Ok, I have had some good days as of late, I'll admit that.. However, being from NY and dealing with the whole September 11th thing had really had me bummed about the world etc.. I am in NC, but still I was raised in NY and going back there to visit the folks for christmas was really a huge downer.. Things just aren't the same anymore and I doubt they ever will be again and they live an hour north of NYC.. Well, life has hit an upswing for me finally anyway! My folks have just purchased for me a new car, which I just drove off the lot today (A 2000 Mazda protege with low, low mileage..power everything and cd player yipee!!) Plus, the news channel came by my work at a real estate place today and interviewed me..I'm on TV discussing terrorism etc!!! Sorry to brag it just hasn't been that good in the world lately and these things have really made me soo happy and have me get back to living life etc.. By the way, I am 21 years old, so getting this car is way important for me, especially since most people have had one by now.. Comment if you'd like.. Just wanted to share my excitement..
-Andrea

Sept 11 wasn't that bad if you weren't in southern Manhattan that day. I go to school in Manhattan on the upper east side, and we just didn't have class that day and a few other things got disrupted. That was about it though. It was nothing like what was on the news. I think the news media really made it seem worse than it really was.

Just don't drink and drive ok? We're doing project presentations in AP Chemistry these few weeks and one of the projects was on BAC tests using Henry's Law of volatile liquids. There are several problems with the tests and the BAC estimates derived from breath alcohol is skewed toward the high side because it doesn't compensate for temperature and dilution. It also can't compensate for if the alcohol is still being absorbed. DUI is considered a pretty serious offense and our current laws make convictions pretty easy.

It was emotionally upsetting..No one is in really good spirits where I am from mainly because most live in hudson valley but commute to NYC everyday.. They live in fear of another Sept 11th, believe it or not! There is still a genuine threat out there and should not be taken lightly..

This too, is true.

Glad to hear a stroke of good fortune came your way.  I hope the trend keeps going.  Are you going to BRC?

IMO, anybody who says Sept. 11 "wasn't that bad" is a complete moron. It was, and continues to be "that bad." Anyway, BB: Congrats on the wheels, and I hope you enjoy your new-found freedom (so to speak). I know I don't have to tell you this, but: thank your parents.

Congrads on the new wheels BB.  I hope it takes care of you.  I'll refrain from commenting about jz's post, so as to keep this a happy thread.

uh, so they live outside of the city. I live and go to school in the city. It's really no big deal. What's the worse that can happen? They're going to detonate a nuke? I got this mostly figured out.

At best they can smuggle a suitcase nuke in, meaning the yield won't be more than 10 kilotons. Chances are, they'll detonate it in some place like Time Square, preferably they won't detonate it on a Wednesday afternoon as I have class near 42nd Street then. Any other time, my school is on 94th Street, on the east side, so I'd be far enough away not to be significantly affected. As for fallout, that's not a big deal either, it'll take some time for the fallout to come down. The heavy ones like Iodine will come down first and won't spread very far. The lighter ones will spread farther but will allow more time to decompose. Of course then my family will have to move out of the city, but I hate this hellhole anyway. Terrorism is a nuisance to be sure, since it disrupts my commute, but they can't kill all of us. There's too many of us to kill. And those of us who survive would surely retaliate.

ever hear that phrase "better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and erase all doubt"??????  i think it applies here.

it's okay if they nuke because they wouldn't kill everybody and those left alive would retaliate?  are you nucking futs?  it's okay to kill americans in a terrorist attack?

grrrrrrr.  ignorance drives me mad, but sheer stupidity just pisses me off.  damn youngins think they know everything.

dude, I live in New York City. It really isn't that bad. There are over 6 million people in the city, probably more. Nothing significantly bad happened to most people. Granted, a few of my relatives had some close calls, one of my uncles works in the building right next to the WTC. But he managed to get out alive and unhurt.

