I've been watching the astonishing unbelievable attack upon New York and Washington D.C. The concept that I have just seen the plane hit one of the towers and that I've seen both collapse... That hundreds of police officers and emergency workers that were helping as those towers collapsed... Watching Manhattan in smoke and debris... people running in the streets, cloths over their faces... Unbelievable. As I watch this, I just can't help but believe we are about to see a prelude to war of some sort... That life in the United States is going to change... that anti aircraft missles and military teams upon the tops of major buildings in major cities will become common place... But right now, my prayers and best wishes go to those survivors, the injured, the families of the deceased... Hearing the live reports of all airports being closed in the United States and apparently Canada... Hearing about NASA in Houston being evacuated... The treasury building bombing, the Pentagon.... Dear God this is madness...

-Harry

Hi folks, Dave here, with an update. Here's what we know. Two aircraft crashed, one each, into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Those towers have now collapsed. Each is 110 stories tall, and at the hour of the events, roughly 20,000 people are regularly at work in these buildings. During the time of the collapses, a number of rescue workers were also in the area. Both of the aircraft appear to have been commercial airliners, one was an American Airlines flight number 11, a 767 from Boston's Logan airport originally bound for Los Angeles, 81 passengers, and a crew of 11 were on that plane. The other is reportedly United Airlines flight 175, also from Boston's Logan airport. The first plane struck at 8:42 AM Eastern Time, the second at 9:03. At 9:59, the south tower collapsed. At 10:28, the north tower collapsed.

Additionally, at 9:40 AM, a plane has crashed into the Pentagon's helipad area, which is the back of the building complex, away from the Potomac River. This was flight 77, from Washington's Dulles Airport, originally bound for Los Angeles, with 58 passengers and a crew of 6.

A plane has also crashed in Pennsylvania, now known as United Airlines flight 93, a 757 from Newark bound for San Francisco.

All domestic flights have been shut down. All Atlantic flights bound for the US have been rerouted to Canada, which has shut down their domestic flights.

There are now reports of a bomb at Stuyvesant high school. One of my best friends from college is a History teacher there.

I also just found out that one of my best friends from high school was nearly in the World Trade Center today.

There are additional unconfirmed reports of a plane possibly still heading for Washington under hijack, and of possible secondary bomb explosions in New York City. I'll continue to update details as they become known.

There is good continuing coverage at The Times, an excellent UK news source. Currently, most news sites here in the States are flooded beyond capacity with traffic. There are also a good number of stories at The Times of India

There are now reports that the US borders with Canada and Mexico have been closed.

A final note, by all accounts I've heard, the death toll and extent of damage are expected to far exceed those of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The terror of this act is incomprehensible. FOUR planes hijacked, all of their passengers killed. An attack on the Pentagon, many hundreds there possibly killed and injured. Finally, the complete destruction of both of the towers of the World Trade Center, with a possible death toll of tens of thousands, including hundreds of rescue workers who were in the buildings, trying to save the lives of those trapped within at the time of collapse. I offer my deepest sympathies to everyone touched by this day of intense suffering and evil.

-Dave

Folks, Harry here... Listen back off the 'kill kill kill' rhetoric, I understand the anger you are feeling, but it's better to start donating extra clothes to Salvation Army, sending positive messages to folks out there in the world. Right now we are seeing a great deal of speculation and best guesses. Right now you need to realize that this is the work of an imbalanced group. We do not yet know with certainty who did this, where these people are and if any other government supported or had prior knowledge about these attacks... This information will come in the following hours, days and weeks.

Jumping to conclusions about the race or religious backgrounds of the attackers can only cause harm. There is a chance of misplaced domestic reprisals against racial groups because they have been stereotyped by this hysteria that is beginning to spread.

If you are in the Tri-State area... go donate blood and supplies. If you are in New York, look into the volunteer Rescue positions and help save lives, locate bodies so loved ones can move forward with their grieving and keep a level head.

Yes, this is scary. Yes, seeing Palestinians celebrating the attack is infuriating... But more killing and calling for more violence is premature at this time. Send your prayers and positive thoughts to those in need, don't wish for others dead.