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"Yesterday, I sent out a blanket
e-mail asking for people's reaction to the events of Sept. 11. Here
are the responses I received." L Vargas
"It's unfortunate that it takes an event like this to deliver
a wake-up call to the American people.
The American military is outmoded, obsolete, and useless in a situation
like this. Bombs, grenades, nuclear warheads, and stealth fighters
could do nothing to prevent, defend or minimize this attack.The
status quo is not good enough. Instead of training the sub-literate
to dig foxholes and make their beds, let's consider upgrading our
intelligence and information systems.
Commercial Airlines cannot be trusted to run their operations with
any degree of security. Airline security personnel consist of low-paid,
poorly skilled workers. These people cannot be trusted to protect
the safety of anyone. The airline industry must realize that sacrificing
security for their bottom line threatens us all. Commercial air
travel as a system is fundamentally flawed.
Terrorist organizations in the middle east, like drug cartels in
South America, operate freely and openly in their home nations.
They have financial, military, and physical presence. These groups
have well-known and respected leaders, families, compounds, military
equipment, and government presence. We know where they are, now
it is time to eliminate them and the governments that support them.
Economic and physical suffocation is our only retribution."
-Matt, web programmer.
Words like shock & disbelief leap to mind;
in our own capital, in New York...
it never seemed possible. If we blink, it
does not go away and we're left with all the rage, anger and questions
inside, boiling to the top. If it was war they wanted, these terrorist
cowards, it appears they have one.
My stomach churned at the site of children
dancing in the streets of Palestine, celebrating a screaming "Allah
is great!" Allah is great, but my God is better. My God said "Thou
shalt not kill."
-Barry,
newspaper Editor
"I was half asleep, still sick with the flu, and I thought *Godzilla*
was on, or that it was the closing scene from *Fight Club*. A part
of my mind said, "no, this is real," but I still didn't want to believe
it. It's real. It's hypereal.
My "prayers" go to the people who died today, to their families, the
survivors, and to those who are now afraid that their city is next.
In essence, to everyone, because when something like this happens,
it happens to us all.
It is my sincere hope that people don't turn on each other. The Taliban,
I've heard, is the suspect group. My fear is that people will look
at anyone who they believe has a "Middle Eastern" face, or whom they
know to be Afghani, and create an enemy. Please do not do this!
I have friends in DC, one of whom, Aaron Hunter, is the Press Secretary
for Susan Davis. I was beyond ecstatic to learn that they were all
safely evacuated. His mother, Karolyn Schwind, was at home, and she
is OK. My mother, Connie Relf, is in San Francisco, and unable to
return home until the airflights resume. I hope she returns by car
instead.
This is horrendous. Even here in San Diego, people are closing their
stores--even malls were closed today. My first thought is that this
is a sign of respect. My second, a sign of fear."
-Terri,
college professor.
"From the happy bubble I call my life:
When these things happen and for so many young individuals, this
will be the event that starts their awareness on new level of perception.
Like it was when I was a kid and that man shot a bunch of people
at the MacDonalds, the world was no longer the same. Only when I
let my guard down, only when I forget about danger is it not there,
because it's never really gone if I am aware; life requires that
I recognize the risk. Useless sacrifice and risk in going to work?!
In flying on a plane and landing in somebody's political nightmare
come true? And for what? What summary stuperphrase will a person
who arranges such a vengeance provide as explanation of their efforts?
What dent in what system are they now proud of? What is being tweaked
on, now that so much energy has been diverted to disaster recovery?
My brain calls for the Super Friends to save people, Sherlock Holmes,
Encycolpedia Brown, Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine to catch
whodunit, and Merlin for the righteous supernatural punishment.
Hang in there Goodness, My Love will Evolve to fit the real world"
-Kris, bookstore owner."
"Killing leads to
killing
leads to
killing
leads to killing...
where did it start...
when will it end...?"
-Shawn, student.
"I've never gone to new york city
and looked upon those mighty towers of blue
of orange on a summers fall night
symbols of our capitalistic society.
so many times, debate over
our system has clouded the
vision
of what those actually must look like
-in person.
a mighty blow
for a capitalist
the world will never be the same
september"
-Anonymous.
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