Hat tip to Jihad Watch and blogger, Stranahan, for sharing this one with the world.  An “occupy” protestor who goes by the name “Ralph” said (on camera) that he hopes “9/11 happens again right now”.  The interview seems strange though, because he points at a building that he said the plane could hit, and I’m pretty sure he would perish if such an attack would have happened.  Check out the video below, and be warned… Ralph has a potty mouth. (PROFANITY alert)

What do you guys think?  Did they just catch Ralph on a bad day, or do you think it’s possible that some of these protestors would be okay with another 9/11 happening today?  As proponents of free speech, we can’t take away his right to say it, but words like this sound pretty cold to me.

Let us know in the comments below, or you can catch us on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter too.

The first show was broadcast across his internet TV channel as America was revisiting the 911 Muslim terrorist attacks on America in memorials across the nation. Beck’s first target was President Obama’s fake jobs bill and our economy.

THE TRUTH About Our Economy

Next up, Beck takes on The Muslim Brotherhood, creeping Sharia law and the disgraceful perversion of the civil rights movement by the radical social engineering puppets within our society and very own government!

Glenn Beck is now free from the censorship of the big government media puppets and big corporation political correctness that masquerade as the mainstream news organizations of today. Like him or hate him, Beck delivers hard-hitting, fact-filled exposure of big government and their propagandist brainwashing of the dumbed down masses by controlling the media, with an always-present dose of historical context and reality that is hard to deny. Love him or hate him, realists can not deny the value of Glenn Beck’s shows in helping to expose the radical Socialist element of today’s fake Democratic Party in America.

Note: Glenn Beck’s new TV show is free for the first two weeks when you sign up here. Free, no strings attached, cancel at anytime.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), said today the fact that prayer and Scripture were key ingredients in the 9/11 remembrance at Ground Zero shows how wrong Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in refusing to reverse a ban prohibiting religious leaders and prayer from being part of the official ceremony.

“Despite the Mayor’s ban, prayer permeated the solemn and sacred remembrance at Ground Zero,” saidJay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. “We heard from nearly 40,000 Americans who supported prayer at this event. And, in the end, even with the ban in place, President Obama, former President Bush, and former New York City Mayor Giuliani – understood the importance of including prayer in their remarks – prayer for those who are still suffering from the nation’s worst terrorist attack – prayer for our nation. In spite of the Mayor’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the importance of including prayer, the fact is that prayer and Scripture played an integral part of this memorial event and for that we are grateful.”

The ACLJ sent Mayor Bloomberg a letter signed by nearly 40,000 Americans declaring their support for prayer at the event and urging him to rescind his ban.

In his remarks at Ground Zero, President Obama read Psalm 46, which begins with, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

Former President George W. Bush read from a letter written by Abraham Lincoln in 1864 to a mother who lost five sons during the Civil War. Lincoln ended the letter saying, “I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”

And former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani read from Ecclesiastes. As Giuliani put it: “The perspective that we need, and have needed, to get through the last 10 years, and the years that remain, are best expressed by the words of God as inscribed in the book of Ecclesiastes.”

Fleeting as it may be, unity in a free society is a commodity more valuable than all the gold, silver, bronze and platinum put together, and in that moment, it was ours.

As it should, over the days, weeks, months and years, the monitors returned to their own stories, yet on those brief occasions, we see the same image – perhaps from different angles, perhaps with different lighting, perspective, depth and focus, but the same nevertheless. And nothing helps us focus on a common image quite like music does.

Ten years ago, I was a band director; a small band in a small town, about 20 miles west of the University of North Carolina and Duke University. Mebane, in Alamance County was a bedroom community for the triad area and Eastern Alamance High School had a small group of musicians, about 40, who would make the commitment to lug instruments back and forth to school along with all of their other textbooks, rehearse all week and perform for a halftime crowd that was more interested in getting a hot dog that watching a little band. We had been working on an entertaining little show for the 25 people who would actually paid attention – and then the planes hit, lives were lost, many taken, some given. Without words, we knew our world had changed, forever. Still we got instruments out and attempted to practice, yet nothing came out, no music, only sobs. We comforted each other the best we could, but the gift of music that God had bestowed upon would not flow that day.

But only that day.

As true to the American Spirit, we came off the canvas swinging. We finished out the season, playing our entertaining show to the best of our ability. Yet like so many, we didn’t know how to respond to the attacks, to our trepidation about the future and to the voices of those who could no longer speak.

That would change.

