On This Day: Names I Choose to Remember

In ancient (and now modern day Egypt), there was a practice of removing the Pharaoh's cartouche from all official mention.  I am going to follow that tradition by putting up names of people whose names I choose to remember:


Rick Rescorla: He didn't die for a cause.  He just did what he had to.


Todd Beamer: Facing sure death, he chose to fight until the end, he did not hide waiting for death to find him.


Rafael Peralta: A man who sacrificed so others might live, not a man who sacrificed others for his ego.


Capt. Brian Chontosh: He ran towards the fight to save his men, he did not hide behind his men to save himself.


Sgt Maj. Brad Kasal: He refused to leave until all of the wounded were extracted, he did not leave his men behind to be massacred while he escaped.


Michael P. Murphy: Broke cover to save his men and exposed himself to the enemy, he did not hide behind fifteen foot walls or a defenseless woman to save his own skin.


Sal Giunta: Actually spent fifteen months clinging to side of mountain without running water or a bathroom and ended up fighting off overwhelming odds to save his friends, he did not spend his days at leisure inside a million dollar mansion, taking lunch on a shaded patio in comfort while most of his men lived in caves and mud huts. 


Father Mychal P. Judge: Spent his life spreading the message of God's eternal love dying as he gave benedictions for rescuers saving lives and last rites to the dead and dying, he did not issue religious messages condoning murder and spreading hate in the name of God.


These names will continue to be listed until the Pharaoh's name is erased from memory.

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9/11 We Did Not Forget

The only thing I have to say is that it was twenty two years too late. If you don't understand that, you never will.

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Story of Our Life Time: Freedom Rising

In this moment of history, it is appropriate for us to look back at the place and moment when freedom was attacked.  The moment that would become Al Qaeda's waking of the sleeping giant.  


On 9/11, the forces of tyranny and oppression attacked the United States.  Our response was not simply to attack and kill those who were immediately responsible, but the very ideas that propelled their murderous violence.  They believe that freedom is evil, a highway to sin against the dictates of God.  We believe that freedom is a gift of the All Mighty and the power that lifts man kind towards the greatest good.  


Our ideas cannot be any further apart and they have been tested over and over again.  From Iraq to Afghanistan to Tunisia to Egypt to Libya and on and on and on, the Arab Muslim populations are rejecting their ideology, rejecting oppression and tyranny.  Every vote is a repudiation of their theocratic aspirations.  Even the participation of ideological travelers insists that it is freedom, not oppression that fuels the dreams of men.  


With every finger painted purple, pink, green, whatever color, it might as well be painted red, white and blue.  


Their ideas will go with the rest of the oppressive, dysfunctional ideologies: into the ash heap of history.  From the ashes of our once stricken city to the ashes of their ideology, we see the future:

Freedom Rising

For years, the future has been slow to appear at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But with six months remaining until the national 9/11 memorial opens, the work to turn a mountain of rubble into some of the inspiring moments envisioned nearly a decade ago is thundering forward.




This March 15, 2011 photo shows the Freedom Tower, right, rising above the World Trade Center site in New York. Rebirth has been slow in coming to ground zero, but with six months remaining until the first portions of the national 9/11 memorial are scheduled to open to the public, the work to turn a mountain of rubble into one of the world"s great urban centers is thundering forward and beginning to produce some of the inspiring monuments designers envisioned nearly a decade ago.


Freedom is "thundering forward".  They destroy, we build.  

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Ahmedinejad At Ground Zero?

I haven't written for awhile. I am working on an my epic review of the current Iranian situation coming soon along with a video on how to fight the war of ideas.

In the mean time, reports are out that Iranian President of Terrorism Inc, Ahmedinejad, is looking to visit Ground Zero and "Lay a Wreath".

A lot of people are extremely unhappy.

As Mark Levin points out, at least 10 of the 19 Saudis who flew planes into the WTC, the Pentagon and who were taken out by the flight 93 passengers, passed through Iran with some official assistance. Iran, as a backer of Hezbollah, is certainly responsible for a lot of deaths. A lot of American deaths including the Marines in Lebanon, enumerable tourists, aid workers and then the Air Force deaths at Khobar towers among so many. Not to mention Ahmedinejad's participation in the Iranian Revolution and it's taking of 66 American hostages.

