the new America
Landmine Survivors Rehabilitation Database - Landmine Affected ... The United Nations Demining Database by United Nations
The World Factbook by Central Intelligence Agency The Worldwide Epidemic of Landmine Injuries: The ICRC ...
Put simply the Nazi's are the CIA .
The enemy of my enemy is my Boss.
Conspicuous by its silence the CIA owned
and influenced media did virtually no coverage of what may
be one of the decades biggest stories.
Only UPI issued any statement on the CIA's admission that following
WW II Hitler's top general in charge of espionage transferred his entire
network of thousands of spies and "double"
agents to what became the newly-formed CIA.
What makes this much more than an interesting footnote to history is that the entire
domestic and foreign history of the CIA has been molded by these former Nazis
whose ideas on Eugenics, race, social control, biowarfare and propaganda dominate
the policies of countless "think tanks" like the Rockefeller-funded Manhattan Institute
and have influenced the U.S. government at its highest levels.
During the past five decades numerous isolated revelations about Nazis imported to
America by the Dulles brothers, William Casey and others have broken through the
media blackout. Thesestories usually revolve around former concentration camp
guards who hid their identity when emigrating.
What makes this different is that General Ghelen was the #1 Nazi in this program.
By acknowledging a CIA connection to Ghelen the entire can of worms can now be
pried open.
The GREAT FREE PRESS
... who owns the corporate media. For starters, all ... they are directly influenced by former
high ... ABC has been owned since 1985 by ... director of the CIA, the infamous ...
Digital moles in White House: Terrorists Had Top-Secret Presidential Codes -A “Gift“ From The CIA
"Air Force One is next," read the message received by the U.S. Secret Service at 9 a.m. Sept.11, after two hijacked planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Three minutes later, Secret Service agents grabbed Vice President Dick Cheney from his seat opposite a television set in the White House and hustled him down to the president's emergency operations center, a bunker built to withstand a nuclear blast.
The terrorists' message threatening Air Force One was transmitted in that day's top-secret White House code words. As the clock ticked away, the Secret Service reached a frightening conclusion: The terrorists had obtained the White House code and a whole set of top-secret signals.
This made it possible for a hostile force to pinpoint the exact position of Air Force One, its destination and its classified procedures. In fact, the hijackers were picking up and deciphering the presidential plane's incoming and outgoing transmissions.
The discovery shocked everyone in the president's emergency operations center -- Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. Their first question was: How did the terrorists access top-secret White House codes and procedures? Is there a mole, or more than one enemy spy in the White House, the Secret Service, the FBI, the CIA or the Federal Aviation Administration?
In the week after the attacks in New York and Washington, more hair-raising facts emerged. The terrorists had also obtained the code groups of the National Security Agency and were able to penetrate the NSA's state-of-the-art electronic surveillance systems. Indeed, they seemed to have at their disposal an electronic capability that was more sophisticated than that of the NSA. This startling observation came as no surprise to those tracking the globe-spanning investments of Saudi Arabia's bin Laden family and those of its exiled son, Osama, in some of the world'sbiggest and most advanced satellite and telecommunications companies. World Space Communication is one of the known Bin Laden assets. U.S. counter-terrorism agencies, including the NSA, have been tracking World Space Communication's activities for the past five years. Some of the company's satellites are far more advanced than the NSA's own eyes in the sky.
Bin Laden also has the NSA beat on the employment front, hiring the best computerexperts on the market. One such is Nabil Khan Kani, a Syrian who lived in Barcelona with his Spanish wife, Jenna Florine, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
No one ever suspected what the amiable Syrian was really up to until January 2000, when FBI
agents found two apartments he used thousands of miles from Barcelona, in the Bab el-Shabaa district of Saana, Yemen. The apartments served as transit points for Egyptians suspected of operational links with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Algerians connected with the Armed Islamic Group, or GIA. There,
investigators turned up nine fake identity cards in different names, all with Kani's photo, Spanish, Italian, French and Sudanese passports, likewise with the same photo but in different names, and two pistols fitted with silencers.
Kani must have used yet another alias for his getaway. His whereabouts are unknown to this day.
Computer and terrorism experts suggest that the missing Syrian computer whiz was the author of the technology known as steganography, as first described in the Washington Post yesterday.
This technology enables users to bypass electronic monitoring by hiding messages randomly in seemingly innocent digital files, such as music files, those of the popular online marketplace eBay, pornographic files or even e-mail headers.
Scrambled with the help of basic encryption tools, they can only be read by those with a "key."
These messages leave no trace of their presence.
U.S. intelligence has been unable to trace their authors and recipients in the three years since first detecting evidence of their existence in the files of the bin Laden organization. U.S. agencies now believe that the attacks in New York and Washington were coordinated through those encrypted electronic messages, which were opened by "key" holders.
They also believe that terrorists are in possession of all or part of the codes used by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the National Reconnaissance Office, Air Force Intelligence, Army Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, Marine Corps Intelligence and the intelligence offices of the State Department and DOE _ Department of Energy.
Intelligence and counter-terror sources report that, while rescuers in New York and Washington were sifting through rubble inch by inch, US government experts were changing codes one-by-one – and even more difficult, replacing procedures and methods of encryption. The nagging question of a mole in the highest reaches of the U.S. government and intelligence community – with direct or indirect
links with Bin Laden -- remains.
Since no single individual has access to every top-level code at any given time -- a single mole would not answer the case; it would have to be a large, widely spread number. U.S. experts do not believe Bin Laden was capable of infiltrating double agents into the heart of the U.S. administration on a large scale. They are looking elsewhere, instead, at a country with a very well-oiled intelligence apparatus -- Iraq.
This theory was argued by an authoritative voice, former CIA Director James Woolsey, in a New Republic article reprinted by London's Daily Telegraph on Sept. 17. He refers to a book called "Study of Revenge: Saddam Hussein's Unfinished War Against America," by Laurie Mylroie, which quotes a senior FBI investigator on the problematical identity of Ramzi Yousef, perpetrator of the first attempt to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993.
For that deed, a U.S. federal court in New York sentenced Yousef Jan. 8, 1998, to 240 years in solitary confinement. He was also indicted for conspiring to hijack 12 U.S. and Asian commercial aircraft on their way to the United States and blow them up over New York. It was claimed that the name Ramzi Yousef was an alias for his real identity, which was a Pakistani called Abdul Basit Karim.
