"When I despair, I remember that all through history
 the way of truth and love has always won. There have
 been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem
 invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think
 of it, ALWAYS."

         - Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

ON-LINE EMERGENCY TERRORIST INFORMATION
CAN'T CRY HARD ENOUGH

New "NEW YORK aerial view"

An aerial view of the World Trade Center area released by the New York City Office of Emergency Management
Wednesday, September 19, 2001

From:  Gaylon Ross <logross@sccoast.net>

    As per usual, my thoughts seem to be a bit like a kaleidoscope's images, constantly changing.  I cry for the dead and dying and rejoice
in the knowledge that many were spared.  Sometimes my thoughts go back to Thanatopsis, the poem by William Cullen Bryant.
I don't have a copy, but, if my memory of some fifty years ago is still intact, this is the portion which I remember. If I did disremember portions, please excuse my far from perfect memory.  Perhaps you too can recall it from your days in English literature 101.



 

.
"So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious real, Where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
'Thou go not like the quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
Bu an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
.

For reasons which I have never understood, I have always remembered this segment.  In a way, perhaps even morbidly, this has
been with me and, to some extent, is my credo.  I can hope that all of those whose lives were so needlessly snuffed out did so live.
Yet, I dearly hope that those 19 men and all of those men or women who assisted them, those who were responsible for the horrible massacre of innocents, may suffer for all eternity.  No matter their fanatical devotion to the evil side of mankind, I have no
compassion for them.
    One of my granddaughters works in New York, not too far from the WTC.  I was pleased to learn that she is alive.  She says
that there is the smell of death in the air.  I remember hearing some of those who were in the midst of battles and the aftermath of
battles say that the smell of death was much worse than the battles themselves.  A couple of days there appeared a picture and
a write-up in the Sun News of a son of a friend of ours.  He was a local captain in the fire department and he immediately went
to NY upon hearing the news.  His father raised him well. There are so many faces in this tragedy.  I am particularly sorry for the
unjust treatment that some of our citizenry have endured lately, those patriotic citizens who were also Muslims.  If we must hate,
then we must learn to hate only individuals whose actions who are such a discredit to their faiths.  It is sometimes difficult for
me to fathom the distinction between deeds of evil done for good and deeds of evil done for bad.  By now you have all read
the stirring remarks made by the Canadian citizen regarding the United States of America.  Apparently they were penned in or
about 1978, but they are certainly as timely as then.  Here is also a copy of a letter from another of our citizens.  I have not
traced it back to the source, but, regardless, it should be read and understood by all of us.

 . 
"I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on
KGO Talk Radio today,  allowed that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing
to do with this atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage.

     What else can we do?" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we "have the belly 
to do what must be done."

     "And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan, and
even though I've lived here  for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there. So I want to
tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I'm standing.

     I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these
people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done about 
those monsters.

     But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan.  They're not even the government of Afghanistan.
The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political
criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And
when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps." It's not only
that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators.
They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of
international thugs holed up in their country.

     Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they're starved,
exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering. A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are
500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food.

     There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves. 
The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few of the 
reasons why the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban. We come now to the question of 
bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it
already. Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses?  Done. Turn their
schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? 
Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already
did all that.

     New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely.
In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away
and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast, they
don't even have wheelchairs.  But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike
against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with 
the Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time

  So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The
only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops.  When people speak of "having the belly
to do what needs to be done" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. 
Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out
of the sand. What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans
would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that 
folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan.

Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim
nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a world war between Islam and 
the West. And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants. That's why he
did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right there.  He really believes Islam would beat
the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the West,
he's got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with
nothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point of view.  He's probably wrong, in
the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and millions
 would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that?  Bin Laden does. Anyone else? "
 AUTHOR: Tamim Ansary"
.


