Indiana 9/11 Truth

9/11 truth conference

2006-06-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, jumping ahead a few months...since March I quit my stupid part-time job and am happily teaching piano lessons.

I went to the 9/11 truth conference in Chicago from June 2nd to June 4th. It was great to be there and be around fellow thinking, fearless human beings. I met some wonderful people and had a good time. The presentations were mostly really good - informative, interesting, and in some cases, revelatory.

I picked up some multimedia stuff there, along with some print material, and a bumper sticker - "911 Ask Questions, Demand Answers."

I got to meet Webster Tarpley! We shook hands, and he gave me his card. I also had a lovely little chat with Carol Brouillet on the Sunday morning of the conference (the 4th). We were talking, and then Kevin Ryan and his wife came by to say hello to her. I didn't realize who he was, exactly - he worked for Underwriters Laboratories in South Bend until about two years ago, I think, when he was fired for asking questions about the steel in the WTC.

Carol was talking about how the League of Women Voters kicked her out of a candidates' debate in her district in California, for asking questions about 9/11. She was told that that was a "partisan issue," and that she couldn't talk about it. Interesting. I joked that her questions must have offended both parties equally. She and Mr. Ryan laughed at that.

Barbara Honegger talked at Jim Marrs' presentation, about her research into what happened at the Pentagon. This was fascinating. According to her information, a bomb went off there at 9:32am - she said there were hundreds of people who were eyewitnesses to this event. She referenced Jim Fetzer's article that mentions the two Sky Warrior Air Force planes that had been redesigned with remote control technology. This article is available on st911.org.

This week I sent a packet of 9/11 information to Joe Donnelly, the 2nd district Democratic candidate for the House. So far, no response. I urged him to take a stand on 9/11 truth. I really doubt that he will take any kind of public stance on it until it's politically safe for him to do so. I'd love to be proven wrong!

James Frey

2006-03-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

Remember the recent flap about author James Frey and how he made up a bunch of stuff for his "memoir" called A Million Little Pieces? The media was shocked, shocked that someone had lied and gotten away with it! Jon Stewart made fun of this on his show. Everyone was so surprised and outraged, but this is what Bush & Co. have been doing to us all along! Where's the outrage about Katrina? Where's the outrage about 9/11?

I've always thought that James Frey should have published his book as fiction. He would have saved himself a lot of trouble.

But when do you think the 9/11 Commission Report will be moved from the nonfiction section of libraries and bookstores to the fiction section? Probably never. Nobody seems to care. We get mad when an author lies about his personal life, but we don't get mad when our government lies to us about a fake terror event that kills thousands of Americans.

Go figure.

what lies beneath...

2006-02-28T05:13:00.000-08:00

I'm always impressed with someone like Tarpley, who can see behind the scenes and stare the truth right in the face without blinking. A lot of people who talk about 9/11 only go so far in terms of their understanding of the whos and whys. And I was in that category for a while, too. I used to think Bush was involved somehow, and that it was all about oil. It's much deeper than that. Tarpley's book is a revelation in this regard, because it points out the existence of networks of moles, patsies, and professional killers that most likely made 9/11 happen, and the fact that these networks have been around for a long time. They go back to Iran/Contra, MLK, Kennedy, and even before that.

You have to scratch the surface and find out what lies beneath. I was reading part of James Loewen's excellent new book called Sundown Towns recently. At one point, he mentions someone who had tried to infiltrate the KKK, and this person had to make some sort of an oath involving abortion. The KKK was insisting that its members be adamantly anti-abortion, in order to insure the dominance of white people, just in terms of population. I read that and I thought, wow, okay, now I understand why so many people in the U.S. are 'pro-life.' It's not necessarily because they're so moved by the plight of the precious unborn. Maybe that's just the PR angle. Maybe the awful truth has more to do with racism. Maybe it's all about keeping white people on top. As if we have anything to worry about!

You certainly can't say you're a racist anymore, but you can say you're "pro-life,"' or you're for "states' rights," or whatever. And everyone knows what the Confederate flag means! You see that on someone's car, and you know they're not exactly happy about civil rights...

I guess my point here is that there are things we don't want to talk about or confront, but that we must, if society is going to improve. Just like we don't want to admit that there were and still are towns in the U.S. where black people are not welcome after the sun goes down, we don't want to admit that 9/11 was not the convenient myth that was peddled to us almost five years ago.

Those towns do exist. One of them is Anna, Illinois, where you can drive past a mailbox with a black donkey on it. Do you know what that means? It's code for "get your black ass out of town." You can also drive past signs that say "Lord Jesus, keep us clean and pure." Get it? And another one that says, "Pride goeth before destruction." And just a few miles away, in southeast Missouri, as you head into Cape Girardeau (the town where Rush Limbaugh was born), there is an enormous billboard on the highway that says "VOTE PRO-LIFE." Is this coincidence? I don't think so.

When you actually see this stuff, and inform yourself, you start to see things a lot differently. When you see the news footage on 9/11 that was never repeated, boy is that a revelation. When you read the books and articles and listen to the lectures, it all starts to come together. And then you can't believe what you believed before. You just can't. You know too much.

And then you get screaming mad, thinking about those poor souls who jumped out of the Twin Towers, and all the others who died that day, violently, needlessly. And the ones who keep dying in this endless "war" in Iraq.

This 9/11 truth movement is all about them.

Maxim magazine article

2006-02-28T04:46:00.000-08:00

Maxim magazine's March 2006 issue has an article called "What Really Brought Down the Towers?" I went out and bought this issue, even though the article is on their website. The profound is surrounded by the trivial: the article is sandwiched in between an ad for Bud Light and a stupid article about dating, written for cavemen, who I assume make up the primary audience for Maxim magazine. Maybe this is a good thing...if the article had appeared in something more esoteric (which would be almost anything!), how many drooling frat boys would become 9/11 truth believers? Yeah, right. They're probably ignoring the article completely in favor of the magazine's generous amount of "spank" material. I think you know what I mean...

So anyway, great for Maxim magazine for having the balls to put this out there. The major newspapers? Forget it. The left-leaning monthlies and weeklies like The Nation, In These Times, The Progressive, The American Prospect? They won't touch it. The "left-wing gatekeepers," as Webster G. Tarpley calls them. Basically, the internet is the place to go for 9/11 info, and 911blogger.com continues to have the most up-to-date, best info available.

