Video: New Aerial Photos of 9/11
Here’s video of Rachel Maddow interviewing NYPD Detective Greg Semendinger, who shot the newly released aerial photographs of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.
Here’s video of Rachel Maddow interviewing NYPD Detective Greg Semendinger, who shot the newly released aerial photographs of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.
3 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:19:37pm |
WOW! THIS STILL PISSES ME OFF!!!
Gosh, I hope KSM dies before setting foot an Manhattan.
Is that wrong?
6 | darthstar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:22:05pm |
If you're in Detroit...run outside and wave. I'm flying over you right now...oh, and here's a reason books are better than the kindle. If you fall asleep reading a book, it usually winds up face down on your chest or open in your lap. The guy across from me has had the same page up on his kindle for a good two hours now...I keep waiting to see how it paginates, but the sonofabitch won't wake up.
Anyway, hope everyone's enjoying their day...
7 | lawhawk Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:22:46pm |
I'd posted about this the other day, and that some outlets absolutely botched the descriptions of those photos - particularly MSNBC.
Some of those captions have apparently been edited, but some haven't.
8 | SixDegrees Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:23:42pm |
re: #3 Fat Bastard Vegetarian
WOW! THIS STILL PISSES ME OFF!!!
Gosh, I hope KSM dies before setting foot an Manhattan.
Is that wrong?
Well, yes, it's wrong.
But it's only a little wrong.
And you can take comfort in the fact the New York KSM will see will be the bustling, thriving metropolis it has always been, and that his plans failed completely.
Here's a hint for a project someone can take upon themselves if they see fit - a photoessay of as close to ten million New Yorkers giving KSM the finger. I'm thinking you could set days to rent a helicopter and hover over public spaces, letting people know to flip the bird when they spot the chopper.
Just a thought.
9 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:23:50pm |
Exactly why it is the right thing to photograph as best as possible. Theh camera bears witness.
"I think they should have been out there a long time ago".
Damn, damn right, good sir.
10 | Charles Johnson Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:24:52pm |
I think I've seen some of these photos before. I wonder if they were leaked previously?
11 | SixDegrees Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:25:00pm |
re: #6 darthstar
If you're in Detroit...run outside and wave. I'm flying over you right now...oh, and here's a reason books are better than the kindle. If you fall asleep reading a book, it usually winds up face down on your chest or open in your lap. The guy across from me has had the same page up on his kindle for a good two hours now...I keep waiting to see how it paginates, but the sonofabitch won't wake up.
Anyway, hope everyone's enjoying their day...
Hi. It's overcast, so you can't see me.
12 | lawhawk Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:25:54pm |
re: #9 Rightwingconspirator
They were part of a collection of images gathered for the NIST investigation - about 2,700 in total.
Some of his photos were released previously - he sent a couple to friends by email, and they made their way online.
13 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:26:44pm |
re: #8 SixDegrees
Hey, Six. Not trying to be argumentative, but, I disagree.
He won't see anything. Streets'll be cordoned off for blocks, no one is going to get near.
He will probably enjoy knowing he has again paralyzed lower Manhattan again.
On the bright side? I think that The President is going to re-direct.
14 | Ojoe Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:27:55pm |
I can't watch. I remember. 3k murdered. & no forceful enough response from us.
This conflict is far far from over. Even today we let the fanatics have whole countries as sanctuaries where they can build any weapon, hatch any plot.
We are fools, waiting for a blow to wake us up.
15 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:28:25pm |
re: #12 lawhawk
I'm fuming a bit. Those were public domain as soon as the shutter stopped. Or as soon as the photographer said so. But I have a bias.
16 | Guanxi88 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:31:33pm |
re: #14 Ojoe
I can't watch. I remember. 3k murdered. & no forceful enough response from us.
This conflict is far far from over. Even today we let the fanatics have whole countries as sanctuaries where they can build any weapon, hatch any plot.
We are fools, waiting for a blow to wake us up.
My fear is that we have taken on a greater numbness than previously. I daresay that any attack that doesn't equal or exceed the 9/11/01 attacks will be viewed as relatively minor - small potatoes kind of stuff. And, since we obviously "over-reacted" the first time, we must be more circumspect now....
18 | lawhawk Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:32:38pm |
Meanwhile, back at Ground Zero now, we've got one of the buildings (the former Deutsche Bank building) badly damaged from the attacks still hulking over the rest of the site - and demands for more changes to management because of ongoing problems.
In other words - we're still months away from demolishing the last of the buildings that were damaged beyond repair in the attacks.
At least steel is rising on the Freedom Tower (1WTC) and 4WTC.
19 | Irenicum Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:36:25pm |
It's still painful to see those pictures. I'm glad they've been released. But still I hate seeing them.
20 | RightOnTheLeftCoast Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:37:25pm |
I'm not a fan of either MSNBC nor Maddow, but that was an excellent interview. He's right... they should have been released long, long ago as part of the public record of that horrible day.
Lawhawk is also correct about the rampant incompetence and poor journalism shown on the MSNBC website when the wrote the captions and descriptions for the newly released images.
21 | reine.de.tout Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:39:31pm |
re: #7 lawhawk
I'd posted about this the other day, and that some outlets absolutely botched the descriptions of those photos - particularly MSNBC.
Some of those captions have apparently been edited, but some haven't.
They are still using the word "implosion".
22 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:40:05pm |
If it were up to me there would be a digital memorial. The pictures would be the walls of the twin towers. Or maybe the shape of the new tower. The videos would be part of the lowest floors, playing. A viewer could rotate the image to see each wall and move in close or move up and down.
23 | Irenicum Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:40:56pm |
Sorry for being OT so early. I know it's not kosher to do that on a topical thread, but this is pretty interesting news. Redstate has apparently banned all truthers and birthers from their site. ht/ to TWI via twitter.
