10/15/01

My photos of the World Trade Center aftermath:

• From NJ, September 12

• Another From NJ, September 12

• From the south of the wreckage, October 6

• From the east, October 6

• Another from the east, October 6

• A third from the east, October 6

(JR)

10/15/01

Required reading:

• On giving them a second chance
  by William F. Buckley, Jr.

• Cultural relativism leaves some blind to evil
  by John Leo

10/14/01

With all the "needy children" in America, do we really want to be donating dollars to Afghani children who, at least more than American children, often grow up to be terrorists? With limited national budgets and limited piggy-bank accounts, are these really the children we want most to help in the world?

I know, the obvious reaction to this will be: "Oh my God! How dare you? Don't you have any compassion?" Sure, I do. But I need to be alive in order to feel compassion. And funding the next generation of terrorists isn't the ideal way of staying that way. (JR)

10/14/01

Slanted Reuters propoganda of the day:

"Israeli forces shot dead an Islamic militant Sunday, dealing a blow to Washington's drive to get Israel and the Palestinians to end a year-long conflict threatening regional support for the U.S. anti-terror war."
(Israel Kills Hamas Militant in Blow to U.S. Plans)

Three questions:

1. Don't "U.S. plans" consist of eliminating terrorists?

2. If Reuters is right that this act by Israel is in conflict with American foreign policy (they give no quotes from American leaders), then doesn't this "blow to U.S. plans" prompt a rather important question about our foreign policy? That is: do we want to have Middle-Eastern support in order to eliminate terrorism, or do we want to have terrorism in order to have Middle-Eastern support?

3. If we're going to call Hamas leaders who authorize the suicide bombings of dance clubs "militants", then what the fuck - why don't we just call the U.S. military "terrorists" while we're at it?

(JR)

10/13/01

The Sponsor-a-Bomb Program

I have a proposal. Now, I don't claim to be the originator of the idea, because it's been done before. People have already been able to sponsor some starving, diseased kid, or get an insignificant star named after them. But what we need now is not food or stars. We need bombs.

I propose we allow Americans to "Sponsor a Bomb". Under my program, for one small donation, you can get your name on a bomb or missile. The bigger your donation, the bigger your name appears. And as a bonus for big contributors, you even get your own video tape of the havoc wrought by your bomb. What could be more satisfying, than to know your bomb killed dozens of anti-American Arabs, or at the very least, destroyed an airport or military installation? Maybe you could even get a personal letter from someone whose home or biochemical weapons factory you demolished, thanking you for your contribution.

Twenty years from now, you'll be able to tell all your friends, "My bomb helped rid the world of terrorism. And maybe you'll be able to sit around the TV and watch the video of your bomb blowing the crap out of some Afghani or Iraqi or Iranian or Syrian or Lebanese building and say to your nephew, "That one was mine, son. Now can you pass me the chips?"

General donations to the Red Cross or even the US Government are fine, but dammit, we need to feel some satisfaction. Is there anyone in the government who can implement this proposal? I have a check right here for a hundred bucks. Even if that only gets me a couple of initials on the nosecone, I'd be happy. I'd have the satisfaction of knowing that some of that ink was embedded deep in the chest of some terrorist fuck in the wasteland of the Middle East, no longer a danger to myself or the people I care about.

Can you think of anything more beautiful?

(Interested government officials please contact Jason Roth.)

10/13/01

Maybe the peace protesters have a point... Watch this cartoon:

Diplomacy

(Forwarded by Steven Mason)

10/11/01

Quote of the day:

"The failure of Arab leaders and Muslim clerics in the Arab world to denounce Osama bin Laden as an infidel suggests two things. Either many agree with his goals, if not his tactics; or, Arab leaders fear reprisals if they condemn bin Laden. Either way, bad news."

- Larry Elder, The battle over Islam

10/11/01

Utterly insignificant yet hilarious Al Gore-related quote of the day:

"Gore seemed to struggle as he sought to describe his own reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, sighing twice before he came up with the word 'tumultuous.'"

