I am a Professor at Seattle University School of Law, the Co-director and Executive Producer of Out of the Ashes: 9/11. Out of the Ashes is a non-profit documentary that honors 9/11 victims and families. It was a seven year project to produce this objective film— leading us through the shattered American Dream and the struggle to put it back together. Out of the Ashes: 9/11 is now
available for purchase and screenings! Proceeds are donated to charities.
ABOUT THE FILM: Seven families — show how the Victim Compensation Fund and litigation impacted them — a Fire fighter’s father, whose son, was one of 343 killed; a pilot’s widow from Flight 93; an undocumented worker family; a widow who reflects about the 9/11 victims buried in the Staten Island Land Fill; a widow who rejected the Fund and filed litigation; a same-sex partner; and the
family of the first respiratory casualty from the toxic dust at Ground Zero.
Out of the Ashes raises fundamental questions about the 9/11 Fund, the legal system, and justice. Did the Fund undermine our legal system? Hide the facts about 9/11? Or offer victims a way to avoid the cost, complexity, and slow pace of a lawsuit? Was justice delivered?
Out of the Ashes: 9/11 was screened by Yale Law School, Boston College of Law, the New York County Lawyers’ Association and selected for the 2011 Politics on Film DC Film Festival.
More information about the documentary, see www.outoftheashes911.com
In this May 28, 2002 file photo, ironworkers make sure the path is clear as they remove the last remaining steel beam of the World Trade Center in a ceremony at ground zero in New York.
While Americans grieved the 9/11 attacks and U.S. troops went to war in Afghanistan, another army, one made up of ironworkers, heavy equipment operators and mason tenders, toiled day and night to clear away the destruction of the World Trade Center’s twin towers in lower Manhattan and recover the bodies of the dead.
In just 8 1/2 months, an estimated 1.8 million tons of twisted steel and pulverized concrete were painstakingly removed, transforming a mountainous pile into a 16-acre hole that became known as The Pit.
By Memorial Day, it was all but over. The day after the holiday, workers cut down the last column of steel still standing at the site.
Incidentally, the steel from 9/11 was on parade this week in New York in the form of a massive war-ship. CBS New York reports:
One of the ships taking part in this year’s Fleet Week is the USS New York, which was built in part using steel from the World Trade Center site.
The U.S.S. New York
On Saturday, the ship was adopted by September 11 families in a special ceremony in Staten Island, reports CBS 2’s Dave Carlin.
As the mother of a young woman killed on 9/11, I have to say that neither I, nor would anyone in my family celebrate or revel at the death of another human being, even if that human being is Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden is dead and so, still, is my beautiful daughter.
On Sunday night as word of the death of bin Laden spread throughout the world, the media documented these celebrations at both Ground Zero and the White House. Many American citizens denounced the revelry, marking a line in the sand between, once again, us and them, referring to the reports of people throughout the Middle East dancing in the streets after the towers came down. As we sort through what this all does and should mean, I offer the following:
Kristen Breitweiser is one of the 4 “Jersey Girls” whose husband was murdered on 9/11. The Jersey Girls were the main reason why the U.S. Government was pressured into forming a 9/11 Commission, which became the mechanism for a U.S. Government cover-up about 9/11..
Today I was given two hours of “advance notice” regarding DOJ’s decision to not prosecute the remaining alleged 9/11 conspirators in an open court of law. According to DOJ’s statement, the remaining individuals will be sent to military tribunals.
I recognize that there are many, many other things for Americans to be upset with today, but I hope everyone can take a second to contemplate this decision and recognize what it says about President Obama, the Department of Justice, and the United States.
As for the Department of Justice, it shows their inability to prosecute individuals who are responsible for the death of 3,000 people on the morning of 9/11. Apparently our Constitution and judicial system — two of the very cornerstones that make America so great and used to set such a shining example to the rest of the world — are not adequately set up to respond to or deal with the aftermath of terrorism. To me, this is a startling and dismal acknowledgment that perhaps Osama Bin Laden did, in fact, win on the morning of 9/11. And chillingly, I wonder whether it wasn’t just the steel towers that were brought down and incinerated on 9/11, but the yellowed pages of our U.S. Constitution, as well.
And what does it say about the solemn capabilities of our Department of Justice if it is left to “subcontract out” its duties and responsibilities to the Department of Defense? We should all think about that scary notion for a bit. But, perhaps more disturbingly recognize that it is not occurring under the tutelage of Bush and Cheney, rather it is coming at the hands of Obama.
