9/11: They Can’t Stop Writing
In his letter (January 26, 2012), Peter Williams stated, “For the record, the collapses of World Trade Centers 1 and 2 were not identical to a controlled demolition.” In a sense, Mr. Williams is correct in that the Twin Towers’ destruction was not identical to a typical controlled demolition. However, had he watched the collapse of the 47-story World Trade Center Building 7, which collapsed on the afternoon of 9/11/01, he might have recognized this third high-rise building collapse in 6.5 seconds as the work of expert controlled demolition professionals (see www.WTC7.org). In traditional controlled demolition, the columns supporting a given floor are simultaneously and sequentially severed starting at the lower level, so that the weight of the building also assists in the building’s own destruction.
In Towers 1 and 2, the columns were severed by explosives/incendiaries starting at about the jetliners’ impact zone so that it would appear to the average citizen that the airliners caused the symmetrical, straight-down 12-second collapse. However, the 80 to 90 floors of virtually undamaged massive structural steel framework below the jetliner impact zone would have easily prevented the plane-damaged towers from collapsing at all without the assistance of controlled demolition. These and many other basic scientific and engineering facts, such as the evidence of explosives/nanothermite discovered in the 9/11 dust, are readily available on line and in manuals for anyone willing (and brave enough) to objectively investigate, as over 1,600 (and growing) professional architects and engineers have done. We are demanding a real 9/11 investigation with subpoena power.
William Rice, Professional Engineer
UMass ’62 Civil/Structural Engineering
via email
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Also Banned in Arizona
Mount Holyoke and Smith College scholars Alberto Sandoval and Nancy Saporta Sternbach’s book Puro Teatro is also on the list of banned books [“Martin Espada’s Book Banned in Tucson,” February 9, 2012]. I teach this book frequently in my theater courses and cannot believe what is happening in Arizona.
I am sending books to the folks at www.librotraficante.com who will deliver books to people in Tucson. Martin is absolutely right: fear and racism are ruling the day in Arizona.
Priscilla Page
via Internet
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Racial Equity Gap Not Just in Springfield
The February 9 article “A Dangerous Gap—A national study looks at racial equity in Springfield” mentions that the Urban Institute study looked at metropolitan areas but then focused solely on the city of Springfield. All of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties comprise the Springfield Metropolitan Area, of which Springfield’s population makes up less than a quarter.
Disparities in racial opportunity are a regional issue, not just one for Springfield. This problem will only worsen as long as people with money live and spend their money in suburbs, leaving people without money in center cities and without access to suburban jobs. The article should have been entitled “A Dangerous Gap—A national study looks at racial equity in the Valley.” If folks in the ‘burbs are allowed to think they are not part of the problem, nothing will change.
Robert McCarroll
Springfield
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Don’t Snipe at SNAP
Attacks on SNAP (the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps) are rampant in some corners of the public discourse these days. Republican presidential candidates have blamed entitlement programs such as SNAP for the country’s deficit. Newt Gingrich has even claimed that “more people are on food stamps today because of Obama’s policies than ever in history.”
The number of food stamp recipients has indeed risen over the past few years, but the unemployment rate has also increased 110 percent since 2006. The Census Bureau estimates that food stamps helped to keep 3.9 million people above the poverty line in 2010.
Equally misleading is Gingrich’s characterization of SNAP as a race issue, with comments like “… the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.” The truth is that 49 percent of SNAP recipients are white, while blacks comprise 26 percent and Latinos 20 percent.
SNAP received more biased criticism in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Warren Kozak (Jan. 30, 2012). Kozak claims that federal government programs like SNAP waste billions of dollars providing food to people that are not really in need of help. Tell that to the 110,000 people in Western Massachusetts alone—primarily children, elders or the disabled—who wouldn’t have a meal tonight without their SNAP benefits or food assistance from our region’s emergency food network.
SNAP is also an economic stimulus. According to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, SNAP generates approximately $406 million annually in economic activity in Western Massachusetts.
SNAP doesn’t cause recessions; it responds to them by supporting vulnerable households while injecting revenue for local food businesses that employ thousands of residents. At least one in every eight residents of Western Massachusetts relies on emergency food to avert hunger, and more than 45,000 people seek food assistance each month in our region, a 25 percent increase compared to three years ago.
Andrew Morehouse, Executive Director
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
