Saturday, September 15, 2001

A UGANDA-BASED relief site offers a list of "Ways to Help America."

posted by clark 5:03 PM

THE FIRST REGULAR NETWORK TV FARE to resume airing was CBS's Saturday-morning block of Nickelodeon reruns. Blue's Clues can just be so soothing... at least until it's interrupted by the abrupt resumption of blanket news coverage.

posted by clark 10:18 AM

Friday, September 14, 2001

RICH WEBB WRITES:

"...Now we have bin Laden set up to be our straw man. Hell, he might even actually be guilty. But I can't help but think that we jump to this conclusion at our peril. Yet there will be calls to bomb his compounds, to seize his assets, to have him assassinated."

SEATTLE WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR GEOV PARRISH WRITES:

"Tuesday was a day of complete horror in the history of the United States; and the American public as well as its leaders will demand retribution. Let's not forget, however, how we got to this day."

posted by clark 11:15 AM

SEUMAS MILNE writes in the British daily The Guardian:

"[Americans] can't see why they are hated... Already, the Bush administration is assembling an international coalition for an Israeli-style war against terrorism, as if such counter-productive acts of outrage had an existence separate from the social conditions out of which they arise. But for every 'terror network' that is rooted out, another will emerge - until the injustices and inequalities that produce them are addressed."

EVEN THE NAKED NEWS anchorladies are being serious. Chief MC Victoria Sinclair wears a plain black dress (and keeps it on) while reading her summary of the eastern U.S. grimness. Only after moving on to other topics do she and her Toronto-based colleagues return to celebrating the flesh (in their standing-up-straight, plain-speaking, non-lurid way).

CAPITOL HILL began to return to its normal rituals Thursday. The coffeehouse and bar chatter was again about interpersonal issues, money worries, and least-favorite bands, as well as that one overriding topic.

At Six Arms last night, a young woman came up to me bearing a big smile and intense blue eyes. She held my hand, looked compassionately into my eyes, and told me she could see that I, like a lot of people these past few days, are doing far too much worrying for our own good. She said we all need to stop fretting and replaying old fears; and to start giving love instead.

Then she tried to sell me on the Landmark Forum, the self-improvement course derived from Werner Erhard's old "est."

But even if her primary purpose with me was solicitacious, not altruistic, the first part of her message still holds. As some '70s self-help book said, "Love is letting go of fear."

Spread the love to all around you on these days of sorrow and remembrance, freely and unconditionally, without asking for anything back (including self-improvement-course signups).

posted by clark 10:29 AM

Thursday, September 13, 2001

NOAM CHOMSKY WRITES:

"...The crime is a gift to the hard jingoist right, those who hope to use force to control their domains."

NY TIMES: "Web Offers Both News and Comfort."

PONDER-AGE #1: I believe there likely won't be another big terror attack of this sort within the next weeks or months. The state-of-seige measures now in place or considered are a matter of locking the barn door after the horse has gotten out, a universal human reaction but one which, in this case, should be guarded against. We don't want the defense of American property to become an excuse for the destruction of American freedoms.

PONDER-AGE #2: Besides the immediate destruction and mass murder, the attack (and the reactions to it) could very well destablize an already teetering economy.

At least one airline, Midway, has said it won't resume business; this week's suspensions had been the last of its many fiscal woes.

Also, "just-in-time" manufacturing and distribution systems (not to mention catalog and e-commerce retailers) have made American business even more dependent on its air freight system; even as budget-cutting companies have reduced their use of passenger business flying. The lack of air-transport options means truck and van delivery systems are glutted and sluggish.

Not only have movie theaters and other entertainment attractions been closed one to three days, but the lack of TV commercials means movie openings this and near-future weekends will face diminished attendance.

On the almost-positive side, four days without the NYSE and NASDAQ might provide an overdue breather from the past year and a half of irrational selling that had followed four years of irrational buying.

