The 9/11 Tribute and Memorial

[Lady Cop]

Shooting high into the night, the Twin Towers rise above New York again as sparkling pillars of light.

The Tribute in Light has graced the Manhattan skyline on a number of occasions. But as tests were carried out ahead of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, their reappearance is particularly poignant.


A team of lighting specialists have been working around the clock and in heavy rain to ensure the art installation is ready for Sunday, when it will be switched on from dusk until dawn.

The two blue beams, made up of 7,000 watt bulbs, were switched on for the first time this year on Tuesday night. Visible for more than 60 miles, the powerful beacons were turned on one at a time after 8pm.


Spotters around the city, braving heavy rain, then contacted the team on the rooftop of the Battery Parking Garage to let them know how 'perpendicularly integrated' the beams were. Each beam must be focused and leveled by hand. And if any one of them is off by a fraction of a degree, the effect is ruined.




















Two memorial pools now sit where the World Trade Center towers used to stand

[QueenBee]

Nice pics

[Lady Cop]

These are the first pictures of the ⁹⁄₁₁ Memorial at Ground Zero, a site which millions once associated with death, devastation and abject terror but has now transformed into a place of peace, tranquillity and sadness.

And it has taken ten years to get this far.

From Sunday onwards, Ground Zero - once a black hole of despair - will become known as the National September 11^th Memorial.

Where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once stood now lies two granite pools in its footprints with waterfalls cascading 30 feet below.

They one-acre size pools sprawl out across the World Trade Center plaza - one to signify each fallen tower.

They are bordered by bronze panels inscribed by the names of all those who perished at the hands of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, at the Pentagon, in New York and in Pennsylvania.

[aussiefriend]

It's September 11 here. I was having this conversation with my mother yesterday. I still can't believe they had the audacity to apply for getting a mosque put up nearby.........and worse than that..it was approved! Weird shit.

[username]

It's September 11 here. I was having this conversation with my mother yesterday. I still can't believe they had the audacity to apply for getting a mosque put up nearby.........and worse than that..it was approved! Weird shit.

Way to ruin a perfectly good thread, aussie. It was fanatics/terrorists that committed the ⁹⁄₁₁ atrocities. There are fanatics in every religion; it doesn't mean that we, as a country, should disregard the principle of freedom of religion. I'm glad it was approved. It's kind of like a giant backward fuck you to the assholes that perpetrated 9/11.

[username]

BTW, I love the light display. It's haunting and beautiful.
I just put our flag out.

[username]

My kids were around 2 ¹⁄₂ years old at the time. I was busy getting them breakfast and my husband called and told me I should turn on the t.v. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

You?

[aussiefriend]

I know User, that's your perspective and it's beautiful. But do you think there are people in that religion looking at it that way? it's their way of putting their flag up. I have lived and worked in the middle east, it's not like the west, it's another planet. I still have friends there though. But if you did that in their joint, there is no way a crystal cathedral would be going up. You can count on that.

I think it's wrong personally, to build a mosque so close to the place where people died so horribly, and rub it in the faces of the grief stricken. If you want to build a church it's far more appropriate.

Leave the vote to the grief stricken families and see if they want a mosque built there. It's a disgusting message to the world of them having the last laugh.

[Paulistano]

god bless

[aussiefriend]

is that to me?

[Cynical Ninja]

It's September 11 here. I was having this conversation with my mother yesterday. I still can't believe they had the audacity to apply for getting a mosque put up nearby.........and worse than that..it was approved! Weird shit.

It isn't a Mosque, its a Muslim drop in/information centre.

I go with what User said, you can't label an entire religion as bad just because of a few terrorist extremists.

[aussiefriend]

Maybe my view is coloured, due to other reasons. However, I think that it displays some insensitivity to the feelings of others. I am sure there would be some that are opposed to it, due to the suffering that those innocent people went through.

I think it's important not to be deceived by discerning others motives. There is an agenda, to push that belief system within our culture and it's important that it is not pushed onto us, be it subtley or overtly. We have to be careful that just because we are an open and honest society that we assume that others operate on that level and agenda when evidence proves the contrary. The islamisation of the UK is apparent. The UK has all sorts of problems now because of tolerance going to the level where it begins to infringe on the lives of others.

