People around the GL staff,

NYC residents and others.

Story 1 - " I live in McHenry,IL. and during the Gulf War, I was 10 and 11 in 5th and 6th grade.  Those were dark days for anyone who looked arab, or even worse, had an arab last name. I remember getting called names like Towelhead, Sand nigger, and Terrorist from kids even younger then I was. After a month or so into the Gulf War conflict, there would be a group of kids waiting outside for me when school ended. They were mostly kids who's brothers and fathers were pulled from the reserves or put into active duty during this. So they figured, this little arab kid is the reason our fathers are risking their lives, and they made sure with fists punctuating, that I knew I wasn't welcome at that school. This new tragedy fills me with so many different kids of sadness. Many people died, buildings were destroyed and the the nation is in a state of unrest. My sister lives in NYC and was there when it happened, and is a med student. She would have wanted to help. Now, with 7 hours having passed from the incident, we still haven't heard from her. What if she died trying to get people out of the rubble and perform basic triage? And if this starts another round of arab bashing, how will I stand it? A state official said it best - "Not every Arab is Muslim or a Terrorist."  Please remember this before you act ignorantly, and that arab or not, we are people as well, and we are Americans. [Anonymous Student - age 19]

Story 2 - I was speaking to a friend who lives 10 minutes from Dayton Ohio by a military base there. A very disturbing incident happened when she went to pray and light some candles to ask the gods for some semblence of sanity. As she lit her lighter, this deafening booming started, freaking her and her three kids out massively. She ran outside to see a jet plane flying low, and behind it, the ground scorched and on fire in some places from it. She thought that they were being bombed and started screaming that so that the neighbors came out to investigate. Turns out a plane from the nearby air base took off badly and set fire to a length of grass and shrubs by the runway. But just imagine, after seeing the pictures of buildings rammed by planes, to hear horrible booming noises and come outside to see fire, smoke, and the tail end of a plane flying really low. No one feels safe now. America has been compromised.

Story 3 -A total cataclysmic event may shock the people of a country, but in this instance, it has brought people together. People who are not just ordinary human beings, but Americans. I'm not going to bore you with all the patriotic talk you must have heard on those incompetant media stations. I live just outside of New York City.. Flushing, in the Borough of Queens. The events today which had unfolded did not shock me, for it showed the ultimate courages, and the weaknesses within this country. Bill Clinton's first royal fuck-up was when he decided not to kill the terrorist Osama bin Laden. People - this man is a RELIGIOUS EXTREMIST. Classic example of a coward who runs about with a Kalashnikov and frantically loyal Islamic Fundamentalists, believing one day that Allah will make them great and righteous. This is their belief, and I am not criticizing anyone who shares this belief, but I am going to be truthful, since this is somewhat of an editorial. America shall not take bullshit from the goatkeepers, and towelheads. That is the official military, 'behind-the-scenes' commentary. This has been going one for years, especially with high tensions in the Middle East. Whenever something like this happens, there are always tons of small, very puny terroristic factions from the Middle East who claim responsibility for these things. Most of it is irrelevant. Some of it is credible, and now Americans must realize that for the sake of our overall freedom of movement, well-being and ultimate national security, every discrepancy must be checked out. Everything must be investigated. The media wants to sell newspapers, gain viewer ratings. They are scum, and they don't bring you the whole truth. As are the left-wing, liberal politicans who believe we do not need to increase military spending, or get involved with things like this. America spends too much time policing the world. One down we shall go down, and we shall go down hard. Perhaps you've heard of this.. Nostradamus prophecy. It's just utter nonsense. Simply because Afghanistan is in a Civil War, and simply because you see the missiles hitting and the tracer fires from the twenty-milimeter guns off of aircraft does NOT mean the end of the world shall come. Never will I personally succumb to any extremist Arab, and I would defend my country and then take my own life in doing so if America was to fall. You want to get to the technical part of it all? This is just the beginning. There will be Special Operations insurrections. You won't hear about any of this in the news. All nice and secret. We'll be picking at the countries who harbor these barbaric peoples. Then it may escalate into a Gulf War, and whatever happens will happen. There were some rumors concerning the theory that three other aircraft were shot down. These are simply rumors. I do not support ot defy them myself, but there is a chance that they may be true. It was reported that three aircraft were shot down. One from Boston enroute to Camp David for a crashing, one from Detroit to Chicago.. and one from Dallas enroute to Los Angeles. If the need was great, they would be destroyed before a calamity such as that in New York City can occur. The aforementioned aspects of what has gone on is preliminary. I have been out all day trying to grasp this story, and I haven't managed to get everything down into words, but there will be more. So you can expect to hear from me. Jason Huettner; NYC; Age 14

I dreamt at first that I saw the Statue of Liberty... then there was an Explosion of some kind, and I saw twisted metal and debris (which I think was the statue but I'm not sure).... then I looked up and saw a plane flying over my head... it drifted more to the city, Then I woke up for no reason at 11:30 exactly.... [Dream of Jeremy, 17, NY] It was all swirls. My sleep was disturbed and I felt like I was swimming in orange sherbert. I would wake up about every 25 minutes from half-sleep, and a couple times I felt deep nausea within these pseudo-dreams. I woke up at 8 am, and by the time I got to school, it'd happened already, and I was watching the aftermath on tv. Maybe there was a reason I couldn't sleep right. [Sophizma, 20, editor of GL This is a very scary email I received early in the day. Already the mentality for war is starting. Subj: The Attacks on the US Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 11:24:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: "CoffeeCup" To: "Loyal User" Hello everyone, This is Nicholas Longo, the CEO of CoffeeCup Software. As you may have heard the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked about 45 minutes ago. The Team at CoffeeCup would like to send our heart felt sorrow to those that perished in these attacks. We would like to also say on record that if any country is found responsible for these attacks, we call for that country's complete destruction and annihilation. Do not let terrorism which is designed to create fear and stop production, halt your life or work. Stay focused and do not stop what you are doing. -May God bless us all and the decisions we must make. Nick-