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Oh man, I heard on the radio this morning that two planes crashed into the two towers of the world trade centre. I just got word that the second plane was a 737! Oh my lord.. it's all over the news now..
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Hey, I met someone who had laser eye surgery. Apparently, the night vision problem isn't so bad if your pupils don't dilate that much. I dunno, I like the idea of not being completely blind without my glasses, but due to the severity of my disability, I don't think laser surgery will fix my eyesite completely. Chances are that I'll still have to wear glasses. Furthermore, we're not completely sure about the long term effects of this type of surgery, but it's still tempting.. *rubs chin*
Oh, also apparently there is a way to prevent constant nose bleeds if you cauterize part of the nose that does most of the bleeding. DWC told me about it on Sunday, and I remember HKL telling me about it many years ago.. I may look into it sometime.
Feeling better today, but still a bit tired and sore. I'll have the next two days to rest and recuperate so I should be all ready to go on Thursday!
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Holy crap! It's like some sort of movie plot, but things are just going crazy down in the States. One of the towers fell, someone hit the Pentagon.. it's like some terrorist group decided to declare war!
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Both towers down, bomb on Capitol hill. Whoa..
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Well, I'm still stunned by the audacity of these terrorists. I was sifting through the ShackNews's discussion forum and noticed a couple of interesting points, and more rumours. I don't think there was this much death and destruction on US soil since Pearl Harbour. Furthermore, it's just shocking that the planes that crashed were full of people! A quote from chunks:
This attack is of the scale that people won't ask "did you know someone that was killed" but instead "how many people did you know?"
Over 15000 casualties. Madness.
I hope cooler heads prevail. Retalliation based on anger will only continue the cycle of violence and there can only be more suffering. The people should seek justice. Not vengence.
But this was bound to happen eventually. Everyone thought about it, movies suggested it, people ignored it. What is the price of freedom? Eternal vigilance. This is the price of failure.
[Monday, April 1, 2002: The original quote was by Thomas Jefferson, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilence."]
I've always been a little annoyed at the North American attitudes and petty worries when people were starving in Africa and wars were raging around the world. The "not my backyard" mentality give us a false sense of security and allows us to ignore the extracontinental problems while we moan and complain about losing the Olympics or a slowing economy.
I do think that this has been coming a long time. The Americans have definitely brought this destruction upon itself. Just watch the documentaries and read the information regarding all of the crazy policies they made during the Cold War. Supporting dictators just because they weren't communist. Arming militants and fundimentalists just because their enemy was an American enemy. But I'm not condoning terrorist attacks. The entire Afro-American community has suffered under the rule of the white man, but does it give them the right to massacre a city of civilians just because they're white? Do the Jews, herded like cattle in the Nazi death camps, have the right to execute every anti-semite? Do the native Americans have a right to scalp any immigrant that took their land?
You may think so, but I think the greatest triumph is for those oppressed to grow from these experiences, to learn from them and excel in the society in which they have been subjected to. To see the minorities rise in stature to become equals with those who thought they were superior. To eat with them, work with them, mate with them. It's a slow and painful process, but we're heading in the right direction. Man, those original colonialists must be rolling in their graves if they knew the way our society is changing.
But all too often, one will resort to violence. What does that solve?
With the issue of justice is an interesting one. Let us say that we do find the group responsible for these acts of terrorism. Act of war? No. That makes it sound as if there was a justifyable reason for the attacks on these civilian targets. The main purpose of these attacks are to terrorize the population, to show the world that noone is safe, and can never be. (Although we keep trying to pretend.)
So MJO poses an interesting question. What kind of justice am I talking about? Finding and executing all of the parties responsible will seem satisfying, but (I think) ultimately futile. Most of these people are willing to die for their cause, and will not repent or regret the decisions that they have made even in death. I think the only way for justice to be served is to make the perpertrators understand the full horror of their actions, to realize what they did was wrong. Only then can you truly.. repent, and to try to right that which you have made wrong. Of course, depending on the severity of the crime, a lifetime of service may not be enough to make up for the damage that they have done. Furthermore, these actions cannot go unpunished, since you do not want to give the impression that you can get away with murder.
Maybe I'm being idealistic. But I do think that the best form of justice is to have those that have erred to realize and understand the error of thier ways, but more importantly to teach their children not to make the same mistakes. For children are not born with hate, they're taught to hate.
Okay, I'm rambling now so I think I'll stop at this point.
Hey, I pulled another one of those preview but not post entries again. Argh! Anyway, there were two links I found on the ShackNews this afternoon that I (apparently) didn't put up. The first is a critical look at Zionism, while the second is a list of significant events on this date.
Hey, I also noticed something about the date: 911.
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I agree with FlyingS, things in the States will change dramatically and it may take years to determine what the impact of those few hours of terror have done to change the course of history. Perhaps the change that was inevitable, but in any case, none of us will forget, nor will we allow others to forget what transpired this day.
As with the issue of finding the perpetrators, it will take time, but because of the magnitude of the tragedy, someone will be found. Now the question of doling out justice is an interesting one. The Holocaust is a good example: There were so many people involved in the eradication of the Jewish people, but who really was to blame? Do you execute all of the soldiers that guarded the camps? The Jews that collaborated with the Nazis? The civilians who turned a blind eye?
In this case with the destruction of the WTC, Bush has made it clear that anyone harbouring the criminals will also be treated as criminals themselves. The circle widens, and terror continues to spread.
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