Starve The Hostages - Promote Renewal ©
A Cameron Wright 5/14/06
Please educate me in the rules and regulations regarding protocols for starving the hostages. I know the goal is to deprive them of nurishment, intellectual stimulation, social interaction, emotional influences, and spiritual guidance - hoping for complete demoralization.
Only by complete isolation from any outside sources can we ever begin to restore the seeds of independant thoughts; effectively disconnecting each individual from the neverending barrage of social programming and out of the stranglehold on these people employed by lobbyists representing the constant manipulation over the national psyche of Americans.
Modern day citizens in the United States have almost completely lost touch with the mechanisms of independant thought. Imagination no longer originates in the grey matter of one's brain but from the television screen, magazine covers and pages, Hollywood's fantasy, radio PROGRAMMING, and last but not least the censored, edited, and manipulated clips on the daily newscasts. Our government, which has become nothing more than an intricate charade which presents Americans with an illusion of an individuals ability to somehow influence or dictate the course of power as a Democratic Institution, continues to be produced and directed for misdirection.
Marketing firms and Public Relations departments have become the most powerful branch of Government, right behind the MASS MEDIA. The executive branch third, fourth judicial, and barely noticable or influential is the Legislative branch. Like the Wizard of Oz, the men who run this country are hidden far from sight behind a curtain made up of the White House, the Capitol building, Supreme Court, Pentago, NSA, CIA, and many other non-descript structures that distract us all from reality. The wizard used a sophisticated communication system. The power behind the scene today uses a much less impressive setup for expression - a dopey looking half-wit puppet of a man. A person who's only consistently successful action is his ability to fail miserably time after time.
By depriving these shells of humanity their daily diets of propaganda, manipulated desires, and demands to follow mindlessly the Pied Piper's tune; we will initiate the possibility of individual thought. By viciously ripping away everything the hostagesw have ever known and leaving them isolated in a setting similar to purgatory - craving everything is the only way they can see past their advertised existance and beliefs. If we force-feed them the "way to think" then we'll have only ended up replicating the sins of the New World Order with OUR version. It is only after the men and women we've detained sincerely request the "blue pills" that we engage them on any level.
It should be expected that there will be many casaulties suffered by following this path, but if the US Government has made anything clear over the past five years - it is that the majority is nothing more than a disposable commodity. To them most people are just the oil which lubricates the engine of political and wartime ambitions. The common man is just another animal led into the slaugterhouses. The men and women of the armed forces are the equivalent of livestock. They just serve as the food and fuel for the machine of unending and increasing consumption's spread across all geographical, political, national, and international landscapes.
So if it is true that human life has only a nominal value in the present day world, then we can afford the unfathomable numbers of deaths in this struggle to renew independent thought, democratic governments, re-instate the separation between church and state, and finally topple the current dictatorship of Big Business which is now running this country.
So I preach - STARVE THE HOSTAGES!!!!! If you were to honestly evaluate the situation today and you refused to give into the fear and then say with conviction your observations - You would be saying that American people are already being held hostage and our minds, emotions, and souls are starving for free thought and the end to the constant manipulation. We've been under the control of this mind-control since before we were even born - our mothers inadvertantly and automatically passing all sights, sounds, images, and thoughts down to us even as we floated in the embryonic fluids via the umbilical cord. It is time for us to finally sever the cord of coersion for once and for all.
A Cameron Wright 5/14/06
Please educate me in the rules and regulations regarding protocols for starving the hostages. I know the goal is to deprive them of nurishment, intellectual stimulation, social interaction, emotional influences, and spiritual guidance - hoping for complete demoralization.
Only by complete isolation from any outside sources can we ever begin to restore the seeds of independant thoughts; effectively disconnecting each individual from the neverending barrage of social programming and out of the stranglehold on these people employed by lobbyists representing the constant manipulation over the national psyche of Americans.
Modern day citizens in the United States have almost completely lost touch with the mechanisms of independant thought. Imagination no longer originates in the grey matter of one's brain but from the television screen, magazine covers and pages, Hollywood's fantasy, radio PROGRAMMING, and last but not least the censored, edited, and manipulated clips on the daily newscasts. Our government, which has become nothing more than an intricate charade which presents Americans with an illusion of an individuals ability to somehow influence or dictate the course of power as a Democratic Institution, continues to be produced and directed for misdirection.
Marketing firms and Public Relations departments have become the most powerful branch of Government, right behind the MASS MEDIA. The executive branch third, fourth judicial, and barely noticable or influential is the Legislative branch. Like the Wizard of Oz, the men who run this country are hidden far from sight behind a curtain made up of the White House, the Capitol building, Supreme Court, Pentago, NSA, CIA, and many other non-descript structures that distract us all from reality. The wizard used a sophisticated communication system. The power behind the scene today uses a much less impressive setup for expression - a dopey looking half-wit puppet of a man. A person who's only consistently successful action is his ability to fail miserably time after time.
By depriving these shells of humanity their daily diets of propaganda, manipulated desires, and demands to follow mindlessly the Pied Piper's tune; we will initiate the possibility of individual thought. By viciously ripping away everything the hostagesw have ever known and leaving them isolated in a setting similar to purgatory - craving everything is the only way they can see past their advertised existance and beliefs. If we force-feed them the "way to think" then we'll have only ended up replicating the sins of the New World Order with OUR version. It is only after the men and women we've detained sincerely request the "blue pills" that we engage them on any level.
It should be expected that there will be many casaulties suffered by following this path, but if the US Government has made anything clear over the past five years - it is that the majority is nothing more than a disposable commodity. To them most people are just the oil which lubricates the engine of political and wartime ambitions. The common man is just another animal led into the slaugterhouses. The men and women of the armed forces are the equivalent of livestock. They just serve as the food and fuel for the machine of unending and increasing consumption's spread across all geographical, political, national, and international landscapes.
So if it is true that human life has only a nominal value in the present day world, then we can afford the unfathomable numbers of deaths in this struggle to renew independent thought, democratic governments, re-instate the separation between church and state, and finally topple the current dictatorship of Big Business which is now running this country.
So I preach - STARVE THE HOSTAGES!!!!! If you were to honestly evaluate the situation today and you refused to give into the fear and then say with conviction your observations - You would be saying that American people are already being held hostage and our minds, emotions, and souls are starving for free thought and the end to the constant manipulation. We've been under the control of this mind-control since before we were even born - our mothers inadvertantly and automatically passing all sights, sounds, images, and thoughts down to us even as we floated in the embryonic fluids via the umbilical cord. It is time for us to finally sever the cord of coersion for once and for all.
WHO WANTS TO JOIN ME THIS WEEKEND ON THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11???
I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOMEONE COME WITH ME BECAUSE HOTEL PRICES ARE OUTRAGEOUS!!!! IF I COULD END UP GOING WITH 2 OR 3 OTHER PEOPLE IT WOULD MAKE THE FINANCIAL STRAIN MUCH LESS. IF NOT, OH WELL, I TRIED!!!!
Calling all truth activists!
Come to NYC for a weekend that will
change the world with events which
commemorate the 5th anniversary
of the 9/11 attacks and expose 5 years
of official deception.
