Now we have all taken time to think, reminded, unfortunately, by this most violent act against humanity. And while sadness, and at times anger, take over our emotions, we must have faith in God, and our Government, that justice will prevail.

For all of us, there are horrific pictures forever etched in our minds and countless lines of quotable verse describing the attacks and expressing our emotions. One journalist, Leonard Pitts Jr., put his feelings into words in his column in The Miami Herald. "We'll Go Forward From This Moment" will touch everyone who reads it. In part, he wrote, "...in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

"You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

"What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

"Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.

"Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

"Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together."

Mr. Pitts goes on to say, "As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish." For a limited time, the complete text is available on The Miami Herald's website at http://www.miami.com/herald/content/features/columnists/pitts/digdocs/000565.htm.

The "reality" of these unthinkable acts of violence is surreal for most of us. Those of us who have not lost a loved one or friend, or been to the scenes personally, have trouble grasping the level of destruction, the number of loves, and lives lost. But we feel it. The massive rippling effect this day has caused affects all of us. But by standing together and getting back to work, we can each individually fight back. Terrorists may have taken thousands of precious lives, but they will not take our freedom.

As part of the healing that we all must do, I urge you to take a minute to ponder the Pledge of Allegiance, the lyrics of America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner. To cherish the people in your life, watch the sunrise, or do something to feel alive, because as we have just learned, there are people out there who wish to take it all away.

As we get back to work, and at this writing, we wait for the next step toward justice, we urge all of you to work even harder to strengthen our Country, our industry, and our economy. This issue is dedicated to all those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on America. You will not be forgotten and have not died in vain. As one small way of doing our part to aid the survivors of these terrible crimes, we have donated a portion of the revenue from this issue to aid the families of the victims and those injured in the attacks.

Our regular columns feature Customer Relationship Management in Computer Forum, and "The Seven Deadly Sins of Running a Business", in Financially $peaking.

Finally, Safety Solutions, "How Much is a Life Worth?", was written prior to the terrorist attacks and is not intended to diminish the gravity of that horrific day. If anything, it takes on additional meaning. To the cowards who murdered so many innocent people for their cause, life is worth nothing, to Americans and all those who rally behind us, life is priceless.

God Bless America. United We Stand.

David Whelan
Managing Editor

MIAMI HERALD by LEONARD PITTS JR. Copyright 2001 by MIAMI HERALD. Reproduced with permission of MIAMI HERALD in the format Magazine via Copyright Clearance Center.