24 | Charles Johnson Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:41:06pm |
Here's another Associated Press video with more info on the photos:
25 | lawhawk Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:41:09pm |
re: #22 Rightwingconspirator
9/11 WTC memorial/museum. This is what they're building (and what I see being built from my daily commute).
27 | jamesfirecat Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:41:33pm |
re: #22 Rightwingconspirator
If it were up to me there would be a digital memorial. The pictures would be the walls of the twin towers. Or maybe the shape of the new tower. The videos would be part of the lowest floors, playing. A viewer could rotate the image to see each wall and move in close or move up and down.
That's a little much isn't it? I mean there should be a way for a person who doesn't care to see those images to walk through the building without needing to either
A) See the images.
Or
B) Close there eyes...
29 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:43:26pm |
re: #27 jamesfirecat
I meant as a created digital art abstract image in 3d that a person would view, or not. Sorry if I was not clear. I hope the memorial has a place where the bulk of the photographs and videos can be viewed. Maybe touch flat screens or something.
30 | wrenchwench Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:45:03pm |
re: #10 Charles
I think I've seen some of these photos before. I wonder if they were leaked previously?
ABC initially said some of the photographs posted had never been seen before, but later backed off that assertion.Semendinger - who took all the photos posted by ABC - said Wednesday that he had previously e-mailed some of the pictures to friends who later posted them on the Internet. Also, nine of the images were published in a book called "Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of Sept. 11" without his consent. The book was a tribute to the officers who were killed that day.
Read more: Chilling aerial photos of 9/11 attack released - KansasCity.com
31 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:45:24pm |
Det. Greg Semendinger
"It's something that we should never forget"
AMEN!
32 | The Sanity Inspector Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:45:28pm |
re: #14 Ojoe
I can't watch. I remember. 3k murdered. & no forceful enough response from us.
Respectfully disagree:
RPG rockets streaked over his head and bullets cracked all around him as Petithory used his laser range finder and GPS to target the Taliban 4x4s.
Dust rose on the horizon as the remaining Taliban picked up the pace. Master Sergeant Davis had already nailed the lead portions of the Taliban columns, creating chaos as the Taliban tried to deploy its forces over the sides to surround the village. As the Taliban was finally stalled, with its lead echelon burning and dozens of wounded terrorists writhing in pain and covered in blood, Sergeant First Class Petithory went to work eating up those who paused in the open.
This was a target-rich environment, which meant they would have no problem using lots of ammo and making it count. SFC Mike McElhiney, the team's weapons sergeant, looked over at Yoshita and his buddies and smiled. He stared back at the burning Taliban column and, in his Dirty Harry voice, said through clenched teeth, "How do you like New York now, motherfuckers?"
-- Robin Moore, The Hunt for Bin Laden: Task Force Dagger, 2003
33 | zora Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:45:32pm |
34 | jamesfirecat Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:47:30pm |
re: #29 Rightwingconspirator
I meant as a created digital art abstract image in 3d that a person would view, or not. Sorry if I was not clear. I hope the memorial has a place where the bulk of the photographs and videos can be viewed. Maybe touch flat screens or something.
Okay it's just when you talked about them being on the bottom floor of the towers, I thought that weren't the towers primarily a place for people to work and do business?
I don't oppose the idea of having a memorial place for the pictures, but lets have it be some place where only the people who want to see it need to see it...
35 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:47:53pm |
re: #33 zora
Why is implosion incorrect?
Dictionary.com (when it's being applied to structures)
3.The inward collapse of a building that is being demolished in a controlled fashion by the weakening and breaking of structural members by explosives.
36 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:48:00pm |
re: #33 zora
It was a collapse. Implosion is a term the truthers use in their BS, as in deliberate implosions of buildings we see on TV.
37 | reine.de.tout Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:49:07pm |
re: #33 zora
Why is implosion incorrect?
It implies this:
The inward collapse of a building that is being demolished in a controlled fashion by the weakening and breaking of structural members by explosives.
The building collapsed straight down because the structure was weakened by the extreme heat; it was not demolished in a controlled fashion, nor was it caused by explosives to collapse inward.
38 | PhillyPretzel Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:49:16pm |
re: #36 Rightwingconspirator
I agree. I was a collaspe. I still have very vivid memories of that horrible day.
41 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:51:37pm |
42 | zora Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:52:16pm |
I guess I've seen it as implosion often enough that I assumed it was refering to the inward collapse. Wasn't aware of the significance or that it was a dog whistle to some. Thanks for the clarification.
43 | Ojoe Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:53:48pm |
re: #32 The Sanity Inspector
All well and good,
but we did not go after the Saudis and their Wahabbi "religion" which is where it all came from
15/19 of the hijackers were Saudi
Bush was an Oil man,
Bush said Islam is a religion of peace;
in a fundamental way the problem has not been dealt with to this day;
and I believe we will pay again for that,
and many have already paid worldwide;
you can make a list
Beslan, London, Bombay...
44 | Sheila Broflovski Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:55:00pm |
re: #6 darthstar
If you're in Detroit...run outside and wave. I'm flying over you right now...oh, and here's a reason books are better than the kindle. If you fall asleep reading a book, it usually winds up face down on your chest or open in your lap. The guy across from me has had the same page up on his kindle for a good two hours now...I keep waiting to see how it paginates, but the sonofabitch won't wake up.
Anyway, hope everyone's enjoying their day...
Hi darthstar!
45 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:55:02pm |
re: #43 Ojoe
All well and good,
but we did not go after the Saudis and their Wahabbi "religion" which is where it all came from
15/19 of the hijackers were Saudi
Bush was an Oil man,
Bush said Islam is a religion of peace;
in a fundamental way the problem has not been dealt with to this day;
and I believe we will pay again for that,
and many have already paid worldwide;
you can make a list
Beslan, London, Bombay...
Horrific as Beslan was, I am inclined to place it in a somewhat different category.
