Actually the whole concept is flawed anyway. If I happen to buy a future that some act is going to happen, and enough other people do too such that it registers the sort of "blip" they're looking for, then isn't the idea that they would use that information to try and prevent that act? If if they do manage to prevent it, how is that fair to me as someone who invested in it? Thus there's really no good incentive to participate anyway.
Oh wait, now I get it. The plan must be that if a terrorist makes money off of their own terrorist activities, then they can arrest them for insider trading!
Give this a read. It's a very touching story and to me is an example of what makes us who we are as a nation.
/30/2003 - NEW YORK (AFPN) -- When I told friends about my pilgrimage to Iraq to thank the U.S. troops, reaction was underwhelming at best.
Some were blunt. "Why are you going there?" They could not understand why it was important for me, a 9/11 widow, to express my support for the men and women stationed today in the Gulf.
But the reason seemed clear to me: 200,000 troops have been sent halfway around the world to stabilize the kind of culture that breeds terrorists like those who I believe began World War III on Sept. 11, 2001. Reaction was so politely negative that I began to doubt my role on the first USO/Tribeca Institute tour into newly occupied Iraq where, on average, a soldier a day is killed.
Besides, with Robert De Niro, Kid Rock, Rebecca and John Stamos, Wayne Newton, Gary Sinise, and Lee Ann Womack, who needed me?
Did they really want to hear about my husband, Neil Levin, who went to work as director of the New York Port Authority on Sept.11 and never came home? How would they relate to the two others traveling with me: Ginny Bauer, a New Jersey homemaker and the mother of three who lost her husband, David; and former Marine Jon Vigiano, who lost his only sons, Jon, a firefighter and Joe, a policeman.
As we were choppered over deserts that looked like bleached bread crumbs, I wondered if I'd feel like a street hawker, passing out Port Authority pins and baseball caps as I said "thank you" to the troops. Would a hug from me mean anything at all in the presence of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and a Victoria’s Secret model?
The first "meet and greet" made me weep. Why? Soldiers, armed with M16s and saddlebags of water in 120-degree heat, swarmed over the stars for photos and autographs. When it was announced that a trio of Sept. 11 family members was also in the tent it was as if a psychic cork on an emotional dam was popped.
Soldiers from all over our great country rushed toward us to express their condolences. Some wanted to touch us, as if they needed a physical connection to our sorrow and for some living proof for why they were there.
One mother of two from Montana told me she enlisted because of Sept. 11. Dozens of others told us the same thing. One young soldier showed me his metal bracelet engraved with the name of a victim he never knew and that awful date none of us will ever forget.
In fact at every encounter with the troops there would be a surge of Reservists -- firefighters and cops, including many who had worked the rubble of Ground Zero -- wanting to exchange a hometown hug.
Their glassy eyes still do not allow anyone to penetrate too far inside to the place where their trauma is lodged; the trauma of a devastation far greater than anyone who hadn't been there could even imagine. It's there in me, too. I had forced my way downtown on that awful morning, convinced that I could find Neil beneath the rubble.
What I was not prepared for was to have soldiers show us the World Trade Center memorabilia they'd carried with them into the streets of Baghdad. Others had clearly been holding in stories of personal 9/11 tragedies which had made them enlist.
USO handlers moved us from one corner to the next so everyone could meet us. One fire brigade plucked the three of us from the crowd, transporting us to their firehouse to call on those who had to stand guard during the Baghdad concert. It was all about touching us and feeling the reason they were in this hell. Back at Baghdad International Airport, Kid Rock turned a "meet and greet" into an impromptu concert in a steamy airport hangar before 5000 troops.
One particular soldier, Capt. Vargas from the Bronx, told me he enlisted in the Army after some of his wife's best friends were lost at the World Trade Center.
When he glimpsed the piece of recovered metal from the Towers that I had been showing to a group of soldiers he grasped for it as if it were the Holy Grail. Then he handed it to Kid Rock who passed the precious metal through the 5000 troops in the audience. They lunged at the opportunity to touch the steel that symbolized what so many of them felt was the purpose of their mission -- which puts them at risk every day in the 116 degree heat, not knowing all the while if a sniper was going to strike at anytime.