On September 9th, 2004, (only weeks after the 9/11 Commission Report was issued) then former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, along with 9/11 Family Members and citizen researchers, held what were called the “9/11 Omission Hearings” in New York City. To many of us that have been involved with this cause for a long time, these were truly historic. It is important to note that these hearings took place not two months after the release of the 9/11 Report. If you’ve never seen them, they come highly recommended. As you watch them, ask yourself, “is this something the media should have told me about?”
Mission Statement
Opening statements for the 9/11 Omission Hearings conducted by the 9/11 Citizen’s Commission and introduction of the commissioners:
Commissioners’ Opening Words
Opening statements by each of the 9/11 Omission Hearing’s citizen commissioners:
The title is misleading because 9/11 victims family members have really been waiting and acting for justice for almost 10 years now.
The families featured in this article by FOX news are not the same 9/11 families that are involved in the Building What campaign nor are these the 9/11 families that signed the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth petition - but they are 9/11 victims family members waiting for justice none-the-less.
Debra Burlingame is the sister of Cap. Charles Burlingame who was piloting the plane that was crashed into the Pentagon. Read more about him here.
Two years ago this month, President Obama met with the families of Sept. 11 victims and other victims of terrorism at a special meeting in Washington, D.C., and promised “swift and certain justice” for the perpetrators. But the high expectations of that meeting have given way to frustration for many who met with Obama.
“One of the first things he told us was that we were the conscience of the country and he wanted to give us swift and certain justice,” Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the pilot on Flight 77 on 9/11, told Fox News. She was one of about 30 people at the meeting.
That same phrase “swift and certain justice” was used by the White House in its own press release after the meeting.
But with no timetable for a trial for those charged with being behind the attacks, Hamilton Peterson, who lost his father and stepmother on 9/11, says the families feel betrayed.
“Unfortunately, I would say, at a minimum, we were misled, ” Peterson said.
In a public statement issued today (see below), members of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee demanded a prompt response from the former Chairman and Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission regarding Former FBI Language Specialist Behrooz Sarshar’s censored testimony to the Commission. The press release was prompted by recently released documents related to the interviews conducted by the 9/11 Commission published at Cryptome.org, in particular the “Memorandum for the Record” containing the Commission’s interview with Mr. Sarshar. The memorandum, after establishing Mr. Sarshar’s credibility and vaguely referring to his documented and witnessed testimony regarding specific tip(s) provided to the FBI in April and June 2001 regarding planned imminent “Kamikaze Pilots” attacks targeting major cities in the United States, leaves out the entire testimony. This testimony was also entirely left out of the Commission’s final report released in July 2004.
Behrooz Sarshar worked as a GS 12 language specialist with Top Secret Clearance at the FBI Washington Field Office. After leaving the FBI in 2002, he provided his testimony on “Kamikaze Pilots” to several Congressional offices and investigators, including staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee’s leading Democrat at the time, Senator Patrick Leahy, and the Justice Department’s Inspector General Office. The congressional sources familiar with Mr. Sarshar’s case and briefing found him and his report credible:
A former Grassley investigator says he found Sarshar credible, too. “We thought he was a pretty credible guy,” said former Senate Judiciary Committee investigator Kris Kolesnik.
In April and June of 2001 a long-term FBI informant told two FBI agents from the Washington field office that his sources in Afghanistan had provided him with information regarding a terrorist plot to attack the US in a suicide mission involving airplanes. Mr. Sarshar acted as an interpreter at both meetings after which the case agents filed a report (on 302 Forms) with their squad supervisor, Thomas Frields. Here is what Mr. Frields told the reporter when questioned about the case:
Faith FM guests include: Bob McIlvaine, lost son in 9/11 attacks, New York, NY., Tony Szamboti, mechanical engineer, Blackwood, NJ., Mike Bondi, systems engineer, Stratford, ON., Laurie Manwell, Ph.D. candidate, author: In Denial of Democracy, Kitchener, ON.
Building 7 was a 47-story skyscraper that was part of the World Trade Center complex. It would have been the tallest high-rise in 33 states. It collapsed at 5:20 pm on September 11, 2001. It was not hit by an airplane and suffered minimal damage compared to other buildings much closer to the Twin Towers.