Bush's visit to Mishawaka

2006-02-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Mr. Bush will be in Mishawaka, IN tomorrow, at a fund-raiser for Congressman Chris Chocola. I'd like to take this opportunity to quote Webster Griffin Tarpley, from his book, 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA:

"This is an administration in which blatant lying has become part of the daily routine - in part because of neocon guru Leo Strauss's theory that truth is dangerous for the masses, and rulers therefore have to be esoteric, that is, lie through their teeth. But whether Bush is a cretin or a liar, his statements offer no sufficient basis for falling in with the neocons in their march towards endless war against the entire world." (p. 24)

"Knowing what we knew as of late 2004, no person of good judgment could ever accept statements from the current regime at face value. Nevertheless, otherwise intelligent people who would not dream of believing Bush about Iraq or other issues are content to swallow his biggest whopper of them all: his 9/11 story. This doublethink must end. The Bush regime is a castle of lies and fabrications, and the keystone of them all in the 9/11 myth." (p.24)

David Ray Griffin is going to be a guest on Mike Malloy's radio show tonight. I'm looking forward to that.

Richard Dreyfuss

2006-02-20T17:58:00.000-08:00

Holy shit! This guy is on fire! Watch this video of him speaking to the National Press Club. I didn't realize how smart and politically aware he is...

Scroll down to the Sunday, February 19th links.

"Keep us in the dark..."

2006-02-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is a good article by Robert Steinback. Check it out...

Congressman Chocola's response

2006-02-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here is Representative Chris Chocola's response to a letter I sent him back in November, asking him specifically about 9/11 truth issues. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of my letter to share with you, only his response. I asked the usual questions about commercial planes vs. military planes, controlled demolitions, explosions going off in the WTC, and so on.

Notice how he completely sidesteps the questions I asked him about whether or not the events of 9/11 occurred the way we were told! In fact, there's no mention of 9/11 controversy at all, just a bland, general response about the "war on terror."

November 22, 2005

Mr. Andy Schmidt
-------------
-------------

Dear Andy:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the ongoing war on terror. It
was good to hear from you.

I appreciate your letting me know your thoughts on this important
issue. As you know, the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 opened
America's eyes to the urgency of the task of confronting terrorism.
Under President Bush's leadership, America has taken the fight to the
terrorists rather than fighting America's enemies in our own cities and streets.

Toward that end, America has assembled a broad coalition of allies
comprised of 84 nations who share the goal of defeating this threat.
This war is being fought daily on many fronts. Diplomatic, military, law
enforcement, economic, and espionage tools are being focused on this
task. The newly-created Department of Homeland Security and other
federal, state, and local agencies, equipped with the much-needed
reforms enacted by the Patriot Act, are working to keep Americans safe at home.

As a result of these efforts, fully 70% of senior al-Qaeda leadership
and more than 3,400 lower-level operatives or associates have been
detained or killed by the United States and its allies. In Iraq, currently
the central front of the war on terror, the tyrannical regime of Saddam
Hussein, who for decades financed terrorism while torturing and
enslaving his own people, has been brought to an end with the dictator's capture.

This demonstrated success illustrates the need for continued resolve
in confronting the terrorist threat head-on. While they are weakened and
scattered, al-Qaeda and other associated groups have repeatedly
signaled their intent to attack the United States and its interests abroad.

I will continue to work in Congress to confront the threats facing
America and to help keep our nation secure. Again, thank you for your
letter. I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me again.

Yours truly,

Chris Chocola
Member of Congress

Please do not respond. This mailbox is unattended.

Osama bin Laden again

2006-02-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

I go to 911blogger.com almost every day to check up on the latest 9/11 news. So a few weeks ago, when I read in the South Bend Tribune that yet another Osama bin Laden "audiotape" had surfaced, I then visited 911blogger to see what it had to say. What a surprise - the tape may not be authentic. In fact, it probably isn't. Huh. How about that? Are we beginning to see a pattern here?

I wrote a letter to the Tribune's Voice of the People section about this audiotape. Here is the text of my letter:

"The timing of the new “bin Laden audio tape” is very
interesting. Just when things couldn’t go too much
worse for this administration, with numerous scandals
and declining popular support, what could be better
than the paralyzing fear of Osama to remind Americans
yet again that they should just shut up, not ask
questions, and support the “war” in Iraq?

For a while there, Osama was supposedly dead, or near
death. But now he’s back. Hmmm. That's interesting,
too, because Bruce Lawrence, a bin Laden expert at
Duke University, believes that bin Laden is actually
dead, and that this "new message" was faked by the
CIA.

I guess bin Laden is sort of like Jason Voorhees, the
hockey-masked killer from the Friday the 13th movies.
You really can’t kill him. He has achieved mythic,
immortal status.

Alive or not, Bin Laden has become a fictitious
boogeyman, maintained and perpetuated by the CIA to
marginalize the Middle East and to strike fear into
Americans. Just in case we forget to be constantly
afraid, paranoid, hateful, and pro-war, there are two
things the neocons can say that will always help us
remember: “Osama bin Laden” and “9/11.”

Neither one works on me anymore."

I got a phone call from Terence Bland, one of the Tribune's editors shortly after submitting this letter. He wanted to verify my information, which they always do if they're thinking about printing a submission. I kept an eye out for my letter in the paper over the next few weeks, but it hasn't shown up yet. Then, I called Mr. Bland about a week ago, asking if he was still going to print it. At first he seemed interested, but I think the subject made him uncomfortable, and he abruptly ended the phone call.

So there we have it...another mainstream media pussy unable to cope with this issue. God knows what would happen if he read a letter about 9/11 truth.

On NPR today, Neil Conan was hosting a show about the Patriot Act. Every time someone mentioned 9/11, I wanted to reach into my radio, pull them out of the speaker, and shout in their face about 9/11 truth. They all spoke about 9/11 as if it really did happen just the way the government said it did. Hello? Are we all living in denial, or what? Any discussion of the Patriot Act, the Iraq "war," or anything else about what this administration does is basically meaningless without addressing 9/11 truth. It's as if these people are just talking inside their little bubbles, without thinking or caring about the larger context.

Why? Because it's too scaary to think about 9/11 truth...

I haven't posted to this blog for a long time...I guess I got tired of trying to pierce through the lies with nobody paying any attention. I'm gonna make another effort here, if only to vent my anger and frustration about the way things are going.

Tucker Carlson

2005-11-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

You know this guy...the schmuck with the bow tie. He thinks 9/11 skeptics are all crazy. Well, get ready for a deluge of crazy people, Mr. Carlson! There's going to be a flood of 9/11 truth soon that will wash you and the rest of the mainstream media talking head zombies back into the sewer system. That's my prediction.

Why is it so hard for people to deal with this issue honestly? Just look at the evidence. That's all you have to do. Just look at it. Just have the balls to do it. What do you think made WTC Building 7 collapse completely at near freefall speed, into its own footprint, just like the Twin Towers? A couple of fires? Is it not suspicious that Larry Silverstein, the lease owner of the WTC made that comment about "pulling" Building 7 (standard demolition talk for demolishing buildings)?