'Bush Is My Commander-In-Chief,' Gore Says (Reuters, 9/30/01)

Fellow atheists, let's all gather 'round and say collectively: "Thank God we voted for Bush."

10/11/01

A very interesting - and inspiring - story about how the United States handled the Barbary pirate problem in 1803. We should learn a lesson from our forefathers and apply it now in 2001.

A History Lesson: Leave Us Alone, Or We Will Destroy You

by Vincent Penzo

10/11/01

Check this picture out:

The downside of flag burning

10/10/01

No comment necessary:

Palestinians ask Israel for help as pro-Bin Laden riots spread

10/10/01

Some photos of the Four-Legged Rescuers

10/10/01

Evil religious-conservative quote of the day:

"Approximately 6,000 died in the World Trade Center, and the nation mourned. Roughly 4,000 die in abortion clinics each day -- medical terrorism conducted in the name of choice."

- Don Feder, Blessing aren't a one-way street

I just can't believe there's no dishonesty here. That someone can equate the murder of the World Trade Center victims with the potential human beings in some women's stomaches is at best moronic, and at worst complete evasion.

Here's one question for the religious nuts who claim to have a monopoly on morality:

If you choose not to fly a plane into a building because your God tells you it's "wrong" to do so, then how can you condemn somone for doing it if he says his God tells him it's right?

The basis of religious thought is faith, revelation, and other non-evidentiary, non-rational means of gaining knowledge. How do you know what God really wants? Why is bin Laden wrong but you are right? You can't prove it with evidence, because your belief in God requires faith. Every question of morality for you comes down to: "Because God says so." Is that any different from what bin Laden says?

Only with a morality based on reason can you truly condemn September 11's terrorists attacks. Only with a morality based on life, not the word of God, as the standard of value, can you truly condemn an attack on life, prosperity, and success.

10/10/01

Jeff Jacoby does it again:

Pacifism Begets Violence from Terrorists

This is a great explanation of how American foreign policy invited acts of terrorism.

10/9/01

Quote of the day:

"Once we take care of Mr. bin Laden, [and] the Taliban are overthrown, then there will be other nations . . . Iraq, Iran, Syria, they will have to either eject those terrorist organizations or they will also pay a penalty."

- Senator John McCain (In an Interview with Tom Brokaw)

Let's not be too pessimistic about our leaders. They might speak in the language of appeasement at times, or even drop food and medical supplies onto the enemy, but I think we're heading in the right direction. There's reason to be more hopeful today than even a week ago.

10/9/01

To balance out our mention of biochemical threats, here's a more conservative viewpoint:

Biochemical threat overblown

by Armstrong Williams

But note that the author hadn't yet seen the 60 Minutes report on Iraqi possession of the smallpox virus. And, we should never doubt our Middle-Eastern enemies' desire to obtain these kind of weapons.

10/9/01

Required reading:

Spitting on Friends, and Befriending Enemies

by Jeff Jacoby

10/8/01

Want to help spread some anti-American propaganda? Here's your chance!

anti-war.jpg

rainbow-laden.jpg

10/8/01

The man of the hour:

10/8/01

So, you say the Islamic terrorists misinterpreted the Koran?

Maybe it's the non-violent Muslims who are misinterpreting it...

10/8/01

Inspiring news story of the day:

60 Minutes Reports That Iraq Has Smallpox

"Mike Wallace reported this evening that Saddam Hussein acquired some of the smallpox virus from a laboratory in Russia."

10/6/01

Required listening:

Audio Interview with Leonard Peikoff on the nationally syndicated Michael Savage show.
(Windows Media Player required. Interview starts one hour into the show.)

