The world has found out just what America is made of. They have seen that in times of strife we pulled together, just as our name says...
The United States of America!!!
No matter what our differences are, we are pulling together, to stand as:
One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL!
With the evil that has invaded our lives, I find so many things changing. There is a whole generation of people that don't know real war. Like we have been pushed into. I was 18 when the Vietnam War ended. I have heard, as most of my generation has, about what it was like during WWII. I guess we are about to find out, first hand.
They have said that this is something that you would remember where you were when it happened. I was taking Chris to work. I heard the report of a twin engine plane hitting the World Trade Center. They didn't make it out to be much. At least I didn't understand what was happening and neither did they. I went on home and then saw it on the TV. I watched in horror and disbelief. I felt that I was in a Sci-Fi movie. I have always said that I can handle all the blood and guts of a good gross out film because I know it isn't real. But what I was watching was very real. I know that our parents heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the radio after it was pretty much over. Not only did we hear what was happening, but we got to see it, as it happened. A whole country was shocked by what they were seeing.
I had to go to work that evening. I work on a Mental Health Crisis Unit. Whew, I wanted to be there, but as a patient not a staff member. I was at a loss. What do you tell someone, that is naturally paranoid, that there is nothing to worry about?
No one knows where these events will take us. Not only the U. S. A., but the whole world!
October 6, 2001
Well it's been a couple of weeks and it's had time to sink in. We've had time to grieve for our losses. I didn't know anyone that was murdered that day, but, surprising enough, there are people that I know that have someone in their family that was there that day.
It's effected us all in many ways. The old familiar fears of hearing a plane fly over head and wondering if something is going to happen. Fears that were almost forgotten, from a time when I was only 7 years old, 1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis.
The financial impact this has had on the World Economy is staggering!
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy suffered its steepest job loss in a decade in September, the government said on Friday in a report that showed the labor market was deteriorating sharply even before the Sept. 11 attacks....
...The number of workers on payrolls outside the farm sector sank 199,000 in September. However, this figure largely did not reflect the economic impact of the September 11 airplane strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Employers have cut half a million jobs since March.
By Caren Bohan"
Now for me to start something that has come out of this tragedy... On the 12th, I called the Red Cross about donating blood... I was honest and told them that I am a Gay Male. I was informed that they could not take my blood because of the fact that I'm Gay. The Red Cross representative informed me that the FDA set the guidelines. Any Gay Male that has had unprotected sex, as far back as, 1980 cannot donate blood. Even if they bring a recent negative test result.
I have written the Lambda Legal Defense. I haven't gotten a response yet. When I do I will let you know what happens.
What a difference a Day makes....
(Author Unknown)
On Monday we emailed jokes
On Tuesday we did not
On Monday we thought that we were secure
On Tuesday we learned better
On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes
On Tuesday we relearned who our heroes are
On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived
On Tuesday we gave money away to people we had never met
On Monday there were people fighting against prayer in schools
On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone
was not praying
On Monday people argued with their kids about cleaning up their room
On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids
On Monday people were upset that they had to wait 6 minutes in a supermarket
line
On Tuesday people didn't care about waiting up to 6 hours to give blood for
the dying
On Monday we waved our flags signifying our cultural diversity
On Tuesday we waved only the American flag
On Monday there were people trying to separate each other by race, sex,
color and creed
On Tuesday they were all holding hands
On Monday we were men or women, black or white, old or young, rich or poor,
Christian or non-Christian.
On Tuesday we were Americans
On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses
On Tuesday, grief stricken, they sang 'God Bless America'
On Monday the President was going to Florida to read to children
On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children
On Monday we had families
On Tuesday we had orphans
On Monday people went to work as usual
On Tuesday they died
On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government property
On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking 'Thou
shall not kill'
It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into
perspective, but it has. The lessons learned this week, the things we have
taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked,
hopefully will never be forgotten again.
...This came from a friend of mine.
Thanks Anita!
In case you haven't heard about him yet. Now you will!
Mark Bingham
 In Memoriam Mark Bingham 1970-2001 |
"One of our brothers, Mark Bingham, was tragically taken from us Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, during the terrorist attack on our nation that we are still trying to make sense of. He was one of the 38 passengers on hijacked United Airlines flight 93 that crashed outside of Pittsburgh. He was 31...."
The preceding was taken from the San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Team's site. Mark was a member of the Team. My heart goes out to the team and Mark's family and friends.
We now have what we have been looking for, for a long time... A Gay American Hero! We have had some before, but, what he and other passengers did that day will go down as one of the most courageous acts known to man.
When the time comes for movies to be made about the tragedy, I'm sure that Mark's story will be told. To see what Mark and other aboard Flight 93 click on the link above Mark's picture or the site's link.
NOT ALL HEROES ARE PEOPLE ~ ~ ~
James Crane
worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. He is blind so
he has a golden retriever named Daisy. After the plane hit 20 stories below,
James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of an act of love. She
darted away into the darkened hallway. Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and
the smoke James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later, Daisy comes
back along with James' boss, who Daisy just happened to pick up on floor 112.
On her first run of the building, she leads James, James' boss, and about 300
more people out of the doomed building. But she wasn't through yet, she knew
there were others who were trapped. So, highly against James' wishes she ran
back in the building.
On her second
run, she saved 392 lives. Again she went back in. During this run, the building
collapses. James hears about this and falls on his knees into tears. Against all
known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but this time she is carried by a
firefighter. "She led us right to the people, before she got injured"
the fireman explained.
Her final run
saved another 273 lives. She suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on
all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives. The
next week, Mayor
Guilaini rewards Daisy with the Canine medal of Honor of New York. Daisy is the
first civilian Canine to win such an honor.
Being an American?
Well, I wonder how we can justify going to a country and taking over their government saying that their government goes against Human Rights!!!! Well what is our own government doing????
House Joint Resolution 56, more commonly known as the Federal Marriage Amendment, would add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that forbids same-sex marriages. The measure has not been introduced in the Senate, but Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he supports it.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 that sodomy laws are unconstitutional. June 26, 2003
All we can do is wait and see.
I will be adding on to this journal as time progress' and...
Life Goes On!!!!
If you want to write me and tell me some of your experiences,
or comments about something that I have said...
Return to My Life
