SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

JANUARY 2002

WHY THEY FELL SO FAST

While Usama bin Laden may have been surprised at the damage caused by his plan to crash planes into the World Trade Center, the designers of the building were not.

In the December 17, 2001 issue of Insight Magazine, Ralph de Toledano explores the role environmentalists had in the fall of the twin towers.  

When the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and other New York skyscrapers were being built, the steel columns that supported them were insulated with concrete, making them safe from a meltdown disaster.  This was an expensive process, so the builders of the World Trade Center towers sought an equally effective new one.  Such a process was developed -- a sprayed thermal insulation of asbestos and mineral wool that could resist tremendous heat for a minimum of four hours before the girders might topple.

The towers were designed to withstand even the most catastrophic fire long enough to evacuate those in the higher floors by helicopter, and to withstand the impact of a fuel-loaded Boeing 707.  But while the towers were being built, the enviros launched a hysterical campaign against the use of asbestos, and the New York City Council voted to ban it -- in no matter what form.

The direct result was that from the 64th floor up, the girders of the twin towers were deprived of the necessary fireproofing.  At the time, Herbert Levine, an expert in the insulation of steel building columns, warned:  "If fire breaks out above the 64th floor, the building will fall down."

When the fuel-heavy 757s hit the buildings, those on the floors which were hit died immediately.  Had they been properly insulated, the towers would have remained standing for four hours -- enough time to use helicopters for tthe higher floors and to evacuate the lower floors.  

Thousands of people died because the enviros dislike processed asbestos, which never has been proved to have killed anyone.

Keep this in mind as you hear the predictions of cataclysm over drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

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DECEMBER 2001

WHERE IS THE TERROR COMING FROM?

In the December 3, 2001 issue of Insight Magazine is the story of Ana Belen Montes, a senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency.  

She was arrested on September 21, 2001 by the FBI after having been caught making calls to Cuba's Directorate of General Intelligence.  She already had compromised the identities of CIA agents, revealed US military secrets and exposed the contents of classified files.  

These continuing concerns of Cuba's threat to US national security are also shared by Russia because of Castro's growing ties with radical Islamic movements.

According to the Toronto Sun reported on November 10, 2001, Toronto police have been investigating dozens of FBI generated leads following the US arrest of a Parkdale refugee claimant who is alleged to be a lieutenant of Usama bin Laden.  A huge trail of evidence, including hundreds of pages of phone and financial records, dozens of license plate and credit card purchases have been checked by the police.

A November 24, 2001, editorial from the web page of the Wall Street Journal suggests that we might look a little closer to home.  Recounting the bombings, arson and terrorizing of civilians by the Earth Liberation Front and its parent group, Animal Liberation Front, known respectively as ELF and ALF, the editorial reminds us of the 1998 fire bombing of a Vail ski resort which destroyed $12 million in property and endangered dozens of firefighters.  The Portland Oregonian credits ELF with 33 major crimes in just five years and property damage of $26 million.

These groups have not stopped after September 11.  Just nine days after the World Trade Center fell, ALF members torched a New Mexico primate lab.  On October 15 they firebombed a federal corral for wild horses near Litchfield, California.  Earlier this month, two homemade bombs were discovered near a Michigan Tech University lab that conducts research for the forestry industry.  State police defused the bombs and the incident is still under investigation.  Elf is a prime suspect.

To get an idea of what ELF really believes, log on to earthliberationfront.com.  You'll find how-to primers on "The politics and practicalities of arson" and "What to do if a federal agent tries to question you."  Or check out: "Setting Fires With Electrical Timers -- An Earth Liberation Front Guide."  

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DECEMBER 2001

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONEY?

CNSNEWS.COM reported on November 19, 2001 that the United Way 9-11 fund which received donor pledges totaling $334 million, with $250 million already collected and $47 million distributed has been making grants totaling more than $1 million to a variety of left-wing political groups.  

