers out of action for the next
few months because they'll both be crossed.
If there is a God, God save us all.
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. . .------
* * ------ by Schoolboy (c) anada.net 09/30/01
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