Tootfinder

I remember two American war declarations clearly. The Gulf War/Desert Storm with GHW Bush... I was sitting in front of the little TV in our basement rec room watching him…January 1991
and the day GW Bush invoked Article 5 and declared war on Afghanistan.
I was again, sitting in front of a TV, the only time I went to the home of the parents of my girlfriend at the time.
I remember that day in 2001 thinking, wondering whether it was the right thing to do.
It was right for Canada to abide by the NATO treaty. But the subsequent 13 years and hundreds of dead Canadians, for what is now, the same Afghanistan as before, if not worse, makes it clear following blind rage does not solve anything.
This deAdder cartoon from that time, that he posted on his blog today, is good.
#Sept11 #NineEleven #politics #Remembrance

around this time 25 years ago I was in an IRC chat and people were talking about something that had happened in New York.
The rest of the day is a blur.
Our world really did change that day, and not for the better.
War, racism, and bigotry sprouted from that day like never before in my life and it continues now. We really never recovered as a global society, mainly due to the way politicians used that day to justify actions that had nothing at all to do with Osama Bin Laden while leaving the root causes that gave rise to terrorists willing to murder thousands to fester and grow.
The only positive of that day was the humanity that came together to embrace the USA in its time of shock, grief and mourning. Nearly every country in the world, including Russia and Iran, stood in silence and mourning with the relatives of those killed and the USA itself.
It's that humanity and unity that I'll remember today and celebrate. The other stuff, the world and society destroying stuff, I'll keep doing my best to fight against.
Take care out there.
#Sept11 #NineEleven #politics #Remembrance

Here is a story about the response in Vancouver at YVR.
It was the same at Gander, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax (not sure if there other Canadian airports that turned into refuges)
""I remember going to my manager airside and this is the detailed instructions I gave them: You’ve got 34 jumbos coming, figure out where they can park," Richmond said.
"And they figured it out." "
"It was a team of airport staff, including people who were normally plumbers, carpenters, and electricians. She said it was a similar story all over the airport that day.
"People who work in our offices ... they were working alongside a guy who normally replaces baggage belts," she said. "
"The one word she used to summarize the day: humanity.
"We saw the very very best of it. As we know, we also saw some of the worst of it. But the very best of it so far outweighed the worst of it."
#Sept11 #NineEleven #politics #Remembrance