Terrorism sucks to be sure, but it's not worse than an earthquake or a vocano eruption. Disasters happen, we live in an area of the world with no significant natural disaster likelihoods except maybe the occasional hurricane warning. This is the risk we accept living with as New Yorkers. Just like the Earthquake risk that the Japanese lives with for living in Japan or Vocano risk for living in Washington state.

Just another point to add. If there was a nuke detonated, I'd prefer to have skyscrapers and tall buildings stand between me and ground zero than just empty space. The thermal radiation which does the most long range damage will decrease with the square of the distance because it's almost not absorbed by air. But buildings will absorb it and limit the extent of the damage.

I didn't say that it's ok to kill us. I'm saying that they can never win because they can only kill a few of us at a time. Their cause is futile. They celebrate September 11 like it's some sort of major achievement. To that I say, please, we live on an island of skyscrapers. We can take anything they can dish out, the sooner they realize this the better. They are wasting their time and energy attacking us. I think we should laugh at the Arab world for being so easily impressed, we can turn their half of the world to glass in minutes, and they get all impressed by some a**holes with boxcutters.

If I were to draw a political cartoon of this. It would be of the Arabs taking turns jumping on an anti-tank mine like those three guys from Cambodia who won the darwin award. They get all riled up cause one of them managed to dent the fuse.

Isn't the BRC by invitation only?? (My bf made me ask)
-Andrea

good god, no, girl.

you pay, you go.  easy as cake!  you will be there won't you?

Like ARLady said, you pay-you go.  I hope you & the BF can go.  It's going to be a blast and take a look at the goodies they're giving away as door prizes.  I used to live in NC (Rocky Mount)

"Dude,"  I am very happy no one you knew was hurt/killed, but that's not the same for some of us.  Alot of people lost friends and family.  Also to compared this to a natural disaster is like comparing a car accident to a drunk driver responsible for killing a family in a car.  There was nothing natural about this.  It was a planned event.  They KNEW what they were doing.  So be happy that you and yours survived, go on whistling Dixie, but don't say "it isn't tha bad."  For some it was an earth shattering, life changing ordeal.

jz, what's the matter with you? Can't you see BB's trying to enjoy her new car?[V]

BB, you have some great folks. Sounds like it's time for a road trip. Have fun!

coyote3

This has got to be the stupidist most selfish self centered thing I have ever read on the internet!!  You sir are a moron!!  I have never wished anyone to be removed from this board, but I will make an exception in your case.

Sgtar15

Congrats on the great day.  Hope many more are to come.

[:D]

Shut up, he's not an idiot....  he's in AP chemistry after all.

... You may or may not agree with [b]jz02
[/b] but they do have an intriging argument. Even if only for the display of extreme humanitarian indifference.

Unbelievable.  I live in KY. and don't know a single person or even know somebody that did know someone in the attack and it still pisses me off what happened.  I will never be the same.

Hmmm. You know I caught a show on HBO the other night whereas a father had to tell his 5 year old boy that Mommy was never coming home again. She was MURDERED by those 19 idiots.

But hey, wasnt my family right? WRONG!

Wait JZ... just wait until you have kids. Perspective on life changes INSTANTLY. I WAS you. One minute you are shrugging your shoulders at another persons pain, next you grow up and find ways to help a stranger ease the pain.

You'll see.[/quote]

The HBO documentary "Telling Nicholas" had to be one of the friggin saddest things I have ever seen.  I had to warn my wife not watch it because she can't handle stuff like that.  We have no kids even.(Unless you count Bailey our Beagle and Molly who was dognapped the week before Sept 11.)

If you say so...that sheltered college life is a wonderful thing isn't it? Yeah, I graduated from SUNY Stony Brook in '96 so I still remember what it was like.



[red]100% Negative[/red], the news media made it seem [b]BETTER[/b] than it really was. The news wouldn't and couldn't show you the results of what happens to a human being after he/she fell/jumped from the Twin Towers. You didn't get to see the body parts all over the place after the first plane hit, not that you'd probably want to anyhow.
As for DUI convictions being pretty easy, what do you think of Liz Grubman?