Looking into that sea of khaki gave me chills even in that blistering heat. To me, those troops were there to avenge the murder of my husband and 3,000 others. When I got to the microphone I told them we had not made this journey for condolences but to thank them and to tell them that the families of 9/11 think of them every day. They lift our hearts. The crowd interrupted me with chants of "USA, USA, USA." Many wept.
What happened next left no doubt that the troops drew inspiration from our tragedies. When I was first asked to speak to thousands of troops in Qatar, after Iraq, I wondered if it would feel like a "grief for sale" spectacle.
But this time I was shaking because I was to present the recovered WTC steel to Gen. Tommy Franks (U.S. Central Command commander). I quivered as I handed him the icy gray block of steel. His great craggy eyes welled up with tears. The sea of khaki fell silent. Then the proud four-star general was unable to hold back the tears which streamed down his face on center stage before 4,000 troops. As this mighty man turned from the spotlight to regain his composure I comforted him with a hug.
Now, when do I return?
(Editor’s note: This commentary is printed with permission from Christy Ferer, a New York native whose husband, Neil Levin, was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Ferer was part of a recent United Services Organizations tour to Iraq.)
Why Allison?...After your Bush bashing of blaming others, he accepts responibility. But then I suppose, you'll put the same liberal, hypocritical spin on it like fold.
You're right JT. Liberals just can't bring themselves to accept the concept of personal responsibility. They do however like to blame actions or inactions on so-called societal or environmental factors.
So, if in their eyes, GW didn't accept responsibility soon enough for them, it must be society's fault...right?
They should be giving him big hugs. "It's not your fault Mr. President."
So Bush admits he screwed up, and that's supposed to bother me?
Bush screwed up? He mentioned an incident that apparently did occur but we simply can't prove it conclusively. If that is the biggest "screw up" that his administration makes he will be the most successful president in history. It certainly doesn't measure up to having sex with an intern and committing crimes to cover it up.
I would agree if there weren't a dozen other reasons. It's not like everything rested upon that one reason.
it's a question of motive...if there were all these good, legitimate reason for it...why weren't they just presenting them? Why use the tactic of making scary claims that the guy was an "imminent threat to the US" if there were all these valid reasons?
Bush gave his opponents an opening big enough to drive a truck through.
The more he says, the more responsibility he shoulders, the worse it's going to get for him.
He has opposition, and they're going to take advantage of an opportunity. If the Democrats were in power, we'd be seeing the same thing from the Republicans.
A smart politician would state their position and say "I'm not going answer any more questions on the subject." You gotta put a lid on things like this. He and his handlers can't seem to do it.
it's a question of motive...if there were all these good, legitimate reason for it...why weren't they just presenting them? Why use the tactic of making scary claims that the guy was an "imminent threat to the US" if there were all these valid reasons?
I think Saddam's past shows they were valid claims. We just can't prove them all.
Oh the proof is coming JT. I think Bush is letting the presidential candidates spout their BS. Then in about 6 months he will lay all the things we have found in Iraq out for people to see. I have been reading rumors of this happening.
Reailze, of course Wolvie, this might involve a scheme at several levels bringing in many people Some of them have to include military people.
Should they be used in such a manner? Should they be required in any way to make decisions and carry out activities in the field to enhance the president's reelection chances?
I'm holding out on that. I don't think an administration values the sacrifices of the men and women in the military as much as this one so publically shows would be capable of such a thing. How could they?
Is to try to build a case that DOCUMENTS show that Saddam would have reconstituted his weapons programs if sanctions were lifted.
But that threat was NOT imminent, and does not justify war, and does not justify dismissing other methods of deposing Saddam.
Face it, the real reason for the war was oil and war profits. And personal revenge. For that, Bush should be impeached. He lied to the Congress in order to make a case for war.
And then there is the Valerie Plame incident, and other dirty tricks. And we aren't yet done with the 9/11 investigation.