You can also read Dr. Peikoff's article which appeared as a full-page ad in the New York Times:

End States Who Sponsor Terrorism

10/5/01

Required reading:

Radical Islam's Assault on Human Life

by Edwin A. Locke

10/5/01

Inspirational Quote of the day:

"Richard Butler, the former chief arms inspector in Iraq, tells us that Iraq has weaponized anthrax and VX gas. Syria has chemical weapons. Iran is developing nukes. They all sponsor terrorists."

- Charles Krauthammer, War was declared on us

10/4/01

Quote of the day:

"The purpose of Architecture is to improve human life. Create timeless, free, joyous spaces for all activities in life. The infinite varieties of these spaces can be as varied as life itself and they must be as sensible as nature in deriving from a main idea and flowering into a beautiful entity. The overriding essence is found in the intangibles - life - heart - soul - spirit - freedom - enduring within the structure."

- John Lautner, Architect

See what the terrorists wanted to destroy?

10/1/01

A Voice of the (American) Damned
by Jason Roth

We have more in common with the terrorists than we'd like to think. We both believe in the virtue of martyrdom. We both believe that committing suicide for one's cause is moral.

Ayn Rand wrote:

"Altruism holds death as its ultimate goal and standard of value."

We are now seeing, here in America, a mad rush to succeed in that goal. We are hearing, from people who propose no alternatives, that we should "turn the other cheek" until every American city is destroyed. We are hearing "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" in order to paralyze our moral resolve.

We are afraid to defend ourselves. We are afraid because:

Foreign governments might not like us. (Republicans)

"Innocent" non-Americans may die. (Democrats)

The Republicans are like school children who don't have the courage to defend the unpopular kid because the group might not like them. Most Republicans have not yet become adults, they are in perpetual search for self esteem and the willingness to make a decision and take action based on what their minds have concluded. Since God himself is nowhere to be found, they look for the approval of others. But if they need approval to defend themselves, they have already conceded the enemy's right to kill them. All the enemy needs is a better public relations department.

The Democrats are even more consistently altruistic. Some Republicans at least concede that self-defense is permissible when others give you approval. But Democrats are wishing for a new reality which contains bombs that only blow up "the right people". Democrats, even though they have dismissed and derided military spending for decades, now believe we should play Sherlock Holmes until every last American has burned to death, jumped out of a window, or been crushed under tons of rubble.

Notice that you don't hear anyone protesting against President Bush's executive order to shoot down passenger planes which come too close to Washington, D.C. Why? Because it's perfectly fine with the anti-war, pro-terrorist demonstrators if innocent Americans die. As Ayn Rand wrote, death is altruism's standard of value. The more we allow ourselves to be walked all over, or shot at, or blown up, the more moral we are according to altruism.

Until people - average Americans and political decision-makers - proclaim our moral right to defend ourselves, our country will continue to crumble. And if you think our country isn't in the process of crumbling (because no 110-story skyscrapers have collapsed in the last twenty-four hours), then remember this: The terrorists want us dead. There is nothing we can do, short of destroying them, that will stop them. Our current limp-wristed waving of the white flag will continue until the arm waving it is blown off.

If we are waiting to defend ourselves until we gain the approval of the entire world, or until our enemies stop using human shields, we should be honest and declare our willingness for suicide.

The hijackers went down with the airplanes. We'll go down with the skyscrapers.

9/28/01

Quote of the day #2:

"Organized terrorist groups have attacked America. These groups wish the Americans to not fight. The American pacifists wish the Americans to not fight. If the Americans do not fight, the terrorists will attack America again. And now we know such attacks can kill many thousands of Americans. The American pacifists, therefore, are on the side of future mass murders of Americans. They are objectively pro-terrorist."

- Michael Kelly, Evil Masquerading as Goodness

9/28/01

Quote of the day #1:

"We must remember that impulsively lashing out is never the best course of action. True justice can only be achieved through cool, calm, levelheaded armageddon."

- Larry Tempel, Point-Counterpoint: America's Response (The Onion)

9/27/01

Required reading:

Taliban Welcome Jesse Jackson Mediation Offer

Jesse Jackson should not only be prohibited from dealing with the Taliban, he should be imprisoned for undermining our national security efforts. (I sure as hell hope our government didn't willingly permit this.)