I'm sure glad your schoold would supposedly be out of the blast radius.  Your overwhelming concern for the thousands if not millions that would be dead is just hearwarming.

Jesus, talk about self centered.

Have fun with the new car.  I have to wonder, though...


Why would a TV station be interviewing a 21 year old realtor about terrorism? [>:/]

[b]DON'T EVEN GO THERE[/b].........You weren't there. You didn't lose partners. You didn't have two buildings fall on you. You will not die an early death due to all the krap we inhaled that day. You did not watch dozens of people literally explode into pieces scattered over 100's of feet after jumping from 80+ storeis. Do not insult those of us that were there putting their asses on the line for ungrateful brats like you...

Read my post, I said it isn't that bad IF you weren't in southern Manhattan that day. Meaning, if you were, then I wouldn't know cause I wasn't there. I'm only speaking from my experience as a high school student on the upper east side the day of the attack. My experience tells me that it wasn't that bad. In fact, it's very much like my school day now, idleness, except with more panic.

I may have come across as self centered, but that wasn't my intention. What I meant to communicate was that it doesn't matter what they do, there'll still be some of us left to kick their asses afterwards. In that sense, there's hope. I have hope in our resilience, so it doesn't bother me that much.

September 11 have affected all of us. I was in Washington when that plane hit the Pentagon. I could never forget that day. I am glad that you have your great day back.....We must carry on....but...Please, do not forget the innocents who perished in that horrible day.

Congratulations on your new car.

Okay... I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here on jz's behalf.  Bear with me.

I AM NOT saying that September 11 wasn't one of the biggest tragedies our country has ever seen... I still get upset thinking about it.  What I WOULD like y'all to consider is this... most of us don't like in the state of NY, let alone Manhattan, where this occurred.  

Have you considered what a person would feel like and have to overcome to go BACK into the city on a daily basis with new threats of terrorism still hanging over our heads?  I have friends and family that live in NY.. some in Manhattan... one who, thank God, made it out of the WTC alive that day.  Most of them have had to adopt an attitude of "we can't let it beat us... we simply have to go on with our daily lives."  

jz is a HIGH SCHOOL KID who's immediate world could paralyze him with terror if he let it.  He's trying to COPE.  How he's doing that may seem callous to others but I don't think he's trying to be intentionally disrespectful.  

point taken.  but that argument only goes so far.  disrespect is disrespect, whether he meant it that way or not.  he may be a high school kid but he should have enough brains to understand that any major catastrophe that kills thousand of people is NOT "no big deal."  on top of that, we're not just dealing with a catastrophe, we're dealing with a full-blown terrorist attack which took the lives of thousands of innocents.

besides, i don't have nearly as much problem with him downplaying the events of Sept. 11 as i do him minimizing the importance of a subsequent attack, possibly nuclear.  he's okay with people dying because not all americans will die in the attack???????  there ain't no excuse for that kind of stupidity and disrespect.  none!

Again, not what [b]I[/b] think but what I think he's trying to say... they (the terrorists) can't kill us all.  There will always be Americans to avenge the deaths of those fallen.  I don't think he ever said he was "okay with people dying."  

I remember growing up worrying about pollution, the extinction of species, the destruction of the ozone layer, nuclear war... etc.  Every day we are faced with life-threatening events... to dwell on them is to live in fear.  Nowadays, kids have to consider even more violence and jz has the added knowledge that where he lives is a known target for terrorists.  This boy has figured out how to rationalize to himself going on with his life without cowering in the shadows.

jz... the honorable thing to do in this situation is to apologize for causing offense or being disrespectful.    

ARLady... you need to stop jumping EVERYONE'S shit whenever they say something that you disagree with.  [rolleyes]  

Here you have a young person whom y'all could have tried to take a little time with and EXPLAIN things to and all y'all do is call him names.  