I don't doubt you. But if it stops, or the region's destabilized it's enough of a problem. And it would no doubt be worse in other parts of the world, and that would also affect the US economy.
Hoping for a safe and swift return for you cousin, Rob.
Ditto
Jason Lewis is hailing the macabre Pentagon terrorism futures plan as "the beauty of the market."
Is he crazy?
Does he not see that terrorists could actually profit from their own terror acts?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Luv, I wish a speedy and safe return for your cousin.
"Does he not see that terrorists could actually profit from their own terror acts?"
He admitted that is one of the downsides.
Actually the whole concept is flawed anyway. If I happen to buy a future that some act is going to happen, and enough other people do too such that it registers the sort of "blip" they're looking for, then isn't the idea that they would use that information to try and prevent that act? If if they do manage to prevent it, how is that fair to me as someone who invested in it? Thus there's really no good incentive to participate anyway.
"Woo-hoo! Nerve gas in Jerusalem! Cha-ching!"
I think I have a new tag-line for the day.
Oh wait, now I get it. The plan must be that if a terrorist makes money off of their own terrorist activities, then they can arrest them for insider trading!
Catch the press conference today Allison? GW accepted full blame for the bad intel he cited last January.
Probably disappoints you.
/30/2003 - NEW YORK (AFPN) -- When I told friends about my pilgrimage to Iraq to thank the U.S. troops, reaction was underwhelming at best.
Some were blunt. "Why are you going there?" They could not understand why it was important for me, a 9/11 widow, to express my support for the men and women stationed today in the Gulf.
But the reason seemed clear to me: 200,000 troops have been sent halfway around the world to stabilize the kind of culture that breeds terrorists like those who I believe began World War III on Sept. 11, 2001. Reaction was so politely negative that I began to doubt my role on the first USO/Tribeca Institute tour into newly occupied Iraq where, on average, a soldier a day is killed.
Besides, with Robert De Niro, Kid Rock, Rebecca and John Stamos, Wayne Newton, Gary Sinise, and Lee Ann Womack, who needed me?
Did they really want to hear about my husband, Neil Levin, who went to work as director of the New York Port Authority on Sept.11 and never came home? How would they relate to the two others traveling with me: Ginny Bauer, a New Jersey homemaker and the mother of three who lost her husband, David; and former Marine Jon Vigiano, who lost his only sons, Jon, a firefighter and Joe, a policeman.
As we were choppered over deserts that looked like bleached bread crumbs, I wondered if I'd feel like a street hawker, passing out Port Authority pins and baseball caps as I said "thank you" to the troops. Would a hug from me mean anything at all in the presence of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and a Victoria’s Secret model?
The first "meet and greet" made me weep. Why? Soldiers, armed with M16s and saddlebags of water in 120-degree heat, swarmed over the stars for photos and autographs. When it was announced that a trio of Sept. 11 family members was also in the tent it was as if a psychic cork on an emotional dam was popped.
Soldiers from all over our great country rushed toward us to express their condolences. Some wanted to touch us, as if they needed a physical connection to our sorrow and for some living proof for why they were there.
One mother of two from Montana told me she enlisted because of Sept. 11. Dozens of others told us the same thing. One young soldier showed me his metal bracelet engraved with the name of a victim he never knew and that awful date none of us will ever forget.
In fact at every encounter with the troops there would be a surge of Reservists -- firefighters and cops, including many who had worked the rubble of Ground Zero -- wanting to exchange a hometown hug.
Their glassy eyes still do not allow anyone to penetrate too far inside to the place where their trauma is lodged; the trauma of a devastation far greater than anyone who hadn't been there could even imagine. It's there in me, too. I had forced my way downtown on that awful morning, convinced that I could find Neil beneath the rubble.
What I was not prepared for was to have soldiers show us the World Trade Center memorabilia they'd carried with them into the streets of Baghdad. Others had clearly been holding in stories of personal 9/11 tragedies which had made them enlist.
