FDNY Firefighter Daniel Foley
More than 200 firefighters have died from 9/11-related illnesses, according to a charitable organization that assists 9/11 first responders with medical needs not covered by insurance.
Firefighter Thomas Foley
FEBRUARY 25, 2020 - The New York City Fire Department is mourning the loss of yet another firefighter who died of an illness related to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Daniel Foley, who helped find the remains of his firefighter brother in the rubble of the World Trade Center, died Saturday at the age of 46 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, FDNY officials said. Foley joined the FDNY in 1998 and was with Rescue Company 3 in the Bronx. He spent months at ground zero searching for victims, including his brother, Thomas Foley, who died on 9/11. "On the first night, Danny promised his mother and father he wouldn't come home until he bought his brother home with him," Lieutenant Mickey Conboy of Rescue Co. 3 CBS New York.. "On the 11th day, Danny miraculously found his brother Tommy in the rubble at the World Trade Center." In the years since the attacks, Daniel Foley joined the fight for health benefits for those suffering from 9/11-related illnesses. "Danny was first and foremost a great fireman, but he was a great man before that, and a great father and a great husband to his wife, Carrie, and their five loving children that he leaves behind," Conboy said.
FDNY firefighter Danny Foley's family follows his flag draped coffin out of Holy Family Church in New Rochelle following his funeral Feb. 27, 2020. Foley, who joined the FDNY in 1998 and served in Rescue Co. 3 in the Bronx, died on Saturday at the age of 46 after suffering from 9/11-related pancreatic cancer. FRANK BECERRA JR./THE JOURNAL NEWS
Firefighters from through out the area crowd the street outside Holy Family Church in New Rochelle for the funeral of FDNY firefighter Danny Foley Feb. 27, 2020.
9/11 conspiracy theorists protest outside a memorial service at the World Trade Center construction site on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack. Credit: James Leynse Getty Images
The first 9/11 conspiracy theories appeared on the internet just hours after the attacks, on 11 September 2001, and with the rise of social media, have grown in scope and scale ever since. A multitude of extraordinary claims have arisen out of the ashes including, The 9/11 attacks were an inside job. Carefully placed explosives rather than commercial passenger jets brought down the Twin Towers. The U.S. military fired missiles that struck the Pentagon. The Bush administration knew of the impending attacks but did nothing. Israel orchestrated the attacks as a false-flag operation. The planes that crashed into the buildings were not real but digital trickery.. It is impossible for a building to collapse like WTC 7 did without any intervention..
I myself do not believe the twin towers were brought down with controlled explosives, the tremendous heat and structural damage melted the steel to a point it buckled and lost it's strengh.. An engine from one of the aeroplanes was found in the street including other parts. After the dust had settled, theorists raised further evidence in the form of witness testimonies, citing reports of explosions being heard before the Towers collapsed and debris visibly shooting out from the lower levels of the buildings. When the official report stated the Towers fell due to severe structural damage caused by the planes and resulting fires, conspiracy theorists or 'truthers' as they are otherwise known, argued the fires did not burn for long enough (56 minutes in the case of the South Tower) to cause the catastrophic collapses.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host a public presentation on the findings of a four-year study into the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3, in Schaible Auditorium.
UAF researcher Leroy Hulsey was the study’s principal investigator. He will present the findings outlined in his team’s draft report for public comment, which will be released the same day. The release of the draft report will be followed by a six-week public comment period, with a final report scheduled for release later this fall. Hulsey’s study was funded by the nonprofit organization Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
WTC 7 was a 47-story office building that fell nearly seven hours after the collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers on Sept 11, 2001. In a 2008 report, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology attributed the collapse to office fires in the lower stories of the building.
Early video footage and photos taken from the scene did not seem to show much evidence of plane wreckage. Theorists maintain this was evidence that the Pentagon was not struck by Flight 77, but by a missile or unmanned drone instead. They also argue that the structural damage to the building was too minor to have been made by a commercial airliner and question why the plane (piloted by an amateur) was even allowed to crash into the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.
According to official reports, the passengers onboard Flight 93 attempted to take back the plane from the hijackers and the subsequent struggle caused the aircraft to crash into an open field in Pennsylvania. As with the Pentagon attack, theorists state that little plane wreckage was actually discovered in the field and the crash site itself was too small for an airliner that size, arguing instead that the plane was shot down by the military and so it disintegrated over a larger area.