What were those flashes coming out of the two planes just before they hit the Twin Towers (see 911inplanesite.com for this video footage).

Where is the Boeing wreckage from the Pentagon crash? Did the plane magically "melt" into an 18-foot hole, with the wings (don't laugh, now...) folding up and disappearing inside? Skeptics of the skeptics claim that's why there was no wing damage to the building's facade. Yeah, that happens all the time. Plane wings, they just fold up like that.

And what about all the eyewitness reports (plenty of video, audio and transcripts of these reports) about bombs going off in the towers?

The truth is out there....

how one conservative thinks...

2005-11-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

Do you ever bring up politics at work by accident, and then find yourself talking about it, or listening to someone else's opinions (that you don't agree with)? It happened to me today. I was looking at a political cartoon (the very funny Tom Tomorrow) and my co-worker noticed it. We started talking. I knew she was conservative, but until today we never talked politics. I made a silent promise to myself that I wouldn't get into an argument or make a scene or anything like that (like I did last year around election time with a different co-worker!). So I listened. And it's fascinating to hear how someone with different politics looks at the world. She said that she doesn't want another 9/11 to happen, and that "sometimes we have to do things that we don't really want to do." Also, she thinks it's okay to criticize the president, but that sometimes it goes too far. She doesn't think it's right to make fun of him, either. And that we need to be more patriotic.

She also thinks that criticizing the "war" is on the same level as not supporting the troops - a tired argument that really isn't logical. It's like saying if you criticize someone for ordering people to jump off a cliff, you're not sympathizing with the people jumping off the cliff. Well, of course you sympathize with them! They're about to die, for god's sake! I made that point to her, not using that comparison, but by saying, "Well, some people would make the distinction between the troops and the orders they're given." She seemed to agree with that.

How can we get through to these people? How can you bring up 9/11 truth without completely alienating them? I came really close last night to talking about 9/11 with this person, but I stopped myself. It isn't worth it, to talk about it at work. You just don't know how people are going to react. But the information is there for anyone willing to look for it. And that is the step that's missing for most Americans - the will to look for the truth, to look behind the lies. If you buy the official 9/11 story, then they have you. It's like a religion. You become a true believer. And this happens to people on the right and the left. It happened to me for a while...and I was on the lookout for Middle Easterners who I thought were going to cause trouble!

There was one thing that we both agreed on, and she was the one who brought this up...that there is a whole lot we don't understand about the decisions that the government makes. I think people of all political and religious beliefs can agree on that. So what does that mean? It means that we, the people, often feel powerless, ineffective...that we don't have a voice or a say about the decisions that are made. This co-worker also has a kind of nihilistic or fatalistic view about the world - that everything is coming to an end, I think is the way she put it. So why bother to try and make things better?

Well, you have to take that fatalism and polarize it - flip it the other way. You can voice your concerns to your Congressmen about the things that bother you. You can inform yourself about these issues and make yourself heard. I've done it, and I'm gonna keep doing it. I'm doing it this week. I'm sending a letter to my Senators about 9/11. I want answers, dammit! And that's what all of us should want.

Bill Maher

2005-11-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

Bill Maher is just too funny. Here's a quote from his latest show:

"New Rule: Since only 15% of Americans said they believe in evolution in a recent poll, America must change its name to the United States of Jesus Christ. [laughter] And our motto, from E Pluribus Unum to “I'm With Stupid.” [laughter] [applause] The good news for the nation: if we get any stupider about science, we'll forget how to cook crystal meth. [laughter]"

That would be very promising for the state of Indiana...seems like there's a meth lab in every town.

Hey, you know what? He's so funny, here's another quote from the same show:

"MAHER: But, how come when the Republicans get their tits caught in a wringer, it's the wringer's fault. [laughter] And when it's the Democrats, we spend $60 million investigating the tits. [laughter]"

Keep 'em comin', Bill!

Charles P. Pierce article

2005-11-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

Charles P. Pierce has a great article in the latest Esquire magazine (November issue). It's called "Greetings from Idiot America." It's all about how Americans have elevated their "gut instinct" to a level that's equal to, or even higher than rational thought. He takes on creationism in particular, showing it to be a prime example of this tendency. The people who believe in creationism have little to no regard for scientific facts and evidence. Science is seen as "elitist" and therefore not to be trusted.

Somehow, this mentality ties into 9/11...the desire to believe in a myth, however wrong it may be, is so strong that any evidence that might expose it to be a lie has to be suppressed. Also, the messenger has to be ridiculed so that nobody takes the message seriously.

2000 U.S. soldiers dead

2005-10-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

That's right - 2000 U.S. soldiers dead, as of yesterday. Thousands and thousands of dead Iraqis. Lies to justify the invasion. No exit strategy. No accountability.

Aren't you sick of all this yet? That's my question to Bush voters. You really wanted this? You couldn't see through this man the second time around? Meanwhile, Senator Kerry is giving a speech today demanding an exit strategy and explaining (yet again) why this whole mess was a bad idea. Why didn't you listen to him last year? Were you really that stupid?

And after all the lies about Iraq, and all the deaths, do you think Bush is gonna stop this nonsense? And do you think the people who died on 9/11 mean any more to him than all those 2000 dead soldiers?

How angry would you be if you found out that 9/11 wasn't what you thought it was? Would you be surprised if they lied to us about that, too?

"American Assassination"

2005-10-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I ordered a book I saw on amazon.com called American Assassination: The Strange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone by Four Arrows Press and Jim Fetzer. This is a remarkable book. It makes a very convincing case for the argument that Wellstone was killed by elements in the Bush administration, in order to tip the Senate over to a Republican majority, which would then be able to vote for the attack on Iraq. (Just a little side note...did they really have to worry about that many Democrats voting against the attack? I guess they just wanted to make damn certain that wouldn't happen. In any case, they knew that Wellstone wasn't going to vote for it, if he'd lived)

And we all thought it was bad weather that caused Wellstone's plane to crash! Well, guess again, folks. I'm sorry, I know you may not be prepared to believe this one, but I sure am. You know, you have to hand it to these people...they're good at doing what they do. They're sick bastards, but they're good at what they do. If it's true (about Wellstone, I mean), they managed to take down his plane, make it look like an accident, and squash any attempt to investigate the incident. Incredible. And they got what they wanted. They got their "war." Read the book, it'll open your eyes.

And now, the whole thing is going so well that Bush has to stage a phony question and answer session with the troops. And everyone knows that it's staged! He has to resort to this in order to give the illusion of support. Pathetic. This administration is reaching new lows every day....

