Thesaur's Ramblings

Google's gmail ads sometimes are humorous. For example just now as I was checking my spam folder, it recommended spam fajitas. Unfortunately, it was the wrong kind of spam. I'd love to watch electronic spam sizzle, but that's not going to happen.

This reminds me of the fact that Hormel sued to prevent the usage of the word "spam" in products related to electronic spam. They lost in the UK and the US. After a brief search of online history, I came up with a lawsuit filed back in 1997 attempting to prevent the same thing. That time, it was against a spammer, not against an anti-spam product.

If Hormel had thought of gmail back then, they might have been able to persuade a court to take preventive measures. As it is now, they've got no choice but to grin and bear it.

Excerpts taken from the paper “Shifting Sands: The Developing Myth of 9/11”.
© 2003, 2006 Klaus Guenther. All rights reserved.

Note: This writing sample is excerpted from a longer academic paper entitled “Shifting
Sands: The Developing Myth of 9/11”. Throughout the paper, the date “September 11, 2001”
and its variants refer to the historical date and events, while “9/11” refers to the developing
myth. Endnotes are original and refer to the bibliography which is not supplied in this
excerpt.

Ground Zero

The historical events of September 11, 2001 will remain a very strong presence in the
minds of those directly affected by the tragedy. However, as time goes by, details fade from
the collective memory of the nation, and hence opinions are bound to change. Internationally,
this can be seen especially clearly. But even within the United States, the fluid memory starts
forgetting.

In a Time article published the day after the attacks, Nancy Gibbs took on the idea that
America was weakened by the attacks on these prominent American landmarks:
If you want to humble an empire it makes sense to maim its cathedrals. They are
symbols of its faith, and when they crumple and burn, it tells us we are not so
powerful and we can't be safe. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, planted
at the base of Manhattan island [sic] with the Statue of Liberty as their sentry, and the
Pentagon, a squat, concrete fort on the banks of the Potomac, are the sanctuaries of
money and power that our enemies may imagine define us. But that assumes our faith
rests on what we can buy and build, and that has never been America's true God.i
From the very moment of the attacks, the American TV stations interrupted their
programming and brought only news of the attacks and their progress. Over the course of the
next few weeks, rerun after rerun of attack footage and the collapse of the twin towers
dominated the news. No movies were broadcast, no commercial breaks, and no sports events.
A nation grieved. Prayer vigils were held in churches and places of worship around the
country. America wept and prayed and hoped for survivors.

Continue reading "The Myth of 9/11." »