11. September, 2002 - Patriot Day

• If you want a big review of last year's events, go read Lileks as he looks back. He's better at that sort of writing (and probably a few others) than I am.
• Remember that if you want to fly your flag today, it should be at half-staff.
• Media ignored calm amid the 9/11 chaos [popups]. One of the stories that didn't get much press last year, about how up to a million people were evacuated from lower Manhattan last year by public and private watercraft. Note that most of the positive social behavior that saved so many lives was not organized by any formal agency, much less by any command-and-control mechanism. People saved themselves. [instapundit]
• Almost a year later, flying is A Dramatically Different Way to Travel [popups]. My friend Steph says that flying was no hassle for her. But I'm pretty sure she enjoys flying. For years, I've looked at it as something to be endured to get somewhere else, rather than any sort of adventure.
• Airport Horror Show tells another story of people organizing themselves to make the system work, in spite of the obstacles put in their way by the airlines and government. [instapundit]
• Harry Browne isn't Overlooking the obvious when he says that government doesn't work, and people often do better without it. Government is force.... Because government is force, it never produces the results promised for it. [endwar]
• On the other hand, people do funny things, too. I got an email from a friend this morning, who described how his family had: just worked out this bizarre set of plans for what to do if Monticello gets hit with anything, involving Go to Grandma's for 2 days if no one shows up go to Ma's and wait 3 days, then go to Uncle Ed's for four ....
  
  Apparently it all got hammered out in the first two hours of this morning when my sister woke up in a panic when she realized that we didn't have any plans.
  
  I told my ma that she could reach me at home. If the phones are out then she should wait and try later.
  
  As opposed to Driving All Over The State like a bunch of frantic squirrels being borne down on by a semi.
  
  As we used to say at LM... Sorry. I panicked.

Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek. Last updated on Wed, 11 Sep 2002 08:55:36.