"Blow Out"

2005-10-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

I just finsihed watching the movie Blow Out. I've seen it many times, but the ending always gets to me - John Travolta tries to save Nancy Allen from a homicidal maniac against the backdrop of the "Liberty Day" celebration in Philadelphia. The whole sequence is some kind of tragic poetry. Travolta's performance is outstanding.

Why do I bring this up? Blow Out is a brilliant movie, about a political conspiracy that John Travolta's character uncovers (by accident). He tries to expose it to the world, but he fails.

He has some great dialogue when he's talking to Nancy Allen's character:

"Nobody wants to know about conspiracy! I don't get it! Let me tell you something, all right? I know what I heard and what I saw, and I'm not gonna stop until everyone in this fuckin' country hears and sees the same thing. And you're gonna help me."

That's a good summation of what the 9/11 truth movement is trying to accomplish. I've heard and seen evidence that contradicts the official story, and I want other people to know about it. Why? Because if the people who got away with 9/11 can get away with what they did, what's next? Are we gonna let them get away with a nuclear attack on the U.S., so that this "terror war" can continue for the next 100 years?

God only knows what they're planning as a follow-up to 9/11. The fear-mongers use this uncertainty about "what's next" to make everyone afraid of "the terrorists" as they have defined them (fanatics from the Middle East). But our fear has been misdirected. We should be afraid of the real terrorist infrastructure that made 9/11 happen: elements of our own invisible government, rogue network, or whatever you want to call it.

McDonald's documentary

2005-10-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching McLibel, a documentary about the two British activists who sued McDonald's and won. One of the bonus features is an interview with a guy named Geoffrey Giuliano, who was a Ronald McDonald actor until he had a change of heart and decided he couldn't continue doing it. He said that in his training, he was told to tell kids who asked where hamburgers come from that they grow in a hamburger patch next to the french fries.

They grow in a hamburger patch next to the french fries...

Unbelieveable. Much in the same way, we have been lied to about 9/11. Part of the marketing campaign of 9/11, if you will, is the mythology of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the 19 hijackers. It has been extremely effective - most people seem to believe it. Or at least, they don't question it (that's really the important thing). So, when kids ask, "How did 9/11 happen?" we can say to them, "Well, a bad man named Osama bin Laden lived in a cave with his 19 hijackers, and they all decided to do very bad things to the United States." It's really on the same sort of level as the McDonald's hamburger patch. You could make a nice children's picture book out of the official 9/11 story. It would be utter crap, but kids would believe it. Except, in this case, the adults believe it, too!

Grown adults believe some bullshit story about a man in a cave directing his henchmen to hijack planes.

Is it any surprise that McDonald's employs people with military backgrounds? One of the answers to a question in the Quiz part of the bonus features revealed that the previous job of McDonald's Senior Vice-President was "psychological warfare in the US military." Lying to children is a major part of McDonald's business. McDonald's needs to employ people who will help perpetuate an uncritical acceptance of their products through massive global advertising campaigns. Isn't it also possible for the government and the military to perpetuate uncritical acceptance of an event, through mass media propaganda? Think of it...a whole new generation of kids being raised on the "9/11 marketing campaign."

Osama bin Laden...
the 19 hijackers...
al Qaeda...
they hate freedom...
everything has changed...

the hamburger patch...

Hustler interview with Griffin

2005-10-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

Thank god for Larry Flynt - the porn publisher with a conscience! Check out this interview with David Ray Griffin from Hustler's August 2005 issue. Sorry, no pictures of naked women at this link. You'll have to visit the Hustler website for that.

Frank Zappa quote

2005-10-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

Malloy's editorial reminds me of a quote by the late, great Frank Zappa:

"It has never mattered to me that thirty million people might think 'I'm wrong.' The number of people who thought Hitler was 'right' did not make him 'right.' The same principle should be applied to anyone who has an individualistic attitude. Why do you necessarily have to be wrong just because a few million people think you are?"

- pp. 226-227, The Real Frank Zappa Book (Poseidon Press, 1989)

FZ is still my biggest hero!

So how does this relate to 9/11? Pretty obvious, isn't it? Those of us who have taken the time to consider information and evidence that questions the official 9/11 story are still in the minority. That does not make us wrong, despite what the majority may think. It looks like Mike Malloy/Air America got some negative feedback for daring to bring up the topic. The editorial was quickly removed from the Air America website. I'm glad I copied and posted it here.

Air America home page, 10/4/05

2005-10-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

The Mike Malloy Show

With host Mike Malloy

10PM-1AM

Tuesday (10-4-05)

Odd how any discussion of the events of September 11, 2001, that does not follow the basic Bush Crime Family/media story line - 19 Muslim hijackers flew various commandeered jetliners into various U.S. buildings killing thousands - odd how a different story line or challenge to the Conventional Wisdom immediately confers on the challenger the label "conspiracy theorist." Odd, also, that before one digs into the various contradictions surrounding that day's events one must don one's "tinfoil hat." How has it come to this? With no corroborating evidence supporting the "official" story and no corroborating evidence supporting the "conspiracy theories," a decision has been made to go with the former and discount entirely the latter. This is the same way one designs and operates a religion. Further, it is the same manner in which a challenge to religious mythology is met with declarations that the challenger is an apostate who is, de facto, condemned, lost, doomed to the everlasting fires of Hell or whatever post-death environment has been constructed by the true keepers of the Faith. Have the events of that awful day, then, become a religious construct, not to be challenged lest the reality-based world intrude (and destroy) the myth? These questions arise naturally (or they should) as the insanity of the Bush Administration is revealed day after day, official appointment after official appointment, press conference after press conference. The latest "conspiracy theory?" It has been discovered that a contagious bacteria (which has been used in biological warfare) was detected in the same area where recent antiwar protesters gathered in Washington, DC. The story, as reported by the Washington Post, quotes federal authorities (unnamed) who assure the reader that such an occurrence was not, absolutely not, the result of "nefarious activity." In fact, a perfectly logical explanation will result from a thorough government investigation and any speculation to the contrary is nothing more than, well, a conspiracy theory. Mike will wear his tinfoil hat during tonight's program.

Mike Malloy

2005-10-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

Mike Malloy brought up 9/11 on his radio show a few days ago. It was great to hear him finally discuss 9/11 truth. The focus was mainly on the Twin Towers and the controversy surrounding the collapses of the buildings. There were some great phone calls, many from New Yorkers...one guy who knew someone who claimed he witnessed multiple explosions at the base of the towers before they collapsed, another guy who knew about one of the Trade Center employees, Scott Forbes, who had to shut down computers in Fiduciary Trust the weekend of Sept. 8th and 9th. Links here for more info on this:

http://69.28.73.17/thornarticles/powerdown.html

http://www.serendipity.li/wot/forbes01.htm

Air America radio is to be commended for taking on this topic. Let's hope it's the start of other media outlets stepping up to the plate.

