| September 27th, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: What Is And What Should Never Be ::: Even if you consume Jonathan Alter's article An Alternate 9/11 History with a giant block of salt, you can't help but wonder how one or two seemingly insignificant decisions could have re-shaped an entire presidency. Yes, hindsight is always 20/20, but our fearless leader's foresight tends to be more like 20/200... |
| September 14th, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: World of Confusion ::: I'm confused as to how this all works... Actor George Clooney appeals to the U.N. over sending troops to Sudan. The mandate of African Union peacekeepers in the region expires at the end of September and the Sudanese government rejects the U.N.'s proposal of peacekeepers. Clooney warned that "after September 30, you won't need the U.N. You will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and headstones." Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, also appealed to council members: "You are the last political recourse of Darfur victims and you can stop it." Didn't we just go down this road? For that matter, aren't we still ON this road?! |
| September 11th, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: 8:46, 9:03, 9:38, 9:59, 10:10, 10:29 ::: 5 years later... A handful of events still stick in my mind... Troy was late, so I called him. He said, "Dude! Are you watching the TV? This is like a video game. A plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers." Minutes later, I was standing in complete silence next to our CEO, staring blankly at the televisions in our data center when the second plane hit. I called some friends of ours who were supposed to travel back to Cincinnati from Florida that morning; they already cancelled their flight and were lucky enough to get a rental car. Around 11:00am EST, after the second tower crashed, one of my fellow employees made the most ill-timed, callous, condescending comment of the day: "In the grand scheme of things, this isn't that big of a deal. We're only talking about maybe a few thousand people." I still marvel at his arrogance. An hour later, the same person tried to hold a regularly-scheduled meeting, but very few people wanted anything to do with him. Those of us who did try to be good soldiers and keep working were glued to our laptops and cnn.com, routinely hitting the refresh button and waiting over two minutes for the pages to reload. I called my consultant in New York, knowing she worked in the Pentagon for several years. When I finally heard back from her days later, she was heartbroken over having lost several former friends and colleagues when Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. Shortly after 12:00pm EST, I sent my team home. At 2:00pm EST, CBT closed up shop and sent all "non-essential personnel" home for the evening. When I walked outside, I was surprised to see the city had already cut down the parking meters which had originally lined the street in front of CBT's office building. They remain in that half-removed state. By 5:00pm EST, I'd had enough of the news coverage and rampant speculation, so I turned off the news and went to Friday's. Cindy was one of a handful of people still at work updating the ZoomTown web site as events unfolded throughout the evening. What continues to amaze me are the folks still screaming about conspiracy theories. Many people still do not believe United Flight 93 actually crashed in Pennslyvania, suggesting instead it was shot down. This morning, I read through the Loose Change web site and watched a few minutes of their trailer. The site boasts how "Loose Change 2nd Edition" is the follow-up to the most provocative 9-11 documentary on the market today. This film shows direct connection between the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the United States government. Once again, our culture proves that people love a good conspiracy theory and will believe anything handed to them in lieu of actually thinking for themselves. Which reminds me of an excellent article I read over the weekend from a man who enlisted in the Marines after 9/11. When he left for Iraq, he was looking for payback. While he was overseas, however, his mindset changed. He says he began to see that "Americans are weird" and "extremely egocentric", which -- more than anything -- is what ultimately leads to events like 9/11. Ouch. |
| September 10th, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: Hidden Wall Safe ::: A perfect place to secretly store your family jewels! |
| September 7th, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: Corporate Speak ::: I just wasted over two hours on a conference call chock-full of nonsensical corporate gibberish. Oddly enough, we watched a documentary on Hurrican Katrina last night and liken this morning's discussion to the conference calls between FEMA and the government just after the disaster: lots of filling, but little substance. We are so paranoid about assuming responsiblity that everything we say to each other is passive and non-committal. Some actual quotes from this conference call:
"We need to flesh that out and make that procedure more robust." We are obviously judged on the quantity of words we use - not the quality. One of my favorite quotes from Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams about humans: "(If their) mouths stop moving, their brains start to work." |
| September 4th, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: Crikey! ::: Stephen Robert Irwin, aka "The Crocodile Hunter" February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006 |
| September 1st, 2006... |
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Posted by: Zoon ::: Wake Me Up When September Ends ::: And so we begin my least favorite month of the year. |