This is the same tactic I see employed when a lot of y'all are talking with someone who doesn't agree with you on gun control issues.  In fact, I just saw the infamous Tom Selleck interview on Rosie O'Donnell's show the other day.  I love Tom Selleck... really have respect for what I've seen and heard from him.  But he had an incredible opportunity to present a lucid rebuttal to Rosie's badgering arguments and what did he do?  He lost it and called her "stupid."  Bad move... he just closed millions of people's minds to what could have been a fascinating debate.  ::sigh::

All I'm saying here is that we should be trying to work WITH each other on this board.  This is an incredibly sensitive subject but I really think this thread could have been so much more productive if, instead of calling him names, someone had stepped up and pulled one of those fatherly "son, there are a few things you need to learn..." replies.    



And there [i]isn't[/i] any excuse for that kind of poor grammar.... [;D]

Can you explain more about Henry's law and how bac tests are skewed ?

andrea congratulations on your new car. sorry that this post[b] deteriorated[/b] into what it is because of a troll kid who has the sensitivity of my dingleberries. i instant messaged that idiot as i wanted my message to be personal. i cant fathom how heartless that kid was. the hell do they teach in school nowadays ??

BB

Congrats on the vehicle. When I was 21, I was driving a steamin' pile of shit. ( Maybe I still drive one) Anyway glad to hear your day(and attitude) have improved. Enjoy the BRC.

!?!?!?!?!

I'm gonna guess you're still just a pup in high school. I'll try to be gentle.

The media could not do enough to show you how utterly horrifying it was at Ground Zero.(I spent two days there, the 11th and 12th)   You watched it on TV? I wouldn't expect someone who's view of the whole event was from the seated position with soda pop in hand to come away with the same brain searing, insomnia inducing pictures of carnage that play in my head. But I am kind of stunned that one could say it really wasn't that bad. Sure it really wasn't that bad if you compare it to the firebombing of Dresden, or nuking of Hiroshima, but on the grand scale of things it's the most horrific thing to hit our shores since the birth of our nation genius! I will also gleefully recall being at the WTC in Jan of '93 when it was hit, and I thought that was pretty bad(you could count the fatalities on two hands). Granted injured were in the thousands, and truhtfully, it really was pretty bad too.

MAybe your off kilter opinion of the whole event is some generational desensitization thing, or a poor coping mechanism shining through.Maybe it's the inability to truly grasp the true seriousness of the event. Your "no big thing" translated into an activation of my reserve unit for at least a year to Camp Lejeune. I missed my son's birth, and can count the time I've seen him on one hand. Seems like a pretty BIG thing to me.

I'd heed the words of ARLAdy and keepeth thy mouth shut from now on. MMMMkay?

Sherm

Thank You!

Look, as I've said, it's not my intention to offend people here. So I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

And to those of you who think I'm self centered, that is just not true. This is the way I see it. I happen to live in New York City, that's my life. I've done some pretty stupid things in my life that could've gotten me killed, in fact, I could've gotten killed several times over, but I'm alive, for now. There are many things in this world that happen outside of our control. I can't prevent terrorism just like I can't stop an earthquake. It doesn't matter if it's man made or natural. They're both disasters I can't do a thing about. If they nuke Time Square on a Wednesday afternoon, then I'm dead. If it's my turn to die, then it's my turn to die. That goes for everyone, if it's your turn, then you gotta die. No point in wasting what moments you have left alive worrying about it.

What comforts me is that we won't all die. I guess what I take comfort in is that I'm not alone. I have family, friends, my fellow Americans. Even if I were to get killed tomorrow, there'd still be traces of me left. I will exist in the memories of family, friends, and my fellow Americans. It has always been a risk to live in New York City, in the early 90s, it was crime. Now it's terrorism. It's just something that has to be accepted because I live here. If I were to die tomorrow, the world will go on, and I will be remembered. It's my conviction in these two things that comforts me. Beyond that, all I can do is try not to run in front crazy cabbies or drink and drive, all I can do is try to stay alive in ways that I know how. I guess it was my attempt to apply this universally that offended so many people. For that I'm sorry.

