9/21/01, 1:30 am

Spice (8th Ave. & 20th) is my favorite restaurant in Chelsea. Even after a 15 minute wait. Yum!

The good food came with good company. Some of Anthony’s friends including Dave, and James. Two are new New Yorkers. The first post-WTC New Yorkers I’ve met. What a time to move…

I’ve begun to notice that a lot of people, especially politically liberal leaning folks, believe that there’s something that America (and Americans) did to cause this attack. People espousing this opinion often are still learning about the factors at play here. They’re understandably trying to fit the tragedy into their own worldview — one where people do things for a rational reason, one where everything is about real-world cause and effect. I guess I was sort of in that frame of mind when I first started thinking about it.

I think it’s wrong, though. This doesn’t fit into that rational psychology. The Economist picked up this issue today. And this 1995 article does a good job explaining some of the same topics that “Jihad in America” covers, and tries to explain the religious extremist worldview at work here.

How about this for a bedtime photo? Ground Zero, New York City, from the sky. (Please, if you’re really about to go to sleep, don’t look at the Ground Zero photo now.)