Just like the neocons have used 9/11 as an "opportunity to refashion the world", according to Donald Rumsfeld, let's use the opportunity of the 5th anniversary to inform the world that we're a huge constituency who seeks to honor the victims by pursuing the truth and calling for justice. It has been 5 years too long for truth and justice! We must do all we can to make this anniversary a line of demarcation which will send a message to the world that exposes the agenda and true motives behind 9/11. We owe it to the victims, their families, and ourselves.
We are now planning outreach actions, film events, and lectures from Friday Sept. 8th through Monday Sept. 11th of this year. We're expecting reknown speakers and authors, first responders and a few family members to participate. Come Friday evening if you can. Let's converge all movements for transformational progress as we consider the evidence showing how 9/11 was the catalyst for the "global domination project" we have been subjected to. If we want to put an end to war, use our treasury for productive purposes domestically, restore our Constitution, have a law-abiding government, create cooperative rather than antagonistic relationships with the rest of the world, heal our environment, and be the creators of our own destiny, understanding 9/11 is required.
In addition to film and lecture events, it will be very important to have a huge presence at Ground Zero on Monday the 11th, where we will gather at 8 am to show our presence in a respectful manner in the spirit of solidarity with all who have been victimized by the attacks of 9/11, including the health disaster caused by the toxic air. We want to convey our message that 42% of Americans don't believe the official "hijackers with magic boxcutters" story, and 45% want a true, independent investigation of the attacks (according to a May 22nd Zogby poll. Let's face it, evidence shows the official investigation was never intended to arrive at the truth. We ask people to wear a black T-shirt with a 9/11 related phrase such as "Investigate 9/11" or "9/11/06 - 5 Years Too Long For Truth" (see below for image download).
9/11 Truth Breakthrough Weekend Schedule
(Check back for updates and download PDF file here)
Friday, Sept. 8
St. Marks Church
2nd Ave. & 10th Street
7 pm
Donation: $7
Doors open 6:15 pm, program begins at 7 pm
9/11 As Pretext For Afghanistan and Iraq Invasions
Alfons Olzsewski, 9/11 Vets For Truth
Korey Rowe, producer of Loose Change 2
Elaine Brower, Member of World Can't Wait with a son currently in Iraq
9/11 and the U.S.-Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East
Ralph Schoenman, from WBAI's Taking Aim
Saturday, Sept. 9th
Outreach Action
Union Square
11:30 am
NYC 9/11 Grassroots Action
We're calling for hundreds of people to come participate in a huge outreach action to leaflet at least 7 areas of Manhattan. We will gather by the George Washington statue at the south side of Union Square along 14th Street to pick up literature, and then spread out to areas such as Herald Square, the NY Public Library, Columbus Circle, Washington Sq. Park, and Ground Zero. Activists from NY 911 Truth will coordinate.
Saturday, Sept. 9th
Community Church
3 pm - 5:30 pm
Donation for full day of events: $8
9/11: Where the Evidence Leads
Jim Marrs, Barb Honegger, Tom Foti, Barry Chamish, Howie Hawkins, Sander Hicks, Chris Emery
5:30 pm - 7 pm
Dinner break
7 pm - 9:30
New York Stories
Willie Rodriguez, Frank Morales, Donna Marsh O'Connor (family member), 9/11 First Responders - Voices From the Pit, Janette MacKinley
Sunday, Sept. 10th
1 pm - 5 pm
The Great Hall at Cooper Union
9/11 Truth Breakthrough Rally
Buy your ticket in advance by calling 212-274-4200 or online at Ticket Central where our event is listed in the pull down menu as The 9/11 Truth Breakthrough Rally. Price of $12 + $2 service fee for the full day will include a free "Investigate 9/11" T-shirt given at the event.
Education track: Judy Wood, Steven Jones, Jim Fetzer, Jesse Richard, Ralph Schoenman, Jim Marrs, Wayne Madsen, Faiz Kahn
Solution track: Kevin Barrett, Ian Wood, Bob Bowman, Barrie Zwicker, William Pepper, Ralph Schoenman, Craig Hill, Lynn Pentz, Carl Person, Les Jamieson, Jason Bermas
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Dinner break
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Progress Report by Alex Jones
Sneak preview of final cut of of "Loose Change" containing new interviews and research, comments by producers Dylan Avery, Jason Berman, Korey Rowe
Special appearance by sensational 9/11 music artist "Immortal Technique"
Monday, Sept. 11th
8 am - 2:00 pm
Ground Zero is at the corner of Fulton and Church Streets
Ground Zero Rally For Truth
We will gather at Ground Zero wearing black T-shirts saying "Investigate 9/11" which you'll be able to get on Sunday at Cooper Union.
IMPORTANT: We must stress that our intention is to be there in the spirit of solemn solidarity with the victim's families. We want to be seen as respectful, concerned Americans. Also, we ask that in the event anyone tries to agitate or instigate us in any way into a negative confrontation, we make every effort to diffuse the situation. We ask that all contribute to our presence being an extension of the work of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
At 2:30 pm we will walk a short distance for a speakout at the office of Elliot Spitzer at 120 Broadway which is also home of Silverstein Properties, then to Police Plaza.
Monday, Sept. 11th
4:30 pm
St. Marks Church
9/11 Truth Convergence/Finale/Strategy Session
We'll gather back at St. Marks Church for food, entertainment, and networking.
Event Locations:
St. Marks Church, 2nd Ave. & 10th Street
Take 6 train to Astor Place, walk east to 2nd Ave, turn left, walk to 10th St.
Alternately, take 4, 5, 6, N, W to 14th Street/Union Square. Walk east 3 blocks to 2nd Avenue, turn right and walk 4 blocks to 10th St.
Community Church, 40 East. 35th Street, between Park & Madison Avenues
Take 6 train to 33rd Street. Walk north to 35th Street and turn left. Church is on corner.
Cooper Union
Take 6 train to Astor Place, walk east one block. The Great Hall at Cooper Union is in the large brownstone building on it's own "island" between 4th and 3rd Avenues at 7th Street.
Getting Around New York City
You can take subways and buses most anywhere. Rides cost $2. If you're here for the weekend we advise that you purchase a Metro Card at a subway station which allows you to purchase as many rides as you need, then refill the card if necessary. The Metro Card is good for both subway and buses. Maps are available in most subway stations. Also, you can download maps in PDF format here.
Media Policy
For anyone wanting to film events, please check back for details. There will be a required agreement.
Travel
We recommend booking your flight ASAP. Just Google "discount airfares" or "cheap flights" for some discount sites. La Guardia Airport is the closest to Manhattan. From there you will need to either take a cab into Manhattan which averages $35-$40, or go to Ground Transportation and ask for the airport shuttle service into Manhattan which averages around $20. The same goes for Kennedy Airport.
If you fly into Newark, you can get a bus/shuttle to Grand Central Station in midtown, then get a cab or take the subway to your destination. For a subway map, click here. Note that you can download a PDF of the map.
Accommodations
Wondering where you are going to stay while in New York for the upcoming events of the 5th Anniversary of 9/11? We will share what we've have found, while searching for hotels that are reasonably priced. Anything in Manhattan is going to be expensive. You will be hard pressed to find something for $200 a night but sharing with others will bring the cost down. You could also try Queens, just ask if the hotel is near public transportation. Here are some discount hotel sites worth checking out.
new-york.hotelscheap.org/ www.hotelcompany.com
www.DiscountHotels.com www.1800nyhotels.com
www.Travelocity.com CheapoHotels.com/NewYorkCity
FurnishedQuarters.com
For the adventurous, there are always listings on Craigslist where people rent out apartments to travelers.
