Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with 9-11

Looking for Letterman transcript

A Terrible Llama — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:26:23 -0800

Can anyone help me find a transcript of David Letterman's initial remarks after Sept. 11? That pretty much covered it. I'm failing at Google today and can only find video.

How to deal with an intelligent conspiracy theorist friend?

vizsla — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:19:29 -0800

A friend of mine, who is highly educated (married with two kids, accomplished medical researcher), is absolutely convinced that September 11 was a huge conspiracy initiated by members of the US government. She has a detailed complex explanation for everything. She takes it deeply personally when I scoff at her, telling me I should read the evidence before forming an opinion. I see her as gullible and she sees me as ignorant. Is there an analysis available comprehensively somewhere addressing the conspiracy theorists to the satisfaction of the leading academics in the relevant areas (material engineering, aerodynamics, media relations, architecture etc)? How do you deal with people like this? For example, she says that there is no rational explanation for the WTC7 failure and shows me extensively documented websites showing 300 architects who concur giving their explanations. She believes the Pentagon was never hit by a plane and again cites detailed analysis "proving" it could not have been so. Furthermore she believes (more tentatively in this case) that the media was complicit in the conspiracy and faked the images of the planes flying into the WTC buildings using CGI. Apparently the motive was to induce war for various revenue purposes. It's driving me nuts. It strongly offends my own sense of reality. She has an "explanation" for everything and has spent many hundreds of hours researching this. After discussing it with her, she ends up resenting me deeply and I end up feeling sorry for her which makes her resent me even more.

What have we lost forever?

MrBCID — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:14:38 -0800

What significant items have been irretrievably lost? Back in 1906 a fire in San Francisco caused by a huge earthquake destroyed the Levi Strauss headquarters and factories; taking along with it many original designs.

Last Fall the fires in North San Diego destroyed the house of Paul Kassel who owned Mickey Mantle's last baseball jersey.

Is there a list out there that has compiled items or collections lost forever? For example irreplaceable items lost in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001?

How were cell phone calls completed from hijacked planes on 9-11?

Pastabagel — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:20:35 -0800

9-11 Technology Filter: I have never been able to even get signal on my Blackberry 8200 (GSM) within 10 seconds of liftoff, so how were cell phone calls completed from hijacked planes on 9-11? Specifically, given the prevailing handset, carrier, and tower technologies present in the Boston, NY, and DC metro and intervening areas at the time, and given the flight paths and altitudes of the hijacked planes, how were passengers able to complete cellphone calls to loved ones? On the radio this morning, I heard some conspiracy theorists posit that proof of the 9-11 hoax is that all the evidence of the hijackers comes from cell and AirFone calls from the planes. They claimed that one of the planes was not equipped with AirFones, but that nonetheless descriptions of that hijacking came from passengers calling loved ones and their own voice mails on their cell phones (I don't not remember which plane they claimed didn't have airphones). All I could find online that was remotely coherent was here but it is very light on the technical details which would seem to put this issue to rest conclusively.

Some my questions are as follows:

A. How was it possible to for passengers to complete these calls at high altitudes? Were phones and towers more powerful then? Did they use a different encoding scheme that was more robust? (Analog vs. Digital, CDMA vs. GSM, etc.) The more technical the response, the better.

B. Were any of these calls from passengers recorded? What about the infamous "Let's Roll" (or "let's roll it"?) call? Are the voice mails available online?

C. Is a map available of the flight paths of the four planes that (a) includes their altitude, and (b) includes tower locations from 2001 from the major wireless carriers?

D. Has anyone been able to complete a cell phone call from an aircraft at any time between a minute after takeoff and a minute prior to landing? What carrier and phone?

E. If you have ever worked near the top of a very tall building (i.e. much taller than surrounding buildings and far above the ground, i.e. Transamerica in SF, Sears Tower in Chicago, Empire State or WTC in NY, Petronas Towers, Taipei 101, etc), have you experienced poor service that was explained because of your floors height above the surrounding towers?

F. Do cell towers not broadcast or receive signals from above? I assumed that towers broadcast signal radially and would therefore be subject to the inverse square law. Am I wrong? Are towers in rural areas significantly higher and stronger than towers in urban areas? Why?

Sorry if this is too long or inappropriately formated for AskMe. There is very little I could find about this on the web, so any help would be appreciated, and as I said, the more technical, the better.

Recommend some 9/11 literature

archimago — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 08:31:53 -0800

Please recommend some 9/11 literature. I'm teaching a lit class soon and would like to incorporate some short stories/poems about 9/11. Please help me with a reading list! I'll be using them in a module I am teaching on mythology/lore and how modern mythologies are created.

