On the eve of the anniversary of our national tragedy I find the anger and emotion no less powerful than what was experienced two years ago. On the day it happened, the President said we are going to find out who did this and kick their ass. We are not done kicking that ass yet and will continue as long as George Bush is President. He called it a "task that does not end".
That's as close to pure truth as you will find.
I recently sent this to someone I have always considered a friend. I felt that he was having some kind of personal conflict and perhaps it would help. I take no credit for the words but feel it says something about the souls we lost on 9/11. It is a Native American Prayer that speaks to our feeling of loss. I wrote it on the first page of a favorite book, "Wisdom Sits in Places", by Keith Basso. The site of the Twin Towers is now one of those places described by the Western Apache.
I give you this one thought to keep - I am with you still - I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush.
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone - I am with you still - in each new dawn.
September 11
Shils-aash da nzhoo........
I am perhaps a little more appreciative of the events of Sept 11 as they struck close to home. I remember sitting in my office chatting merrily away on the computer when one of my clients asked if I was ok. He then told me a small plane had hit the north tower of the WTC. I thought nothing of it for a few minutes until I noticed some wild market gyrations on my S&P charts. I finally turned on a TV and saw the live transmissions. Black smoke pouring out of the north tower. A minute or so later the south Tower exploded live on the TV.
I called my mother who lives in a two-family house with my sister. Her husband (my brother in law) worked on the 80th floor of the south tower. They were hysterical, so I went over there to offer what aid and comfort I could. Kept calling my brother-in-laws cell #...no response. Finally at 1130am he called. He was about to enter the south tower (late for work) when the second plane hit. Shrapnel killed a woman standing next to him. He just had a small wound on his hand. Such is fate. He remembers standing in the street, watching the north tower, watching people jumping 1000 feet rather than being roasted alive, then the roar of the 2nd jet and then didnt remember anything till he arrived at Penn Station on foot. He finally made it home around 3pm that afternoon. Had he been on time that day, he would not be among the living.
Such are my personal remembrances. The other thing that will always stick with me is how the events affected my own town, about 30 miles east of the city. We had 27 funerals in our Catholic church that September and October related to the WTC attacks.
Its been two years now and I fear America is just as vulnerable today as we were then. I fear we as a people spent the 90s being inculcated with the Politically-Correct crowds mantra of "blame America for the worlds ills...especially all the evil white males". We are more concerned with the sensitivities of certain ethnic groups than we are with preventing nuclear explosions in American cities. Sooner or later it will come to that..and that is going to shock us into reality.
Of course things could be worse. Al Gore might have been President. Anyone ever think of that possibilty?
An elephant can be killed by a swarm of ants....unless the ant colony is exterminated.
Anyway thats enough babbling political commentary for now.
Never forget.
Let Freedom Ring
P
PS Mighty fine looking harvest moon last night. Wasnt it?
I am perhaps a little more appreciative of the events of Sept 11 as they struck close to home. I remember sitting in my office chatting merrily away on the computer when one of my clients asked if I was ok. He then told me a small plane had hit the north tower of the WTC. I thought nothing of it for a few minutes until I noticed some wild market gyrations on my S&P charts. I finally turned on a TV and saw the live transmissions. Black smoke pouring out of the north tower. A minute or so later the south Tower exploded live on the TV.
I called my mother who lives in a two-family house with my sister. Her husband (my brother in law) worked on the 80th floor of the south tower. They were hysterical, so I went over there to offer what aid and comfort I could. Kept calling my brother-in-laws cell #...no response. Finally at 1130am he called. He was about to enter the south tower (late for work) when the second plane hit. Shrapnel killed a woman standing next to him. He just had a small wound on his hand. Such is fate. He remembers standing in the street, watching the north tower, watching people jumping 1000 feet rather than being roasted alive, then the roar of the 2nd jet and then didnt remember anything till he arrived at Penn Station on foot. He finally made it home around 3pm that afternoon. Had he been on time that day, he would not be among the living.
Such are my personal remembrances. The other thing that will always stick with me is how the events affected my own town, about 30 miles east of the city. We had 27 funerals in our Catholic church that September and October related to the WTC attacks.
Its been two years now and I fear America is just as vulnerable today as we were then. I fear we as a people spent the 90s being inculcated with the Politically-Correct crowds mantra of "blame America for the worlds ills...especially all the evil white males". We are more concerned with the sensitivities of certain ethnic groups than we are with preventing nuclear explosions in American cities. Sooner or later it will come to that..and that is going to shock us into reality.