9/27/01

Quote of the day #2:

"Terrorism is a clear and present danger to Americans today...Indeed, we have tougher laws against organized crime and drug trafficking than we do against terrorism...members of the committee, I regret to inform you that we are today sending troops into the modern field of battle with antique weapons..."

From Text: Attorney General John Ashcroft Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee

But did you also spot Ashcroft's blatant lie in his speech?

"In the past when American law enforcement confronted challenges to our safety and security from espionage, from drug trafficking, from organized crime, this Congress and law enforcers met those challenges in ways that preserved our fundamental freedoms and our civil liberties..."

Come on, Attorney General. Everyone knows damn well that the enforcement of the drug laws by definition violates civil liberties. Not to mention the illegal search and seizure on top of it. And, by the way, Republicans are as guilty as the Democrats when it comes to the misuse of federal funds in this respect. Republicans, probably more than Democrats, are responsible for the "war on drugs" which prevents thousands of people from making a person choice. Any tax money spent on the "drug war" instead of actual national defense was borderline treasonous.

9/27/01

So you thought that the Afghanis were mostly "innocent" rebels against the Taliban government? Think again.

"More and more [Afghani] people now feel that they have to stand by their government, whether they like their government or not...Most of Afghanistan's Taliban militia is basically volunteers from the rural areas..."

From A rare view from inside Afghanistan
(An otherwise slanted piece on the "innocent" Afghanis citizens.)

9/27/01

We've all seen enough photos of Afghani kids in the news to fill a scrapbook. You know what I'd like to see? Just one photo of some American kids, with the caption:

"What about these innocents who will die if America does not go to war?"

And until such a photo exists, here's another good one sent in by Steven Mason.

9/27/01

Quote of the day #1:

"It would no doubt be easy for nations such as France and Germany, which are anxious to limit the extent of any American response, to lay the responsibility for last week's strikes largely at bin Laden's door. This would obviate any need for them to participate in actions against such "rogue states" as Iraq and Iran, with whom they crave more extensive commercial and political dealings."

From Saddam's Subcontractor
(The Daily Telegraph)

9/26/01

Does Iran have more moral fortitude than the U.S.? Granted, their morality is evil, but at least they stick by it.

"After a two-week hiatus since the attacks on the United States, loud cries of "Death to America" rang out again in Iran on Wednesday as its leaders firmly ruled out joining a US-led anti-terror coalition."
From Two weeks after US terror, Iran once again cries "Death to America"

Again, the US has lucked out. Asking terrorists to help us fight terrorists was stupid, and dangerous, enough. If Iran had agreed to be part of the coalition, we would have effectively wiped their terrorist-condoning record clean. So in a way, our leaders are lucky that Iran refused, because now they don't have to go through that annoying process of explaining why Iran isn't allowed to be in the coalition.

The first time we lucked out was when we requested bin Laden from the Taliban "government". (The government we supposedly don't recognize as a government.) What if they had obliged? Would we have said "thanks" and proceeded to press criminal charges? As much as bin Laden deserves to die, I'm almost glad that the Taliban didn't turn him over. If they had, they'd no longer be "harborers of terrorism" and who knows what punishment they would have received?

I am looking forward to the day US leaders show as much moral fortitude as our enemies. As he proved with admirable skill in his Sept. 20th speech, President Bush has the potential. Hopefully, he will ignore Powell and other apparently spineless members of his staff and follow through. (JR)

9/26/01

Quote of the day:

"When a bunch of sociopaths hijack a plane filled with innocent people and drive it into a building populated with thousands of other innocent people, the first thing on any civilized person’s mind is not the desire to empathize with the rage of the perpetrators. It is to recognize evil, and to ascertain whether anyone that was involved in it is still at large. If any guilty parties are still at large, then a person with integrity would preoccupy himself with the hope that they are brought to justice."