However, the FBI investigator cited in the book said that Basit was not his real identity either; Yousef was actually an Iraqi army agent who stole Basit's identity. Basit and family were resident in Kuwait when Iraq overran the oil emirate in 1990. The Iraqis moved the family to Baghdad with other hostages. Some returned home, but the Basits were never heard of again, probably murdered for the sake of disguising Ramzi Yousef.
The former CIA director's advice is this: Iraq was involved in the first attack on the World Trade Center. Baghdad is therefore the place to look for the conspirators behind the second. Intelligence sources can disclose that Woolsey's conclusion does not rest exclusively on the Mylroie book.
While pointing the finger at Iraqi intelligence, he assigns Baghdad with no more than a partial role both in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and also in last week's suicide attack on it’s twin towers. His conclusions are based on a CIA investigation opened during his tenure as CIA director from 1993-1995.
Evidence kept in a personal dossier code-named KG-84-HJ established Iraqi complicity in the 1993 attack. It also contains the first serious evaluations and theories regarding the identity of the high-placed penetration agents in the White House and at the heart of U.S. intelligence. They appear to be the very moles who made those vital coded signals available to the kamikaze terrorists Sept. 11.
* * * * * * * * *
|
Code: 9-11
Cracking the White House's Code: 9-11 >Return-Path: RC-Only@agoramail.net >To: >Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 09:45:46 -0500 >From: Gary North >reply-to: reality@agora-inc.com>
Subject: Cracking the White House's Code: 9-11
Gary North's REALITY CHECK Number 77 October 2, 2001
CRACKING THE WHITE HOUSE'S CODE: 9-11
I do not normally violate copyright law. As both an author and a publisher, I support copyright laws.
But in this case I will make two exceptions. The reason is, I cannot trace who wrote the second piece or where it was first published. It is very, very important. As for the first article, it has almost completely disappeared from the Web. I could find only one copy still on-line. It deserves to be preserved.
Both documents report that just after the Pentagon was attacked, the Secret Service received an anonymous phone call: "Air Force One is next." Air Force One is whichever one of several Air Force planes the President is using at the time.
The articles went on to say that the caller had been able to identify AF One in terms of the White House's code for that day. The second article then discussed the possibility that moles -- infiltrators – are working inside the government.
I wanted confirmation of the second story. I went to http://www.google.com, as I usually do, and searched for "Air Force One is next," "code words," and "bunker," all of which appeared in the original article. You can do the same. Five links popped up. Four were either dead or went to a page that no longer contained the story. Only one, from FOSTER'S DAILY DEMOCRAT( http://www.fosters.com ) , a newspaper in S.E. New Hampshire, still carried an AP story, dated September 13. It was not the same story. It did have the information about the phone
call and the broken code. Here is the AP story.
I reprint it here for confirmation purposes, and also because it seems to have disappeared from the Web. It deserves to be preserved. [Make an e-mail folder for REALITY CHECK, and put this issue into the folder.]
* * * * * * *
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hop-scotching across half the country while America was under attack, President Bush vented his frustration with Secret Service officials telling him Air Force One was at risk of a terrorist assault.
"I'm not going to let some tin-horn terrorist keep the president of the United States away from the nation's capital," he said during the six-hour flight that took him from Florida to Louisiana and Nebraska before returning to the White House. "The American people want to see their president and they want to see him now."
White House counselor Karl Rove read the quote from several pages of notes he took on a legal pad while Bush dealt with attacks in Washington and New York. Rove and other White House officials have slowly revealed details of the journey to counter critics who have questioned whether Bush overreacted by touching down at two Air Force bases before returning to Washington.
Bush's top political strategist said some people raised questions with him, but their doubts were dispelled "when they were told there was specific and credible evidence of a threat" against the White House, Air Force One and the president himself.
Bush was in Florida, visiting a second-grade class, when White House chief of staff Andrew Card told him two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Bush stepped outside the classroom to get briefed on the events, then spoke publicly to condemn the terrorist strike.
Soon after, a plane slammed into the Pentagon. Bush and his entourage were rushed aboard Air Force One.
The hijacked plane "was on a flight path directly for the White House and it hit the Pentagon instead," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. National security officials monitoring intercepted communications speculated that the hijackers had trouble controlling the plane and spotting the White House for all the trees on the South Lawn, and so headed for the wide-open Pentagon instead, according to a Secret Service official briefed on the situation.
Within that same hour on Tuesday, the Secret Service received an anonymous call: "Air Force One is next." According to a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the caller knew the agency's code words relating to Air Force One procedures and whereabouts.
"We want to get the plane up and we want to get it up very high," the head of the Secret Service detail told Bush, according to Rove's notes. They wanted to head toward the Florida panhandle to pick up fighter jets scrambling to give Air Force One air cover. Bush told Card, "I want to move on to Washington."
Vice President Dick Cheney, holed up in a secure bunker beneath the White House, told Bush the threat should be taken seriously and he should not return to Washington just yet.
Bush was told there were six planes unaccounted for, all potential missiles. "The situation is not stable," the head of Bush's detail told the president. Cheney's lead Secret Service agent, meanwhile, told the vice president he had no choice but to remain inside the complex because there was no time to bring a helicopter in and taking him out by car through grid-locked streets was too risky.
After landing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Bush scheduled a national security meeting at 4 p.m. -- several hours away.
"I want to go back home as soon as possible," Bush said, according to Rove, who was with the president all day Tuesday.
Replied the agent: "Our people are saying it's unstable still."
The president was told he could get to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska more quickly than to Washington, thus allowing him to conduct the national security meeting at a secure location and address the public for a second time.
* * * * * * * *
This story provides a good reason justifying the President's refusal to return to Washington immediately. But the press never picked up the broken code aspect of this story.
The President was briefly criticized in print for his failure to return to Washington immediately. It was just about the only criticism that he has received so far. This brings me to the second report.
I was e-mailed a copy. It appeared as part of a 70-page collage of stuff, none with Web links, most of which cannot be verified, and some of which is nuts. But this report is not nuts. It is really grim in its implications. I could not verify its accuracy. The following information is not supported by any citation of evidence, although I personally can believe it.
