The share value of money has rocketed worldwide following the release of these specially commisioned coins. http://www.mtvdance.com/Shop.htm#911coin If you are easily offended by fun being poked at the establishment then please dont follow the link. This is in no way intended to slur the innocent people who have died because of the idiotic stupidity of violent people.
Ilikesalt: Not without me saying something about 9- 11 first. There should have been more killed in order to give each family in mourning the right to a reality TV show. There should have been day-care centers set up on the roof so that the world, aghast at little children frying in jet oil, could cry tears usually reserved for those special occasions when America gets a fucking paper cut. There should have been more deviants, like myself, living in New York at the time to mace those insta-philosophers on every street corner to whom National Terrorism was now a Thing Worth Discussing. One of these imbeciles was asked what a Kurd was- with only seconds to spell it out, KURD, she asked if it was a radio station. There should also be a syndicated channel set up solely for that black pig who spoke with Tom Beamer- because you know there's nothing as patriotically useful as a million godamned 'let's roll's I would like to salute this day for its pointing out to me that my country is a deafmute; and that all it takes for its fat soldiers to defend my borders is a thousand or so men and women in business clothes frying and crying for it.
9/11... so what, a bunch of useless people died useless deaths. That´s just too bad. One might have thought that it would teach America a lesson, obviously that is not the case. Lets see when the next tragic date joins this one.
9.11 was a wakeup call. It gave us a lesson that the oceans no longer protect us as they have for centuries. Isolationism is no longer an option. However, it seems rather than isolationism the powers that be have decide to become supercops and knee-jerk reactionaries. And with that the multitudes went back to sleep. Hit the snooze button. It was a terrible day. A terrible blow. But, in the end the number of dead was extremely small. The damage to the country was practically nil. The damage to our psyche is inestimable. The damage to our respect from the world came later. Osama couldn't have planned it better than the path GWB took of his own accord. Greater tragedies have occurred in the world. Greater tragedies will occur in time to come. It is entirely possible that greater tragedies are occurring at this moment in time (all tragedies don't have to occur instantly or in a short period of time.)
Vert: A wake up call to what? Vulnerability? Then what was the Cole? Or '93? What was Yugoslavia? In other words Deafism. Don't get me wrong, its only human to rise up and defend yourself once punched in the nose. I'm not one for international babysitting- however, we have a tendency to remain deaf and inebriated, never fully conscious of the flame in the backyard until the house is one fire. Isolationism will always be that option- you have it wrong. That's how one remains sane. I wonder how the Israelite sleeps at night. But boy was it thrilling. The world stopped and came alive- gah. Makes my teeth melt. Not "possible". More like "are". You do realize there are 'modern' genocides, yes?
Oh....I do not know, I never found use for people in cramped skyscrapers bending their backs for gain and benefit in a capitlist world...
No one. Usefulness does not invoke emotions. Waiting for my sympathy might be a task void of success. I never met or knew/read/heard anyone who has yet earned my respect, so I cannot answer that.
Dream: I deserve your respect. http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=39295 I deserve you licking the brown in my ass. I'm a human being! And I matter! How fucking dare you?!
Actually, I think my idea of respect varies a bit from yours. I would like to blame it on the difference between my primary language German and my second one English. Of course you can blame it on my ignorance if it pleases you. As explanation: Respect and its meanings in English: (quite much so I give a link http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=67297&dict=CALD) Meaning in German would be (damn, a bit hard to translate...) Great, for some words I do not find a proper translation... In fact, all the words that describe respect in German are translated as respect in English. But the German meaning of respect is reserved for some kind of superiority and/or fear. That´s as close as I come to describe it. So I correct myself, there might indeed be people I respect using the definitions you would employ. I would include following aspects of respect: Those ideas are not entailed by the German "respect". They are acredited to other words.
