Hello again, Gary, and thank you for your lengthly response. I appreciate the time you spent writing it, and I appreciate your replys to specific points I made. To save time, I copied and pasted your posting below. My responses are in ALL CAPS so you can differentiate at a glance between your words and mine. (I'm not using the capital letters in order to appear to be shouting.)

Hi Paul,

You seem sincere. So you ready to have a real debate? YES, THANK YOU.
No name calling. AMEN, GARY. Let's stick to arguing our points. LET'S.

OK, let's look more closely at your 3 so-called facts in your 1st paragraph above. "SO-CALLED?" FACTS ARE FACTS.

1. Many steel columns were severed by the planes collisions, leaving a heavier load on those left in place.

YES, THIS IS A FACT. YOU CAN ARGUE THAT THE INCREASED LOADS WERE NOT SUFFICIENT TO BRING DOWN THE BUILDING, BUT THE LOADS WERE IN FACT INCREASED. IF YOU AND FOUR BUDDIES ARE CARRYING A LONG, HEAVY LOG, AND YOU SUDDENLY LET GO, THE WEIGHT YOUR FRIENDS ARE CARRYING WILL SUDDENLY INCREASE.

(I DIDN'T TYPE "IT'S." I TYPED "ITS." THE FORMER IS A CONTRACTION FOR "IT IS," THE LATTER IS POSESSIVE FOR "IT." I'M NOT TRYING TO RIDICULE, BUT INFORM. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST COMMON PUNCTUATION ERROR IN ENGLISH. I MAKE LINGUISTIC ERRORS, TOO, SO PLEASE ADVISE ME - LIKE JON DID - SHOULD YOU FIND ANY.) YES, THAT IS WHAT HEAT DOES TO STEEL. AGAIN, YOU COULD MAKE A CASE THAT THE HEAT INCREASE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO WEAKEN THE STEEL ENOUGH TO BRING DOWN THE BUILDINGS. BUT YOU CAN NOT FACTUALLY STATE THAT THE STEEL DID LOT LOSE STRENGTH.

"As the fires blazed and the temperatures rose within the buildings, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) believes, the remaining core columns (those not severed by the planes during impact) softened and buckled, transferring most of the load to the building's outer structural columns. The floors . . . began to sag from the heat, pulling those columns inward and adding to the burden on the outer columns."

Debunking: For anyone who as actually watched the WTC video's carefully, you will note that the south tower was struck near the corner, almost insuring it sustained NO damage to the central core columns. It also had by far the largest fireball produced, indicating a substantially larger portion of the fuel was burned in the initial impact and for the most part outside the building. Oddly, it was the south tower which fell first after burning for only 55 minutes, and at a point when the fires had greatly diminished.

In addition, as given by Kevin Ryan who was responsible for the thermal testing of the WTC Steel when it was certified, the samples tested for the WTC were certified to withstand a temperature of 2,000 deg for 6 hours without failing their rated load characteristics. And that is without insulation. The WTC beams were insulated. Jet fuel burns at only 1200-1300 degrees with an ideal oxygen mixture, something not indicated by the black smoke that issued from the fires. There was nothing contained within the buildings that could have raised this figure, and those that use the example of ancient furnaces that tempered steel as a argument, again, do not understand the principles involved. I suggest that if you want the truth, and wish to actually act like a journalist for a change, you broach this subject with a real expert, Mr. Ryan. I can put you in touch with him upon request.

Media Watch is, as the name suggests, a media watchdog program on our Australia wide public (non commercial) television broadcaster. I received a reply within moments. Automated response of course. Hopefully that is not the only response. Hopefully my essay will help other readers who might still have difficulties believing that 911 is not satisfactorily or even competently explained by the officially sanctioned reports to find out for themselves.

Dear Media Watch,

If part of the purpose of your program is to criticise and bring to the viewer's attention serious shortcomings in media behaviour, then I believe it is imperative you mention, though I believe it deserves a whole program or more, the almost complete lack of coverage of what may prove to be the most crucial issues in modern political history.

I am deeply concerned by what appears to be deliberate censorship of what may prove to be the most critical news out of the United States of America ever. There are growing, in numbers and in sophistication, individuals and groups around the world, but importantly in the US, who are extremely critical of the officially sanctioned reports, and who are putting forward alternative theories to the official reports for several of the events of September 11, 2001, and for events leading up to that day, and since.

Watch these (new?) documentary videos:

1. 911 Mysteries: Demolitions (Part 1 of 3) [30 minutes]
2. 911 Mysteries: Demolitions (Part 2 of 3) [31 minutes]
3. 911 Mysteries: Demolitions (Part 3 of 3) [30 minutes]

Brilliantly made, mostly sticking to known facts. Well explained science background. Poses most of the important questions. Good stuff for passing along to "not-yet-truthers" amongst your neighbourhood, family, workplace, friends....

I believe these are quite newly released (never before encountered them).

Project Censored is "a media research group out of Sonoma State University" in California. It just published its annual "Top 25 Censored Stories".

Guess what? They made Prof. Steven E. Jones' paper "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?" their #18 in the list, and they even publish a direct link to it.

However, there are even more goodies for 911 Truthers in this list. It also brings to light...

• ...that Halliburton sold nuclear technologies to Iran. You know, that very Halliburton company, which is a Texas-based multinational, employing 100.000+ persons and making a 20+ billion $US revenues p.a. Oh, and which also still pays a 200.000 $US p.a. (deferred) salary to US Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney used to be Halliburton's Chairman and CEO. He still owns quite a large chunk of their stock options. [Story #2]
• ...that last year alone, Cheney’s Halliburton stock rose by over 3000 percent. Not bad at all. And lots of more interesting facts in their Story #24...

Other interesting stories include...

• ..."#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media",
• ..."#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US",
• ..."#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy"
• ..."#7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq"
• ..."#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act"
• ..."#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US"
• ..."#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda"
• ..."#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed"