Tag: 9.11.01
De-Politicizing the French Fry
by Terry Ward | 08.03.06 | 9:48 PM ET
Francophile that I am, I was glad to hear a short snippet on the NBC Nightly News yesterday evening mentioning a menu change on Capitol Hill. “Freedom fries” and “freedom toast”—so dubbed on congressional cafeteria menus when tensions rose between Washington and Paris during the looming invasion of Iraq in 2003—have quietly reverted to their original monikers, French fries and French toast. A USA Today blog noted that, back in 2003, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, angry about France’s anti-war position, “wielded his legislative authority over the House cafeterias and mandated a change of menu, which had been suggested by Republican colleague Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina.” The blog goes on to say that there are no official comments from the hill on the decision to re-Frenchify the names.
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Yahoo! BuzzAngelina Jolie to Star in Film About Daniel Pearl
by Jim Benning | 07.13.06 | 2:05 PM ET
“United 93” Finds an Audience
by Michael Yessis | 05.01.06 | 10:25 AM ET
It turns out a lot of people are ready to see the tragic events of 9/11 played out on the big screen. United 93, which recounts the last moments on the hijacked flight that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, finished second at the box office this weekend. “The doggedly fact-based drama grossed $11.6 million in its Friday-Sunday debut, per estimates from the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations,” writes E!Online’s Joal Ryan. “Its per-screen average was even more impressive: $6,462—average-wise, no other major movie played to bigger crowds.”
“United 93”: Editors, Writers and 9/11 Family Members Speak Out
by Michael Yessis | 04.10.06 | 7:21 AM ET
The movie “United 93” opens in less than three weeks, and it’s certainly on a lot of people’s minds. Families of those on the flight that went down in a Pennsylvania field on 9/11 were given a private screening Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. Los Angeles Times writer Scott Martelle reports that the families lauded “Universal Studios and director Paul Greengrass for what they felt was a realistic re-creation of events whose true details can only be guessed at.” At Slate, the editors have posted an interesting internal e-mail discussion about the controversy over the “United 93” trailer, which at least one New York City theater pulled last week. Meanwhile, at Time, someone (I don’t see a byline) has written a story that covers several 9/11-related movies in the works, goes behind the scenes of “United 93,” and delivers another positive review of the movie.
Theater Pulls Trailer for 9/11 Film ‘United 93’
by Jim Benning | 04.04.06 | 10:39 PM ET
At least one New York movie theater has pulled the trailer for the new 9/11 movie, “United 93,” after one movie-goer who saw it apparently broke down in tears. The film chronicles events aboard the ill-fated United Airlines flight that crashed in a Pennsylvania field despite a heroic passenger revolt. It’s expected to open at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month. In January, we pointed out a New York Times story about the making of the film, then called “Flight 93.” Director Paul Greengrass told the paper, “One of the reasons why Flight 93 exerts such a powerful hold on our imaginations is precisely because we don’t know exactly what happened.” Be that as it may, I won’t be lining up to see the movie. Count me among the many who say it’s way too soon.
Where is That Pair of Scissors Security Confiscated From You at JFK? Check eBay.
by Michael Yessis | 02.07.06 | 12:31 PM ET
USA Today’s Gary Stoller reports that government agencies are making more than a few bucks by selling the prohibited items surrendered by travelers to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Often, the items are put up for bid on eBay.
“Flight 93” Most Watched A&E Program Ever
by Michael Yessis | 02.02.06 | 1:06 PM ET
The second of at least four movies to be produced about Flight 93, the plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, drew 5.9 million viewers to A&E Monday. More people watched the program than any other in the 20+ year history of the cable channel. A&E will replay the movie Saturday at noon ET and Sunday at 3 p.m. A major motion picture about the flight from director Paul Greengrass will be released in the spring.
Vanity Fair on Air Marshals: “Are We Safer With or Without Them?”
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.06 | 7:11 AM ET
The magazine’s February issue has a chilling story about U.S. air marshals, our gun-wielding protectors in the skies. Richard Gooding paints the Federal Air Marshal Service as a bureaucratic mess, and does some first-person reporting that shows just how easy it probably is for a would-be terrorist to spot a marshal, which could greatly increase in-flight dangers.
Behind the Scenes of “Flight 93”
by Michael Yessis | 01.02.06 | 12:50 PM ET
The first major motion picture to focus on the September 11, 2001 attacks—specifically on the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field—will be released this spring, and Sunday’s New York Times has a detailed look at the production. All of the families of the flight’s passengers reportedly cooperated with director Paul Greengrass, not just those who had been able to reach their loved ones via cell phone.
Jonathan Raban: “Stateless in Seattle”
by Jim Benning | 11.21.05 | 12:48 PM ET
Seattle Weekly last week published a feature story about—and interview with—writer Jonathan Raban. The focus is Raban’s new book, My Holy War: Dispatches from the Home Front, which writer Tim Appelo describes as “a kind of diary chronicling the shocks of our epoch: the [9/11] attacks, George W. Bush’s assault on American democracy, our traumatized attempt to fathom the Islamists’ motives and divine their next target, the weird mirroring of Islamofascists by U.S. neo-Puritans, the false dawn of Howard Dean, and Bush’s ugly second coming.”
Jon Stewart on the Al-Qaeda Plot to Win an Emmy Award and Hijack a Plane
by Jim Benning | 10.07.05 | 3:49 PM ET
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman last night, and he spoke candidly about the Emmy award he won recently in Los Angeles: “It’s 20 pounds of pure steel and has two spikes on it and they let you get on the plane with it. So you just walk up and down the aisle saying, ‘Couldn’t get your nail clippers on, could you?’” Stewart added, “I believe Al-Qaeda is working on producing a great television show so they may win an Emmy and then take over a plane.” Replied Letterman: “It’s chilling.”