Just so. Boring. It didn't affect us. At most it was a vague whisper of things to come but not enough to push past the dreaminess of the sleeping public. Isolationism? Deaf and dumbism. Short-sightedness and blindness. Funny that we go from one form of blindness to another. Extreme to extreme. Only the extremes can push the way past our extreme boredom. Our extremem sense of pastiche and ennui. I can understand the need to strike back, as well. Hell, that day I was ready to disembowel some fuckers myself. Who wasn't? But, we already used our "invade a country for free" card with Afghanistan. Iraq was pointless. And the stance of a never-ending war on terrorism is just a clusterfuck waiting to happen. As to the fire in the back yard, it comes once more to the oceans. In the US we are so isolated geographically and culturally from most of the world that they almost seem like figments of our imagination. Like a story told only to entertain our jaded sensibilities. And what does on expect from a story? The fire in the back yard is to be expected. Of such things exciting stories are made. But, when a fire appears in the house, even a small fire in the ashtray, it suddenly becomes real. This is no story this is reality. Only the house is real. And if the whole back yard has to be burned down to keep another fire from starting in the ashtray then so be it. Burn it down. To the fucking ground. This is the short-sighted mentality of the short-sighted and entertainment driven. And, the problem is that for the most part, the masses awoke only long enough to write a blank check to an administration that previous to this fire had no purpose. The malaise of the adminstration was replaced with an obsessive purpose. Even though it is a blind purpose. A self-defeating purpose in regards to the circumstances which started the fire to begin with. The US which was once the most respected nation in the world is now considered by more and more as an overbearing bully with a grudge. You know, I'll say this about the administration. I imagined checkpoints and ominous guards asking for your papers. Secret police and security agents. I think many if not most expected such things and in fact would have accepted them as a consequence of the day. But, they didn't happen. Not quickly enough. The administration sat on it's hand in regards to consolidating power. I'll give them that much. I wonder if it is through incompetence or genuine good will? That's something I can't answer. But, isolationism requires more than we are willing to accept. We have been the watchdog of the world since 1942. So many take the prestige of that position personally. So personal that they cannot see or will not see that now they become a wolf. How could we truly pull back from the world? From the manipulation of the world? Is such a thing possible? And what good would it do? Wouldn't a return to isolationism be a sign of weakness? An invitation to a throat cutting? I think it would be seen that way. Don't I know it. I remember that day. Clearly and vividly. The thought that now, at last, things would change. Things would be different. We couldn't just continue to shuffle along as we have all the days of my life. Now we would begin to deal with things of import and consequence. For good or ill, things would change. Yet they didn't. Not really. Not on the surface anyway. In deep layers the changes are still percolating. So deep and subtle that most will not even realize that any change took place at all by the time it all takes effect. "All animals are created equal. But some animals are more equal than others." And everything was the same as it ever was. Ask the sheep. They'll tell you. Yeah. I shouldn't have hedged my words there.
Dream: You misunderstood- . You are not obligated to anyone is what that thread is saying. You owe people nothing in their needs for external validation to convince themselves they exist. No one is entitled to your time, happiness, or existence. And loyalty to self comes first above all. That is what that thread is saying, so no we don't agree. My last post was sarcasm.
I did not necessarily say that I completely agree with the "english" respect. I wanted to point out that there are severe differences between my idea of respect and that of those who have English as their primary language. For me, honour was not connected to my idea of respect, but I have a sense of honour, or even self respect (which would be a strange concept in my native tounge...). I am yet not sure how far this form of respect that I take from that description influences my previous statement. As of yet, I still do not feel respect to those that died, they remain nothing to me. I do not see any obligations, only those that I have posed onto myself, in form of my honour. I am in so far honourable because I do not have a reason to lie. This gives me a certain level of social integrity, and as long as others are honourable towards me, I might have a small amount of respect, but it is limited by time... So yes, people are entitled to my time, but only because I grant them my time. If it would not suit me, I would not let it happen. Alas, I think I have once mentioned that I primarily communicate with people for the sake of amusement, some even manage to interest me. And as long as they are interesting and entertaining, I am willing to grant them respect, meaning that I do not harm them or mistreat them if possible. Also, I am aware that your post was sarcastic, and I never said anything about agreeing on something. I merely stated that there are facets of respect that I have to reconsider.
