It is Friday afternoon on September 9th in Murray Hill NYC, just 2 days before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and I can’t help reflecting on where I was those many years ago and the complete inability to respond to such a travesty when I heard the news. I was sitting at my desk on the 42nd floor of the Boston’s John Hancock Tower with my back to the building’s glass window wall and a clear view of Logan Airport where the planes that hit the Twin Towers originated. The only thought that cycled through my head was how my family and other residents living in NYC were responding. 10 years later, I’m living in NYC and there have already been reports of another attack on Washington D.C. and NYC and I find myself, along with the other 8 million residents, wondering what actions I should take to prepare for the weekend.

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Irene has come and gone along the eastern coastline of the United States. Though warned to expect an epic disaster, all in all, we were very fortunate the storm did not live up to its predicted devastation. You’ll see from the photo above, Irene fizzled down to a mild rain storm by the time it reached the Big Apple. That being said, my thoughts are with those, particularly those living further south and in the Caribbean, whose property was damaged, businesses were impacted, or worst of all, their loved ones hurt in any way. What I find disturbing is the level of media hype from some of the world’s largest-reaching news channels, CNN in particular.

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