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10153. Wombat - 9/12/2011 2:04:31 AM When future historians look at the events that formed the "tipping point" of the United States' decline as a world power, the 2000 election and 9/11 will stand out. The US electoral process failed and put an incompetent in office. When 9/11 occured, this incompetent set in process a series of actions that left the United States fiscally, militarily, psychologically, and morally weaker than it had been before.
Even today--ten years on--segments of US society display a lack of resilience bordering on hysteria, which seems to affect their personal and political decision-making. They are still afraid.
The question now is whether the United States can pull itself up from this or not. Given that one political party seems to appeal to the above-mentioned fear, and is not interested in actually governing, I am not optimistic. 10154. arkymalarky - 9/12/2011 2:53:27 AM well put. but i still think Americans will come thru. the retrospectives on 9/11 are inspirational and hopeful in that regard.
i was with my kids in the library all day that day, watching tv. i told my students last week that in 30 years of teaching, with all the memories i have, that is the only whole day that stands apart in my mind. and that age of students now doesn't remember much. they were six when it happened. it struck me that i can no longer share experiences with my kids of where we all were that day and what we felt and thought. i don't remember that being the case last year. 10155. arkymalarky - 9/12/2011 2:54:16 AM well put. but i still think Americans will come thru. the retrospectives on 9/11 are inspirational and hopeful in that regard.
i was with my kids in the library all day that day, watching tv. i told my students last week that in 30 years of teaching, with all the memories i have, that is the only whole day that stands apart in my mind. and that age of students now doesn't remember much. they were six when it happened. it struck me that i can no longer share experiences with my kids of where we all were that day and what we felt and thought. i don't remember that being the case last year. 10156. Wombat - 9/12/2011 4:33:58 AM I just finished watching Paul Greengrass' incredible film United Flight 93. The scenes in the middle of the film from when the first plane is hijacked to just after the second plane hits the World Trade Center are among the most riveting and horrifying of all the films I've seen. It made me almost physically ill. 10157. bhelpuri - 9/12/2011 9:13:29 AM Friends,
When the planes hit the WTC, I reported the events right here at The Mote as they happened in real time right in front of my eyes. Though suppressed to some extent, those memories are never far away, and remain raw.
The world as we know it is dramatically changed in just one decade.
The global economy is different, now clearly hinged on different processes. Parts of the Middle East are turned to chaos. America is pissing billions away on two lost wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while simultaneously reeling from decades of scandalous theft from its economic elites. The idea of Europe founders, and the so-called Third World rises. There will be no stopping India and particularly China now, make no mistake.
Such historic moments are supposed to be rare in one's life.
But they have happened regularly in all of our lives over the past decade. We are seeing a profound shift, only made greater by the political situation in the USA.
I believe we're most likely coming to the very end of an era that will look startlingly short in future generations. Now comes a more complicated period of elbowing and place-finding, the USA just one of many factors
How the Americans react to this will determine the future of the country.
I still retain reasons for optimism. There is hope.
10158. judithathome - 9/12/2011 6:00:36 PM but i still think Americans will come thru. the retrospectives on 9/11 are inspirational and hopeful in that regard.
I only caught about 45 minutes of those...and what I saw was a perfect metaphor for today's politicial situation in this country and is one reason I don't share your hope.
What I saw showed inept air traffic controllers who even after the first plane had hit, were still saying it was out there flying but they had lost it on radar...planes from an air base scrambled to intercept the plane headed for the Pentagon but flew out to sea instead because they were given incorrect coordinates.
With a JET PLANE lodged and burning inside Tower 1 of the Twin Towers, people in Tower 2 started to head for the elevators to get out of the building and security told them to go back to their offices! With a burning building next door, they send people back up to their offices. Incredible!
And all the while, Bush...who heard about the first plane on the way to the school...sits there reading a story to a grade school class.
It mirrors what is happening today...a president seemingly in shock sits there unable to act or change events happening around him; ineptitude by Congress which seems to have lost direction, can't tell us where to run for safety, and seems determined to send us back into a burning building rather than save our asses.