For me death isn't really worth thinking about. I don't really think about it. If it happens to you, you'll never know about it. What I have learned in the past year is that there's no point in being all outraged and angry over things you have no control over, because there are so many of them. If some terrorists decide to blow up a NYC landmark and kill thousands of people, getting angry and outraged on my part won't solve anything, it won't bring anyone back. Losing sleep at night will only make me groggy in the morning, what good will that do anyone? History is a teacher, not a movie. It isn't there to make you laugh or cry. If I were to fill my mind with all the horrible and f*cked up things my parents and grandparents had to put up with in their lifetimes, then I wouldn't be able to live with myself. (BTW, my family is from communist China, and preceding communism was a half century of countless wars. They have seen more f*cked up sh*t than I ever will. A lot of their relatives died, but my direct ancestors survived long enough to have me, and none of them survived by self pity, or anger, or outrage. They took all the sh*t that life can dish out and then lived the best they can. That's how I came to be.)

(cont..)

(cont..)

Tens of millions of people died during my parent and my and grandparent's lifetimes. Twenty million people starved to death alone during a three year period. What would you call that? A man made disaster due to communist mismanagement? What about the Cultural Revolution? Almost anyone can just be labeled a counterrevolutionary and disappear without a trace. Millions disappeared without a trace, at least my family have my grandfather's ashes and medals(he was a general in the communist army, but doesn't count for anything when you're labeled a counter-revolutionary). What am I supposed to feel about all of this? I mean this is just life, sh*t happens.

oops, double post

you are still an idiot. youre defending what you said by giving us a history of your family?
youre in America now kid. and more so, youre in a forum full of patriotic individuals (are you an exception? you tell me). no amount of explanation can make what you said acceptable.

jz02, I double post all the time just because I'm a internet idiot. I hope you have a better excuse. Sorry BB, not trying to take away from your thread.

I dont' need to defend what I said, because that's how I feel. I don't need to justify how I feel to any of you. You're not the moral police.

Having said that, compared to what my parents and grandparents put up with, my life is infinitely better. For that reason, I'm not going to waste it worry about things I have no control over.

I like most things about this country, but if there's one thing I don't like, it's the sensationalism. Everytime something happens, we have to make it into a drama. Take 9/11 for example. Look what the news media combined with the popular imagination has done. The all american selfless heros, the cold and calculating villains, the countless victims. This could all be written up into an epic like Star Wars. Sure this is an unprecedented tragedy, does this mean that the second time around it won't be as special? Is our lives so boring that we have to turn everything into a drama? This is life, it could've been better, it could've been worse. I'm not going to try to pin my feelings on you, so why do you have to pin your feelings on me?

I really believe what Yoda said about fear, anger and hatred. The older I get the more I realize this. Emotions aren't as simple as it was when I was a kid. Back then if I were mad I'd knock a couple of thigns over. If I was sad I'd go find a corner and cry. Kids don't store anger inside and turn it to hatred. I don't believe I should be forced to spend my emotions on fear, anger and hatred. That will do no good for me. We all get mad about little things from time to time, but I don't want anger to linger inside of me and turn to hatred. I want to be a good person and live a good life. I want to be worthy of all the sacrifices that my ancestors have made to make my life possible. If you think that makes me un-American and un-patriotic, then I have to ask you, what do you think being an American and being a patriot mean?

OK, I see the problem;  you're already dead.  You just happen to be breathing at the moment.

jz, man... I've tried helping you out and I believe you make some valid points but the problem here is that you are intellectualizing what is an intensely EMOTIONAL experience for most people.  The emotional response is to hurl epithets... your response is to staunchly assert your position with a history lesson.  It won't work... you'll just further piss off the people who are responding on a visceral level.  

For the record, I don't support your emotionally-detached version of September 11, although on a cerebral level it has merit.  What happened was a tragedy and, by definition, you cannot separate feeling from the event.

By the same token, I don't support those people who's first response is to call someone names.

It is interesting, however, to ponder how the sheer number of tragic events has so overwhelmed the public that there is a portion of the population that has just shut down to the inhumanity of it all.... just a thought...