From It Doesn’t Matter "What Made These People So Angry." What Matters is to Eliminate Them.
by Jamie Glazov

9/26/01

Sign your name to this memorial list, and read about each of the passengers:

9/25/01

Quote of the day:

"We have received a wake up call from hell. Now the question is simple: Do we rally to defeat this evil, while there is still time, or do we press a collective snooze button and go back to business as usual?"

From Understanding Terrorism
by Benjamin Netanyahu

9/24/01

Forwarded by Steven Mason:

Updated Map of the Middle East

9/24/01

Required reading:

It Is Time to Declare War
- by Leonard Peikoff

9/23/01

Quote of the day:
(Forwarded by Andrew Bissell)

"The purpose of architecture is to create an atmosphere in which man can live, work, and enjoy."

- Minoru Yamasaki, World Trade Center Architect

9/20/01

(Top-ten list removed. We don't need anyone to get distracted from the point, which is to punish and prevent terrorism.)

9/20/01

Forwarded by Dan Hankins:

The Statue of Liberty

9/20/01

You know that $300 tax refund check you're getting, thanks to George W.? Why not donate the money now to the NY Fallen Firefighters and Rescue Workers Fund?

I've sent mine, along with this message:

I'm sure you've heard enough condolences. So instead, I send my respect and admiration for the heroes in the New York fire departments. They were living proof that real heroes do exist. And that not everyone treats their job as a "daily grind"; their jobs meant something to them. There's nothing more to say. They were heroes.

Go ahead, do it.

"This is World War III"

From: Terrorism and Its Appeasement: Part I
by Richard Salsman, CFA and Lisa L. Principe

This article is the best analysis on the terrorist attacks I've seen in print. Skip over the intro and go straight to the section titled "What the U.S. must (and must not) do." If you read anything (and I hope you're reading plenty), read this.

9/20/01

The above article brought tears to my eyes, and made me realize how far away we are from my own ideals. Every one of the authors' points makes so much sense - almost too much sense. And what brought the tears is that I honestly don't think our government is going to heed the authors' advice. Reading the article was like seeing my ideal world, through a prison window.

The more I think about this whole terrorist situation, the more I'm convinced that a weak response to the attacks will result in the complete collapse of this country, and civilization. Yes, it is this serious. There is no response to the attacks on the United States except to acknowledge that we are in a war. If we don't act like it, then we are going to be destroyed. The Islamic terrorist groups have a plan to destroy non-Islamic governments. September 11 wasn't a random occurence. It was part of an organized plan. If we don't put a stop to it, the attacks will keep coming. Yes, it is this serious.

To quote Salsman and Principe:

"It's an act of war -- and it's criminal for U.S. legal officials to expose Americans to a war without letting them fight in it."

I want to have hope. I read today that the FBI is expecting more terrorist attacks soon. But I want to have hope. I will proudly help reelect President Bush if he does the right thing here.

Initially after the attacks, I just wanted to pay these motherfuckers back. Now I'm scared. We need to stop them. Now.

-Jason Roth

9/20/01

This one forwarded by Steven Mason:

The Forecast for Kabul

9/19/01

Required reading:

"The loss of so many lives in New York and Washington is now called an "intelligence failure," mostly by those who crippled the CIA in the first place, and by those who celebrated the loss of its invaluable capabilities."

From: How We Got Here: First we crippled the CIA. Then we blamed it.
by Tom Clancy

And in case you need more proof that German artists are assholes:

Composer creates storm describing attack on US as 'work of art' [link outdated]

9/19/01

Inspirational quote of the day #1:

TIME Magazine: The U.S. says you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons.

Osama bin Laden: Acquiring weapons for the defense of Muslims is a religious duty. If I have indeed acquired these weapons, then I thank God for enabling me to do so. And if I seek to acquire these weapons, I am carrying out a duty. It would be a sin for Muslims not to try to possess the weapons that would prevent the infidels from inflicting harm on Muslims.

