PETER'S NEW YORK, May 12, 2012--I recently procured a volume entitled "Modern Chemical Discoveries" by Richard Clements (1954, E.P. Dutton, 290 pgs.). It describes the advent of many new industrial processes at the time, and explains the manner in which they operate. It is a book targeted to the educated layman.

In a chapter entitled "Some metals and their compounds," it describes what we generally know as thermite, the nature of the chemical reaction associated with it, and its effects (p117-118).

"A mixture of aluminum powder heated with the oxide of another metal gives a violent chemical reaction. The aluminum is converted into oxide while the other metal is left in the metallic state. The action is so violent in some cases, copper oxide, for example, that a kind of explosion occurs and part of the metal is volatilized. Chromium is obtained in this way in a pure state, as also manganese which previously had been known only in combination with carbon or iron.

It would appear that, contrary to statements previously attributed to them, the alleged "mastermind" of 9-11 and his alleged cohorts will not plead guilty, but will resist. Their attorneys likewise appear to be providing them with an aggressive defense.

***

5 charged in 9/11 attack resist Gitmo hearing
By Ben Fox
-
Associated Press
Saturday, May 5, 2012
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — The self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks repeatedly declined to answer a judge’s questions Saturday and his co-defendants knelt in prayer in what appeared to be a concerted protest against the military proceedings....

***

The entire article can be found at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/5/911-mastermind-back-guant...

Philip Zelikow, the executive director of the 9-11 Commission who is credited by some commentators with creating a detailed outline of the commission's report before the data were in, seems to think that too much antiterrorist momentum has built up in Washington, and that the train needs to slow down in some respects. In a five-minute video interview with a staff member of the foreign policy magazine "Foreign Affairs" (www.cfr.org), Zelikow indicated that the bureaucracy put into place after 9-11 by Washington to deal with the [practically nonexistent] "terrorist" threat ought to change policy direction, but is resistant to doing so.

Zelikow patted himself and the commission on the back for what he deemed the commission's successes. "The country is safer than it was," Zelikow claimed. He crowed loudly at the balance that has been struck between civil liberties and security, saying the worst blow to freedom would be another "terrorist" attack like the one on 9-11.

According to the interview, Zelikow has recently authored an update to the 9-11 Commission Report, and has also posted an article with similar content for "Foreign Affairs."

"A decade after the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, the Conspiracy Files looks at why some people still question what really happened on 9/11."

So reads a description of tonight's BBC segment on skeptics of the official version of the events of 9-11 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0148yz5).

BBC radio featured a segment this morning about 9-11 "conspiracy theories." Interviewees were Alex Jones and Neils Harrit, among several others, including some Brits whose names I did not catch. The thrust was that young people are more gullible and more likely to question government accounts than older, more sensible people. The spokespeople for 9-11 truth movement did a great job, sounding quite normal and presenting good arguments.

A blog entry brought to my attention the existence of a CIA database of declassified documents at http://www.foia.cia.gov/search.asp. I have begun searching through it, and thought 911blogger members may find it of some use. One must be creative in finding search terms that yield material. I found no entries, for example, under "world trade center," or "wtc," so I got out my copy of the 9-11 Commission report to get ideas, and put in Kean, which yielded an assessment of CIA performance on 9-11, dated June 2005, which I am reading through now.

I came across this interesting blog on Foreign Policy magazine. Thought it, and the comments it generated, might be of interest to readers at 911Blogger.

"Passport"
A blog by the editors of Foreign Policy

After truthers and birthers, deathers?
Posted By Joshua Keating

There's a lot we still don't know about how the death of Osama bin Laden will impact the future of global terrorism and U.S. national security policies, but there's one prediction I feel pretty comfortable making: Large numbers of people are not going to accept that he is dead.

Considering the number of high-ranking officials who have questioned whether bin Laden is alive over the years, Bin Laden's own lies about his locations and activities in his public statements, the number of people who doubt the official story about his signature achievement, and the increasingly decentralized and online nature of al Qaeda supporters, this situation creates a perfect recipe for conspiracy theories.

Blog continues here: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/02/after_truthers_and_birthe...

An examination of the role of the United States in revolutions of the recent past may shed light on the origin and intent of the current upheaval in Libya.

