As a historian, I'd be interested to read your answer to the question posed in the title.
Why? Because it was 102 minutes that changed the World.
At 8.46am local time, Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
At 10.28am local time, the North Tower collapsed.
Those 102 minutes signalled the beginning and the end of a chain of events that have gone down in infamy, and turned the world upside down.
In between, the south Tower had also been struck and had collapsed and the heart of the US Defense - The Pentagon - had also been infiltrated. A 4th plane was grounded by brave citizens before it arrived at its supposed target of the White House or Capitol Hill.
A Game-Changer
It was that epoch-making, era-defining day in history that heralded in a decade of fear as the Cold War that had ended a decade earlier was now replaced by the War on Terror. The attacks in Bali, Madrid and London were to follow and a whole new level of counter-terrorism legislation the world over would take centre stage.
The war in Afghanistan began barely a month later on October 7th 2001 and continues to this day. Likewise, the second Iraqi War begun on March 20th 2003 and is also still on-going. Thousands of allied and civilian lives lost, billions of pounds squandered. All in the name of security. All with its origins in that fateful blue September day.
Where was I?
September 11th 2001 was a seminal moment and day in history for my generation.
For older generations such as that of my mother, it can be asked 'Where were you when JFK was assassinated?' For those of this modern era, the question asked of us by our children and grandchildren will likely be 'Where were you on 9/11?'
It is scarcely believable that it has been a decade since those horrific pictures of 10 years ago. My memory of that day is still vivid - still etched in detail in my mind.
For us here in the UK, it was early afternoon. The timing of the first impact was 1.46pm BST. I recall sitting alone in my bedroom in the Preseli Hills of north Pembrokeshire at my computer, playing Championship Manager. It was coming to the end of the summer holidays and I was just weeks away from starting my second year in University. I had just turned 19.
By the computer was a TV and I was watching ITV at the time whilst playing on the computer. It was I'm sure, an episode of Crossroads which at about 2pm had gone to the mid-programme interval. But instead of returning to the second half, the transmission was broken by breaking news from ITN.
I vividly remember being taken aback at this break from normality and my immediate thought was 'The Queen Mother has died'. She had just turned 101 and it was only a matter of time and in that split second I recall thinking that that time had come. But no, she would outlive her own daughter Princess Margaret who died on 9th February 2002. Queen Elizabeth passed away on March 30th that same year.
The 21s Century's Pearl Harbour
Suddenly what transpired in front of me on that small TV was an awful accident in New York.
A plane had apparently flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It was a bewildering sight and event to take in. Then came the second impact as the South Tower was hit. Again, such was my utter confusion, I couldn't consider is as anything else than just a horrific coincidence. I don't recall that second impact as clearly as the one that was to follow but that third impact is as clear as day in my mind. When the reports came in that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon, the gravity of the event suddenly struck me in all of its horrific reality.
This, was not an accident. This, was an orchestrated attack on the US mainland, not seen since the attack on Pearl Harbour during WWII.
The rest of the day became a blur from there on in as I no doubt found myself glued to watching the unfolding events.
It was a day of horror that, due to modern technology, was all captured live on camera as it happened. Looking back, it made the event so much more real in the minds of those of us watching it at the time. It wasn't being told that JFK had been assassinated, it was akin to actually seeing the act occur with your own eyes. Here we were, watching this inconceivable act unfold as it happened in real-time.
A New World - A Darker World
I just so happened to be watching a TV at the time that the news broke. Had that not have been the case, the scarring images of the initial impacts would not have lived on with me as they have. But a decade on, the recollection is still fresh in the mind.
It's a haunting feeling. A feeling of a loss of innocence. I had only just began to grow-up having left school to attend University the year before. Here was an added sense that the world in which I now lived was not the one of my childhood. It was a much darker, scarier world. Over the past 10 years, it has remained thus.
Where were you?
So where were you on September 11th 2001? As a piece of social and oral history, I'd be interested to hear your remembrances of this tragic day, 10 years on.
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
The Humbling of President Obama (and those Congress votes in Full)
So, there we have it.
With only 12 hours to spare, the US Congress pulled back from leading the world's largest economy towards a humiliating and devastating default on its debts by increasing its debt ceiling by $2.4tn from $14.3tn.
Surely, it never was going to happen was it? Probably not. But leaving it to the 11th hour in such a way demonstrated just how divided the Congress is on this issue and more generally. What is quite extraordinary however is that even at this latest of moments there were so many members of Congress from both sides of the political divide who were effectively willing to vote for default by voting against the package eventually put forward by the Democratic and Republican leaders on Sunday.
