I wish they'd stop calling the 9-11 attack site 'ground zero'

[Philosoraptor]

Ground Zero is a term first coined by the developers of the atomic bomb in reference to the actual bomb site. No planes could fly over it, and no one could enter ground zero. Now it's used almost exclusively when referring to the former World Trade Center site. It sounds clinical, sterile, and very military, but there must be a better phrase or term to describe the site of the awful 9-11 attacks.

I don't have any suggestions, I guess you have to call it something, but ground zero just strikes me as bizarre.

And the tea party crazies all say, 'no mosque at ground zero' etc., in fact everyone calls it ground zero now.

If they ever rebuild there, will they still call it ground zero?

[Bluebear]

1. They will call it that for all time

It became part of the vernacular that very day...like it or not I think we're stuck with it.

[Philosoraptor]

2. They ought to call g.w. bush 'president zero'

[lib_wit_it]

27. Make that sub-zero, and same for Giuliani. "President Sub-Zero and and Governor Sub-Zero were the

beneficiaries of a ludicrously inflated public image in the aftermath of 9-11."

[rfranklin]

3. Another case of American exceptionalism...

Equating the 3,000 dead at the Trade Centers to the 250,000 people killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Philosoraptor]

4. Sad but true

[unblock]

21. equating? you mean trumping.

the "japs" were "zeros" and the 3,000 were "heros". well, at least the non-islamic people out of the 3,000. and not too sure about all those jews, either.

:sarcasm:

[rfranklin]

35. I stand corrected...

You are absolutely right about those distinctions.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. America acts like it's the only country in the world

that has ever suffered a terrorist attack. Look what we've done to Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't think we should be pointing fingers.

[howaboutme]

6. They could call it

the site where "they" (and "they" remains to be defined wholly to my satisfaction) were able to nullify the primary concerns described in our Bill of Rights, as well as the requirement that our Dept of Defense be wholly and primarily about defending the USA, and not about invading other countries under false pretense that it helps US security.

Lots of common sense questions about 9-11 but few common sense answers.

[niyad]

37. have you seen "9/11:press for the truth"? a great doc--

and a great website called the "complete 9/11 timeline"

http://www.historycommons.org/project.jsp?project=911_project

[howaboutme]

39. Thanks

Very interesting web site. The more I read about 9-11 the more I'm convinced that there is much more to this event than we've ever been told. Investigating 101 considers motive as a primary factor of interest, but where has motive ever been discussed? Who benefited? Could it be that there was establishment fear and opposition to re-opening any part of the 9-11 investigation and the pre Iraq intel as the reason that Pelosi took impeachment off the table? The power elite do not want to open this can of warms not knowing where it could lead.

I may get that movie that you mentioned http://www.911pressfortruth.com/. These housewives were the only people with the political clout to press for the truth and as I recollect for instrumental in the 9-11 Commission.

We need a real and non-political 9-11 Commission where individuals testify under oath, and where all issues are open to public discussion and totally transparent via a web site to all Americans and where there is ethnic balance. Bush and Cheney needed impeached.

[blogslut]

7. I agree

It's as ridiculous as that game of one-upmanship people used to play back in the 80's:

"I live at ground zero!"

"No, I do!"

Not to mention it ruins the satire of that awesome FishBone song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrONIb9gQ-k

[boppers]

16. I love you.

:evilgrin:

[pipi_k]

8. I know...it makes me cringe to hear it referred to that way also

and for the same reason.

My first thought when I hear that is always...OMG nuclear attack!!!

A second later I realize that, as bad as it was, it was NOT a nuclear attack.


I wonder if the Japanese still...or ever...referred to Hiroshima and Nagasaki as "ground zero"...

If they don't, then our use of the phrase to describe what happened at the WTC is silly and insulting.

