The NY State Lottery Pick 3 was 9-1-1 today..
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The NY State Lottery Pick 3 was 9-1-1 today..
Holy shit...talk about coincidence...Quote:
Originally posted by Rich
The NY State Lottery Pick 3 was 9-1-1 today..
I guess Gongos likes me all of a sudden.
Before I get to him, I want to say that I am generally a person who tries to control his emotions, but thinking about those people in those airplanes on September 11th has gotten me all choked up. The world can be such a horrific place because it is such a beautiful place.
There are moments when I hold back shouts of joy and there are others where I swallow bitter tears. One of my primary goals is to bring as much beauty into the world as I can. I am not claiming that I am being very effective at that, but, my God, I wish I could plug people in to some of the joy I feel. Joy that comes from knowing what we are capable of and what we are worth.
Anyway, on to other things.
If anyone besides Gongos saw any "underhanded shot[s] at Islam" in anything I have written (besides my general attacks on religion), please point them out to me in writing. Thanks.
The United States is the only superpower left in the world. As such, it can throw its weight around pretty handily in the United Nations and elsewhere. Look at it the manner in which it is pressing forward on its ill-advised plans for a nuclear defense system. Domestically, the terrorist attacks of last September have given it a twisted justification in its attempts to chip away at the rights of privacy and freedom from unlawful detainment.
I hope that the legacy of 9/11 does not include a compromise of our rights where they do not legitimately concern public safety.
I have been less than impressed with the Administration's actions on the world stage, and I think we are alienating the rest of the world by pretending we exist above it in every way. We should mete out justice to terrorists; though that has nothing to do with what I was saying in my previous post.
As for the ludicrous assetion that I resort to name-calling in lieu of an issue-oriented debate: piffle. If that is the impression you have of me in all the time you have known me, you probably haven't read very many of my posts.
I admit I was venting steam, but I am always deliberate in my choice of words. My impression as an inhabitant of a major American city leaves me distraught about how our children are being raised. The priorities are all screwed.
One of our two major daily newspapers give full-color front page treatment to some of the most morally bankrupt trash in society. Convienence and instant gratification take precedence over common sense and civility 90% of the time. Call that attitude elitist if you wish, but it is my honest impression, and it troubles me.
I worry that the President in twenty-five years will make George W. seem like Confucius.
We all need to vent steam at some point or another, otherwise, we'd go nuts.
I hate to be a me too kind of person, and I hate to say this again (I have said it at least 2 or 3 times before) but I would like to thank Nick in saying what I wanted to say.
ºTracer
For the first time, I'm gonna post without reading the entire thread, so if I mised something, I'll edit it later. It's too late, and I'm too tired to read it all.
9/11 was very surreal for me. I still can't believe that it was real, it felt so much like I experienced watching an action movie or something of the such. I still wake up sometimes hoping that it was all just a bad dream.
I was a senior at Wagner College, Staten Island, NY. I got up at like 7 a.m. as I was real stuffy and couldn't breathe. So I decide to go online and fool around till my classes started at 11:20. after the first plane hit, I heard the radio from my neighbors. It was too muffled to make anything out, yet I heard them say "Can you believe what just hapened?!?!?" So I go to CNN.com, since I was already on my computer. Couldn't get through. Tried MSNBC, no go, then Fox News, no go. I just shrugged it off and said I'll find out later.
Around and hour later my roommate is almost ready to go to his drawing class, and his girlfriend calls him, telling him to turn on the tv, NOW! He does, and we were in total and complete shock.
For those who don't know, Staten Island is just right across the water from Manhatten, so my dorm is on a big hill on Staten Island, and we can see most of Manhattan and some of Brooklyn and New Jersey from our dorm rooms. We go out to the lounge and see the smoke. It was an unreal moment. For the first time in my then 21 years of life, I was witness to a historic event, in the same vein as "Where were you the day JFK was assassinated?" I left my dorm room as I didn't feel too safe in a high rise building. As I walked outside and started to talk to a friend, I heard and FELT a rumbling, little did I know, one of the towers had fallen (I don't remember which). The school was immediately closed, and people were allowed to go home, but only the next day, I believe. Commuters were told to stay on campus for the night as well. The rest of the week's classes were cancelled too.
I remember the panic, the confusion, the worry for loved ones, and the absolute mayhem of that day still so vividly. People trying to call loved ones and not being able to get through. Seeing planes fly right above us, thinking we were the next victims. There is nothing more humbling than fear for one's life. Our school lost over 40 people. (alums, friends and family of staff and students, etc.) I've been to every ceremony of remembrance on campus, and I start to feel that same familiar feeling of "This didn't happen" every time. I Thank God I didn't know anyone personally involved in this attack, but I feel like I was. That's how close I was to the scene.
I can understand people feeling like "We should all move on with our lives." and that whole thing. And I agree overall. But we should NEVER forget. (I think it's impossible for people who were actually close to the event to forget entirely. This event will forever be emblazoned in my mind every year at this time, and I don't think that is wrong.) I'm not even talking about getting revenge in any way. I don't care about the terrorists who committed this devilish act. Forget about our shady government dealings and scare tactics of the media for now. I'm strictly talking about the victims.
We lost a lot of people. Not all of them were valiant people with uncheckered pasts. But even one event, one display of good (I should say good of such calibur as this) can redeem the character of a person. Whether they knew they would die or not, people risked their lives, and many lost them, to protect others. They didn't care about color, creed, class, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or anything that separated us from one another. Only about the preservation of life. Even in such a horrific event, people can show such a brilliant display of what a human being should be all about. If there is anything we all should take away from "That Day", this is it. It's a damn shame that it took taking the lives of so many people to prove that the human race can actually reach their potential, even if it's just for a short amount of time.
I was invited to sing again with my college choir at a ceremony yesterday at the Staten Island Yankees stadium (SI Yankees is a minor league team, for those who couldn't figure it out). And while some of the things were somewhat tacky, the spirit, and the message was still there and rang through. The message of hope, and UNITY.
I hope you all coped with the events in your own way, whether by remembrance or isolation from the entire day. But just remember this: no matter what you personally feel about this event, Someone lost their mother/father/sister/brother/husband/wife/child/grandparent/cousin/friend. As long as you remember this, then say what you want.
DiffusionX, where did/do you go to school?
I watch some of those shows yesterday. One hosted by Robert Denero (probably spelt wrong) and two on the history channle. It really reminded me of how I used to feel about this and how I should feel. I shouldn't let how shitty other people react to this effect me like it has.