47 | jamesfirecat Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:57:55pm |
re: #46 Rightwingconspirator
I totally agree.
Cool, I figured that you probably did I just wanted to make sure.
48 | Sheila Broflovski Fri, Feb 12, 2010 1:58:01pm |
re: #6 darthstar
If you're in Detroit...run outside and wave. I'm flying over you right now...oh, and here's a reason books are better than the kindle. If you fall asleep reading a book, it usually winds up face down on your chest or open in your lap. The guy across from me has had the same page up on his kindle for a good two hours now...I keep waiting to see how it paginates, but the sonofabitch won't wake up.
Anyway, hope everyone's enjoying their day...
Hey, how do you get Internet access on an airplane? Is that a perk of first class or something?
49 | Charles Johnson Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:00:01pm |
When you understand the construction of the Twin Towers, it's not hard to see how they could collapse straight down.
To simplify it a bit, the WTC towers were huge stacks of giant, enormously heavy concrete slabs, held up and apart by steel support girders. When the burning jet fuel reached a hot enough temperature to weaken the steel beams, the slabs began pancaking downwards, releasing an enormous amount of kinetic energy, pulverizing everything between them, and blowing the resulting dust out of the sides in the process.
Some of the last people who escaped just as the buildings were collapsing reported hearing the accelerating crashes as the slabs were coming down.
51 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:01:11pm |
re: #42 zora
I guess I've seen it as implosion often enough that I assumed it was refering to the inward collapse. Wasn't aware of the significance or that it was a dog whistle to some. Thanks for the clarification.
nice snark!
I witnessed way to many unedited LIVE images from that day for it to mean way more to me than just a knee jerk reaction
52 | The Sanity Inspector Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:01:23pm |
Anyone game for sharing their 9/11 stories again? If not, scroll; here's mine:
I was on my way in to work, listening to the radio, waiting for the replay of David Letterman's Top Ten List. The breaking news "swoosh" sounded and I heard that "a small plane" had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. Now, just the other week, somebody in a parasail had fouled his rig on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. So, I thought that this was some brainwipe in a Cessna whose stunt had gone awry. Only when I got in did I hear that both had been hit. I tried to connect to various news websites, but the national ones were all jammed. So I hit upon the idea of connecting to some West Coast newspapers' websites before their patrons woke up, because I knew they would be receiving wire photos and reports. I finally got through to the website of the Sacramento Bee. I later sent their webmaster a thank-you for his hard work. I was so stunned that it wasn't until after lunch that it occurred to me to turn on the radio. I was so stunned, that when news of United Airlines Flight 93 crashing in Pennsylvania was announced, it barely registered, just one more horror atop all the rest.
I got home and ate dinner in front of the TV. It was a cacophany of video loops, guest experts, officials, and reporters doing stand-ups at or near various newsworthy locations. I went down to the Publix to give them a check for the Red Cross. A young Arab man was at the service counter, looking nervously at me. "It's a terrible day for our country," he said. I just nodded.
The next morning I awoke from a particularly sweet dream, and when my brain booted all the way up, the memory of the previous day brought a cascade of awfulness down on me that was almost physical in its impact. The rest of the week I was so jacked up that the very air seemed to crackle. I bought newsmagazines for keepsakes, which I will give to my children years from now.
I suspected that Osama bin Laden was behind it, having heard news reports about him in connection with the embassy bombings earlier. I still hope that his head ends up in a satchel on the President's desk, delivered by our special forces.
53 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:01:29pm |
Slightly OT
Why are so many Americans so soft?
We may get hit again. We can reduce the effect with a mature understanding losses in war are going to happen, and not just military losses either.
54 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:02:00pm |
re: #49 Charles
When you understand the construction of the Twin Towers, it's not hard to see how they could collapse straight down.
To simplify it a bit, the WTC towers were huge stacks of giant, enormously heavy concrete slabs, held up and apart by steel support girders. When the burning jet fuel reached a hot enough temperature to weaken the steel beams, the slabs began pancaking downwards, releasing an enormous amount of kinetic energy, pulverizing everything between them, and blowing the resulting dust out of the sides in the process.
Some of the last people who escaped just as the buildings were collapsing reported hearing the accelerating crashes as the slabs were coming down.
But the guy with the chicken wire and lighter fluid proved that could not have happened.
/
55 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:03:01pm |
56 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:04:06pm |
57 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:05:45pm |
Disturbing from any angle.
And a reminder that there are those who are determined to impose theocracy on the world and will persist long after the sting of their more successful attacks fade.
58 | Achilles Tang Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:06:21pm |
I never watch these things again. First time, live, was enough.
59 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:06:34pm |
re: #55 Fat Bastard Vegetarian
Oh, that never occurred to me.
You certainly have.
I was about 2 miles from work when the 1st plane hit. When I got here all the networks already had multiple cameras on site. I saw a lot of what ABC in particular had because at that time they had a secondary news bureau here in Atlanta (precaution after the great NorthEast black out in case their main bureau in New York lost power and back up generator uce) so all footage was being routed through us to their Atlanta Bureau
The things I saw that day that never made it to air , I will take to my grave
60 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:07:08pm |
For hatchlings and recent visitors-Just to mention a feature this site has is stories by our own that were in NYC. It is under Never Forget on the laft column of the front page.
61 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:07:25pm |
re: #52 The Sanity Inspector
I was in Charleston, SC... turned on the TV; Matt and Katie were looking at the building. Thought nothing of it, because, didn't look like that big of a deal... (one forgets how gigantic those buildings were)... then I saw the second plane hit.
My first thoughts went to Islamic Terrorists, but mentioned to someone; "We can't forget about that cocksucker, Timothy McVey".
Later that day, guys were driving down the street with a large American Flag in the back of their pickup truck when it really hit me.
Then I noticed there were no planes in the air.