********************************
The discovery shocked everyone in the president's emergency operations center -- Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. Their first question was: How did the terrorists access top-secret White House codes and procedures? Is there a mole, or more than one enemy spy in the White House, the Secret Service, the FBI, the CIA or the Federal Aviation Administration? This, however, is unsubstantiated speculation: In the week after the attacks in New York and Washington, more hair-raising facts emerged. The terrorists had also obtained the code groups of the National Security Agency and were able to penetrate the NSA's state-of-the-art electronic surveillance systems. Indeed, they seemed to have at their disposal an electronic capability that was more sophisticated than that of the NSA. What is well worth considering is the rest of the story, which deals with a technologically sophisticated follower of bin Laden, and his ability to assume so many disguises and passports. We are dealing with the international terror underground. It will not be easy for the CIA or FBI to penetrate these groups.
(My father was an FBI agent in charge of penetrating an earlier, far less violent network of subversives.
He tells me that he is not optimistic about the FBI's ability to get inside one of these groups.) There is no evidence that they have done so yet.
But the key issue in this story is the original phone call, which was based on the White House's daily code. The fact that no news media followed up on this is suspicious.
I don't think the White House wanted it pursued.
*********************************************************
|
Finally, I discovered in my search that privacy really is gone on the Web.
One of the links from my google search took me to USA JEWISH WEB TODAY:
http://www.usajewish.com The Air Force One story was gone from the page. But at the bottom of the
page was this discomforting note: Hi Gary K North Support http://www.USAJewish.com
Amazon honor system How do we know your name? I clicked through and found myself on the
Amazon.com site. Read it for yourself:
My decision is clear: I will not send money or buy anything that will generate income for a Web site
that is using this technology to identify me.
* * * * * * * * * * *
If you spot an interesting article on terrorism or its effects on the economy, send it to me:
Gary K North gnorth@bigfoot.com
* * * * * * * * * *
To subscribe to Reality Check go to: http://www.dailyreckoning.com/GetReality.cfm
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you enjoy Reality Check and would like to read more of Gary's writing please visit his website:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you'd like to suggest Reality Check to a friend, please forward this letter to them or point them to:
|
Subject: [BRC_NEWS] Even In The Ruins, Race Matters
The Black World Today September 27, 2001
Even In The Ruins, Race Matters
By Playthell Benjamin
One morning a few days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center a young Afro_American
woman called in to C_Span and asked whether all the talk about the new unity of purpose being
forged in the fires of adversity would survive after the state of emergency had passed,
"or will racism still be here?" Judging by the phone calls that ensued many listeners, this writer
included, thought it a naive question. Of course racism will be with us long after this incident recedes into memory, most callers argued. And after listening to James' story, (he asked that his last name
not be used) one of the few African American men working on the site, that naivete seems magnified.
"There is racism all over down in the disaster area," he says "and it's blatant too!" Perhaps, along
with a history of racist exclusion in the uniform services and the building trades, that's why we
observe a sea of white faces every time we are given a tour of the site on TV. "See, part of the
problem is that there are a lot of out of town guys that they have put in authoritative positions, and
they don't know how to deal with diverse races because many of them come from all white towns around the country where they have never had to deal with black and Hispanic people."
According to James the problem for black construction workers, who are a small percentage of
the rescue force, begins when they approach the site. "There are thousands of workers down there,
and to enter the site you have to go through armed checkpoints," he says," one guy will ask you
for your ID and another guy standing two feet from him watching the whole procedure will stop you
and put you through it again." And he was quick to point that this was the attitude of the armed
white men securing ground zero whether they were military or civilian cops.
"If you are my color," James says, pointing to his rich ebony colored skin, "you can see the pure
racism on their faces." However light brown skin Hispanics and Afro_Americans are encountering
even bigger problems. "But if you are just dark enough to be an Arab, then you really got a problem.
My cousin is light skin and he gets a lot of hassles.
"When we walk through check points it's usually three of us and we all have the same union
issue and state ID's, but they let us pass and pull him aside. He and I have the same last name
but that doesn't matter; sometimes they detain him for ten minutes or more just checking out
his ID. But while they be checking us out to the max, always calling in supervisors to double
check our ID's, the white boys just flash their cards and walk on through."
Work clothes have been donated to the rescue workers in such abundance that the site managers
are giving them away to workers. But James tells us "If you are black and walking off the site with
one of the big bags they give you to carry the work gear you are asking for trouble. We often get
stopped leaving the site.
A crowd of black and white workers can approach the security people with bags and they pull the
black workers over, like they suspect us of looting or something. I mean their whole body language
during the interrogation is aggressive, looking us up and down with their hands on their guns.
It's really annoying, seems like every single day there's something. But you
just look past it because we've got a serious job to do.
But we talk about it all the time amongst ourselves."
The real drag about all the suspicion of looting is that James has witnessed white cops looting. Recently some media talking heads were expressing disbelief that any of "these heroes could be engaged in looting." Perhaps that's why they are not reporting incidents
like the one James describes: "See, there are still a lot of stores in the disaster area that
have broken windows and at night some of these areas are without lights. So it's a thieves
paradise except there aren't suppose to be any thieves out there, and it would be nearly
impossible for them to get off the site with there loot.
But the other night I saw six white cops get busted with several Rolex wristwatches that
they had stolen from an expensive shop in the financial district. I saw this happen but I
have not seen a word of it on television!"
Having gone into the Navy right out of high school, where he was a basketball star with college
scholarship offers, James has recently returned to civilian life and is resuming his education.
Since his college is located in the disaster area, he is not falling behind in his classes. A sensitive
and intelligent young man who is barely twenty, James is highly conscious of the role misguided American foreign policy has contributed to the rise of militant Islam.
The aircraft carrier on which he was assigned once steamed to the Persian Gulf and participated
in an action against Iraq. At the time he didn't understand the purpose of the mission but as a flight director on deck "I saw the weapons director load the planes with weapons and they came back
empty." This experience has made him skeptical of what the media or government tells us about
what's going on in the world, and he is far less hawkish than the politicians calling for the invasion
of Afghanistan.
After spending many hours digging through the rubble James believes that the final toll maybe
exceed the present estimate of around 6,400 casualties. As the stench of death grows more pronounced with each passing day at the site, James finds that his military training helps him to
cope with the grotesque reality that now consumes twelve hours of his day. "The smell of rotting
bodies is getting so bad that they may eventually have to evacuate some parts of this city," he
says.
"Right now some of the guys I'm working with are getting sick
because they can't eat their lunch after smelling the stench.