I found out about those two links above just a few months ago, myself. It goes back to "missing information," folks. How many people do you think know about this? If you were to read this stuff by itself, before you read anything else about 9/11 truth, it would certainly sound off-the-wall and possibly made up by a crank. But taken in conjunction with all the other information out there, it seems to be yet another piece of the "truth puzzle."

It's hard to know sometimes what information can be trusted and what can't. But it's our job to sift through it all and figure things out for ourselves.

What do you think? Do you think this guy is lying?

Michael Moore

2005-10-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Just a few thoughts about Michael Moore and 9/11. In February of 2002, Michael Moore spoke at a church in Cambridge, MA. I went to hear him speak. He touched on the subject of 9/11, and at one point he asked the audience, "What does your common sense tell you about hijacking planes and flying them into buildings?" Someone in the audience said, "That's really hard to do." He agreed, and he also said that the planes were flying at a speed of over 500 mph, so fast that aviation experts were amazed that the planes hadn't broken up in mid-air. He also talked about the bin Laden family being flown out of the country on private flights a few days after 9/11.

But his most memorable quote of the evening was when he said that in his opinion, "9/11 was a military operation, and the people involved knew exactly what they were doing." This is something he does not bring up in Fahrenheit 9/11. But he knows that there was more to 9/11 than what he brought up in the movie. He made a movie that the public could handle, psychologically. Interestingly, I think that if 9/11 truth ever does go mainstream, or if the truth is somehow revealed, that Fahrenheit 9/11 will become even more compelling. It seems to point in the direction of government/military complicity without actually saying so.

Judith Miller article

2005-10-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post is about a recent article in the South Bend Tribune about New York Times reporter Judith Miller. You all know her story, right? Well, according to this article, dated 10/1/05, she finally agreed to testify before a grand jury, after Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby "voluntarily waived any confidentiality regarding conversations with her." The article goes on to say, "Libby's attorney asserted on Friday that Libby had not given Miller the name of the CIA agent...."

Hey, I'll testify! No problem! Cheney's chief of staff let me off the hook!

Folks, if Dick Cheney's chief of staff gives you his personal "blessing," you won't be getting into any more trouble whatsoever. Could that be why the picture above the headline is of Judith Miller beaming with warmth while being kissed on the cheek by her lawyer? Believe me, it's not because her lawyer is hot. No, it's because the woman has been let off the hook. She's finished her patsy jail time for the administration. And the Tribune, in its capacity as a rigorous newspaper, asking all the tough questions of the powers that be (ahem!), chooses to display this very flattering color photograph of Ms. Miller rather than probe further into the complexities of this matter.

So why am I dwelling on this? I don't know. I guess it bothers me...the same way around "election" time last year, the SBT kept showing the most flattering color photos possible of Bush, while the pictures of Kerry were usually in black and white, and made him out to look like a total dork (which, admittedly, probably wasn't hard to do). The Tribune often appears to be a Bush administration mouthpiece instead of a real newspaper. And Judith Miller, being a New York Times Bush administration mouthpiece herself, is accordingly given fawning, flattering treatment in the SBT.

Other recent Tribune articles have reassured us that Dick Cheney is just fine after his knee operation. Oh, thank God for that! We were all so worried. Thank you, South Bend Tribune, you've really made me feel better. I'm gonna sleep so much better now, now that I know Dick Cheney's knees are in good shape. Why were his knees in bad shape to begin with? Was it because he kneels down so much in front of the trough of war, greed, and no-bid contracts? Well, whatever the reason, now he can go back to doing...whatever it is that he does (does anybody know?). Hiding out in his secret bunker and practicing his grimace...

Lee Hamilton vs. David Ray Griffin

2005-10-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some relevant quotes from David Ray Griffin that mention Mr. Hamilton. These quotes are from Griffin's The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions (Olive Branch Press, 2005).

By the way, Lee Hamilton, in case you didn't know, was Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission (the Chairman was Thomas Kean).

"With regard to thoroughness in what should have been the most important sense, however, the Commission failed disgracefully. The Commission's mandate, as Kean and Hamilton pointed out, was to investigate 'facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11' and then to provide 'the fullest possible account' of those facts and circumstances. What the Commission actually did, however, was only to provide a fairly full account of those facts and circumstances that are consistent with the official conspiracy theory about 9/11. Every fact inconsistent with this theory is either distorted or entirely omitted." (Griffin, p. 14)

"How can we believe that the Commission 's report was based on 'exacting investigative work,' as we were told by Kean and Hamilton in the Preface, if the staff did not even learn, from sources such as the Associated Press, the Telegraph, and the BBC, that six of the men originally identified as the hijackers were still alive?" (Griffin, p. 20)

"In the same statement in which they announced their aim 'to provide the fullest possible account' of the 'facts and circumstances' relating to 9/11, Kean and Hamilton made no mention of one of the seemingly most inexplicable facts about 9/11 - that after the biggest terrorist attack ever suffered by the United States, the president wanted no investigation, seemingly did everything in his power to delay and obstruct it. Is it not mysterious that the 9/11 Commission would, in its final report, make no reference to these facts?" (Griffin, p. 285)

Okay, this is me, Andy, again. Did you notice how Hamilton, in his article, said "our task is to turn tragedy into opportunity?" Remember when Bush and his people said that? Did you think of 9/11 as an opportunity, Mr. Hamilton? He also says, "the impact of 9/11 is incalculable, and will unfold over many years and decades...." This is the kind of talk these guys use in order to drill into our heads the idea that "everything is different now," and we just have to get used to perpetual war, fear, and uncertainty.

Again, as with Jack Colwell's opinion piece, the facts are being ignored, and the 9/11 mythology is being played up. The title says it all - "Everything changed after 9/11." That's the big message they want you to remember. Why? Because it justifies whatever decisions the Bush administration makes, and at the same time, it lets everyone else off the hook. 9/11 is the only answer they need to give, and it's the only excuse you need to not think about what they're doing!

"We need to attack Iran and Syria."
"Well, why do we need to do that? That seems like a bad idea to me."
"Because everything changed after 9/11."
"Oh, yeah. Okay, sounds good to me! Go for it. God Bless America..."

"We need you to take your shoes off, put your hands on your head, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, put a patriotic bumper sticker on your Hummer and join the Army!"
"Well, why do I have to do all that shit? I'm just flying to Cleveland."
"Because everything changed after 9/11."
"Oh, yeah. Okay, sounds good to me! See you in Baghdad! No, wait...I won't see you in Baghdad, or anywhere else, because I'm probably coming home in a coffin, and you probably aren't coming to my funeral."