Obama Administration wins one with Ghailani verdict

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Thursday, November 18, 2010--The jury verdict in the Ahmed Ghailani "terrorism" case yesterday signals a broad victory for the Administration of President Barack Obama, which has consistently championed the use of civilian courts to try the alleged crimes of Guantanamo detainees. Many, if not most or even all of the detainees rounded up in the wake of September 11, 2001 and accused of various offenses have been subjected to torture during their long confinements.

I came across this interesting article in today's New York Post entitled "Why experts are usually wrong" by David H. Freedman. I'm passing it on because I think it has particular applicability to the discu"expert" opinion on what brought down the World Trade Center towers. I hope some will enoy it, and even get a chuckle out of it, true as it is.

 "Every day, expert advice assaults us from newspapers, websites and televisions. But judging by the state of the world and our lives, it doesn’t seem to be doing us much good.

"Blame the media (of course), but know that’s only a small part of the problem. Experts — that is, actual scientists, not just Dr. Phil — are often wrong, more often than we might think.

"Scientists themselves have examined the reliability of their own findings, and have come to some sobering conclusions. Take medical research, which has been especially well-scrutinized. About two-thirds of the findings published in top medical journals end up being refuted within a few years. "

9-11 Commission Report misinformation on evacuation drills
By Peter Duveen

When the 9-11 Commission Report came out in 2004, I was not particularly sanguine regarding its prospects in terms of accuracy. I did not bother to wade through the entire work, which was billed as well-written and exciting reading. Nothing bores me more than a perversion of the truth. I did, however, check out a portion of the document that related to a personal experience.

In 1999, I was working at Fuji Bank, on the 79th Floor of World Trade Center 2. During my short tenure there, I participated in a drill in which I along with about fifty other employees descended all 79 floors through the stairwells and exited the building. It was this kind of preparation that I believed was responsible for so many people being able to escape from the Twin Towers on 9-11, and I wanted to see what the 9-11 Commission report said about it. Sure enough, the document devotes some sentences to the type of drill I had experienced.

On pages 280-281, the report states: [1]

Prosecutorial missteps could lead to lighter sentence for activist attorney
Two lawyers whose actions may have paved the way for Lynne Stewart's "crimes" were not charged.

Analysis
By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, December 1, 2009--Lynne Stewart, activist attorney, is to be re-sentenced tomorrow for crimes the government claims Stewart committed, and that a jury convicted her of. She was basically accused of engaging in a conspiracy to manipulate the policies of the Egyptian government through coercion, and of breaking her promise to abide by agreements she signed that would have restricted her client, the famous "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel Rahman, from communicating his allegedly terrorist intentions to the outside world.

The government, as represented by the U.S. Justice Department attorneys who pursued the case against Stewart, alleged that by issuing a press release announcing the Sheikh's intention to withdraw his support for a suspension of hostilities between the Egyptian government and groups friendly to him, Stewart was part of a plot "calculated to affect the conduct of the Egyptian government through intimidation and coercion."

Scientific paper points to possible laboratory origin of swine flu

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Tuesday, November 24, 2009--A just-released scientific paper spells out the hypothesis, first suggested in the weeks following the initial outbreak of swine flu in humans in the Spring of 2009, that the flu emerged from a laboratory.

The peer-reviewed paper, published today in the Journal of Virology, analyzes the makeup of the genes of the now-famous A H1N1 virus, and concludes that, although it could possibly have come about through cross-contamination among flocks of birds or herds of swine, an equally, or perhaps more probable explanation is that it emerged from laboratories that store viruses for research or vaccine production.

Writing for Slate, Attorney David Feige explains how KSM's upcoming trial will ultimately erode the efficacy of the American judicial system.

An excerpt:

"In an idealized view, our judicial system is insulated from the ribald passions of politics. In reality, those passions suffuse the criminal justice system, and no matter how compelling the case for suppressing evidence that would actually effect the trial might be, given the politics at play, there is no judge in the country who will seriously endanger the prosecution. Instead, with the defense motions duly denied, the case will proceed to trial, and then (as no jury in the country is going to acquit KSM) to conviction and a series of appeals. And that's where the ultimate effect of a vigorous defense of KSM gets really grim."