But the military trained me to cope with a situation where mass
killing was taking place."
Copyright (c) 2001 The Black World Today. All Rights Reserved.
[IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and opinions expressed on this list are solely those of the authors and/or publications,
and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official political positions of the Black Radical Congress (BRC).
Official BRC statements, position papers, press releases, action alerts, and announcements are distributed exclusively
via the BRC_PRESS list. As a subscriber to this list, you have been added to the BRC_PRESS list automatically.]
[Articles on BRC_NEWS may be forwarded and posted on other mailing lists, as long as the wording/attribution
is not altered in any way. In particular, if there is a reference to a web site where an article was originally located,
do *not* remove that.
Unless stated otherwise, do *not* publish or post the entire text of any articles on web sites or in print,
without getting *explicit* permission from the article author or copyright holder.
Check the fair use provisions of the copyright law in your country for details on what you can and can't do.
As a courtesy, we'd appreciate it if you let folks know how to subscribe to BRC_NEWS, by leaving in the
first seven lines of the signature below.]
__________________________________________________________________________
BRC_NEWS: Black Radical Congress _ General News Articles/Reports
__________________________________________________________________________
Unsubscribe: <mailto:majordomo@tao.ca?body=unsubscribe%20brc_news>
__________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe: <mailto:majordomo@tao.ca?body=subscribe%20brc_news>
__________________________________________________________________________
Digest: <mailto:majordomo@tao.ca?body=subscribe%20brc_news_digest>
__________________________________________________________________________
Help: <mailto:worker_brc_news@lists.tao.ca?subject=brc_news>
__________________________________________________________________________
Archive: <http://www.mail_archive.com/brc_news@lists.tao.ca>
__________________________________________________________________________
Archive: <http://groups.yahoo.com/messages/brc_news>
__________________________________________________________________________
Archive: <http://www.escribe.com/politics/brc_news>
__________________________________________________________________________
Post: <mailto:brc_news@lists.tao.ca>
__________________________________________________________________________
<www.blackradicalcongress.org> | BRC | <blackradicalcongress@visto.com>
|
The Day That Anarchy Came To Lithia Springs
"My dictionary defines anarchy as "Absence of any form of political authority,
" while chaos is defined as "A state or place of total confusion or disorder.
" I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard some Republican
law-and-order type reject a proposal to expand the sphere of liberty by saying, "But
then we’d have anarchy," when what they mean to say is, "But then we’d have chaos."
The word anarchy has gotten a bad rap, not only by being substituted for chaos, but
by its use by left-wing anarchists, who I believe actually want the opposite of anarchy.
What do most people think of when they hear the word anarchy? I think of some guy
throwing a bomb, or chaos in the streets. As libertarians, we need to reclaim and
rehabilitate that word before it becomes unusable."
Rob Moody [send him mail] is a financial planner in Atlanta and lives
in Kennesaw, where every household is required to own a
gun. June 20, 2001
EL check this out http://www.moveon.org/beprepared/
Ten Alternative Responses to Terrorism Deborah Gerner and Philip Schrodt
Baldwin, Kansas contact: gerner@ku.edu, schrodt@ku.edu
PS: I would like to have a web page document with HTML hyper links in it
EL was there such a page can you sent it what format did you send me
did you copy an of a specific format ? Please e me at the regular address
FYI
Web Searchlores Advanced Internet searching strategies & advices.
Updated 5 days ago
http://www.searchlores.org/index.html
Get your war on
I think the word is disingenuousness.
virtually no coverage of what may be one of the decades biggest stories. Only UPI
issued any statement on the CIA's admission that following WW II Hitler's top
general in charge of espionage transferred his entire network of
thousands of spies and double agents to what became the
newly-formed CIA.
What makes this much more than an interesting
footnote to history is that the entire domestic
and foreign history of the CIA has been molded
by these former Nazis whose ideas on Eugenics,
race, social control, biowarfare and propaganda
dominate the policies of countless "think tanks"
like the Rockefeller-funded Manhattan Institute
and have influenced the U.S. government at it's
highest levels.
( G.W Bush Rudy Comb over Gulianne are Allum)
+++++++++++++++++++++
An abundance of nice hypocrisy hits NYC
|
||
click photo to go to the real article this is an experiment
|
||
Attack fallout:
Petty, everyday acts of kindness
|
|
 |
Epidemic of kindness reported in New York.
The transformation of Rudy Giuliani from cranky dumb dumb advocate martinet to admired public servant is evidence of the new makeup job hat hides his true goulish kemo
colors victims
|
|
|
By Michael Kinsley
SLATE.COM
|
||
(the enemy of my enemy is my friend)
During the past five decades numerous isolated revelations about Nazis imported to
America by the Dulles brothers, William Casey and others have broken through the
media blackout. Thesestories usually revolve around former concentration camp
guards who hid their identity when emigrating.
What makes this different is that General Ghelen was the #1 Nazi in this program.
By acknowledging a CIA connection to Ghelen the entire can of worms can now be
pried open.
The GREAT FREE PRESS
... who owns the corporate media. For starters, all ... they are directly influenced by former
high ... ABC has been owned since 1985 by ... director of the CIA, the infamous ...
Subject: Maybe we should...Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 09:31:32 EDT
wake up and smell the coffee before it's against the law.
This is the legislation proposed or signed into law since 9/11.
elj
LEGISLATION
BILLS & JOINT RESOLUTIONS SIGNED INTO LAW
RELATED TO THE ATTACK OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
BILLS & JOINT RESOLUTIONS SIGNED INTO LAW
HR2882: Public Safety Officer Benefits bill
HR2888: 2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States
HR2926: Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
HR3162: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT
ACT) Act of 2001
S1424: A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide permanent authority for the admission of "S" visa non-immigrants.
S.J.Res. 22: A joint resolution expressing the sense of the Senate and House of Representatives regarding the terrorist attacks launched
against the United States on September 11, 2001.
S.J.Res. 23: Authorization for Use of Military Force
OTHER RESOLUTIONS APPROVED
H.Con.Res. 223: Permitting the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a prayer vigil in memory of those who lost their lives in the events of
September 11, 2001.
H.Con.Res. 225: Expressing the sense of the Congress that, as a symbol
of solidarity following the terrorist attacks on the United States on
September 11, 2001, every United States citizen is encouraged to
display the flag of the United States.
