September 11 2001

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

2,977 people were killed and thousands injured when Islamic terrorists flew aircraft they had hijacked into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field after passengers on board that aircraft found out about what was happening and heroically fought to the end to stop their plane being used for more destruction.

Babies, policemen, firemen, everyday workers and people all died at the hands of the "Religion of Peace". 

Policemen, fireman, and both ordinary and extraordinary Americans were heroes that day, giving their lives trying to save lives in the face of unbelievable devastation.

That heroism should not be forgotten. 

The evil that caused the need for that heroism should not be forgotten.   

Meanwhile, our education system is continuing to fail us:

Daily Mail: One in five young Americans has a POSITIVE view of Osama Bin Laden: Disturbing Daily Mail poll results also reveal three in 10 Gen-Zers think the views of the 9/11 mastermind were a 'force for good'

They're taught by leftist progressives in schools to hate capitalism, hate conservatives and hate America.  Add the mental stress and mental illness caused by the completely wrong response to handling COVID, and we're living with the results.

9/11 - 23 Years On

23 years ago, the largest terrorist attack against the United States took place.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time it took place. I still remember those who lost their lives that day, and the many acts of heroism that took place then - many heroes and innocents died that day whose story we will not know.

Hard to believe it has been 23 years since that day and a whole generation has grown up who never saw the towers standing except on a movie screen. 

Islamic terrorism and Islamic regimes hostile to the United States remain unchecked, undefeated, and indeed emboldened since many Americans, politicians among them, grew tired of the misnamed and unfocused  "War on Terrorism", or indeed often of even commemorating 9/11 itself.

There's been at least 14 deadly Islamic terrorist attacks in the US since that date, with hundreds more that have been thwarted and interdicted before they could be put in motion. 

The threat of Islamist terrorism still hasn't gone away, and America is still regarded as the Great Satan among Islamists, even as many wish to appease and imagine the threat is not one to worry about any longer.

So take a moment today to remember what happened on that day 23 years ago.  Perhaps instead of sadness be glad that there were American heroes like Rick Rescorla and Todd Beamer and the many others on Flight 93, the 343 Firefighters and 23 police officers and many others Americans that day who died trying to save others, and be grateful for all of them and mourn the loss of all those innocents who died that day.

9/11 - 22 Years On

Children have been born and become adults since 9/11, never knowing the World Trade Center as it stood before that day, nor indeed of the world how it was before then.

I remember visiting the World Trade Center back in 1991 on a trip to NYC and being amazed at its size and the impressive lobby, not to mention getting to go see the New York skyline from the observation deck which was rather fun.

I also remember exactly where I was when it happened, at home chatting online with some friends while doing some work, when one of them said the World Trade Center just blew up. We all figured he was clowning around.  He then said no, seriously, a plane just hit it, turn on the television. That was quite a stunning moment. Certainly, it became one of the defining moment for people alive at the time.  Everyone can recall where they were when they first heard the news.

Time has passed, and heck, 22 years ago, the Onion was still funny and hit this one right out of the park, and now Presidents don't even bother going to one of the sites or addressing the nation from the White House to commemorate the tragedy.

So, take a moment out of your busy day and remember and honor those 2,977 people who were murdered that day, when the world changed.

One Of The Dumbest Memes On The 'Net

This seems to be making the rounds on the net, including being posted by some who really should know better:

 

Yep, you know what they're trying to imply by this, and it is rather astonishingly dumb.

Well kids, to know why this implied comparison is nonsense, you have to recall that Newton's Second Law is F=ma.  Force equals mass times acceleration.

There's a world of difference between a plane taxiing along at 5 mph hitting a pole, and that same size plane going 586 mph hitting a building.  A very, very, substantial difference indeed.

That plane going 5mph hitting a pole is generating 90,030.7 pounds of force.

That same plane going 586 mph is generating 10,551,646.69 pounds of force.

That's a world of difference, as will be the result.

The second instance is going to cause a heckuva lot more damage than the other.

Don't believe me?  Well, watch this YouTube video on the difference in damage that occurs as a car strikes an object at progressively higher speeds.  Same objects, remarkably different levels of damage. Note that car never hit 400 mph, much less 500, and weighs a heckuva lot less than a passenger jet aircraft.

Still don't believe me?  There's an experiment you can do all by yourself, but likely only once, and it's probably really not advisable to try. 

Have someone throw an itty, bitty, little 115 gr 9mm bullet at your chest.  

Doesn't do much does it?  Bounces off, eh? Remember they claim those things can kill you.

Now, if you still think you know better, and wish to continue to ignore reality go ahead and have someone shoot you in the chest with it from a handgun. 

I expect you'll have a different result, and note the size and weight of the bullet didn't change one bit.

Remember Newton's Laws are laws, not suggestions.

9/11 - 21 Years On

It appears the Detroit Free Press as of right now seems to have forgotten all about it.  Not a single mention of it on their home page. They have more headline room for a teenage twit to opine about social justice and gun control than the biggest terrorist event in US History.

The Detroit News does at least have it on its home page, but you have to scroll way down to find it mentioned under the "Nation + World" Section.

So some have forgotten about it or reduced to a distant memory, for some it seems like yesterday, and some adults now were not even alive when it happened.

Some of the problem is we refuse to identify the enemy and make it a vacuous "War on Terror" which by its very nature cannot be won as you can't beat a tactic.  You beat the enemy using the tactic.

It's also undercut this year by the rather fresh memory of Biden's debacle of an Afghanistan rout, for which many would rather we forgot.

We still remember 9/11 though, and we do remember those heroes and those innocent victims who lost their lives that day.

Seriously New York Times? Really?