Critics say many of the groups receiving charitable contributions from the fund have little or nothing to do with helping the victims of the attacks.

Children's Defense Fund received $31,000.  It has been at the forefront in lobbying for "children's rights", gun control and expanded welfare programs.

Asian American Legal Defense & Educational Fund received $30,000 to provide "legal help and preventative measures against hate violence."  It is also a member of the Alliance for Justice, a consortium of left-of-center groups including the National Organization for Women Legal Defense Fund, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, Planned Parenthood, and the Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund.

The Independent Press Association received $81,150 "to use community and ethnic newspapers to distribute information about victim assistance to immigrants and non-English speaking people and to prevent bias-relation violence."

Legal Services of New York received $40,000 "to replace phones, computers and other office equipment destroyed in the attack."

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a "disability rights" and "environmental justice" organization received $57,575.

New York Immigration Coalition collected $450,000 to help "access relief assistance to immigrants harmed by the disaster."  The group's stated purpose is to secure "immigrant rights."

The Olive Leaf Wholeness Center received $100,000 to provide "massage therapy to rescue workers, medical examiners, staff and victims' family members at various relief locations."  Its goals include creating "an enriching, humane, and ecologically sound healing environment" to "start people on their journey toward wholeness."

The September 11th Fund was previously criticized for a $171,000 grant it gave to the Legal Aid Society, a group fighting for expanded government programs and welfare rights in New York City.  It is also defending a number of detainees held on immigration charges in connection with the terror rights.

The criticism which has been directed at the Red Cross in handling this disaster is just the latest in a long string, according to Mary Pat Flaherty and Gilbert M. Gaul, in an article in the November 19, 2001, Washington Post.

In Oklahoma City, it spent only 25% of the $13 million it had collected for victims and families.

When the Red River flooded in 1997, nearly $16 million was collected for the victims in North Dakota and Minnesota.   The Minnesota attorney general had to resort to stinging public hearings and a 40-page report to prod the release of nearly $4 million in unspent victim funds.

After January wildfires in the San Diego, the Red Cross improperly used money for vehicles and a telephone system upgrade while burned-out families waited for money earmarked for them.

It seems to your editor that almost every week we read in the local paper about a spaghetti dinner or other event to help a local family or other local cause.  These are all done by volunteers with no "overhead" costs.  The next time you feel generous, why not look around for a local cause where you know your money will be well-spent.

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NOVEMBER 2001

NOVEMBER 2001

NOVEMBER 2001

NOVEMBER 2001

CALL THE RED CROSS TO ACCOUNT

In an investigative piece in the October 2001 issue of Insight Magazine (www.insightmag.com), Kelly Patricia O'Meara looked into the question of what will happen to the millions and millions of dollars now being donated to charities for the families of victims of the Sept. 11th terrorist attack.

To try to answer these questions, she looked into the disposition of huge sums collected in the aftermath of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, April 19, 1995.

Letters of condolence and donations sent through the U.S. Postal  Service and deemed "undeliverable" often are turned over to charities involved in disaster relief.  Letters and packages addressed, for example, to "the woman who lost two kids" were turned over to the Oklahoma City Red Cross, opened and read by volunteers, and when possible forwarded on to the intended families.  

The Red Cross, Salvation Army, the governor's and mayor's offices decided the post office would deliver it if it was addressed to specific places and people and the Red Cross would take any undeliverable mail.  Volunteers would open the mail, and if there were donations, they would go into a general fund to be distributed to the victims at the time, according to the postal inspector in Oklahoma City at the time.

The experience of some of the families was that there was a surprising change in their mail deliveries after the Red Cross took over.  "The first days after the bombing," said one family member, "people from all over the country were sending checks in lieu of flowers and we were getting a lot of checks and cash every day -- hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.  Then the Red Cross went down to the post office and made arrangements to collect the mail and they would deliver it to us in bulk.  All the mail had been opened, and from that point on there never was a dime, even in letters that said money was enclosed."

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