Tag: 9-11

Living by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20229:33 pm

Where They Stood

Twenty-one years ago today, terrorists flew commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. Of course, I vividly remember the unfolding events, like so many Americans. That said, meaning fades with time.

Surely everyone alive when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941 shares similar experience. Think of what occurred during the following 21 years to make the event’s emotional impact diminish. Little things, like the Cuban Missile crisis in October 1962 that brought the world to the precipice of nuclear war.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 8, 20219:31 pm

The Question is Why?

If I rightly recall from past signage, the same neighbor also believes that the U.S. government was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Looking at this simple statement, perhaps he is among conspiracy theorists convinced that SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 vaccines also inject nanites. If I could be so bold to suggest: Should Deep State operatives really want to track you, the 4G or 5G smartphone already carried would be more than sufficient. My question: What makes you (or me) so important that anyone would bother?

We already live in a surveillance society. If not cameras from any other house, it’s Facebook, Google, your Internet Service Provider, or a host of other online entities watching—and creating profiles about you. Because bungling bureaucracy is so certain, I would welcome government snooping over the efficiencies of high-tech money-grubbers committed to turning you (or me) into a profitable commodity. Suddenly, writing this paragraph, I am convincing myself that “No 4G/5G Here”—or any Internet access—has merit. Or maybe it’s time to install the VPN software that I licensed long ago but never activated. 🙂

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 202012:00 am

Flickr a Week 37a: ‘Aerial View of New York City, in which the World Trade Center Twin Towers is Prominent’

About a month before Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists used hijacked commercial airliners as missiles, Carol M. Highsmith captured self-titled “Aerial View of New York City, in which the World Trade Center Twin Towers is Prominent“. According to the Library of Congress, to which she donated this photo and others from across America, Carol produced a digital image “to represent her original film transparency; some details may differ between the film and the digital images”.

The link from her name goes to the LoC page; that in the credit to Rawpixel Ltd., which posted the public domain cityscape on Dec. 9, 2018. Carol is the photographer but not the Flickr account holder from where she joins the series. Camera and other information is unknown.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20156:59 am

Flickr a Day 254: World Trade Center

We pause to remember the fallen buildings and the brave people tragically fallen with them on this 14th 9-11 memorial. I lived in the Washington, D.C. metro area that day, and the terrorist attack on the U.S. Pentagon was more immediate. My wife, a New Jersey native, more keenly felt for New Yorkers. I shared my reflection of that morning 10 years ago today.

Our selection recalls what was when it started. Wil Blanche captured this poignant moment from the Staten Island Ferry sometime in May 1973. Tenants started moving into the towers in December 1970, during construction. The buildings officially opened, as the tallest in the world, about a month before Wil shot the photo. Camera and other information isn’t available. The pic is courtesy of the U.S. National Archives.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 9, 20156:13 pm

Is This Apple’s 9-11 Respect?

Apple’s decision to start iPhone 6s and 6s Plus preorders on Saturday September 12 surprises me. Friday is typical, which lets the company tabulate an extra day into the weekend when reporting the number of preorders the following week. So you have to wonder why the change. I asked Apple PR, but there is yet no response yet.

In 2014, Apple announced iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also on September 9th, a Tuesday. Preorders began on Friday the 12th and sales one week later. In 2013, there was no preorder option for iPhone 5s, just straight sales starting Friday September 20th; announced the 10th. In 2012: Fridays September 14th for preorders; the 21st for sales. In 2011: again Fridays, October 7th preorders and October 14th sales.

Living by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20067:35 pm

What They Saw

Today, a couple released video footage they shot on September 11, 2001, “36 floors up and 500 yards from the North Tower” of the World Trade Center. The video, “September 11, 2001: What We Saw“.

The video is riveting, because of the raw emotion expressed by the observants’ disbelief and grief shared by so many of us that day—and because the viewer knows what is yet to occur: The second plane hitting the South Tower, the collapse of the South Tower, and the collapse of the North Tower. If there is a perspective of looking with hindsight, this video is it.