Surviving Capitalism (Not) : 15 Years Later: On the Physics of High-Rise Building Collapses

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, August 29, 2016

15 Years Later: On the Physics of High-Rise Building Collapses

Click here to access a free article by Steven Jones, Robert Korol, Anthony Szamboti, and Ted Walter published in a European science journal, Europhysics News. (You will need to access this article by clicking on the PDF format on the right side of the website post.)

In only six pages, which are filled with diagrams and pictures, the scientists summarize their investigation with this statement.

Conclusion

It bears repeating that fires have never caused the total collapse of a steel-framed high-rise before or since 9/11. Did we witness an unprecedented event three separate
times on September 11, 2001? The NIST [U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology] reports, which attempted to support that unlikely conclusion, fail to persuade a growing number of architects, engineers, and scientists. Instead, the evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that all three buildings were destroyed by controlled demolition. Given the far-reaching implications, it is morally imperative that this hypothesis be the subject of a truly scientific and impartial investigation by responsible authorities.

This scientific examination of the 9/11 fairy tale, that our masters used to explain the tragedy, offers an excellent illustration of the power of our capitalist ruling class. They can even intimidate NIST, the nation's premiere scientific institution, to go along with their fairy tales. However a growing number of our scientists, engineers, and architects are beginning to challenge it on scientific grounds. The ruling class, although on the defensive, so far are not going after these people because they are counting on you to know longer care about 9/11. After all, they got what they wanted: an aggressive foreign policy that reserves the right to invade any country without Congressional approval, never-ending wars, the framework of a police state embodied in the Patriot Acts, and a dumbed-down and passive citizenry.