America, The Good Neighbor

Twenty years ago, I was blogging under the domain name of Black and Blue, because that’s what my life was at that time.

Due to a snafu, posts on that site disappeared. However, fortunately, I’d backed up the years 1998 - 2016 onto flash drives.

Thinking back on how I learned of the 9/11 Terror Attack, I pulled up that day, and two days after.

Here’s what I’d written:

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

While America Slept

I hardly know what to say.

I stopped at Starbucks' for coffee this morning and found the doors locked. One of the servers unlocked the door to tell me Starbucks was closed because the building had been evacuated in light of the "terrorists" attacks. When the server saw the blank look on my face, he filled me in. I then noticed the streets were kind of empty for a Tuesday, a lot of businesses were shut down, and security personnel were standing guard everywhere. As soon as I reached work, I was sent home.

I hardly know what to say.

The words that come to mind are "life changing" "consciousness raising."

For a great many of us, things will never be the same -- though all around me everything seems the same. The first thing that struck me was there were as many cars as usual parked outside the local nudie bar during the lunch hour -- which is to say the parking lots were full. Then I noticed other groups of workers sitting outside their place of employment eating lunch as usual, people shopping, sightseeing -- they won't be seeing Sea World today though .. Seaworld has been shut down, as has been the local airport. The only difference I noticed was that where people generally say to me and others, "Have a nice day" today they were saying, "Be safe." That's heavy.

Thursday, September 13, 2001

This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.

America: The Good Neighbor.

Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars! into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon! not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

Stand proud, America!

Tuesday, September 18, 2001

Coincidence or Not

This came in an email to the office -- original source unknown....

The date of the attack: 9/11 - 9 + 1 + 1 = 11 September 11th is the 254th day of the year: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11 

After September 11th there are 111 days left to the end of the year. 

119 is the area code to Iraq/Iran. 1 + 1 + 9 = 11 Twin Towers - standing side by side, looks like the number 11 The first plane to hit the towers was Flight 11

State of New York - The 11 State added to the Union New York City - 11 Letters 

Afghanistan - 11 Letters 

The Pentagon - 11 Letters 

Ramzi Yousef - 11 Letters (convicted of orchestrating the attack on the WTC in 1993)

Flight 11 - 92 on board - 9 + 2 = 11 

Flight 77 - 65 on board - 6 + 5 = 11