Best 9-11 'Conspiracy' Book?

jjsonp — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:47:16 -0800

Best 9-11 'Conspiracy Theory' book for the skeptic? Like many people, I have been following the 9-11 story since soon after it occurred. Also like many people, I am aware of so many holes in the 'official conspiracy theory'/9-11 commission report that I'm consistently amazed anyone still believes a word of it (and I'm not looking to argue, so if you are a believer that's fine and this question is not directed at you).

I have a couple of friends who are still believers but are also logical and rather than send them some links I know they'll never read I'd like to find a decent book by a legitimate author which does a good job summarizing the impossibility of the official story, particularly with regards to NORAD, timeline inconsistencies, lying by the administration, etc.

The controlled demolition vs. jet fuel + pancake theory is of less interest to me as I feel it's more difficult to prove, but if a good summary of the inconsistencies there is included that would be preferable.

David Ray Griffin (and which one?)? Jim Marrs? I'm looking for recommendations by people who have read multiple books on the topic. Thanks!

Need help on a piece of mystery music

tamjl — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:33:59 -0800

Within a year of 9-11, I heard a song on the radio that I'm trying to track down. It was a male singer, and the refrain went something like, "they were going up while we were going down" (referring to the firemen). Does anyone have any idea who recorded it and what the song title is?

How do I respond to 9/11 Conspiracy theorist friend?

aggienfo — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 21:13:14 -0800

How do I respond to a friends who's advocating 9/11 conspiracy theories (specifically the " Loose Change" video). I watched the movie, then did more research (obligatory
wikipedia page, a rebutting
youtube movie, and a few other
pages), and I came to the conclusion that this is right up there with JFK and Roswell conspiracies - interesting facts and uestions raised, though nothing even close to substantiating what would be the biggest story of our time. Lord knows I want to keep him as a friend, though I'm not quite sure how to react.
Part of me wants to view this like a religious (Mac vs. PC, Creation vs. Evolution) discussion, we each have our sides and just agree to disagree, though as friend I curious as how he got to this point. We're both military officers, so I also am curious how he can continue to serve a country he believes killed 3,000 of its own citizens (though I won't go reporting him or anything crazy like that).

Need free war on terror footage for documentary.

kookoobirdz — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 06:59:18 -0800

Where can I find good quality free video footage of the "war on terror" for use as b-roll in a documentary? In short, I need royalty-free and cost-free footage of "the war on terror" at a size/framerate suitable for inclusion in a documentary. Where is it and how do I get it free?

Detail:
I'm assisting a documentary filmmaker space out a documentary by finding footage clips to use as b-roll to break up all the talking heads. We're looking for video on a number of themes, but the primary one I'm after right now is generic "war on terror" stuff, such as Afghanistan/Iraq war footage, 9/11, other terrorist incidents and aftermath, speeches, coverage of notable domestic policy changes, lifestyle changes, and anything else that conveys the sort of atmosphere we find ourselves living in since 9/11.

It's the usual shoestring budget scenario, so we're looking to get free footage whenever possible, and to use it via the Fair Use doctrine (I know that's a can of worms, but I'm just looking for sources at this point). I've never done this before and am trying to identify places to get this sort of footage. Google shows me plenty of stock footage houses which offer high quality, royalty-free clips, but they aren't cost-free. And I can find plenty of free stuff out on the internet but it's poor quality. Only archive.org (as previous AskMe threads suggested) has so far offered free stuff in higher quality, though it's kind of a mongrel bag of stuff and not usually the raw footage but somebody else's montage and commentary.

In cases where we could legitimately reproduce footage under Fair Use, how do I actually get my hands on the high quality footage for free to start with? For example C-SPAN offers loads of archives of usable stuff, but you still have to buy it to actually get it in your hands in order to excerpt clips from it.

Is there a way to get this kind of thing free?

What was that video I saw?

Milkman Dan — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:03:57 -0800

Name that animated internet meme My design studio is working on a film project for a client. I want to refer to a piece I saw online for inspiration, but I can't find it.

I watched it once in Fall 2005. It was about 9/11, it was political, maybe about gas prices too. It had a damning, conspiratorial tone. It was a really trendy animation. I don't think there was narration, but there were printed words, with music. And lots of arrows. And I think the main background was brownish coloured. I believe it was posted on Metafilter, but searching through the archives, I couldn't find it.

It was being praised as a great video piece, not necessarily because of its content. The animation might have been put together by a notable person/studio in the industry, but no names are in my head.

Ring any bells? I know my clues are useless, but I believe in you, Internet.