A sailor says a tearful goodbye to his wife before the deployment of the USS Theodore Roosevelt at Norfolk Naval Base
Wednesday morning, in Norfolk, Va. Wednesday, September 19, 2001

    As I said, I am not certain of the origin but the author's point of view is well worth considering.
First in Viet Nam and then during the Gulf War we heard the term "collateral damage".
I don't think that I understood the gruesome meaning until I heard Timothy McVey use the term
to describe and justify the wanton killing of innocents.  I fear that evil begets evil no matter how
"noble" the cause.
    I  received a forwarded email from a friend of mine.  It was a reminder that, for expediency,
all governments have at times had strange bedfellows.  We sponsor violence in other countries
without sometimes considering the fallout at later dates.  This was even true for us in Afghanistan.
 Alliances at the governmental level are like my kaleidoscopic images, constantly forming, changing
and reforming.
Anyway, we can all hope that it is indeed possible to eradicate terrorism worldwide knowing that in some
instances it is even impossible to define the meaning of the word.  Some governments and even religions
attempt to define the world as either black or white.  Would that it be so, but, mostly, the real world is
described in shades of gray.
    So, we move onward, hopefully to a better world.  Pray for all of those who have suffered and who
have died so needlessly and keep those flags flying proudly and the candles burning in the night. I am
including a couple of attachments even they do not reflect on the
horrible tragedy of 911.


Supporters of the fundamentalist, pro-Taliban party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam shout slogans during an anti-U.S. rally in Karachi
protesting the possibility of U.S. attacks on Afghanistan.  Thousands took to the streets in across Pakistan to protest against the U.S.
  Thursday, September 20, 2001


"AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"   A collection of cartoons
Understanding Osama bin Laden
F B I Ten most wanted Fugitives
Ussamah Bin Laden
T E R R O R I S T   A T T A C K   R E S O U R C E S
Bioterrorism: The Next Threat?
The Black Day    A collection of Photos
More Photoes on September 21
AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
More WTC Pictures

The following is from Maureen Dowd of the New York Times.  If one strips Ms. Dowd's distrust of the present administration, the
admonition regarding the Trojan Horse is a reasonable one.  The continued support of the Bush's policy against international terrorism
will require diplomatic aplomb unheard of in the past.  It is a mine field of contradictions between the nations of the world.  We can
only wish them well, but the task is a daunting one.  Hopefully we can achieve, at least to a limited extent, the eradication of terrorism
as an individualistic or nationalistic policy.  In that respect we are indeed at a crossroads, a war against dark forces that would hope
to destroy us and our ideals.  I hope that we can achieve national security, internal as abroad, without sacrificing any of the liberties
on which this country was founded.  Freedom is so difficult to achieve, but, unfortunately, so easily lost, let's hope that we don't
throw out the baby with the wash water.


.
"OLD RUSES, NEW BARBARIANS"
.
By MAUREEN DOWD

The most famous story of the Western world, the prototype of all tales of human conflict, Barbara Tuchman writes in
"The March of Folly," is the Wooden Horse.

              Despite repeated warnings, the Trojans relaxed their guard and let their fortress be breached.

After the Trojans feasted and fell asleep, the hidden Greeks emerged. "Mad with murder," Homer
wrote, they wielded their swords and hacked men andwomen to "the last thrust."

The moral: Invaders can also win by cunning, deception and their adversaries' complacency and trust.

We are chilled as we learn more about how the Middle East terrorists mad with murder breached our walls
and lived brazenly among us for years, mocking our hospitality, exploiting our freedoms. Training at our flight
schools and at Gold's Gym; casing Logan Airport; loudly warning that "America's going to see bloodshed"
while spending up to $300 apiece on lap dances and drinks at a Daytona Beach strip club, where they left
behind a copy of the Koran.

Last spring, when the president was letting Dick Cheney run the country, he also put him in charge of 
coordinating a domestic response to terrorism, saying that the threat of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons
was "very real" but "not immediate." No one ever heard about that group again.