The following spring we began work on a new composition. One we knew would not be performed by anyone but us, something to which we could claim total ownership. At first they were notes, then they became phrases, then sections, then movements. Finally a composition forged from pain, anguish, anger, sorrow, vengeance, compassion, determination, love and tenacity was born. American Heroes – Fallen and Risen was premiered in Mebane, at Eastern High in the spring of 2002 and over the next months it transformed itself into a field show, not just penned by one composer, but by 43 students and several staff and parents who contributed passion, energy and time to their new creation – their voice. It was premiered one year to the day of the most vicious attack perpetrated on American citizens. For the next 3 months, we found our voice and shared it with thousands of people, not just for halftime crowds (much more that 25 now), but for veterans, active personnel and even those who lost someone on 9/11.

We didn’t change the world, just our little part of it and, perhaps the way we view it. Moreover, we found the voice that had eluded us on that fateful day. It was our counterstrike, it was our contribution. It didn’t have an impact on the vast majority of those who were living on planet Earth at the time, but it had an impact on us.

We never received national attention, just local, but that was never our intent. We just wanted to do what citizens of this great nation have always wanted to do from her creation – let our voices be heard.

There are stories of 9/11 that are more dramatic, more heroic and more significant, but this is ours and no one… no one, will ever take it away. It is emblazoned into our hearts, just like that day, but where there were nearly 3,000 less voices in the world, there were 43 voices, in a small town in North Carolina, who spoke and continue to speak for them.

Live for those who no longer can do so for themselves. E Pluribus Unum.

The following is a compilation video of media coverage of our premiers and performance and American Heroes – Fallen and Risen.

Brian D. Cook
Director of Bands, Eastern Alamance High School, 2001

What do you notice about this picture?

photo via theatlanticwire.com

UPDATE: Scripture makes this picture worth a lifetime!

A bright and beautiful Tuesday morning, 8:46 am was the moment the world we knew ceased to exist. Sixteen minutes later, there was no doubt in any of our minds that America The Beautiful was under attack! It was indeed a day like no other!

Ten years ago, our world was forever changed. Two strong towers that the we would never have imagined could fall fell mere minutes after impact. One fell in less time than most have for their lunch hour- 56 minutes; the other in less time than the average movie- 102 minutes. When they started to fall, it took only 12 seconds. We looked on in disbelief that this was reality- the news- and not the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

The official number of those killed in the attack is 2,819. This number alone is staggering! It is nothing less than mass murder, no matter how you try to explain it. The statistics are overwhelming!

Many have tried to make excuses for the mass murderers, but there is no acceptable excuse. Murder is murder, whether it’s under the guise of ‘misguided beliefs’ or not. Political Correctness may try to gloss over the facts, but we will never allow it!

The memory of these lives will never be forgotten! Never!

Here are just a few of the statistics from that fateful day. It is a part of America’s history that we must never allow to be diminished.

9/11 by the Numbers

Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343

Number of NYPD officers: 23

Number of Port Authority police officers: 37

Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402

Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614

Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115

Bodies found “intact”: 289

Body parts found: 19,858

Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000

Total units of donated blood actually used: 258

Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609

Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051

Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20

Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200

Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98

Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124

Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100

Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6

Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81

Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion

Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million

Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion

Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion

Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion

Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million

Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered “inappropriate” to play after 9/11: 150

Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

__________

Source:

9/11 By The Numbers

Visit their website

I searched for awhile for an image or two to insert into this post, and realized that I don’t want any images here except for the one that is in my heart tonight. I avoided all pictures, posts, and media coverage of the memorials today. My memorial is in ten years of September 11ths that have seen my children grow and my life go on, while so many others did not. It is a guilt that I think many of us never admit to when we relive this day every year. I have talked to enough people, been to enough events, and read enough to know that we DO relive it. Sharing the “where were you” stories is our own form of apology to those who did not get to go on, to see their children grow up, to those who did not get to have children, or see grandchildren. We share, and no matter how many years pass, that sharing and reliving will never ease that unspoken guilt that is there. In sharing, though, we also come together again as we did in those days following the attack on us all.

Like everyone reading this, my life changed forever on that morning. I was a workaholic then, already addicted to my life on the web. I happened to be home that morning because my, then, only child had just had his tonsils removed. He was sleeping, I was online chatting with a friend via ICQ and getting together a list of things that had to be done that day during my time away from the office, and planning a party. September 11th is my ex-husband’s birthday. We weren’t married then, and I was excited to be finalizing the first surprise party of my planning for him. It was really a great morning, and a lifetime ago.

During my back and forth on ICQ, I got a message that plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. The person I was talking to worked at a bank in Manhattan. He sent that message and then another right after. I will never get the sight of those words on my screen out of my head. The second message said “Oh God. Do you know how many people are in that building?”. I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything, except that I should go turn on the television.