You will find much better value if you stay outside of Manhattan. Just across the Hudson, in New Jersey, which has easy access into Manhattan via PATH trains, buses, or ferries. Again, make sure to ask about proximity to public transportation.
The PATH trains (the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) run 24 hours a day and cost $1.50. Travel time to the World Trade Center site from Jersey City is 15 minutes. Trains also go to other locations. Many of the hotels are close to frequent bus service. Just check for late night PATH schedules.
Please feel free to contact us with other recommendations you feel should be added to this list. I hope you find this information helpful.
New York Recommendations
Comfort Inn Chelsea
18 W. 25th St., NY,NY
Phone - 212 - 645-3990
Rooms start at $209.00
Econo Lodge Times Square
302 W. 47th , NY,NY
Phone - 212-246-1991
Rooms start at $229.00
New Jersey Recommendations:
Crown Plaza Hotel, Englewood, N.J.
Telephone - 201-871-2020
Rooms begin at $131
Free shuttle into Manhattan 3 times a day
Public bus every 15 minutes
Website gives feel of a resort; seems like a good deal
Ramada Inn, Jersey City, N.J.
Telephone - 201-432-6100
Rooms begin at $115 plus tax
1 block from the Path Station
Econo Lodge, Jersey City, N.J.
Telephone - 201-420-9040
Rooms begin at $99.00
5-minute walk to bus; then half hour into Manhattan
Robertstreet Hotel, Downtown Newark, N.J.
Telephone - 201-499-2400
Rooms begin at $90.00
Has shuttle to airport and to Path Station
Path Station is 5-minute walk
The Plaza Motor Inn, Secaucus, N.J.
Telephone - 1-888-421-8382
Rooms begin at $69.00
Bus just around the corner; $2.30; 10-15 minutes into Manhattan
Hostels
For those who just want an economical place to sleep, there are several Hostels in NYC to consider. You can go to Hostels.com to book or see list below.
Name Address Phone Website/Email
Hostelling International 891 Amsterdam Ave 212-9322300 reservation@hinewyork.org
Jazz on the Park 36 W 106th St 212-932-1600 info@jazzhostel.com
Jazz on the Town-E Village 307 E 14th St 212-228-2780 info@jazzhostel.com
West End Studios 850 West End Ave 212-749-7104 info@westendstudios.com
Chelsea Star Hotel 300 W 30th St 877-827-6969 www.chelseastar.com
Jazz on Harlem 104 W 128th St 212-222-5773 info@jazzhostel.com
Manhattan Youth Castle 556 W 173rd St 212-927-0102 info@youthcastle.com
American Dream 168 E 24th St 212-260-9779 http://www.americandreamhostel.com/
Central Park Hostel 19 W 103rd St 212-678-0491 www.centralparkhostel.com
Big Apple Hostel 119 W 45th St 212-302-2603 www.bigapplehostel.com
Chelsea Center (2 locations) 313 W 29th St 212-643-0214 www.chelseacenterhostel.com
Aladdin Hotel 317 W 45th St 212-246-8580
Times Square Roomates 356 W 40th St 212-494-0028 question@timessqaurreroommates,com
Guesthouse 63 Audubon Ave 212-781-1842 www.guesthouseny.com
T-Shirt Logo
We ask people to wear a black T-shirt on Monday the 11th at Ground Zero where we will gather at 8 am. We'll have T-shirts available for sale over the weekend. Alternately you can download our official logo design* by clicking on the image below. This will open the file in a new web page. Then right click on it and choose "Save As" to save it to your hard drive. Then purchase a T-shirt graphic package at Staples which will allow you to iron it on. Be aware that the logo files are large and may take a few minutes to download if you're using a dialup connection.
I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOMEONE COME WITH ME BECAUSE HOTEL PRICES ARE OUTRAGEOUS!!!! IF I COULD END UP GOING WITH 2 OR 3 OTHER PEOPLE IT WOULD MAKE THE FINANCIAL STRAIN MUCH LESS. IF NOT, OH WELL, I TRIED!!!!
Calling all truth activists!
Come to NYC for a weekend that will
change the world with events which
commemorate the 5th anniversary
of the 9/11 attacks and expose 5 years
of official deception.
Just like the neocons have used 9/11 as an "opportunity to refashion the world", according to Donald Rumsfeld, let's use the opportunity of the 5th anniversary to inform the world that we're a huge constituency who seeks to honor the victims by pursuing the truth and calling for justice. It has been 5 years too long for truth and justice! We must do all we can to make this anniversary a line of demarcation which will send a message to the world that exposes the agenda and true motives behind 9/11. We owe it to the victims, their families, and ourselves.
We are now planning outreach actions, film events, and lectures from Friday Sept. 8th through Monday Sept. 11th of this year. We're expecting reknown speakers and authors, first responders and a few family members to participate. Come Friday evening if you can. Let's converge all movements for transformational progress as we consider the evidence showing how 9/11 was the catalyst for the "global domination project" we have been subjected to. If we want to put an end to war, use our treasury for productive purposes domestically, restore our Constitution, have a law-abiding government, create cooperative rather than antagonistic relationships with the rest of the world, heal our environment, and be the creators of our own destiny, understanding 9/11 is required.
In addition to film and lecture events, it will be very important to have a huge presence at Ground Zero on Monday the 11th, where we will gather at 8 am to show our presence in a respectful manner in the spirit of solidarity with all who have been victimized by the attacks of 9/11, including the health disaster caused by the toxic air. We want to convey our message that 42% of Americans don't believe the official "hijackers with magic boxcutters" story, and 45% want a true, independent investigation of the attacks (according to a May 22nd Zogby poll. Let's face it, evidence shows the official investigation was never intended to arrive at the truth. We ask people to wear a black T-shirt with a 9/11 related phrase such as "Investigate 9/11" or "9/11/06 - 5 Years Too Long For Truth" (see below for image download).
9/11 Truth Breakthrough Weekend Schedule
(Check back for updates and download PDF file here)
Friday, Sept. 8
St. Marks Church
2nd Ave. & 10th Street
7 pm
Donation: $7
Doors open 6:15 pm, program begins at 7 pm
9/11 As Pretext For Afghanistan and Iraq Invasions
Alfons Olzsewski, 9/11 Vets For Truth
Korey Rowe, producer of Loose Change 2
Elaine Brower, Member of World Can't Wait with a son currently in Iraq
9/11 and the U.S.-Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East
Ralph Schoenman, from WBAI's Taking Aim
Saturday, Sept. 9th
Outreach Action
Union Square
11:30 am
NYC 9/11 Grassroots Action
We're calling for hundreds of people to come participate in a huge outreach action to leaflet at least 7 areas of Manhattan. We will gather by the George Washington statue at the south side of Union Square along 14th Street to pick up literature, and then spread out to areas such as Herald Square, the NY Public Library, Columbus Circle, Washington Sq. Park, and Ground Zero. Activists from NY 911 Truth will coordinate.
