DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

The surreality of yesterday’s tragedy continues. Life goes on — of course — and yet any communication that doesn’t acknowledge the disaster seems tainted, out of touch, as if only within the context of yesterday’s events can we move forward with our lives.

Today’s Chron ran an unprecedented full-page cover photo of the south tower of the WTC collapsing. Most of the newspaper’s content is devoted to coverage of the attack — news, analysis, opinion, images. Nearly every page shows a somber black banner across the top: America Under Attack.

But there was no such banner on the Food section. The headline reads Exotic Wraps and the subtitle announces that “banana leaves and other ingredients add panache to special dinners.” I can see that it’s perfectly reasonable for the newspaper to include this section today, but its glib headline and apparent ignorance of the day’s context is jarring.

The Business section showed a remarkably powerful photo of a man walking out of a dust cloud, in a well-tailored suit and tie, shoulders back, briefcase in hand, looking every bit the part of the world-beating investment banker — except for the look on his face, of pain and terrible grief. This image reminds me of Nick Ut’s 1972 photograph of children fleeing a napalm attack on a village outside Saigon.

Jon Carroll’s column is interesting: Welcome to the 21st Century

I think the best thing I’ve read about yesterday’s events so far is the account of the Jeremy Glick from Flight 93, as recounted on Jerry Pournelle’s website.

Here are good explanations of why the towers collapsed: BBC and David Perlman