62 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:07:34pm |
re: #60 Rightwingconspirator
PIMF
Left column
63 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:07:52pm |
re: #58 Naso Tang
I never watch these things again. First time, live, was enough.
I watched it live in Civics class in high school. I watch MSNBCs replay of that entire morning every year.
64 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:08:37pm |
re: #63 Varek Raith
I forget you are but a wee baby.
65 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:09:21pm |
The simulation showed the fire insulation was stripped away by the debris of impact. That exposed the beams to the fire directly.
66 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:09:41pm |
re: #52 The Sanity Inspector
Anyone game for sharing their 9/11 stories again
see my #59.
Where I work, we send and recieve satellite and fiber TV signals from all over the world
I saw open cameras, unedited footage going to all the networks
67 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:10:24pm |
re: #49 Charles
When you understand the construction of the Twin Towers, it's not hard to see how they could collapse straight down.
To simplify it a bit, the WTC towers were huge stacks of giant, enormously heavy concrete slabs, held up and apart by steel support girders. When the burning jet fuel reached a hot enough temperature to weaken the steel beams, the slabs began pancaking downwards, releasing an enormous amount of kinetic energy, pulverizing everything between them, and blowing the resulting dust out of the sides in the process.
Some of the last people who escaped just as the buildings were collapsing reported hearing the accelerating crashes as the slabs were coming down.
As inappropriate as the word seems, we're probably damn lucky the buildings came down like that.
68 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:11:18pm |
re: #66 sattv4u2
Anyone game for sharing their 9/11 stories again
see my #59.
Where I work, we send and recieve satellite and fiber TV signals from all over the world
I saw open cameras, unedited footage going to all the networks
I didn't even see any footage till that evening. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune and we went on lockdown as soon as the news started going out.
69 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:11:43pm |
re: #67 SanFranciscoZionist
Actually, that's a good point.
70 | Daniel Ballard Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:12:14pm |
re: #67 SanFranciscoZionist
One of the planes was scheduled to be an LA flight. For hours we looked at the then "Library Tower" and worried. I can see it easily from my office window 4 stories up.
72 | Ben Hur Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:13:08pm |
re: #54 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
But the guy with the chicken wire and lighter fluid proved that could not have happened.
/
NOOOOO!!!!11!!!
73 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:13:51pm |
re: #51 sattv4u2
nice snark!
I witnessed way to many unedited LIVE images from that day for it to mean way more to me than just a knee jerk reaction
No snark that I see. If the term 'implosion' is being used to imply untrue things, that's good to know. If I hadn't read that here I might casually refer to the building 'imploding' simply because that's what it looks like.
74 | Ben Hur Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:14:45pm |
75 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:15:01pm |
re: #72 Ben Hur
NOOO!!!11!!!
I remember that tool. It was pointed out to him that his 'experiment' was akin to using Matchbox Cars to simulate real car crash tests.
:/
76 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:15:22pm |
re: #73 SanFranciscoZionist
No snark that I see. If the term 'implosion' is being used to imply untrue things, that's good to know. If I hadn't read that here I might casually refer to the building 'imploding' simply because that's what it looks like.
it was a dog whistle to some
77 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:18:47pm |
re: #76 sattv4u2
it was a dog whistle to some
I don't get it. Everything is a dog whistle to some. The non-dogs, or loonies, or whatever, don't hear it.
78 | zora Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:19:34pm |
re: #51 sattv4u2
don't get the snark comment. I was being completely serious.
79 | Achilles Tang Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:20:03pm |
re: #59 sattv4u2
Hey, how's the snow? About 3 inches up here already.
80 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:20:13pm |
re: #54 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
But the guy with the chicken wire and lighter fluid proved that could not have happened.
/
Lets not forget that noted engineer Rosie O'Donnell telling us it's the 1st time steel has ever melted!
81 | Fat Bastard Vegetarian Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:20:51pm |
re: #80 sattv4u2
I could've gone all day without thinking of Rosie O'Donnell.
82 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:21:44pm |
re: #79 Naso Tang
Hey, how's the snow? About 3 inches up here already.
Non on the streets here, just about covering the grass/gravel. Started about 2:15 and coming down heavier now than at any time since
83 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:21:56pm |
re: #81 Fat Bastard Vegetarian
I could've gone all day without thinking of Rosie O'Donnell.
Yer welcome
84 | Blueheron Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:22:00pm |
re: #3 Fat Bastard Vegetarian
WOW! THIS STILL PISSES ME OFF!!!
Gosh, I hope KSM dies before setting foot an Manhattan.
Is that wrong?
Precisely why I don't want him to stand trial at the scene of the crime.
85 | Sheila Broflovski Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:22:04pm |
re: #73 SanFranciscoZionist
No snark that I see. If the term 'implosion' is being used to imply untrue things, that's good to know. If I hadn't read that here I might casually refer to the building 'imploding' simply because that's what it looks like.
To me it looked like "pancaking" but that might upset Mr. and Mrs. Corrie.
86 | sattv4u2 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:23:59pm |
re: #78 zora
don't get the snark comment. I was being completely serious.
iirc, "dog whistle" usually refers derogatorally to a mass reaction (knee jerk) to something. Mention Obamas birth certificate to a bunch of nirthers and they all start salivating (like a pavlovian dog)
87 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:25:48pm |
re: #49 Charles
The pancaking is something that makes the contention of the "controlled demolition" all the more laughable. An engineer would not be certain of the outcome by blowing the upper floors in hopes of creating the momentum to have the pancaking continue. That is why demolition films always show the whole of the building falling into a dust cloud on the ground.
Engineers are assured of an outcome when blowing the bottom floors because they have the entire mass of the building working for them.
88 | Digital Display Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:27:43pm |
Good Afternoon Lizards...
everybody is working for the weekend....
And so..Here we are...Weekend time!