[pitohui]

25. they refer to hiroshima and nagasaki as hiroshima and nagasaki

however that's a diff situation, they are large cities that have recovered, have large parks and memorials to remember the dead, but otherwise they've moved forward, the japanese are a forward looking people who are into the future, not people who like to "wallow"

be that as it may, our use of the phrase, "ground zero" well established now to refer to the former wtc site is NOT silly or insulting, it is simply what it's called

the language changes and grows, i know some people resent it, but it's true

"ground zero" is a much better, shorter, simpler name that than "the former world trade center in new york, you know those twin towers that those guy flew those planes into" (there are buildings called the world trade center in other cities, and some of them still stand, you know

"ground zero" is short and snappy, the other descriptions are just long and involved blithering

also words and phrases can actually have more than one meaning, which intelligent people can figure out from context

no one hears "ground zero" in ref to 9-11 and thinks "OMG nuclear bombs! nagasaki!" they know exactly what's being said

[pipi_k]

29. Last sentence...

no one hears "ground zero" in ref to 9-11 and thinks "OMG nuclear bombs! nagasaki!" they know exactly what's being said

is not true.

I DO think "nuclear bombs" when I hear the phrase "ground zero" no matter what it's used to describe, although I don't think "Nagasaki" or "Hiroshima".

If being able to figure out what's being said by context is all it's cracked up to be, then even though there may be other "world trade centers", it should also be possible for intelligent people to know that "World Trade Center" would mean the one that was destroyed by terrorists on 9/11.

And it only has one more syllable than "ground zero".


Quite frankly, I don't care what people call it. I was merely expressing my opinion on the matter, and I still think it's an insult to use a term lots of people associate with nuclear attacks (and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people) with an event whose scope wasn't nearly as devastating.

[RandomThoughts]

9. I agree with that. would be good to get past that name.

Ground zero was just the distance from impact point for monitoring different effects, so if you had 100 meter effects mile effects ect. Ground zero would be impact point.

It does not apply accept in a social or cultural context for changes created by some actions after that happened.

[Hansel]

10. I wish America would get up off of its knees...

and stop wallowing in 911.

It's time to move on and stop acting so pathetic. Let the people who actually suffered a loss that day recover and stop pretending that everyone was equally impacted.

People in sparsely populated states are all in bravado about going after terrorists who attacked a city that they happen to bash on a daily basis so they vote for war mongers. The people who were actually attacked don't. The hanging onto the coattails of every tragedy in this country by people who just need attention is really nauseating.

The constant hang wringing over 911 by people who were not directly involved and have a very minuscule chance of ever being attack by Al Qaeda ranks right up there with people who attend funerals of murder victims in highly publicized murder cases and celebrity funerals. They are self-absorbed ghouls.

[pipi_k]

12. Actually, you know what it all reminds me of...

people who (on another site where I used to be a member) would constantly post things like, "My cousin's hairdresser's sister's meter reader died....OMG I'm just DEVASTATED!!!! boo hoo hoo!!!"

and people would be all like, "Oh you poor thing...I'm so sorry...I'll pray for you..." etc. etc. etc.

You know? Professional victims who got attention from the misfortunes of other people (who didn't do them any favors by actually GIVING them the attention they were looking for).

blech.


Some of us Americans wear 9/11 as a sort of "badge", thinking, quite arrogantly, that we're the only nation that has suffered any sort of tragedy.

[Submariner]

11. That "Homeland Security" term can go too

Hearing the Bush/Cheney junta make up that name immediately made me think of the Nazi "Fatherland", which it still reminds me of to this day.

[AnArmyVeteran]

13. Idiots keep playing right into hands of terrorists.

By going to war against two Muslim countries we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By killing hundreds of thousands of Muslims we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By passing homeland security and stripping Americans of their rights we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By imprisoning innocent Muslims at Gitmo we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By torturing terrorist suspects we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By right wingers constantly wanting to target and profile dark-skinned, Arah-looking people we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By declaring the site of the WTC buildings as 'ground zero' we played right into the hands of terrorists.
By protesting the building of a Muslim education and worship center within a few blocks of 'ground zero' we played right into the hands of terrorists.