NOT to mention the hundreds, possibly thousands of US military personnel killed or wounded in Iraq by the Iranian Proxies with Iranian Weapons and Iranian Money.

NOT TO MENTION, Ahmedinejad declares that 9/11 is an inside job (when he knows different) and has facilitated the despicable rumors that "Jews Knew" and stayed home, among many other things he has said officially or "unofficially" through his proxies.

He is looking for a photo op so he can claim back in Iran that he paid homage to the people killed by their own government. That is how this evil scumbag works.

The New York police who arguably have one of the best counter terror intelligence organizations amongst any international city and possibly within this country, have refused security at the site stating safety due to construction. That is probably the most polite thing they could have said that would not cause an international incident in the city of the world that hosts the UN.

But, some sources claim that the Secret Service, which provides all visiting diplomats security within the US, will escort him there any way.

That is what is making people angry. I'm with them. If I could get there, I'd stand in front and get arrested, too.

However, I don't endorse the suggestion of Scott at Mark's blog. No assassination of national leaders on US soil. That would start a war that we aren't ready for. I prefer to think of Ahmedinejad in the post revolutionary, revolutionary Iran, dangling from a rope attached to a crane as it is slowly pulled up, in a square surrounded by on lookers, who, unlike those watching the repression of Iran today, will not stand silent, but cheer as his tongue hangs out, his eyes bulge and his face turns blue.

Uncle Tito's Fate at the hands of the oppressed.

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September 11: Gratitude and Cold Revenge

It seems somethings always require an acknowledgment and obligatory post. Today is one of those days. It remains an obligatory post because we are still at war with the same people who attacked us.

I am reminded how I felt that day. I was mad as hell. The kind of mad that makes you do crazy things and hurt people, even those you wouldn't normally consider responsible, just because it would have felt good to harm a proxy for the S.O.B.s that actually did the damage.

Today, I'm still angry, but it is not the hot anger of youth and inexperience. It is the cold anger that takes pleasure in the thought of the ultimate destruction, not just of bin Laden or Al Qaeda, but any plans they have to institute the caliphate or any other form of Islamic State Utopia that these people want to institute.

It is the cold, calculating revenge that makes me contemplate, not just the destruction of such plans, but, in fact, the enacting of the very thing such ideologues as Qtub, Zawahiri and bin Laden have complained about and feared: the infiltration of American ideas, American commerce and American culture into the heart of Islam.

As much as Bin Laden thinks that he has had some effect on the American way of life and touts such things as mortgage rates and global warming as some sort of claim to the Islamist success, the truth of the matter is, these are blips on the screen. Financial ups and downs come and go. We are no where near collapse. In fact, war time economies are often and historically strong. Global warming will go the way of the "next ice age" claims from decades past. To quote Revelations: all these things will pass away.

But, real and profound changes have been wrought and continue to be wrought upon Muslim nations. Kuwait gave women the vote and Saudi Arabia instituted local elections. Saddam is long gone and Al Qaeda's Islamic Caliphate has been rejected by the first to have to live under it: the Sunni Muslim Iraqis. Lebanon is free and the Palestinians are too busy fighting over who should be in power rather than fighting the Israelis. The only people who are even partly effective in that war are Shia Hezbollah in south Lebanon. These are the same people who outed Al Qaeda's proxies, Fatah al Islam, in Lebanon. Even they didn't want any part of that.

Still, my favorite revenge is the revenge that Osama sought himself. Before Zarqawi died, a video showed him trying to fire a weapon. The most important aspect of the video wasn't his inability to fire the weapon, but was, in fact, Zarqawi wearing a brand new pair of American Tennis Shoes.

The significance of this was and is lost on some. The truth is, there are no Muslim, Arab tennis shoes. At least, none that the takfiri mufsidoon would be caught dead wearing. And while they tout their use of our resources against us, every day, somewhere in the hinterlands of Pakistan, in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the urban streets of the Gulf States, Muslims are using American made or American created products. They aren't creating or using their own. Even takfiri terrorist propaganda videos made by terrorists are created on American invented and created computers, with American software and transferred via American internet.

These are facts that are indisputable: Islam and Arabs have yet to and probably never will create anything worth as much or anywhere as useful. Further, those very machines, software and services that they believe they are using against us are equally and regularly sending images, words and ideas around the globe, into Islamic countries everywhere.

