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More Links And Reports On Terrorist Attacks
Two major news updates: the plane downed near Pittsburgh is reported not to have been shot down. A fifth plane which had been feared hijacked, this one a Korean Air jetliner, was forced down by Canadian Air Force planes over the Yukon. However, this plane is reported not to have been hijacked -- instead, its emergency beacon was triggered by a low-fuel indicator.
Importantly -- remember, blood is in demand. The Red Cross' site is mobbed, but here's the blood donation information on a the cached page at google.
More details of the attack and its aftermath: a report at at gnome.org, and a photo at indymedia.org. pajama links to NYC Police scanner traffic (winamp) streamed online, and an anonymous reader also points to another scanner feed.
Shadowwalker Delaforge writes "Hey guys: I'm submitting my web site to yours to get the word out. I've been compiling web sites, and info on the U.S. Attack. These sites are ones that work, and arent' swamped out of existence. I'm also adding new data about where people can donate money, blood, and other things dealing with this.
soccerdad writes "Due to the activities of today, the internet/networking experts at my firm have been asked by some of our clients to be on standby in case anything untoward occurs. They've been monitoring backbone activity, etc., in a "just in case" mode. They've described the activity they're seeing as somewhat strange. The backbone is, according to them, at about 80% utilization -- they've never seen it above 40% before. However, the main portal sites such as Yahoo aren't having substantively higher than normal traffic. They're working on doing some traffic analysis but haven't completed that effort yet."
A small piece of that bandwidth may be saved if you go to the link Kalak suggests: "William Shunn is collecting short notes from people in the terrorist affected areas so you can see who is OK." Look here (or post your name here if you're in an affected city) before tying up a phone connection. Alex Fabrikant submitted another personal information site at Berkeley
Thapthim writes "http://cbc.ca/ has all sorts of information, even in our own city buildings are being shutdown, all air traffic has been suspended. However Canadian Airports are taking in international flights heading into US so the air ports there are free for emergencies."
sn0wcrsh wrote to say that a "short blurb on Channel 7 Boston that the CTO of Akamai was on the fateful plane that hit the trade center" confirms the earlier reports that he was on board.
And ectrix writes: "The CFO of my company, Netegrity was on United Airlines Flight 175, which has been confirmed to us by United Airlines to have hit tower two of the WTC.
WAVY NBC - Norfolk, VA (among other local TV stations I'm sure) is reporting on the air the Threatcon levels at the area Naval, Air Force, and Army bases. They are all at Threatcon Delta. Their website currently only lists their status as of the beginning of the attacks, which was Threatcon Charlie. Norfolk, VA is the home port for the US Atlantic Fleet. Local TV stations also are showing armed (M16s, shotguns) guards patrolling the base grounds and perimeters."
There are updated photos and videos here, and CarbonFusion wrote with another good link to photos and videos.. eddiem writes: "http://www.flightexplorer.com/ will soon let you view the flight path of the planes." Explanations of airport security at How Stuff Works and Cryptome are an interesting read under the circumstances as well.
Bard, Andrew wrote with some updates as well:
"Just to let you know:
- I heard a woman who was on the 92nd floor of the first WTC building when the plane hit it. She was able to escape and so was everyone "in her company" so it is assumed that virtually everyone from the 92nd floor down was evacuated successfully - an estimated 20,000 people of the 25,000 in the building.
- the plane that went down in PA had a woman onboard who locked herself in the bathroom with her cellular phone - she was telling authorities about the hijacking when the plane crashed and killed her - that is the only way the authorities knew for sure what plane went down in PA so quickly, she gave her flight number
- the Mexican border is completely closed and the Canadian border is still open - all International flights have been redirected to Northern Canada
- the planes from Boston were presumably chosen because they were going on long flights (to LA) which would make them larger than average airliners with full tanks of gas
- when the first WTC building crashed (which was the 2nd one to be hit), 125 firemen were down below fighting the fire on the first building to be hit... none of them have been heard from yet - 10,000 emergency personnel in NYC responded to the first WTC getting hit... it is unknown how many of those were crushed in the two collapsed buildings."
I find it highly ironic that, yet again, everyone instantly jumps to the conclusion that it was Arabs who are behind these tragedies. Does anyone else remember Oklahoma City, and the rush to judgement there, when in the end it was a white hick with a gap tooth. Let's face it, there's a whole lot of people out there that hate the US, and for good reason (I was going to put a list here, but it's really just about everyone except Israel, Japan, Western Europe, and Canada). We've been exploiting these places economically for decades now, and if you ask me, it's about time they stood up for themselves. And, before you say "economic domination does not merit this kind of response" - let me pose this question - what other way is there to respond when you are facing an opponent who has the money, owns the world legal system (has the money), and owns large numbers of world politicians (has the money)? In any event, let's hope that the American government can set an example in not responding with force until it is COMPLETELY positive who it is retaliating against, and let's hope as well that civilian casualties that come from the retaliation are minimal. Furthermore let's hope American citizens wake up to what their government and corporations are doing around the world in time to prevent more of these attacks, before they happen, because that is the only way to eliminate the problem.
(assuming this motivated by Islamic Terrorists)
This is the first time America has suffered tremendous casualities of the Holy War ongoing in the middle east. I hope that when the dust settles america realizes that the people who commited this horenous act... are in fact people too. Despite how painful it might be to acknowledge this, they are people just like you and me.
Most people like you and me are not motivated sufficiently to give up their life for a cause. In fact, in Islamic traditions, suicide means a certain fate in hell. Yet today we have been visited with a horror that could only be brought by suicidical means.
How could people like you and me veto their natural basic instict for survival? God. The devout belief in God provides an "out". You don't need to worry about your survival if your mind is operating on the assumption that there is something greater than life.
I would hope that Americans can set aside their own personal beliefs and unite in an attempt to ban practicing religion. It is religion that killed the Aztecs. It is religion that brought us the inquisition. It is religion that has brought us the non-stop terror in the middle east. 2 very talented programmers (and slashdot readers) I know were drafted into the Isreal Armed Forces last year. 4 Months ago one of them was killed. I lost a friend because of a "Belief". How many friends and family did you lose today because of a "Belief"?
I think you can point to it even closer. We support the Israelies right to a stupid piece of rock that they insist on killing for. Its our apache helicotpers that bomb them over this rock, its our f-16's, its our tanks, its our bullets. I think its very simple. Blow up the temple mount and end it all.
I was under the impression /. was a site about computers and technology.... There hasn't been a non-terrorist posting all day!
While we are on the subject... I think this will hurt the rights of everyone, globally. With heightened threats come heightened security, and more sophisticated monitoring tools. I think this will detract from what we consider 'anonymity'. Everything will be more closely watched, including you and I.
The US and I'm sure other governments don't want something this horrid to happen again. I believe they will stop at nothing.
Think, facial recognition in public areas, carnivore efforts stepped up + greater public support. I really fear these enevidable results. The US government will use this to 'hijack' their way into our lives.
Ouch... very ouch.
Uhh, so hijackers crashing planes into downtown Manhattan, killing hundreds or thousands of civilians and leveling the most important center of trade in the USA is somehow US Gov't policymakers' fault? Sorry, don't follow you.