H.Con.Res. 227: Condemning bigotry and violence against Arab-Americans, American Muslims, and Americans from South Asia in the wake
of terrorist attacks in New York City, New York, and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001.
H.Con.Res. 231: Providing for a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the President.
H.Res. 238: Condemning any price gouging with respect to motor fuels during the hours and days after the terrorist acts of September 11,
2001.
H.Res. 239: Terrorist Victims Flag Memorial Resolution of 2001
S.Con.Res. 76: A concurrent resolution honoring the law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency rescue personnel, and health care
professionals who have worked tirelessly to search for and rescue the victims of the horrific attacks on the United States on September 11,
2001.
S.Res. 170: A resolution honoring the United States Capitol Police for their commitment to security at the United States Capitol, particularly
on and since September 11, 2001.
S.Res. 173: A resolution condemning violence and discrimination against Iranian-Americans in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks.
LEGISLATION WITH FLOOR ACTION
HR2884: Victims of Terrorism Relief Act of 2001
HR2899: War Bonds Act of 2001
HR2975: Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act of 2001
HR3004: Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001
HR3086: To provide the Secretary of Education with specific waiver authority to respond to conditions in the national emergency declared by
the President of the United States on September 14, 2001.
HR3160: To amend the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 with respect to the responsibilities of the Secretary of Health
and Human Services regarding biological agents and toxins, and to amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to such agents and
toxins.
H.J.Res. 61: Expressing the sense of the Senate and House of Representatives regarding the terrorist attacks launched against the United
States on September 11, 2001.
H.J.Res. 64: Authorization for Use of Military Force
H.J.Res. 71: Designating September 11 as Patriot Day
S1426: 2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States
S1447: Aviation Security Act
S1450: Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
S1510: Uniting and Strengthening America Act (USA Act of 2001)
S.Con.Res. 74: A concurrent resolution condemning bigotry and violence against Sikh-Americans in the wake of terrorist attacks in New York
City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001.
S.J.Res. 25: A joint resolution designating September 11 as "National Day of Remembrance".
H.AMDT. 361 to HR2883: Amendment revises Sec. 306 and establishes a "Commission on National Security Readiness" to identify
structural readiness of the United States to identify structural impediments to the effective collection, analysis, and sharing of information on
national security threats, particularly terrorism.
H.AMDT. 362 to HR2883: Amendment sought to reduce the Presidential appointments to 2; to remove the Commission's ability to hold
hearings and to administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before it; to remove subpoena power; and to strike the requirement
for termination of the Commission.
S.AMDT. 1560 to HR2500: To express the sense of the Senate regarding discrimination against Arab Americans.
S.AMDT. 1562 to HR2500: Combating Terrorism Act of 2001
S.AMDT.1573 to HR2590: To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue War Bonds in support of recovery and response efforts relating
to the September 11, 2001, hijackings and attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
S.AMDT.1574 to HR2590: To authorize the issuance of Unity Bonds in response to the acts of terrorism perpetrated against the United
States on September 11, 2001.
S.AMDT.1583 to HR2590: To provide that the Postal Service may issue a special commemorative postage stamp in order to provide financial
assistance to the families of emergency relief personnel killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty in connection with the terrorist
attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.
S.AMDT.1661 to S1438: To authorize emergency supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2001 for recovery from and response to terrorist
attacks on the United States.
S.AMDT.1807 to S1438: To authorize the acceptance of contributions for the repair of the damage to the Pentagon Reservation caused by the
terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 or establishment of a memorial of the attack at the Pentagon.
S.AMDT.1815 to S1438: To express the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of the Treasury should immediately issue savings bonds, to
be designated as "Unity Bonds", in response to the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.
LEGISLATION WITHOUT FLOOR ACTION
HR525: Preparedness Against Domestic Terrorism Act of 2001
HR2886: To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the
award of the Purple Heart to civilian employees of the Department
of Defense who are killed or wounded by a terrorist attack.
HR2891: To preserve the continued viability of the United States air
transportation system.
HR2894: To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to increase the maximum amount of an award paid under the
Department of State rewards program in connection with the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
HR2895: Aviation Security Enhancement Act of 2001
HR2897: To provide for the granting of posthumous citizenship to certain aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence who died as a
result of the hijackings of 4 commercial aircraft, the attacks on the World Trade Center, or the attack on the Pentagon, on September 11,
2001, and for other purposes.
HR2898: Federal Airports Security Enhancement Act
HR2900: Victory Bonds Act of 2001
HR2905: September 11th Heroes Stamp Act of 2001
HR2907: September 11th Families Stamp Act
HR2913: Aviation Security Improvement Act of 2001
HR2916: Honoring the Passengers and Crew of United Flight 93 Act
HR2917: To authorize the President to award gold medals on behalf
of Congress to the people aboard United Airlines Flight 93 who helped
resist the hijackers and caused the plane to crash prematurely.
HR2921: To authorize the President to award posthumously the
Congressional Gold Medal to Jeremy Glick of West Milford,
New Jersey, a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 for
acts of bravery, courage, and patriotism.
HR2927: To limit the amount of total compensation for top executives of
air carriers that receive certain Federal relief.
HR2928: Keeping America Safe Act of 2001
HR2938: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow taxpayers to designate any portion of their income tax overpayments, and to
make other contributions, for the benefit of victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and for counter-terrorism efforts.
HR2945: Ancillary Airline Industry Relief Act of 2001
HR2946: Displaced Workers Relief Act of 2001
HR2955: Displaced Workers Assistance Act
Wellfair ?