The young, who may make up the "martyrs" are actually very small compared to the young who still live, are educated and enjoy some sort of American related life. Music videos, cars, clothes, movies: you name it, it is there and the best part of it is bin Laden can blabber his BS propaganda, but it doesn't change the facts: they cannot change the wheels of progress. change is inevitable.

While the US may change in some ways, the most profound change is taking place over there. If it wasn't, AQ and their affiliates wouldn't fight so hard.

It is the long term, distant future of free, democratic nations in the middle east, full of people drinking, smoking and having sex while contemplating their next vote that serves our revenge the best. Those changes, already coming, will be more profound than any AQ could possibly inflict on the United States.

It is the thought of this future that appeases my anger enough to allow me to enjoy the thought of the final revenge: not only will AQ and Osama be defeated, but the entire Islamic ideology will be rejected.

Someday it will be in the dust pan of history along with the rest of the evil, murderous, totalitarian ideologies.

The thought of young Muslim men ogling Britney Spears while sipping on a Pepsi in a red, white and blue can while smoking a cigarette and contemplating the bottle of whiskey they will buy just warms the heart. It may start out "slow" as Arab Muslims travel to the newly liberated Iraq for business or vacation where they will experience all the joys of democracy: alcohol, tobacco, rich foods, unveiled women and a chance to say whatever is on their minds without fear of persecution. That will bleed over and back into their home nations. They can't help it.

It will be in the way they walk, talk, dress and eat. They will learn it through osmosis.

As for other "profound" changes, I can honestly say that it did change me: for the good. I don't take freedom and democracy lightly anymore. I re-learned some history. I've read books by great thinkers on the subject and have experienced the great advantages of our society. Far from discouraging me, the attacks on 9/11 made me a true believer.

For that and the chance to savor the long term revenge planned, I am grateful. For giving me the opportunity to serve my nation in small ways and large, I am grateful. For making me look on the internet only to discover blogs and promptly start my own to add to the "market place of ideas", I am grateful.

There were great changes, but I doubt they were the bin Laden and Company expected.

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Osama's latest video: Dead Terrorist Fauxtography

It is the anniversary of 9/11. I wanted to put up something smart and sassy in reply to the Bin Laden Videos and still may do so. As I contemplate that, I am smoking a cigarette and downed a jigger of Crown Royal. Not because I want to, but because I can. I'm free and nothing OBL and crew has done or will do will change that. In fact, my cigarette smoking privileges are more at risk from nanny state "tax it into oblivion to protect the stupid masses" than from Bin Laden, et al.

Many folks have noted that Bin Laden's latest video includes a lot of "leftist" talking points like American economy, mortgages, global warming, etc. I think this is the worst forged propaganda the Islamists have come up with in awhile, including the infamous "giant spiders attacking American forces", "missiles" that turn out to be unused Pakistani artillery shells and "bullets" supposedly shot into some poor old Iraqi lady's house by American forces, but turned out to be unfired "civilian" type ammunition. There are so many other forged videos, pictures and reports from "stringers" and "anonymous" sources, it must be noted that this video doesn't even come close to the others.

It's cheap and pointless really. It does not take a technological genius to take some old video, splice it together, rub out a few unwanted beard hairs or photoshop some new "young" beard hairs in, or even adjust the contrast and color of a video to change the appearance of something that was recorded over three years ago.

Seriously, look at this side by side comparison of shots from the 2004 video to the latest from Stop the ACLU:



The anomalies caused by photo doctoring are all over the place. Dissecting it, look at the picture of his "upper" face. On the left hand side of the split the "new" beard shows a hint of the "old" beard. There are "gray" anomalies there that are not from lighting or enlarging. That is the "old" beard that can't be totally erased from the image.



Then there is that rather disturbing pencil line trying to define his "eye" and causing bin Laden to have even more "I've toked too much weed" droopy eye lid than usual.

Not convinced yet? Look closely at these images:



In an attempt to define and re-align the beard on his upper face, they accidentally changed the shadow lines that are blurry, but still apparent in the original 2004 video. I have to commend them for an attempt to stay true to the color, but it's not even close to the "color" they've made his current skin tone by darkening and contrasting the image to make him appear "healthy". That actually happens throughout the image.