Saturday, Sept. 9th
Community Church
3 pm - 5:30 pm
Donation for full day of events: $8
9/11: Where the Evidence Leads
Jim Marrs, Barb Honegger, Tom Foti, Barry Chamish, Howie Hawkins, Sander Hicks, Chris Emery
5:30 pm - 7 pm
Dinner break
7 pm - 9:30
New York Stories
Willie Rodriguez, Frank Morales, Donna Marsh O'Connor (family member), 9/11 First Responders - Voices From the Pit, Janette MacKinley
Sunday, Sept. 10th
1 pm - 5 pm
The Great Hall at Cooper Union
9/11 Truth Breakthrough Rally
Buy your ticket in advance by calling 212-274-4200 or online at Ticket Central where our event is listed in the pull down menu as The 9/11 Truth Breakthrough Rally. Price of $12 + $2 service fee for the full day will include a free "Investigate 9/11" T-shirt given at the event.
Education track: Judy Wood, Steven Jones, Jim Fetzer, Jesse Richard, Ralph Schoenman, Jim Marrs, Wayne Madsen, Faiz Kahn
Solution track: Kevin Barrett, Ian Wood, Bob Bowman, Barrie Zwicker, William Pepper, Ralph Schoenman, Craig Hill, Lynn Pentz, Carl Person, Les Jamieson, Jason Bermas
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Dinner break
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Progress Report by Alex Jones
Sneak preview of final cut of of "Loose Change" containing new interviews and research, comments by producers Dylan Avery, Jason Berman, Korey Rowe
Special appearance by sensational 9/11 music artist "Immortal Technique"
Monday, Sept. 11th
8 am - 2:00 pm
Ground Zero is at the corner of Fulton and Church Streets
Ground Zero Rally For Truth
We will gather at Ground Zero wearing black T-shirts saying "Investigate 9/11" which you'll be able to get on Sunday at Cooper Union.
IMPORTANT: We must stress that our intention is to be there in the spirit of solemn solidarity with the victim's families. We want to be seen as respectful, concerned Americans. Also, we ask that in the event anyone tries to agitate or instigate us in any way into a negative confrontation, we make every effort to diffuse the situation. We ask that all contribute to our presence being an extension of the work of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
At 2:30 pm we will walk a short distance for a speakout at the office of Elliot Spitzer at 120 Broadway which is also home of Silverstein Properties, then to Police Plaza.
Monday, Sept. 11th
4:30 pm
St. Marks Church
9/11 Truth Convergence/Finale/Strategy Session
We'll gather back at St. Marks Church for food, entertainment, and networking.
Event Locations:
St. Marks Church, 2nd Ave. & 10th Street
Take 6 train to Astor Place, walk east to 2nd Ave, turn left, walk to 10th St.
Alternately, take 4, 5, 6, N, W to 14th Street/Union Square. Walk east 3 blocks to 2nd Avenue, turn right and walk 4 blocks to 10th St.
Community Church, 40 East. 35th Street, between Park & Madison Avenues
Take 6 train to 33rd Street. Walk north to 35th Street and turn left. Church is on corner.
Cooper Union
Take 6 train to Astor Place, walk east one block. The Great Hall at Cooper Union is in the large brownstone building on it's own "island" between 4th and 3rd Avenues at 7th Street.
Getting Around New York City
You can take subways and buses most anywhere. Rides cost $2. If you're here for the weekend we advise that you purchase a Metro Card at a subway station which allows you to purchase as many rides as you need, then refill the card if necessary. The Metro Card is good for both subway and buses. Maps are available in most subway stations. Also, you can download maps in PDF format here.
Media Policy
For anyone wanting to film events, please check back for details. There will be a required agreement.
Travel
We recommend booking your flight ASAP. Just Google "discount airfares" or "cheap flights" for some discount sites. La Guardia Airport is the closest to Manhattan. From there you will need to either take a cab into Manhattan which averages $35-$40, or go to Ground Transportation and ask for the airport shuttle service into Manhattan which averages around $20. The same goes for Kennedy Airport.
If you fly into Newark, you can get a bus/shuttle to Grand Central Station in midtown, then get a cab or take the subway to your destination. For a subway map, click here. Note that you can download a PDF of the map.
Accommodations
Wondering where you are going to stay while in New York for the upcoming events of the 5th Anniversary of 9/11? We will share what we've have found, while searching for hotels that are reasonably priced. Anything in Manhattan is going to be expensive. You will be hard pressed to find something for $200 a night but sharing with others will bring the cost down. You could also try Queens, just ask if the hotel is near public transportation. Here are some discount hotel sites worth checking out.
new-york.hotelscheap.org/ www.hotelcompany.com
www.DiscountHotels.com www.1800nyhotels.com
www.Travelocity.com CheapoHotels.com/NewYorkCity
FurnishedQuarters.com
For the adventurous, there are always listings on Craigslist where people rent out apartments to travelers.
You will find much better value if you stay outside of Manhattan. Just across the Hudson, in New Jersey, which has easy access into Manhattan via PATH trains, buses, or ferries. Again, make sure to ask about proximity to public transportation.
The PATH trains (the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) run 24 hours a day and cost $1.50. Travel time to the World Trade Center site from Jersey City is 15 minutes. Trains also go to other locations. Many of the hotels are close to frequent bus service. Just check for late night PATH schedules.
Please feel free to contact us with other recommendations you feel should be added to this list. I hope you find this information helpful.
New York Recommendations
Comfort Inn Chelsea
18 W. 25th St., NY,NY
Phone - 212 - 645-3990
Rooms start at $209.00
Econo Lodge Times Square
302 W. 47th , NY,NY
Phone - 212-246-1991
Rooms start at $229.00
New Jersey Recommendations:
Crown Plaza Hotel, Englewood, N.J.
Telephone - 201-871-2020
Rooms begin at $131
Free shuttle into Manhattan 3 times a day
Public bus every 15 minutes
Website gives feel of a resort; seems like a good deal
Ramada Inn, Jersey City, N.J.
Telephone - 201-432-6100
Rooms begin at $115 plus tax
1 block from the Path Station
Econo Lodge, Jersey City, N.J.
Telephone - 201-420-9040
Rooms begin at $99.00
5-minute walk to bus; then half hour into Manhattan
Robertstreet Hotel, Downtown Newark, N.J.
Telephone - 201-499-2400
Rooms begin at $90.00
Has shuttle to airport and to Path Station
Path Station is 5-minute walk
The Plaza Motor Inn, Secaucus, N.J.
Telephone - 1-888-421-8382
Rooms begin at $69.00
Bus just around the corner; $2.30; 10-15 minutes into Manhattan
Hostels
For those who just want an economical place to sleep, there are several Hostels in NYC to consider. You can go to Hostels.com to book or see list below.
