The 9/11 attacks obviously were the icing on the cake for the 3T as experienced by the US. So much has happened both in terms of domestic politics and geopolitics since then, as a result of that day of infamy.

I started this thread in order to capture thoughts, comments, links and info about 9/11.

Please, no "Truther" posts. That would derail the thread.

1:51 into this video is a great example of the "boomer coaching millenial" dynamic.  Streisand knows exactly what she wants, and Ridley just does it.  I've cued it to the relevant portion.

Anyone who takes a few steps back to view both our domestic situation as well as the international situation should be greatly alarmed. Domestically, the supports for national unity are at their weakest in my lifetime - now past a half century. The so called "Alt-Right" have steered or have been steered into a pathos that is surprising in a nation that so prides itself in being different and separate from Europe. The "Alt-Right" are now no different from the various European Extreme Right movements, which, to be blunt, are no different from the "pan" movements of the early to middle 20th Century. It is one of the most shocking things of my life experience thus far to be witnessing this. I write this as one who, a mere ten years ago, railed against both the liberals as well as the Establishment conservatives. I hereby apologize for whatever role that might have had in terms of catalyzing some dire unintended consequences.

Meanwhile, internationally, the long standing post-WW2 order, whatever were its faults, has now vanished. Sure there are still some false front buildings akin to a poorly constructed Spaghetti Western set, such as the UN, the EU, and various other attempts at international order. But these are no longer respected, most especially by the Shang Hai Cooperation Org countries and various client and affiliated rogue states thereof. NATO still seems vital, in affront to this trend. Long may it last. It would be a crime to allow it to disintegrate, only to have to be reconstructed in some fashion, hastily, during a future darkest hour, under threat of being defeated by Evil.

Then, there is the matter of Russian interference in our election. This knits together the two aforementioned venues of crisis. Moscow are no longer trying to hide their intentions. Moscow have lined up behind the 21st Century Quisling, hoping to neutralize the one great power truly capable of stopping the SCO advance. In their wildest dreams, the US would even go beyond neutrality, and become a member of the Axis of Evil.

Suffice it to say, as we approach one of the greatest decision points ever encountered in US history, I feel a deep sense of foreboding. No matter what the outcome on Tuesday, I believe forces have already been unleashed, both domestically and internationally, that can only lead us further into the abyss. It's too late to turn back now. God Bless us all.

Tweets from Neil DeGrasse Tyson on the Huffington Post before the Cubs won the World Series:

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, the existence of the Atom had only recently been established.

The last time the Cubs won the World Series, the Wright Brothers were debating if aeroplanes could ever fly from NYC to Paris

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, the Periodic Table had only 85 Elements on it.

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, the cosmic object known as Pluto was not yet discovered.

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, Mark Twain was still alive.

In the same year the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in Bolivia.

Five years *after* the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series, Henry Ford perfected the moving assembly line.

The expanding Universe was discovered by Edwin Hubble 21 years *after* the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series.

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, three years would pass before the discovery of the atomic nucleus.

One more?

Halley's Comet has appeared TWICE in our skies since the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

After...

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, Real Estate developer Donald Trump was running for President of the USA.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/neil...3e6c1e0848

What I mean by Trick or Treating is actual, real Trick or Treating, where people walk down the street, knocking on doors of people who appear to be participating. When I was a kid the participation rate was well over 90%.

Last night we only got single digits of people at our place. We are in a suburb. It's a bit woodsy but it's not a standoffish McMansion place where people are discouraged from access to front doors. We live in a mix of individually built houses ranging from Edwardian to recent. Front doors are easy to get to and we do have street lights.

The reason we only got a handful of trick or treaters is instead of doing traditional trick or treating, the parents all got together in one place with their kids and had a closed party (well, not formally closed, but the idea was, all these people get together and do a sort of lame trick or treat only with each other). It was very tribal - "we are the 'parents-with-elementary-aged-kids' tribe. We won't knock on doors of members of other tribes."

I predict that at least in our corner of the Bay Area, some of the Homies will never know traditional Trick or Treating, and, the next generation of kids won't know it at all.

Like if they insult you or have a problem with you and you confront them with passion, they claim not to care what you do even though they were the ones who brought it up in the first place. It's like they somehow think it's gonna pacify me or make me feel better. Someone can go through lots of struggles due to society and they think saying that most people "don't care" makes it all the better, even though there's the same result.

I'm not much of a TV watcher and seldom visit the Entertainment and Media folders.  I considered just putting this over in the political discussion section.  I'm posting this not because I'm particularly in love with the series, but out of interest in generation theory.

Amazon is streaming a series, "Good Girls Revolt".  It's a fictionalized account of events in the Newsweek newsrooms back in the 1960s.  At the time, males were reporters and females were researchers, sexism was rampant and taken for granted.  The primary long term conflict centers on the girls going to court to press for equality.  There is an abundance of opportunities for the various reporters and researchers, though, to visit the issues of the awakening.  I suspect most episodes will involve the cast investigating a story that explores one aspect or another of the awakening.

These forums feature a lot of Boomer Bashing.  I'll occasionally grumble about Xers and Millenials that dislike Boomer idealism and intensity.  My thesis is that they just don't understand the society the Boomers grew up in, the time when America was supposedly great, and the sexist and racist attitudes many find disturbing in Trump were openly and systematically practiced.  A lot of Blue Boomers were ticked by aspects of the 50s and 60s culture for good and appropriate reasons.  I can mention coat hanger abortions, live draft cards, black and white rest rooms and major cities totally lacking or having totally inadequate sewer treatment facilities.  Still, if you didn't live it, reading about it as abstract history doesn't give a true understanding of where the Blue Boomers came from and why they became what they became.  One has to have an imagination and spend some effort walking in someone else's shoes to get it.  Altogether too many members of the younger generations aren't bothering to go through any such effort.

I've just started into the series, but it seems to me that "Good Girls Revolt" removes the need to imagine at least.  It's a pretty good time warp.  I suspect any Boomer haters will also find a reason to hate the series.  Anything that forces one to stretch one's world view will be perceived of as being unpleasant, wrong, or otherwise not worth viewing.  Still, if you want a glimpse of the old 'deplorable' values operating unquestioned, blatantly, taken for granted, you might want to catch a few episodes.

To create all these zero tolerance rules and have kids arrested for things they got to do when young. Also were deeply into things like the Patriot Act. Why do they panic so easily over things like school shootings and terrorism?

It certainly looks like it's shaping up that way.  My bet is that the 2020s see the last election along the conservative/liberal divide that originated in the Millennial Saeculum.

Haven't read it yet but here it is:

http://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/harvar...-2016-poll