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Does anyone know how to circulate an online petition? That is, to get one rolling? I think we need to urge President Bush to address the nation directly and as soon as possible, beseeching the American public to end the outbreak of violence against their fellow citizens of Arab (or perceived as such) extraction. The worst irony of the WTC terrorism is that angry Americans are now committing acts of terror against other Americans. Yes, Americans.

Maybe it would fall on deaf ears, but it never hurts to try, right? We have to do something.
posted by donkeyschlong at 11:53 PM PST - 29 comments

Financial/NY people add your name If you were expected to be downtown in the area. Also, the FISD has set up this site to post questions about missing people and anything else.. that you're ok, if you need help.. if you can help... (one thing.. some places had decided to use the UBB to tout their wares.. how screwed in the head are you?.. I can understand people with a skill.. but a company trying to sell something...).. But use the sites responsibly, please.
posted by rich at 11:29 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

The charges of "lewd conduct against a child under 14" against Paula Poundstone have been DROPPED. She pleaded no contest to a couple other charges related to the fact that she had been driving drunk with her kids in the car. I'm posting this because child molestation charges ruin careers and entire lives. Since we covered the initial charges here quite a bit, it's only fair to note her apparent innocence just as prominently, especially during a time like this when any non-attack news is being largely ignored. (Indeed, this story itself is nearly two days old.)
posted by aaron at 11:11 PM PST - 15 comments

Leonard Pitts Jr. Says it all - You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn...
posted by revbrian at 11:01 PM PST - 30 comments

First hand account by a muslim who worked in WTC 7 - showing, among other things, that muslims were among the victims and that NY residents truly are kind and helpful.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:59 PM PST - 11 comments

Islamabad yet to decide on use of its soil: Cooperation areas to be defined first: official
posted by adnanbwp at 10:09 PM PST - 3 comments

Clinton was here. And then, as if by magic he got here. How did he do it?
posted by szg8 at 10:07 PM PST - 43 comments

10 police officers found. I hope this isn't another mistake, but "A report just in says ten police officers missing since the collapse of the World Trade Centre buildings have been found alive under the rubble." Post details as you find them.
posted by krisjohn at 10:02 PM PST - 9 comments

People For the American Way Statement on Divisive Comments by Religious Right Leaders. "I am deeply saddened that in the wake of this week's devastating terrorist attacks, Religious Right political leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have chosen the path of division rather than unity. At a time when political leaders of both parties are urging bipartisanship and national unity, it is truly unfortunate that Americans who watched today's edition of Pat Robertson's 700 Club television program received a far different message from Robertson and Falwell."
posted by tpoh.org at 10:01 PM PST - 12 comments

Blame Canada! -- No, Wait, I Mean Clinton! I thought they would at least wait until the weekend.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 9:40 PM PST - 19 comments

Pentagon warns of sustained retaliation Sounds to me like a declaration of war.
posted by kd at 9:37 PM PST - 13 comments

CNN retracts names of suspects it's far down on the pages, so i quote: "We would like to correct a report that appeared on CNN. Based on information from multiple law enforcement sources, CNN reported that Adnan Bukhari and Ameer Bukhari of Vero Beach Florida, were suspected to be two of the pilots who crashed planes into the World Trade Center. CNN later learned that Adnan Bukhari is still in Florida, where he was questioned by the FBI. We are sorry for the misinformation. A federal law enforcement source now tells CNN that Bukhari passed an FBI polygraph and is not considered a suspect. Through his attorney, Bukhari says that he is helping authorities. Ameer Bukhari died in a small plane crash last year."
posted by moth at 9:25 PM PST - 12 comments

What are we saying and to whom? Several of the posts here at MeFi are starting to report fairly detailed information about reserve units who being called up for service and where, as well as movements (Link purposly omitted) of aircraft and tanks and other, potenially damaging information. Before this gets out of hand let me remind everyone that we need to remember that "the world" is watching and could be reading anything posted openly on the Internet. I won't censor my opinions but I am going to actively start reviewing the information in my messages before I hit "POST" I hope others will do the same.
posted by dewelch at 9:22 PM PST - 17 comments