Watching that made me fear for this country...rather than rally and act like determined adults and clean up the mess of the last 10 years, we as a country seem to have lost our collective minds and may put another Texas fool in office to bring us even further down than we are now.
Yeah, I'm a pessimist but nothing I'm seeing these days makes me think I have any reason to try and become more optimistic. 10159. arkymalarky - 9/12/2011 6:57:39 PM that's why i said retrospectives. the way average citizens handled beng in such horrific circumstances still amazes me and yes, gives me hope for humanity in general and americans in particular. the exposes are just a confirmation that from the beginning the bush administration was one of the worst in history. it blemishes clinton's as well, but at least he had his priorities straight.
obama's election was a good thing, but it wasn't a miracle and i'm not willing to give the tea party more power than the polls show because we're still clawing out of the bush/cheney hole and people are frustrated. if a republican becomes president then i'll revisit my feeling about the future, but i'm not ready to do that yet.
10160. judithathome - 9/12/2011 7:02:52 PM Well, you need to get ready because I don't think a Democrat can win anything in the coming election if they keep pushing and implementing the voter ID programs going in everywere. Making people PAY to get a voter ID...we're going backward, not forward.
I think Obama is a good president...he just needs to learn the other side is not interested in compromise and he needs to move on. 10161. judithathome - 11/7/2011 10:34:59 PM Verdict momentarily in the Michael Jackson doctor trial... 10162. judithathome - 11/7/2011 11:18:44 PM Verdict is guilty. 10163. wabbit - 11/12/2011 2:48:20 AM Good. Having that narcotic in a house with no available crash cart is inexcusable. 10164. arkymalarky - 11/12/2011 5:05:05 AM Too many people made it about Jackson. It was about the dr. 10165. judithathome - 12/6/2011 2:04:33 AM Standard & Poor's said Monday that it placed 15 members of the euro currency union on review for a possible downgrade as the debt crisis in the eurozone continues to worsen.
The blanket warning applies to AAA-rated nations such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg, the U.S.-based credit rating agency said in a press release.
But the review does not change anything for two members of the 17 nation monetary and currency union. Greece's credit rating currently reflects a high risk of default, and Cyprus was already under review.
S&P said the review was prompted "by our belief that systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit standing of the eurozone as a whole."
10166. judithathome - 12/6/2011 2:06:14 AM Hey....wake up, USA...we are in the "effed" zone now! 10167. judithathome - 12/16/2011 7:59:52 PM Christopher Hitchens, RIP
I loved Christopher Hitchens...didn't always agree with him but he, like William F. Buckley before him, was ALWAYS a delightful read no matter what he was saying.
He was quick-witted and erudite and I'm sure had he ended up in heaven, he'd have voluntarily exited to be in hell. 10168. iiibbb - 12/17/2011 5:27:52 AM I am really disappointed with my favorite store 10169. judithathome - 12/17/2011 7:14:20 PM I am, too...which is why I cut up my card and sent it to their corporate headquarters along with a note that said I'd come back to their store when they came to their senses. 10170. judithathome - 12/19/2011 9:11:36 PM I heard a joke today...Hitchens and Havel got to pick the third person to die and they chose the Korean guy.... 10171. judithathome - 12/19/2011 11:28:55 PM Granted, this is an "iffy" site but even so, it's scary:
Tests Set Off By North Korea After Kim Jong Il's Death 10172. thoughtful - 12/23/2011 5:54:30 AM In case you missed it, they won't be making CDs after 2012. That may not be a big deal for you young 'uns, but for an oldster like me who plans on getting at least another 10 years out of her car, it matters. CDs are the only way to get music into the thing so I'm prepping now. I just bought some Dan Fogelberg and need to get some Cat Stevens yet.
If you've not heard Wysteria, it's worth a listen....don't know how to embed the video on the iPad. So sorry for the awkward link.
Dan Fogelberg's Wysteria
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