161 members of the lower House of Representatives voted against the bill against a majority of 269 in favour. The Democrats were torn down the middle with a dead-even 95 in favour and 95 against whilst 174 Republicans supported its passage against 66 who likewise voted for economic armageddon (the indiviudal voting records can be seen here). Be it the ultra-liberal Democratic Party left or the ultra-conservative Republican Tea Party right, that was an incredibly irresponsible number of senior US politicians who were willing to put their differing political ideologies above pragmatic political and economic reality. That surely must give the American people some serious food for thought. Vince Cable recently called the Republican Tea Party right-wingers 'nutters'. I wouldn't disagree with him but in all fairness, what about those on the left of the Democratic Party who for different reasons, still voted the same way as these so called 'nutters'? Their motivations may have been poles apart, but their actions would've led to the same cliff-edge disaster for their national economy.
Indeed, even in the more bi-partisan Senate, there were still 26 Senators who likewise were willing to vote against. Maybe it was in the knowledge that the majority was in faour and that theirs were really merely protest votes but even if that's the case, it's an incredibly recklesss gamble to play. The indiviudal voting records can be seen here (respect to the Senate website who have released the information within an hour of the vote) and shows that of the 26 Nays, 19 were Republicans, 6 were Democrats and 1 was an Independent.
President Obama - Stuck in the Middle with You
So it comes to pass that we find President Obama stuck in a politically neutered position. In such a scenario where the Congress is split between a Democratic-ran Senate and a Republican-ran House, compromise is the only way forward. It has always been thus.
Despite having the executive powers of the Oval Office at his disposal, Obama's powers are still nevertheless limited. On domestic and economic issues such as this, he has not got the ability to wave a magic wand and to do whatver he wishes. He must have the support of the Congress to further his domestic agenda and ever since he lost the control of the House last November in the mid-terms, it was clear that that would not now be the case for the remainder of his term in office.
Will it reflect badly on his own opinion ratings? Only time will tell. He is still in a strong position to seek re-election to a second term in November 2012 but whilst he has avoided a catastrophe on his watch, the fact that it was the Republicans that got its vote out to win the critical House vote shows that there was more in it for them than there was for the despairing Democrats.
A Bright Light Amongst the Gloom
One moment of relief at least came in the House yesterday when Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford was given an ovation on her first appearance back in Congress after she was shot in the head in Tuscan back in January. The emotional scenes gave a brief reminder that Congress can at times come together and claw above the political din which casts in the eyes of the American public, a pox on both of their houses.
As a footnote, Congresswoman Gifford voted in favour of the Resolution. Out of this entirely regrettable mess, she is probably the only American politican who comes out of it with any shred of credibility and dignity.
With only 12 hours to spare, the US Congress pulled back from leading the world's largest economy towards a humiliating and devastating default on its debts by increasing its debt ceiling by $2.4tn from $14.3tn.
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| Source: BBC News Website |
161 members of the lower House of Representatives voted against the bill against a majority of 269 in favour. The Democrats were torn down the middle with a dead-even 95 in favour and 95 against whilst 174 Republicans supported its passage against 66 who likewise voted for economic armageddon (the indiviudal voting records can be seen here). Be it the ultra-liberal Democratic Party left or the ultra-conservative Republican Tea Party right, that was an incredibly irresponsible number of senior US politicians who were willing to put their differing political ideologies above pragmatic political and economic reality. That surely must give the American people some serious food for thought. Vince Cable recently called the Republican Tea Party right-wingers 'nutters'. I wouldn't disagree with him but in all fairness, what about those on the left of the Democratic Party who for different reasons, still voted the same way as these so called 'nutters'? Their motivations may have been poles apart, but their actions would've led to the same cliff-edge disaster for their national economy.
Indeed, even in the more bi-partisan Senate, there were still 26 Senators who likewise were willing to vote against. Maybe it was in the knowledge that the majority was in faour and that theirs were really merely protest votes but even if that's the case, it's an incredibly recklesss gamble to play. The indiviudal voting records can be seen here (respect to the Senate website who have released the information within an hour of the vote) and shows that of the 26 Nays, 19 were Republicans, 6 were Democrats and 1 was an Independent.
President Obama - Stuck in the Middle with You
So it comes to pass that we find President Obama stuck in a politically neutered position. In such a scenario where the Congress is split between a Democratic-ran Senate and a Republican-ran House, compromise is the only way forward. It has always been thus.
