September 2001 Archives

Bush...siding with the peacemakers? That's what the BBC says."George W Bush has become known for his tough talk. "Wanted dead or alive," he said of Osama Bin Laden. We are going to "smoke them out of their holes," he keeps repeating. "The language has helped win him approval ratings higher than his father enjoyed even after victory in the Gulf War. "But the reality is very different. "With a few exceptions, President Bush has sided consistently with the doves and the coalition builders. "That suggests a relatively limited, tightly focused military operation, when it finally comes."Check it out.

Just as I was working myself into a complete panic about the danger of biological warfare (when I should really just be working, Thomas L. Friedman comes to the rescue again with one of his columns. "When I get on a plane at the airport, frankly, you can X-ray me until I glow in the dark, but I hope we are not headed for a day where we permanently do the same at ballgames and concerts.""Beirutis had it right: There is no such thing as perfect security in today's world. All rational precautions need to be taken. But once you take them, then you basically have to decide: Am I going to sit home and hide in the basement forever, or am I, like my friend Diala, going to play whatever mind game it takes, or none at all, and just go on with my life?"

From the Guardian:Now the assumption that a hijacker has some interest in keeping you alive as a bargaining chip has been destroyed, and at least one pilot has advised passengers to resist. On Saturday, the pilot of United Flight 564 from Denver International addressed passengers thus before take-off: "If someone were to stand up, brandish something such as a plastic knife and say, 'This is a hijacking,' here is what you should do: every one of you should stand up and immediately throw things at that person - pillows, books, magazines, eyeglasses, shoes - anything that will throw him off balance and distract his attention. If he has a confederate or two, do the same with them. Most important: get a blanket over him, then wrestle him to the floor and keep him there. We'll land the plane at the nearest airport and the authorities will take it from there."

It's not just for extremist Muslims, but a game we can all play together!"Of course, envisioning a violent, vengeful God allowing the deathof thousands of innocent people is different than actuallymurdering thousands of innocent people in the name of God. But the comments of Falwell, Robertson and Abouhalima tell ussomething about the fervor of fundamentalism, and its reaction tosecularism and secular governments at home and abroad. They also remind us that no religion has a monopoly on twistingspiritual truth."http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/23/MN202713.DTL

Let me confess: I am completely terrified right now. I'm going to work, I am hanging out with friends, I am working on projects like an invitation for a friend's baby shower, I am eating, I am sleeping, and I am in a constant state of low-level fear throughout it all. I want someone to tell me that I have no reason for this, and that everything will likely turn out fine, except this time nobody can really say this and mean it, as they are confronted with the same reality that I am.So I started surfing the web...www.chrisj.winisp.net/articles/fear.htm http://www.nigelparry.com/diary/hebron/cpt2.htmland one of my greatest fears... www.lsic.ucla.edu/classes/mimg/summer1_01/micro12/Website/JAMAarticles/Biolterrorism.htmlAnd this one is a good link...www.edgate.com/sep_11th.htmlI'm still freaked out though.

"If we can hope for something positive from the grim reality of these days, it must surely be the chance to work for a better mutual understanding with the rest of the world, even the parts with which we can't do business; and to get away from the trivialisation, commodification and disintegration of our collective life. It's not only the world's safety that's at stake - it's what kind of world it will become."http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,556191,00.html

This is what happens when big media companies run all the radio stations in the country. After the Horror, Radio Stations Pull Some Songs.

I've always liked About.com...I mean, I love Google, and I search them religiously, but everytime I've wanted to do a general overview of a topic, particularly health-related, I've found that an edited catalogue of links was better. Yahoo? Well, while I find I visit a Yahoo site more and more...it ain't for their catalogue, which seems to be increasingly disorganized. (Everyone wants to be listed in the top level of each category, which kinda defeats the purpose.)In particular, I rely on About.com's Urban Legends section, where I look up every cyber-rumor and chain spam. In the wake of last week's tragedies, there have been plenty of them, and they've come through again:urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa091101a.htm

Martin Amis in the Guardian. He talks about the plane having to rise slightly to avoid hitting an arch in Washington Square Park. I was in Washington Square Park earlier this year on that trip to New York. (I thought of Henry James then.)

Where Was God? by Stephanie Salter, SF Chron, September 16, 2001"If God seems to be missing in action this week, it's because we always look for God in the wrong place..."

Trying to find information on "The Battle for God" by Karen Armstrong (I was recommending it to a classmate), I stumbled across BookBrowse.com. Cool.

www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/international/16AMER.html"America, with its daunting economic, political and military power, its pervasive popular culture, and its instinct to spread the freewheeling, secularist ways of American life — even to those who may prefer to shun them — has an impact on people's lives to the farthest corners of the earth. Just how great this impact is, and how, in many places, it is resented, may be more than many Americans can grasp. If they consider their country's place at all, many Americans may see it in uncomplicated terms, as the "beacon of freedom" President Bush spoke of with moistened eyes this week. But the feelings of many of the peoples who live in America's shadow are frequently less sanguine, or at least deeply contradictory. Grievances run side by side, and often in the same person, with a consuming passion for things American."

My command of French, which was never great to begin with, has slipped so much that I am forced to rely on Babelfish. Which I have been doing to read L'Economiste in Morocco, as I wanted a different perspective on what's going on. Gee, the whole world doesn't love us. Wonder why.

The Guardian featured links to two articles that I'm still reading, trying to comprehend what's going on in the world. One is about suicide terrorists, and one is about challenges to the intelligence community from "asymmetric threats"

Communities Mobilize on the WebMet Derek Powazek, the author of this article and Design for Community, at Web 2001 last week. It seems like a whole other life and world now.On another web note, apparently, e-philanthropy in the wake of this disaster has been astounding. I know I couldn't get through to the Red Cross at first — they've apparently taken in something like $10 million dollars this week in online donations alone!

People in other countries have had to live with this for years. It's new to us. I feel very differently about Israel's policies towards terrorists than I did before. Not for any particularly good reason, just that it's much more visceral now. Sad that it's that way.

Two items: an interview with the guy who created the software I'm using to write this, and a site I don't remember seeing before called LibraryPlanet.com

Web 2001 was smaller and more subdued than its previous versions, but I still came away with a heap of great ideas I will no doubt forget about in a week. Maybe two. Memos to self: fix my tables (Molly Holtzschlag), add / improve community features (Derek Powazek), and make sure my sites are ADA-compliant (Shawn Henry, Optavia). Oh yeah, and support EFF.Picked up some excellent books: "User-Centered Web Design" (John Cato) and "Design for Community" (Derek Powazek). The one thing I didn't really do was talk to other web designers at the conference. It's not the most social event somehow. Or perhaps it's just me...