On "Meet the Press" Sunday, the vice president conceded that the unspeakable air attack had caught the
government by surprise, even though "there had been information coming in that a big operation was planned."

It's hard to know why our government was so clueless.

The tactics of warriors in the mountains of the treacherous Khyber Pass,  where we may soon send
American troops to war, no longer include such medieval barbarities as cannibalism and giving the breasts
of captured virgins to senior Mongol commanders.

But the guileful guerrilla methods of Central Asian warriors have stayed the same since the 13th century.
Consider this description by Peter Hopkirk in "The Great Game": "The sheer speed of their horse- borne
archers, and the brilliance and unfamiliarity of their tactics, caught army after army off balance.

Old ruses, long used in tribal warfare, enabled them to rout greatly superior numbers at negligible loss to
themselves. Time and again their feigned flight  from the battlefield lured seasoned commanders to their doom."

Why were we so blind? Osama bin Laden recently made threats in the London press. Islamic zealots have
repeatedly shown their willingness to get to heaven — a heaven where 70 virgins await each "martyr" —
by committing homicide even as they committed suicide. They already tried to topple the World Trade Center
eight years earlier. Much of the Arab street abhors the United States. The kamikaze pilots during World 
War II showed how easy it is to turn a plane into a weapon. Middle East C.I.A. analysts, not even required
to speak Arabic, should at least be expected to have as much imagination as Hollywood screenwriters.

The F.B.I., C.I.A. and I.N.S. knew some of the terrorists were in the country, but their turf battles helped
the terrorists slip through the cracks. A chorus of experts, former lawmakers and journalists had been warning
that the U.S. should have a homeland defense plan.

This week, when Bush diplomats should have been riveted on the hard work of building an alliance against
terrorism, Under Secretary of State John Bolton went to Moscow to insist that the reluctant Russians come
aroundon missile defense.

As long as they cling so tenaciously to their cold war theology, it will be hard for the Bush crowd to engender
the trust we need outside the country and accomplish the radical revamping we need inside.

The man who during the campaign mistook the Taliban for a band and could not identify the leader of Pakistan
has come a long way. The president recognizes the epic and daunting nature of his quest to rid the world of
evildoers.

Speaking to senators last Thursday, Mr. Bush asked, What's the sense of sending a $2 million missile to hit a $10 tent
and a camel in the keister?

              One might also ask: What's the sense of rushing to create a $60 billion defense shield to protect against a Trojan horse?"

I have been listening to Dick Estelle? on the PBS Radio Reader.  At the present time he is reading from a book authored by our former president, Jimmy Carter, in which Mr. Carter describes his early years.  He talks about finding indian arrowheads and pottery artifacts
in the fields of his father's farm in Georgia.  When I was growing up on the Eastern Shores of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware I still
remember being able to go out and find such artifacts.  Such items can date back thousands of years.  They are reminders of
civilizations which are now almost forgotten.  These civilizations must have had much that was good, but there are few written records remaining.  We, the immigrants, in our religious zeal, labeled these races as savages and hence gave excuse for our zealous eradication
of them.  Whenever I hear someone talk about getting rid of "them" or "sending them back to the land from which they came", I am
reminded of FDR's (former president Franklin D Roosevelt) salutation to a group of DAR convened for their annual meeting: "Fellow
immigrants, ---".  This simple statement should have caused some of the audience to reflect.  The three religions faiths of Jews,
Christians and Muslims, all with a common heritage, attempt to create a brotherhood of all mankind.  At the same time zealous
members of each have wallowed in the self glory of extermination, all too frequently justifying this madness with religion quotataions.
  The successful eradication of terrorism is a small, but necessary, first step in this brotherhood of mankind.  Let's hope that from the
madness of the WTC bombings, we can like the Phoenix, build from the ashes, not just a better USA but a better world.
    Like the rest of the nation, we are looking at the happenings in the stock market.  Our government is concerned about the problems
with transportation, particularly air transportation and, rightly, the Congress will use a portion of our nation's wealth to help the airlines
survive.  It may not happen, but it would be nice if the widely espoused "trickle down theory" will extend into the fabric of the little guy,
the smaller shop keepers, the families of the fallen heroes (not just the heroic firemen and the policemen who are no longer with us
but all of those whose lives are forever scarred by this harrowing experience.Again, keep the faith and do good deeds.