89 | Blueheron Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:28:47pm |
re: #26 lawhawk
It is painful for the entire country to not see those towers there anymore. I hope their replacements are a good substitute for them..................
90 | Randall Gross Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:30:25pm |
In seven short months it will have been ten years. I don't feel burning anger anymore -- it's been replaced by pride in my fellow citizens. Who would have thought that morning that we would have fought a war against the terrorists for ten solid years, and fought with serious resolve all across the globe? Who would have thought that we would have fought that war with the average American unafraid through most of it? Who would have thought that such a horrific event would result in our citizens aware of terror, but largely unafraid of it? Who could have predicted that the political will existed to continue our battle with the terrorists so long?
Not I, so I am proud of us all.
91 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:31:26pm |
re: #67 SanFranciscoZionist
As inappropriate as the word seems, we're probably damn lucky the buildings came down like that.
The collapse would have looked more like a controlled demo if the jihad had succeeded in their first attempt when they blew up the truck bomb in the basement.
Thing is, the WTC buildings carried much of their load on the perimeter of the building (thus able to have open interior floor plans except for the mechanical core) and the truck bomb was ineffective. Had it been effective then the evidence of the bomb would have been destroyed and the collapse would have resembled a demolition.
92 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:31:50pm |
re: #86 sattv4u2
iirc, "dog whistle" usually refers derogatorally to a mass reaction (knee jerk) to something. Mention Obamas birth certificate to a bunch of nirthers and they all start salivating (like a pavlovian dog)
I think that's what was meant. Describing it as an 'implosion' is a dog whistle to the troofer types who believe that the building was collapsed by controlled explosion, not through the effect of the planes' impact.
Am I totally missing the point?
93 | researchok Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:33:10pm |
You know, I still have a hard time watching the 9/11 videos.
I thought it would get easier over time, but it hasn't, really.
94 | Blueheron Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:33:20pm |
95 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:33:21pm |
re: #90 Thanos
In seven short months it will have been ten years. I don't feel burning anger anymore -- it's been replaced by pride in my fellow citizens. Who would have thought that morning that we would have fought a war against the terrorists for ten solid years, and fought with serious resolve all across the globe? Who would have thought that we would have fought that war with the average American unafraid through most of it? Who would have thought that such a horrific event would result in our citizens aware of terror, but largely unafraid of it? Who could have predicted that the political will existed to continue our battle with the terrorists so long?
Not I, so I am proud of us all.
that will be 9 years in 7 months
96 | The Sanity Inspector Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:36:37pm |
re: #67 SanFranciscoZionist
As inappropriate as the word seems, we're probably damn lucky the buildings came down like that.
Very lucky. The goal of the '93 WTC bombers was to topple one tower into the other.
97 | simoom Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:37:09pm |
Utah's house of Representatives passes a Non-Binding Resolution "disputing science of climate change, claiming emissions are 'essentially harmless'":
[Link: www.guardian.co.uk...]
The measure, which passed by 56-17, has no legal force, though it was predictably claimed by climate change sceptics as a great victory in the wake of the controversy caused by a mistake over Himalayan glaciers in the UN's landmark report on global warming.
...
The original version of the bill dismissed climate science as a "well organised and ongoing effort to manipulate and incorporate "tricks" related to global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome". It accused those seeking action on climate change of riding a "gravy train" and their efforts would "ultimately lock billions of human beings into long-term poverty".In the heat of the debate, the representative Mike Noel said environmentalists were part of a vast conspiracy to destroy the American way of life and control world population through forced sterilisation and abortion.
By the time the final version of the bill came to a vote, cooler heats apparently prevailed. The bill dropped the word "conspiracy", and described climate science as "questionable" rather than "flawed".
However, it insisted – against all evidence – that the hockey stick graph of changing temperatures was discredited.
The Bill can be found here:
[Link: www.le.state.ut.us...]
98 | Randall Gross Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:37:35pm |
re: #95 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
that will be 9 years in 7 months
arggh, I stand corrected. Thanks, timewarp or something. It doesn't change what I said.
99 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:39:37pm |
re: #97 simoom
How is there room for all the conspiracies? No wonder the price on Secret Mountain Lairs is so high even during a depressed housing market!
/
100 | simoom Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:41:43pm |
re: #97 simoom
A little more on Rep Mike Noel and the debate before the Resolution passed:
[Link: www.sltrib.com...]
Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Holladay, questioned Gibson about the "conspiracy" wording in the resolution. "A conspiracy?" he asked. "By whom? To what end?""I'm not sure we'll ever know the depths of it," said Gibson, adding that it was hard to separate the hype because "we only hear one side of the argument."
...
But Noel defended the "conspiracy" wording, pointing to an out-of-print textbook, Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment , written in the 1970s by biologist Paul Ehr - -lich, Ehrlich's wife, Anne, and physicist John Holdren about the potential hazards of unchecked population.The Kanab Republican, referring to Holdren as the Obama administration's "energy czar," read from passages of the 1,000-plus-page tome about population-control alternatives that included abortion and forced sterilization. He did not share the authors' conclusion: that voluntary population-limiting methods are "a far better choice."
"Now, if you can't see a connection [of a conspiracy] to that," the legislator said, "you're absolutely blind to what is going on. This is absolutely -- in my mind, this is in fact a conspiracy to limit population not only in this country but across the globe."
101 | Silvergirl Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:41:46pm |
This was written by a friend of a friend and emailed to me very shortly after 9-11. I would give credit, but the poet wanted to remain anonymous. It brought tears to my eyes. I seldom get it out, but this seemed like a time for it.
Requiem
In your extremity,
You clasped hands and leaped,
Fleeing the flames;
Amid the smoke, left last messages
For family, friends;
In desperation, sought stairwells
Leading nowhere,
Assisted strangers with raw courage,
Bearing the burden of ugly hatred,
Bred in the bones of those
You never knew.
