9/11

This documentary, released 6 months after the attacks, was made by two Frenchmen, brothers, named Jules and Gedeon Naudet.

It was intended to be a coming of age tale about a probationary New York City Fireman.

It turned out to be much more.

So far as I know, this is the only film that was taken inside the towers at any level.

The Faces of 9/11

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 22,000 words about that day we will never forget. In memory of those who perished and in honour of those who survived. Today, we reflect and remember. But the anger remains. And we pray that our leaders have half the courage of the great man who wrote these words:

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
Winston Churchill

No Words

Time Magazine - Beyond 9/11, Portraits Of Resilience

Some are moving, some enraging, but all are interesting.

Remember when the Presidency meant dignity?

A Quiet Sadness Settles Over The Land

A melancholy musical interlude as the sun dips below the green mountains and the first stars begin to twinkle in the eastern sky.

6.7 mag. quake at Pt. Hardy BC

No details yet.

I hope Fay, Matt, Lyana and family are all ok.

Live Bloggin' The Historic Speech Of The Century

Ow! Hey! Stop throwing those tomatoes! Yeah, I know, it's probably gonna be the same old crap. I don't expect Obama to take responsibility for any of this mess, display a modicum of grace or class, or even remotely indicate that he represents all Americans. I don't expect any flashes of insight, let alone political brilliance. It's fairly difficult to be disappointed when you expect less than nothing.

BUT, we're being told he has something to say...so pull up a comfy chair, put your feet up, and grab your television brick. It's time for the greatest show on earth!

"The Worst Summer Ever For Hockey"

NHL player Derek Boogaard (Minnesota Wild & New York Rangers) died May 13, 2011, age 28, from an accidental overdose of alcohol and oxycodon.

NHL player Rick Rypien (Vancouver Canucks & signed for the next season with the Winnipeg Jets) died Aug 15, 2011, age 27, suicide.

Former NHL player Wade Belak (Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers & Nashville Predators) died Aug 31, 2011, age 35, suicide.

KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) 2011/2012 team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, comprising approximtely 36 souls (27 players, 2 coaches & 7 club officials) died Sep 7, 2011, in a plane crash in Yaroslavl, Russia. Among the dead are two Canadians; NHL veterans Brad McCrimmon, head coach, and Igor Korolev, assistant coach. Also killed in the crash were former NHL players Pavol Dimitra, Josef Vasicek and Karel Rachunek amongst others.

RIP and G-dspeed.

It's The End Of The World As We Knew It

And I don't feel fine.

J. E. Dyer at the Hot Air Green Room gives a lengthy, and frightening rundown of events around the world after the collapse of the Pax Americana.

We certainly do live in interesting times.

Sunday Morning Coffee

Robert Reich correctly identifies some of the problems plaguing our faltering economy, but adding more cowbell isn't the answer. The government breaking the backs of the middle class (or even the rich) to support the lower classes is the American Dream denied...for everyone. Says Reich:

THE 5 percent of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37 percent of all consumer purchases, according to the latest research from Moody’s Analytics. That should come as no surprise. Our society has become more and more unequal.

When so much income goes to the top, the middle class doesn’t have enough purchasing power to keep the economy going without sinking ever more deeply into debt — which, as we’ve seen, ends badly. An economy so dependent on the spending of a few is also prone to great booms and busts. The rich splurge and speculate when their savings are doing well. But when the values of their assets tumble, they pull back. That can lead to wild gyrations. Sound familiar?

The economy won’t really bounce back until America’s surge toward inequality is reversed. Even if by some miracle President Obama gets support for a second big stimulus while Ben S. Bernanke’s Fed keeps interest rates near zero, neither will do the trick without a middle class capable of spending. Pump-priming works only when a well contains enough water.

I agree wholeheartedly. However, I disagree with his conclusions:

We might have enlarged safety nets — by having unemployment insurance cover part-time work, by giving transition assistance to move to new jobs in new locations, by creating insurance for communities that lost a major employer. And we could have made Medicare available to anyone.

Big companies could have been required to pay severance to American workers they let go and train them for new jobs. The minimum wage could have been pegged at half the median wage, and we could have insisted that the foreign nations we trade with do the same, so that all citizens could share in gains from trade.

We could have raised taxes on the rich and cut them for poorer Americans.

The problem isn't that rich people pay only 35% of their income for taxes; the problem is that they don't. Capital gains, which I would venture is a substantial portion of of the top 5% income, isn't taxed. It should be. Ordinary Americans don't enjoy a big chunk of their income being "tax-free". Pack-a-lunch-bucket Americans pay the full payroll tax out of their stagnated paychecks; upper-tier earners are capped. The wealthy can afford to hire top-notch accountants to itemize, depreciate, and generally take advantage of loopholes the rest of us have never even heard of. The solution? Do away with payroll taxes, and only tax purchases. It's the only way that everyone will have a proportional amount of skin in the game.

Despite Reich's wistful plea to cut taxes for "poorer" Americans, how is that possible when over half of Americans pay no income tax at all? Perhaps he's referring to other types of taxes, but to be means-tested before pumping gas or buying a new car strikes me as impossible.

Having the government pay workers to relocate is ridiculous. Have a huge garage sale, pack the car with the what's left, shoehorn in the kids, and hit the road. Stay in a cheap motel for a few weeks if you need to. Americans have been doing just that for many generations; keep Uncle Sam out of it (and Sam's hand out of my pocket).

We can't peg minimum wage to median wage. Companies cannot afford to pay uneducated workers double-digit wages to mop bathroom floors or bag french fries. Many minimum-wage workers are ALREADY overpaid. The American dream has always been to work harder, educate yourself, and climb the ladder based on your talents and merit, not a hand-out and a pat on the head from a socialist gov't. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Sound familiar? And why should American companies be forced to "retrain" and/or grant severance pay to workers they shitcan? Isn't that rewarding incompetence? Companies should be allowed to make their own personnel policies, not have them dictated by the government.

If Obama waved his magic wand and instituted all of Reich's disastrous ideas, our country would complete its tumbling journey to third-world nation by tomorrow.

Perhaps that's the point, and the ultimate goal.

Thoughts? Comments? Coffee? Tea?