There is a balanced article on 9/11 (as opposed to a hit piece) currently appearing in this week's (Sept17-24) Santa Barbara Independent, a free weekly with an audited readership of about 120,000. (Authors: Jay Levin and Tom McKenzie).

[extracted]:

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One of the crucial technical disputes in American history, perhaps second only to global warming, is underway. It pits hundreds of government technicians who say the World Trade Center buildings were brought down by airplane impact against hundreds of professional architects and building engineers who insist that the Twin Towers could never have collapsed solely due to the planes and are calling for a new independent investigation. It is a fight that is not going away and is likely to get louder as more building trade professionals sign on to one side or the other.

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/09.09.09/cover-0936.html
Explosive Theory

Eight years after 9/11, a growing organization of building trades professionals suspect that there was more to the event than the government will admit
By Jay Levin and Tom McKenzie

JUST A FEW YEARS ago Ed Munyak, a fire protection engineer for the city of San Jose, seemed like a lonely, out-there figure, a sometimes-target because of his outspoken position on the events of Sept. 11, 2001. These days, hundreds of other building trade professionals have joined him in challenging the official narrative about the collapse of three buildings at New York's World Trade Center (WTC) on that fateful, traumatic day.

Munyak, of Los Altos Hills, is a mechanical and fire engineer whose job is to review building plans to ensure they comply with the California Building and Fire Code. In 2007, after speaking out on his own for a few years, Munyak signed on with a then-fledging organization called Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth (AE911 Truth), founded by Bay Area architect Richard Gage.

Request for meeting regarding NIST Reports - WTC7 and Twin Towers

[Ed: Copy of original letter dated July 20, 2009]

TO: Dr. Shyam Sunder, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Dear Dr. Sunder,

We have heard you state publicly after the WTC 7 press conference that it "would not be productive" for you to meet with the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. This is quite disappointing – as we now have over 700 architects and engineers at AE911Truth calling for a real investigation into the destruction of the three World Trade Center high-rises on 9/11. At what point will you take us seriously? Perhaps when our rapidly growing numbers reach 1,000 A/E's?

Here are our talking points:

1. The NIST November 2008 Final WTC 7 Investigative Report has many fatal flaws:

NIST Asks 9/11 Photographers Whether Images Should Be Withheld

The National Institute of Standards and Technology received thousands of photos and video images from hundreds of photographers as it investigated the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings, and it must release copies to Freedom of Information Act requesters unless those images are exempt.

* Aug 14, 2009

July 20, 2009 Cheri M. Roberts – Producer, Unspun Newz

First thing Monday morning, 9/11 truth activist group We Are Change released a developing story regarding the possible detention of Richard Gage, AIA - founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).

UnSpun immediately made contact with Richard Gage, additional members of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth as well as NIST itself to clarify and or confirm the details of this incident.

NIST’s Press Officer, Michael Newman was kind enough to comment stating Richard Gage, AIA arrived at NIST’s Visitor Center where he was refused access to the building by guards due to his lack of an appointment. Gage arrived with a CD and letter for Dr. Shyam Sunder which he left with the guards at the front gate under their assurance said material would be delivered to Dr. Sunder as requested by Gage.

By 11:30am pacific time NIST’s Press Officer for Public Affairs, Michael Newman confirmed for UnSpun Newz that Richard Gage’s material had in fact been delivered directly to Dr. Sunder as promised.

GOAL REACHED

A member of Architects & Engineers For 9/11 Truth filed a FOIA request with NIST for the data used to generate the WTC 7 collapse simulations. NIST found two terabytes of responsive data and assessed a fee of $824.98. Please see the FOIA Request for more details. Background information on how LS-DYNA was used by NIST is posted here.

The hard drives will be sent directly to AE and we will make the data available to everyone. Archive.org has indicated they are happy to host it. We are also looking for others willing to donate the necessary webspace. It's unknown if the data is compressed. Due to the extreme size of the data set, we will also provide physical copies to interested individuals who provide the necessary hard drives.

As of 02/12/2009 the donation total is $570.00 • Balance needed: $254.98

Please make a donation here!

- jkeogh@ae911truth.org

Astonishing fireballs,directed arson and insight in the preparator's mind.

Note:

This is my third post here,it's part of my tetralogy on WTC 1 and 2 collapses,the first post http://911blogger.com/node/18972 tried explain why NIST failed to properly address the precollapse inward bowing,the second post http://911blogger.com/node/19036 describes what really lead to the inward bowing,and the third post will be about immediate seconds before and after the collapse initiations)

Let me start with this basic premise:

9/11 was an shock and awe campaign.Let me to guide you through possible thoughts of the World Trade Center demolition preparators and try to compare the outcome with reality.This time I will not offer you „hard physical“ evidence,I'll show you a logical frame.

Let's start with this amazing photo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG2y50Wyys4

The roofline of WTC1 (The North Tower) begins dropping with sudden onset and accelerates uniformly downward at about 64% of the acceleration of gravity (g) until it disappears into the dust. This means it is meeting resistance equal to about 36% of its weight. The implication of this, however, is that the force it is exerting on the lower section of the building is also only 36% of the weight of the falling section. This is much less than the force it would exert if it were at rest. The acceleration data thus prove that the falling top section of the building cannot be responsible for the destruction of the lower section of the building.

Two 110 story buildings gone before our eyes in less than 10 seconds. The following... IMO is the normal reaction as it happened, and the reaction I had at the time...from a CNBC anchorman on 9/11.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shRPdvwG81o

Several hours later the cover up and lies were officially entered into the record when President Bush went on TV to address the nation.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiqEUBux3o

1:06 mark..."terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world and no none will keep that light from shining."

The conclusion of NIST's 10,000 page report which took seven years to produce claims fires, coupled with "thermal expansion" and unusual truss design caused core column 79 to fail, leading to a complete "progressive collapse".

The absolute impossibility mentioned above is evident in their computer simulation of the physical copllapse as initiated by core column 79. In reviewing the individual screen shots, and when seen in the non-NIST animation of their screen shots , it becomes apparent that the collapse they postulate is totally different from all videos of the actual collapse.

In their simulation, the East side of WTC7, where column 79 was located, fell completely down taking over 25% of the building to the ground, while the balance of the building was as yet unaffected.

http://tyrannyalert.com/jpg/core_collapse.jpg
Visit www.tyrannyalert.com to view the flash based animation of the NIST collapse theory.

9/11: NIST Provides the Proof 9-11 was an Inside Job / False Flag Attack:

http://www.opednews.com/populum/diarypage.php?did=11488

The conclusion of NIST's 10,000 page report that took seven years to produce claims fires, coupled with "thermal expansion" and "unusual truss design" caused core column 79 to fail, leading to a complete "progressive collapse".

The absolute impossibility mentioned in the headline above is evident in their computer simulation of the physical copllapse as initiated by core column 79. In reviewing the individual screenshots, and when seen in the non-NIST animation of their screenshots, it becomes apparent that the collapse they postulate is totally different from all videos of the actual collapse.

In their simulation, the East side of WTC7, where column 79 was located, fell completely down taking over 25% of the building to the ground, while the balance of the building was as yet unaffected.

In reality, every video of this collapse (seen from the West, North and East) showed the building maintaining total integrity of the complete roof line and all four sides as well. It collapsed in a synchronous manner, as if it had been constructed on a massive elevator and someone had pressed the "down" button.

WTC7: NIST Finally Admits Freefall (Part III) is now posted on YouTube. This concluding segment explores the implications of NIST's concession (to easily observed reality) that freefall occurred.