Not to mention that this "reshaping" of the beard gives bin Laden a disturbing resemblance to certain cast members from "Planet of the Apes":



His nostrils could have come out of the "planet of the apes" make up gallery since the one on the left looks bigger than the one on the right and is probably, also, the result of the attempt to darken and define his mustache which now looks some what "Saddam-esque":



Right here you can see the reshaping of the mustache that now also appears to have had a "skin tone" applied. There is a minute line towards the top of the encircled area which would be much more apparent in a better quality blow up, but clearly shows the original line of his beard contacting his mustache. The skin tone is either the closest color or was taken from the original still image to cover it up.



His lower lip on the left shows the same problems where it is apparent that someone got a little loose with the black shading and ran it up on his lip. Just a small, round blip that could be unnoticed if you weren't looking for photo-shop enhancements.



Check out the color and shape of his lips. Even though his over all skin tone is now "darker" and "healthier", his lips are lighter than they were in the previous video on the right which clearly shows them to be close to or darker than his skin tone.



Now, suddenly, they look like Al Jolsen in black face:



Then we get to the bottom of the picture, the bottom of the beard. The anomalies showing the removed "gray" beard are so obvious, even my cheap picture program shows them up.



When you invert the colors, you can clearly see there is something wrong with the beard. It's been edited.



A little video demonstration showing what I could do with these pictures in 10 minutes.



Now imagine if I was a determined takfiri, mufsidoon trying to show the world that bin Laden is still alive and kicking.

I didn't even get to the speech yet. A good voice recognition and recording program could create some of that. However, it is just as possible he recorded the audio and it was dubbed over the video with the many minutes of still shots. Either way, bin Laden couldn't or wouldn't show his face. Maybe he is in worse shape than people think?

As for the "new" video with the 9/11 hi-jacker's "last will and testament", without new, relevant images of bin Laden included (I mean "new" not this regurgitated garbage), I'll have to chalk that up to AQ video archives and I'll still assume that Osama is either dead, too sick and horrific looking to appear or in a place where he is unable to video in front of a backdrop and knows his position can be easily compromised if he gives away any images.

Since it's easy to do a nondescript back-drop, my guess is one of the first two.

It's 9/11 and Bin Laden wants to stay relevant. Which is interesting since this article some what echoes several posts from 2005 that I did where I basically say that Zawahiri is now the head of Al Qaeda. He just doesn't want to lose Bin Laden as a figure head since he was so instrumental in forging an international jihad where Zawahiri could not even after many years of studying, writing and fighting the Islamist cause in Egypt. Over several books on the subject, Zawahiri lamented the inability or lack of desire for Muslim nations to interfere with or assist in the defense of Palestinians and other "persecuted" Arab Muslims.

He still needs the figurehead of a relatively young and energetic "prince" that has come down to live, work, eat and die with the common martyr. I believe that is why we see Osama hear trying to look that part.

One thing that I keep in mind when I view this is that the Taliban, al Qaeda and various other Islamist organizations do not believe in trimming the beard. While Spencer might note that mujihadeen are allowed to change their image to confound the enemy, there is little doubt in this blogger's mind that this "change" was profoundly an act of some video hacker geek trying to make the lord and master feel better.

My one and only hope is that this guy is dead in an unmarked grave where no one can or will want to find his grave site.

IN regards to the leftist garble coming out of Osama's mouth, there is a few other similarities. Funny enough, many seem to think of AQ as a "fundamentalist" group most closely associated with the right and evangelicals. However, I reminded of the reports from Michael Yon and Michael Totten talking about AQ killing or maiming people for smoking a cigarette. A deadly sin for Muslims in the sites of AQ. According to the left, they don't want to "kill" me for smoking, they want to "save me" from myself. Kind of like what the Islamists say they are doing by keeping people from making their own choices. Instead of breaking arms, cutting off fingers, or simply shooting people, they are going to institute a 156% tax on cigarettes to make it "prohibitive".

Now, I'm not saying that cigarettes are good. I'm just saying that it seems interesting, among all the similarities, some people seem to think the only way they can "save" me is to take away my freedom of choice, insisting it is for my own good.

There is definitely an echo chamber around here.