HR2956: Show Your Pride in the Military Act of 2001
HR2957: Secure Aviation Employment and Training Enhancement Act of 2001
HR2961: Terrorist Disaster Relief for Small Businesses Act HR2976: To provide for the issuance of a special entrance pass for free
admission to any federally owned area which is operated and maintained by a Federal agency and used for outdoor recreation purposes
to the survivors, victims' immediate families, and police, fire, rescue, recovery, and medical personnel directly affected by the September
11, 2001, terrorist hijackings and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and for other purposes. HR2982: To authorize
the establishment of a memorial within the area in the District of Columbia referred to in the Commemorative Works Act as "Area I" or
"Area II" to the victims of terrorist attacks on the United States, to provide for the design and construction of such a memorial, and for
other purposes. HR2991: To direct the Architect of the Capitol to establish, as part of the Capitol Visitors Center, a garden designated
as the "Spirit of America Garden" as a living memorial to the victims of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
HR3007: General Aviation Small Business Relief Act of 2001
HR3011: To authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to make loans to certain concerns that suffered economic and
other injury as result of the terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes. HR3026:
Office of Homeland Security Act of 2001 HR3036: To authorize the Secretary of Defense to establish a memorial on the Arlington Naval Annex
to the
victims of the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. HR3045: To provide assistance to employees who suffer loss of employment in the aircraft
manufacturing industry as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. HR3049: Afghanistan Freedom Act of 2001 HR3054: True
American Heroes Act
HR3067: To direct the Secretary of Transportation give certain workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, priority in hiring for aviation-related security positions. HR3073: American Small Business Emergency Relief and
Recovery Act of 2001 HR3076: September 11 Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001
H.Con.Res. 224: Expressing the sense of the Congress that, as a symbol of solidarity following the terrorist attacks on the United States on
September 11, 2001, every United States citizen is encouraged to display the flag of the United States. H.Con.Res. 228: Expressing the
sense of the Congress that the children who lost one or both parents or a guardian in the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center and
Pentagon tragedies (including the aircraft crash in Somerset County, Pennsylvania) should be provided with all necessary assistance,
services, and benefits and urging the heads of Federal agencies responsible for providing such assistance, services and benefits to give
the highest possible priority to providing such assistance, services and benefits to those children.
H.Con.Res. 230: Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the establishment of a National Day of Remembrance.
H.Con.Res. 232: Expressing the sense of the Congress in honoring the crew and passengers of United Airlines Flight 93.
H.Con.Res. 233: Expressing the profound sorrow of the Congress for the death and injuries suffered by first responders
as they endeavored to save innocent people in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
H.Con.Res. 234: Expressing the sense of Congress relating to the increased importance of the United States steel industry
since the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
H.Con.Res. 235: Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the establishment of a National Day of Remembrance.
H.Con.Res. 236: Expressing the sense of the Congress in support of the "National Wash America Campaign".
H.Con.Res. 241: Expressing the sense of the Congress that trained service dogs should be recognized for their service in the rescue and
recovery efforts in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
H.J.Res. 62: Declaring a state of war between the United States and international terrorists and their sponsors.
H.J.Res. 63: Declaring that a state of war exists between the United States and any entity determined by the President to have planned,
carried out, or otherwise supported the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, and authorizing the President to use
United States Armed Forces and all other necessary resources of the United States Government against any such entity in order to bring the
conflict to a successful termination.
H.Res. 236: Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee
on Rules.
H.Res. 237: Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee
on Rules.
H.Res. 241: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration should
consider hiring an employee whose employment with an air carrier was terminated as a result of the terrorist attacks that occurred on
September 11, 2001, for a position with the Federal Air Marshal program of the Administration.
H.Res. 243: Honoring Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the rescue workers, and the residents of New York, New York, for their valiant efforts in
responding to the terrorist attack.
H.Res. 255: Condemning bigotry and violence against Sikh Americans in the wake of terrorist attacks against the United States on
September 11, 2001.
H.Res. 260: Waiving clause 5(a) of rule XII of the rules of the House of Representatives to permit introduction and consideration of a bill to
amend title 36, United States Code, to designate September 11 as United We Stand Remembrance Day.
S1422: Public Safety Officer Benefits bill
S1423: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax relief for military or civilian employees of the United Stats who are
victims of terrorist attacks against the United States.
S1429: Airport and Seaport Terrorism Prevention Act
S1430: Unity Bonds Act of 2001
S1431:War Bonds Act of 2001
S1432: United States Defense of Freedom Bond Act of 2001
S1433: Victims of Terrorism Relief Act of 2001
S1434: Honoring the Passengers and Crew of United Flight 93 Act
S1440: Victims of Terrorism Relief Act of 2001
S1444: Federal Air Marshals and Safe Sky Act of 2001
S1448: Intelligence to Prevent Terrorism Act of 2001
S1449: A bill to establish the National Office for Combatting Terrorism.
S1454: Displaced Workers Assistance Act. S1461: Airline Passenger Safety Enhancement Act of 2001 S1462: National Emergency
Transportation Coordination Act of 2001
S1473: A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for the enhancement of security at airports in the United States. S1486:
Biological and Chemical Weapons Preparedness Act of 2001 S1493: Small Business Leads to Economic Recovery Act of 2001 S1499: A bill
to provide assistance to small business concerns adversely impacted by the terrorist attacks
perpetrated against the United States on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes. S1500: Travel America Now Act of 2001
S1508: A bill to increase the preparedness of the United States to respond to a biological or chemical weapons attack. S1512: A bill to report
on any air space restrictions put in place as a result of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that remain in place. S1518: Visa Integrity and
Security Act of 2001 S.Res. 165: A resolution establishing a Select Committee on Homeland Security and Terrorism.
S.Con.Res. 66: A concurrent resolution to express the sense of the Congress that the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor should be awarded
to public safety officers killed in the line of duty in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. S.Con.Res. 70: A concurrent
resolution expressing the sense of the Congress in support of the "National Wash America Campaign". S.Con.Res. 73: A concurrent
resolution expressing the profound sorrow of Congress for the deaths and injuries suffered by first responders as they endeavored to save
innocent people in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
S.Con.Res. 75: A concurrent resolution to express the sense of the Congress that the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor should be
presented to public safety officers killed or seriously injured as a result of the terrorist attacks perpetrated against the United States on
September 11, 2001, and to those who participated in the search, rescue and recovery efforts in the aftermath of those attacks.
Last Update: October 26, 2001
****************************
28 June 2001 Bush Budget Lays Foundation for National Missile Shield
Defense: Critics fear Alaskan test range could undermine the ABM treaty
By PAUL RICHTER, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
******************************************************************************************************
Google search
Experts approximate that more than 110 million land mines--hidden disasters waiting to happen--are buried around the world in nearly 70 countries. And at the
rate people arecurrently working to find and remove these threats, the United
Nations' Landmine Database estimates the job will take another 1,100 years.
Friday, April 13, 2001 For some in Bosnia, springtime means time to find, clear land mines
By Adam Ramirez, Bosnia bureau GRADACAC, Bosnia and Herzegovina —
Spring represents renewal, freshness and optimism for most people.
