<HTML>In a message dated 9/12/01 10:24:25 PM Central Daylight Time, JIMRPT@AOL.COM writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">This talk of "everything is changed" bothers me> 'If' everything changes then "they" shall have won..... whoever the heck "they" are and whatever the heck "won" means. </BLOCKQUOTE> I discussed the terrorist attack with my students. It is interesting to hear their response to this. Some mostly the women, didn't want retaliation. The men, for the most part, wanted to destroy. But when I asked them what we should destroy, they really had no definitive answer. I do want to say this, in support of what Jim just said. The primary goal of the terrorist is to disrupt America, in every way. Not that we shouldn't recognize the terrible tragedy, but when we change our way of living, cancel events, and overall, do things differently, then "they" will have accomplished what they set out to do. I disagree that the NFL canceled all the games this weekend, and that the ML canceled games until Friday. Some of the other baseball and football players are saying that football and baseball are "just a game." Even though they are, they are more than that. Professional sports have become part of our way of life. Football and baseball players are earning a living. And just as the rest of us have to continue with our lives, and continue making a living, so are the players. The professional sports people are not the only ones making a living off the sport. The concession workers, the parking attendants, the security people, etc., etc., all count on these games to make a living. But unlike a football player who makes $10,000's per game, some of these others are making just enough to put food on the table for the next week. The sooner the US can get back to "life as normal" as possible, the sooner we will have overcome the objective of the terrorist. Again, we shouldn't ignore the tragedy. We have to recognize that a terrible loss has occurred. But we also cannot let them "win." Because that is when we "loose." Wim </HTML>