We honor you.
In our extremity
Of grief and tears,
We long to greet you,
Holding nothing back.
Whisper to us now, as we to you,
In solemn hope and promise.
We'll strive to mend the world
That murdered you; pray linger
In our hearts as steady beacon;
Innocent and spirited,
The reason why.
102 | Digital Display Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:41:59pm |
Didn't everybody read about the weeks leading up to 911?
Workers drilling holes and rigging explosives through out the Twin Towers It was a massive under taking often reported by the Workers and the NYT at the time.. The only problem was waiting for the right time for a couple of Hijacked jets to arrive on scene..
Bush almost missed his Que to throw the switch by reading My Pet Goat to a bunch of kids....Lucky for us Andy Card was whispered in Georges ear..
'You threw the switch right'
// Idiot Truthers
103 | Buck Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:42:03pm |
OT:
Muslim prisoners 'refuse to take part in group therapy as it's against religion'
Scores of Britain's 10,000 Muslim prisoners - one in eight of all inmates - are refusing to take part in Offending Behaviour Programmes (OBPs ), claiming it is 'forbidden' or 'Haraam'.
Haraam refers to anything that is prohibited by faith, and in Islamic culture criminals are barred from discussing their offences with others.
Sez who?
104 | zora Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:43:00pm |
re: #86 sattv4u2
yeah, I know. Maybe you should reread my post.
105 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:43:02pm |
re: #103 Buck
"Well, sometimes I get them menstrual cramps real hard."
(semi-obscure movie quote. Apropos, I promise.)
106 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:47:11pm |
I almost didn't answer the phone on the morning of the eleventh, because I was running for the shower, and one of my college friends usually called me up in the morning to see what I was doing. It was my boyfriend, the now-husband, and he told me to turn on the TV.
I wasn't surprised. I didn't understand the people who said afterward that no one could ever have imagined it. I'd assumed something like this was coming. I had assumed it would be biological, because that's what all the magazines had talked about.
I remember that we talked about who might be behind it. He said they were saying Bin Laden, and I said that was what they had said after Oklahoma City. He reminded me that Bin Laden had hit the WTC before, and I cursed.
I couldn't decide if I was supposed to go in to work, but I remembered talking to a friend's mother in London, who described going to work every morning during the Blitz, after trying to sleep in the shelters, so I said to hell with it, and got on the bus.
We were down around Laurel Village when the woman listening to her radio on headphones looked up and said "The second tower is down. They just announced it."
All that week, all that month, in downtown San Francisco, people looked up. No one ever looks up like that.
I worked in insurance at the time, and we did business with a lot of companies who had offices in the towers. Our brokers had lost old friends and coworkers. There was a truck bomb threat at the Embarcadero center next door. The boss pulled everyone together and said that if we were afraid to be in the office, to go home.
I was about to move in with my boyfriend, once his parents had cleared out of their house to move back to Hawaii. We didn't know if their flight would be cleared. I said something about this to the snippy Russian kid we'd just hired, and she said "Who would want to attack Hawaii?" I said "Yamamoto," and laughed hysterically. She didn't get it. Then she told me about how soft Americans were, and that in Europe 'everyone lives with this', and I went to lunch.
Two weeks later, I got back a letter I'd sent out to WTC 2. It was marked 'Return to Sender, Address Unknown'. I had to make the strangest business call of my life--"Is the person I sent this to alive? If so, where should I send it? If not, my condolences, I'm so sorry, where should I send the letter?"
She was alive.
107 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:47:28pm |
re: #105 Obdicut
"Well, sometimes I get them menstrual cramps real hard."
(semi-obscure movie quote. Apropos, I promise.)
Raising Arizona
108 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:49:03pm |
re: #107 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
Classic scene.
Oh, and on 9/11, I was sharing an apartment with a student at MIT. He was Vietnamese, a resident alien, and had a leg crippled from a land-mine. It was a surreal experience for me, and for him, it terrified him because America was supposed to be the safe place, safe from war.
109 | SanFranciscoZionist Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:50:20pm |
re: #102 HoosierHoops
Didn't everybody read about the weeks leading up to 911?
Workers drilling holes and rigging explosives through out the Twin Towers It was a massive under taking often reported by the Workers and the NYT at the time.. The only problem was waiting for the right time for a couple of Hijacked jets to arrive on scene..
Bush almost missed his Que to throw the switch by reading My Pet Goat to a bunch of kids...Lucky for us Andy Card was whispered in Georges ear..
'You threw the switch right'
// Idiot Truthers
A few days after, I was arguing online with a young man who insisted that Al-Qaeda operatives had been put on trial in secret courtrooms under the WTC.
Of course, I was also dealing with a woman who said that she identified with the anger that led to the attacks, since in New Zealand, they were also oppressed by the U.S. through tariffs.
110 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:51:21pm |
Apparently, there has been a death at a luge event up at the Winter Games site
111 | Shiplord Kirel Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:51:27pm |
re: #90 Thanos
In seven short months it will have been ten years. I don't feel burning anger anymore -- it's been replaced by pride in my fellow citizens. Who would have thought that morning that we would have fought a war against the terrorists for ten solid years, and fought with serious resolve all across the globe? Who would have thought that we would have fought that war with the average American unafraid through most of it? Who would have thought that such a horrific event would result in our citizens aware of terror, but largely unafraid of it? Who could have predicted that the political will existed to continue our battle with the terrorists so long?
Not I, so I am proud of us all.
I remember a lot of impressions of that day: anger, horror, admiration for the monumental heroism of the fire-fighters. I knew the world had changed, that this was one of the most important moments of history. I knew it would mean war, perhaps for decades. I didn't imagine that it would take me, personally, back to war at my age, but when the chance came up I took it. I would do it over in a NEW YORK minute.