Despite having the executive powers of the Oval Office at his disposal, Obama's powers are still nevertheless limited. On domestic and economic issues such as this, he has not got the ability to wave a magic wand and to do whatver he wishes. He must have the support of the Congress to further his domestic agenda and ever since he lost the control of the House last November in the mid-terms, it was clear that that would not now be the case for the remainder of his term in office.
Will it reflect badly on his own opinion ratings? Only time will tell. He is still in a strong position to seek re-election to a second term in November 2012 but whilst he has avoided a catastrophe on his watch, the fact that it was the Republicans that got its vote out to win the critical House vote shows that there was more in it for them than there was for the despairing Democrats.
A Bright Light Amongst the Gloom
One moment of relief at least came in the House yesterday when Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford was given an ovation on her first appearance back in Congress after she was shot in the head in Tuscan back in January. The emotional scenes gave a brief reminder that Congress can at times come together and claw above the political din which casts in the eyes of the American public, a pox on both of their houses.
As a footnote, Congresswoman Gifford voted in favour of the Resolution. Out of this entirely regrettable mess, she is probably the only American politican who comes out of it with any shred of credibility and dignity.
Friday, 22 July 2011
Northern Ireland Reigns Supreme as America Declines
Having been away in London last week, I never got the opportunity to comment on Darren Clarke's brilliant and emotional Open victory on Sunday.
I was watching the latter stages in Shepherds Bush and was absolutely overjoyed to see the oldest winner in over 40 years, lift the Claret Jug.
It was a sensational victory for a man who has really gone off the boil in the Majors of golf for a good decade or so now. The loss of his wife Heather to breast cancer before the 2006 Ryder Cup also remained in the memory as his heroics for team Europe then were eclipsed by his own personal triumph this week.
Northern Ireland - The Home of Golf?!
It also adds to what is quickly becoming a legendary run of form for the golfers of Northern Ireland.
It is in sporting, historic terms, an extraorindary feat for such a small nation that will probably never be repeated.
But if you go back just a few years and include Padraig Harrington's 3 major wins for the Republic of Ireland back in 2007/08, then 6 of the last 17 majors have been won by players from the island of Ireland!
An American Decline
This has all come along at a time which has seen a welcome renaissance in European golf.
The current world rankings shows Europeans in the top 4 with Englishmen Luke Donald and Lee Westwood leading German Martin Kaymer and McIlory. Graeme McDowell currently stands in 11th with Englishmen Paul Casey and Ian Poulter not far behind in 15th and 16th. That's 6 Brits and 7 Europeans inside the World's Top 16. A far cry from the American domination of recent years (Tiger Woods' fall to No.20 a clear sign of this).
South Africa have also seen a renaissance of their own. Under the watchful eye of old hand Ernie Els, a new legion of South African stars have stepped out of his, Reteif Goosen and Gary Players shadows. Gary Players 9th and final major victory was in 1978 and a lean spell followed until Ernie Els won the first of his 3 majors to-date in 1994. Between then and 2004, he and Goosen won between them, 4 US Open titles and an Open title also. After a hiatus, they are striking back with victories for Trevor Immelman in the 2008 US Masters and wins in the last 12 months for Louis Oosthuizen at the 2010 Open and Charl Schwartzel at at the 2011 US Masters.
In all, 5 of the last 6 majors have been won by players from either Northern Ireland or South Africa. The 6th, the 2010 US PGA Championship, was won by the German Martin Kaymer.
It is therefore the first time in 100 years, since America have gone 6 golfing majors without a victory. In historic terms, what we are currently experiencing is a golfing famine for the most illustrious country in the history of the game. Their last major winner was Phil Mickelson who won the 4th of his majors to-date at the 2010 US Masters.
Indeed, the upcoming US PGA Championship will make for intriguing viewing. Because it America fails to win in a 7th consective major, it will only be the second year since 1910 that America will have gone through an entire calendar year without winning a major (the other being in 1994). Whatever happens between August 11th-14th at the Atlanta Athletic Club, the American run of having failed to win any of the last 3 US PGA Championships (Harrington in '08, Yang Yong-eun in '09 and Kaymer in '10) is its worst in the history of this most American dominant of golfing majors.