Washington Post/ABC News Poll: Bush's approval rating at 87% - I wonder if that rating is going to go on a roller-coaster ride similar to his father's.
posted by mrbula at 8:56 PM PST - 17 comments

A glimpse into the "Ivory Tower" - The online community at Swarthmore College is abuzz with reflections, debates, insults and demands for revenge prompted by the recent tragedies. After being physically threatened by a member of my college community after commenting that I thought that the Netherlands was a more "free" nation than the US, I've stopped going to the site myself; however, a look at the forum may demonstrate that such reactionary thought isn't limited to "middle America" or the "unenlightened," as some intellectual snobs/idealists seem to think. (Swarthmore was tied with Amherst as the number one liberal arts college in the country according to U.S. World and News Report.)
posted by surblimity at 8:46 PM PST - 10 comments

US air space open again, sort of. But the FAA later revealed that all foreign carriers -- except for Canadian airlines and planes diverted during the crisis -- were barred from landing here. US airlines, meanwhile, were allowed to bring in flights from overseas airports if they met the new airline security rules, which were being hidden from the public.
posted by krisjohn at 8:42 PM PST - 2 comments

More heroes. Who will almost certainly be fired and probably arrested by clueless hypocrites.
posted by rushmc at 8:38 PM PST - 23 comments

Calling up reserves? The Pentagon is considering a call up of army reservists for the first time since the Gulf War. (The last call up was in January 1991 when more than 265,000 reservists were placed on stand-by for active duty.)
posted by krisjohn at 8:11 PM PST - 31 comments

Invert rugby player: Hero? Diversity is powerful: A passenger on the Pennsylvania plane who may have stormed the terrorists, Mark Bingham, was a 6'5" rugby player. A gay 6'5" rugby player. Hey, you never know who your friends are. Likely new contender for Toughest Sissy on the Planet status.
posted by joeclark at 8:09 PM PST - 14 comments

Amtrak ridership up 50 percent - Most long distance trains were sold out Wednesday and Thursday. Of course, that isn't surprising considering the current air travel situation, but one has to wonder how many of those riding the rails will just decide to stick on the ground for the time being.
posted by mrbula at 7:35 PM PST - 24 comments

A view from inside the rescue effort Found this one while following a link from a previous thread I'd started. It's an interesting perspective that I really hadn't seen before. (Sorry if this should be a comment in another thread.)
posted by dincognito at 7:34 PM PST - 5 comments

Take a deep breath, angry patriots... and read another piece in vein of Seamus Milne's Guardian article. Think, breathe, think. (This one's from your fellow English-speakers in New Zealand).
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:16 PM PST - 32 comments

Building a Fitting Monument to the Dead and the Living Anyone who has visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington knows that the most powerful way to celebrate those who died for their country is a simple list of names inscribed in everlasting marble. So how do we go about remembering the many who were killed - and are still dying - by the enemies of freedom? I suggest rebuilding the twin towers as a monument - same height, same dimensions - thereby restoring the Manhattan skyline and defying those who think they destroyed it. It could be a holograph or actually built in stone or bronze. The names of those who died there, in Washington and Pennsylvania, would forever be engraved there. I hate to think of the site being rebuilt as something else and profits being made. What happened should be forever remembered and regretted. The cost would probably not be more than $20 per citizen. What are your ideas about a fitting monument to the fallen?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:48 PM PST - 56 comments

MSNBC taking advantage of high site traffic; FORCING ads. Personally I'm speechless. I think every other major site out there (no doubt the crippled Yahoo also) is doing this oor will be in the upcoming hours.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 6:33 PM PST - 24 comments

Investigators Detain 10 at NY Airports; Bin Laden Focus Grows Authorities took 10 people into custody from New York City's two major airports after finding they had false identifications and knives, law enforcement officials told ABCNEWS.com.
posted by bjgeiger at 6:31 PM PST - 10 comments