Lynne Stewart, an activist attorney whose vigorous defense of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman earned her a prison term, reported to authorities after her appeal was denied. Stewart was a supporter of a new 9-11 investigation. Here is what AP had to say:

NY ex-lawyer surrenders to serve prison term
By LARRY NEUMEISTER (AP) – 16 hours ago

NEW YORK — Promising "you haven't seen the last of me," a 70-year-old disbarred lawyer convicted in a terrorism case surrendered to U.S. marshals Thursday to begin serving her prison term after a New York appeals court upheld her conviction.

A smiling Lynne Stewart walked with several dozen supporters to a collection of cameras on her way into U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Thursday, shaking a fist in the air to chants of "Free Lynne Stewart."

"It's very hard to feel downhearted today," she said. "I can take whatever they dish out. I am not going to back off ever."

Stewart said she would become a jailhouse lawyer to the extent her disbarment will allow, helping other inmates with their legal fights.

Continued at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqFFRaxZKfmO7QApHCKcMj...

Group promoting vote on new 9-11 probe will switch to PR effort
by Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Friday, October 16, 2009--Political activists promoting a ballot initiative to establish a new investigation into the events of September 11, 2001 have abandoned that effort in favor of a public relations push, according to an email sent out by the group today.

NYC CAN, which mounted a petition drive among New York City voters for a ballot initiative to establish a commission to reinvestigate 9-11, had gathered 80,000 signatures of registered New York City voters in support of the measure. A judge recently shot the petition down, meaning that the measure will not appear on the New York City ballot this November.

Instead of mounting a new petition drive, the organization has chosen to pursue other avenues to broaden public acceptance for the need for a new 9-11 investigation, according to a statement emailed to supporters.

Politico writer takes a swipe at Robert Fisk's "dollar" piece

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Friday, October 9, 2009--Eamon Javers of Politico (www.politico.com) has taken some hefty swings at veteran journalist Robert Fisk, begging the question of why Javers is so intent on attacking the messenger, so to speak.

Researchers refine theory for lab origin of swine flu

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Tuesday, September 22, 2009--The swine flu that is making its rounds throughout the world has signs it was produced in a laboratory, say two researchers, although a theory that the virus had been circulating undetected among swine for some time before jumping to humans has not been ruled out.

According to a research note (http://www.petersnewyork.com/Gibbsnote.html) circulated by two virologists, Adrian J. Gibbs and Jean Downie, the signs that point to a laboratory origin of the swine flu are that it came from three parent viruses, all from disparate parts of the world, and that the last time these parent viruses were sampled in pig populations was from eleven to seventeen years ago.

9-11 hero's testimony sparks controversy on the first anniversary of his death

by Peter Duveen

PETER’S NEW YORK, Wednesday, September 9, 2009--Barry Jennings was one of the heroes of 9-11, but an apparent news blackout regarding his death a year ago has raised fears among some investigators of a concerted attempt to hide Jennings's testimony about the events of that day.

On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapsed into piles of steel, concrete rubble and dust an hour or so after being hit by two aircraft. Later on the same day, another high-rise office building collapsed into its own footprint in a mere six seconds, even though it had not suffered any direct impact from aircraft. In a number of reports meant to explain the three collapses, the federal government contended that damage to the WTC complex was due entirely to the impacts of the aircraft and resulting fires. It also claimed that the aircraft were piloted by Islamic terrorists from the Middle East.

In a recent column or blog entry, mainstream media mouthpiece Debbie Schlussel tries to trash recently deceased columnist Robert Novak by associating him with the 9-11 Truth movement. Perhaps she doesn't realize that admiration for Novak's lifetime of investigative journalism might just spill over to the movement, an obvious miscalculation on her part. Interestingly, she argues that the website www.whatreallyhappened.com, while quoting Novak's column regarding 9-11's being an "inside job," failed to quote the part about Israel being the big winner from 9-11. In actuality, www.whatreallyhappened.com hyperlinked the headline above the excerpted material to the Peter's New York article on www.911blogger.com, and of course that article cites the passage she implies the "Truthers" are trying to distance themselves from. What Really Happened did a bangup job with the proper quotes and link, but Schlussel demonstrates poor research by basing her article on a missing phrase which was actually in the article quoted from, and by failing to give complete attribution to the author (although I was delighted to be called a 9-11 Truther).