Every time some idiotic leader, or the right wing, attacks Muslims they play right into the hands of terrorists. But they are too stupid to realize what the consequences of their actions are. Right wingers only think of quick, short term and violent solutions. They hate diplomacy and working with others to make the world a better place. They love force, wars and death, even though they are playing right into the hands of terrorists.

[liberal N proud]

14. It was all part of that fear game the bu$h regime rained down on us.

Like so many other terms associated with the bu$h regime fear factor, I too hate that one right behind it is "Homeland Security." It sounds so third reich.

[lib2DaBone]

15. It's ground zero for stupidity and cover-up

The Offishul (sic) 911 report is a lie...

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Stephanie]

19. Not even funny.

Knock it off.

[unblock]

22. even if it were a demolition, how is that not an "attack"

you're merely claiming a different group might have had a hand in it.

it was an attack either way.

[Stephanie]

18. If they ever rebuild there?

It's being rebuilt as we speak. Tower 1 is at about 30 stories already. Here are photos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/8/14/1390/48336

Here is Rachel Maddow taking a tour of the construction site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvSzmkAbgI8&feature=player_embedded

And New Yorkers call it the World Trade. Tourists call it Ground Zero.

[Posteritatis]

20. I wish they'd stop calling not-the-9/11-attack-site 'ground zero' as well.

The definition's expanding so much that I'm starting to feel like I should be living in a crater, and I'm in another time zone.

[kenichol]

23. I now call Juarez 'ground zero' in the drug war

I just finished a three day county fair event where our booth featured a LEAP Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaker. Our message was "Let's have a conversation about the War on Drugs." Amazing to watch people 'get it' after being shocked when seeing the t-shirts we were wearing & decorated our booth with that said, "Cops Say Legalize Drugs. Ask me why." They surely asked.

[pitohui]

24. well they've only been calling it that for 9 years

so maybe if it bothers you so much, you should have suggested another name way before now

i think ground zero is a perfectly good name and it has become the traditional one

[TorchTheWitch]

26. I wish people would stop forgeting there was more than one attack site

Seems like people always focus on the tragedy of 9/11 only occuring in NYC when there were also two other sites in the US that were part of the tragedy.

[pipi_k]

30. Good point...

There were indeed two other "points of attack", but people tend to forget that fact.

Why shouldn't they also be called "ground zero"...Do people who want to memorialize the WTC site as "ground zero" think it deserves that name because MORE people died there than died at the other two sites?

If I were a family member of someone who died at the Pentagon or in that field, I would be disgusted at that attitude.

[Ron Green]

28. It's branding. America's all about branding.

Lazy language, lazy thinking.

[rucky]

31. The proposed mosque/community center is 2 blocks from the WTC site.

I don't think enough people realize this.

[NorthCarolina]

32. "Ground Zero" has a more ominous tone about it though. More "scare factor". eom

[pipi_k]

33. that makes sense....

I'm thinking back to when "Fux News" took to calling them "homicide bombers" instead of "suicide bombers" (the people who strapped bombs to themselves) in an effort to make them seem more heinous and scary.

Well, it didn't work for me because there's a huge difference between someone who only wants to kill others (homicide) as opposed to someone who's willing to die himself in order to kill others (suicide). A homicide bomber hits and runs like a coward. A suicide bomber will get right in there with others and probably kill more people.

Suicide bombers, to me, are way more scary for that reason.

But lots of people apparently didn't see that difference.



Anyway, yeah...gotta call 'em what will sound the scariest to the most people...

[NorthCarolina]

34. Just like

changing "Estate Tax" to "DEATH Tax". Middle income and poor folks don't really have "Estates" large enough to worry about taxing them, but call it "Death Tax", and well, everyone is gonna die right?

[Raineyb]

36. You can call it the giant hole in the ground that no one is doing a damn thing with but everyone

is squabbling over.

It's a big long but apt.

[aikoaiko]

38. It's merely a metaphor.

And it works for a lot a people.

[name not needed]

40. According the the repukes, everything below 14th st. is "Ground Zero"