The maudlin just got… maudlin… er
US to build ship from WTC ruins
AFP - Steel from the ruins of the World Trade Centre will be used to build a US Navy ship called the USS New York.
Los Angeles-based shipbuilders Northrop Grumman said 24 tons would be melted down to form the front of the bow of the 196 metre amphibious assault craft, due to be delivered to the navy in 2007.
“The metal will be melted down and cast into the bow stem of the ship in a tribute to the victims and the heroes of 9/11 as well as to the courage of the New York people after the attacks,” said company spokesman Ed Winter.
Some 2,792 people died when two aircraft were flown into the twin towers on September 11 2001.
Part of the twisted frame of the building was shipped to the southern US city Amite, Louisiana, where a ceremony marking the melting will be held at a foundry.
The state-of-the-art ship, which will carry around 800 marines and equipment including helicopters, will be built in nearby New Orleans.
“It is a fitting tribute that the steel will be cast into the part of the ship that will slice through the water, representing the toughness and resilience of the people of New York,” said company official Bill Glenn.
“It is the part of the ship that will lead the ship into the future,” he added.
The symbolic use of part of the World Trade Centre comes just days ahead of the second anniversary of the attacks on the US East Coast that transformed the country.
Fuck, man. Fuck. That is bizarre. Bizarre. It’s on par with voodoo shamans wearing the shrunken heads of their victims for decoration or something. I mean, fair enough you’re recycling the metal, but to make it into such a symbolic gesture? Nah, that’s more than a little odd. I half expect Bush to come out and tell the US military to eat the hearts of their slain terrorist enemies for courage. Can we get any more crassly and nauseatingly saccharine and pretentious? And if you find nothing wrong with that story, then you need your fucking head examined, as this is now the Bizarro World, and hamburgers eat people.
Ooh, I’ve got a better name. How about the USS WTC Fist? They can mix the steel in the bow with some super-hard carbon alloy and go around ramming enemy vessels. It’s brilliant! “Admiral, we have the pirate ship surrounded. It is severely damaged. They wish to surrender.” “Surrender? I think not! Send in the USS WTC Fist! May they feel the full force of our divine and strangely ironic retribution…”