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Have You Forgotten? Meeting the Parents of Ronald J. Hemenway, KIA Pentagon September 11

An important date is fast approaching: the anniversary of September 11, 2001. As the years pass, even as we remain at war, for some that date and the shock of the attacks is fading to a distant memory. There are some who believe that the grieving of our nation should be lessened. There are some who believe that we should "move on" and let the dead rest. There are some who would like the war to simply go away so that they can go on with their lives unchanged.

Most who believe this were not personally touched by the tragic act of war that was perpetrated on our nation. They were far away or didn't personally know anyone who was lost or who had lost a loved one.

Then, there are those that can never forget because that day was more than an attack on our nation. There are those that can never forget because September 11, 2001 changed their lives profoundly and forever.

Bob and Shirley Hemenway are just such people.

We met Bob and Shirley by happenstance at a small town get together in Cleveland, Missouri. Cleveland, Missouri is about 30 miles south of Kansas City. Population 592. Today's event was held on Main St. There were approximately fifteen booths, largely organizations like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Lion's Club, etc. Funnel cakes, hot dogs, cotton candy and soda were sold at various booths to raise money for their programs. Several musicians played throughout the day until evening when a band came on and people were literally dancing in the streets. Something that you only see in the movies, but really does happen here in small town America.

Soldiers' Angels had been invited by the town to have a booth for free right in front of the post office on Main Street. The mayor offered us an opportunity to speak to the crowd. Throughout the day, the entire population of the town and surrounding farms came into town to enjoy the festivities.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is nothing like small town events. We enjoy going to large events where we can reach great numbers of people with our message for supporting the troops, but in small towns, the pace is slower, the people like to stop and chat and we get an opportunity to really let people know about how they can support the troops.

At the end of the day, we had been there for about seven hours and we were trying to decide if we were going to stay for the night time activities. We had several folks stop by to pick up t-shirts or information about how to support our troops.



This is the mother of Sgt Matt [redacted], United States Army. Sgt Matt just came back from Iraq. He is one of the few Explosive Ordinance Disposal members that are in great demand in Iraq to clear IEDs and VBIEDs, the number one weapon that kills or injures our troops. She is going to see him in two weeks. We gave her a coin and Thank You card to give him when she gets there.



This lady chatted with us for awhile. She has a group of ladies that meet once a week and they were extremely interested in how they could participate and support our troops.



This young officer stopped to check out the pictures of our troops and the support that we send.

This couple stopped by to check out our booth. As we chatted, Mrs. Hemenway revealed that her son Ronald J. Hemenway, ET1 USN, was killed on September 11, 2001 in the Pentagon. His remains were never found. His name appears on the Pentagon September 11 Memorial in the Arlington National Cemetery. He has a separate marker in Arlington in the MIA section.

When we go to these events, we often meet someone special that makes the event worth every moment. Whether it is a veteran or a family member, it reminds us why we do what we do. The Hemenway's were visiting their son Robert and his wife Dawn who live in the community. As we chatted and they revealed who they were, they expressed to us the importance of supporting our troops in every way. They told us about the flag that Sen. Sam Brownback had flown over the capitol in Ronald's honor and how their son Robert had put a 25' flag pole in their yard to fly the flag. We gave them a thank you card, a pocket angel, an angel pin and a challenge coin. They thanked us for supporting the troops.

Mr. Hemenway talked about his son serving on the USN La Salle. He was wearing a hat from the La Salle and recounted how ship mates and friends of Ronald contacted them when they found out he was lost in the Pentagon. Many notables arrived to visit them and see how they could help, but the people that they were most touched by were the men and women Ronald served with. As we continued to talk about supporting our troops, Mrs. Hemenway broke down in tears and hugged each of us. Then Mr. Hemenway hugged each of us, shook our hands and said, "God bless you for what you do." It was hard to stay dry eyed.

It was only as I was driving home later that I realized that this meeting was so special: the anniversary of 9/11 is in a few days. It was, in many ways, as if fate had taken a hand. Who would have thought that in a small town, at the crossroads of two highways that are only designated by a letter, dotted by farms and huge pastures, we would meet the parents of one of our first fallen of the war?

