18 Years Ago

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, at around 2 PM local time, I was in bed and taking a nap. The day before I had returned back home after being in a hospital for a week and receiving five bags of blood. In a routine physical check-up, it was discovered that my blood count was dangerously low.

I was awoken by a telephone call from my father, who told me to turn on the television because "there are things going on in New York". I thought of going back to sleep, but my curiosity got the better of me so I turned on the TV and started watching the eerie live broadcast from New York City where the North Tower of the World Trade Center was burning.

About ten minutes after I started watching the broadcast the events of the picture started to unfold. A plane was seen flying closer and it became clear that it was aiming for the South Tower. It struck the tower at 3:03PM my time, 9:03AM New York Time, and a big ball of fire erupted from the place of impact. Smoke was now billowing from both towers.

I was stunned, like the rest of civilization, by this vehement terrorist attack happening in broad daylight and playing out on color-TV.

I stayed close to the television all through the night. The other attempted attacks were reported. And the numbers of the people killed and wounded rose by the hour. 

The final count says 2,996 people were killed (including the 19 hijackers) and more than 6,000 others injured. Additionally, 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers died in the World Trade Center and on the ground in New York City. There were more people killed in places outside New York City.

Life for us, the lucky ones, continued but the world as we know it changed. We lost a kind of innocence that day with the over 3,000 deaths. Little by little, new agencies and lots of regulations and restrictions were put in place to try to prevent similar attacks from ever occurring again.

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On a day like this, it is good to remember the past, the victims of terror whether killed, mutilated or hurt, and hope and work so that we may never experience anything as horrendous again. 

On Terrorist Attack in Christchurch Friday, March 15, 2019

Every single word of this.

“The most dishonest thing I could say today is that I am shocked by this attack.”😓#NewZealandTerroristAttack pic.twitter.com/RBAjVLVxss

— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) March 15, 2019

Powerful, moving and cannot be said better!

Deep Sorrow, Frustration & Anger

The horrible news from London yesterday fills me with deep sorrow, frustration and anger.

My thoughts go to the families of the innocent victims and their families. This was yet an outrageous attack on a western democratic state to create havoc and incite hatred.

Do not for a moment let yourself be lured into believing that this has anything whatsoever to do with religious beliefs or cultural norms. It has as little to do with Islam and Muslims as the Crusades once had to do with fighting for Christianity or Christians.

No, these horrendous and vile acts of terror are all orchestrated to intimidate and disrupt the people of the western democracies as a part of a struggle for power, influence and money. The puppeteers behind this unprovoked violence are more likely to be found in Moscow, Peking and Pyongyang than in Baghdad, Beirut or Tehran.

Hair Furor Spouts Alternative Facts About Sweden

Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.  https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tj

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) February 19, 2017

I don't usually agree with Carl Bildt about anything at all, but this time his tweet captured the wonderment of all Swedes at what the American president had to say about whats been happening in our country recently.

Isn't it about time president Trump was assigned a few handlers who fact-checked his speeches, otherwise I think we may soon end up with a really big mess. Many things president Trump "believes" are true, simply aren't. 

9-11 In Memoriam

There was something "spectacular" over the acts of terrorism we all witnessed on live broadcasting on September 11, 2001. Events that usually unfold under the cover of darkness or in remote places were happening before our eyes.

I am guessing most of us, who are old enough, have a vivid memory of where we were and what we were doing when we got the news fifteen years ago.

I had just been released from hospital the day before  and was still on sick leave. My father called on the phone and told me to turn on the TV because there was something going on in America. Swedish television was also broadcasting live.

Just a few seconds after I had turned on the TV-set - and before I understood what was going on - the television screen showed a passenger airplane flying suspiciously low close to the tower that had been hit first. Then I saw the plane steering right into the second tower, flames erupting around the hole that had been caused in the structure halfway up on the building.

 I was baffled, shocked, sad, angry and frightened. After seeing that I remained in front of the television all that day and well into the night to follow the news. There were many speculations concerning the amount of casualties, so once the true numbers were released I was strangely relieved that they were much lower than the initial speculations. 

2,977 people died in the attacks and many more were wounded, it's a scary thought that I could feel relief at such a high toll.  

In my mind's timeline there will always be a before or after 9-11, Everything changed, or at least my outlook on everything changed,

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I will always remember that day and all the lives that were lost and disrupted. May the dead rest in peace!

Button for Belgium

On Monday we experienced yet another senseless case of violence, this time in Belgium. The terrorist organisation ISIS struck in Brussels and other places killing 34 and wounding more than 200.

I got a message from my dear old friend Kahvy Smith informing me that he has made special buttons to commemorate for the victims of terrorism and show support for Belgium at this time when it is under attack. Next time it may be our own country. 

Although I myself do not pray I will wear the button and in my mind convert "pray for" to "think of".

If you would like your own button to support Belgium and the Belgians you can grab your button for Belgium at The Starlight Ballroom. (SLurl). They are free of charge!

Remembering 9-11

This drawing was made by a child during the week following the attacks of September 11, 2001. It was rescued from being destroyed by rain from the front wall of a Chelsea elementary school by blogger +Joe Jervis, Joe.My.God., on September 18, 2001.

"The Hugging Towers"

Please read Joe's touching original post about how he found the picture, J.M.G.: "One Week Later" (reposting September 18, 2006).

Joe has donated the painting to the museum which now resides on the site of the former World Trade Center.

Boston

(via J.M.G.)

9/11 Again

Honor the dead by caring for the living!

I took these pictures on this day last year at the 9/11 Memorial site (SLurl) in SecondLife.

The effect of the two transparent and ghostly towers looming over the surrounding buildings is a powerful and beautiful reminder of the horrible day when the towers disappeared from the skyline and all our lives were changed for the foreseeable future.

I remember that awful day well. It feels like a lifetime ago but is only eleven years. The day before I had come home from a five day stay at the hospital where I had been urgently admitted when my blood count (Hb) was found to be only 59 g/l (In a healthy man it should be around 130-170 g/l).

They never found out where I had been bleeding slowly over a very long period despite probing my body through every open orifice with a variety of instruments. However, I was sent home after having received a few blood transfusions and been instructed on how to recognize the warning signs. (As long as the palms of your hands are reddish your blood count is over 120 g/l, below that they turn grayish/white.)

The day after I got a telephone call from my father telling me to turn on the television set because something terrible was happening in New York. I turned on the TV and sat in front of it the rest of the day and long into the night. I watched and cried while the second plane flew into the second tower and then again when the first tower collapsed and then the second and then listening to the guesses all night long about who and what had planned and executed these atrocities.

9-11

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

The death toll of the attacks was 2,996, including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. In addition, there is at least one secondary death – one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.

The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror: it invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists. The United States also enacted the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan. (Quote from Wikipedia)

Mourn the dead, celebrate the heroes and start building a new future with tolerance, respect and forgiveness!

We must also always remember that the terrorists are an extremely small minority in any community, religious group or society! In the words of the American president Barack Obama, "We don’t differentiate between them and us. It’s just us."

And yes in the light of this I must - and will - forgive my few enemies and wrongdoers for the petty drama they caused me and for hurting my feelings. I will accept them, I will respect them but I do not need to love them!

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P.S. Recommended reading on the blog Joe.My.God "That day". A personal eyewitness account.