New York firefighters continue to battle blazes at the World Trade Center more than a week after the attack
Wednesday, September 18, 2001


9-20-2001
The weather this week has been quite delightful.  Perhaps we should be thankful for small favors.  However, it is an interesting statistic
that the weather following the departure of a hurricane is also delightful.
This Friday I will venture on a golf course, the first time since the 911 attack. I received a phone call from Fred (a friend) last night.
Fred said that he was hopeful that he would be able to return toWachesaw and play golf with the group.  He is hopeful that the
medical staff will be able to stabilize, even eradicate, the cancer.  I know we all hope the best for Fred.  I find that I am still like the proverbial ship without a rudder as to the WTC bombings. I am thankful that Colin Powell is the Secretary of State.  He seems to
be asking for restraint until we first know all of the facts, secondly have all of our ducks in the water and thirdly that the goal is doable
. At first I was unhappy with the appointment of Powell as Secretary of State, he being of a military background.  Actually, in retrospect,
it was a very good choice.  I saw a cartoon the other day suggesting that Bin Laden was a cockroach and that our president was the Terminex Man.  Calling Bin Laden a cockroach is, of course, doing a great deal of disservice to the species, cockroach.  Which
reminds me, do any of you remember Archy and Mehetabel?  Archy  was a cockroach who could type messages on a typewriter.
 If you recall the messages, actually blank verse, were all in lower case since Archy couldn't use the Cap key.  Mehetabel was an
alley cat.  The column appeared in the NY Evening Sun commencing around 1916.  They were the brain child of Don Marquis and
it was on his typewriter that the messages were written at night and read by him in the morning.  The verses were sometimes of a
stinging satirical nature, usually discussing the foibles of life in a big city.  They were a sort of an early Pogo or Doonsbury nature.
 As I recall it there was even a stage play relating to their adventures and the early cartoon Krazy Kat was a takeoff.  Of course I
don't remember the original publications, but there was a book or two of the compilations.  Strange how certain events cause one to
recall others.  Anyway, in this scenario, Archy, the cockroach,  was the hero.
    After my brief W.W.II outing, I was going to graduate school and, needing the extra money, I joined the "weekend warriors",
knowing full well that there was only one war per generation and that I had had mine.  I was, therefore,  unpleasantly surprised to
get the letter from the US Navy suggesting, in no uncertain terms, that I become "active" again.  The Korean conflict was our
first foray into the save the world mold after W.W.II.  It ended with a stalemate.  Perhaps it accomplished something good,
but many lives were lost.  Our next really big disaster along the same mold was in VietNam. Despite the enormous loss of life,
for us it was almost a total defeat, really the only one in the short existence of our country.  Since then we have had small
excursions into solving the world's problems, usually with overwhelming might on our side.  However even here the results are
a mixed bag. This was true in Dessert Storm.  It was a success to the extent that, with a more or less united front, we did free
Kuwait, but, as now most historians agree, we may have stopped too soon.  Now once again we are in a global war, aptly
named by our president.  I must admit that I believe that we would be justified in eradicating from the face of our planet, those
responsible, directly or indirectly, with the dastardly bombings and other similar acts of terrorism.  That is the black and white
of it, a simplistic description of our right to retaliate.  I think that most of you know that I am not a strong proponent of the
concept of black and white, i.e. fundamentalistic, simplistic thinking.  My father was a Methodist Protestant minister, later just
Methodist, who believed that his bible, the King James version of course, was the only religious tome subscribed to by God.
 This was interesting in that he was somewhat of a scholar in Greek theology, etc.  One of his beliefs, to my dismay, was his
belief in the "spare the rod, spoil the child" theory, although, to be quite honest, I did usually deserve the punishment.
 My father was actually a kind man, but, being from the eastern shore of Virginia, he was never able to completely accept the
concept of the Negro being truly equal to his white brethren.  Along the DelMarVa Peninsula the Negro population and the
original Indian population had become somewhat amalgamated over time.  The only thing lower than the Negro was the
Negro/Indian offspring.  I can remember as a teenager being at Oak Orchard on the Indian river and seeing a drunken white
split open the head of a Negro/Indian with a boat oar.  The police weren't even called; after all....... When I was an
undergraduate I was engaged to a young lady who died of peritonitis as a result of untreated appendicitis.  It was
untreated because her parents, not her, believed that it was God's will and one shouldn't interfere with this.  She died because
she didn't want to "dishonor" the religion of her parents.  No, I hate simplistic, fundamentalism but at least probably here and
on foreign soil that is what we are facing in our attempts to eradicate terrorism.  We must understand that "the enemy" truly
believes that acts of terrorism are condoned by his God and, even though he die in the process, he will
forever be cherished and rewarded by his god in his heaven. The following is a letter which I received.  I can very well
understand the emotions, but I don't care for the all-inclusive salutation, nor the almost casual statement that we will "get 'em"
without really considering the consequences, on our side.