Of course things could be worse. Al Gore might have been President. Anyone ever think of that possibilty?
An elephant can be killed by a swarm of ants....unless the ant colony is exterminated.
Anyway thats enough babbling political commentary for now.
Never forget.
Let Freedom Ring
P
PS Mighty fine looking harvest moon last night. Wasnt it?
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Joe Ribaudo
- Expert
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- Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:36 pm
Those Who Matter
Shila'aash,
Those who have "smelled the smoke" will not forget. They are the ones who will speak for us now, and they are the ones who are in the prayers of those who "are with us still". Sitting here at home, we should do no less, and must do much more.
Respectfull,
Joe
Those who have "smelled the smoke" will not forget. They are the ones who will speak for us now, and they are the ones who are in the prayers of those who "are with us still". Sitting here at home, we should do no less, and must do much more.
Respectfull,
Joe
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Joe Ribaudo
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Interesting Post
Bill,
Let me once again welcome you to the site.
I am not sure how to answer your post. You don't know me, so I take no offense to your comment. As I said, "others will speak for us now". I have been the "others" and left that behind me. Saving lives these days is the work I find most rewarding and is the task I will do as long as I am able.
Your comments concerning the U.S. taking "possession of new mexican territory in 1847" are close to the facts. The Army of the West was led by Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny. Kearny, called "Horse-chief of the Long Knives" by the Indians and "Father of the U.S. Cavalary" by the whites, took Sante Fe, New Mexico without firing a shot in 1846. He proclaimed himself Governor. He than proceeded through Arizona and into California.
While on this march he met the Apache Chief Mangas Coloradas, who offered his help in the Americans fight against the Mexicans. He declined that offer. As an aside, the word "Mexican" does not mean "mixed" as someone said on this forum.
The actual signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on Feb. 2, 1848. Much of the territory ceded by Mexico (almost half of it's lands) was already under control of the United States.
What records are you speaking of as being moved? Which church were they taken from and what church received them in Hermosillo, Sonora?
I am not sure how any of this belongs in this topic or why you have mentioned them out of the blue. Are you an old member continuing a conversation with a new name?
Wiz,
Sorry to make this so windy, but there is not much else being discussed on the forum and a casual comment on the subject is more than enough to get me going.
Respectfully,
Joe Ribaudo
Let me once again welcome you to the site.
I am not sure how to answer your post. You don't know me, so I take no offense to your comment. As I said, "others will speak for us now". I have been the "others" and left that behind me. Saving lives these days is the work I find most rewarding and is the task I will do as long as I am able.
Your comments concerning the U.S. taking "possession of new mexican territory in 1847" are close to the facts. The Army of the West was led by Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny. Kearny, called "Horse-chief of the Long Knives" by the Indians and "Father of the U.S. Cavalary" by the whites, took Sante Fe, New Mexico without firing a shot in 1846. He proclaimed himself Governor. He than proceeded through Arizona and into California.
While on this march he met the Apache Chief Mangas Coloradas, who offered his help in the Americans fight against the Mexicans. He declined that offer. As an aside, the word "Mexican" does not mean "mixed" as someone said on this forum.
The actual signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on Feb. 2, 1848. Much of the territory ceded by Mexico (almost half of it's lands) was already under control of the United States.
What records are you speaking of as being moved? Which church were they taken from and what church received them in Hermosillo, Sonora?
I am not sure how any of this belongs in this topic or why you have mentioned them out of the blue. Are you an old member continuing a conversation with a new name?
Wiz,
Sorry to make this so windy, but there is not much else being discussed on the forum and a casual comment on the subject is more than enough to get me going.
Respectfully,
Joe Ribaudo
Last edited by Joe Ribaudo on Tue Dec 09, 2003 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Thomas Glover
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Joe Ribaudo
- Expert
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- Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:36 pm
Hard to forget
Dr. Glover,
I doubt many are unaware of what happened on this day in history. I fly an American flag in my front yard every day. There are two flags flying today.
Respectfully,
Joe Ribaudo
I doubt many are unaware of what happened on this day in history. I fly an American flag in my front yard every day. There are two flags flying today.
Respectfully,
Joe Ribaudo