PONDER-AGE #3: I really wish Harper's Magazine had an adequate website, because I'd love to link to editor Lewis Lepham's big essay a month or two back on America's contradictory image of itself as all-powerful AND all-innocent. It's precisely this national self-image might've helped lead to the bombings.

In Lapham's argument, the U.S. (or at least its top management and the punditocracy) likes to think of itself as both The Only Superpower and The World's Peacemaker. Thus, everything done in the country's name is unquestionably Good, from backing the Contras and Pinochet to bombing Belgrade.

This is not to justify the terrorists but to understand the feelings they successfully exploited among their suicidal foot soldiers. From at least the Spanish-American War on to the present day, the U.S. has instigated, supported, and/or sponsored all manner of terror attacks, coups, counterrevolutions, proxy armies, covert actions, etc. etc.

Yes, superpowers (Rome, Japan, Spain, England, Russia, the Ottomans) have historically and regulalry abused their power as means of maintaining it. But if that's what it takes to be the world's single most powerful entity, we should ask if we really want to keep being it.

posted by clark 3:54 PM

THE FOLLOWING EMAIL is rapidly spreading around the Net (I don’t know who originally sent it):

"Let us all join together, STAND TOGETHER, neighbor to neighbor, across the entire United States and show our unity as a people. This is our time to show solidarity with the people of New York & Washington, and with the families, friends and colleagues that lost loved ones. Your pain is our pain, Our hope will become your hope.

This Friday evening, September 14th, at 9:30 PM Eastern Time (6:30 PM PST), I ask that you all come out of your homes, LIGHT A CANDLE and observe two minutes of silence. We will all stand together as one nation and one people. We will be a beacon of light unto the world.

TIME: FRIDAY, September 14th 9:30 PM Eastern Time / 6:30 PM Pacific Standard Time

Please forward this message to all your friends, colleagues, family, newspapers and media sources.

God bless America."

posted by clark 2:37 PM

AT BAILEY-COY BOOKS last night, local author Rebecca Brown carried on with her previously-scheduled reading promoting Excerpts from a Family Medical Dictionary (Grey Spider Press), a short nonfiction narrative about taking care of her dying mother. Brown opened the event by telling why she declined to cancel it--because her book is largely about the grieving process, something we all must go through now.

Brown added that the nature of the N.Y. and D.C. attacks, with so many deaths, occuring so suddenly, and with so many bodies that might never be recovered, makes the grieving process even more difficult. Brown and her mother had both known the mother's end was coming, and were able to psychologically and emotionally prepare themselves; then afterwards, the family was able to gather and celebrate the mother's life.

Excerpts, by the way, is highly recommended. It's currently available only in a 500-copy limited edition, made on an old fashioned letterpress and hand-bound, in keeping with Brown's emphasis on the personal touch and intimate care.

CHRIS ESTEY WRITES:

"Nice Michael Moore quotes, but to add to your 'videos of movies that won't be revived any time soon' list:

Hardcore band that won't see reissue for awhile: Fearless Iranians from Hell."

UPDATES: Except for some college football games, major sports won't resume until Monday. All canceled Major League Baseball games will be rescheduled for the week after the previously-set end of the regular season, which means the Mariners will still be able to attempt an all-time win record... One by one, the non-news cable channels that had switched to disaster coverage or signed off altogether are returning to regular fare today.

MORBID ASIDE #6: The Letterman show will have to create a new opening segment, sans the main NYC skyline shot. What's more, the show's whole flippant-ironic attitude may have to be altered, along with its 'Fun City' portrayal of life on the streets of Manhattan.

posted by clark 1:42 PM

MICHAEL MOORE WRITES:

"Well, the pundits are in full diarrhea mode, gushing on about the 'terrorist threat' and today's scariest dude on planet earth--Osama bin Laden. Hey, who knows, maybe he did it. But, something just doesn't add up.

Am I being asked to believe that this guy who sleeps in a tent in a desert has been training pilots to fly our most modern, sophisticated jumbo jets with such pinpoint accuracy that they are able to hit these three targets without anyone wondering why these planes were so far off path?

