Wednesday, October 17
- Israeli tourism minister assassinated
>>- Taliban offers up Bin Laden
>>- First clues in anthrax attacks
>>- Bin Laden to answer CNN questions
>>- Belgium withholds evidence of terror attacks
>>- Creative response to loss of WTC
>>--> My God! CNN has moved Switzerland! Run for your lives! Thanks to Phil for the heads up.
--> A few days ago I threw up a bunch of photos, and totally forgot to mention it. Have a look. You could also soothe my ego, and let me know you're out there. So far I have no way of knowing if anyone's actually even seen this site other than me and a couple friends.
--> I can't get over the "something big is about to happen" feeling. It's been coming and going in waves since Sept. 11. Sometimes when I go to bed I feel like I'll be missing some important news through the night. The first thing I do every morning is surf through various news sites and check what's happened since yesterday. This all surprises me, because until last month I was a guy with little to no awareness of current events, and not too much interest either. Alot is changing, and fast.
- US jets bomb Red Cross
>>- Muslim allies break ranks with US
>>- N.Y. baby contracts anthrax
>>- Anthrax panic worldwide
>>- Tony Blair meets with Yasser Arafat
>>- Missile silo sales are up
>>--> Didn't take long. The vultures are closing in as CBS is considering a sitcom about a widow and widower who lost their spouses on Sept. 11. Makes me a little nauseous.
--> A friend of mine here in Germany was scheduled to start a two week vacation on Saturday. He works hard, and the vacation, an active trip to Italy with two friends, was going to be his much needed break. At the very last minute, he decided not to go. Although the terroist drama has not yet actively touched Germany, he's worked himself into a great deal of worry, stress and fear, and just couldn't take the trip. He's an intelligent guy, not mentally disturbed, and has overall been functioning and getting on with his life like everyone else. But no matter what I or anyone else said to him, he just couldn't get on a plane or get in a mood to party and enjoy himself. I'm still trying to work out if this was an appropriate reaction and my head's in the sand, or if he went a bit overboard and should get some valium.
- More anthrax in the U.S.
>>- US could have killed Mullah Omar
>>- Bush rejects Taliban's Bin Laden offer
>>---> Big weekend. Too big. This was the Grimm Family Reunion Weekend. About 30 of my wife's relatives travelled to Mühlhausen to see each other, wander around town together, and chat about family history. It doesn't sound that interesting, and parts of it certainly weren't - like the endless hand-shaking and "Hello, how are you?" conversations. However, late on Saturday night, after a gut-busting "Galla-Buffet", three generations of Grimms (no relation to the Brothers Grimm) started exchanging stories about grandfathers, cousins, childhood memories, etc. It all left me rather jealous of these people with such a strong family identity, and made me very sorry that I missed the Balara Clan Reunion last year in Florida.
- FBI warns of coming attacks
>>- Bin Laden's brother interviewed
>>- 3rd case of anthrax confirmed
>>- Indonesian Muslims threaten Americans and Britons
>>- Senate attacks civil liberties
>>--> On the one hand it's clear we've been asleep, ignoring some rather threatening problems, and now those problems have jumped up to bite us in the ass. It's clear it's time to wake up and make sure this doesn't happen again, and to make sure that the standard in the world becomes zero tolerance for fanatics. On the other hand, it makes me very nervous to see the Senate push through a drastic reduction of civil liberties, almost unchallenged. Many items in the Uniting and Strengthening America (USA) Act are years old - law enforcement has attempted many times to get free andaccess to electronic communications, but Congress has shot such attempts down, afraid of the damage to civil liberties. Now, suddenly, civil liberties are irrelevant, and this Act is sold to us as a new measure to prevent terrorism. When does terrorism stop? If it ever does, will the government restore our civil liberties? It's all a little scary, I must say. Hallo Dirk.
- Islamic conference accepts attacks.
>>- Intern cleared in anthrax attack.
>>- Sesame Street supports Bil Laden?
>>- Mad rush for anthrax drug.
>>- Peace camp attacked.
>>- Copyright progress for photographers.
>>--> no one goes to aqua bar for the drinks, but we make sure our drinks won't kill you. this is something you must remember. Side by side, I'll be yours forever. Because please don't weep. For restrooms, go back toward your behind.
--> Grrrrrrr. My eyes are vibrating ever so slightly, my peripheral vision is mostly gone to white and I have a headache which is concentrated in both my right temple and a spot behind my right ear. I'm starting to feel like I should go home or lay down or something.
