Smoky goodness

This is the current base reflectivity of the NYC area. Something to do with all that smoke, I'm thinking. And quite a lot of it.

I must be terribly hardened..

Maybe I've just become so good at taking adversity in stride, that nothing bothers me for long anymore.

The time period I was shocked yesterday spanned about 9am-noon (as I watched the events unfold, and then nothing further happened). I know of no one that was lost to me personally, and have only heard one 2nd-hand account of a friend possibly losing someone. I am no longer terribly shocked (maybe a bit), I am no longer outraged. (If I had lost someone, or knew a close friend who had, that's what would affect me.) For most people, life will go on as usual. Agreeing with Tucker, I doubt anyone will come forward now (unless they're up for martyrdom), there's nothing we can do about it, the news will eventually run out of things to say, and the world will turn.

Am I that stoical? Or just well-adapted to dealing?

(no subject)

I really admire cultures that take death in stride.. most Native American tribes, for example, and many tribal cultures. And the Japanese (for example), for whom death is thought honorable, IIRC.

I think that most modern cultures take death far too seriously..

However...

I'm very impressed by the massive support that everyone, everywhere, is giving.. many of the comics I read, many of the mailing lists I'm on, even the spam lists, and many of my LJ communities, and all the men and women in NYC and DC and around the country and world, are doing what they can to get the word out about what needs to be done to help, if they're not helping directly.

The more I hear, the less I'm sure.

The more I see and read of everyone else's reactions to yesterday's tragedy, the less sure I am of my own..

So, in a couple ways..

..we¹ may well have brought this upon ourselves.
Way #1: We helped it happen.² (thanks, Teri)
Way #2: We reacted how they wanted us to react.³ (thanks, Chris)

[1] The U.S. gov't, corporations, citizens, take it as you will.
[2] This link doesn't necessarily represent Teri's opinion, she just linked to it before I.
[3] This link does represent Chris's opinion. :)

Damn, I'm impressed..

When these guys want to run a swift and thorough investigation, they can really do it.

Ah, good rational reactions.

12:10 p.m.: Officials from Boston's Logan International Airport say the Federal Aviation Administration is requiring all U.S. airports to comply with some emergency safety measures, including banning the sale or use of knives, even plastic ones, at airports; evacuating and sweeping all terminals with K-9 teams; and discontinuing curbside check-in.

You know that prophecy that's been going around?

You know, the one attributed to Nostradamus?
"City of God.. great thunder.. two brothers torn apart by Chaos while the fortress endures", all that?
It's a hoax.
It was created by a Brock U. student in the 1990s in a paper on Nostradamus as an example of how easily an important-sounding prophecy can be crafted through the use of abstract imagery.

Spare a paper?

Does anyone have any extra copies of the NY Times they'd be willing to send me? I and some of my friends would like ones from 9/12/01 for posterity.. they sold out entirely around here.