Or am I being asked to believe that there were four religious/political fanatics who JUST HAPPENED to be skilled airline pilots who JUST HAPPENED to want to kill themselves today?

Maybe you can find one jumbo jet pilot willing to die for the cause--but FOUR? Ok, maybe you can--I don't know.

What I do know is that all day long I have heard everything about this bin Laden guy except this one fact--WE created the monster known as Osama bin Laden! Where did he go to terrorist school? At the CIA!

Don't take my word for it--I saw a piece on MSNBC last year that laid it all out. When the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan, the CIA trained him and his buddies in how to commits acts of terrorism against the Soviet forces. It worked! The Soviets turned and ran.

Bin Laden was grateful for what we taught him and thought it might be fun to use those same techniques against us.

"We abhor terrorism--unless we're the ones doing the terrorizing.

We paid and trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s who killed over 30,000 civilians. That was OUR work. You and me. Thirty thousand murdered civilians and who the hell even remembers!

We fund a lot of oppressive regimes that have killed a lot of innocent people, and we never let the human suffering THAT causes to interrupt our day one single bit.

"...Let's mourn, let's grieve, and when it's appropriate let's examine our contribution to the unsafe world we live in."

posted by clark 8:54 AM

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

A MOVIE we're not likely to see revived soon. And another.

posted by clark 11:57 PM

BILL CAUGHEY WRITES with some suggestions for the media, and for the rest of us:

"1. No speculation, the pundits and so-called experts need to be quiet. 'Just the facts...'

NO ONE SHOULD REPORT OR PUBLISH TV RATINGS FOR THIS PERIOD. That should stop future excesses by the networks!

Stop the replays of the crashes; one viewing of the planes hitting the buildings is enough!

Stop the journalistic posturing, the investigations will tell us 'how could this have happened.'

Go back to commercials; we need to return to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible.

Quit looking for the 'scoop;' journalists are already getting in the way of investigators.

Remember that children watch TV too; enough of the hysteria and talk about war.

Stop showing the celebrations in in the mideast; no need to fan the flames, we know some people hate America.

2. FIND THE HEROES; we are not a nation of victims!

3. Respect for everyone; no scapegoats. Let the investigations run their course.

4. MORE prayers and blessings for those who suffer.

5. No mercy for the criminals and those who helped them in any way.

6. No politics; we rally behind the president and follow his lead.

7. God bless America and those who stand with us."

posted by clark 11:25 PM

MIKKEL URUP WRITES FROM DENMARK:

"It's difficult to grasp the concept the amount of hatred and the brutal Nazi -like efficiency this one was carried out with.

The terrorist action in New York possibly killed 10,000 people but has depressed and scared a nation, even the world. I think the second accomplishment was their primary intent.

One feel depressed as one can do nothing; there is not even, as of now, a known target for retaliation.

But one can stop the terrorists in succeeding in their prime intent by flourishing and prospering, regardless of the onslaught!

By the way, I think it's so much against our basic nature to destroy each other, that living with having done this at some level is a brutal punishment. I know it eventually will eat them up from the inside.

Take care everybody and: Flourish and prosper!"

posted by clark 11:20 PM

JON CARROLL WRITES:

"There will be pressure to suspend our freedoms, to allow the government to invade our privacy and control our speech as part of the glossy new war. If terrorists force America to give up its freedoms, then they will have won."

posted by clark 12:23 PM

ONLINE RED CROSS DONATIONS can be made at Amazon.com and PayPal.

posted by clark 12:02 PM

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY has a page of links to past articles on terrorism, including one in which ex-CIA higher-up Reuel Marc Gerecht talks about how difficult it is to get real intelligence about terror cells.

ANOTHER LIST OF LINKS to online reports and comments is at SiliconValley.com.

posted by clark 11:59 AM

CORWIN HAECK WRITES:

"Not quite a morbid aside, but this occurred to me early in the unfolding of the story: Some buildings are just too damn tall.