Name Address Phone Website/Email
Hostelling International 891 Amsterdam Ave 212-9322300 reservation@hinewyork.org
Jazz on the Park 36 W 106th St 212-932-1600 info@jazzhostel.com
Jazz on the Town-E Village 307 E 14th St 212-228-2780 info@jazzhostel.com
West End Studios 850 West End Ave 212-749-7104 info@westendstudios.com
Chelsea Star Hotel 300 W 30th St 877-827-6969 www.chelseastar.com
Jazz on Harlem 104 W 128th St 212-222-5773 info@jazzhostel.com
Manhattan Youth Castle 556 W 173rd St 212-927-0102 info@youthcastle.com
American Dream 168 E 24th St 212-260-9779 http://www.americandreamhostel.com/
Central Park Hostel 19 W 103rd St 212-678-0491 www.centralparkhostel.com
Big Apple Hostel 119 W 45th St 212-302-2603 www.bigapplehostel.com
Chelsea Center (2 locations) 313 W 29th St 212-643-0214 www.chelseacenterhostel.com
Aladdin Hotel 317 W 45th St 212-246-8580
Times Square Roomates 356 W 40th St 212-494-0028 question@timessqaurreroommates,com
Guesthouse 63 Audubon Ave 212-781-1842 www.guesthouseny.com
T-Shirt Logo
We ask people to wear a black T-shirt on Monday the 11th at Ground Zero where we will gather at 8 am. We'll have T-shirts available for sale over the weekend. Alternately you can download our official logo design* by clicking on the image below. This will open the file in a new web page. Then right click on it and choose "Save As" to save it to your hard drive. Then purchase a T-shirt graphic package at Staples which will allow you to iron it on. Be aware that the logo files are large and may take a few minutes to download if you're using a dialup connection.
Yesterday was a bitter yet some how it was a relief. My grandfather passed away at 6:55 pm EST, on August 22. Basically I was prepared for it as we knew as early as this past Saturday that time was really getting short.
It was extremely difficult to watch as he slid away from life and into the next experience (whatever that may be.) He was very agitated on Thursday and Friday, because of an infection, and he was lashing out at everyone, he punched an X-ray techn at the hospital, tried to twist my arm off, tried to bite my mom and a nurse, and kicked a nurse at his nursing home. He was angry, and he had nothing to lose by expressing this anger. He was tired, at 91 years old, after living through 3 different types of cancer, and outliving 4 wives, he'd had enough (although he did have a girlfriend up until yesterday.)
He suffered through hallucinations the last few days, and he was in a lot of pain, which when we first had him at the ER and then the hospital room, seemed to be ignored. My mom brought the fact that he was in pain to the nurses attention, but it seemed to be a concept that they could not grasp and certainly took forever to address. It was heartbreaking to see him grimmacing every time he would make any small adjustment in his position.
He ended up pulling out his IV four or five times, and the doctors said that they would have to insert a central line so that they could continue treating him with medications and keeping him hydrated. After they had inserted the central line they said that they would have to restrain him, basically tying him to the bed, so that he would not take out the central line. My mom and uncle said NO FUCKING WAY!!!!! It was at that point that we all knew he was going to be leaving us soon....with no IV antibiotics or hydration he would either pass due to infection or due to dehydration.
Hospice took over from there, the wonderful thing about hospice is that they don't have to worry about giving pain medications like a nursing home does. They also don't play games and say "well the patient can become addicted to these pain medications, so we can't prescribe them." HOW FUCKING IDIOTIC IS IT THAT DOCTORS WILL PRESCRIBE MEDICATIONS WHICH HAVE HIGH RISK OF ADDICTION TO PEOPLE WHO ARE IN MILD TO SEVERE PAIN BUT ARE IN THEIR 20'S - 60'S AND IN GOOD HEALTH, BUT REFUSE TO DO SO WHEN THE PERSON IS DYING AND IS SUFFERING??????????????????????
I will continue this later....I'm tired, it's been a long couple of days
It was extremely difficult to watch as he slid away from life and into the next experience (whatever that may be.) He was very agitated on Thursday and Friday, because of an infection, and he was lashing out at everyone, he punched an X-ray techn at the hospital, tried to twist my arm off, tried to bite my mom and a nurse, and kicked a nurse at his nursing home. He was angry, and he had nothing to lose by expressing this anger. He was tired, at 91 years old, after living through 3 different types of cancer, and outliving 4 wives, he'd had enough (although he did have a girlfriend up until yesterday.)
He suffered through hallucinations the last few days, and he was in a lot of pain, which when we first had him at the ER and then the hospital room, seemed to be ignored. My mom brought the fact that he was in pain to the nurses attention, but it seemed to be a concept that they could not grasp and certainly took forever to address. It was heartbreaking to see him grimmacing every time he would make any small adjustment in his position.
He ended up pulling out his IV four or five times, and the doctors said that they would have to insert a central line so that they could continue treating him with medications and keeping him hydrated. After they had inserted the central line they said that they would have to restrain him, basically tying him to the bed, so that he would not take out the central line. My mom and uncle said NO FUCKING WAY!!!!! It was at that point that we all knew he was going to be leaving us soon....with no IV antibiotics or hydration he would either pass due to infection or due to dehydration.
Hospice took over from there, the wonderful thing about hospice is that they don't have to worry about giving pain medications like a nursing home does. They also don't play games and say "well the patient can become addicted to these pain medications, so we can't prescribe them." HOW FUCKING IDIOTIC IS IT THAT DOCTORS WILL PRESCRIBE MEDICATIONS WHICH HAVE HIGH RISK OF ADDICTION TO PEOPLE WHO ARE IN MILD TO SEVERE PAIN BUT ARE IN THEIR 20'S - 60'S AND IN GOOD HEALTH, BUT REFUSE TO DO SO WHEN THE PERSON IS DYING AND IS SUFFERING??????????????????????
I will continue this later....I'm tired, it's been a long couple of days
I haven't been in a relationship now for almost two years. I took time off to take care of myself. But I have now smacked into the wall of physical needs which is now crushing me under it's weight.
Any of you local women from the suburbs of Philly to Center City available and/or willing to sacrifice some of your free time hanging out with me? I haven't been having much luck meeting new women lately, so I'm reaching out this way. Out of all the people I'm friends with somebody has to have an idea of a good fit with me, and me with that person.
I am not necessarily looking to have a purely physical romp, I'm not looking for NSA or a LTR situation, just for someone who would like to enjoy some one on one time with me. I feel like a complete loser sending this bulletin out, but I'm just trying to make sure that I settle this situation as quickly and effectively as I can.
Feel free to hit me up and talk to me more, I'm positive that you will find that I'm more than able to fulfill any requirements you may have for intelligence, humor, and I've got time to make sure that we're both able to meet any time frame.
I'm hoping that I've posted enough blogs to give you at the very least an idea of who I am and what I stand for and against. So - I ask for you women to get in touch with me and lets go from there.
Any of you local women from the suburbs of Philly to Center City available and/or willing to sacrifice some of your free time hanging out with me? I haven't been having much luck meeting new women lately, so I'm reaching out this way. Out of all the people I'm friends with somebody has to have an idea of a good fit with me, and me with that person.
I am not necessarily looking to have a purely physical romp, I'm not looking for NSA or a LTR situation, just for someone who would like to enjoy some one on one time with me. I feel like a complete loser sending this bulletin out, but I'm just trying to make sure that I settle this situation as quickly and effectively as I can.
Feel free to hit me up and talk to me more, I'm positive that you will find that I'm more than able to fulfill any requirements you may have for intelligence, humor, and I've got time to make sure that we're both able to meet any time frame.
I'm hoping that I've posted enough blogs to give you at the very least an idea of who I am and what I stand for and against. So - I ask for you women to get in touch with me and lets go from there.
