9 August 2001
August 9, 2001. As Oingo Boingo said, it's just another day.
New president George W. Bush was in Crawford Texas talking about stem cell research.
...My administration must decide whether to allow federal funds, your tax dollars, to be used for scientific research on stem cells derived from human embryos. A large number of these embryos already exist. They are the product of a process called in vitro fertilization, which helps so many couples conceive children. When doctors match sperm and egg to create life outside the womb, they usually produce more embryos than are planted in the mother. Once a couple successfully has children, or if they are unsuccessful, the additional embryos remain frozen in laboratories....
Meanwhile, the WCAG WG was holding a teleconference:
...Current: 1.2 Synchronize media equivalents with time-dependent presentations.
Previous: 1.2 Synchronize text equivalents with multimedia presentations. 1.3 Synchronize a description of the essential visual information in multimedia presentations.
WC GV said need to say "provide and synchronize"
JW Media equivalents are not defined. GV says "no where says" provide.
WC Defined, but not exactly. So then use his proposal?
JW Revise 1.1 to cover audio descriptions, or use GV, or a separate checkpoint.
GR 2nd sentence of definition is a problem.
WC: propose putting a note to reviewers so we can move forward with publishing the draft. Put this as an open issue.
MM Agree that it should be there. It does underscore 1.1. If just add one word, "provide" a lot more people will be able to understand that if they just look at it w/out looking at success criteria.
JM Agree. If it seems redundant, but reduces misinterpretation.
GR That means that audio description falls under 3.4.
JW no, 1.2
MM Provide synchronized ...
WC Still include note?
GR Think better to get feedback. Test to see if people understand.
Action WC: reword 1.2 "Provide synchronized..." and fix definition.
Future Issue: redundancy between 1.2 and 1.1....
And the Jay Leno yukfest had some top-notch guests:
Episode Credited cast:
Jay Leno .... Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mandy Moore .... Herself
Molly Shannon .... Herself
Bradley Whitford .... Himself
Oh yeah, and some stuff was happening elsewhere in the world:
Suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem
August 9, 2001
15 people were killed, including 7 children, and about 130 were injured in a suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizzeria at the corner of King George Street and Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem. Concealing the explosives in a guitar case which he had carried with him into Jerusalem, the terrorist entered the restaurant just before 2 PM and detonated the bomb. The 5 kg.-10 kg. bomb, which was packed with nails, screws, and bolts to ensure maximum damage, completely gutted the restaurant, which was full of lunchtime diners.
The terrorist was killed in the blast. His controller was on the list of wanted terrorists submitted by Israel to the Palestinians Authority this week. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
No one bothered to re-enact Mandy Moore's appearance on the Tonight Show, but the Sbarro bombing was re-enacted in late September of 2001 (12 days after another terrorist attack of which you may be aware):
NABLUS, West Bank, 23 September, 2001
Opening an exhibition today marking a year of violence, a Palestinian re-enacted a bloody suicide bombing in Jerusalem.
Wearing a military uniform and a black mask, he entered a doorway under a replica of the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, and set off a fake explosion.
Visitors crowded through the doorway to see a recreation of the August 9th suicide bombing, complete with body parts and pizza slices strewn all over. In the downtown Jerusalem attack, the bomber and 15 other people were killed.
In another room of the exhibition, visitors looked through dark windows to see figures dressed as suicide bombers, each with one hand on Islam's holy Koran and the other on an automatic rifle, re-enacting the grisly last testament by real suicide bombers in front of video cameras before carrying out their deadly attacks.
"Our message from this exhibition to our people is that the occupiers will suffer as long as we are under occupation," said Ala Hmedan, one of the organizers of the exhibition.
"To the Israeli people: if you leave the occupied territories, you will not suffer and you will not see blood any more," he said....
A shrine in one room pays tribute to three leaders of the militant Hamas killed in targeted attacks by Israel. Three open graves surrounded by candles expose three white coffins for Jamal Mansour, Jamal Salim and Salah Darwazeh, all top Hamas men in Nablus....
Al Najah University, a hotbed for militants, has spawned several suicide bombers since the violence began. Many students belong to or support Hamas, which opposes peace deals with Israel and has claimed responsibility for many of the suicide bomb attacks....
Looking at the exhibits, economics student Ghadir Haddad, 19, identified fully with the displays of violence.
"This exhibition shows the reality we live in. Suicide bombings here, killings there," she said. "I'm very happy because as they kill and torture us they are also killed and tortured."
But Sbarro re-opened.
When the Sbarro Israel management reconstructed their restaurant and re-opened it in Sep. 2001, thirty days after the terror attack, this is the advertisement they ran in all the local Jerusalem newspapers. The Roths [parents of Malka Chana Roth, one of the dead] felt this was a disgrace. No mention of why the restaurant needed to be rebuilt; no mention of the murders, or of the victims alive or dead, or of the pain of the families. The headline reads: "For you, the best!" The sub-heading: "The Jerusalem Sbarro branch which opens on 12 Sept. is the fanciest in the country, and you're invited to come along and get a 50% discount".
For a time:
After closing its doors a number of months ago, Jerusalem’s Sbarro Pizzeria today held a festive grand opening ceremony in its new downtown location on Jaffa Street.
Sbarro was targeted in the August 9, 2001 suicide bombing attack that left 15 persons dead and 132 wounded. That attack occurred in its flagship store located at the intersection of King George and Jaffa Streets. The pizzeria was reopened about a month after the attack, becoming a gathering place for many wishing to identify with the victims. The momentum did not last however and the store finally closed its doors, hit hard by the recession and general downfall of the once popular “triangle” area of the capital. Today [7 June 2004] however, Sbarro was revived once again, opening its doors in the same general area, but in smaller more modest location.
Meanwhile, back on August 9, 2001, some web designers were meeting in Boulder:
The Boulder Web Designers and Developers Group (WebD2) will meet in
the NCAR Mesa Lab Main Seminar Room on Thursday, August 9, at 6:30
PM. Dr. Carl Crosswhite will give a presentation on Java Server
Pages (JSPs)....
So, life went on in the rest of the world, because the events that happened in Jerusalem on 9 August 2001 could never happen in the United States. Oh sure, you had Timothy McVeigh, but nothing would ever happen that could compare to his actions.
Could it?
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