The smell of death in the air


 .
"  September 12, 2001

     Dear Osama Bin Laden, Yasser Arafat, and Sadam
Hussein, et. al., We are pleased to announce that we unequivocally
accept your challenge to an old-fashioned game of whoop-ass.
Now that we understand the rule that there are no rules, we look
forward to playing by them for the first time.

     Since this game is a winner-take-all, we unfortunately are
unable to invite you to join us at the victory celebration. But rest
assured that we will toast you -- LITERALLY.

     While we will admit that you are off to an impressive lead, it
is however now our turn at the plate.

     By the way, we will be playing on your court now.

     Batter up.

     Sincerely, The 270,000,000 citizens of the United States
of America           AUTHOR: Hari Mudd".
.

Imagine the un-imaginable!!!


Maybe it does cause us to wave the flag proudly, but..... I usually
don't approve of the editorial writings of William Safire but the
following should give us thought to consider.
.
Equal Time for Hitler?

 By WILLIAM SAFIRE

WASHINGTON -- The primary source of information for the average Afghan is
the radio, often a transistor made 30 years ago.  The 20 transmitting towers of the Taliban's
Radio Shariat (meaning "Islamic law") are spewing out hatred of America all the time.

Why is there no Radio Free Afghanistan broadcasting the truth about the consequences
of harboring the headquarters of terrorism?

Why are Afghans not told that their rulers' decision to hide Osama bin Laden is the direct
cause of the withdrawal of U.N. relief and the starvation that they now face?

Why are the voices of revered, mainstream Muslim clerics not broadcast denouncing
the perversion of Islam by the terrorists, and reminding the faithful that murder by suicide
will lead not to heaven but to eternal damnation?

Before a single bomb is dropped on a suspected training camp, the U.S. should be doing
what it knows best how to do: using psychological warfare to weaken the grip of the
terrorists on the local population.

We are failing to make life more difficult for the terrorists in their caves because the
Bush war planners have not thought of it yet. The chairman of the Broadcasting Board
of Governors, overseer of our several official overseas broadcasters, is an amiable
Gore fund-raiser long awaiting replacement. The Voice of America leadership is even
more vacant.

Which U.S. government broadcaster should be charged with stirring anger among
Afghans at rulers eager to bring further devastation to their country? That mission
of countering Radio Shariat's propaganda should go to RFE/RL, the "radio free"
outfit experienced in acting as a surrogate free press in repressive nations like
Iran, Iraq and China.