"I always felt that way about the World Trade Center. Not only were they too tall, but they visually unbalanced the entire island of Manhattan. The towers, by virtue of being featureless, untapered rectangles, looked top-heavy and ungainly.

I admire some tall buildings. The Empire State Bldg. is a brilliant classic. The Patronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur are too tall but at least look cool. Overall, though, most really tall buildings are excessive and ugly.

"Now we see again that they can be targets, too.

"The loss of life in this attack is terrible. The loss of the buildings is no tragedy."

posted by clark 11:03 AM

NOT ONLY HAVE news websites struggled to stay online with the heavy demand, but the founder of one of the leading bandwidth-supply and server companies was one of the slain.

Also confirmed dead: Frasier co-creator David Angell, who as much as anybody invented the modern image of Seattle as a smugly sophisticated, or sophisticatedly smug, place.

And, of course, the image of Boeing jets might forever be changed in the subconscious minds of millions.

posted by clark 12:17 AM

BLOGGER, the page-generation service I'm using to update this site, has been working at less than optimal efficiency this night. Not only are Net connections swamped worldwide, but many Blogger users are, like me, trying to post many updates. I've still got my regular FTP access to the Speakeasy servers, and can use that as a backup means.

ARTS AND LETTERS DAILY bears the simple masthead statement: "JESUS WEPT."

MORBID ASIDE #5: There's no knowing when baseball games will resume, and whether all the games canceled would be rescheduled. It might be that once the Mariners clinch the AL West title (just two Seattle wins or Oakland losses away), the Major League Baseball honchos would simply let the canceled M's games remain canceled. Thus, the team might not get to try for the all-time best regular season record in baseball history, which it was on a pace to break.

posted by clark 12:08 AM

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

THE NORTHWEST CABLE NEWS SITE is back up tonight, and has this moving account of local reactions.

The cable channel is also now reporting brisk business at military recruiting stations. (Perhaps my fears of an uprising of war-lust are, alas, coming true.)

posted by clark 11:41 PM

SCRIPTING NEWS quotes an email posted from a Seattle hotel room by John Perry Barlow, a pro-corporate Libertarian with whom I often disagree, but who here has a salient warning:

"...Nothing could serve those who believe that American "safety" is more important than American liberty better than something like this. Control freaks will dine on this day for the rest of our lives.

"Within a few hours, we will see beginning the most vigorous efforts to end what remains of freedom in America. Those of who are willing to sacrifice a little - largely illusory - safety in order to maintain our faith in the original ideals of America will have to fight for those ideals just as vigorously.

"I beg you to begin NOW to do whatever you can - whether writing your public officials, joining the ACLU or EFF [note: Electronic Frontiers Foundation, a group opposing Net censorship], taking to the streets, or living visibly free and fearless lives - to prevent the spasm of control mania from destroying the dreams that far more have died for over the last two hundred twenty five years than died this morning.

"Don't let the terrorists or (their natural allies) the fascists win. Remember that the goal of terrorism is to create increasingly paralytic totalitarianism in the government it attacks. Don't give them the satisfaction.

"Fear nothing. Live free."

posted by clark 10:51 PM

THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW site quotes David McReynolds of the War Resisters League:

"We urge Congress and George Bush that whatever response or policy the U.S. develops it will be clear that this nation will no longer target civilians, or accept any policy by any nation which targets civilians. This would mean an end to the sanctions against Iraq, which have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. It would mean not only a condemnation of terrorism by Palestinians but also the policy of assassination against the Palestinian leadership by Israel, and the ruthless repression of the Palestinian population and the continuing occupation by Israel of the West Bank and Gaza. The policies of militarism pursued by the United States have resulted in millions of deaths, from the historic tragedy of the Indochina war, through the funding of death squads in Central America and Colombia, to the sanctions and air strikes against Iraq. This nation is the largest supplier of "conventional weapons" in the world - and those weapons fuel the starkest kind of terrorism from Indonesia to Africa. The early policy of support for armed resistance in Afghanistan resulted in the victory of the Taliban - and the creation of Osama Bin Laden.

