Wow. For those of you who have never been to New York City, the Twin Towers are fricken’ huge. You have to your neck waaaaaaay back in order to see all the way to the top. I remember when I was younger, walking by the WTC. I wondered what would happen if they toppled over (to the side, not collapsing). The would smash a huge portion of Manhattan. Guess that’s not really a worry anymore, though. I can’t believe what the terrorists have done. Over 5000 dead, thousands more injured, countless billions of dollars of damage. Even if these people dislike American policy in Palestine or Arabia or wherever, the people they killed, for the most part, had nothing to do with these policies. They’re killing innocent civilians, which is a damn cowardly way to make a point.I’m really amazed by the global outpouring of support. I mean, Yasser Arafat is donating blood to help America! Iran is sending their condolences. In times of tragedy, America finds out who our true friends are, and it turns out that most people are our friends. There’s a Canadian-authored piece from the Vietnam War which talks about the ridiculousness of people hating the United States. Admittedly, the US Government has made some huge foriegn policy errors in the last few decades (Vietnam, Israel, Nicaragua, not going into Rwanda, etc.), but we have given money and military aid to tons of places. When’s the last time Japan or Sweden or France helped take out an evil dictator in some corrupt country? Did any country send us aid after Hurricane Andrew? Of course not. The US is hated because we’re a big target, and no matter what we do, we’re going to get flack for it. The next time Saudi Arabia or Brazil or whoever starts sending aid to poor countries and building their hospitals, let me know.

However, the US can’t make the same mistake again. 67% of Americans support military action against the terrorists, even if innocent civilians in Afghanistan are killed. That’s horrible. We have to be the better man, the bigger man. My idea: The US should spend 1 dollar on building schools and hospitals in the 3rd world for every dollar we spend fighting terrorism. Lead by example. Be the shining “beacon of freedom” that Bush talked about.

And speaking about Bush talking, he has not done a good job in this tragedy. Guiliani, Pataki and Powell have all showed great leadership strength. Bush’s speech the night of the attack didn’t mention anything that he should have. Where was the “Please remember that Arab-Americans are Americans, too, and think the acts today are just as egregious as non-Muslim Americans think them.” Or “Your Civil Liberties are not in danger: If we let our freedom slip away, the terrorists will have won”. Or “There is no need for panic economically. Our nation is still strong”. Or “We will be cautious and deliberate in finding the enemy. No one is going to be drafted. We will be the better man and try at all costs to avoid killing civilians when we seek out justice on those who killed my fellow Americans today”. However, he did mention that Jesus walks with us, which, considering that the attack was at least partly motivated by a religious war in the Middle East, was probably not the best of choices.

I’m saddened that so many people are being duped into believing the most ridiculous things because of the attack. Two in particular are the worst. First, watch yourself!, because Satan himself was seen in the smoke at the explosion. And I saw the Pope in the clouds when I was 6. Honestly, what is it about emotional times that makes logical people believe stuff like this? Although I admit it does have some face-like features, it reminds me of when my grandfather found a potato that looked like Mike Ditka than any ecclasiastically significant event. The other is that Nostradamus predicted the whole thing. Honestly, people. I had tons of different people tell me that they heard Nostradamus has called the whole thing. First of all, the word “Metropolis” didn’t even exist when Nostradamus was around. Jeez Louise. I predict that a President will be killed from the greatest country on Earth in century of 22. Much like Nostadamus, I’m vague enough that all I need in one assassination in the next 200 years in America, China, Germany, England, France, Sweden or Canada and I’ll be proclaimed a famous seer.

One of the first things I thought about after the bombing was that Muslims are going to recieve a ton of harassment from the more intolerant members of our society. There’s a movie called The Siege which was strikingly similar to recent events, except that the Arabs of our country were put into WW2 style internment camps. I’m glad that Colin is up at Secretary of State, because I trust him to do the right thing, but still. Scary thought. I’m glad I’m not an Arab right now.

And speaking about Arabs, I can’t believe that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, bin Laden and a few others said that they “didn’t commit the terrorism”, but that they support the terrorist action against our “evil society”. Innocent people are innocent people. I swear, these guys must be insane.

On another topic, there was a sweet thunderstorm here on Friday night. Big, booming lightning, East Coast style. It caused my house to rumble a few times. It helped Springfield, though: They only lost the football against C-hill by 47 because they game was called early.

Next Saturday is High Five! It’s a game show up in Portland where high schools compete against each other, and I’m gonna help reprazent Churchill against those Astoria schmucks. We got Z, Adam, Andrea, me, Eyal, Andrew Oja and Rachel Nielsen, along with Yoonie cheerleading, which is a damn good team. We’re gonna roll them up.

I wrote a little rap yesterday called Check Check (The Cure Anthem). I’m still working on it, but I think the chorus is gonna be “Check Check, never wrecked or perplexed, Cure just flex skills demanding respect”. Here’s another couple samples: “First rap project? / But I got veteran elements / The evidence is evident / I’m the hip-hop presidents / Wac MC’s malevelant / They scared of new residents”. Another part I like from later in the song is “And that ain’t no bluff / I’m here to play rough / I’m here to play tough / And I strike off the cuff / Ya think you can top this? I think you puff too much / Ease off on the dope or you’ll get cut up / Ya hear this? No need for bass or treble / Only verbal power taking you to da next level / I’m strong like medal / And sweet like Cocoa pebbles / My words are all rebels / So hot they melt the Devil / till 666 look just like 000 / Cuz the top ben burned off by this amazin’ flow flow flow”. Tight, eh?

MP3 Prime Cut: Hey Baby by DJ Otzi
The next “Boom Boom Boom Everybody Say Hey-O”. Sounds sorta like the Vengaboys.

MP3 Prime Cut Extra: CPCO by Phasio
Techno song that’s coming at like 150bpm, which is like DDR-fast. It’s got a cool grating synth.