9/11 Explained And Dismissed...

Well done!

I don't pretend to know how much of 9/11 was sheer arrogance, subterfuge and incompetence- and what (if any) was an inside job. But there is no doubt whatsoever that the investigation(s) covering these events were compromised, sabotaged, and fabricated- as were the major investigations of the political assassinations of the '60s.  (via TYWKIWDBI)

The One That Got Away... Almost

"Tania Head" and Friends
David Handschuh/N.Y. Daily News via Getty Images

I can't believe I totally missed this! Didn't have the slightest. So it came as somewhat of a double whammy deluxe that something so blatantly, and totally outlandish flew right by my radar without my slightest notice. Someone, something that makes the likes of Rosie Ruiz seem like the rank amateur that she was...

Poor ol' Rosie couldn't pull her scam off for more than a coupla days at best- Tania Head kept at it for six long years! And unlike hapless Rosie- Tania wasn't present for any part of the event, just fabricated each and every bit of lie upon lie whole cloth, from thousands of miles away...

The Woman Who Wasn't There is far from a great documentary, but it is one deceptively good story about one deceptively good con that fills you with an unsettling queasiness as you witness the 'rise' and fall of someone so desperate to fill some underlying and overbearingly huge need to belong... at any cost.

Obama Sanctions CIA Murderers...

On this day when we recall the atrocity done to us, it's also good to reflect on what can "inspire" others to commit such heinous actions...

It would also behoove us to keep our eyes on the ball, instead of bearing false witness...
"In response, the C.I.A. prepared an analysis that all but pleaded with the White House to accept that the danger from Bin Laden was real."

The Growing Gallery Of Shame

Cops can choose to be heroes, the mindless unwavering sheep of their puppet masters (admittedly, where most of us reside), or complete and utter cowards and assholes as exemplified by Mr. Pepper Spray above. Wow, a video he can show to his grand kids with pride!

Sadly, but the latest incident in a growing gallery of shame...

Photo: Joshua Trujillo

You don't have to take a very close look at these photos to see the work of bullies.The first fat bastard sprays a dozen people because he knows they're completely non violent, pose no threat, and has his boys in full riot gear to bust ass in his stead even if he did somehow face retribution. The second- jeez, an armed terrorist mugs a little ol' lady, basically... for laughs. The final coward strikes from the anonymity of the crowd- a very well armed crowd of thugs. Brave fuckers all, going that extra mile to protect decent people like you and me.

Photo: Randy L. Rasmussen

WTC Memorial

Few man made creations ever live up to their expectations, but the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center is one of the few that do just that. Beautiful, contemplative, a most fitting (if not stunning) piece of architecture that will serve to honor and remember those needlessly sacrificed in that most tragic of events. Everything about it works as it should: the names, the water, the sound, the size, shape, proportions and multilevel platforms make for a most moving experience.

I wish the same could be said for the armored narwhal looking behemoth being built beside it.

Portraits Of Resilience- Marco Grob

An hour before I was scheduled to leave NYC for JFK, I accidentally wondered into The Milk Gallery after my last tour of NYC's High Line, and caught Portraits of Resilience by Marco Grob. They're extremely large B&W portraits (4 feet high I'd estimate), and never have I seen such resolution in images so large (a remarkable enough feat on its own).

They're minimalist portraits, most against a white backdrop, others against black; some full length or from the waist up, others featuring only the subjects' faces. I usually don't care much for the latter, since they often tend to read like anonymous 8X10 model head shots devoid of adequate form, depth or distinction- but such is most definitely not the case here. Even these tightly cropped images compel you to not only look at them, but look into them. Mr. Grob accomplishes this in a threefold manner: through his highly selective use of lighting, the aforementioned resolution extraordinaire, and the most vital attribute inherent to any exceedingly worthwhile portraitist- the ability to cajole, coerce or facilitate some small nuance of emotional resonance (no matter how subtle) that brings it all to life.

Fortunately, for six bucks you can get the TIME commemorative issue (Sept. 19; Beyond 9/11) with over two dozen full page, high quality reproductions of said portraits. Think of it as a small but highly exceptional book of photographic portraits (which is exactly what it is)- and for twice the price you can get this. Featured are many of the major and minor players of our post 9/11 world- some heroes, some the most incredible of survivors, others still- lying, murderous bastards who in a just world should have been photographed in prison. You won't come away as did I after seeing the original wall sized prints, but appreciate them you will, nonetheless.

9/11 Plus 10

It's hard to gage the general feel of the 9/11 tenth anniversary here in NYC, not having lived here of late. Unfortunately, the ceremony had a Members Only feel to it since it was only open to family members- and because of ongoing construction, understood. The public was kept at considerable distance, corralled and cordoned off blocks away. Perhaps things have evolved to a more personal, individual manner of reflection here, or perhaps the general public has just moved on, as life throughout history has demanded. But I can't help shake the feeling that the city itself could have done more to include its citizenry in the commemoration of an event which so profoundly changed this city, and the world...

9/11- Ten Years After

9/22/01- Liberty St, NYC

It's been a long ten years since 9/11, many of the things I grew up with in NY are forever gone or changed. Many New Yorkers, like myself, sometimes forget how we "hated" those twin towers, those bland, overgrown metal boxes that only seemed to get in the way of the view, the neighborhood, the city itself- only to belatedly learn just how much they had become part of our everyday NY identity upon having them so violently torn away.