Fear As A Weapon By Glenn Greenwald
Fear as a Weapon
Commentary: How the Bush administration got away with its abuses of power
By Glenn Greenwald
July 7, 2006
#
# Breeder Reaction
Does everybody have the right to have a baby? And who should pay when nature alone doesnt work?
----Advertisements----
----Advertisements----
MoJo Blog
Was the GOP Trying to Mislead the Supreme Court?
Mapping Our Rights
Would Japan Go to War?
Lieberman Goes on the Attack
"We haven't even begun to understand where our enemy is coming from."
More Illegal Spy Programs?
Health Care Kills in California Prisons
Defending the homeland...from Gomez and Ramirez
Attack on Federal Regulations Continues
[The following essay is exerpted from How Would a Patriot Act? by Glenn Greenwald (Working Assets Publishing). The book, a bona fide publishing phenomenon, was developed, written, edited, published, and distributed in three months, and made the New York Times bestseller list earlier this summer.]
In one sense, it is difficult to understand how the Bush administration has been able to embrace such radical theories of executive power, and to engage in such recognizably un-American conductfirst in the shadows and now quite openlywithout prompting a far more intense backlash from the country than we have seen. It is true that the presidents approval ratings have sunk to new lows in 2004 and 2005. The broad and bipartisan support he commanded for the two years after the 9/11 attacks has vanished almost completely. And yet, despite all of the public opinion trends and the presidents steadily declining popularity, there has been no resounding public rejection of the administrations claim to virtually limitless executive power and its systematic violations of the nations laws.
That is because the Bush administration has in its arsenal one very potent weaponand one weapon onlywhich it has repeatedly used: fear. Ever since September 11, 2001, Americans have been bombarded with warnings, with color-coded alerts, with talk of mushroom clouds and nefarious plots to blow up bridges and tall buildings, with villains assigned cartoon names such as dirty bomber, Dr.Germ, and so on. And there has been a constant barrage from the White House of impending threats that generate fearfear of terrorism, fear of more 9/11style attacks, fear of nuclear annihilation, fear of our ports being attacked, fear of our water systems being poisonedand, of course, fear of excessive civil liberties or cumbersome laws jeopardizing our homeland security.
Our very survival is at risk, we are told. We face an enemy unlike any we have seen before, more powerful than anything we have previously encountered. President Bush is devoted to protecting us from the terrorists. We have to invade and occupy Iraq because the terrorists will kill us all if we do not. We must allow the president to incarcerate American citizens without due process, employ torture as a state-sanctioned weapon, eavesdrop on our private conversations, and even violate the law, because the terrorists are so evil and so dangerous that we cannot have any limits on the power of the president if we want him to protect us from the dangers in the world.
That terrorism is a real and serious threat cannot be denied. But America has never been a nation characterized by fear. Yet, for the last five years, we have had a government that has worked overtime to keep fear levels high because doing so served its interests. More than four years after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration continues to keep up the relentless drumbeat of fear. Here is Dick Cheney in early January 2006, proudly defending the administrations illegal eavesdropping program by invoking the specter of terrorism fears:
As we get farther away from September 11th, some in Washington are yielding to the temptation to downplay the ongoing threat to our country, and to back away from the business at hand.... The enemy that struck on 9/11 is weakened and fractured, yet it is still lethal and trying to hit us again. Either we are serious about fighting this war or we are not. And as long as George W. Bush is President of the United States, we are seriousand we will not let down our guard.
Cheney never once addresses the fact that the administration had full leeway to eavesdrop on terrorists without breaking the law. He ignores that fact because he is not making a rational argument. He is attempting to play on the fears of Americans to justify their violations of law.
President Bush has also been fueling the fires offear in almost every speech he has given since September 11, 2001. Here he is in a typical speech, delivered on October 6, 2005, transparently attempting to whip up as much fear as possible in order to try to prop up Americans diminishing support for the countrys ongoing occupation of Iraq:
The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and to blackmail our government into isolation.
Our enemy is utterly committed. As Zarqawi has vowed, We will either achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life. And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history.... With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers.
Islamic terrorists, here as always,are depicted as omnipotent villains with quite attainable dreams of world domination, genocide, and the obliteration of the United States. They are trying to take over the world and murder us all. And this is not merely a threat we face. It is much more than that.It is the predominant issue facing the United Statesmore important than all others. Everything pales in comparison to fighting off this danger. We face not merely a danger, but unprecedented dangers.
For four years, this is what Americans have heard over and over and over from our governmentthat we face a mortal and incomparably powerful enemy, and only the most extreme measures taken by our government can save us. We are a nation engaged in a War of Civilizations, a nation whose very existence is in peril. All of our plans for the future, dreams for our children, career aspirations, life goalsthese are all subordinate, all for naught, unless, first and foremost, we stand loyally behind George Bush as he takes the extreme and unprecedented measures necessary to protect us from these extreme and unprecedented threats.
It is that deeply irrational, fear-driven view of the world that has been used to convince Americans to acquiesce to the administrations excesses and abuses of power. And it is not difficult to understand why it works. After all, if it really were the case that terrorism constituted the sort of imminent, civilization-ending threat the administration has spent the last four years drumming into everyones head, then it might be extremely difficult to gin up much outrage over an eavesdropping programwar- rants or notor over a few American citizens being rounded up and put in military prisons without any charges. When our very survival is in imminent danger, all else pales in importance, and we may feel extreme gratitude toward those who seek to save us, even if hey break a few laws to do it.
In fact, it has become unacceptable in polite company to even raise the prospect that the threat of terrorism may be exaggerated. During the 2004 election, John Kerry stumbled in his clumsy way towards challenging this fear-mongering when he was quoted in The New York Times Magazine as saying, We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but theyre a nuisance. This provoked the predictable outrage from the Bush camp that Kerry, along with Bushs other opponents, was not serious about fighting terrorists and was too weak to protect our children from this unparalleled menace, and the issue was never spoken of again.
It has become an inviolable piety that there is no such thing as over- stating the terrorism risk. One is compelled to genuflect to, and tremble before, the supremacy of this ultimate threat, upon pain of being cast aside as some sort of anti-American, terrorist-loving radical.
That we are a strong enough nation to defeat terrorism without fundamentally changing our nation is a message that Americans are clearly ready to hear. We are more than four years away from September 11, 2001, and despite the dire warnings of the Bush administration, people in rural Kansas and suburban Georgia and everywhere else are beginning to realize that on the list of problems and threats that endanger their children and impede their dreams, the potential of a terrorist attack does not predominate. In a rational world, risk is equal to impact multiplied by probability. As the Linguasphere Dictionary puts it: In professional risk assessment, risk combines the probability of a negative event occurring with how harmful that event would be. But the administration has spent four years urging Americans to ignore that way of thinking and instead assent to any government measure,no matter the costs of comparative harms, as long as it is pursued in the name of fighting this ultimate evil.
But one can protect against the threat of terrorism with courage, calm, and resolvethe attributes that have always defined our nation as it has confronted other threats, including many at least as significant. Hys- teria and fear-mongering are the opposite of strength. The strong remain rational and unafraid.