"Other nations have also engaged in these policies. We have, in years past, condemned the actions of the Russian government in areas such as Chechnya, the violence on both sides in the Middle East, and in the Balkans. But our nation must take responsibility for its own actions. Up until now we have felt safe within our borders. To wake on a clear cool day to find our largest city under siege reminds us that in a violent world, none are safe.

"Let us seek an end of the militarism which has characterized this nation for decades. Let us seek a world in which security is gained through disarmament, international cooperation, and social justice - not through escalation and retaliation. We condemn without reservation attacks such as those which occurred, which strike at thousands of civilians. May these profound tragedies remind us of the impact U.S. policies have had on other civilians in other lands. We are particularly aware of the fear which many people of Middle Eastern descent, living in this country, may feel at this time and urge special consideration for this community.

"We are one world. We shall live in a state of fear and terror or we shall move toward a future in which we seek peaceful alternatives to conflict and a more just distribution of the world's resources. As we mourn the many lives lost, our hearts call out for reconciliation, not revenge."

posted by clark 10:45 PM

PHOTO-REPORTAGE DEPT.: This closure sign at Toys In Babeland expresses the mood on Capitol Hill this evening. In the coffeehouses and bars, everybody's reading the Times and P-I afternoon street extras, making the same kinds of probably futile speculations you're probably making, and feeling very quiet and concerned.

A lone protester in Westlake Park chats with passersby, trying to persuade them not to rush to blame the attack on the Afghans, the Iraqis, or Muslims in general. (Right-wing religious radio stations were reportedly spreading the totally untrue idea that Muslims believe they can't get into Heaven unless they've killed an unbeliever.) The other side of the protester's sign read, "Muslim People Are Good."

Later that day, some people who'd already been planning a "Peace Day in Seattle" for Sept. 19 held a small rally at Westlake, of about 50-60 people.

A window at the evacuated Bon Marche, displaying the store's school-fashion promotion and a retro T-shirt bearing a 1945 headline, inadvertantly say what I wish to say to you now.

Gotta have it. Peace.

posted by clark 9:09 PM

JUST RETURNED from wandering downtown and holding hands with friends. The retail core was as abandoned as it might be on Christmas afternoon. Hastily drawn and desktop-published signs taped to windows offer "Thanks for your Snder Standing."

MORBID ASIDE #4: Whenever regular television programming resumes, the Letterman show (and any others using Manhattan skylines in their logos) will have to hastily construct new openings.

posted by clark 8:45 PM

SALON.COM'S eyewitness reports by their own freelancers. John Leonard's entry in the package calls the attack "like the worst sort of TV movie."

posted by clark 2:11 PM

SOMETHING MORE PERSONAL to ponder: Historically, most major wars (whether their official motivation was religion, nationalism, racism, or liberation) have been really about territorial conquest. This, then, would not be definable as an act of war but one of pure hatred, coldly and complexly devised by a coordinated group, united in their dehumanization of others and their willingness to destroy their own lives in the proces.

posted by clark 2:01 PM

MORBID THOUGHT #3: If, as some radio/TV commentators are speculating, it's an act only a government of some country could have coordinated, could it possibly have been by our own, as part of some attempted military coup (or an attempted militarization of the country without an official coup)?

Is this the end of an era? If so, what is ending?

Will shoot-'em-up movies and video games become instantly passe, or will they become more popular due to an uprising of war-lust? (God, I hope not.)

posted by clark 1:55 PM

DOWNTOWN STORES were quickly closed. Some have hand-scrawled signs pleading for our understanding.

NorthWest Cable News just finished carrying a live prayer service from St. James Cathedral. The eerie calmness, the serene ritual, was the most calming thing I could find. (The cable channel's NWCN.com site crashed and was replaced by a simple page of crisis updates.)

Indeed, news websites across North America and Europe have been flooded with hits, and many are out. One that's not: Yahoo.

