I’m surprised no one started a thread on the subject. Hard to believe it’s been 5 years since 9/11. What an incredible occurence that was. Just from an ordinary perspective of seeing two such massive structures turn to rubble in minutes. Wow. But of course it was far more complex than that. How much the world has changed since then.
It wasn’t 5 years ago, today is September 11th too.
IMHO it hasn’t influenced my life in the least.
9/11 Leaves Its Mark on History Classes
The present has a way of changing the way that historians think about the past. The trauma of Sept. 11, 2001, is likely to be no exception: Five years after the attacks on New York and Washington, many historians say 9/11 and its aftermath are leaving their mark on how American history is written and taught.
nytimes.com/2006/09/06/nyreg … ref=slogin
i think at least that’s a good thing,there was way too much ignorance pre 9/11
5 years seems about right, to my mind. Not much further down the pipeline in what deems to be a long struggle.
That aside the resonance that 911 carries it quite astounding. As it magnified by the gripping images we witnessed on CNN. It may well be the defining moment of our generation wrt to the angling of a political act, the mass media, and an easily titilated audience.
“Where were you when it happened?”…
Edit: As I reviewed this post, I noticed that this brought my post count up to 911.
[quote]Posts: 911
Total Words: 79,222[/quote]
Now that’s a freakish event. 
Thou I guess I can never post again to prove i’m not overdoing the Erdinger. 
Just because you’re a jackass doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it.
I was glad that I was home when the attacks happened. I think it’s impossible for anyone who wasn’t in the States at that time to comprehend the grief we all went through in the weeks afterwards. People spontaneously breaking down in tears, strangers hugging each other in the street, thousands of people cramming into parks for candlelight vigils. I never felt prouder to be an American.
Thankfully I wasn’t in Taiwan at the time and so I didn’t have to overhear that sort of BS from a bunch of wankers at some goddamn foreigner bar.
Just because you’re a jackass doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it.
I was glad that I was home when the attacks happened. I think it’s impossible for anyone who wasn’t in the States at that time to comprehend the grief we all went through in the weeks afterwards. People spontaneously breaking down in tears, strangers hugging each other in the street, thousands of people cramming into parks for candlelight vigils. I never felt prouder to be an American.
Thankfully I wasn’t in Taiwan at the time and so I didn’t have to overhear that sort of BS from a bunch of wankers at some goddamn foreigner bar.[/quote]
Listen boyo, I gave my opinion. The fact that IT DID influence people’s lives is another point entirely. The fact that it would have influenced your life as an American is also true. But get it through your head that:
A.) I wasn’t saying the entire 9/11 event wasn’t sad or heinous,
B.) I never inferred that it didn’t affect the lives of millions of people (notably the US, Western Europe and several Middle Eastern nations) ,
and
C.) I never said I don’t have sympathy for the people who died nor the loved one’s they left behind.
I merely stated that it didn’t affect my life. I’m not American (along with the other 5.7 odd billion people on the planet), so it’s not something I give much thought, and I didn’t remember the entire business until I saw this thread.
So just because you’re ignorant doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it either.
And just another thing. At that time I was not in Taiwan either. FYI, when the event occurred, at first I didn’t beleive it. I first saw TV images without sound and thought it was a trailer to a new movie. When I realised it was real and current and sat down to watch I was stunned, shocked and appalled. I couldn’t believe that people could do that to each other and cause so much death and destruction. So yes, some of us “non-Americans” were also saddened and appalled. But not being American and not being influenced by it first hand you’re asking alot for a tragic event in America to have touched us all and changed all our lives.
Question: Did Nelson Mandela’s release in February 1990 influence/affect your life? Where were you that day? Was your life changed forever? Why not? Are you a jackass?
Think about what you’re saying before you insult people you don’t know a damn thing about…
There you go. A human response to a terrible tragedy. That’s all you needed to show.
Not at the time.
Considering I was 11 years old at the time, probably at a playground.
Probably not as much as yours. But if, say, Nelson Mandela were to pass on and many people were expressing their condolences, I would probably nod in silent agreement, knowing what few words I had to say could add little to the shared experience. You wouldn’t see me crapping in the thread, saying, “This guy meant nothing to me.”
[quote=“alidarbac”]
I was glad that I was home when the attacks happened. I think it’s impossible for anyone who wasn’t in the States at that time to comprehend the grief we all went through in the weeks afterwards. People spontaneously breaking down in tears, strangers hugging each other in the street, thousands of people cramming into parks for candlelight vigils. I never felt prouder to be an American.
Thankfully I wasn’t in Taiwan at the time and so I didn’t have to overhear that sort of BS from a bunch of wankers at some goddamn foreigner bar.[/quote]
It was strange…Because I’m from the West Coast, I was watching it on CNN before my relatives even knew what was happening…Wookie called me while driving home from work saying that something had happened. I called my Mom in Portland a little later and woke her up. I remember her first reaction was that something bad had happened to me. “No Mom, I’m ok…You need to turn on the news; right now” She turned on the TV just as the first tower fell, and I heard the phone clunk onto the carpet as she dropped it.
I didn’t get any BS fortunately…To be honest, I don’t know how I would have reacted to it. Probably about as well as you did 
Just because you’re a jackass doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it.[/quote]
No he’s not a jackass. Just a person who doesn’t fly. 
Just because you’re a jackass doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it.[/quote]
No he’s not a jackass. Just a person who doesn’t fly. [/quote]
I had the exact same thought, Namahottie. I didn’t find his comment rude at all. If he says the events of 9/11 havent affected his life, I believe he really feels that way, though it seems he’s probably mistaken. At the very least, as you point out, anyone who flies has been affected by it, due to the greatly increased security measures since then, removing your shoes to board a plane, etc.
