9/11

 

On the morning of September 11,2001, I was on my way to Midway airport with one of my fellow employees at MetLife and his daughter, who were planning to fly to the East Coast to see his parents.

As we headed north on the Stephenson, traffic started to slow, so I turned on the radio for a traffic report, and that is when I heard about the attacks in New York City.

After I dropped off Tom and his daughter, I drove back to the office, which now had a TV on for us to watch. I immediately called home, and told the kids to turn on the TV, and they did. From the time they turned it on, they stayed glued to the set for the next 14 hours.

Later that night, I had an appointment to meet with a client about a life insurance proposal, and everywhere that I went, people were waving American flags.

George W. Bush was not a very popular president prior to 9/11. Shortly after his re-election, it was 57%, but had dipped to 51% by the summer of 2011. After the attack, it soared to 90%, the highest approval rating of virtually any president since WWII. During the financial crisis of 2008, it sank to 25%, but rebounded to 34% by the time he left office.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx

 Like other events in our history, we all know where we were and who we were with learned about the Kennedy assassinations, the MLK assassination, and the moon landing. For a period of time, those events (and the 9/11 attacks) erased our differences, and we truly again became the UNITED States of America.

 Bin Laden finally got his justice when Obama was president, Al Qaeda is no longer the threat that it once was, and the twin towers have not been replaced by what initially was knows as Freedom Tower, but has now changed to a new, but familiar name.

 One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower)^[is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center. It is bounded by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east.

The construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building began on April 27, 2006. One World Trade Center became the tallest structure in New York City on April 30, 2012, when it surpassed the height of the Empire State Building. The tower's steel structure was topped out on August 30, 2012.

On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper's spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m). Its height in feet is a deliberate reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed. The building opened on November 3, 2014; the One World Observatory opened on May 29, 2015.

On March 26, 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) confirmed that the building would be officially known by its legal name of "One World Trade Center", rather than its colloquial name of "Freedom Tower" The building has 94 stories, with the top floor numbered 104.

The new World Trade Center complex will eventually include five high-rise office buildings built along Greenwich Street, as well as the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located just south of One World Trade Center where the original Twin Towers stood. The construction of the new building is part of an effort to memorialize and rebuild following the destruction of the original World Trade Center complex.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center

 

The steel from the original towers was eventually melted down, and started new life as a ship called the USS New York.

 

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/uss-new-york-september-11th-world-trade-center/

With more than a little prodding from Jon Stewart, Congress passed a revised 9/11 Responders Health Bill in December of 2015.

Congress on Wednesday passed a bill to pay for the health care of first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks after the Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to slash the price tag.

The deal lowered the cost of the bill to $4.2 billion -- about $2 billion less than an earlier version. It will authorize a health benefits program for five years, while placing several restrictions on how the money is doled out.

According to a GOP aide close to the negotiations, the new proposal would permanently close the "Victims Compensation Fund" after five years. The original bill kept it open through 2031.

The deal would also cap attorneys' fees at 10 percent of any award and provide safeguards to ensure beneficiaries cannot "double dip."

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/congress-passes-revised-9-11-responders-health-bill

 

Remember “America’s mayor?”.

To put it mildly, Rudy Giuliani’s fortunes have slipped since the days immediately after 9/11.

He’s gone through yet another messy divorce, he gave a speech in front of the wrong Four Seasons, he became the butt of practical jokes in the latest Borat movie, and he is no longer allowed to practice law in the state of New York due to the fact that he signed on to represent a shady character who lives in south Florida.

For the moment, though, let’s set aside politics and take a moment of silence to remember the 2977 people who died that day, one of whom was named Tom Brennan.