But evenhanded journalists at the V.O.A., backed by political holdovers on the
Broadcasting Board, don't want those hard sell types invading their turf.

The V.O.A. broadcasts to Afghanistan with fine impartiality in the Dari, Pashto,
and Arabic languages, and yesterday stepped up its time on the air; RFE/RL
broadcasts only in Turkmen and Uzbek, understood in Afghanistan's north, where
our problem is not.

In the squabble over a measly $15 million in expansion money, here is why
the V.O.A. is the wrong voice in this area in wartime:

On the day after the twin towers catastrophe, a V.O.A. reporter in London
broadcast an account of two interviews. One was with a cleric who "warns that
no accusations against Islamists or Arab groups should be made before
knowing the full truth." This was "balanced" by an interview with Yasser al
Serri, identified only as "a leader of Egypt's largest Islamist group, the 
Gama'a Islamiyya, which has worked to overthrow the Egyptian government."

Listeners were not informed that this terrorist group killed 58 foreign tourists and 4
Egyptians four years ago. The reporter said that al Serri "warns that retaliation by
Washington will only lead to more violence.  He lays the blame for the unprecedented
assault on the U.S. financial and military policy in the Middle East."

Stung by criticism of this broadcast, Andre de Nesnera, the V.O.A.'s news director,
admitted that the extremist was improperly identified, but argued that for the agency
to remain "a credible news organization," such interviews with terrorists "will be part
of our balanced, accurate, objective and comprehensive reporting, providing our
listeners with both sides of the story."

After a call from Jesse Helm's office protesting "equal time for Hitler," the bureaucrat
warming the vacant V.O.A. director's seat issued a belated guideline that "we will not give
a platform to terrorists or extremist groups."

The nation is on a kind of war footing.  Even in peacetime, news credibility does not flow
from splitting the moral difference between good and evil. In the climate of today's undeclared
war, private media in democracies are free to take either or neither side, but U.S.
taxpayer supported broadcasting is supposed to be on our side.

That's why we need an American signal in Afghanistan's five languages with a clear, truthful message: Bin Laden and his gang are the cause of present and future misery, and the 
suicides who murder innocents are eternally punished by Allah.

And for the Pentagon's choosers of "targets of value": consider, in the first strike, the score
of towers and mobile transmitters of Radio Shariat. 

.

    Unfortunately we don't have the option, any of us, of "stop the world, I want to get off".
We can only hope that our leaders will lead us to a better world.!!!!!!!!

.
The Binch 

       By: Rob Scuggs, Childrens' Author and Illustrator 
       Date: September 13, 2001 

       Every U down in Uville liked U.S. a lot, 
       But the Binch, who lived Far East of Uville, did not. 
       The Binch hated U.S! the whole U.S. way! 
       Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say, 
       It could be his turban was screwed on too tight. 
       Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright 
       But I think that the most likely reason of all 
       May have been that his heart was two sizes too small. 

       But, Whatever the reason, his heart or his turban, 
       He stood facing Uville, the part that was urban. 
       "They're doing their business," he snarled from his perch. 
       "They're raising their families! They're going to church! 
       They're leading the world, and their empire is thriving, 
       I MUST keep the S's and U's from surviving!" 

       Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's, 
       Would put on their pants and their shirts and their dresses, 
       They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
       And abide by their U and S values and rules, 

       And then they'd do something he liked least of all, 
       Every U down in Uville, the tall and the small, 
       Would stand all united, each U and each S, 
       And they'd sing Uville's anthem, "God bless us! God bless!" 
       All around their Twin Towers of Uville, they'd stand, 
       and their voices would drown every sound in the land. 

       "I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk, 
       And he had an idea--an idea that might work! 
       The Binch stole some U planes in U morning hours, 
       And crashed them right into the Uville Twin Towers. 
       "They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour, 
       "And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?" 