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:58 PM PST - 15 comments

Is the Missle Defense System dead? The rules have changed, they say, but many of us have used this argument against SDI all along. What happened on Sept. 11 demonstrated irrefutably that any enemy determined to inflict mass destruction upon America can do so without ballistic missiles.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 5:47 PM PST - 16 comments

More info leaked on the reasoning behind the claims that the President was specifically targeted on Tuesday. Seems to raise a lot more questions than it answers, to me.
posted by rushmc at 5:41 PM PST - 20 comments

Flags and guns 'selling out as patriotism sweeps US' "Reports show many are first-time buyers as a wave of patriotism sweeps the country since the tragedy." - is this how you celebrate patroitism, buying guns? Well, maybe not: "American Muslims have also been buying guns, fearful of vigilante attacks."
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 5:16 PM PST - 9 comments

Tributes bordering on art... I stumbled across this when I was looking for a zine I used to read back in college... Hasn't moved me like the piece from testpilotcollective has but it's definitely both shocking and beautiful.
posted by dincognito at 5:13 PM PST - 3 comments

Creepy Animation from CNN shows the disasters in 3d... its real food for thought to think about some dude in an SGI shirt tweaking colors on the explosion plugin while a project manager asks if the more pizazz can be added... For a neat trick, notice you can watch from below as the building sinks underground (use all your mouse buttons)
posted by mantid at 4:41 PM PST - 7 comments

Can you go to "War" against an individual? Laws may limit exactly what the US can do, and whether or not an assasination attempt will be possible.
posted by mathowie at 4:35 PM PST - 23 comments

Recently I was made aware of a response to the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, by Serj Tankian, vocalist for the politically-themed band, System of a Down. The response was well written, highly articulated and, yet, it is now MISSING from the band's official website.

I have been unable to find a cached copy of the post, and I am wondering if this article was removed due to it's less-than 100% agreement with the current mindset of the media propaganda machine, or whether it is related to something else.

If anyone can dig up a cached copy, or shed some light on this matter, it would be much appreciated.
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:33 PM PST - 12 comments

Thank you, Mister Rogers The man in the sweater puts it all in perspective for us : One of the most important messages we can give our children is, "It's okay to be angry, but it's not okay to hurt." Anger is a natural and normal feeling, in families and among friends. Besides allowing children the right to their anger, we can also help them find constructive things to do with their angry feelings -- things that don't hurt others or themselves or damage things. By showing children how to deal with their angry feelings in healthy ways, we are giving them useful tools that will serve them all life long and helping them to be the world's future peacemakers.
posted by likorish at 4:14 PM PST - 7 comments

why they hate us Attack on freedom? On liberty? How about retaliation against the biggest bully on the planet? It's our turn to learn how the other half lives. excuse this if it is a double post; I didn't find it in search and it's an important article thanks meg
posted by christina at 4:00 PM PST - 84 comments

This is a list of airports currently meeting FAA security standards. Possibly of some benefit to those needing to use air travel for business, to reunite with loved ones, etc. I discovered this link while visiting Flightview, which has been down most of the day, presumably due to traffic. Flightview is a flight tracking system which runs on standard PCs.
posted by bargle at 3:37 PM PST - 1 comments

Ok. American Fundamentalists at work here. More muslim mosques, businesses, individuals attacked.
posted by adnanbwp at 3:25 PM PST - 18 comments

The entertainment industry reacts. Fox's "24" delayed. "Spider-Man" twin towers scene removed. Ah-nold's "Collateral Damaged" and Tim Allen's "Big Trouble" postponed indefinitely, TV skyline shots being re-edited, televised action movies being replaced with more humor and upbeat programming. How long will it last? And having been probed for so long, will the gaming industry do anything in turn?
posted by teradome at 3:22 PM PST - 33 comments