Inspirational quote of the day #2:

"I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America."
- Osama bin Laden

(Both from PBS's Frontline)

9/19/01

9/18/01

Ten Ways to Be A Real American Patriot
Copyright (c) 2001 Steven Mason

1. Refuse to call any citizen of the United States an Arab-American, African-American, German-American, or Asian-American. Demand that others stop this Trojan Horse of national balkanization and ethnic collectivization. And never, ever apply such terms to yourself. Either you are an American or you are not. Period.

2. Judge every American by his commitment to, and honor of, each individual's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Anyone who is opposed to a single one of these tenets is anti-individualist and, therefore, anti-American. Anyone who is morally committed to all of these tenets is, regardless of his citizenship, a true American.

3. Denounce moral relativism. Everyone is not just as good as everyone else. The next time you hear someone saying that we are all equal, ask them if Hitler and Churchill, if Iraq and the United States, if the United Nations's "Anti-Racism" conference at Durban and the Revolutionary Congress are equals. If they say "yes," run as fast as you can away from them, away from their associates, away from their corporations, away from their "causes."

4. If you are a parent, go to your child's grammar school, high school, or college, and read and listen to what is being taught as "truth." Speak to the teachers and the professors. Ask them about hyphenated Americans, about Jefferson's tenets, about moral relativism. Listen carefully not just to their answers, but to their evasions, to their writings, to their teachings. Judge them. And if you are appalled, demand change to the school boards, to the administrations, to the Chancellors of the Ivy League schools. Stop the leftist terror emanating from the oft-morally putrid halls of academe.

5. Ask yourself how often you condemn others for wanting to follow their passions, for profiting handsomely from their passions or their abilities, for not "sharing" their honestly-earned property with those humans among us who produce nothing but hatred of the good, who write nothing but paeans to collectivist governments, and who respect nothing but that which has been taken from innocent others at the point of a gun, or by confiscatory taxation. Then look at yourself in the mirror, and resolve to understand why this nation was founded upon individualism, why that is the bedrock of our greatness, and why it is our greatest bulwark against our enemies. Then become a real American or leave our country for good.

6. Never vote again unless you understand what a political candidate actually stands for, and never, ever vote for a candidate who is not a true individualist. True, such people are hard to find these days, but have you considered how easy they would be to find if each and every one of us demanded these qualities, and refused to settle for less?

7. Protest as loudly as you can when American individualism is being assaulted to the core. What message does it send to our collectivist enemies: when we trumpet our destruction of an engine of industry like Microsoft? when we stage Gestapo-style raids to return a child to Fidel's paradise of Communist Hell? when we remain a member of, and support with our tax dollars, the collectivist, anti-American United Nations? when a President openly flouts and disdains the rule of law, and we give him not just a pass, but reelection and high approval ratings? when we create the fiction of a "hate" crime by the criterion of race or sexual orientation which would be more properly termed a "crime against the collective," instead of by the criterion of the severity of the violation of an individual's rights? n.b. murderers kill individuals, not a faceless race, or a faceless sex, or faceless sexual orientations; and rapists rape individuals, not the fiction of a collective race.

8. Stop gun control. All dictatorships in history have first sought to disarm their "subjects." From Hitler to Mao to the Taliban, gun control is the refuge of despots or, at best, of sorely misguided individuals. Compromise not one iota on the Second Amendment. Take to heart the words of Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would sacrifice a little freedom in order to have safety deserve neither."

9. Take a page out of the Left's playbook. Stop being the silent majority. Boycott news media that trumpet collectivist claptrap. Boycott corporations, as investors and as consumers, that support anti-American, anti-individualistic, anti-capitalistic causes, and that do business with America's sworn enemies. Boycott non-profit associations that want to destroy America, instead of to build it up. Conversely, support with your minds, your hearts, your pocketbooks all those organizations that are profoundly pro-American, keeping in mind that the pro-American philosophy knows no national boundaries, and that the true American is a stalwart supporter of free trade. Without what Ayn Rand termed "the sanction of the victim," without the support of their constituencies, these organizations will wither and die; or, more likely, they will change their policies, their programs, and their support and they will again prosper as they then rightfully should.

