9/11 Memorial
World Trade Center
Remember the Time
OK…So it’s been a few days since the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks. I remember where I was when it all took place - W 31st Street and Avenue of the Americas (also known as 6th Avenue). The Avenue was straight path to the WTC and everyone had a clear of the towers. Amazingly, there was no concern for the Empire State Building which is just a few blocks away from where I was standing. I would have thought it would have been evacuated immediately after learning that this was a possible terrorist attack.
I watched the towers collapse from that corner. The office worked was on that corner (no one else came into work that morning). My boss called and told me that I should stay in the office where he felt I would be safe. I did for a some time but all I could think about was the Empire State Building and the possibility of a plane being flown into it. A friend of mine, who worked a few blocks away and further away from the ESB, sent me an email and said that I could come to his office and hang out there… He himself was about to close the office and head home. I chose the go there. The city seemed so silent; even the cars going by just seemed muffled in the eerie calm. Hardly anyone was speaking; they were just walking. Sirens pierced the surrealism of the beautiful September day and reminded that what I just witnessed really happened.
I do not remember how I got home that day. I lived in Bushwick Brooklyn at the time. What I do remember are the sounds of helicopters and fighter jets flying overhead for days after. I was terrified!
To this day, I get chills when I see what appears, to me, to be a low flying airplane. I didn’t see anything on the news but it appears that passenger airplanes are allowed to fly over Manhattan again. That scares me.
There was a change in the people of New York City that followed. New Yorkers were kinder to one another. We moved out of each others’ way. We offered seats ont he subways. We held more door open for each other. We shared cabs instead of fighting for one. We knew that even though we didn’t know the person next to us, he or she was affected in someway by the events of 9/11. With all the sorrow and loss all around us there was calm in our hearts.
Let’s not lose our ability empathize with each other. Understand that we are suffering something at any given moment. Keep calm and we will persevere.
Sailor coming from 9/11 Memorial
Tribute of Light for 9/11
A team of 30 electricians worked through the night yesterday to prepare for the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks which takes place on Sunday. The ‘Tribute in Light’ is made up of 88 bulbs which project two blue beacons of light up into the heavens that is visible from a 60 mile radius. The tribute will be powered on for the entire day and night on Sunday to remember the 2,753 people who died on September 11, 2001. The National September 11 Memorial and Museum is also scheduled to open on Sunday at the WTC site.
Going there later on today…
September 11th - Word of the Day - Remember
re·mem·ber
[ri-mem-ber]
verb (used with object)
1. to recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think of again: I’ll try to remember the exact date.
2. to retain in the memory; keep in mind; remain aware of: Remember your appointment with the dentist.
3. to have (something) come into the mind again: I just remembered that it’s your birthday today.
4. to bear (a person) in mind as deserving a gift, reward, or fee: The company always remembers us at Christmas.
5. to give a tip, donation, or gift to: to remember the needy.
6. to mention (a person) to another as sending kindly greetings: Remember me to your family.
7. (of an appliance, computer, etc.) to perform (a programmed activity) at a later time or according to a preset schedule: The coffeepot remembers to start the coffee at 7 a.m. every day.
8. Archaic . to remind.
verb (used without object)
9. to possess or exercise the faculty of memory.
10. to have recollection (sometimes followed by of ): The old man remembers of his youth.
Jubilation @ Ground Zero
Early AM @ Former World Trade Center
Monday, May 2, 2011
From 9/11 To Osama Bin Laden’s Death, Congress Spent $1.28 Trillion In War On Terror
NEW YORK CITY — It took 3,519 days since September 11, 2001, for U.S. forces to finally kill Osama bin Laden, the chief architect of the terrorist attacks that define that date.
During that time period, two wars were launched in the Middle East, each with the stated purpose of fulfilling the objectives of a larger “war”: that on terror. Bin Laden’s capture doesn’t halt those operations. But it does provide an end point to a chapter that was politically contentious, emotionally exhausting and quite costly.
How much money did the United States spend to capture bin Laden in the operation that took place Sunday? That precise a figure is difficult (perhaps impossible) to pinpoint. A much easier price tag, however, can be placed on the costs of foreign operations that were launched in response to the 9/11 attacks.
According to a March 29, 2011 Congressional Research Service report, Congress has approved a total of $1.283 trillion for “military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks.” Those three operations include Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
Broken down individually, the government has spent $806 billion for Iraq, $444 billion for Afghanistan, $29 billion for enhanced security and $6 billion on “unallocated” items. The vast majority of all the money appropriated has gone to the Department of Defense, and of that money more and more is being spent on Operation & Maintenance (O&M) funding, which went from $42 billion in FY2004 to $79 billion in FY2008. Only $67 billion (or 5 percent) went to the State Department or USAID. Only $8 billion (or 1 percent) went to veterans’ care, via the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Because U.S. troop presence will remain at relatively high levels in Afghanistan and, to a lesser extent, Iraq in the years ahead — and because veteran health-care needs will likely only get worse — the price will continue to rise. If Congress also approves the president’s FY2012 war-funding request, the cumulative cost of post-9/11 operations would reach $1.415 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office — the nonpartisan accountant for lawmakers — estimates that over the next ten years, total costs “could reach $1.8 trillion by FY2021.”
Bin Laden, of course, was found in neither Iraq nor Afghanistan but in neighboring Pakistan. And he was killed not by army personnel but by a covert Navy SEALS unit aided by CIA intelligence. Budgets for those agencies and entities were not covered in the CRS report. However, the study did look at money spent on counter-insurgency funds for the government of Pakistan. Since 9/11 the United States has appropriated money for that purpose just once: a $400 million expenditure in FY2008.
[For this and more posts by Sam Stein]
OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD - BARACK OBAMA SPEECH OFFICIAL BREAKING NEWS (Full HD)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V0ISgosTlQ
Usama Bin Laden was wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden was a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world.