Yeah, sign me up, because "everything changed after 9/11." That's probably what military recruiters say to all those high school kids.

Lee Hamilton article

2005-10-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

On September 29th, there was an article in the South Bend Tribune by Lee Hamilton entitled, "Everything changed after 9/11." Here is the text of this article:

"What has changed since Sept. 11, 2001? It is a question with a multitude of answers, but the short answer is: everything.

In foreign policy, all priorities have shifted. In the 2000 campaign and the first months of the Bush administration, we heard about missile defense, China as a strategic competitor and the Balkans. Now, these issues rate a blip on our foreign policy radar. Nearly all our international endeavors are tied to the struggle against Islamist terrorism. Alliances have been reshaped, with closer relations with countries like Pakistan and strained relations with traditional allies; terrorism has vaulted to the top of our agenda at international institutions; and our approach toward global engagement has been recalibrated, with a more vulnerable America taking a more robust role in the world.

Military strategy is the clearest demonstration of this robust stance. We are fighting three wars, and our armed forces are stretched thin. First, in more countries than most Americans are aware of, the military is hunting down terrorists or training allies to do so. Second, in Afghanistan, our troops are supporting peace while fighting a persistent insurgency from the Taliban and al-Qaida. Third, in Iraq, violence shows no sign of abating well over two years after a U.S.-led invasion. Meanwhile, in an historic shift, the Pentagon has war-plans to act on American soil in the event of a major terrorist attack.

At home, we have seen a dramatic reorganization of government. Twenty-two federal agencies and more than 200,000 employees were folded into the new Department of Homeland Security. The primary mission of the FBI shifted from law enforcement to counter-terrorism. Our intelligence agencies have been restructured in the most significant restructuring of our nation's national security apparatus in more than five decades. And local governments have struggled to strengthen their ability to prevent and respond to emergencies.

Reform has been accompanied by a significant expansion in the size and power of government, and a decline in civil liberties. Mushrooming national security and homeland security budgets have combined with tax cuts to help turn huge budget surpluses into huge deficits. From the search of what's in your shoes at the airport to federal agents probing library records, government is more intrusive. With the passage of laws like the USA Patriot Act, government has new powers of surveillance and detention, including the right to act even if you have committed no crime. Though actions have been challenged in the courts, the president has claimed the right to detain and hold anyone anywhere -- including U.S. citizens -- indefinitely without due process.

Nearly every private industry has been presented with new and difficult challenges. Security has become a top priority. If you own a chemical plant, you had better take precautions to guard against an attack. If you work in a large office building, you need a disaster-response and evacuation plan. If you ship cargo -- via air, rails or boat -- you face changing regulations. If you work for a major financial institution, new rules guard against terrorist financing. No matter what the industry, you face an economic climate vulnerable to shocks from a terrorist attack, jittery markets, or energy shortages tied to global instability.

In traveling around the country, I have been impressed by the personal vulnerability felt by so many Americans. Much of this is due to the shock of 9/11. But we also have constant reminders of danger: when we face color-coded threat warnings, or more intense security entering sporting arenas and public buildings. Day in and day out, we are bombarded with images and references to terrorism: in nightly newscasts, political campaigns, and even popular culture -- television shows, movies or song lyrics.

The good news is we have not been attacked at home since 9/11. The bad news is that it is impossible to forecast when the next attack may come, what kind of attack it may be, and how our lives might be altered by an attack that equals or exceeds the destruction of 9/11. As much as we might like to put terrorism aside and "move on," we would be doing ourselves a disservice -- even the natural destruction of Hurricane Katrina reminds us that we must be vigilant in preparing to respond to the multitude of tragic circumstances that might befall us as a nation.

The most striking visual symbol 9/11 was the gaping hole in New York's skyline. As with any landmark event in history, the impact of 9/11 is incalculable, not tangible, and will unfold over many years and decades; our task is to turn tragedy into opportunity, so that the nation rises from the wound of 9/11 as surely as new buildings will rise from the ashes of the World Trade Center."

Lee Hamilton is director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana and a member of the 9/11 Commission.

Tom DeLay

2005-09-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

I was just reading about Tom DeLay this morning...he's been indicted in an ethics probe. Jeez, what took so long? Well, better late than never. Things aren't looking good for the Republicans these days. The Iraq mess, the hurricanes, high gas prices, now this. If 9/11 truth ever goes mainstream, that will be the final nail in the Republicans' coffin, because 9/11 is the big lie that the entire administration is based on. That's all they have left. Somebody wrote an article on 911truth.org about this - 9/11 is the "mother" issue of them all.

But even more than that, if 9/11 is exposed for what it was, there will be other big changes. The whole shadow government situation will be exposed, the whole neocon ideology, the CIA...all these entities will be laid bare, investigated, and rooted out.

In researching 9/11 lately, for some reason I keep thinking about a scene in Mission Impossible, the movie with Tom Cruise and Jon Voight. There's a scene toward the end of the movie, where Jon Voight comes back and talks to Tom Cruise about why the mole (Jon Voight) did what he did - something about shadow operatives being rendered obsolete in the post-Cold War era, and taking revenge because of it. It was a brilliant little scene, I thought, in an otherwise silly movie. But it strikes me as relevant here.

Was 9/11 in part a desperate lashing out of shadow operatives, to justify their existence?

Layer after layer...

2005-09-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me, how complex 9/11 was. Reading Tarpley's book really opens up the scope of the thinking behind it all, the history of it. According to him, these rogue military and private networks go back to JFK's assassination, MLK, RFK, the OKC bombing, and the 1993 WTC bombing. What I find incredible is how secret the whole thing is. It's almost beyond belief that (assuming that these assertions are true) everyone involved in these operations is so loyal to the neocon ideology that nobody from within ever comes forward with information, or makes a big enough mistake that their plans get noticed beforehand. And you'd have to have so many people involved in the thing...people to plant charges in the buildings, a base with people working on the dummy planes, a command center where the flights were controlled from, complicit military and government employees, politicians...how did they pull it off?

I was just reading in Tarpley's book about Giuliani and his political maneuvers on 9/11 and afterward, making sure that the WTC site was cleaned up quickly, stirring up discord among the firefighters - a big group of eyewitnesses who could have revealed information about controlled demolition charges, explosions going off, etc. Somehow, the firefighters were discredited, marginalized.

So, was Giuliani involved in the planning for the attacks? And Larry Silverstein, the owner of the WTC lease, who mentioned "pulling" WTC Building 7? Why aren't they being investigated and questioned, if the evidence points clearly toward their complicity?

