I just got back from Germany last night and while checking in
at the hotel there on tuesday afternoon I was told about the
first WTC hit by the hotel staff and then it all got worse. I
followed the BBC World news and I dont have words for what
was on the TV. It brought back the memory of when M/S Estonia
went to the bottom of the Baltic Sea with over 800 people in
1994. Things like this just dont happen but it just did. Friends
and members of the family, we all know someone... People are
"feeling numb" in this part of the world and our thoughts goes
to the victims and the people who are and were trying to save
lives. For the SOB's responsible, they should burn in hell forever.
Thomas
Thomas Walter wrote:
> Still feeling very numb.
>
> For those of you who ever get the chance to live outside
> of the U.S.A., I highly recommend it. There are many cultures
> though out the world, and many different perspectives. Sadly
> at times we tend to see only the radical element of a culture
> in the news. There is much, much more out there.
>
> I lived, and worked, in Germany for five years. German company,
> one of the few American's working in a division of 5,000 people.
> On day a coworker brought in the Magazine: "Stern" which had
> focused on the U.S.A. in that issue. One article showed a
> very pro NAZI rally. He was shocked, as he had no idea the
> U.S.A. was so bigoted! I had never heard of the group, nor
> was it anything like the folks in Montana. Here was a photo
> shoot of about 300 folks for a weekend gathering, looking
> much more like a Baptist Gathering than a pro Nazi event.
> Full dress uniforms with SS insignia's. He was shaking as
> he remembered the SS all to well.
>
> Another time I was talking with two fellow students in my
> German night class. They were both from Iran, and really
> hated living in Germany and dealing with German's. It
> struck me really odd that they had such feelings, yet
> lived in Germany. It turned out they had been photographed
> with a group of friends while watching a Pro Shah demonstration.
> Not participating, only watching as any group of 10 to 14 year
> old kids would. Of the seven boys in that group, they were the
> only two left. The others had been dragged out into the
> street at night, and shot. It took me over a year to finally
> understand what happened. Their only hope was things would
> change enough for them to return home. It was also interesting
> as they were very anti American. To them Germany was still
> under "occupation" by the USA. I told them I was from California,
> yet they never made the connection that was part of the USA.
> When I finally explained "California is part of the USA"
> they exclaimed "So the American's took over your country and
> you fled to Germany!". They finally got it straight, and were
> totally dismayed to discover I lived in Germany as I enjoyed living
> there. I was free to come and go from the USA without permission.
> They finally started to realize that what they were told about
> the USA was not true.
>
> I have no desire to see us bomb the hell out of a foreign
> country.
>
> As for bin Laden and his Terrorist cells... nail the SOB's.
> I can think of a few passages from "The Haj" which would
> be much more fitting than cruise missiles.
>
> Tom Walter
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Thomas in Sweden
1965 Nissan Silvia #319
1965 Nissan Silvia #293
1985 BMW M6 #521
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