Tuesday Open Thread: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center

Submitted by phillybluesfan on Tue, 09/11/2018 - 5:00am

Open Thread_33.jpg

Someday we may be able to contemplate the meaning of September 11th ... without inserting hyper nationalism and blood thirsty demands for revenge.

New York, a documentary film. Episode eight, The center of the world

The final segment in an 8-part series chronicling the history of New York City from 1609 through 2003. Episode eight: Chronicles the rise and fall of the World Trade Center, whose epic fifty-year history sheds new light on every theme and issue in the city's long march to the center of the world. The episode comes to a climax with the harrowing events of September 11, 2001 and the extraordinary response of the city's people to the worst crisis in their history.

* I hope you watch the entire film ... before contributing your thoughts to the conversation

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tuesday open thread

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Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/11/2018 - 6:44am

NY, the center of the world

Interesting concept. Haven't watched, so won't comment. But...

Although not a topic for polite conversation, nor a widely recognized ‘acceptable’ issue for mainstream academics and journalists, the issue of 9/11 and the multiple questions that persist with respect to this transformative event continue to bubble under the surface. 9/11 ushered in the global ‘war on terror’, shaping the geo-political agenda of Western governments for almost two decades now and having a deleterious impact on civil liberties across Western liberal democratic states. Torture has been used as part of official policy and there is bulk data collection and surveillance of entire populations.

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question everything

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Tue, 09/11/2018 - 8:40am

I haven't watched the film, but don't need to to reject the idea

that NY is or ever was the center of the world, except in the minds of some New Yorkers.

As to 9-11, I've known what that's all about since 1973 and have a brief post concerning it scheduled for a bit later today. It is archetypal, an exemplar of an oft recurring phenomena, and a horrible one. It is a brief glimpse of the cesspool underlying our hypernationalism and exceptionalism and the exaltation of the narrow interest of a few elites over the needs and rights of any and all of mankind.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by eyo on Tue, 09/11/2018 - 5:18pm

I watched it, the whole thing.

Thanks phillybluesfan, that documentary was interesting. It made me emotional. I watched the whole thing without popcorn, pretty interesting how history gets written by the victors, and to them go the spoils.

After almost three hours I was kind of pissed and disgusted at the politicians, again. From the beginning the WTC project was a boondoggle, every one who made money didn't care, was complicit. Including the steelworkers, who helped destroy evidence after it collapsed, I think.

From JFK to 911, everything is a rich man's trick. Cui bono? Always the same few global assholes, while masses suffer. Governor Cuomo at the end was especially puke worthy I think, and the guys who wanted to rebuild the biggest, the best, because ego. They are all playing on the emotions of sheeple, it never ends. meh

peace