Good to know. (Sincere apologies if this is a double, triple, quadruple post. The MeFi search keeps timing out.)
posted by donkeyschlong at 3:20 PM PST - 4 comments

China Strengthens Ties With Taleban by Signing Economic Deal
posted by dagny at 3:11 PM PST - 17 comments

Oh no, not again. U.S. Capitol being evacuated; New York airports shut down. Breaking news from CNN.
posted by waxpancake at 3:03 PM PST - 23 comments

Flight Data Recorder found for United Airlines flight 93 in Pennsylvania. They've also found the signal for at least one of the data recorders on the Pentagon flight, as well. Assuming it's still readable, the flight recorder for UA 93 could give new insight into why the plane went down, and why they're now finding debris 6 miles from the crash site. (The information for flight 93 came from CNN broadcast, but hasn't made it online yet.)
posted by elfgirl at 2:22 PM PST - 13 comments

http://www.taleban.com keeps looping back to our own machines at work. At home, it comes up non-existant yet it's showed up in my server logs. network solutions has a listing for it. Anyone else getting bizarre results with this domain?
posted by Zebulun at 2:03 PM PST - 15 comments

Satan shows his face in WTC attack. Verified as original and unedited, this photo is scary to view. But, people see what they want to see, how else to you explain Jesus' Face practically everywhere.
posted by da5id at 1:33 PM PST - 54 comments

CNN's "palestinians celebrating in the streets" footage may be from 1991. While this is one person's opinion, it'd be nice if there was some verification from CNN either way on this.
posted by mathowie at 1:32 PM PST - 29 comments

Ananova reports bodies of hijacker and stewardess found in the WTC wreckage. Does it seem that foreign news outlets are reporting stuff earlier than domestic ones to anyone else? And how could there be bodies still intact, so close to the point of impact?
posted by sugarfish at 12:57 PM PST - 25 comments

Sample letter intended for businesses who advertise in a Honolulu newspaper. Found here via the always informative Media News.
posted by zedzebedia at 12:53 PM PST - 16 comments

Cancer, and Carcinogens "This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an 'act of war.' It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize."
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 12:22 PM PST - 2 comments

Manhattan and Brooklyn photos. Ultradio photos of the scene. Too much mental fantasy today. I can't cover up my fear and terror with anger anymore. Back to reality. I'm going to try to not follow any more political topics and threads for a while.
posted by username at 12:17 PM PST - 3 comments

Ur-Editorial about the attacks, (from adequacy.org- I'm not familiar with them- linked via a plastic.com comment). Shades of the Metafilter self-parody; I found it a handy template for every editorial opportunist from Michael Moore to Ann Coulter- perhaps we can just reference this instead of linking yet more lame, shameful editorials from all parts of the political spectrum?
posted by hincandenza at 12:16 PM PST - 4 comments

Pictures from inside and near the WTC during evacuation Found on ananova (here). The main link is quite slow fyi.
posted by kokogiak at 12:11 PM PST - 16 comments

Bush speaks out on misplaced anger - "...our nation must be mindful that there are thousands of Arab-Americans who live in New York City, who love their flag just as much as the three of us do, and we must be mindful that as we seek to win the war that we treat Arab-Americans and Muslims with the respect they deserve. "
posted by revbrian at 12:10 PM PST - 10 comments

Bunny Love. Because we could all use a little more love right now. I know I could.
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 12:00 PM PST - 8 comments

Stupid racist shit. I'm sorry about the language, but I am already sick of this sort of idiot xenophobia.
posted by johnnydark at 11:56 AM PST - 17 comments

New Yorker online has checked in with their lead story and an image of their next cover. I have to say I'm seeing accounts that are equally compelling from regular people writing on the Internet.
posted by luser at 11:42 AM PST - 6 comments

Bush Gave $43 Million to Taliban Last May - "The gift, announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban..." - pulled out of a thread, originally posted by mrgrimm.
posted by Zettai at 11:36 AM PST - 4 comments