       The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleeping, 
       All set to enjoy their U-wailing and weeping, 
       Instead he heard something that started quite low, 
       And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow-- 
       And the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing... 
       And he couldn't believe it--they started to sing! 

       He stared down at Uville, not trusting his eyes, 
       What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise! 
       Every U down in Uville, the tall and the small,
       Was singing! Without any towers at all! 
       He HADN'T stopped Uville from singing! It sung! 
       For down deep in the hearts of the old and the young, 
       Those Twin Towers were standing, called Hope and called Pride, 
       And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside. 

       So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall, 
       With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small, 
       And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope, 
       For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope. 

       For America means a bit more than tall towers, 
       It means more than wealth or political powers, 
       It's more than our enemies ever could guess, 
       So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless! 

By: Rob Scuggs, Childrens' Author and Illustrator
.

The more I read and think about the events starting with 911, the less certain I am of my true feelings. As of now there have been
approximately 300 persons  who might have been connected with tuesday's bombing.  These terrorists are mostly in our own country,
but they do include others throughout the world.  Last tuesday over seven thousand completely innocent people died because of the fanaticism of a few madmen.  Nineteen of these gave their lives for their cause, whatever it may have been. We have all read about the inability of our federal and local law personnel to capture just a few of our own home grown criminals.  Now we are engaged in a world wide search for all international and national terrorists.  Let's hope that the posse is successful, but it is a bit like hunting for needles in
many haystacks, without knowing where these haystacks may be. It is probably true that all of these fanatical individuals together total
less than that seven thousand.  There are many, many more thousands in countries throughout the world who demonstrate against the
United States.  Ironically, most of these are poor souls whose fears are fanned by, again, a few madmen.
Ironically on "both sides" they, and we, are beseeching God to be on our side in a just cause.  God must be very confused at this point.
 No, I am certain that he has "taken sides", but His confusion must relate to how mankind can so easily be deluded by those
fundamentalists, both religious and secular, who do bad deeds in His name.  No, the world is not black and white.  I wish it were,
since then choices would be so easy to make.  We, our country, will embark upon a just crusade to eradicate terrorism from the face
of this planet and in the process, almost certainly, many more thousands of innocent people will be killed or injured.  It is sort of like the
dead rabbit.  It makes not a damn to him that he was killed in a sporting fashion while running or killed while sitting.  He is no less dead. Although the cause may be true and just, there is really little likelihood that it can ever really be successful.  Terrorism, whether within
or without, is a fact of life. We may kill, or at least bring to justice, all of the principles of this current dastardly deed, but irrational hatred
is such that it is self perpetuating.  It is a phoenix; it smolders for a while and then erupts again, sometimes when it is least expected.  It is unfortunate that the human race isn't as good at espousing brotherhood for all as it is good at waging war.  Maybe, like the lemmings and their apparent desire to commit suicide, self destruction is our fatal flaw. Why is it so much easier to pull a trigger than it is to embrace
our neighbors?
    As is always true, some of our finest young men and women will die in this current process of saving the world.  I wonder how many
times that rallying cry has been used, and we are still trying.  Yes, this time it is a bit different.  We have had destruction rained down
upon us, on our home soil.  In other wars we have known families who have lost loved ones, and we have sorrowed by the loss, but,
mostly these were those lost in direct combat and our homes were not attacked.  Last tuesday there was a difference.  Those who lost
their lives were just going about their daily routines.  They became heroes and martyrs, not of their own choosing.  It was a destine thrust
upon them. Yes, there was a decided difference and we have a right to be outraged.  We all hope that our administration will be able to make us feel more secure again and that the guilty will be punished.  What is different, this time, is that we don't really know the face of
the enemy, but we certainly do know him from his deeds.  I just pray that we will have at least a modicum of success and that our losses
will not be excessive.


