[thechat] Palestinians

Sean German seanmgerman at yahoo.com
Wed Sep 12 17:01:09 CDT 2001


Howdy,

I agree with Dave 100%.  The US of A is a target for
such terrorist attacks because of our actions.  Or
rather one action in particular.

We support the state of Israel.

That is why we are such a target, yet some of our
allies (you know who you are) have not faced similar
attacks, or not in such frequency.


OK, as payment for some heavy posts, a little
reminiscing on the best damn city in the world.

Let me tell you about my favorite view of the New York
City skyline.  There is a highway that runs
north-south through Brooklyn and Queens parallel to
the east side of NYC.  Locals know it as the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE).  Not the most
creative naming job in the world, granted.

The roadway is raised so the southbound lanes have a
clear view of the skyline (we yanks drive on the
right).  At night, when all the buildings are lit up,
there ain't anything like it.  It runs from mid-town,
north of the Empire State Building, all the way to the
southern end of Manhattan, below where the towers used
to be.

I've driven this road hundreds of times.  As a highway
it has got to be one of the worst in a city of bad
roadways.  Full of potholes, always plenty of debris
getting kicked up by the traffic--a great place to
loose a hub cap or get a windshield crack.  

And the traffic, oh boy!  I don't know if it's by bad
design or just location, but even when other major
roads have even traffic flow, the BQE will be
bumper-to-bumper.  When I worked in Queens I commuted
about 35 miles into the city.  I had a coworker who
lived in Brooklyn and took the BQE to work each day
for a commute of about 5 miles.  Our commute times
were about the same.

But countless times I would drive a longer route to
take this horrible road with the terrific view.  On a
clear night you can see the top half of the Empire
State, and could see most of the towers and the
Chrysler Building.  You can see where mid-town turns
into the high-rise tenements of the lower east side,
the lower east side yields to the skyscrapers of Wall
Street.

I always somehow managed to avoid hitting another car,
but I'd drive looking straight out the side window. 
The incredibly tall buildings dwarfed by the true
skyscrapers.  The lights of the city.  A big King Kong
balloon holding on to the peak of the Empire State. 
My definition of a site that takes your breath away.

I've spent most of the day at the computer with the tv
on (I don't think the local stations have taken a
break for commercials since before 10 am yesterday)
and a couple times felt the tears well up.  I fully
expect to right out cry the first time I see that
skyline with out the familiar towers.


Another note, at various points of the 20th century
the US of A had 6 different buildings be the world's
tallest  (the Woolworth completed in 1913, Chrysler
1930, Empire State 1931, Tower 1 1972, Tower 2 1973,
and the Sears Tower completed 1974).  5 of those
graced the NYC skyline.  2 are gone forever.


Sean G.



--- Dave Fitch <lists at dere-street.com> wrote:
> "Bill" <bhaenel at twcny.rr.com> said:
> 
> >But I can't help but to feel that Martin (and
> others' - not to 
> >target Martin personally) are too focused on all of
> the terrible 
> >things America has done to others, and trying to
> make it seem like 
> >we had it coming. We didn't.
> 
> I think the general point [not that I'm trying to
> put words in 
> anyone's mouth or anything] is not that you had it
> coming, but that 
> what happens to you as individual Americans will
> invariably be shaped 
> by your history, and by what you individually and
> collectively do as 
> a 'nation', and which includes the impacts of your
> foreign and 
> defence policies - which are allegedly carried out
> on your behalf, 
> and by the activities of 'American' corporations.
> 
> Individuals invariably have little if any influence
> over such things, 
> but almost always bear the brunt of their
> repercussions, which is one 
> of those awful facts of life which was the real
> story of yesterday's 
> carnage.
> Dave
> -- 


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