Poll results are starting to come in. Bush haters will not be pleased with the results. Neither will ultrapacifists.
posted by aaron at 11:35 AM PST - 46 comments

Footage of Celebrating Palestinians Racially Biased Here's a "voice in the wilderness." The writer argues that the media running this footage is reminiscent of how the media ran footage of African Americans looting in L.A. in 1992, calling them hoodlums and vandals, without thinking about or providing the context of the Rodney King verdict. PROTECT YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS OF COLOR.
posted by prozaction at 11:22 AM PST - 38 comments

BBC Reports... When the missiles fall, for better or worse, here's why they will fall in Afghanistan
posted by szg8 at 11:22 AM PST - 1 comments

List to help. I'm on a number of mailing lists ranging from techy ones to skating and have decided to try to bring all those together so that we can have messages for volunteering and rebuilding go over more quickly. I think there would be a network effect in terms of providing news and info to people in New York.
posted by TNLNYC at 11:00 AM PST - 2 comments

Five Firefighters found alive Amazing. 48 hours after the collapse. "Five firefighters were found alive in New York on Thursday, trapped in an SUV buried in rubble from the World Trade Center. Two of the firefighters were able to leave the vehicle unassisted; all five were transported to the hospital."
posted by warhol at 10:34 AM PST - 7 comments

Sorry but it's a little too late to muzzle this beast. The Palestinian Authority tries to stop press coverage of post-bombing celebrations (sorry if this has already been posted).
posted by estopped at 10:25 AM PST - 19 comments

Art Bell continues to sell crazy in a world that's all stocked up. Here's a link to a page of photograph submitted for last night's show. Scroll down a few, and you'll see one with a very insensitive implication about the WTC attack. Apparently, comical cartoon devils were involved.
posted by Hildago at 10:24 AM PST - 3 comments

Osama bin Laden is the Taliban military commander-in-chief!? Can anyone find alternate sources for this? From a comment by schlyer.
posted by NortonDC at 10:23 AM PST - 6 comments

www.worldtradecenterbombing.com, .net, .org have been registered. For what purposes, I don't know. I've been wondering if anti-arabic domains, other similar WTC-style domains and if register.com, namezero, etc. have the capability to deny or register for themselves such sites. Whether for hatred purposes or, as vile as it sounds, for $ purposes. I guessing no. And I hope the site above was registered to keep it out of the hands of someone with less than virtuous ideals.
posted by Tacodog at 10:08 AM PST - 10 comments

Bomb threats at Grand Central and La Guardia today... Couldn't find any links yet but just spoke to a friend who was told to leave his office near Grand Central... Apparently a number of people were running through the streets but none of them seemed to really know much about why... Any info?
posted by adamholz at 10:08 AM PST - 3 comments

Thoughtful pieces like these are becoming fewer and fewer.
Danny Schecter of Media Channel gives his take on the unfolding events. I fear the path the US is on, marching headlong into what could very well be a protracted, horrific spiral of war and carnage.
posted by mapalm at 9:48 AM PST - 6 comments

How low can we go? Spammers are soliciting funds for bogus charities to help the victims of the disaster.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 9:44 AM PST - 5 comments

What does Wille Brown's staff know that we don't? Apparently, Mayor Brown got a warning 8 hours before the attack, and is still in SF because he heeded their advice. What did they know and how did they know it?
posted by mathowie at 9:31 AM PST - 19 comments

UK pays its respects For the first time in history, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace was changed. The US national anthem was played, followed by a two-minute silence.
posted by keith at 9:31 AM PST - 24 comments

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." Ann Coulter, as always an island of calm reflection.
posted by rcade at 8:21 AM PST - 96 comments

NY Times: Taliban Plead for Mercy to the Miserable in a Land of Nothing Perhaps they should have thought of this when they sheltered so many "un-Islamic" murderers such as bin Laden. The perpetrators, co-conspirators, and accomplices of this massacre will receive no quarter from the U.S. whether they are Afghani, Iraqi, Saudi, or even American.
posted by lenticular at 7:55 AM PST - 54 comments