112 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:52:07pm |
re: #97 simoom
Utah's house of Representatives passes a Non-Binding Resolution "disputing science of climate change, claiming emissions are 'essentially harmless'":
[Link: www.guardian.co.uk...]The Bill can be found here:
[Link: www.le.state.ut.us...]
China and India are essentially doing the same thing. Expect South Africa and Brazil to follow, which means that the effort to get a global discipline in place to limit emissions is a dead horse.
From a policy standpoint, the only way we will effect a decline in emissions is through an industrial energy policy that gets us off burning carbon profitably.
Back to my hobby horse, but the Breakthrough Institute has been predicting this for some time and more and more jurisdictions are simply going to abandon emissions targets (or place false homage to them while cheating) because the incentives to cheat are overwhelming.
The US will lead the world into clean energy just as it has led on other industrial advances - what we have to do is put together the energy policy, the research funding and the overhaul of how we build and license plant construction to bring it about. Bypass the carbon rationing and just stop burning the stuff.
113 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:52:13pm |
re: #110 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
Apparently, there has been a death at a luge event up at the Winter Games site
Luger dies in Olympics practice crash
(CNN) -- A luge slider from Georgia was killed Friday when he crashed during an Olympic training session hours before the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Georgian Embassy and the International Olympic Committee said.Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, was on the final corner of the course during official training when he had a "serious crash" and was propelled off the track, according to the IOC. Doctors were unable to revive him, the IOC said.
114 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:52:30pm |
re: #110 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
Oh no.
[Link: www.winnipegfreepress.com...]
You're right.
The death Friday of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during a training run just hours before the start of the Vancouver Games served as a tragic and unsettling reminder of the risks faced by high-performance Olympic athletes.
115 | Digital Display Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:53:09pm |
re: #110 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)
Apparently, there has been a death at a luge event up at the Winter Games site
I think it was at a training site.. Not the Olympics Site.. I think I read that..
Outside of Toronto or something?
116 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:53:19pm |
re: #113 Varek Raith
Damn it, I love watching sports, but I don't want people dying for my entertainment.
117 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:54:15pm |
re: #116 Obdicut
Damn it, I love watching sports, but I don't want people dying for my entertainment.
Why I refuse to watch boxing.
118 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:54:52pm |
Sigh...
3 killed in Alabama university shooting
(CNN) -- Three people were killed and one was wounded Friday after a shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, said Ray Garner, a spokesman for the university.A female shooter was in custody, he said.
119 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:55:05pm |
re: #115 HoosierHoops
I think it was at a training site.. Not the Olympics Site.. I think I read that..
Outside of Toronto or something?
It was the track meant to be used for the actual competition. Guessing they were doing familization runs on the course or something like that.
120 | Digital Display Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:55:41pm |
re: #117 karmic_inquisitor
Why I refuse to watch boxing.
How about somebody racing Indycars at 230MPH? Scary stuff..
121 | simoom Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:56:02pm |
re: #97 simoom
Excerpt from H.J.R. 12:
WHEREAS, global temperatures have been level and declining in some areas over the past 12 years;WHEREAS, the "hockey stick" global warming assertion has been discredited and climate alarmists' carbon dioxide-related global warming hypothesis is unable to account for the current downturn in global temperatures;
WHEREAS, there is a statistically more direct correlation between twentieth century temperature rise and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere than CO2;
WHEREAS, outlawed and largely phased out by 1978, in the year 2000 CFC's began to decline at approximately the same time as global temperatures began to decline;
WHEREAS, emails and other communications between climate researchers around the globe, referred to as "Climategate," indicate a well organized and ongoing effort to manipulate global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome;
WHEREAS, there has been a concerted effort by climate change alarmists to
marginalize those in the scientific community who are skeptical of global warming by manipulating or pressuring peer-reviewed publications to keep contrary or competing scientific viewpoints and findings on global warming from being reviewed and published;WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a blend of government officials and scientists, does no independent climate research but relies on global climate researchers;
WHEREAS, Earth's climate is constantly changing with recent warming potentially an indication of a return to more normal temperatures following a prolonged cooling period from 1250 to 1860 called the "Little Ice Age";
WHEREAS, more than $7 billion annually in federal government grants, may have influenced the climate research focus and findings that have produced a "scientific consensus" at research institutions and universities;
Paging Peter Sinclair...
122 | Kragar Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:56:41pm |
Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled during training, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Paramedics and doctors were unable to revive the 21-year-old luger, who died at a hospital, the International Olympic Committee said.
123 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:56:44pm |
re: #117 karmic_inquisitor
I used to be a boxer, actually. But only on the amateur circuit, where we were all pretty much buddies. Nobody was really trying to hurt each other. The more money gets involved, the more brutal boxing can be.
124 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:57:46pm |
re: #97 simoom
Say what??? Can I get resolution passed allowing my warp drive to exceed the speed of light???
125 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:58:05pm |
re: #120 HoosierHoops
How about somebody racing Indycars at 230MPH? Scary stuff..
At least they are constantly re-engineering the vehicles to make them more survivable.
What are the equipment innovations for boxing? A mouth guard? Gloves? Same goes for UFC.
126 | Obdicut Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:58:30pm |
127 | Varek Raith Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:58:55pm |
re: #126 Obdicut
Utah solves the energy crisis by legalizing perpetual motion machines.
/
Cold Fusion!
/
128 | Ojoe Fri, Feb 12, 2010 2:59:39pm |
The bigger something is, the more gravity controls its structure; and as gravity pulls straight down, a collapse of a really big thing will tend to be straight down, and the bigger, the straighter.
Signed,
Ojoe, architect.
also, the inward pull of gravity has made the earth a sphere, within very narrow limits; that is locally everywhere it has been "straight down" and even the strength of solid rock could not resist that.