But for those working in the fields of Bosnia, breaking the soil in the seasonal
ritual is a hazardous undertaking. That’s because the painstaking de-mining
season starts anew in April, and the harvest in the months to come looks too
plentiful.
With more than 1 million mines still in the ground — some estimates put that
number much higher — Bosnia leads the world in the number of mines per
square mile.
Only about 16 miles of the estimated 248,000 square miles where mines were
laid during the war have been cleared since 1998.
At that rate, American officials project that the work won’t be
done for another 66 years — or about in 2067.
****************************
Sending a forward of intrest I hope you and yours are ok too.
We thank you ..
*********************
R. G-K wrote: Hi Folks,
This was forwarded to me today by my friend, Ludovica. It is written, it says,
by someone who worked a floor above where I worked last Spring. It is the
most personal accounting and detailed journal I have read so far. It is well worth
finishing because it has a positive, uniting ending.
R.G.K.
THE PRICE WE PAY:
My name is Adam Mayblum. I am alive today. I am committing this to "paper"
so I never forget. SO WE NEVER FORGET.
I am sure that this is one of thousands of stories that will emerge over the next
several days and weeks.
I arrived as usual a little before 8am. My office was on the 87th floor of
1 World Trade Center, AKA: Tower 1,
AKA: the North Tower. Most of my associates were in by 8:30m.
We were standing around, joking around, eating breakfast, checking emails,
and getting set for the day when the first plane hit just a few stories above us.
I must stress that we did not know that it was a plane. The building lurched
violently and shook as if it were an earthquake.
People screamed. I watched out my window as the building seemed to move
10 to 20 feet in each direction. It rumbled and shook long enough for me to get
my wits about myself and grab a co-worker and seek shelter under a doorway.
Light fixtures and parts of the ceiling collapsed. The kitchen was destroyed.
We were certain that it was a bomb.
We looked out the windows. Reams of paper were flying everywhere, like a
ticker tape parade. I looked down at the street. I could see people in Battery
Park City looking up. Smoke started billowing in through the holes in the ceiling.
I believe that there were 13 of us.
We did not panic. I can only assume that we thought that the worst was over.
The building was standing and we were shaken but alive. We checked the halls.
The smoke was thick and white and did not smell like I imagined smoke should
smell. Not like your BBQ or your fireplace or even a bonfire. The phones were
working. My wife had taken our 9 month old for his check up.
I called my nanny at home and told her to page my wife, tell her that a bomb
went off, I was ok, and on my way out.
I grabbed my laptop.
Took off my tee shirt and ripped it into 3 pieces.
Soaked it in water.
Gave 2 pieces to my friends.
Tied my piece around my face to act as an air filter.
And we all started moving to the staircase. One of my dearest friends
said that he was staying until the police or firemen came to get him.
In the halls there were tiny fires and sparks.
The ceiling had collapsed in the men's bathroom.
It was gone along with anyone who may have been in there.
We did not go in to look.
We missed the staircase on the first run and had to double back.
Once in the staircase we picked up fire extinguishers just incase.
On the 85th floor a brave associate of mine and I headed back up to our office
to drag out my partner who stayed behind.
There was no air, just white smoke. We made the rounds through the office
calling his name.
No response.
He must have succumbed to the smoke.
We left defeated in our efforts and made our way back to the stairwell.
We proceeded to the 78th floor where we had to change over to a different stairwell.
78 is the main junction to switch to the upper floors. I expected to see more people.
There were some 50 to 60 more. Not enough. Wires and fires all over the place.
Smoke too. A brave man was fighting a fire with the emergency hose.
I stopped with to friends to make sure that everyone from our office was accounted for.
We ushered them and confused people into the stairwell.
In retrospect, I recall seeing Harry, my head trader, doing the same severa
l yards behind me.
I am only 35. I have known him for over 14 years. I headed into the stairwell
with 2 friends.
We were moving down very orderly in Stair Case A. very slowly.
No panic.
At least not overt panic. My legs could not stop shaking.
My heart was pounding. Some nervous jokes and laughter.
I made a crack about ruining a brand new
pair of Merrells. Even still, they were right, my feet felt great.
We all laughed. We checked our cell phones. Surprisingly, there was a very
good signal, but the Sprint network was jammed. I heard that the Blackberry
2 way email devices worked perfectly. On the phones, 1 out of 20 dial attempts
got through.
I knew I could not reach my wife so I called my parents.
I told them what happened and that we were all okay and on the way down.
Soon, my sister in law reached me.
I told her we were fine and moving down.
I believe that was about the 65th floor.
We were bored and nervous.
I called my friend Angel in San Francisco.
I knew he would be watching.
He was amazed I was on the phone.
He told me to get out that there was another plane on its way.
I did not know what he was talking about.
By now the second plane had struck Tower 2.
We were so deep into the middle of our building that we did not hear or feel anything.
We had no idea what was really going on. We kept making way for wounded to go
down ahead of us. Not many of them, just a few. No one seemed seriously wounded.
Just some cuts and scrapes. Everyone cooperated. Everyone was a hero yesterday.
No questions asked. I had co-workers in another office on the 77th floor.
I tried dozens of times to get them on their cell phones or office lines.
It was futile. Later I found that they were alive.
One of the many miracles on a day of tragedy.
On the 53rd floor we came across a very heavyset man sitting on the stairs.
I asked if he needed help or was he just resting.
He needed help. I knew I would have trouble carrying him because I have a very
bad back. But my friend and I offered anyway. We told him he could lean on us.
He hesitated, I don't know why. I said do you want to come or do you want us to
send help for you.
He chose to stay and wate for help.
I told him he was on the 53rd floor in Stairwell A and that's what I would tell the
rescue workers. He said okay and we left.
On the 44th floor my phone rang again.
It was my parents.
They were hysterical.
I said relax, I'm fine.
My father said get out, there is third plane coming.
I still did not understand. I was kind of angry.
What did my parents think?
Like I needed some other reason to get going?
I couldn't move the thousand people in front of me any faster.
I know they love me, but no one
inside understood what the situation really was. My parents did.
Starting around this floor the firemen, policemen, WTC K-9 units without
the dogs, anyone with a badge, started coming up as we were heading down.
I stopped a lot of them and told
them about the man on 53 and my friend on 87. I later felt terrible about this.