Anti-Arab violence going in Australia: It's not just in the US - In Brisbane, a schoolbus packed with Islamic children was damaged by stones and bottles and there had been abusive calls to mosques. In Perth a mosque was defiled with human faeces and obscenities were shouted from a car doing wheelies in its carpark. The Australian Arabic Council today said a hotline for people to report racist attacks had been swamped by calls. Unconfirmed attacks included children being physically harmed and racially vilified at school. Muslum women being spat on and had their veils pulled off.
posted by Jase_B at 7:39 AM PST - 22 comments

"We're in an age where we don't want to deal with serious issues, we want to deal with little boys pitching baseballs who might be 14 instead of 12." Hart says he just shook his head when he saw a former Clinton administration Cabinet official on TV Tuesday calling for the formation of a commission to study the best way to combat terrorism. "If a former Cabinet officer didn't know, how could the average man on the street? I do hope the American people understand that somebody was paying attention."
posted by rathikd at 7:15 AM PST - 4 comments

Another site with first-hand stories Just FYI... Here's another site with a small OK list and first hand accounts of the tragic events of the past couple of days.
posted by TNLNYC at 7:15 AM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Passenger train collision in Utah. Reports from the US say two trains have collided in the state of Utah. I hope this has nothing to do with Tuesday...
posted by talos at 7:10 AM PST - 5 comments

NY Red Cross needs tech help - by donating computers, equipment, and services. They're looking for certified Citrix engineers and Microsoft-certified consultants, as well as a long list of computers, network parts, etc.
posted by bkdelong at 6:21 AM PST - 4 comments

Anti-Arab Violence Growing in U.S.: A repulsive article via Salon concerning protests and at a mosque outside of Chicago today. Thousands of rubes seem poised to act of their narrow conception of what an "American" looks and acts like.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:21 AM PST - 28 comments

Pretty strong stuff from the Glasgow Herald about the causes of the attacks. I'd like to point out I don't necessarily endorse anything said here.
posted by Summer at 6:17 AM PST - 30 comments

$5 million reward.
posted by dfowler at 6:14 AM PST - 5 comments

A former CIA operative explains why the terrorist Usama bin Ladin has little to fear from American intelligence. From the Atlantic an inside look at the non-existence of US intelligence in the Afghanistan region: Unless one of bin Ladin's foot soldiers walks through the door of a U.S. consulate or embassy, the odds that a CIA counterterrorist officer will ever see one are extremely poor.
posted by talos at 5:33 AM PST - 15 comments

A "World Response Matrix" showing the various responses from different countries. A follow-up to this post, so to speak.
posted by bkdelong at 5:16 AM PST - 3 comments

Well-written, well-informed article from the Indepent on the political background to all this.
posted by Summer at 3:51 AM PST - 16 comments

Plane crashes in Mexico, killing 19. Despite a few early misleading reports, foul play is NOT suspected.
posted by bargle at 1:33 AM PST - 2 comments

The next person who quotes Nostradamus at me today is going to get yelled at.
posted by brownpau at 1:26 AM PST - 14 comments

The Examiner spells it out. As a newspaper page designer (for a much smaller, tamer paper), I wonder what you all think of the San Francisco Examiner's semi-profane but heartfelt front-page headline. On one hand, it's editorializing, but on the other, it expresses what an awful lot of people are thinking. I think I like it, but I also know it'd never get printed in a lot of papers, including my own.
posted by diddlegnome at 1:05 AM PST - 23 comments

Infoshare is a syndicated information block which can be added your page in a few seconds. It includes links to up-to-date news and other useful numbers and links to help all affected.
posted by nico at 12:55 AM PST - 13 comments

extremely good photographs non graphic, but so excellant in showing many facets of this disaster.
posted by JackthaStripper at 12:06 AM PST - 12 comments