I can't help wondering what would have happened if someone had videotaped events at Logan Airport that morning - people boarding the planes, shots of the planes themselves...that would be some damning evidence. Also, video of the people who planted the charges in the WTC over the weekend of 9/8 to 9/9, when there was a "power down" of floors 50 and above in the north tower.

But no such luck, I guess.

One of the most disturbing assertions in the book is that Bush essentially capitulated to the rogue network when he started to mention Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda after the attacks. Supposedly, that was what the network wanted, to start a "clash of civilizations" against the Arab world, so that the U.S. could maintain its dominance for the next however many decades or more. Also, this network is in a position to threaten the current Administration because it has access to all sorts of weaponry. So, that means the Bush Administration is being blackmailed by these guys. Whenever Bush states publicly, as he did today, for example, that he's not going to withdraw troops from Iraq, he's basically saying to this network, "Don't worry, we'll keep up this clash of civilizations as long as you want us to."

Can that really be what's happening here?

Webster Tarpley's book

2005-09-20T19:18:00.001-07:00

I just got back from Barnes & Noble, where I bought my special-order copy of 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA by Webster Griffin Tarpley. I spent about an hour reading through it in the cafe. It's really something - it ratchets up 9/11 truth to a new level by going into a history of state-sponsored terrorism, in the US and elsewhere. It also dares to talk about the network of organizations that were likely responsible for carrying out the attacks. Fascinating stuff. I highly recommend it, and I haven't even finished it!

You can see some video of Mr. Tarpley and other 911 truth people at 911busters.com.

He has his own website, too: http://www.tarpley.net/welcome.html

Well, time to get back to my reading of this important new contribution to 911 research...

If I had one wish...

2005-09-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

There are people who will always believe the official story, no matter what. They will not confront anything that doesn't conform to their worldview.

If I had one wish, it would be to convince all of these people that their worldview works perfectly for the criminals who are running the show. These are the people who put those "Support the Troops" ribbons on their SUVs, or the "Power of Pride" bumper sticker, or "These colors don't run," or my personal favorite, "They started it...we'll finish it!"

Just think of how this stuff works for Cheney and Rumsfeld. Sheer ignorance and jingoistic paranoia are perfect for them. Perfect. The moment you start to doubt or question things, everything falls apart. That's why they have FOX News, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the corporate media constantly reinforcing this mentality. And the major newspapers do it, too. There's this entire industry of media whores who get paid to keep everyone intensely ignorant.

Doesn't it make you sick, how little they think of us? They are the ones laughing, Mr. Colwell - the media whores. Not Osama bin Laden. Can anybody even prove that bin Laden still exists? There is evidence to support the contention that he is a fictitious boogeyman, created by the CIA.

You know who else is laughing? Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, the CIA...this whole thing is working out great for them. Except that it's starting to fall apart now, thank god.

But how far will it fall apart? Will 911 truth ever enter into the mainstream media?

My email to Mr. Colwell

2005-09-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

(sent on 9/12/05)

Dear Mr. Colwell,

I read your column on Sunday, September 11th. It
struck me as an appropriate article for most
Americans, who still believe the official story of the
terrorist attacks, which can be summarized as follows:
a crazy man living in a cave in Afghanistan
orchestrated the attacks, which were carried out by 19
hijackers with boxcutters. That explanation still
works for most Americans.

I'm sure that many people reading your column were
reminded of the anger they felt four years ago at the
perpetrators of the attacks. I was reminded of the
anger I felt, but I was also reminded of how naive I
was back then, only four years ago.

I have read a lot about September 11th, 2001 since
September 11th, 2001.

I wonder if you are at all aware of the growing
so-called "911 truth movement," which questions the
official story of that day's events. There are
several books and websites devoted to revealing
evidence of our own government's inaction (at best)
and possible complicity (at worst) in the attacks.

If you have not at least read through The New Pearl
Harbor by David Ray Griffin, I urge you to do so.
This is a very thoughtful and dispassionate critique
of the official story as told to us all by the media
and the 911 Commission. Another recent critique is
9/11 Revealed by Rowland Morgan and Ian Henshall. One
of the main websites is simply www.911truth.org.

Even more disturbing is a video called 911 In Plane
Site, which you can order from www.911inplanesite.com.
Despite its awful title and sensationalist tone,
there is deeply disturbing video evidence in this
production that seriously calls into quesion whether
Flight 77 really hit the Pentagon, whether the planes
that hit the towers were commercial or military, and
whether the twin towers collapsed because of the
impacts or because of controlled demolition charges.

I appreciate your criticism of the government's lack
of preparation for Hurricane Katrina and its dismal
homeland security efforts. But you have also
succeeded in simply whipping up your readers' emotions
with a Bin Laden retrospective that plays right into
the popular mythology surrounding September 11th.

As long as we all keep believing in this convenient
boogeyman, who may not even be alive anymore (did you
even know that?), we'll always have a justification
for prolonging our presence in Iraq or invading
another country. I think it's high time that
journalists start writing responsible articles about
what's really going on.

I hope you will consider researching 911 truth and
then writing about it for the Tribune. I'd also
appreicate a response to this email.

Sincerely,
Andy
Granger, IN

Mr. Colwell's piece

2005-09-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

(South Bend Tribune, 9/11/05)

"Who gets last laugh? So far, it's bin Laden hands down"

Osama bin Laden, that murdering jihadist who wishes ill for all of us, must be a very happy guy on this fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our nation.

If he feared that our expenditures and planning for homeland security would lessen the impact of the next terrorist strike, he must have exchanged high-fives, or engaged in whatever jihadists do to celebrate, as he and his buddies watched the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans destroyed.

Bin Laden has dreamed of destroying an American city. Aware now of the bureaucratic bumbling in preparations for and the aftermath of Katrina, he surely is encouraged that he can indeed someday soon take out another of our cities without any help from a hurricane.

The political babbling here must give him cause for hearty laughter.

Some partisan commentators actually suggest that Louisiana got what it deserved because it elected a Democratic governor.

Some political partisans on the other side actually suggest that Louisiana got what it deserved because it went Republican for President Bush.

No laughing matter, except for a guy like bin Laden.

He can rejoice that all the finger-pointing in seeking to affix blame for 9/11 apparently has not done much to find solutions for dealing with a homeland disaster. We don't have enough fingers to point at all the mistakes in dealing with Katrina. And what good is pointing, if those pointed out are not replaced and if the problems pointed to are not solved?

Katrina was a threat spotted out in the Gulf way in advance. Bin Laden plans no warning. He will seek again, as on that day four years ago when terror struck out of the blue, out of beautiful blue skies, to provide another surprise. If we can't cope, even with days of warning, how will we cope with the next surprise disaster?

