Oddbean

Where were you on 9/11? I don't remember a lot from when I was a kid, but one day still stays in my mind pretty vividly, and that's September 11, 2001. It started as a typical day at elementary school, but things started to get weird when some of my friends were getting called into the principal's office one by one and leaving school. At the time, I did not know, but these were the people who had family members that worked at the Twin Towers or nearby. Luckily, no one passed away, and a couple of my friends' parents were lucky that day to be away from their office at the time of the strike. You could see teachers talking, and something was completely off about the vibe. This was a time without smartphones; I can imagine knowing what was going on pretty instantly today. The school day went on normally besides that. I acted like a normal kid, just waiting for recess and then missing my friends at recess to dominate the recess kickball game like we usually do. I did not know what happened until I got home, and my dad was home, which was rare. He was in front of the TV, and I saw the planes hitting the building. I was too young and didn't understand why this was happening. The worst video was the people jumping off the building, something I never forgot. Little did I know at that time that it would change the world for the worse, and people would willingly give away so many freedoms for a sense of security. It seemed to bring a nation together powerfully. I also did not know how dangerous that could be if directed by the powers that be in the wrong direction, like starting a war in Iraq. Never forget those that lost their lives from this event, during and after. Also, never forget how they used the event to justify horrible things later, such as the Iraq War, the War on Terror, the Patriot Act, and the TSA; the list goes on. https://i.nostr.build/y99HAv24vkhrJPAy.jpg

In class, a friend told me about it during a break between classes. I though he was joking. Sadly he wasn’t and I could not believe the videos I was watching in the news at lunch time. 🙁 Freedom is not given is taken

I stayed up late back then. The house phone rang early in the morning -- too early. The person on the other end could barely get the words out, "We're under attack. Turn on the news right now!" In a sleep-deprived blur, I clicked the remote to the TV and found the news. Numb, too much to process. Shock. I remember not breathing when the first tower fell. I remember my hot tears, the screams I heard, not just from my apartment, but from those in the complex around me. We watched the live coverage for hours, made calls to our families. I still had to go to work? I was a telemarketer then. It was all so absurd. People at work acting like we just have to keep on because that's what we're being paid to do. I had to pick up the phone, call people, and pretend like they'd inquired about getting new windows for their home. All their reactions were justified. "Why do we have to pretend nothing is wrong?" Of course, I couldn't. I still feel the knots in my stomach, remember the blurred traffic as I drove home, not really remembering when I'd last eaten. I was 25, and I new nothing would ever again be the same. I was terrified.

-Larry Silverstein leased WTC 1.5 weeks before attack for $3.2B and took out an insane insurance policy 2x its value that required 25 different lenders to underwrite. Biggest insurance payout ever. His wife insisted he go to a medical appointment on 9/11 -9/10 $2.3T announced missing from Pentagon budget. Plane hits accounting dept. -3 buildings hit in <1hr -Building 7 fell 7 hrs later in obvious controlled demolition. Structural engineers unanimous. -Leslie Roberts lead design engineer for WTC quoted, “I designed it for a 707 to smash into it” -Hundreds of survivors reported explosions -3 hijackers had Naval Air Station in FL listed as home address on driver’s license -NIST did not test for explosive residues -12 independent researchers for thermite and explosive materials at ground zero