Obligatory September 11 Post

As the airwaves fill up with undignified mawkishness and glurge intent on marking the 10th year anniversary of September 11th, it seems to me that most of these demonstrations are being subverted to suit the purposes of those expressing them.

So, here's my take.

Heroes? We seem to live in a time bereft of genuine, unsung heroes. This one, though known and admired at the time for a multitude of qualities and accomplishments, has become a lightning rod since a bunch of earnest, well-intentioned catholics decided to informally canonize him - for being a celibate gay man.

Fundamentalist Christian zealots are shrieeeking that they are being deprived of their media entitlements and an opportunity to spew their islamophobic screeds because the official NYC commemorative event will remain secular and focused on the families of people who died in the September 11 attacks.

And, according to this, the fall-out continues to kill more people.

More than 18,000 people are suffering from illnesses linked to the dust from the attacks on New York's World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.

The figure comes from the US government's monitoring and treatment programme for 9/11 emergency workers, volunteers and local residents. The most common afflictions are respiratory problems including asthma and sinusitis, but muscular and intestinal conditions are reported as well.

The senior US official managing the health legacy of the attacks warns that early deaths are possible among the survivors.

Note: I started drafting this post while listening to Radio-Canada's live coverage of Jack Layton's cross-partisan state funeral. The first photo was found here.

What a MASSIVELY excellent idea.

It's really too bad this notion and action has taken so long to arrive.

[...] the 58-year-old minister proclaimed in July that he would stage "International Burn a Quran Day". Supporters have been mailing copies of the Islamic holy text to his Dove World Outreach Center to be incinerated in a bonfire that evening [September 11, 2010].

And also:

The church's senior pastor, Terry Jones, has said he is "exposing Islam for what it is". "It is a violent and oppressive religion that is trying to masquerade itself as a religion of peace, seeking to deceive our society," the church said. "Islam is a lie based upon lies and deceptions and fear.

Now that pastor Terry Jones has launched this original form of protest, the next logical step would be for feminists, gay, lesbian & trans folks, Jews, and all those heretics and heathens still persecuted by fundamentalist evangelical christians to schedule a public bible-burning event.

The contentious question might be: December 25th or March 25th? It's not that we hold a grudge against Jesus, since he's not responsible for the rabid, zealous, hate-spewing followers that Paul of Damascus set on the rightwingwrong path.

It's simply that Gawd, in his infinite wisdom, neglected to record Adam's birthday.

Strangely enough, Sarah Palin has been quiet about pastor Jones' plans. Perhaps she doesn't like having someone else steal her thunder fire?