If one thought no one could top Ilhan Omar's remark that 9/11 was a matter of "Some people did something", the New York Times was up to the challenge.

Tweeted by them today:

From "Some People" to "Some Airplanes".

That's a quite a way for the NYT to mark the 9/11 attack in its own hometown.

It's interesting to see how the left view Islamic Terrorists as having no agency, even as they committed the worst terrorist attack on our soil in history, nor being responsible for their actions.

Pathetic.

9/11 Memorial Mega Cost Overuns

The Detroit Free Press: World Trade Center memorial is magnificent -- but at a steep price

It is 11 years since the terrorist attack that destroyed the Twin Towers, the memorial is yet to be complete and the annual budget threatens to take over all of the National Park Services funds and is heading for a billion dollar price tag when you take construction and operating costs into account.

the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center is an awesome spectacle that moved and inspired some 4.5 million visitors in its first year.

But all that eye-welling magnificence comes with a jaw-dropping price tag. The foundation that runs the memorial estimates that once the roughly $700 million project is complete, the memorial and museum will together cost $60 million a year to operate

The article helps put that cost in perspective:

By comparison, the National Park Service budgeted $8.4 million this year to operate and maintain Gettysburg National Military Park and $3.6 million for the monument that includes the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Running Arlington National Cemetery, which has more than 14,000 graves and receives 4 million visitors a year, costs $45 million annually.

Security at the site is budgeted to cost 12 million per year - that's a lot of employees touching visitor's junk. In fact, such junk inspections are likely:

The foundation plans to spend at least a fifth of its operating budget, or around $12 million per year, on private security because of terrorism fears. Visitors to the memorial plaza pass through airport-like security, and armed guards patrol the grounds.

The fountains themselves cost $4-5 million per year to operate. 2 fountains - $4 to $5 million. Per year.

But fear not, the foundation in the face of such extravagant cost overruns is seeking government subsidies:

In addition, the foundation and several elected officials have proposed that the American public pick up one-third of the operating costs.

So far, Congress has balked. A bill proposed by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, that would have had the National Park Service contribute $20 million per year ran into opposition from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who noted that the federal government had already spent $300 million on the project.

Not that the government purse is endless, but you would have thought $300 million would have tided them over for awhile. Further subsidies would have to come from elsewhere than the National Parks Budget or our national parks will be reduced to this one memorial:

A National Park Service official, William Shaddox, testified at a hearing that $20 million is more than the agency can afford, and larger than the entire annual appropriation for nearly 99 percent of the parks in its system.

The New York Memorial isn't the only memorial facing cost overruns. The Flight 93 Memorial is also becoming quite a costly monument.

A year after the dedication of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa., the project remains short of its goal and is the only one of the three major tributes to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that isn't fully funded.

When the memorial was dedicated on Sept. 10, 2011, it was $10 million short of completion. A May fund-raiser in Washington and other donations, from schoolchildren to corporations, have raised $5 million, allowing construction to proceed on the second phase.

But another $5 million is needed to finish one of the signature elements: a 93-foot tower with 40 chimes representing the passengers and crew who died.

Yes the terrorist attack on 9/11 and those who died in them should not be forgotten. But, the delays, incompetence and cost overruns are getting ridiculous, and the victims and heroes of that day deserve better.

9/11/01 - 9/11/11

10 Years.



Murphy's Law has a fitting tribute to the fire and police personnel lost that day.

10 years later there is still no completed replacement standing for these magnificent buildings. To put this in perspective, it only took 7 years to build them both originally.

Instead, we now have two large man-made fountains, each an acre in size with 30 foot deep holes in the ground like eternal scars where each tower once stood.

This does not seem to be a befitting way to remember those who died in the towers and the towers themselves.

America can and should do it better than that.

10 years later we're still fighting the same war on Islamist extremists, and the holes in the Manhattan landscape remain.

10 Years later, not Forgotten, not Forgiven.

Obama Backing Away From Domestic Civilian Trials of the 9/11 Terrorists?

Via Instapundit: Administration may abandon civilian 9/11 trial

White House officials sought on Friday to stem mounting criticism of President Barack Obama's handling of terrorism cases, saying they would not rule out using a military court to try accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Both Attorney General Eric Holder and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not rule out a military trial when asked about the Obama administration's options.

Trying Mohammed in military court would mark a further political retreat from Holder's announcement last year that the five Sept. 11 suspects now held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be tried in federal court in New York.

Could it be he's finally run out of people to try and impress. Certainly as Michael Barone insightfully points out, Obama's lily-livered conduct of the war on Islamic extremism isn't impressing anyone.

9/11 Pictures finally released after Media FOIAs after the election

Detroit Free Pres: New aerial NYPD photos of 9/11 attack released

Newly released aerial photos of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack show the towers coming down from a dramatic new angle.

The photos were obtained by ABC News, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Institute of Standards and Technology last year. The NIST collected the images as part of its investigation into the terrorist attack.

ABC said it was provided 2,779 pictures on nine CDs. Many of the photos, taken from police helicopters, have never been released before.

Twelve of the photos appear on ABC’s Web site. One photo shows a close-up of the upper floors of the burning towers. Others show the towers’ dramatic collapse in a thick plume of smoke and debris and sweeping views of billowing smoke clouds.

Is it just a coincidence that ABC News waited until after the election and Bush had left the presidential office to file a FOIA request for these pictures? Wouldn't want release these during the election and remind anyone of the attack, the consequences of downgrading a focus on or external enemies, right?. It wouldn't do to get Americans riled up about terrorism when their favored contender wants to be focusing on a domestic agenda and the triumph of diplomacy and talking over action now would they?

Go look at the 12 pictures that ABC posted of the 2,779 they were provided. I wonder what's in the pictures they did not release?