USO handlers moved us from one corner to the next so everyone could meet us. One fire brigade plucked the three of us from the crowd, transporting us to their firehouse to call on those who had to stand guard during the Baghdad concert. It was all about touching us and feeling the reason they were in this hell. Back at Baghdad International Airport, Kid Rock turned a "meet and greet" into an impromptu concert in a steamy airport hangar before 5000 troops.
One particular soldier, Capt. Vargas from the Bronx, told me he enlisted in the Army after some of his wife's best friends were lost at the World Trade Center.
When he glimpsed the piece of recovered metal from the Towers that I had been showing to a group of soldiers he grasped for it as if it were the Holy Grail. Then he handed it to Kid Rock who passed the precious metal through the 5000 troops in the audience. They lunged at the opportunity to touch the steel that symbolized what so many of them felt was the purpose of their mission -- which puts them at risk every day in the 116 degree heat, not knowing all the while if a sniper was going to strike at anytime.
Looking into that sea of khaki gave me chills even in that blistering heat. To me, those troops were there to avenge the murder of my husband and 3,000 others. When I got to the microphone I told them we had not made this journey for condolences but to thank them and to tell them that the families of 9/11 think of them every day. They lift our hearts. The crowd interrupted me with chants of "USA, USA, USA." Many wept.
What happened next left no doubt that the troops drew inspiration from our tragedies. When I was first asked to speak to thousands of troops in Qatar, after Iraq, I wondered if it would feel like a "grief for sale" spectacle.
But this time I was shaking because I was to present the recovered WTC steel to Gen. Tommy Franks (U.S. Central Command commander). I quivered as I handed him the icy gray block of steel. His great craggy eyes welled up with tears. The sea of khaki fell silent. Then the proud four-star general was unable to hold back the tears which streamed down his face on center stage before 4,000 troops. As this mighty man turned from the spotlight to regain his composure I comforted him with a hug.
Now, when do I return?
(Editor’s note: This commentary is printed with permission from Christy Ferer, a New York native whose husband, Neil Levin, was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Ferer was part of a recent United Services Organizations tour to Iraq.)
http://www.af.mil/stories/story.asp?storyID=123005181
Thanks for posting L2F
Catch the press conference today Allison?
No, but I read a bit about it.
GW accepted full blame for the bad intel he cited last January. Probably disappoints you.
Why would it disappoint me?
Dear God, people taking responsibility!
What has this world come to?
when multiple people take "responsibility" for a single mistake...it's probably not a mistake at all.
Who cares? It doesn't change anything. Saddam needed to be taken out.
Hasnt he already been taken out?
Ive been assuming that the "tapes" they've been referring to, lately on TV, is just someone faking like their him.
it's a question of why.
I would agree if there weren't a dozen other reasons. It's not like everything rested upon that one reason.
It's irrelevant in the big scheme of things.
Why Allison?...After your Bush bashing of blaming others, he accepts responibility. But then I suppose, you'll put the same liberal, hypocritical spin on it like fold.
You're right JT. Liberals just can't bring themselves to accept the concept of personal responsibility. They do however like to blame actions or inactions on so-called societal or environmental factors.
So, if in their eyes, GW didn't accept responsibility soon enough for them, it must be society's fault...right?
They should be giving him big hugs. "It's not your fault Mr. President."
After your Bush bashing of blaming others, he accepts responibility.
So Bush admits he screwed up, and that's supposed to bother me? I don't think you understand that this is a win-win situation for me. :-)
So Bush admits he screwed up, and that's supposed to bother me?
Bush screwed up? He mentioned an incident that apparently did occur but we simply can't prove it conclusively. If that is the biggest "screw up" that his administration makes he will be the most successful president in history. It certainly doesn't measure up to having sex with an intern and committing crimes to cover it up.
Any spin will do eh Allison?
it's a question of motive...if there were all these good, legitimate reason for it...why weren't they just presenting them? Why use the tactic of making scary claims that the guy was an "imminent threat to the US" if there were all these valid reasons?
Bush gave his opponents an opening big enough to drive a truck through.
The more he says, the more responsibility he shoulders, the worse it's going to get for him.
