Five years ago today was a beautiful late summer day, just like today appears to be starting out. How peaceful and serene. But high in the air around this time a plane was flying toward New York City with malicious intent. The beautiful sky exploded in a blinding flash at one of the Twin Towers a few minutes later. I had the TV on and heard it announced. What a hellish accident I thought. Then the TV showed a plane coming toward the second tower. For some reason I thought it was on a rescue mission or attempting to assess the damage. Then I saw it hit the tower. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What a coincidence, was my first thought. I went outside to tell Cynthia — I think she was weeding her flower garden — as the thought began to dawn on me that these were deliberate acts. I was assuming that some nuts had rented small planes and had suicidally crashed them into the towers for some reason. A little later Nadim told me in an email — or was it by phone? — that these planes were full-sized passenger planes carrying people. The horror really sunk home to me at that point.
The Horror. The Horror. Kurtz, he dead. [Joseph Conrad: The Heart of Darkness]
A few days later our deer president got his eyes out of the headlights and addressed the Nation. We were going to get the perpetrators of these terrible acts, dead or alive. Well, the rest is history. The sad irony is that we could have used Saddam to help us capture Osama. (Rummy used him in the 80’s.) Now we’re stuck in an on-going horror show in Iraq while Osama runs free. We’ve decimated much of al-Qeada but have created new copy-cat versions while Osama and his brain trust, Ahman al-Zawahiri, still at large, egg them on. Much of the moderate Muslim world has turned against us.
Now the Bushies are all excited about Iran, a nation that may be developing nuclear power but has not attacted another nation in a century. Well, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, someone said. FDR of course — thank God for him (and LBJ)! I got my Soc. Sec. and Medicare. 
According to the latest Republican plan to hold Congress, all this talk makes me a Nazi sympathizer! lol lol 
I used to hate Hitler. Still do in fact. Oh well.
Mahdey
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Such a sad, sad day. Interesting to read your view point, from the first moment the first plane smashed into the tower, and the slow realization you had that this was not an accident.
Wish you could have seen comedian Norm McDonald on Letterman the night before last. He had some very funny (and, of course, true) things to say about Hitler. Unfortunatley, he didn’t mention anything about the Republicans considering you a Nazi sympathizer.. um.. how exactly does that work?
Did you read that “fram-mail” from LJT the other day, the one with all the statistics about illegal aliens? How much of that is true? It’s pretty gross, in my opinion.. I mean, that someone would make all this up. Maybe some of it is true, who knows? What do I know, I’m living up here in a little cubby hole in maine.
“Less than 2% of illegal aliens in the United States are picking crops ,
but 41% are on welfare;95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens;
83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens;
86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens;
75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and
Albuquerque are illegal aliens;More than 380,000 “anchor babies” were born in the United States in 2005
were to parents who are illegal aliens; making those 380,000 babies
automatically U.S. citizens.97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American
taxpayer;More than 66% of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans
on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers;24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican
nationals here illegally;40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals
here illegally;48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican
nationals here illegally;29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal
prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually;More than 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in
garages;More than 53% of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New
Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens;More than half of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens
from south of the border;More than 43% of all Food Stamps issued are to illegal aliens;
More than 41% of all unemployment checks issued in the United States are
to illegal aliens;58% of all Welfare payments in the United States are issued to illegal
aliens;Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties in the United States are
illegal aliens;14 out of 31 TV stations in L.A. are Spanish-only;
16 out of 28 TV stations in Phoenix are Spanish-only;
15 out of 24 TV stations in Alburquerque are Spanish-only;
21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish-only;
17 radio stations in Phoenix are Spanish-only;
17 radio stations in Albuquerque are Spanish-only;
More than 34% of Arizona students in grades 1-12 are illegal aliens;
More than 24% of Arizona students in grades 1-12 are
non-English-speaking;More than 39% of California students in grades 1-12 are illegal aliens;
More than 42% of California students in grades 1-12 are
non-English-speaking;In Los Angeles County, 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million
speak Spanish;More than 71% of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by illegal aliens or
transport “coyotes”;47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance
and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal
aliens;63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance
and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal
aliens;66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance
and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66%, 98% are illegal
aliens;Less than 2% of illegal aliens in the United States are picking crops ,
but 41% are on welfare;
Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of
California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration;The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET
(after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Professor
Donald Huddle, RiceUniversity];
The estimated profit to U.S. corporations and businesses employing
illegal aliens in 2005 was more than $2.36 TRILLION dollars;
The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the
average adult Mexican illegal alien is $55, 000.00 cost to the American
taxpayer in a 5-year span. You, personally, are giving $11,000 every
year to illegal aliens. ” -
Gee, I should have read that email from LJT on the immigrant problem. However, statistics are hard to verify in many cases. On that last point, for example, about the $70 billion cost to txpayers, other estimates have made it a $25 billion surplus. See, for example, HERE for an analysis of a lot of these numbers. I know there are many people who are all worked up about the Hispanics, the Spanish language, and the so-called immigrant problem.
How does that Nazi sympathizer thing work? Well, just ask Dick and Rummy. That’s Dick Cheney, the Vice President, and Don Rumsfeld, the Sec. of Defence of the U.S.of A.. They say that people who criticize the Bush stay-the-course option in Iraq are like Neville Chamberlains; Neville is the guy who appeased Hitler! So, we who feel troops should be withdrawn from Iraq in an orderly fashion, perhaps by setting a deadline, are appeasing evil the way some apeeased the Nazis.
BTW: I saw Norm MacDonald on the Daily Show and he sure is funny! Even had yer Mommy laughing.
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Yeah, those stats are pretty sketchy.. I thought it sounded way too slanted to be “true.” It’s pretty gross that people are sending that crap out and claiming it to be fact (no offense to the sender, of course).
Oh, ok. Now I see, re: Nazi sympathizers. OOOOKAAY.
Did Norm McDonald do the bit on Hitler on Stewart? He is one of the funniest peeps out there, for sure. I wish we could invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner.. not that you aren’t the funniest one of all.
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