On the other hand, I found the response to his comment to be rude and uncalled for and part of the legacy of 9/11. One of the effects of 9/11, was an immediate and understandable rallying together of people in shock, grief, awe, and overwhelming emotions after having seen the towers and the thousands of people tumble to the ground. This led to flag waving, love it or leave it, you’re with us or with the enemy patriotism of divisiveness and hostility, and to the insatiatable, unwinnable, everlasting WAR ON TERROR and the completely unrelated but somehow related WAR ON IRAQ and battle lines were drawn between those who support our leaders to do anything in fighting those WARS and those who are a little sceptical of them. That, in my opinion, is one of the most significant results of the 9/11.
My brother told me the same and I could tell from our phone conversations that he was extremely shaken by the event and grief-stricken and emotional for a long time afterwards, and he is no flag-waving republican. I was in Taiwan at the time (and remember watching in shock on the news that night, the live news as the towers burned), so I didn’t experience first-hand the emotional response in the US, but I believe it – that all across america (and elsewhere) people were extremely shaken and moved and overwhelmed by grief and emotion and would spontaneously break into tears.
Sad that it takes a tragedy and people gathering together in its aftermath to be proud of ones nation, but I get your point. People were kind, caring, supportive and cohesive. That is a good thing.
It’s too bad, though, that such positive feelings and reactions should then lead to divisiveness, fingerpointing, linedrawing and hostilities, but that’s the dark side of patriotism I suppose.
I have no idea what that means. I was in Taiwan and didn’t hear BS from wankers after 9/11. Taiwanese are obviously so far removed from the western world and western news and events, that it was only a short blip in the news stories – exciting story about burning buildings and terrorism – and co-workers asked, “did you see. . . ?” Duh. “how do you feel about. … ?” Duh. But I don’t remember any BS comments. In my experience, people here, while they weren’t as moved as people in the US, did their best to be respectful.
Back to Bismark’s comment. I didn’t find your remark rude, and I know what you’re saying, that it hasn’t affected your everyday life, but turn on the news any day and it should seem clear the world is completely different as a result of 9/11.
What’s wrong with saying 9/11 didn’t affect your life?
It didn’t affect my life directly, either. It affected the way I travel, but not directly. Ms 914 is a New Yorker, so it affects me if it affected her. I respect the effect 9/11 has on Americans, and I mourn with my neighbors, but when people like Bismarck are honest to say they weren’t affected and be insulted for voicing that, it’s not very nice.
I expected nothing to happen, and it did.
I think Al Queda will soon start putting out press releases before their videos though. yawwwwn
Exactly my point. I never said it meant nothing to me. I said it hadn’t [color=blue]influenced[/color] my life at all. Why? Because I (fortunately) didn’t know anyone who was involved (survivors or victims). The aftermath and all it encompassed hasn’t influenced my life either. The most influence it has had on my life is this exchange between you and I.
I’m sorry if this fact has somehow offended you, but that’s the way it is. BUT, although it hasn’t influenced my life (and probably 5.5 billion other lives) it doesn’t mean I’m not empathetic. It doesn’t mean I don’t think it was a mindless act of violence that brought extreme grief to thousands of innocent people. It has influenced my life about as much as the holocaust. But I still think the holocaust was a regrettable and shameless act against humanity.
Do you understand the difference?
Thanks for that bit of understanding. It really wasn’t meant to be rude, or insulting for that matter.
As mentioned in an above post about flying. I’ve never really been a frequent flyer, so the added security measures have gone unnoticed by me. But this is probably an area in my life that will be affected sooner or later by packing something that I shouldn’t have, and not known about it because I don’t really pay attention to these things.
In the immediate aftermath, there was a lot of flag-waving going on, but there was most certainly not any “love it or leave it” wankery. I think NPR and other lefty media outlets were definitely looking for the retribution angle, e.g. mobs of people descending on some poor Sikh taxi driver. But considering how emotional people were at the time, I thought there was surprisingly very little of that. People came together in a way that was completely spontaneous and unorchestrated by politicians.
I agree with you that the political discourse in America went down the shitter sometime starting in late '02 as the push for the war in Iraq got stronger.
I have no idea what that means. I was in Taiwan and didn’t hear BS from wankers after 9/11. Taiwanese are obviously so far removed from the western world and western news and events, that it was only a short blip in the news stories – exciting story about burning buildings and terrorism – and co-workers asked, “did you see. . . ?” Duh. “how do you feel about. … ?” Duh. But I don’t remember any BS comments. In my experience, people here, while they weren’t as moved as people in the US, did their best to be respectful.[/quote]
I’m sure the Taiwanese did their best to be respectful. I was referring to other foreigners.
It’s also been 33 years since the first 9/11. Everyone seems to forget that, even though it resulted in more deaths and misery.
[quote=“cfimages”]It’s also been 33 years since the first 9/11. Everyone seems to forget that, even though it resulted in more deaths and misery.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO309A.html[/quote]
So a Communist shitbag bit the dust…good riddance. Communism is one “philosophy” the 20th Century could have done without.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I’m surprised no one started a thread on the subject. Hard to believe it’s been 5 years since 9/11. What an incredible occurence that was. Just from an ordinary perspective of seeing two such massive structures turn to rubble in minutes. Wow. But of course it was far more complex than that. How much the world has changed since then.
[/quote]
Yep they sure did put on a good show those fly boys… They had enough skills to get past the hapless American security personnel and did what they believed in.
911 only affected me because I wan online playing chess with a good friend who works in manhatten. No he wasnt in the WTC or what was left of it but he was close enough. He had to change his chess name from NYterror to another name after that. Yep NYterror was his handle at chessclub.com.
Bloody 911 stopped our ongoing tournament battles for awhile.