I surfed news channels until something came up live and began to watch the speculation about the plane, the cause, the possible damage and loss of life. I watched and speculated myself. I got a few more messages from my friend who said he was going to the break room to catch the news and he would keep me posted. The next thirty minutes where the most vivid of my life. They stand out more than my wedding, than giving birth four times. This is no special story, everyone reading this has one, but I have to relive it, too.

I called my father and then I walked into my sunny kitchen, still speculating along with the newscasters, and filled my coffee cup. I was halfway across my living room, eyes on the television, when the second plane came into view. I saw it hit the second tower, live, while I was on the phone. I dropped my coffee cup, hit my knees and said into the phone, “Daddy, what is happening?”. I had not called my father “Daddy” in probably twenty years before that moment, and I have not since. I remember him very slowly saying ” I don’t know.”. Then there was a small hand on my shoulder and a raspy voice in my ear asking me if he could have a popsicle, because his throat hurt very much. He was four then. I hung up the phone and one look at my son told me the truth of what I had not grasped while seeing it happen live. I may have hurt him a little by scooping him up and holding him so tightly while I dissolved into sobs. I know I terrified him. He must have asked if I was okay twenty times before I loosened my grip on him and got a little bit of one on myself. I stood up, my knees soaked in coffee, and took him into the kitchen and away from the television. I remember purposely not looking back then. I had someone to take care of, someone who would ask a million impossible to answer questions about what had happened and why it scared me so much. It happened that way, of course. The rest of the day was spent like many of yours: unending news coverage, a roller coaster of emotions, conversations with friends and relatives and co-workers. We cancelled the party. It was a long time before we had another on his birthday.

As I write, it is already September 11th in New York. My new online friends have been sharing all day. I read their tweets, but didn’t respond to any of them. I read the memorials go by in my timeline and read every word of every one. Each was a reminder that there are children who are now ten or eleven or twelve who do not remember their parent or parents. That there are people who are ten years older and wonder if they might have had a grandchild in the last ten years if not for the day that changed every single life in this country. We all think these things, we all relive. I watched you all do it all day on Twitter and Facebook today.

Try to remember to not only relive, but to live. Really live.

It was a bright, sunny Tuesday morning.  I awoke from a good night’s sleep around 7:25am Central time that day.  It was a day I was off from work, chalk full of appointments and other things that sometimes must happen on a weekday.

I got out of bed, kicked on the TV, which was tuned to Fox News at the time, and headed to the restroom to freshen up.  When I came back into the bedroom, I glanced over at the TV and saw a live shot of the New York skyline.  The weather that morning in New York was much like it was at my home, 2500 miles away.  It was a clear, sparkling day, a day like so many others.  This day, however, would be different.

It was September 11, 2001.  The live shot I was looking at was of the World Trade Center towers and one of them was on fire.  It seemed, at the time, that a small plane had somehow veered off course and crashed into the tower.  I stood there for a minute or two and took it in.  It was interesting, but the story obviously had to develop before more was known, so I went on about my business.

I went out of my room and found my dad.  I told him about the World Trade Center and grabbed something to nibble on.  I went back to my room and sat down at my computer to browse the, at that time, fairly young Internet to see if anything interesting was there.

Meanwhile, the TV was still on in the background, and I heard John Scott commenting on the World Trade Center incident.  I got out of my chair and stood not more than 18 inches from my Sony 27” CRT TV that was pretty close to state of the art at the time.

While standing there, I saw a second plane, coming from right to left on my TV screen heading towards the towers.  Then it happened.  In what felt like slow motion, I watched the plane impact the second tower and flames shoot straight out the other side.  If I didn’t know I was watching the news, I would have thought it was a special FX shot from an action movie.

At that moment, I heard John Scott say, “This has to be deliberate, folks”, and I could only stand there.  I couldn’t move.  I couldn’t breathe.  I just stood there and watched with utter horror, shock, disbelief, and a number of other, sometimes, conflicting emotions that I just wasn’t able to process at the time.  That image is forever burned into my mind and I will never forget it, even if I wanted to.  I continued to watch the TV all day long, skipping all of my appointments.  I waited anxiously to hear what President Bush was going to do about this.

Flash forward 10 years.  This Sunday is the 10^th anniversary of that horrible day.  This week, the government released information on a credible plan to hit us again on or around the anniversary.   While something may not happen this time, it is yet another reminder that there are people in this would who will stop at nothing to try to destroy this country.