129 | Digital Display Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:00:17pm |
re: #125 karmic_inquisitor
At least they are constantly re-engineering the vehicles to make them more survivable.
What are the equipment innovations for boxing? A mouth guard? Gloves? Same goes for UFC.
I boxed one time in High School.. I'm dancing around playing Ali when I got the living crap beat out of me.. (1) round I crawled out of the Ring..
Thinking ' F*ck this!'
130 | Stonemason Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:03:13pm |
re: #7 lawhawk
I sent 'em a nasty gram. Well, not nasty actually, I was very polite when I pointed out the captions were erroneous.
131 | reine.de.tout Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:05:39pm |
re: #106 SanFranciscoZionist
. ..
Two weeks later, I got back a letter I'd sent out to WTC 2. It was marked 'Return to Sender, Address Unknown'. I had to make the strangest business call of my life--"Is the person I sent this to alive? If so, where should I send it? If not, my condolences, I'm so sorry, where should I send the letter?"She was alive.
Gave me chills.
I bet it did the same to you.
132 | captdiggs Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:05:45pm |
Day of days.
None of us will ever forget where we were when we first learned of this.
133 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:05:58pm |
re: #123 Obdicut
I used to be a boxer, actually. But only on the amateur circuit, where we were all pretty much buddies. Nobody was really trying to hurt each other. The more money gets involved, the more brutal boxing can be.
I don't want to ban it - I am basically a libertarian and if people want to be prize fighters, let them. There are something like 10 of 11 deaths per year from boxing. Insulating the boxer from injury would defeat the objective of the match - to score a knockout. If boxers were only judged on points then there'd be an incentive to wear head gear and whatnot to prevent injury - but no one would watch.
People are free to fight and free to watch - I choose not to.
I am glad to here that the amateur circuit is more collegial than the environment where Mike Tyson used to work.
134 | simoom Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:07:26pm |
re: #112 karmic_inquisitor
Back to my hobby horse, but the Breakthrough Institute has been predicting this for some time and more and more jurisdictions are simply going to abandon emissions targets (or place false homage to them while cheating) because the incentives to cheat are overwhelming.
Thanks for the link, I just started reading one of the articles. One question though, why is an image of Vault Boy crossed out on the front page? :P
135 | Silvergirl Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:07:30pm |
re: #108 Obdicut
Classic scene.
Oh, and on 9/11, I was sharing an apartment with a student at MIT. He was Vietnamese, a resident alien, and had a leg crippled from a land-mine. It was a surreal experience for me, and for him, it terrified him because America was supposed to be the safe place, safe from war.
That's what passed through my mind as I read that "soft American" comment that was made to SFZ. It was like, "Buck up and take it, you whiny baby." But no, sometimes when you've been supposedly "hardened" through real wartime experience as your Vietnamese roommate was, your fears are heightened. You've been through the horror and know the reality of it. He had a reason for taking it seriously. You don't shrug off 9-11.
136 | Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:11:25pm |
MSNBC has a picture a fraction of a second before the actual impact at the top of their article on the Luge accident. Remember that he was traveling at 90mph when he hit that pole, at least it was all over in split second, I doubt he suffered at all.
R.I.P. Nodar Kumaritashvili, my condolences to his family and teammates. :)
137 | karmic_inquisitor Fri, Feb 12, 2010 3:13:02pm |
re: #129 HoosierHoops
I boxed one time in High School.. I'm dancing around playing Ali when I got the living crap beat out of me.. (1) round I crawled out of the Ring..
Thinking ' F*ck this!'
Since we are swapping sports stories ...
Well I got hit by a car once while riding a bike. During the ambulance ride I lost my interest in cycling.
138 | Eclectic Infidel Fri, Feb 12, 2010 4:23:57pm |
re: #49 Charles
That must have been beyond terrifying to hear. It gave me shivers just reading that post.
139 | Silvergirl Fri, Feb 12, 2010 5:04:04pm |
re: #60 Rightwingconspirator
For hatchlings and recent visitors-Just to mention a feature this site has is stories by our own that were in NYC. It is under Never Forget on the laft column of the front page.
Hey, thanks for posting that. I'd never read those. I saw your name, but so many others I don't know. I do remember Little Old Lady with fondness, and her post is number 57 in the stories--very poignant.
140 | doubter4444 Fri, Feb 12, 2010 5:27:04pm |
re: #49 Charles
When you understand the construction of the Twin Towers, it's not hard to see how they could collapse straight down.
To simplify it a bit, the WTC towers were huge stacks of giant, enormously heavy concrete slabs, held up and apart by steel support girders. When the burning jet fuel reached a hot enough temperature to weaken the steel beams, the slabs began pancaking downwards, releasing an enormous amount of kinetic energy, pulverizing everything between them, and blowing the resulting dust out of the sides in the process.
Some of the last people who escaped just as the buildings were collapsing reported hearing the accelerating crashes as the slabs were coming down.
I heard it from 10 blocks away, and saw them fall from the roof of my building.
141 | lawhawk Fri, Feb 12, 2010 6:38:32pm |
re: #67 SanFranciscoZionist
Had the towers fallen off to one side, it could have taken out anything in its path within a quarter mile of the buildings. Everything from City Hall to Trinity Church to even hitting parts of the Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Tunnel approaches. Catastrophic wouldn't begin to address that scenario. As it was, the collapsing towers didn't completely fall straight down - parts hit nearby buildings - the Winter Garden, World Financial Center, Deutsche Bank Building, 90 West, 7WTC, 90 Church, and many other buildings large and small were hit by debris. Hundreds more were covered in the ash and debris.
Had the towers not been designed as they were - the collapses could have come much quicker - had the planes hit lower on the towers, the collapses would have come sooner - either scenario would have resulted in many hundreds or thousands more killed.
We suffered more than we should ever have had to bear, and yet the terrorists hoped to kill 10 times that many or more. They came damned close to doing it too.