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METAFORIX MAIL Volume 2, Issue 3 September 14, 2001 Sites and insights for the Information Age We share
the shock and grief of our fellow New Yorkers and fellow Americans in
the wake of Tuesday's attacks on our country and our way of life. CONTENTS AT A GLANCE: ON
MY MIND: New York, New York ON MY MIND [From the Editor] Tuesday morning, I heard a low-flying plane. It sounds like a bomb's about to drop, I thought fleetingly, before remembering the vivid World War II movie I had watched the previous evening. I chastised myself for my too-vivid imagination. Not two minutes later, my neighbor phoned with the news. A plane has hit the World Trade Center. Click. The remote. Click. CNN. Click. The end of American innocence. The start of a way of life we had convinced ourselves we could avoid. Here on West 11th Street, we're almost at the (arbitrary) top of Lower Manhattan. A mile from where the Twin Towers stood. Close enough to hear the wails rise from the street when each tower collapsed. Close enough to smell the choking fumes when the wind blows from the south. Our local hospital, just two blocks away, is St. Vincent's, the closest major trauma center to the site. We're close enough to hear the ambulances. Close enough to notice how very early Tuesday night the constant wail of sirens stopped. Close enough to begin grasp, sooner than most Americans, the magnitude of grief the silence must portend. Down the street is the New School University, an early information center for families seeking news of loved ones. Even Thursday morning -- after the family assistance operation had been shifted to larger quarters at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue and the University had been reopened to students -- blue police sawhorses remained in place, draped with flyers, imploring passers-by for news of the missing. Following the attacks, many hundreds of neighborhood residents converged on St. Vincent's, volunteering their blood, their time, and their services. Despite the long, often fruitless waits, would-be volunteers remained good-humored and persistent. Somehow, there seemed nothing unusual about a casual greeting from Cardinal Egan, cutting through the line on his way to a press briefing. Nothing strange in the sudden appearance of an SUV, caked in the grey residue of the explosion and accompanied by four docs on foot, slowly making its way to the ER. Nothing remarkable about an amateur filmmaker, accompanied by his interviewer wife and their toddler in a stroller, conducting impromptu interviews with visitors from abroad. Nearby, the lengthening queue of family members completing missing persons forms snaked around the hospital complex. Their dazed, grim expressions kept the rest of us mindful of our good fortune. As the new reality continues to sink in -- along with the bomb scares and transit delays, the dearth of newspapers and unpredictable phone service, the transient waves of anxiety for kids in faraway cities and gratitude that, so far, everyone we know is safely accounted for -- one old canard may finally have flown the coop: the myth of the hardboiled, uncaring New Yorker. This city, in all its diversity and complexity, has marshalled its collective kindness, determination, and spiritual energies in the face of tragedy and in full view of the world. I've never been prouder to be a New Yorker. Your comments are welcome. Please e-mail Lois C. Ambash, editor@metaforix.com
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INFORMATICON Living
With Risk "If we want to honor bravery, we will all ratchet up our tolerance of risk just a little bit."
Blood, Time, and Money These are a few resources for updated information on how to contribute to the relief efforts in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon:ResearchBuzz 911: Tara Calishain has developed an excellent general resource on all aspects of the tragedy. This section is devoted to volunteer efforts. New York Times Resource Navigator: Look here for specific information about relief efforts in NYC. Washington Post: Look here for DC relief efforts. All of these pages also have links to resources for families and loved ones who need assistance.
A Unique Changing of the Guard America's
many friends around the world have rallied to our side in many tangible
and intangible ways. Britain shared our grief -- and marked its own sorrow
at the loss of some 100 British nationals -- in an unprecedented way.
At a special ceremony on Thursday, for the first time ever, the Star Spangled
Banner was played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
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Volume 2, Issue 2 August 27, 2001 |
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