They headed up to find those people and met
death instead.
On the 33rd floor I spoke with a man who somehow new most of the details.
He said 2 small planes hit the building. Now we all started talking about which
terrorist group it was.
Was it an internal organization or an external one?
The overwhelming but uninformed opinion was Islamic Fanatics.
Regardless, we now knew that it was not a bomb and there were potentially
more planes coming.
We understood.
On the 3r floor the lights went out and we heard & felt this rumbling coming
towards us from above.
I thought the staircase was collapsing upon itself.
It was10am now and that was Tower 2 collapsing next door.
We did not know that.
Someone had a flashlight. We passed it forward and left the stairwell and
headed down a dark and cramped corridor to an exit.
We could not see at all.
I recommended that everyone place a hand on the shoulder of the person in
front of them and call out if they hit an obstacle so others would know to avoid it.
They did.
It worked perfectly.
We reached another stairwell and saw a female officer emerge soaking wet
and covered in soot. She said we could not go that way it was blocked.
Go up to 4 and use the other exit.
Just as we started up she said it was ok to go down instead.
There was water
We emerged into an enormous room.
It was light but filled with smoke.
I commented to a friend that it must be under construction.
Then we realized where we were. It was the second floor.
The one that overlooks the lobby. We were ushered out into the courtyard,
the one where the fountain used to be. My first thought was of a TV movie
I saw once about nuclear winter and fallout.
I could not understand where all of the debris came from.
There was at least five inches of this gray pasty dusty drywall soot on the
ground as well as a thickness of it in the air.
Twisted steel and wires. I heard there were bodies and body parts as well,
but I did not look. It was bad enough.
We hid under the remaining overhangs and moved out to the street.
We were told to keep walking towards Houston Street.
The odd thing is that there were very few rescue workers around. Less than five.
They all must have been trapped under the debris when Tower 2 fell.
We did not know that and could not understand where all of that debris came from.
It was just my friend Kern and I now. We were hugging but sad.
We felt certain that most of our friends ahead of us died and we knew
no one behind us.
We came upon a post office several blocks away.
We stopped and looked up.
Our building, exactly where our office is (was), was engulfed in flame and smoke.
A postal worker said that Tower 2 had fallen down.
I looked again and sure enough it was gone.
My heart was racing.
We kept trying to call our families.
I could not get in touch with my wife.
Finally I got through to my parents.
Relived is not the word to explain their feelings. They got through to my wife,
thank G-d (GOD !! ) and let her know I was alive.
We sat down. A girl on a bike offered us some water. Just as she took the
cap off her bottle we heard a rumble. We looked up and our building, Tower
1 collapsed. I did not note the time but I am told it was 10:30am. We had been
out less than 15 minutes.
We were mourning our lost friends, particularly the one who stayed in the office
as we were now sure that he had perished.
We started walking towards Union Square. I was going to Beth Israel Medical
Center to be looked at. We stopped to hear the President speaking on the radio.
My phone rang. It was my wife. I think I fell to my knees crying when I heard
her voice. Then she told me the most incredible thing. My partner who had stayed
behind called her. He was alive and well.
I guess we just lost him in the commotion.
We started jumping and hugging and shouting. I told my wife that my brother
had arranged for a hotel in midtown. He can be very resourceful in that way.
I told her I would call her from there. My brother and I managed to get a gypsy
cab to take us home to Westchester instead.
I cried on my son and held my wife until I fell asleep.
As it turns out my partner, the one who I thought had stayed behind was behind
us with Harry Ramos, our head trader.
This is now second hand information. They came upon Victor, the heavy set
man on the 53rd floor.
They helped him. He could barely move. My partner bravely/stupidly tested
the elevator on the 52nd floor. He rode it down to the sky lobby on 44.
The doors opened, it was fine. He rode it back up and got Harry and Victor.
I don't yet know if anyone else joined them. Once on 44 they made their way
back into the stairwell.
Someplace around the 39th to 36th floors they felt the same rumble I felt on the
3rd floor. It was 10am and Tower 2 was coming down.
They had about 30 minutes to get out. Victor said he could no longer move.
They offered to have him lead on them.
He said he couldn't do it. My partner hollered at him to sit on his butt and schooch
down the steps. He said he was not capable of doing it. Harry told my partner to go
ahead of them. Harry had once had a heart attack and was worried about this mans heart.
It was his nature to be this way.
He was/is one of the kindest people I know.
He would not leave a man behind. My partner went ahead and made it out. He said he
was out maybe 10 minutes before the building came down. This means that Harry
had maybe 25 minutes to move Victor 36 floors.
I guess they moved 1 floor every 1.5 minutes. Just a guess. This means Harry
wad around the 20th floor when the building collapsed. As of now 12 of 13
people are accounted for. As of 6pm yesterday his wife had not heard from him.
I fear that Harry is lost. However, a short while ago I heard that he may be alive.
Apparently there is a web site with survivor names on it and his name appears there.
Unfortunately, Ramos is not an uncommon name in New York.
Pray for him and all those like him.
With regards to the firemen heading upstairs, I realize that they were going up anyway.
But, it hurts to know that I may have made them move quicker to find my friend.
Rationally, I know this is not true and that I am not the responsible one.
The responsible ones are in hiding somewhere on this planet and damn them for
making me feel like this. But they should know that they failed in terrorizing us.
We were calm. Those men and women that went up were heroes in the face of it all.
They must have known what was going on and they did their jobs. Ordinary people
were heroes too. Today the images that people around the world equate with power
and democracy are gone but "America" is not an image it is a concept.
That concept is only strengthened by our pulling together as a team. If you want to
kill us, leave us alone because we will do it by ourselves. If you want to make
us stronger, attack and we unite. This is the ultimate failure of terrorism against
The United States and the ultimate price we pay to be free, todecide where we
want to work, what we want to eat, and when & where we want to go on vacation.
The very moment the first plane was hijacked,
democracy won.
Ludovica
|
FUNWITHPARANOIA | Transmogrification | Funwithparanoia3 | eyeofthebeholder | Anarchy Joe | FunWithAnarchy | PreWW3 | POSTWW2 | Conflict of Honor | Brusselsproutings | GNP at work | OldPlanet | BLOWBACK | AntI Nuke Links | GRAILCHASERZ | fine print | fine print 2 | UB MANIFES | the new America | TrueColorz
|