Many ask whether we should continue to honor September 11 as we have every year. There are people who still remember. The Hemenway's can never forget. Our men and women are still fighting the war in many places around the world. Their families can not forget that their loved ones are far away or have sacrificed on our behalf.

We will not forget.

Message to the troops from the parents of Ronald J. Hemenway, ET1, USN:



Have you forgotten?

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Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil
-K E Henry

You look at me with amazement in your eyes
You don't understand why I can't sympathize
You ask, cajole and, finally, demand
That I forgive, if not forget, at least understand

That men can sometimes be driven to the brink
Beyond the confines of order or ability to think
My idealism you condemn, you call it a sin
There is no virtue, only absolution

You prosletyze and preach that all men of reason
Should make room at the table for every kind of human
While you watch them gnaw on the bones of their victims
With death in their eyes and blood on their hands

The irony of your logic you completely miss
You embrace the murderer, but his victims dismiss
The murderer's grievances become their crimes
They are the sinners, you become deaf to their cries

Because I will not accept your logic as wisdom
You fear me more than you ever feared him
You call me the mirror to the evil we see
I am the same, his twin, you decree

I AM his reflection,
His direct opposition
His dark to my light
His black to my white

The more you try to decipher the abyss
The more I feel compelled to resist
Your demand that I give the devil my sympathy
Just chalk it up to the devil in me.

****************

End the War Right Message, Sent to Wrong address

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Rosie O'Donnell O'Dunce O'Dumbass Implodes

Well, it had to happen. Another actor/comedian/singer that I used to think was even slightly entertaining has had to out their personal views and reminded me why I don't really watch any of these folks anymore.

It's not enough that Rosie O'Donnell portrays routine anti-smuggling interdiction (which happens every day) as some conspiratorial provocation for war (when the Iranians clearly have a much bigger reason to conspire). She had to go on and say that she believed there was some sort of government cover up OR direct involvement in the 9/11 incident.

For that she should be kicked to the curb and her limo drained of all gasoline and lubricating oil so she has to push it all the way back home.

People are poking fun at her left and right, but Popular Mechanics took it seriously and, once again, put together the definitive explanation as to why the towers collapsed (as if, watching it that day, from plane entry to burning embers).

For my own answer, I simply can't believe that this woman would get away with acting like she is a structural engineer. She's a G_d Damned comedian, for the love of all things holy.

I would like someone to give me a platform to vent my spleen on such morons.

I'll point to two other local disasters that were from similar issues: stress on beams and connections not meant to carry the weight.

Hyatt Regency Catwalk

In 1981, the famous "atrium catwalks" at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency collapsed. 114 people died and 200 were seriously injured. While the noted document discusses the technical engineering concepts that led to the collapse, the best part of the explanation (and probably the simplest that Rosie would understand):

The potential for disaster was cemented when the design was changed by Havens Steel Company. Instead of using the single-rod design originally proposed by G. C. E. International, the designers adopted a double-rod design. In this design, a set of rods would connect the fourth floor walkway to the trusses of the roof of the atrium, and a second set of rods would connect the second floor walkway to the fourth floor walkway independent of the first set of rods. These rods would be secured to the beams of the walkway by bolts at the end of each rod [8].

The single rod design and double rod design can easily be compared with an analogy. If one monkey is hanging on a branch, and another monkey is hanging below it on the same branch, then each monkey only has to support its own weight. If the second monkey is hanging onto the legs of the first monkey, then the first monkey must be able to hold both it’s weight and the weight of the first monkey or else they will both fall. Since the designers failed to understand very elementary concepts involving force and stress concentration, the plan for an engineering failure was created.

Get that, Rosie? Once the overall support structure for the towers was damaged, the entire building was damaged. The rest of the beams and support structures for each subsequent floor was forced to hold up the weight of the others. Something it was not designed to do.

Thus, with the first monkey having to hold up all the other 80 remaining monkies (floors), they all fell down.

Unfortunately, Rosie only chooses to imitate two of the three monkies, see no evil (Iranian mullahs aren't "evil" even though, if Rosie went to Iran she would either be hanged as a lesbian or forced to under go trans-gender surgery in order to get her man's lust for woman into a man's body) and hear no evil (obviously, the continued "Death to America" and "Wipe Israel off the Map" chants don't make it into Rosie's gigantic dressing room at the View to Stupidity):



Instead of "say no evil", Rosie decided to do this:



When she should have been doing this:



Kemper Arena Roof

If you're going to pretend to be an engineer, at least read the above link and get some clue about engineering before you speak. Of course, Rosie is too busy making a monkey out of herself and pretending she is still funny after all these years so she probably won't take the time.

