[TheForge] A moment of silence

[Bruce .]

Terry,

Insofar as 9/11 itself is concerned, you're right.  Something like
3000-4000 innocent people dead, including rescue workers.  Many still dying
from dust-induced health after-effects.   What more can be said?

But now let's discuss what followed.

I live in Jersey.  I could see the plume of smoke blowing overhead.  I
>could< have shuttled home some of the commuters who'd managed to get
across the Hudson and were left in Shore communities -- but nobody put out
a radio call for such help so I knew nothing about the need till the next
day.

Our "authorities" wanted us to help by sending sleeping bag and other
supplies to NYC to aid the rescue workers, but they insisted all such stuff
be dropped off in >Brooklyn<, a 2-hour drive for me when all roadways are
open!  I never saw a NJ location given for this stuff to be dropped off.

Time and time again, our government fails us in emergencies.  9/11.
Katrina.  Sandy.  Many others.

To this day, people are dying from 9/11-related ailments, and typically the
government and the insurance companies are fighting AGAINST giving them the
benefits they need to survive.

Fortunately we are a volunteering nation and non-governmental organizations
often step in to fill the gap.  Now some of those are suspect, with the
United Way president accused of diverting funds for his own use (maybe a
decade ago) and the Red Cross using funds earmarked for Katrina on other
"needs."

But the worst was how our right-wing president concluded that war was the
only fix, so started two unnecessary and ineffective wars on the excuse of
9/11 and some non-existent weapons of mass destruction.  Hence, an
additional 5000-6000 Americans have died in military service, and untold
more have returned missing limbs or eyes or suffering PTSD -- only to be
denied service by the VA, which lies to cover its ass to Congress.

This says nothing about the number of Afganis and Iraqis who were killed or
murdered during those wars.  Or the rise of ISIL (aka ISIS) which is
directly traceable to the Arab/Islamic backlash to those wars, and which
has completely destabilized the region.

I don't have any wonderful conclusion for all this.  I can say that every
time I see one of these World Trade Tower I-beam memorials ( > metal
content < ! ;^) my thoughts run to all the above, not just the 3000
innocent victims in NYC.

The best summary I can think  of is:  Government is NOT on your side or the
side of world peace.  Politicians are deservedly of ill-repute.  Mostly
what they do is to further their own careers and has nothing to do with
what's good for America. (And the current slate of GOP candidates does
nothing to alleviate this feeling.)

Bruce
NJ

On Fri, Sep 11, 2015 at 5:25 AM, terry l. ridder <terrylr at blauedonau.com>
wrote:

>
> September 11th nothing more to be said.
>
> --
> terry l. ridder ><>
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