The entire country was united back then, the entire world waiting for us to respond in a manner both positive and transforming. We had the means, the impetus and the good will to lead, set the example, shame those who would commit such atrocities, and reward those aspiring to create a better world. 

WTC, 9/11/06

Instead we had "leaders" who boasted of exploring "the dark side," so called leaders who instilled fear instead of inspiration, who sewed mistrust and bigotry at every opportunity, until hatred and vengeance was all that we saw, all that we ourselves were capable of understanding and perpetrating. Instead of being blessed with those that would lead us into a new century and a new paradigm of how to cope with evil and criminality, we were cursed with the policies of those whose thinking was medieval in reasoning, and every bit as barbaric in practice as those they were supposedly meant to vanquish. Instead of building bridges to those we had previously isolated (and in many cases violated), we fostered a culture of torture, imprisonment, occupation and death. Our penchant for unbridled force and retaliation spread far and wide, even to a country that the President himself finally and reluctantly admitted had nothing to do with 9/11. In "liberating" that country, we killed hundreds of thousands, most of them innocent, many of them women and children- and in so doing managed to create even more of the enemy than had ever previously existed there! Or as one Iraqi put it, "Instead of one Saddam, we now have hundreds."

Photos: Stan Banos

Ten years later we have lost and thrown away a budget surplus that could have taught, healed and built so much of what we so desperately need right here, right now. While contently annihilating the entire infrastructure of one country, we watched our own crumble about us. We spent two to three hundred million dollars a day (if not more) in Iraq and Afghanistan, and were told to go forth about our business and... shop- as those in our stead lost life, limb and brain matter. We metastasized from a country (that at least in theory) decried the very thought of torture, to one that learned to fondle it like some new found masturbatory pleasure for which we would excuse ourselves over and over again. But most of all, we proved ourselves "too big" to admit we went about the whole damn thing, all wrong.

We learned nothing from the hubris called The Bay of Pigs, or the quagmire called Viet Nam (where our legacy of agent orange and unexploded ordinance continues to kill and maim to this very day). Ten years after 9/11 we're all so very pissed- why? Because we were yet again led into a needless and futile war (while fighting yet another) built on the most obvious of lies? No, because the get rich quick scam known as Iraq blew up in our face, while Afghanistan, the game ball from which we diverted our eyes, continues to suck us dry... And now we're stuck with the bill for both.

But on this day of commemoration, let us remember those who died that fatefully tragic morning- we could have done so much better by them.

Victims Of The Future

Just like the Kennedy assassination(s)- (we) will probably never know what the hell REALLY happened before, after or on 9/11. I certainly have my doubts as to everything the "9/11 Truthers" state- but look no further than the actual  9/11 Commission Report for what an official conspiracy theory really looks and sounds like.

As for those that still flat out refuse to consider the possibility that our very own US government would ever perpetrate or even conceive of anything that might possibly harm (or kill) its own citizenry simply for political gain- I once again point you in this direction... And before dismissing the latter out of hand as yet another delusional "conspiracy theory," remember it was a thoroughly researched plan waiting to be enacted at the drop of the President's signature. Feeling a little less secure are ya? Until ya'all do, we'll remain victims of the future- and the past...

Leaving for NYC tomorrow- please, come by Friday for my 9/11 post. I'll be in New York for approx a week thereafter, so I don't know what posting will look like since my only internet access there will be via an Apple store or chance rental, and I'll (hopefully) be busy developing & scanning once back. Peace (and justice)...

Home Sweet Home...

I'll be going home to New York come the beginning of September to visit the folks, and in particular, to be there for the 9/11 ten year anniversary  (unbelievably, 1st responders are not invited to the ceremony). I'll have much more to say concerning this anniversary come the 9/11 weekend (so please tune in then), otherwise the blog will be slow (as in very) for the first half or so of that month since I'll be away in the media capital of the world w/o so much as a computer (save for the rental at the frozen yogurt store across the street from my folks- if still there).

I look forward to seeing the new 9/11 WTC Memorial, although I wish the vast majority of my remembrances of and since that fateful day could all be magically wiped clean- along with the various criminals, liars and crazies that have managed to drive this country down to its very rims as we spark on down that long back road into fiscal, religious and civic insanity.

Actually, regular citizens will not be able to enter the memorial site itself until after 9/ll (it can fit only so many people due to ongoing construction)- and then only with a reservation, which I luckily just found out about through the site above (the museum will not open until 2012).

PS- Anyone wishing to join up for a beer in NYC, do let me know (along with the requisite: pierogies, pizza, bagels, blintzes, potato latkes, cuchifritos, egg creams, etc, etc).

We Never Saw It Coming- Either Time....

We pretty much weathered the stiff right jab of 9/11- and a  stiff right jab does either of two things, either: a) wake you up to what you gotta do, or b) lull you into a semi-conscious dream state where you think you know/don't wanna know. 

We chose the latter...

We panicked preparing for the devastating left hook, and got done in by a series of body blows we never saw and never defended against. We coulda come out looking every bit the champ, instead, we came out smelling like chumps- bankrupt financially, emotionally, morally.