More from ny cyberfriend:  Gaylon Ross <logross@sccoast.net>

I just finished listening to our President and cabinet members  I am more happy with the current rhetoric than the "dead or alive"
of a previous speech.  I fear that I am barbaric enough in my thinking so that I would not be too disturbed if those responsible
for the planning of the bombing of the WTC and the Pentagon were eliminated.  However, GW's analogy of the old west
"dead or alive" poster reminded me of the  posse organization as depicted in most of the western movies, where a hastily
"legalized" band of citizenry raced out to catch the mangy varmint and hang him at the nearest cottonwood tree.
Today, the President outlined a plan wherein they they would attack the fiscal roots of terrorism.  This is a good first step.
 The following is a bit of newsprint which I came across.  I think that it is authentic although I haven't checked completely.
====

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-000075191sep19.story
 

Afghanistan Is Like Nothing You've Ever Seen, Soviet Vets Say <<...OLE_Obj...>> Strategy: Soldiers who fought there
warn the U.S. to expect daily deliveries of coffins and few targets other than villages.
 

    I fear that there  no good can result, whatsoever, in evil, regardless of whether it is designated for good or not.  I hope that our
administration has gotten over the "we will bomb them back to the stone age" mentality.  If one accepts the somewhat questionable
premise that most humans, regardless of their past despicable acts, can be "saved", then somehow we must be willing to at least try
the carrot approach rather than the stick.  I find myself being more certain than ever that we have the good fortune to have Colin
Powell as our Secretary of State.  Even though of military background, I think that he, more than most saber rattling civilians,
understands the healing power of diplomacy.  In this day and age, countries, as well as individuals, have strange bedfellows.  For
some it is not so much a question of "what have you done for us" but "what have you done for us lately".   Even though I "know"
that we are the salt of the earth, I can understand some of the feelings of distrust, even hatred, which exists in the Middle East.
When we take sides for expediency without considering the inevitable consequences of an uneven handed approach, we must
expect that type of reaction.  In other words, for every action there is a reaction, so we must be careful that we aren't the ones
to start an avalanche.  Yes, bring to justice those responsible for wrong doing, but be careful that one doesn't bring more evil to
the innocent, including those without hope.


An article in the Wichita Eagle about Afghanistan quoted an Afghanistan woman, who, in her misery said she hopes the first missile
that strikes kills her and all her family to relieve them of their suffering.  I can't help but know, we are complicit in this woman's pain........surely  we can do better than death and destruction.....

Cathedral of Hope Prayer Ministry

Devotion for Wednesday, September 26, 2001 written by Rabbi Moshe
Waldoks, Temple Beth Zion, Brookline, Mass.

Why not try this?
An interesting proposal for responding to the attack of last week:

A military response, particularly an attack on Afghanistan, is exactly what the terrorists want. It will strengthen and swell their small
but fanatical ranks.

Instead, bomb Afghanistan with butter, with rice, bread, clothing and medicine. It will cost less than conventional arms, poses no threat
of US casualties and just might get the populace thinking that maybe the Taliban don't have the answers. After three years of drought and with starvation looming, let's offer the Afghani people the vision of a new future. One that includes full stomachs.

Bomb them with information. Video players and cassettes of world leaders, particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism. Carpet
the country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror of terrorism committed by their "guest". Blitz them with laptop computers and DVD players filled with  a perspective that is denied them by their  government. Saturation bombing with hope will mean that some
of it gets through. Send so much that the Taliban can't collect and hide it all. The Taliban are telling their people to prepare for Jihad.
Instead, let's give the Afghani people their first good meal in years. Seeing your family fully fed and the prospect of stability in terms
of food and a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return is that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world. That includes handing over terrorists in their midst.

In responding to terrorism we need to do something different. Something unexpected. Something that addresses the root of the problem.
We need to take away the well of despair, ignorance and brutality from which the Osama bin Laden's of the world water their gardens
of  terror.
Prayer: God, today make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. And where there's doubt, true faith in You. Amen.





PRAY FOR PEACE - Prepare for War!!!!!!
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Last edited 12-29-2001