Most people know individuals in their lives who live in this type of irrational, all-consuming fearpeople who are scared, pathologically risk-averse, always hiding and exerting excess caution lest something go wrong. In its more extreme version, that sort of fear manifests as a life- destroying mental disorder. It is a pitiful image, and such people typically achieve very little. They cannot, because their fear is paralyzing. The Bush administration has been trying for four years to reduce this country to a collective version of that affliction. And it is hard to imagine what a nation fueled by such fear can accomplish.
The administration has managed to get away with the Orwellian idea that fear is the hallmark of courage, and a rational and calm approach is a mark of cowardice. They have been aided in this effort by a frightened national media and political elite that lives in Washington and New Yorktwo target-rich citiesand that has been so petrified of further attacks that they were easily pushed into a state of passive, uncritical compliance in exchange for promises of protection. But we now have some emotional distance from the shock of September 11, and the power of that fear weapon is diminishing.
We must now see that fear is a by-product of weakness and cowardice. A strong nation does not give up its freedoms or sacrifice its national character in the face of manufactured fear and panic. But that is what George Bush has spent the last four years urging the country to do, and it is what he is counting onthat this NSA lawbreaking scandal will soon join the litany of other scandals that have inconsequentially receded in the public consciousness.
Fear as a Weapon
Commentary: How the Bush administration got away with its abuses of power
By Glenn Greenwald
July 7, 2006
#
# Breeder Reaction
Does everybody have the right to have a baby? And who should pay when nature alone doesnt work?
----Advertisements----
----Advertisements----
MoJo Blog
Was the GOP Trying to Mislead the Supreme Court?
Mapping Our Rights
Would Japan Go to War?
Lieberman Goes on the Attack
"We haven't even begun to understand where our enemy is coming from."
More Illegal Spy Programs?
Health Care Kills in California Prisons
Defending the homeland...from Gomez and Ramirez
Attack on Federal Regulations Continues
[The following essay is exerpted from How Would a Patriot Act? by Glenn Greenwald (Working Assets Publishing). The book, a bona fide publishing phenomenon, was developed, written, edited, published, and distributed in three months, and made the New York Times bestseller list earlier this summer.]
In one sense, it is difficult to understand how the Bush administration has been able to embrace such radical theories of executive power, and to engage in such recognizably un-American conductfirst in the shadows and now quite openlywithout prompting a far more intense backlash from the country than we have seen. It is true that the presidents approval ratings have sunk to new lows in 2004 and 2005. The broad and bipartisan support he commanded for the two years after the 9/11 attacks has vanished almost completely. And yet, despite all of the public opinion trends and the presidents steadily declining popularity, there has been no resounding public rejection of the administrations claim to virtually limitless executive power and its systematic violations of the nations laws.
That is because the Bush administration has in its arsenal one very potent weaponand one weapon onlywhich it has repeatedly used: fear. Ever since September 11, 2001, Americans have been bombarded with warnings, with color-coded alerts, with talk of mushroom clouds and nefarious plots to blow up bridges and tall buildings, with villains assigned cartoon names such as dirty bomber, Dr.Germ, and so on. And there has been a constant barrage from the White House of impending threats that generate fearfear of terrorism, fear of more 9/11style attacks, fear of nuclear annihilation, fear of our ports being attacked, fear of our water systems being poisonedand, of course, fear of excessive civil liberties or cumbersome laws jeopardizing our homeland security.
Our very survival is at risk, we are told. We face an enemy unlike any we have seen before, more powerful than anything we have previously encountered. President Bush is devoted to protecting us from the terrorists. We have to invade and occupy Iraq because the terrorists will kill us all if we do not. We must allow the president to incarcerate American citizens without due process, employ torture as a state-sanctioned weapon, eavesdrop on our private conversations, and even violate the law, because the terrorists are so evil and so dangerous that we cannot have any limits on the power of the president if we want him to protect us from the dangers in the world.
That terrorism is a real and serious threat cannot be denied. But America has never been a nation characterized by fear. Yet, for the last five years, we have had a government that has worked overtime to keep fear levels high because doing so served its interests. More than four years after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration continues to keep up the relentless drumbeat of fear. Here is Dick Cheney in early January 2006, proudly defending the administrations illegal eavesdropping program by invoking the specter of terrorism fears:
As we get farther away from September 11th, some in Washington are yielding to the temptation to downplay the ongoing threat to our country, and to back away from the business at hand.... The enemy that struck on 9/11 is weakened and fractured, yet it is still lethal and trying to hit us again. Either we are serious about fighting this war or we are not. And as long as George W. Bush is President of the United States, we are seriousand we will not let down our guard.
Cheney never once addresses the fact that the administration had full leeway to eavesdrop on terrorists without breaking the law. He ignores that fact because he is not making a rational argument. He is attempting to play on the fears of Americans to justify their violations of law.
President Bush has also been fueling the fires offear in almost every speech he has given since September 11, 2001. Here he is in a typical speech, delivered on October 6, 2005, transparently attempting to whip up as much fear as possible in order to try to prop up Americans diminishing support for the countrys ongoing occupation of Iraq:
The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and to blackmail our government into isolation.
Our enemy is utterly committed. As Zarqawi has vowed, We will either achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life. And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history.... With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers.
Islamic terrorists, here as always,are depicted as omnipotent villains with quite attainable dreams of world domination, genocide, and the obliteration of the United States. They are trying to take over the world and murder us all. And this is not merely a threat we face. It is much more than that.It is the predominant issue facing the United Statesmore important than all others. Everything pales in comparison to fighting off this danger. We face not merely a danger, but unprecedented dangers.
For four years, this is what Americans have heard over and over and over from our governmentthat we face a mortal and incomparably powerful enemy, and only the most extreme measures taken by our government can save us. We are a nation engaged in a War of Civilizations, a nation whose very existence is in peril. All of our plans for the future, dreams for our children, career aspirations, life goalsthese are all subordinate, all for naught, unless, first and foremost, we stand loyally behind George Bush as he takes the extreme and unprecedented measures necessary to protect us from these extreme and unprecedented threats.
It is that deeply irrational, fear-driven view of the world that has been used to convince Americans to acquiesce to the administrations excesses and abuses of power. And it is not difficult to understand why it works. After all, if it really were the case that terrorism constituted the sort of imminent, civilization-ending threat the administration has spent the last four years drumming into everyones head, then it might be extremely difficult to gin up much outrage over an eavesdropping programwar- rants or notor over a few American citizens being rounded up and put in military prisons without any charges. When our very survival is in imminent danger, all else pales in importance, and we may feel extreme gratitude toward those who seek to save us, even if hey break a few laws to do it.
In fact, it has become unacceptable in polite company to even raise the prospect that the threat of terrorism may be exaggerated. During the 2004 election, John Kerry stumbled in his clumsy way towards challenging this fear-mongering when he was quoted in The New York Times Magazine as saying, We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but theyre a nuisance. This provoked the predictable outrage from the Bush camp that Kerry, along with Bushs other opponents, was not serious about fighting terrorists and was too weak to protect our children from this unparalleled menace, and the issue was never spoken of again.
It has become an inviolable piety that there is no such thing as over- stating the terrorism risk. One is compelled to genuflect to, and tremble before, the supremacy of this ultimate threat, upon pain of being cast aside as some sort of anti-American, terrorist-loving radical.