I watched the prayer-service coverage with a neighbor whose sister lives in New Jersey and saw the implosion from her (the New Jersey sister's) apartment window.

Pearl Harbor comparisons are not quite accurate. Pearl Harbor was a sneak attack, but it was an offensive strike against a specifically military target. This was an act of cold cruelty against civilians. If it really is the result of overseas terrorists, it's the first major attack on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812.

And it's an attack with no disclosed motive. Scripting.com quotes NPR commentator Daniel Schorr: "With Pearl Harbor there was a return address."

posted by clark 1:50 PM

NINETEEN DIFFERENT broadcast and cable TV channels are currently operating their own wall-to-wall terror coverage. Thirteen other channels are repeating the news feeds from channels within their respective media empires (i.e., ESPN repeating ABC, TBS repeating CNN). Eight channels have signed off during the tragedy, including most of the home-shopping channels.

Still cablecasting: The Style channel, rerunning yesterday's taped coverage of the NYC Spring 2002 runway shows. Yes, one of the segments included a Manhattan skyline establishing shot, with the World Trade Center towers still standing.

posted by clark 11:21 AM

DAVE WINER'S Scripting.com has more bombing-related links, updated constantly.

posted by clark 10:52 AM

ADAM CURRY, the ex-MTV VJ now doing Net work in his native Holland, quotes author Tom Clancy on CNN: "This is life imitating art." Curry adds, "This is like watching an action hero movie. I want Willis or Schwartzenegger to walk in right now. This is just un fucking real."

posted by clark 10:49 AM

IF YOU CAN TAKE IT, here are some webcam shots from the NYC disaster.

posted by clark 10:44 AM

MORBID ASIDE #2: While no hijack-bombing suspects have been officially named, the TV blatherers are already presuming it's the work of foreigners. KING 5's even using the banner title "Attack on America."

The Oklahoma City bombing was also initially presumed by many to be caused by Osma Bin-Laden, North Korea, the PLO, etc. etc. It quickly turned out not to be.

posted by clark 10:39 AM

MORBID ASIDE #1: Something tells me the movie Independence Day won’t seem so totally far-fetched anymore. Or as watchable.

posted by clark 10:29 AM

HERE'S THE BEST eyewitness-account story I've seen yet about this morning's tragedy.

posted by clark 10:23 AM

ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TOPIC: Why business executives don't make the best government leaders.

posted by clark 10:08 AM

THE FOLLOWING comes from Aaron Barnhardt's TV Barn site:

"Televised terrorist attack. We are looking at a giant factory of death. Smoke billows from from two glassy chimneys -- then the chimneys tremble and sink from view. On the ground level, it is as though a volcano erupted. Watching Fox, I see zombies pass by. MSNBC's, CBS's and ABC's Internet servers are overloaded...

"Twelve blocks north, an NBC News reporter (Jim Donahue?) did a standup while hundreds of firefighters, clad in black, walked past him to the scene of suffering. Around the reporter the sky was clear. One mile from the factory of death it was a beautiful late summer day."

posted by clark 9:52 AM

BEEN UP ABOUT AN HOUR TODAY thus far. Am monitoring the usual, at least semi-reliable news sources (i.e., I'm not monitoring Fox News). Will pass along any intriguing, obscure info-bits from the east-coast horror I can find.

I also want to apologize for the relative lack of entries the past week or so. Production of the next MISC mag is proceeding, and taking much of my time. I promise not to neglect you, dear online readers.

posted by clark 8:54 AM

ARCHIVES:

• Past weblog entries.
• 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1986-94 columns.
• Reviews of literature & art, nonfiction & culture criticism, movies & videos, and music & noise.
• Longer articles and essays.
• Some slightly weird little fiction pieces.
• X-Word crossword puzzles, now with on-screen solving.
• Cyber Stuff, links to cool and/or useful sites.
• A listing of many Things I Like (and a few things I hate).
• The origin and future of MISCmedia.