He has opposition, and they're going to take advantage of an opportunity. If the Democrats were in power, we'd be seeing the same thing from the Republicans.
A smart politician would state their position and say "I'm not going answer any more questions on the subject." You gotta put a lid on things like this. He and his handlers can't seem to do it.
I'm not so sure - that always worked for Reagan. Bush should have spoken up earlier, however, and it comes across as too late now.
it's a question of motive...if there were all these good, legitimate reason for it...why weren't they just presenting them? Why use the tactic of making scary claims that the guy was an "imminent threat to the US" if there were all these valid reasons?
I think Saddam's past shows they were valid claims. We just can't prove them all.
Yet
Oh the proof is coming JT. I think Bush is letting the presidential candidates spout their BS. Then in about 6 months he will lay all the things we have found in Iraq out for people to see. I have been reading rumors of this happening.
So he's going to keep the American people in the lurch while he times the release for political advantage?
I guess that would be slyin a Dick Morris kind of way.
Rick 7/31/03 2:14pm
How are the American people in the lurch?
Should I have said 'in the dark?'
Would that have been more accurate?
Reailze, of course Wolvie, this might involve a scheme at several levels bringing in many people Some of them have to include military people.
Should they be used in such a manner? Should they be required in any way to make decisions and carry out activities in the field to enhance the president's reelection chances?
Rick 7/31/03 2:17pm
welcome to the wonderful world of politics.
Ain't it great?
Rick 7/31/03 2:17pm
Sounds improbable to me.
I don't think the weapons are there.
Taraka Das 7/31/03 2:43pm
Of course they are.
I'm holding out on that. I don't think an administration values the sacrifices of the men and women in the military as much as this one so publically shows would be capable of such a thing. How could they?
Rich T 7/31/03 2:45pm
Very unlikely.
Even if the quantities that were estimated
to have been there WERE THERE, the munitions
would have degraded to uselessness by now.
Besides, if the tens of thousands of munitions
that were claimed by Powell existed, they surely
would have been discovered by now.
How could they?
Political gain.
You realize what you're doing to me, Rich?
Shocked, shocked, I am...that such a thing could even be discussed!
surely would have been discovered by now.
Why? Saddam had 12 years in which to hide them.
Come on now Rick. It wouldn't be the first time politicians were underhanded, and it won't be the last.
Is to try to build a case that DOCUMENTS
show that Saddam would have reconstituted
his weapons programs if sanctions were lifted.
But that threat was NOT imminent, and does not justify
war, and does not justify dismissing other methods of
deposing Saddam.
Face it, the real reason for the war was oil and war profits.
And personal revenge. For that, Bush should be impeached.
He lied to the Congress in order to make a case for war.
And then there is the Valerie Plame incident, and other
dirty tricks. And we aren't yet done with the 9/11
investigation.
Rich T 7/31/03 2:54pm
Such weapons would be useless today, if they were hidden
twelve years ago.
Taraka Das 7/31/03 2:57pm
I didn't know that you were a bio-chemical weapons expert.
So what is the expected shelf life of say... anthrax, in a hot dry climate?
And the war was certainly about oil. As in, the movement of oil at market prices.
And the war was certainly about oil.
What makes you think so Rick?
Geographic location of Iraq. The region's oil output. The downside if one player gains too much power.
It's not the only reason, but I'd say it's definately one reason.
That oil in the Middle East is a damn curse for them.
Rick 7/31/03 3:20pm
The US got very little of it's oil from Iraq. Go look it up if you doubt me.
http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/archives/fotw246.shtml
I don't doubt you. But if it stops, or the region's destabilized it's enough of a problem. And it would no doubt be worse in other parts of the world, and that would also affect the US economy.
We should be pumping Iraqi oil to cover war costs. And maybe a little something extra for the pumps here.
"We should be pumping Iraqi oil to cover war costs. And maybe a little something extra for the pumps here."
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The Iraqi people are fortunate you don't have the authority to make that kind of decision.
More bike trails = less need for oil.
you don't have to go to Iraq to find out about how to use anthrax as a weapon of terror.. we homegrow that.