September 2001
Tribute to the U.S.
Posted Monday, September 17, 2001 by The Editor
from: Gordon Sinclair, Toronto, Canada
"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."
Aftermath 091101, by Zanzibar
Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2001 by The Editor
I woke up in the morning, and all was quiet. It was still dark, with just the vestiges of dawn starting to appear. The air was still. It was one of those mornings where everything seemed poised, pregnant with the anticipation of the day to come, but not knowing what it would be.
Then there was an explosion, and the cries and screams of thousands of souls as their physical bodies were destroyed, and their higher power drew them to the next step of the cycle of life. It rent the air, and the worst was those who were trapped on the cusp, neither living nor dead, until finally they were released from earthly bonds.
The lull was deceiving, just when it seemed that a new stability had returned, with chaos in its midst, but seemingly contained.... it happened again.
Another mass exodus of souls flooding the ways to the afterlife in a cauldron of flame and heat, a spasm of destruction leaving yet another hole in the tapestry of the living, and adding to the shroud of the dead.
The nightmare continued, even though I pinched myself in a vain attempt to wake myself up. Feelings of pain, horror, desire for retribution and justice, grief, numbness.... desire to reach out and touch those I loved and cared about, while I still could.. especially in the aftermath of so many who would never be able to say or hear the words “I love you” or “You matter to me” or “I’m glad I know you and you’re my friend” to those that are important to them.
I sat through the night, burning candles and thinking, till finally I could hardly keep from falling over in exhaustion. I crawled into bed and slept restlessly, not really dreaming but still uneasy, mind and heart trying to cope with the days events, and what I knew was coming.. or what I hoped...
A renewal of spirit, of joining together... the people whose physical bodies were destroyed were of every race, color, creed, denomination, belief, orientation. They call the United States the melting pot of the world... home to so many different cultures, and you know... that higher power didn’t say – Christians are better, so they’ll survive, or blacks, or gays, or rednecks, or women, or jews, or blondes, or yuppies, or maids, or CEO’s or young, or old, or married, or single...
The cataclysm of flame, destruction and horror claimed them all – THERE WERE NO FAVORITES SELECTED FOR LIFE OR DEATH.
Maybe some will understand that a little better now. Pull together as a nation regardless of all those differences that actually make us stronger, and quit accepting or following those who would preach intolerance and death. Take the power and following away from those who would teach hatred and prejudice.
A close friend once had sung at her wake:
We all come from the Goddess
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of rain
Flowing to the ocean
She believed in a cycle of life, and I have come to feel the same way about some things. While I grieve for the ones that are lost, I am trying to focus on the ones left behind. Those are the ones that can be helped, here on this plane... the ones that need to know you love them, that the comfort of a hug or a gentle embrace can help heal. Doing something to make a difference for the ones remaining – giving blood if you can, or finding another way to help.
For myself -
My own stress level is incredibly high, and yesterday is making me take a step back even more and think about life choices I have made, and where I am headed now, and if that is where I want to end up. The combination of stress, too many hours working, lack of sleep, a national disaster – forcing me to look at what is important to me, and what really isn’t...
This is hopefully going to be a time of national rebirth, forged in the fires of destruction, and the emergence of a better place for all of us here
And hopefully, a time of personal rebirth...
Time will tell
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