From: SandyTesha@aol.com
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 17:47:35 EDT
Subject: Quick note

Hi everybody,

Today was raining, cold and miserable in NYC. This afternoon at least it's
stopped raining. Tons of flags everywhere today, in windows, hanging/taped
to awnings, flying from cabs antennae. The streets were pretty busy up here,
everyone's really trying to carry on with life.

I will be going to Arturos Restaurant tonight with some friends from Sarasota
Opera to hang out and just be together. Last night my friend Chris (he's a
waiter there) called me from the restaurant, which is located on the north
side of Houston street, which is below 14th street. He said they were
letting no one past the south side of Houston save for some residents who
lived down in the area. The wind was also blowing northerly, and there was a
horrible stench where the restaurant was, and his throat was bothering him.
The staff was all wearing white respirator masks, he couldn't believe that a)
they were open and b) people were actually eating there. Tonight should be
fine as the rain has brought down a lot of the dust and soot in the air,
although from the feed I see on CNN the wreckage in lower Manhattan is still
smoking.

That's about it, things are definately feeling a little better today despite
the crummy weather.

Following is something I heard on the radio this morning, it's worth a read
if you haven't seen it yet.

Love,
Sandy

>> >
>> > To quote Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto after the surprise
>> >attack on Pearl Harbor: "I fear all we have done is to awake a
>> >sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. and so they
>> >have.......
>>
>> >
>> >We'll go forward from this moment
>> >by Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald
>> >
>> >
>> >"It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words
>>that
>> >help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this
>> >moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the
>>only
>> >thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be
>> >addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.
>> >
>> >
>> >"You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.
>> >"What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our
>> >World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would
>> >learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.
>> >"Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.
>> >"Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.
>> >"Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.
>> >"Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family;
>>a
>> >family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a
>>family
>> >nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous
>> >emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing
>>dress,
>> >a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled
>>by
>> >the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe
>>because
>> >of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe
>>entitlement.
>> >We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate.
>>We
>> >struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the
>> >overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and
>> >loving God.
>> >"Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes
>>us weak.
>> >You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that
>> >cannot be measured by arsenals.
>> >"Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're
>> >still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still
>> >working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect
>> >from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom
>> >Clancy novel.
>> >Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable
>>final
>> >death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of
>> >terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the
>>history
>> >of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.
>> >"But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making
>>us
>> >fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last
>> >time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such
>>abrupt
>> >and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage,
>> >terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we
>>will
>> >bear any
>> >suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.
>>"I
>> >tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as
>> >you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to
>> >tremble with dread of the future.
>> > "In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation,
>> >fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and
>> >what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be
>> >heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll
>>go
>> >forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too.
>> >Unimaginably determined.
>> >"You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect
>>of
>> >our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On
>> >this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.
>> >"As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as
>>Americans,
>> >we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
>> >"So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me
>>that
>> >maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's
>>the
>> >case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange:
>> >You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You
>>don't
>> >know what you just started.
>> >
>> >"But you're about to learn.">> >
>> >Friday Night at 7:00 p.m. EST step out your door, stop your car, or
>>step
>> >out of your establishment and light a candle. We will show the world
>> >that Americans are strong and united together against terrorism. Please
>> >pass this to everyone on your e-mail list. We need to reach everyone
>> >across the United States quickly.
>> >
>> >The message: WE STAND UNITED - WE WILL NOT TOLERATE TERRORISM.
>> >
>> >We need press to cover this-- we need the world to see.
>> >
>> >

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