Virologist to make his case for lab origin of swine flu

By Peter Duveen

PETER’S NEW YORK, Monday, June 29, 2009--The scientist who made headlines in May by positing a laboratory origin for the swine flu that has swept the world will defend his theory in the scientific literature, Peter’s New York has learned.

Dr. Adrian Gibbs, a Canberra, Australia-based virologist with more than 200 scientific publications to his credit, said that over the weekend he submitted his latest work on the swine flu to a prominent scientific journal, and is awaiting a response.

Gibbs, 75, was part of a team that developed the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

Back in April, when the first cases of swine flu were diagnosed in Mexico, Gibbs examined the genetic structure of the virus that had been posted on a public database. His analysis led him to speculate that the virus may have been the result of a laboratory error. He contacted the Geneva, Switzerland-based World Health Organization with his conjecture, and scientists there scrutinized his findings, concluding, however, that the virus was most likely a product of nature.

Today on C-SPAN, a caller asked a question about the presence of thermite in the World Trade Center dust and its implications for American foreign policy. I wrote the entire program up as an entry for a diary on OpEdNews. The last graph contains the 9-11 question.

New Middle East war on the horizon, says foreign policy expert

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Monday, June 1, 2009--In a revealing and informative interview, journalist and foreign policy expert Arnaud de Borchgrave said today there is no relief in sight for what ails the Israelis and the Palestinians, and that a war involving the two parties was all but inevitable. He also said Iran was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, but that military action against that country by the United States or Israel was not a realistic option.

Arctic explorer describes bout with 1918 flu in memoir
The evidence is in: expert says Mexican flu could have laboratory origin

News analysis

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Thursday, May 14, 2001--As health officials worldwide scramble to stem a flu pandemic, the public may be puzzled as to what all the fuss is about. Flu is generally an illness which, for most, is not more serious than the common cold. But there is good reason for concern, if the past is any judge of what the future could be like.

Because the strain of flu currently spreading around the world is said to be a descendant of the Spanish flu, deaths among those contracting the illness could be far in excess of those produced by other strains of the virus. The Spanish flu, also named the 1918 flu, was known for the high proportion of deaths attributed to those infected by it. It had a mortality rate of 2.5 percent or more, far greater than that of ordinary human flu.

Can the "Mexican flu" be traced to the Centers for Disease Control?

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Saturday, May 2, 2009--The strain of flu that allegedly began circulating in Mexico in March and April and that has appeared in other countries since, including the United States, may have emerged from research at the U.S Centers for Disease Control. This flu has been mistakenly referred to as "swine flu." While its composition contains elements of "swine flu," it has not been shown to infect swine. This article will refer to the new strain of flu as the "Mexican flu," after the country whose capital, Mexico City, has been virtually shut down as a result of its presence there.

McClatchy Newspapers tells us the following about it:

"Q. What makes this swine flu (sic) virus special?

"A: It's a novel combination of bird, pig and human viral genes never before found in the U.S. or elsewhere, so people have no immunity to it. It's a descendant of the H1N1 virus that killed tens of millions of people worldwide in the pandemic of 1918-1919, mixed in with recent strains of swine and bird flu viruses."

A story about the acquittals in the 7/7 bombing was headlined on Yahoo News, but the link led nowhere. It then magically disappeared from the yahoo headlines. One supposes the CIA desk at AP wanted this one softballed before it went out to the public. So I fished this version out: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090428.wbombings042.... Interestingly, the story mentions: "Police have always maintained that the 7/7 bombers had assistance from other people with links to al Qaeda as they would not have had the technical expertise to construct the hydrogen peroxide-based bombs themselves." Maybe Guiliani Partners knows something about this. Mr. G. himself was in London at the time, if I am not mistaken, and furthermore, was not Robert Kiley imported from David Rockefeller's think tank, The Partnership for New York (or whatever it's called these days) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Partnership_for_New_York_City to run the London subways?