[Cracker]

This is the best ⁹⁄₁₁ story I've read. The others are about loss and sadness. This story almost made me cry because it is about finding friends:
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/...?hpt=hp_t1

[Carsman]

It's September 11 here. I was having this conversation with my mother yesterday. I still can't believe they had the audacity to apply for getting a mosque put up nearby.........and worse than that..it was approved! Weird shit.

Way to ruin a perfectly good thread, aussie. It was fanatics/terrorists that committed the ⁹⁄₁₁ atrocities. There are fanatics in every religion; it doesn't mean that we, as a country, should disregard the principle of freedom of religion. I'm glad it was approved. It's kind of like a giant backward fuck you to the assholes that perpetrated 9/11.

Ya know I never looked at in the light you just mentioned, thanks for that, I now feel the same way.

[BlueTiki]

I go with what User said, you can't label an entire religion as bad just because of a few terrorist extremists.

Sure . . . Christianity gets a huge "thumbs up" in this forum because of its population and demographics.

You know . . . zombie prophet with GOP leanings.

News flash: Palestinians LOVE the Jews! They just watched "The Torah" on DVD . . . starring Bar Refaeli.

Intro by Chuck Heston.

[Mohammed]

Nothing wrong with building a Mosque there.

As long as they turn the neighbourhood buildings into an Italian Deli with plenty of ham on display, a lingerie and S&M shop, and a strip club of course.

[BlueTiki]

Nothing wrong with building a Mosque there.

As long as they turn the neighbourhood buildings into an Italian Deli with plenty of ham on display, a lingerie and S&M shop, and a strip club of course.

Don't forget the medical marijuana dispensery!

[Lady Cop]

i was doing a class at our academy when the LT called me into his office. he showed me on his computer what was happening in NY and asked if i thought it was real. after a few moments i just looked at him and said "this is Pearl Harbor".


within the hour our Dept. was completely shut down to the public, Sheriff Offices, jail, everything. not even mail allowed in. we were activated.

within a week Mossad was at our large academy grounds out in the woods (no cameras or press allowed) training our SWAT guys in urban warfare. they were all in black. it was awe-inspiring to watch these guys and talk to them.

[Maggot]

I was thinking what to get for my anniversary when the planes hit. Everyone at work stopped and went to the counter area where there was a TV. We all thought it was a plane that had screwed up and hit the building.......until the second one hit. One girl was crying because her brother had just flown out of Boston and she could not get ahold of him. He was not on the flight that hit the towers but nobody really knew anything. Later I had alot of anger that lasted for a few weeks. I felt useless and sad at the same time.
My anniversary nowadays is a little solemn and today as I watched Paul Simon sing "The sounds of silence" at ground zero, I felt a tug at my heart and tears kinda welled up in my eyes. That does not happen often. 12 years for me 10 for everyone else. The place I was married in burned down a few years ago. They are building a Dunkin Doughnuts on it and I am supplying the HVAC duct for it. It all kind of makes me think and contemplate the uselessness of it all and the far reaching implications that have become the defining moment in time frozen and solidified like a rock in the hearts of every American. There is a lesson to be learned here. I just have not figured it out yet.

[aussiefriend]

Nothing wrong with building a Mosque there.

As long as they turn the neighbourhood buildings into an Italian Deli with plenty of ham on display, a lingerie and S&M shop, and a strip club of course.

You know Mo, I did not want to hurt your feelings in this regard either. I am also sensitive to the fact that you are a part of this forum and discussion.

Maybe one day we will all be able to live in peace, but there are some in your religion who want world domination and do not care about how they achieve those objectives right? There needs to be a balance between tolerance and respecting the rights of the citizens of a country that they practice in. Some of the families of ⁹⁄₁₁ do not want a mosque built on that particular site as it would be a painful reminder of what occurred down there all those years ago. Does their pain count towards anything?

Also there is talk of bringing in certain parts of Sharia law in western nations, I say NO.