9/11

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on March 24, 2006

In Reply to: 9/11 posted by L on March 24, 2006

: : : : hi there... I just wanna ask what is the real meaning of the phrase "the sum of all fears"

: : : You probably already know that it's the title of a movie of 2002 based on a Tom Clancy book published earlier in the same year. The book begins with a quote: "Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears." - Winston Churchill. .SS.

: : Actually the Clancy book came out in 1991, post-Cold War but pre-9/11.

: "pre-9/11" which year? 1991, I assume.

: I joined much of the world in being disgusted and shocked at the twin-towers incident, but "9/11" is a date every year and 11th September happens to be my brother-in-law's birthday, so it means different things to different people.

: Perhaps it is not helpful to simply name an incident as just a day/month. It needs a better title to distinguish it from all other 9/11s.

: BTW I have never understood why it is month/day/year in the US - logically it should be day/month/year or year/month/day because that is the natural progression for dates. anybody know why and how long that format has been used?

: L

My son recently tried to stump me by asking "What do they call the 4th of July in England?" I won't spoil it by giving the answer, but I will ask why, when discussing a spy thriller written by an American guy, involving a joint Arab-East German terrorist attack in the United States, it wouldn't make sense to categorize it as having been written between the "Cold War" and "9/11"?

• No reason at all Lewis 24/March/06
  • No reason at all Brian from Shawnee 24/March/06
    • A-Day Lewis 24/March/06