Reactions to the Attacks of 9/11: The crazy email started as soon as I arrived home on the 11th:

~ "What the hell is going on! I think the time has come for the people to separate from the state," wrote an anonymous hacker, "The underground revolution has begun... When will we come together? Why should we be left in the dark and innocent citizen be used as live ammo?"

~ Nicholas Longo, the CEO of CoffeeCup Software, sent an email to his product announcement list that read, in part, "We would like to also say on record that if any country is found responsible for these attacks, we call for that country's complete destruction and annihilation."

~ One disturbed camgirl wrote about "selective genocide" and how "we really need to just redraw the map of the middle east. Those people have acted like children with guns for as long as anyone can remember, and they've taken it too far... I say we blow them off the face of the fucking planet."

The anger is understandable, disturbing but expected; it was the talk of "genocide" and "wiping them out" that worried me more. And we started to see it on the streets. As of yesterday, the FBI has opened at least 40 hate crime investigations into attacks on "Arab-looking people," including two killings possibly motivated by anti-Arab sentiment.

But I was impressed, immediately, by the tone of much of what was being said elsewhere. People were calling not just for war, but critical thought, reflection, and peace as well. No one had been silenced by this, and no one seemed scared to say what they really thought. On Metafilter, there was immediate discussion of United States foreign policy and its possible impact.

~ Someone pointed out to me a chilling article from Robert Fisk of the Independent, suggesting that the United States government may be falling into a trap set by bin Laden.

~ Noam Chomsky wrote about of the bombings as atrocities that exist within a context of atrocity.

~ The Atlantic has a new section up linking some of their most insightful articles about terrorism and the United States role.

~ Martin Woollacott: Don't inflate the size of the enemy to fit the crime, from the Guardian.

~ Some interesting coverage of the media coverage by Danny Schechter.