Well, I guess it's turning out to be a little more complex than I had imagined. Probably not just anyone with a knife could have done this attack. Still, I think it was about as much damage as you could wreck with a conventional (non nuke; non bio/chemical) attack, and it was carried out with only small knives and box cutters. So there is a distrubing disconnect between the level of technology employed, and the scale of the damage. And I think my fear still stands that this is a difficult attack to defend against short of completely seperating the cabin from the cockpit. There'd be some restroom issues to work out but it still seems reasonable to do. Watching those towers come down was so sad. I don't want anything like that to happen again.
I think the best argument I've heard against a repeat occurrence is that other people on planes that are being hijacked in the future will probably not just sit around. I guess what seems to have happened with the fourth plane (where some of the passengers may have rushed the hijackers and forced the plane down in Pennsylvania) would probably happen in any future attempts. And I guess that's always where our real saftey comes from. Not from "officials" or "the government" (although so many of them are doing a great job right now) but just from the mass of reasonable people out there in the world. I think we're all a little wiser as to the stakes, and I think it would be hard to get us in the same way again.
Winds have completely shifted this morning. They will shift again this evening and blow everything south, but for now we are in the cloud. I know it's not healthy, but we are staying in doors with all windows shut. I thought about leaving, but I think I have to stay. Not for any particular reason, but just because this is where I live. Despite the horror, life in New York City does go on. AKA will be open for business tonight. Come on by.
Doc Searls had this to say today: ...I've always considered myself a New Yawka at heart. And let me tell ya,
what I've been seeing and hearing over the past two days makes me proud of My
People, from the heroic police and fire professionals to the shopkeepers and other
ordinary folks who have done everything they can to help each other out and nothing
to complain about their condition, or even its cause. They've been getting a bum rap
for generations, and now that they have a chance to show what good folks they are,
they're coming through big time.
Maybe the media are being selective in their coverage, or maybe I've missed it; but I
have yet to see anybody pump their fist in the air and demand vengeance.
Here's a challenge to President Bush: walk the streets of New York tomorrow and ask
The People if they're ready to go to war over what happened to their city, their
families, their friends and co-workers.
Maybe I'm way off base, but I doubt Mr. Bush will get the same answer that he's
getting from the security experts ready to go to war over the wrongs those people
suffered. His mind might not change, but it might open up a bit.
Not to introduce too much cynicism, but is there anything to the idea that the phrase "act of war" is being pushed so much because insurance companies don't have to pay out if the disaster is an "act of war" (but they would if it was just a "terrorist attack")? Hope I'm wrong on that one.
They just rescued 5 firefighters who were trapped in the rubble inside an SUV (built ford tough?) That must be a great boost to all those guys who are working so hard. Hopefully there will be a few more good stories today. It's starting to have been a long time.
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I think the best argument I've heard against a repeat occurrence is that other people on planes that are being hijacked in the future will probably not just sit around. I guess what seems to have happened with the fourth plane (where some of the passengers may have rushed the hijackers and forced the plane down in Pennsylvania) would probably happen in any future attempts. And I guess that's always where our real saftey comes from. Not from "officials" or "the government" (although so many of them are doing a great job right now) but just from the mass of reasonable people out there in the world. I think we're all a little wiser as to the stakes, and I think it would be hard to get us in the same way again.
Winds have completely shifted this morning. They will shift again this evening and blow everything south, but for now we are in the cloud. I know it's not healthy, but we are staying in doors with all windows shut. I thought about leaving, but I think I have to stay. Not for any particular reason, but just because this is where I live. Despite the horror, life in New York City does go on. AKA will be open for business tonight. Come on by.
- jim 9-13-2001 2:27 pm
Doc Searls had this to say today:
- jim 9-13-2001 3:01 pm
Not to introduce too much cynicism, but is there anything to the idea that the phrase "act of war" is being pushed so much because insurance companies don't have to pay out if the disaster is an "act of war" (but they would if it was just a "terrorist attack")? Hope I'm wrong on that one.
- jim 9-13-2001 3:04 pm
They just rescued 5 firefighters who were trapped in the rubble inside an SUV (built ford tough?) That must be a great boost to all those guys who are working so hard. Hopefully there will be a few more good stories today. It's starting to have been a long time.
- jim 9-13-2001 6:21 pm