Bali, Terrorism and the Economics of Fear
by Jim Benning | 10.03.05 | 11:23 AM ET
We recently pointed to a USA Today story noting that terrorist attacks don’t have the crippling economic effects they once did. So what will come of Saturday’s bombings in Bali, which killed 26 people? An article in Forbes online suggests tourism will rebound relatively quickly. “Although Saturday’s blasts will mean a sharp fall in Bali’s tourist arrivals, analysts said the experiences of other target cities suggest its beaches will be packed again within a year or two,” the article states. That’s good news for Bali and bad news for terrorists.
Wanted: “Shoe Weapon Inspection System”
by Jim Benning | 08.11.05 | 1:12 PM ET
Few post-9/11, post-moron-shoe-bomber-guy airport requirements are more dispiriting than the one to remove your shoes before walking through the x-ray machine. It’s a relatively minor inconvenience, but it’s a sorry reminder of how much air travel has changed. Fortunately, there may be good news on the naked foot front. Ben Mutzabaugh writes in USA Today about a Transportation Security Administration effort to find companies to develop a “Shoe Weapon Inspection System” to screen shoes for bombs without passengers having to de-shoe. The administration has even placed an ad for it. If you happen to be in the Shoe Weapon Inspection System business, I beg you, on behalf of all travelers, to deliver us from this indignity.
“Terrorists are giving backpacks a bad name”
by Jim Benning | 08.04.05 | 5:11 PM ET
The backpack—the ultra-utilitarian bag of choice for hip travelers and students everywhere—is under attack. According to a report in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, since the recent London bombings, transporation and stadium officials in the United States are more likely to view backpacks as potential carrying cases for weapons of terror. “Transit officials in New York are randomly inspecting backpacks on subway platforms,” the article states. “A frightened Manhattan tour bus operator recently called police with a report of five swarthy men with overstuffed backpacks.”
The Politics of Travel Warnings
by Jim Benning | 08.01.05 | 11:38 AM ET
The Seattle Times’ Carol Pucci asks a great question: Why did the recent London bombings result in only a “brief and restrained” travel advisory from the U.S. State Department, while the terrorist attack in Egypt prompted a much more strongly worded advisory? Could it be—gasp—that politics are involved? It’s not a new question, but it’s as relevant as ever. Any traveler who has spent more than a few minutes studying State Department pronouncements for various countries could come up with numerous perplexing inconsistencies.
On Bombs and Backpackers
by Jim Benning | 12.16.02 | 4:20 PM ET
Time magazine’s Michael Elliott has crystallized our thoughts perfectly. In an eloquent essay in the Dec. 16 issue, he laments the chilling effects the latest terrorist attacks in Kenya and Bali could have on global backpackers. “Few modern social developments are more significant and less appreciated than the rise of backpacker travel,” he writes. “The tens of thousands of young Australians, Germans, Britons, Americans and others who wander the globe, flitting from Goa to Costa Rica, from Thailand to Tasmania, are building what may be the only example of a truly global community.”
But the bombs targeting tourists threaten all that. Elliott himself discovered Europe 30 years ago by hitchhiking around each summer. “I learned more from those trips than from years in school, and I’d begun to look forward to the day when my daughters would light out on their own ventures—to go see their relatives in Australia or hike in Tibet or do things in Bali that they wouldn’t want to tell Dad about,” he writes. “So add one more reason to hate what the terrorists have done: they’ve stolen our dreams.”
The Insecurities Project
by Michael Yessis | 11.26.02 | 3:45 PM ET
In these times of heightened airport security, many guards have been asking camera-toting passengers to snap a photo. If the camera clicks or flashes, the reasoning goes, it’s actually a camera and not a safety hazard. The pictures taken are often thoughtless throwaways—shots of the tile floor or fellow passengers caught in a blur—and of no real interest to the picture takers.
But these security-induced snaps are of interest to Canadian artist Isabelle Devos, who hopes to gather as many of them as possible and combine them into the Insecurities Project. “From these collected photos Devos will develop an art piece that will address the cultural and social patterns within the images,” says a press release on her site. “When exhibited, the final piece will create an intriguing record of one seemingly insignificant detail in our ever-changing world.” Thus far, according to a recent New York Times article, she’s accumulated 19 photos. She hopes for at least 50. A gallery in Anchorage, Alaska has already offered Devos space for an exhibition.
The State of the Lonely Planet
by Jim Benning | 11.14.02 | 12:32 AM ET
Tony Wheeler, founder of the Lonely Planet travel publishing empire, surveys the state of travel around the globe—post 9/11, post Bali attack—and finds plenty of places to avoid, and plenty worthy of a visit, too.
“I feel sorry for governments having to put out warnings to travellers - it smacks of that old line about the economist who accurately predicted nine of the last five stockmarket downturns,” he writes in the Sydney Morning Herald this week. “If you keep crying wolf often enough eventually one is bound to turn up.”
War Zones for Idiots
by Tom Bissell | 10.21.02 | 10:54 PM ET
Photo courtesy Tom Bissell The "World Series of Journalism" had begun in Afghanistan, and Tom Bissell didn't have to qualify to play. He just had to show up.
Remembering 9/11
by Jim Benning | 09.11.02 | 12:01 PM ET
Travel magazines exist to celebrate the foreign and unfamiliar. Rarely do they touch on the importance of home. But as much as we love to travel the globe, the events of September 11, 2001 reminded us, a couple of Americans, of just how much we care about home. I was in Thailand last September 11. A day later, stunned by the events, I wrote a letter about the feeling of alienation that had swept over me being so far away from the U.S. That word—home—came up again and again. Today, one year later, we believe more than ever in the power of travel. But we’re also thankful, at least for the moment, to be home.