10. Realize that if each and every American does these things, then no enemy on earth, no collectivist terror, can touch us ever. Nothing is more collectively powerful than a nation of morally committed individualists who act consistently and solemnly upon their beliefs.

9/17/01

The Good:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair:
"declared it a 'war...between the civilized world and fanaticism' and vowed to stand by an ally which aided Britain in two world wars."

The Bad:

Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz:
"Hopefully, the tragedy can cleanse the sins by the U.S."

And the Cowards:

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer:
"The worst thing we could do would be for the West to go against the Islamic world. It is the goal of these criminals to provoke a war of civilizations. We must not push Islam in general into the corner of terror because that would just make matters worse."

French Defense Minister Alain Richard:
"Armed action is only one of the ways of responding... What is necessary is a way that does not provoke other elements of instability."

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana:
"warned against an excessive response that would 'offend or humiliate' whole peoples or religions."

(Taken from the September 16 Reuters story, "After Shock, Anxious Allies Urge U.S. to Be Cautious")

9/16/01

Rescuers and politicians have mentioned in interviews that television can't completely capture the devastation at the site of the World Trade Center. Though I haven't been to "ground zero" myself, there is another image which has been seared into my memory, which only a first-hand view could have produced.

That image is the magnitude of the grey cloud growing out of the falling towers. From across the Hudson River, near the ferry in Weehawken, NJ, I could see the entire length of Manhattan. The mass of cloud, that looked like a solid, hideous growth, was enormous in relation to the size of Manhattan. It seemed to cover the entire southern tip of the island, its own size longer and wider than most of the buildings in the city. It was an alien presence, a grey deformity that had no right to be there, but which had taken over the city.

New York is majestic; if its buildings were trees, it would be impressive as a forest. But every tree was designed, created, and constructed by men. That massive, hardened growth of smoke and debris pulled away all attention from the majesty of New York. But, and this is what cannot be captured by video, the whole of New York City was always in view, even as that smoke cloud hovered above. And when I saw one tower standing alone, and then none, all that was left was that hideous growth that connected the ground with the sky, seeming to own all the majesty that was the City.

And by that time, as I stood alone, with tears in my eyes, not believing what was fully visible to me, all I could think was "This is war. This is fucking war." I still wasn't convinced that we were at war, but I was convinced that the attackers had asked for it. There was no response to this except war.

I was convinced a bomb had gone off after the planes had hit. When the second tower fell, clouds of smoke rushed and grew out of the tower two-thirds of the way up. I was sure it was an explosion, something separate from the airplane, but only later would I find out the details of how the towers fell. The apparent ease with which they fell was both terrifyingly real and impossible to believe. It was as if two mountains were knocked over with a single breath.

As the smoke cleared somewhat, I hoped to see at least a skeleton remaining of the second tower. I couldn't imagine it would be gone entirely.

The smoke that grew from the towers, where I had visited as a child and again later as an adult when my dad was still working there, had replaced the towers. It wasn't a void, not yet. In place of the proud, towering structures created by productivity and freedom - the opposite of the slave-created monuments in Egypt - was a grey, shapeless mass. If the absence, the nothing, the zero, could exist as a concrete entity, that is what it would look like.

This is what the World Trade Center's destroyers wanted. Not just nothing, the state of becoming nothing. They wanted to see existence destroyed. They, both the organizers and the ones who committed the acts, lived to experience death. They didn't just want an absence of life, they wanted something to die.

Even life-destroyers need certain values to maintain their lives. To start with, they need the ground under their feet. We must remove that ground.

-Jason Roth

9/16/01

Required reading:

Fifty Years of Appeasement Led to Black Tuesday
by Leonard Peikoff

What a Real War Looks Like
by Robert W. Tracinski

Websites:

Capitalism Magazine
Frontpage Magazine

9/16/01

As I find the words to speak, I will.