Indeed, looking comparably at the other majors, their worst run in the US Masters was in failing to win it in 4 consecutive years between 1988-1991 (Lyle, Faldo, Faldo and Woosnam). Since 1910, the same 4 year drought struck the Americans in the US Open only recently between 2004-2007 (Goosen, Michael Campbell, Geoff Ogilvy, Angel Cabrera). Of all of the majors, it is unsurprisingly, the only non-American based Open which has provided them with the most difficulty of the years. Between 1946-1969, there were only 6 American winners (Sam Snead '46, Ben Hogan '53, Arnold Palmer '61 & '62, Tony Lema '64 and Jack Nicklaus '66). Another American black patch was struck between 1984-1994 when the only winner in 1989 was Mark Calcavecchia. Another won is running at present with only one winner in the last 5 (Stewart Cink in 2009).
So whilst they've had their black patches before, looking at this list of golfing major winners shows that the current patch is arguably as bad in the round as any that has gone before.
But whilst the Americans may look ponderously at a bleak recent record at a sport in which it has excelled over the years, as an European but as a Brit in particular, it is a time to rejoice. But most particularly, if you come from that Northern Irish part of the union!
If it isn't asking too much, more of the same please!
I was watching the latter stages in Shepherds Bush and was absolutely overjoyed to see the oldest winner in over 40 years, lift the Claret Jug.
It was a sensational victory for a man who has really gone off the boil in the Majors of golf for a good decade or so now. The loss of his wife Heather to breast cancer before the 2006 Ryder Cup also remained in the memory as his heroics for team Europe then were eclipsed by his own personal triumph this week.
Northern Ireland - The Home of Golf?!
It also adds to what is quickly becoming a legendary run of form for the golfers of Northern Ireland.
 |
| Northern Ireland's Finest - McIlroy, McDowell and Clarke |
Clarke's Open win was the first for a Brit this century. The last was Paul Lawrie in 1999. He however was Scottish and you have to go back to 1992 for the last Englishman to win - Nick Faldo.
Before Graeme McDowell won the US Open last year, he was the first man from Northern Ireland to win a major of any kind since Fred Daly won The Open back in 1947. Yet now, 3 of the last 6 winners are all from that corner of the Emerald Isle. What is more extraordinary is that they have not all been won by one individual but by 3 - McDowell, McIlroy and Clarke.
It is in sporting, historic terms, an extraorindary feat for such a small nation that will probably never be repeated.
But if you go back just a few years and include Padraig Harrington's 3 major wins for the Republic of Ireland back in 2007/08, then 6 of the last 17 majors have been won by players from the island of Ireland!
An American Decline
This has all come along at a time which has seen a welcome renaissance in European golf.
The current world rankings shows Europeans in the top 4 with Englishmen Luke Donald and Lee Westwood leading German Martin Kaymer and McIlory. Graeme McDowell currently stands in 11th with Englishmen Paul Casey and Ian Poulter not far behind in 15th and 16th. That's 6 Brits and 7 Europeans inside the World's Top 16. A far cry from the American domination of recent years (Tiger Woods' fall to No.20 a clear sign of this).
South Africa have also seen a renaissance of their own. Under the watchful eye of old hand Ernie Els, a new legion of South African stars have stepped out of his, Reteif Goosen and Gary Players shadows. Gary Players 9th and final major victory was in 1978 and a lean spell followed until Ernie Els won the first of his 3 majors to-date in 1994. Between then and 2004, he and Goosen won between them, 4 US Open titles and an Open title also. After a hiatus, they are striking back with victories for Trevor Immelman in the 2008 US Masters and wins in the last 12 months for Louis Oosthuizen at the 2010 Open and Charl Schwartzel at at the 2011 US Masters.
In all, 5 of the last 6 majors have been won by players from either Northern Ireland or South Africa. The 6th, the 2010 US PGA Championship, was won by the German Martin Kaymer.
It is therefore the first time in 100 years, since America have gone 6 golfing majors without a victory. In historic terms, what we are currently experiencing is a golfing famine for the most illustrious country in the history of the game. Their last major winner was Phil Mickelson who won the 4th of his majors to-date at the 2010 US Masters.
Indeed, the upcoming US PGA Championship will make for intriguing viewing. Because it America fails to win in a 7th consective major, it will only be the second year since 1910 that America will have gone through an entire calendar year without winning a major (the other being in 1994). Whatever happens between August 11th-14th at the Atlanta Athletic Club, the American run of having failed to win any of the last 3 US PGA Championships (Harrington in '08, Yang Yong-eun in '09 and Kaymer in '10) is its worst in the history of this most American dominant of golfing majors.