What has changed since 9/11?

photoslob — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 12:34:08 -0800

What has changed since 9/11? I'm looking to compile a list of things that have changed in the USA since 9/11. I'm looking for everything from the obvious like the creation of the TSA, Patriot act and the prevalence of surveillance cameras to the more conceptual like people's attitudes towards muslims and a general irrational sense of fear of terrorist attacks.

7 World Trade Center collapse

jimmy — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 01:21:20 -0800

Why did 7 World Trade Center collapse on 9/11? A friend thinks that its collapse was caused by our own government, but I can't say I believe that.

9/11 news archive link?

stupidsexyFlanders — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 07:01:30 -0800

There's a site somewhere that archives a ton of news video from 9/11 -- before, during and after the planes hit. It's network news, CNN, that kind of stuff. Anyone know where that site is?

9/11 terrorism - was asylum partly to blame?

Amizu — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 09:19:48 -0800

Were any of the 9/11 terrorists granted asylum in the US? I've heard that other terrorists had been granted asylum in the US. I am wondering specifically about the 9/11 terrorists, and specifically whether they were granted (not just applied).

Was what we were told about Flight 93 a myth?

brokekid — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:17:53 -0800

Was what we were told about Flight 93 a myth? I thought I had read somewhere that what we were told about the passengers of Flight 93, Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick and dozens of others bringing the flight to the ground was in fact false.

Is anyone aware of this? Or am I mistaken?

Airline policy shift?

unknowncommand — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 20:55:25 -0800

When did the FAA/airlines stop asking those 2 questions about whether someone had given me something to bring on the plane, and whether my bags had been out of my possession at any point? What was their justification? I want to say that this changed after 9/11, but that doesn't really make sense.

Number 9?

punkbitch — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 11:51:51 -0800

What is the significance of the number 9 in Islamic culture? or perhaps, what is the significance of said number with relevance to "Radical Extremism" (dude! Extreme and Radical! This is in reference to 9 a.m. on 9-11 and 9 p.m., 11-9 and so on. . . folks keep talkin' bout them nines. I'm not too convinced. Preliminary Google results don't help me and I don't have time to FILTER through it all!
Help me Metafilter, you're my only hope.

How many Al-Qaeda number twos are there?

Optimus Chyme — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 10:11:22 -0800

How many Al-Qaeda number twos are there? It seems like every couple of months or so, I read an article about Al Qaeda's number two being killed or captured. Sometimes it's Ayman al-Zawahiri, recently it's been Abdallah Mohammad al-Juhaari. Are there more? Are there different ranks of number two? And how do we keep killing the same guy over and over again?

Have I missed something?

Find Spanish al Qaeda indictment

dhartung — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 00:47:08 -0800

On September 17, 2003 Spanish über-judge Baltasar Garzón issued a 700-page indictment of the "Madrid cell" of al Qaeda for its support role in the 9/11 attacks. Is this document online anywhere? Has it ever been translated?

Pentagon strikes

Mossy — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 20:26:04 -0800

Hmm.. A friend linked me this critque of the Pentagon 9/11 event. I was wondering if there was any official or unofficial debunking of the claims made here? That hole looks awful small for a 757.. Personal debunkings welcome too.

Early 9/11 suspect(s)

shoos — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 07:54:35 -0800

Within a day or two after 9/11, there was coverage on network news of some person (and possibly his brother) in the US who was suspected of being an important figure in the attacks. A few days later it turned out this person had actually died some time earlier and was in no way involved. Anyone know who this person was?

Why hasn't Al Qaeda perpetrated an attack on U.S. soil since 9/11?

gwint — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 09:33:01 -0800

Why hasn't Al Qaeda perpetrated an attack on U.S. soil since 9/11?

9/11 reading recommendations

stonerose — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 12:43:01 -0800

What are the best middle-brow / high-brow "think-pieces" you've read on the topics of: the macropolitical consequences of 9/11; relations between the West and "the rest" after 9/11; and how "we" (whoever "we" may be) think of "ourselves" after 9/11? 2 minutes in the penalty box for excessive use of "finger quotes".

Where were you when the towers fell?

caddis — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 11:18:26 -0800

Where were you on 9/11? How did you find out what was happening and what do you remember about that day? I was home with the TV and radio off and logged into some work related, non-news sites over the telephone so no one could even call me. Sometime around mid-morning, after the towers had alreaddy fallen, I checked my email and saw a message saying that all corporate travel had been cancelled due to the planes which had crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Needless to say, I turned on a television straight away. Intense pain and sadness swept quickly over me that morning.