Cartoonists like to portray bin Laden as a bedraggled and sickly figure holed up in a dark, spider-filled cave somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan, cowering helplessly. If only it were so.

Living in a cave, if that's where he is today, is no hardship if you don't care about comforts we enjoy, if you still can frustrate those who hunt you and if you still find ways to dispatch orders to do evil to those you despise. And any cave abode no doubt has been pretty nicely furnished by now by his loyal backers in jihad.

Bin Laden must laugh a lot at how he has been able for so long to avoid capture by the most powerful nation ever.

He probably never expected to survive so long. Nor does he necessarily care that much, convinced as he is that his death will bring martyrdom, rally jihadists for ultimate victory and provide the rewards he anticipates in heaven.

Too often we fail to understand that our views and values are not his.

Sometimes bin Laden is pleased with our success. He surely was delighted when our invasion of Iraq took out an infidel he hated, Saddam Hussein, and those Baathist unbelievers who had rejected and cruelly suppressed creation of an Islamic state.

Now, he is delighted that terrorism flourishes in Iraq, with hope for civil war that could lead to an Islamic state of the Iran type. We dare not leave Iraq with the job unfinished, but do we know how to finish it? He must laugh at our dilemma. Can we keep bin Laden from having the last laugh?

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how our best and brightest to react to new terror includes the Arabian Horse Association guy who heads FEMA. Does al-Qaida have incompetent patronage appointees, too? Do they have a lot of bureaucratic paperwork before they can strike?

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how Congress prepared for the long-feared New Orleans disaster by cutting requested funds for frills like stronger levees.

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how we play the blame game now, making more divisive the split between the red states and the blue states. In disaster time, couldn't all the states be red, white and blue?

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how racism brings hatred in our homeland. Some see racism where it played no part. Others refuse to see it where it was a factor.

It's nice to spread happiness. But to bin Laden, that murdering jihadist?

As we head beyond the fourth anniversary of 9/11 terror, can't we finally handle homeland security in a way that won't have Osama bin Laden laughing? Or is the plan to cause him to die laughing at us?

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by e-mail to jcolwell@comcast.net.

South Bend Tribune editorial

2005-09-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

Last week, on September 11th, there was an editorial in the SBT by a columnist named Jack Colwell. In the editorial, Mr. Colwell kept saying that Bin Laden must be laughing at us for what he did to our country four years earlier. Apparently, Mr. Colwell has bought right into the official 9/11 story: Osama Bin Laden, the hijackers, they hate our freedoms, and so on.

After everything I've researched about 9/11, I couldn't just sit back and let this guy get away with such a blatantly ignorant, irresponsible article. So I wrote to Mr. Colwell and told him about the 9/11 truth movement. I asked him to look at www.911truth.org and to read The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 by David Ray Griffin. I have yet to hear back from him. I have a feeling I'll be waiting quite a while for any kind of response.

Now, there's an important thing to realize about someone like Mr. Colwell. This man is called a "columnist" by the Tribune. That is very different from a real journalist. A journalist, as I understand the term, is a person who reports the news and is supposed to be informed about the issues he or she is reporting on. A columnist (sometimes called an "opinion journalist") is a person who provides mostly opinion pieces. It's no surprise that these days there seem to be far more columnists writing opinion pieces than journalists doing real investigative news reporting.

I can't help but think about something the author David Brock said in Outfoxed, the recent documentary about Fox News - he said that Fox News and other right-wing outlets like talk radio, for example, have been trying to turn all journalism into a matter of opinion, because opinion can't be proven false. This is a very scary development.

Picture the average person reading Mr. Colwell's opinion piece. The average person knows nothing about 9/11 truth. He reads the opinion piece, which does nothing to further his knowledge about 9/11. It simply reinforces the official story, and it raises his indignation level with repeated quotes like, "How Osama must be laughing at us..." What's the result for this average guy? What's going on is his mind? Here's what's going on: a perpetual closed loop of non-information and a mindless desire for revenge, violence, and war. And that's exactly what's intended.

This is not good. Here's Colwell's opinion piece:

http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2005/09/11/opinion.20050911-sbt-MICH-B10-Who_gets_last_laugh_.sto

So, what is "9/11 truth"?

2005-09-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a term that many people are using to indicate that there are problems with the official 9/11 story, as told to us through the typical news media outlets, and by the 9/11 Commission.

Now, at this point, it's probably a good idea for me to mention that until about a year ago, maybe a little more than that, I believed the official 9/11 story, which goes something like this: a crazy man in a cave in Afghanistan masterminded the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The attacks were carried out by 19 hijackers armed with boxcutters. They overpowered the pilots, the crew, and the passengers, and they flew the planes directly into their targets, killing thousands of people. They did it because they were Muslim extremists and they hated our freedoms.

I would guess that most Americans probably still believe this story. And who could blame them, really? Most of us are wired into TV for countless hours a day. Most of us are too tired from overworking ourselves at our silly jobs that we don't have time to wade through the bad information, or to seek out the missing information. Most of us don't even want to get the point where we're asking questions. We just want to plop down in front of the idiot box and forget about everything. We simply do not care about this stuff.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to become a librarian - I wanted to fight against this awful tendency that we have to be passive and uncritical of what goes on in the world. Every community needs a place where people can go to get access to real information, where there are people like me who are paid to help them find it.

So what is this information about September 11th that's missing? One of the best places to go for a summation of the 911 truth movement is wikipedia.org. Your homework for tonight is as follows: go to this article at wikipedia and read through it. This is an excellent place for everyone to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories

Welcome to Indiana 9/11 Truth

2005-09-18T15:22:00.001-07:00

Wow...my first blog. This is exciting. I have no idea what will happen with this little adventure, but I guess that's part of the fun.

Let me get right to the point. I'm a librarian. I've been a librarian for seven years. My job is to help people find information. It's a great feeling, helping people find information - everything from "where's the bathroom?" to "can you help me find information about gall bladder surgery?" Whatever piece of truth people are looking for, I help them find it. I do it with a great attitude, although sometimes it takes great patience, because sometimes people can be a real challenge. Maybe you've noticed. Also, sometimes finding information can be a real challenge. There's a lot of information in the world. There's good information, bad information, and missing information. My reason for creating this blog is to tell people that there is information about the September 11th terrorist attacks that has largely "gone missing" - information that the average American doesn't even know exists.

I'm calling it "Indiana 9/11 Truth" because it's my hope that Indiana residents, in particular, will learn a few things from it. Of course, anyone is welcome to join the party at any time. I also hope that other people across the country will eventually create their own blogs devoted to this issue.

So, that's my official welcome! My next post will delve right into the heart of the subject.