Indeed, looking comparably at the other majors, their worst run in the US Masters was in failing to win it in 4 consecutive years between 1988-1991 (Lyle, Faldo, Faldo and Woosnam). Since 1910, the same 4 year drought struck the Americans in the US Open only recently between 2004-2007 (Goosen, Michael Campbell, Geoff Ogilvy, Angel Cabrera). Of all of the majors, it is unsurprisingly, the only non-American based Open which has provided them with the most difficulty of the years. Between 1946-1969, there were only 6 American winners (Sam Snead '46, Ben Hogan '53, Arnold Palmer '61 & '62, Tony Lema '64 and Jack Nicklaus '66). Another American black patch was struck between 1984-1994 when the only winner in 1989 was Mark Calcavecchia. Another won is running at present with only one winner in the last 5 (Stewart Cink in 2009).
So whilst they've had their black patches before, looking at this list of golfing major winners shows that the current patch is arguably as bad in the round as any that has gone before.
But whilst the Americans may look ponderously at a bleak recent record at a sport in which it has excelled over the years, as an European but as a Brit in particular, it is a time to rejoice. But most particularly, if you come from that Northern Irish part of the union!
If it isn't asking too much, more of the same please!
Monday, 4 July 2011
Philadelphia Freedom - Happy Birthday America!
It's the 235th anniversary of the signing of America's Declaration of Independence in 1776.
It's a day of great celebration for our cousins on the other side of the pond and I for one am happy to pass on my very best wishes to them on this day.
Philadelphia Freedom
When I holidayed along the east coast of America in 2005, I visited Boston which was of course the home of the Famous Tea Party which galvanised local feeling against the colonial repressors.
I've also been to Philadelphia and I must admit that I greatly underestimated the city before my arrival. On a whirlwind 2 week tour that took in Toronto in Canada before Boston and New York, Philadelphia was to be our final stop and it wasn't one that filled me with great excitement.
For a historian, this was a near sacrilegious underestimation of a city that lies at the very heart of what it is that America are celebrating today.
For Philadelphia was at the heart of the actions and ideas that fuelled the American Revolution and led to its Independence. It was there in Independence Hall that the declaration of Independence was signed after the Second Continental Congress voted for independence and for the first decade, the city served as the American capital between 1790-1800 before Washington took over the reins of power.
Having quickly grappled with the historic significance of this final city of my holiday, I lapped it all up. I visited Independence Hall, the venue of that famous declaration and also the adjacent Congress Hall which housed the initial meetings of Congress during this period - both the Senate and House of Representatives.
I also visited the nearby Liberty Bell Center to see the famous cracked bell that was one of many that reputedly rang in the news when the Declaration was publicly read on July 8, 1776. I also visited the wonderful National Constitution Center which tells you anything and everything that you could ever want to know about America's constitution which though far from perfect (particularly when dealing with the Native Americans), remains in my book, one of the purest expressions of democracy that has ever been written - and in the 18th century!
I have my copy of the Declaration of Independence which I bought then with me now. As it famously stated:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that amongst these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
In tribute to my American friends and this day of pride in their nation and on a belief that at its core was as near perfect as could be expected now, let alone then, this apt Elton John composition with a visual montage of Philadelphia by a native of the city.
 |
| A younger, leaner looking author with Liberty Bell in 2005 |
Philadelphia Freedom
When I holidayed along the east coast of America in 2005, I visited Boston which was of course the home of the Famous Tea Party which galvanised local feeling against the colonial repressors.
I've also been to Philadelphia and I must admit that I greatly underestimated the city before my arrival. On a whirlwind 2 week tour that took in Toronto in Canada before Boston and New York, Philadelphia was to be our final stop and it wasn't one that filled me with great excitement.
For a historian, this was a near sacrilegious underestimation of a city that lies at the very heart of what it is that America are celebrating today.
For Philadelphia was at the heart of the actions and ideas that fuelled the American Revolution and led to its Independence. It was there in Independence Hall that the declaration of Independence was signed after the Second Continental Congress voted for independence and for the first decade, the city served as the American capital between 1790-1800 before Washington took over the reins of power.
Having quickly grappled with the historic significance of this final city of my holiday, I lapped it all up. I visited Independence Hall, the venue of that famous declaration and also the adjacent Congress Hall which housed the initial meetings of Congress during this period - both the Senate and House of Representatives.
 |
| A Philadelphia Montage with Independence Hall in the bottom right. |
I have my copy of the Declaration of Independence which I bought then with me now. As it famously stated:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that amongst these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
In tribute to my American friends and this day of pride in their nation and on a belief that at its core was as near perfect as could be expected now, let alone then, this apt Elton John composition with a visual montage of Philadelphia by a native of the city.
Happy Birthday America!
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