Every fact has been named. Everyone is aware of the facts. There are no words I could say that could add to the discussion. All that is necessary now is action.

But words are essential.

We, the lovers of life, the lovers of freedom, must talk back to all those who express fear, doubt, and above all: reluctance to fight back. We cannot let the reluctance to fight back go unchallenged.

The doubters, the cowards, the altruists will all say the same things:

• What about the innocents who will die if we respond?

  Response: What about the innocent Americans who have died, and will continue to die? What about the terrorists and governments who have murdered and enslaved their own people? What about the governments who have forced us to retaliate? Who is responsible for the innocents in the terrorist states? If innocents die when we protect ourselves, will you dare blame us?

• We should use "restraint", and our response should be "measured".

  How's this for restraint and measurement: Let's restrain ourselves from using the last few nuclear warheads, just in case a few bloody Islamic towel-head-wearing scumbags crawl out from under some rock we missed when our "measured" response of everything but the kitchen fucking sink is dropped on top of them. How dare you speak of measurement and restraint at a time when American bodies - and the bodies of those who tried to rescue them - are sitting mangled under the greatest symbol of American freedom and prosperity in non-existence? If the fucking janitor in an Iranian government bathroom gets his head crushed, flattened, smashed, bashed, exploded, or imploded, then so fucking be it. He and his bleeding, headless body can send their letters of complaint to what remains of his dictator-in-chief, and voice his thorough dissatisfaction with his government's failure to abide by pages 18-27 of Robert's Rules of Order. Oh, and not to mention their complete sanction of terrorism within and abroad.

More to come, stay tuned. Just don't expect a measured response from me.

-Jason Roth

9/16/01

A suggestion for the new World Trade Center:

I wish this could be credited, but this was forwarded to me from a friend without the creator's name.

9/11/01

I just talked to my dad. He escaped from tower 2 (the first tower to fall) ten minutes before it fell. He had a meeting in the building, on one of the floors in the 60s. After the first attack, the building began getting evacuated. When he got down to the 44th-floor lobby, he saw the ceiling collapse onto people. This was two minutes after an announcement came over the loudspeakers that said everything was fine, that the problem was in the other building. He proceeded down the stairs, and walked away from the building. Ten minutes later, he saw the building fall. His wife knew he was in the building. She waited, uncertain, until he came home.

He was also in the world trade center when it was bombed.

-Jason Roth

9/11/01

I saw the second tower go down with my own eyes. I was across the river waiting for a ferry in NJ. The Lincoln Tunnel was closed. It was like a mushroom cloud. Grey clouds covered what used to be the world trade center. People were crying. One woman was crying in another woman's arms. Another man was crying, trying to get to a phone. The phone lines were all busy. No one could get through to New York. Some people didn't know if their friends, their family were still alive.

I was about to get on the ferry - all I knew at that time was that a plane crashed into one of the towers. I had seen it on TV before leaving for work. But then, the ferry arrived from NY, and people got off the ferry, saying don't go in. The Pentagon was bombed. It's a war zone. Some of the people I was with got on the ferry. I walked back, and watched the smoke - no, it didn't look like smoke. It looked solid. I walked inside the ferry building - there was a TV on. I watched on live TV as the first building came dowm. More people were crying. I left the ferry building and looked across the river from near the Hudson river. There was smoke everywhere. Some guy said "That's a good way to get sympathy for your cause." Someone was already starting to justify a cause that required this means. I stood and watched. Then I started walking back towards home - there were no buses leaving. I kept looking back, looking at the smoke. Then, there was what looked like another explosion. The second tower! I stood and watched. It looked like a mushroom cloud.

I kept walking, and someone stopped and gave me a ride back home.

I got home, and there was a message from my mom. She wanted to know if I was ok. I called her, and then it hit me. I had seen it come down.

So many people.