We The People

Letter of condolence - I'm a little offended by your use of the word "our country" and "our nation" and all that - I'm I not allowed to care? Am I not welcome to sign this? I would try to reword this to make it applicable to anyone. Remember that people from all over the world have shown sympathy to the victims of these attacks, and many from other countries my wish to participate in your letter. I think it's a good way for people to show that they care, even now almost two months after it happened. To show that we haven't forgotten.

The design overall looks very good. The only thing I don't like is the bevel on the flags down the left side. It doesn't look quite right - try just a black border around them.

Quote: Letter of condolence - I'm a little offended by your use of the word "our country" and "our nation" and all that - I'm I not allowed to care? Am I not welcome to sign this?

I don't see how you should be offended by this. I guess she could say, "to the worlds firefigters, to the world’s leaders,..."

But then it wouldn't sound as much like a tribute to our nation. It would be more of a tribute to the world. I think it is fine as is...no offense to you Megan...but she chose to do a tribute to our nation.
She did include this...

"all who serve in this great nation’s best interests"

which in my opinion makes it applicable to anyone.

I think this is a good tribute as well as some great information. The border is fine to me. The image of the WTC was a little slow to load. See if you can optimize it. It should probably be a jpg instead of a gif.

I would also not do italic on the condolence page. It is a little hard to read.

Thanks for pointing that out.

I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone and was hoping people from all over the world would sign the letter.

That was a terrible omission on my part and I have corrected the letter and uploaded the changes.

I would appreciate your taking another look at it and telling me what you think. Any suggestions on rewording are welcome and much appreciated.

Deborah

That one sounds fine also. I didn't really see anything wrong with the other one though. The way you have it worded now maybe won't offend anyone.

Maybe offended was too strong a strong word but I read that and thought "Oh, this doesn't apply to me. I should just leave, I'm obviously not welcome". I know that I do tend to be a little hypersensitive to these things, but it does happen all over the web all the time - people forgetting that the web is global. It's really alienating. (but this is a very mild case)

You're still writing in the first person. It's better, but I still see "our" in there.

"To the victims of the September 11 attacks, to their loved ones, to the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and medical personnel, to the brave men and women who serve in the armed forces, to America's leaders and all world leaders who stand together in condemning such acts, to people of all nations who share in this sorrow through actions and words, and to the family and friends of those above - our hearts and thoughts are with you."

There, just some small changes. Remember that there were people from all over the world died in the WTC - their loved ones all over the world are in sorrow to. The sorrow spreads all over the world - it's not just yours (you used "our sorrow..."). "This" isn't quite the right word but I'm not sure what else would work.

You were absolutely right to point out the error in the letter. Not only did people from dozens of countries perish that day, but assistance arrived from around the world and I would be remiss to not include everyone.

I have just uploaded yet another verion for you to look at.

Since you are not American (but one of our closest allies), your viewpoint is especially pertinent and I appreciate your taking the time to help with this.

Sincerely,
Deborah

Looks good now. And you're welcome

The Letter of Condolence is done and will stand as is. Please feel free to add your signatures if you agree with the sentiment while reviewing the site.

Megan's input was valuable and appreciated. Not only did people from around the world suffer that day, people of many other nations reached out to help and all should feel welcome at this site.

Disaster-Master: I tried the text non-italic for the Letter of Condolence, but it appeared bold and harsh. Given the subject, I prefer the softer look of italics though it is a bit more difficult to read. Thanks for the info on the slow load time for the pic, will fix it after I get the boys down for their nap.

Thanks,
Deborah

Just a questions about the flags on the graphics page, arent some of the flags poticaly incorrect? I'm not an American, but I always thought the stars was to be always at the top left, even when hung from a window etc.

I could be wrong and way outta line, sorry if I am, just needed to ask

Except for one flag which is part of a set for use setting off text and graphics, all of the flags on the graphics pages do have the blue field with stars in the upper left.

The corner shaped flag set is available so a matching corner flag may be put to the right and left of text, headline or graphic. I thought that might be useful for webmasters or others building patriotic sites.

Thanks for asking though. I have seen lots of flags on the Internet - and where I live - being improperly displayed. On my "Flag Etiquette" page I have the correct rules for how to display the American flag - though the flag code doesn't cover the Internet - yet.

Thanks,
Deborah