Thus, I will excerpt a few important, edifying excerpts (I hope these words and concepts aren't too big for Rosie) - form and function:

6.1 STEEL
Steel is a very affordable and strong material. There are many different types of steel; however, all are composed of iron and carbon with small amounts of other metals in it that give it specific qualities. The production of steel in mass quantity has two different strengths. Regular structural steel has a yielding strength of 36,000 pounds per square inch and high-strength steel has a yielding strength of 50,000 pounds per square inch (Salvadori 64). However, steel can theoretically have a yielding strength of 4 million pounds per square inch. Right now, we have steel cables that have an ultimate strength of 300,000 pounds per square inch with an allowable stress of 150,000 pounds per square inch. This is strong enough to suspend the Leaning Tower of Pisa from a cable that is 1.1 inches in diameter (Salvadori 65).

However, there are some downsides to steel. It melts at relatively low temperatures, around 1200 degrees F, and becomes brittle at relatively high temperatures, around 30 degrees F. Without proper treatments, steel becomes useless and dangerous (Salvadori 65). In addition, if treated improperly, steel in a high building slices into pastry thin layers. This phenomenon is called lamination stress. Improperly welded joints cause similar stresses. Finally, repeated compression and tension fatigue steel (Salvadori 66).

Remember those underlined portions. Going on with the "weight" and "structure" aspects of the Kemper Arena incident:

13.2.1 SCENARIO
On June 4th, 1979 at 6:45pm, a downpour of rain with 70 mph hit Kansas City. Arther LaMuster, worker and only person in the arena at the time, heard odd noises 25 minutes later. He inspected the area and barely had time to get out as the center of the roof collapsed. It was determined later that approximately one acre, or 200 x 215 ft of roof collapsed. The air pressure, increased by the rapidly falling roof caused some of the walls to blow out. However, the portals remained undamaged. Ironically, thousands of architects there for the American Institute of Architects Convention had been sitting in the arena only 24 hours before (Levy 59).

Okay. Got that? As the roof came down, it compressed the air in the building. It had to go somewhere so IT WENT OUT through the walls causing an "explosion". The same phenomena as seen on the day the towers collapsed. Documented in many unfortunate, non-government organized, even non-terrorist, disasters.

Note the image below showing the planes took out significant structural support systems that are damaged by the planes:



You simply cannot change physics and chemistry. All things that Rosie knows jack about. As an actual engineer points out, steel will melt at 1,200 degrees farhenheit. A standard house (not Rosie's), fully furnished, can reach temperatures up to 4,000 degrees fahrenheit at its "peak". Maybe Rosie thinks the towers were embued with magical powers that could resist all known physics, chemistry and laws of gravity?

Now, an important picture that shows the top 30 or so floors of the building collapsing down on the remaining structure.




I would like Rosie to explain to us how the other 80 some floors were supposed to hold up under the weight of those top collapsing floors.

*crickets*

That's what I thought.

Now let's see what happens when you drop 30 floors and 2997 dead on Rosie's head:



Just what I thought.

As for the "radical Christians", here I am. I am about as radical as they come. That is to say, I don't congregate, I don't subscribe to any denomination and I have actually read the bible a few times. In a rather interesting, radical side effect, I decided that it did not tell me to kill anyone who did not believe as I do.

Thus, Rosie remains alive and able to spew all over the British, their captive sailors, the families of these sailors, the national tragedy of 9/11, the dead, their families and Christians in general.

Now, that is radical.

*psst - Barbara and the rest of the "View": If I believed in conspiracies, which hollywood is full of, I would guess that this is some effort to boost your ratings. You know, "even bad publicity is good publicity." I don't, however, believe that it was anything more than several of your folks showing complete and utter idiocy, a disregard for reality and a serious lacking in couth and compassion for all those who died and all those who were left behind.

I suggest, instead of the British apologizing, that your show should apologize instead. That, or get off the air because, like Rosie's old magazine, I have a feeling you are about to get canned."

Summary only...