“The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dear Friends,
We would like to extend our deepest thanks to Mark Stepnoski for generously offering $10,000 to match all donations made to the BuildingWhat?campaign during the last three days of 2010. Supporters across the country and around the world rose to the occasion, giving nearly $30,000 on top of Mark’s $10,000 to bring the campaign to $67,000. Thank you all for your generous support and your belief in our strategy.
In the next few weeks we will be releasing a series of brand new TV ads. Without giving anything away, we are confident in saying these new ads will generate much publicity and create a groundswell of public demand for a new Building 7 investigation leading up to the 10th Anniversary.
ACTION ITEM
To help pave the way towards that day, we have an important action item that will take you only two minutes to complete. Please help us send 500emails to the Speaker of the New York City Council to inform her that 2010 was only the beginning of our campaign, and our calls for the empanelment an independent commission to investigate Building 7 will grow as the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 approaches.
The BuildingWhat? campaign is pleased to announce beginning today, December 29, through December 31, NFL great Mark Stepnoski will match, up to $10,000, all donations made to the next TV ad campaign.
Thanks to the generosity of supporters across the globe, the BuildingWhat? campaign has raised almost $30,000 since the launch of the new fundraising drive on December 5. We are thrilled and grateful that two-time Superbowl champion Mark Stepnoski has so generously stepped forward to spur us toward the $50,000-milestone. Between now and the end of the year, Mark will match every dollar you donate; and just a reminder, every dollar you do give in 2010 will be fully tax-deductible when you file your taxes in the coming months!
In this in depth interview with tireless 9/11 Truth campaigner Bob McIlvaine, we look at 9/11 in its historical context. We also hear about Bob’s detailed research into what happened to his son Bobby on 9/11 and the evidence that an explosion other than from the planes killed his son.
As a long term 9/11 truth researcher, a former history teacher and someone who has worked in mental health, Bob has a unique perspective on society and its drives. In this interview Bob gives us an insight into how he sees the world and its workings and why 9/11 truth should be seen as possibly the best chance we have at bringing peace to our world. Bob believes that we may have already been successful at preventing other wars with our exposure of the 9/11 fraud; I totally agree.
We are very pleased and excited to announce the launch of a new fundraising drive for the next round of BuildingWhat? TV ads. Before going into the details of Round 2, here is a brief recap of what has happened to bring us to this point:Thanks to the generosity of thousands of supporters across the globe, the BuildingWhat? TV ad campaign was able to raise $100,000 and reach a remarkable 1 million viewers in the New York Metropolitan Area during the month of November, most of them seeing footage of World Trade Center Building 7’s destruction for the first time ever.
The campaign also received the media attention it deserved in the form of an appearance on FOX News’ Geraldo At Large in front of a national audience of 1 millon more viewers. After that momentous breakthrough, Geraldo and FOX News’ Andrew Napolitano affirmed their skepticism of the official explanation for Building 7’s destruction, resulting in a flurry of responses from other media outlets including CNN, MSNBC and the Huffington Post.
With the media’s coverage of Building 7 poised to go in one of two directions—subsiding into nothingness or exploding into a bona fide discussion about the government’s bogus explanation for Building 7’s destruction—it is now time for us to dig deep and take the BuildingWhat? campaign to the next level.
Building What? Round 2
This time around, we are setting a fundraising goal of $200,000 that we hope to reach by January 1, 2011. The TV ad campaign for Round 2, set to launch in New York City in mid to late January, will be much larger than Round 1, and it will go hand-in-hand with an online viral campaign, a print ad campaign, and a PR effort coordinated by top professionals in the industry who are capable of landing BuildingWhat? more priceless media coverage.
It’s rare that two media watchdogs – one on the left and one on the right – ever agree when it comes to assessing coverage on the cable news outlets.
But both the conservative Newsbusters and liberal Media Matters are aiming fire at Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera and Judge Andrew Napolitano for recently suggesting the third building to fall on September 11, 2001 – 7 World Trade Center- may have collapsed for reasons beside the widely held belief that fire from the two World Trade Center towers nearby was the ultimate cause.
In a segment that aired on his program more than two weeks ago, Rivera reported on those who claim the building’s collapse was more consistent with that which would occur from explosive devices.
“I’m certainly much more open-minded about it than I was,” Rivera said of the alternate possibility for the building’s fall.
Posted by Brian 