That we are a strong enough nation to defeat terrorism without fundamentally changing our nation is a message that Americans are clearly ready to hear. We are more than four years away from September 11, 2001, and despite the dire warnings of the Bush administration, people in rural Kansas and suburban Georgia and everywhere else are beginning to realize that on the list of problems and threats that endanger their children and impede their dreams, the potential of a terrorist attack does not predominate. In a rational world, risk is equal to impact multiplied by probability. As the Linguasphere Dictionary puts it: In professional risk assessment, risk combines the probability of a negative event occurring with how harmful that event would be. But the administration has spent four years urging Americans to ignore that way of thinking and instead assent to any government measure,no matter the costs of comparative harms, as long as it is pursued in the name of fighting this ultimate evil.
But one can protect against the threat of terrorism with courage, calm, and resolvethe attributes that have always defined our nation as it has confronted other threats, including many at least as significant. Hys- teria and fear-mongering are the opposite of strength. The strong remain rational and unafraid.
Most people know individuals in their lives who live in this type of irrational, all-consuming fearpeople who are scared, pathologically risk-averse, always hiding and exerting excess caution lest something go wrong. In its more extreme version, that sort of fear manifests as a life- destroying mental disorder. It is a pitiful image, and such people typically achieve very little. They cannot, because their fear is paralyzing. The Bush administration has been trying for four years to reduce this country to a collective version of that affliction. And it is hard to imagine what a nation fueled by such fear can accomplish.
The administration has managed to get away with the Orwellian idea that fear is the hallmark of courage, and a rational and calm approach is a mark of cowardice. They have been aided in this effort by a frightened national media and political elite that lives in Washington and New Yorktwo target-rich citiesand that has been so petrified of further attacks that they were easily pushed into a state of passive, uncritical compliance in exchange for promises of protection. But we now have some emotional distance from the shock of September 11, and the power of that fear weapon is diminishing.
We must now see that fear is a by-product of weakness and cowardice. A strong nation does not give up its freedoms or sacrifice its national character in the face of manufactured fear and panic. But that is what George Bush has spent the last four years urging the country to do, and it is what he is counting onthat this NSA lawbreaking scandal will soon join the litany of other scandals that have inconsequentially receded in the public consciousness.
Hey All,
I'm going to be staying at my parents house on Gabriola Island, which is a short ferry ride away from nanaimo. I believe that I am going to be there from approx July 18-19th through to August 3- 5th. My mom ordered the tickets the other day and either she hasn't gotten confirmation or she was confused about something....so I don't know the exact dates.
I have only been out to the house one time before, so I don't really know anybody at all on the Island, or B.C. at large, actually.
I'm going to be staying at my parents house on Gabriola Island, which is a short ferry ride away from nanaimo. I believe that I am going to be there from approx July 18-19th through to August 3- 5th. My mom ordered the tickets the other day and either she hasn't gotten confirmation or she was confused about something....so I don't know the exact dates.
I have only been out to the house one time before, so I don't really know anybody at all on the Island, or B.C. at large, actually.
tomorrow i will need chemicals, i'm quittin cigs.....................need something else to fulfill my addiction needs....
SERIOUSLY,
I am quitting the cigarettes, call me on this shit, stay on my ass, don't let me fucking go back to those things...I'm sick of the smokers cough. I'm sick of hacking up tar. I'm sick of getting winded when I'm hardly exerting myself.
I did go out and get the patch today, I'm gonna actually follow it the way that I'm supposed to, hopefully it'll work. I'm hoping that this first week will not be super difficult, cause I'm goin to Canada next week, and cigs are 7+ a pack up there, so it shouldn't be as tempting.
SERIOUSLY,
I am quitting the cigarettes, call me on this shit, stay on my ass, don't let me fucking go back to those things...I'm sick of the smokers cough. I'm sick of hacking up tar. I'm sick of getting winded when I'm hardly exerting myself.
I did go out and get the patch today, I'm gonna actually follow it the way that I'm supposed to, hopefully it'll work. I'm hoping that this first week will not be super difficult, cause I'm goin to Canada next week, and cigs are 7+ a pack up there, so it shouldn't be as tempting.
The Bizarre Sex Life of an Orchid
By Bjorn Carey
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 21 June, 2006
1:01pm ET
Scientists have discovered an orchid that never needs to get a dateit can fertilize itself by performing a sexual act never before seen in flowers.
The hermaphroditic orchid shuns the sexual practices of other flowers and completes the deed without the help of sticky liquids, birds or even a breath of wind, a new study reveals.
Many flowers rely on insects or birds, which they attract with sweet scent or tasty nectar, to help with fertilization. The hungry animals brush against the pollen-producing male bits (anther) of one plant and transfer it to the opening of a neighboring flower's female reproductive organs (stigma). Wind can also help this process along, although it's not as direct.
The orchid, Holcoglossum amesianum, performs a tricky, 360-degree, gravity-defying dance to pollinate itself. Here's how it works
First, the cap covering the male anther pops off, uncovering two pollen-holding pollinia attached to a flexible rod called a stipe. The stipe rises up before curving forward and downwards past the edge of the rostellum, a structure that separates the male and female parts of the orchid. Finally, the stipe curves back up and around the rostellum and inserts the pollinia into the stigma cavity.
While most flowers spread their pollen to other plants, the new orchid is extremely exclusive and only mates with itself. The self-pollination act was also successful in flower terms, producing fruit about 50 percent of the time.
Of the 1,911 H. amesianum orchids the scientists observed growing on tree trunks in Simao, Yunnan, China, all used the same self-pollination strategy. This method of self-pollination, which comes in handy when winds are gentle or insects are lacking, adds to the variety of mechanisms flowering plants have evolved to ensure success.
By Bjorn Carey
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 21 June, 2006
1:01pm ET
Scientists have discovered an orchid that never needs to get a dateit can fertilize itself by performing a sexual act never before seen in flowers.
The hermaphroditic orchid shuns the sexual practices of other flowers and completes the deed without the help of sticky liquids, birds or even a breath of wind, a new study reveals.
Many flowers rely on insects or birds, which they attract with sweet scent or tasty nectar, to help with fertilization. The hungry animals brush against the pollen-producing male bits (anther) of one plant and transfer it to the opening of a neighboring flower's female reproductive organs (stigma). Wind can also help this process along, although it's not as direct.
The orchid, Holcoglossum amesianum, performs a tricky, 360-degree, gravity-defying dance to pollinate itself. Here's how it works
First, the cap covering the male anther pops off, uncovering two pollen-holding pollinia attached to a flexible rod called a stipe. The stipe rises up before curving forward and downwards past the edge of the rostellum, a structure that separates the male and female parts of the orchid. Finally, the stipe curves back up and around the rostellum and inserts the pollinia into the stigma cavity.
While most flowers spread their pollen to other plants, the new orchid is extremely exclusive and only mates with itself. The self-pollination act was also successful in flower terms, producing fruit about 50 percent of the time.
Of the 1,911 H. amesianum orchids the scientists observed growing on tree trunks in Simao, Yunnan, China, all used the same self-pollination strategy. This method of self-pollination, which comes in handy when winds are gentle or insects are lacking, adds to the variety of mechanisms flowering plants have evolved to ensure success.
