10/11/01

[sch00lteacher]

This has been one of the longest months I can remember. So much has changed. A lot more is going to change.

Walking my dog this morning about 3:30, even the stars look different. It is so hard to look up and not see 15 or 20 planes flying overhead. I live on a major air route. When I do see one... I have to keep an eye on it.

Then I think about the part of the world where all this shit is taking place.

I still say that the ground troops go in tonight, or tomorrow morning.

Then the silver boxes start coming home. I have seen too many of those.

Still, old and broken as I am, if I could drive to Afghanistan, I'd be gone. If I could go back into the military, I'd be gone.

 

[True_Life]

When all of this started happening, things did change. I, too, live in a major airlane. To be perciese, you could throw a rock from my house on break a window in the control tower, but it's a smaller airport so things took a little while to get back to normal. For over a week after the events in September you would hear no planes flying overhead, except for the occasional Air National Gaurd F-16. Things were quite, eery<sp> quite. Now, the planes fly again and they don't scare me. I'd fly if the occasion called for it. But they just have a different sound now.

BTW, I really like that picture.

 

[BlondGirl]

I got this in my e-mail this morning and figured y'all would enjoy it. Please forgive if this has been posted elsewhere. (I had not seen it before.)

>>By now everyone has been hearing the death toll rise and reports of the
>>destruction from the terrorist attacks on the US. These were deplorable
>>acts that we will never forget. But now is a time to look at the other
>>side of the numbers coming out of New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
>>
>>The sad but somewhat uplifting side that the mainstream media has not
>>reported yet - the SURVIVAL rates and some positive news about the
>>attacks.
>>
>>*** The Buildings ***
>>
>>* The World Trade Center -
>>The twin towers of the World Trade Center were places of employment for
>>some 50,000 people. With the missing list of just over 5,000 people, that
>>means 90% of the people targeted survived the attack. A 90% on a test is
an
>>'A'.
>>
>>* The Pentagon -
>>S! ome 23,000 people were the target of a third plane aimed at the
>>Pentagon. The latest count shows that only 123 lost their lives. That is
an
>>amazing 99.5% survival rate. in addition, the plane seems to have come in
too
>>low, too early to affect a large portion of the building. On top of that,
the
>>
>>section that was hit was the first of five sections to undergo
>>renovations that would help protect the Pentagon from terrorist
>>attacks. It had
>>recently completed straightening and blastproofing, saving untold lives.
>>
>>This attack was sad, but a statistical failure.
>>
>>*** The Planes ***
>>
>>* American Airlines Flight 77
>>This Boeing 757 that was flown into the outside of the Pentagon could
>>have carried up to 289 people, yet only 64 were aboard. Luckily 78% of the
>>seats were empty.
>>!
>>* American Airlines Flight 11
>>This Boeing 767 could have had up to 351 people aboard, but only carried
>>92.
>>Thankfully 74% of the seats were unfilled.
>>
>>* United Airlines Flight 175
>>Another Boeing 767 that could have sat 351 people only had 65 people on
>>board. Fortunately it was 81% empty.
>>
>>* United Airlines Flight 93
>>This Boeing 757 was one of the most uplifting stories yet. The smallest
>>flight to be hijacked with only 45 people aboard out of a possible 289
>>had 84% of its capacity unused. Yet these people stood up to the attackers
>>and thwarted a fourth attempted destruction of a national landmark,
>>saving untold numbers of lives in the process.
>>*** In Summary ***
>>Out of potentially 74,280 Americans directly targeted by these inept
>>cowards, 93% survived or avoided the attacks. That'! s a higher survival
>>rate than heart attacks, breast cancer, kidney transplants and liver
>>transplants - all common, survivable illnesses.
>>
>>The Hijacked planes were mostly empty, the Pentagon was hit at it's
>>strongest point, the overwhelming majority of people in the World Trade
>>Center buildings escaped, and a handful of passengers gave the ultimate
>>sacrifice to save even more lives.
>>
>>Pass this information on to those in fear and the media. Don't fear
>>these terrorists. The odds are against them.