Month: September 2001
The camel is one of the most cherished and valued animals on earth
“People who have the personality to turn the biggest American tragedy into a racist free-for-all don’t really care to distinguish between countries and prefer to imagine the Middle East as one confusing and dangerous entity. A camel-riding entity. And camels are a favorite way to put down the perceived enemy as someone who is backward…
How do you save voice mail messages into perpetuity?
“On Friday, Verizon asked voice mail customers to delete messages they did not need, in order to avoid overtaxing the system. What Verizon did not say was that it wanted as many messages discarded as possible so it could turn off the so-called electronic janitor that automatically deletes messages, and allow people to retain last-minute…
Churchill might not have used those words, but he’d have loved the sentiment
“When I take action, I’m not going to fire a two-million-dollar missile at a ten-dollar empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive.”
If I were on the roof and saw flames on all sides of the building, I would jump
“Above and beyond everything, the one thing I will never forget to my dying day, is the view of the people on the roof and higher floors of the World Trade Center lined up in the windows and on railings. You cannot see their expressions, but it is amazing what a 40 power telescrope reveals.…
It is heartbreaking. We are the walking wounded
“I am resuming my life, as difficult as that is, to pick up and go on when so many people I know are missing. Dealing with a missing person case is so much more difficult than a confirmed death. The possibilities lurk, dancing across the mind, whispering ‘maybe.’ I can’t say that I wouldn’t hear…
Another network followed with seven-foot-tall models on the studio floor
“The Japanese need for context, the desire to have things explained to them in a precise, detailed manner, manifests itself in some odd ways sometimes. Few TV news features, for example, are complete without one of the presenters holding up a little placard bearing some important statistics, which they then have to hold steady as…
For those of you who know New York, you wouldn’t recognize it
“The most terrifying part of the day was when I was hanging out in the triage center, doing my EMT thing, and suddenly heard, ‘Go, go, go!’ Turned to see people flooding off the wreckage of the Towers, into the building where I was. We all ran for the back of the building, but the…
It’s important to stay current, but also to maintain some sense of normalcy
“Aside from the refreshing check-in with loved ones, the best thing about getting out of the city was the simple fact that I didn’t watch a single damn news report for the entire time. We’ve definitely reached a tipping point as far as 24-hr coverage is concerned, and the same things which were meant to…