Author Griffin: Obama, special prosecutor best hope for new 9-11 probe

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Monday, April 20, 2009--David Ray Griffin holds out more hope than ever that a sea change in public opinion will prompt a new investigation into the events of September 11, 2001.

A staunch critic of the government's account of what happened that day and author of seven books on the subject, Griffin is now touring several European capitals, armed with the topic "9-11: time for a second look." Before he left for Europe, he made a few stops in New England, including at Keene, New Hampshire, where he delivered an address and fielded questions from the audience. In particular, Griffin said the change in tone of the executive branch of government accompanying the election of U.S. President Barack Obama may auger the best chance to challenge the government storyline that 19 men from the Middle East pulled off what was arguably the greatest breach of North American security since Columbus landed in the Caribbean 517 years ago.

Sen. Schumer lends qualified support to a new 9-11 investigation

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, Saturday, April 18, 2009--U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) said yesterday that while he was positively disposed toward a new investigation into the events of 9-11, his support for such a probe would depend on the form it would take.

Schumer, who was attending the launch of the Tour of the Battenkill annual bicycle races in Cambridge, New York, responded to a question regarding efforts in New York City to establish a new 9-11 investigation.

"I think it's not a bad idea," Schumer said. "You know, you've got to do it in a good way, but yes, I'd be for it."

Schumer qualified his remarks by noting that his support would depend upon the manner in which the investigation was structured. "I'd have to see the parameters of the investigation and all that," he said. He briefly mentioned "finding body parts," which may have referred to the discovery in 2006 that the roof of the Deutsche Bank building near the former site of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center was strewn with human remains from 9-11.

Small Chips in World Trade Center dust identified as unexploded Thermite

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, April 4, 2009--A group of researchers says it has positively identified residues of undetonated explosives in dust samples collected soon after the collapses of three World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001. The positive outcome of tests carried out in painstaking detail appears to contradict the assertions by U.S. government experts that explosives were not used to take the buildings down.

Azeem Ibrahim of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, thinks it is a shame that the Pakistani elite fail to recognize the terrorist threat within their own country. In an opinion piece published by the Middle East Times, Ibrahim claims that "...most of the Pakistani elite are in denial. Too many authoritative figures simply refuse to face the extent to which the terrorist threat from Islamist radicals comes from within Pakistan."

Ibrahim goes on:

"Last year, I met a prominent member of the Pakistan National Assembly who was educated in the West. He told me that he sincerely believed that the 7/7 attacks in London in 2005 and the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States were both the work of Western intelligence agencies.

"When I put it to him that Mohammed Siddique Khan, the leader of the 7/7 bombers, had made a video claiming responsibility, he just looked at me with a face of deep sympathy. To him, I was a young guy who was just naive."

He continues with a barrage of reasons why people subscribe to so-called conspiracy theories.

I chimed in on their discussion page, as follows:

COMMENTARY: IS A MILITARY COUP IN THE OFFING?

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, January 30, 2009--A military judge has directly challenged President Barack Obama's order to suspend trials of alleged "terrorists" by military tribunals at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Associated Press says in an online article published early this morning.

AP journalists Mike Melia and Andrew Selky report that Army Col. James Pohl, chief judge for the tribunals, yesterday challenged President Obama's executive order of Jan. 21 to bring a halt to "all proceedings of such military commissions to which charges have been referred but in which no judgment has been rendered."

Pohl insisted in a ruling yesterday that some of the proceedings must continue, arrogating to himself the power to challenge the president's order, and claiming that "on its face, the request to delay the arraignment is not reasonable," according to the AP report.

The significance of Pohl's ruling was in no wise lost upon at least some Pentagon officials. It is a direct challenge to the authority of the U.S. president, who is the commander-in-chief of the military under the U.S. constitution.

I recently submitted a position paper on the Department of Homeland Security to a local town board after briefly raising the issue at previous town meetings. Local government may be our last best hope exerting a positive influence on the political destiny of the United States.

::::::::

Impact of the Department of Homeland Security on local governance, commerce, individual rights and the balance of power: a position paper

INTRODUCTION

I recently approached the Town Board informally at its monthly meeting and expressed my concern regarding Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff’s remarks regarding the overriding of local government policy by Federal policy.