So many Americans have fallen back asleep.  Many who proudly flew American flags and proclaimed loudly in the days and weeks after 9/11 that they, too, would never forget, have, by their actions, forgotten.  One day out of the year they may allow themselves to be reminded of those horrible events, but the rest of the time, they choose not to be bothered with the truth.  They’d prefer to watch their reality shows and read the latest celebrity gossip news on TMZ.

This 9/11 and every day after that, let all of us remember with humility those who were taken from us on that bright Tuesday morning.  To the 2,976 men, women, and children that died on that day:  We made a promise to never forget you, and those of us that haven’t will make sure that the rest of us can’t.

Previous guests of Tim Connolly’s Winning Strategies (formerly Corporate Strategies) have included CNBC “Mad Money” Host Jim Cramer, Gamco’s Mario Gabelli, Muriel Siebert, U.S. Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain, Texas oilman Lester Smith, ATP Oil & Gas CFO Albert Reese, Envision Capital Management CEO Marilyn Cohen, Presidential Candidate and CEO of Huntsman Corporation Jon M. Huntsman, Consolidated Graphics CEO Joe Davis, Enterprise Products CEO Dan Duncan, Celgene’s CEO John Jackson, Landry’s CEO Tilman Fertitta, former Compaq CEO Eckard Pfeiffer, Money ManagerLouis Navellier, former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, Changewave’s Tobin Smith and many others.

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On September 11, 2001, then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta faced one of the toughest decisions of his career — ordering the grounding of all domestic air traffic for the first time in United States history following deadly attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

On a special edition of the TxDOT Podcast commemorating the 10th anniversary of the September 11attacks, Secretary Mineta reflects on his actions to make air travel more secure. The episode is scheduled to post at noon CDT on Thursday, September 8.

In the days that followed, as investigations looked back, Secretary Mineta was charged with looking forward and improving security for the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Mineta, now global vice chairman for Hill and Knowlton in Washington, D.C., also talks about the legacy the September 11 attacks left on United States transportation in the interview.

Mineta served as Secretary of Transportation during part of President Bill Clinton‘s second term and both of President George W. Bush‘s terms. He’s the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation since the cabinet position was created in 1967.

Prior to his service as Secretary of Transportation, Mineta spent 20 years in Congress and served as mayor and city councilman for San Jose, California. As a Congressman, he chaired what is now the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was a key author of the landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, the first significant federal surface transportation legislation in the post-interstate highway system era.

TxDOT’s free podcasts are produced weekly and address a variety of transportation issues by talking with industry experts and business leaders. In the last four years, TxDOT has posted more than 100 transportation-related podcasts including interviews with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, former Speaker of the House Dick Gebhardt and energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens.

All podcasts are available for download on TxDOT’s website and on iTunes. New episodes (with the exception of this week’s special edition podcast) are posted each Friday at noon.

“The incredible patriotism displayed in the days, weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks helped pull America through some very tough times,” said AmericanFlags.com President/CEO Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds. “American flags adorned every home, school and business in the fall of 2001, but now many have disappeared or are flying in a tattered state,” he said. “At AmericanFlags.com, we want to do our part to ensure that EVERY American properly flies the American flag in support of freedom and in support of those here and abroad who still to this day are fighting to preserve our safety.”

The free American flags being distributed by AmericanFlags.com are regulation-size 3′ X 5′ printed flags that generally sell for $14.99 on the site. Quantities are limited to six per person and customers pay only for shipping and handling. AmericanFlags.com is owned and operated by Precision Marketing Solutions, Inc., a privately held corporation based on Long Island, just outside of New York City. AmericanFlags.com features American flags of all sizes as well as historic flags, military flags, state flags, world flags, sports flags and decorative garden banners. Visitors can claim their free flags at http://www.AmericanFlags.com.

The Pew Research Center report stated that on September 5, 2002 97 percent of surveyed remembered where they were when they learned of the situation. In 2006, 95 percent surveyed remembered and just last month (August 2011), 97 percent remember.

But with all situations, there are skeptics. Some studies say that people forget or replace important details within the recollections. Even though some details may be skewed, certain details of that day are certainly there.

On May 1, 2011, news of Osama bin Laden’s assassination would hit the airwaves. In the same survey, in August only 81 percent surveyed remembered exactly where they were at the time of Osama’s assassination. Obviously, these memories are not quite as vivid as 9/11.

Do you have a flashbulb memory of what you were doing when you learned of 9/11?

For me, it was a nice Tuesday morning on September 11, 2001. Our base safety inspector and I were conducting a unit safety inspection. As we walked into our next shop, breaking news on the TV caught our attention. We witnessed smoke bellowing out of the World Trade Center building. It was reported that the plane deviated off course. As we were baffled with such incompetence, we witnessed the second plane disintegrate into the second tower. As we stood in shock, the inspector received a call to return to headquarters.

Ten days later, I would deploy from a somber, almost lifeless nation. Nothing moved, everything was closed, airplanes grounded except for the ones we were boarding as we deployed to the Middle East. Six months later, I would return to a United States so unified and patriotic it was amazing; there were patriotic songs and flags flying everywhere. It was quite a different nation than when I’d left. …and one different from now. But these memories of my return aren’t quite as clear as the ones I recollect on that nice September day in 2001. Brian Evans

That was August of 2001. Three weeks later, on September 11, the world changed forever, and so did I.

I was driving into Chicago from my home of Gary, IN (30 miles southeast). I was modeling at a trade show for printing presses. Yes, it was just as exciting as it sounds. I had been driving in silence for some reason for most of my trip, but as I crossed into the city limits I turned on the radio to Mancow Muller’s morning show, just in time to hear him say, “This is not an accident, ladies and gentleman. Mark my words, you will forever remember where you were on this day”. He was talking about the passenger jet that had just crashed into the World Trade Center. As Mancow rehashed the details, I dismissed his warnings as on overreaction – shock jock talk from the Chicago personality who was famous for his conspiracy theories. Then the second plane hit. Mancow told me, and the abject terror in his voice made me begin to scan the Chicago skyline in search of wayward planes ready to fly into the Sears Tower or the center of downtown. “We are under attack, folks. America is under attack” .  I’ve been a fan of Mancow for a long time. He has a big mouth and he tells a lot of stories. I was scared, but I still wasn’t sure how serious the whole situation really was.

I pulled into the convention center lot and headed straight for the bar of the attached hotel. I needed to find a TV screen. It was packed. Strangers stood shoulder to shoulder as they watched the horror unfold before their eyes. Some people were crying. I saw the burning towers, and suddenly realized the debris falling from windows nearly 100 stories high was not actually debris, but people. I wept too. A man whom I had seen at the trade show the day before caught my eye. He knew I was pregnant and he made room at his booth for me to sit. We watched in stunned silence together. We tried to make sense of the rumors that there were more planes in the air, missiles loaded with people and fuel, ready to kill. We saw the Pentagon burning. Then the first tower fell – oh, who among us could ever forget that image? I screamed out loud and turned to my companion “Are there people in there?” I cried. He looked at me sympathetically. It was such a foolish question, but he seemed to understand that I just couldn’t process what was happening. He nodded. By that point I’d had all I could take. I was watching people, Americans, die before my very eyes and there was not a damn thing I could do to help. I hugged my still flat tummy and prayed, “Lord, I’m so scared. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t understand what’s going on. But please, I just need to see this baby.”

September 11, 2001 – that was the first time I felt like a mother. I suddenly, shockingly understood what it felt like to be a parent; to have no other concern above protecting the life of my child; to have no other desire then to kiss and smell and hold the life that love had created; to be so desperate to shield my child from harm that I would do anything, ANYTHING to see my baby.

As American authorities slowly began to stabilize the crisis, many of us went back to work. The trade show was an international event, and for the buyers and marketers this was a terrible tragedy, but not an international one. I chose to stay and earn my day’s wage, but I stayed as close to the televisions as I could all day. My drive home that evening was lonely. It was the tail end of the typical rush hour but the famously congested Dan Ryan Expressway was nearly empty. I sailed home, and thankfully so. I needed to see my husband. I raced in the door and straight into his waiting arms. He hugged me tightly and told me he was so glad I was finally home. We were together, and that made things seem a little more tolerable for the moment. I thought about all the people all over America who were greeting each other the exact same way. Most of us were in no immediate danger and yet we all shared the same fear that day. It wasn’t just New York City and the capitol that had been attacked – America had been attacked, and we were all Americans; and we were all scared.  Suddenly, in just hours, there was no need more pressing then the need to hold who we loved – tightly.

It seems unreal that it was ten years ago. For me, the pain and the fear are still so very real.  My tears have not yet dried. I weep, still.

Mancow was right. We will all remember where we were on that horrifying morning. For many Americans, 9/11 represents the day when we were all briefly united on one accord, with one common concern and common cause. For others, 9/11 represents the day when America became more than just an idea to take for granted. For others still, it is the day when the people they loved most in the world left for work, but never returned home. For every American alive that day, it means something.

As for me, I’ll remember 9/11 as the day my whole world shifted. That is the day I experienced my first maternal pangs, the ones I had worried I would never possess. Among the wreckage and carnage and utter horror, this mother’s heart was finally born. And I will never forget that. I will never forget.