A frequently circulated viral photo, which shows a smiling kid in front of one of the burning World Trade Center towers (courtesy Underunderstood)
A common belief amongst 'truthers' is that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) deliberately ordered their fighter jets to stand down and allow the hijacked planes to reach their targets. America seemingly had the most powerful air force in the world but failed to intercept any of the planes that day, which theorists believe is an indication of a government conspiracy to let the attacks go ahead. Why would they do such a thing? Conspiracy theorists believe that the government wanted to use the attacks to justify an invasion on Iraq and Afghanistan to secure oil interests.
In the days preceding the attacks, an 'extraordinary' amount of put options (investments that pay off only when a stock drops in price) were placed on the stocks of two airlines – American and United, which happened to be the airlines hijacked during 9/11. As such, some theorists believe that traders had been given advance warning of the attacks and were cashing in on the tragedy.
My name is Austin Sansone and I live in Tribeca, which is in the lower west side of Manhattan. And this is a picture of me on 9/11. I was four years old and the picture was taken alongside the West Side Highway that morning. I have the actual photo which I will post a picture of when I get home for all of you doubting whether this is real or photoshopped. I promise you that it is sadly very real.” And then he said, “For all those who thought it was fake. Here you go. This is me with one of the original photos printed. I also have the negative somewhere.”
The Five BIGGEST 9/11 Conspiracy Theories DEBUNKED Forever | JOE Features
BOSTON MA. – SEPTEMBER 9: Jon Spillane, who lives on Beacon Hill, was one of many neighbors who came to help replace flags that had been vandalized near theGarden of Remembrance on September 9, 2021 in Boston, MA. The flags had been planted ahead of 911 in memory of the 2997 people lost on September 11, 2001. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
The unhinged love social media. You can be anonymous and free to spread bile. If it’s an opinion, bring it on. The First Amendment is a right worth fighting for — except when it crosses the line. Legal scholars say a person “cannot be held liable, either criminally or civilly for anything written or spoken about a person or topic, so long as it is truthful or based on an honest opinion and such statements.” Truth, no matter how uncomfortable it can be sometimes, is undeniable. But conspiracy theories — especially about the 9/11 attacks — should not be protected speech. We’ve just passed a solemn anniversary, and the hurt is real. It’s not even worth repeating the varied conspiracy theories. Why give them any legitimacy? What we can do is keep digging for the truth. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were launched by al-Qaeda terrorists hellbent on destruction. They found holes in the aviation matrix and slaughtered nearly 3,000 people from all walks of life. It wasn’t a conspiracy. It was an attack. 9/11 Families United, which serves thousands of families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, are pushing the Biden administration to release secret documents they allege will expose ties to the attacks back to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
FALSE FLAG ATTACK NOVEMBER 2010 POSSIBLY PREDICTED!!
That’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s a push to obtain, once and for all, every investigative report showing who helped the hijackers pre-9/11. That’s just hard work. It’s pushing the FBI and Department of Justice to drop any diplomatic deals to share with the American public what is known — or not known.
“We have watched year after year as the Saudis have thrown sand into the eyes of the 9/11 families and survivors and fought truth and transparency with the priciest lawyers, lobbyists and public relations firms that their oil money can buy,” the group said this week in a release. They added: “The Kingdom is making aggressive arguments in federal court … and have also opposed production of their own documents, opposed the questioning of witnesses, and asked the court to foreclose us from seeking evidence from the FBI about its investigation of the Saudi government agents at all. In short, the Kingdom’s actions in federal court completely undercut its public claim to support transparency.”
Kermit T. Frog sipping tea in front of the twin towers
The Muppets did 9/11
Kermit Did 9/11 refers to a conspiracy that it is canon to The Muppets franchise that the existence of Kermit the Frog led to the fall of the Twin Towers and the events of 9/11. This is due to the fact that in the 2002 film A Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, an angel shows Kermit the Frog what the world would be like if he had never been born, and coincidentally, the Twin Towers appear during that sequence. After the tidbit of film trivia was pointed out in 2015, the theory has circulated online in memes and fan posts.
Kermit Did 9/11 refers to a conspiracy that it is canon to The Muppets franchise that the existence of Kermit the Frog led to the fall of the Twin Towers and the events of 9/11. This is due to the fact that in the 2002 film A Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, an angel shows Kermit the Frog what the world would be like if he had never been born, and coincidentally, the Twin Towers appear during that sequence. After the tidbit of film trivia was pointed out in 2015, the theory has circulated online in memes and fan posts.
That’s what the public should be focusing on. Seeking the truth not sharing ridiculous parlor game theories on what allowed what to happen. The pain is real. Those families who lost loved ones on 9/11 — and others who must watch their firefighter and police family members suffer from cancer after being exposed to toxic fumes at Ground Zero — deserve our sympathy and solidarity. It’s not too much to ask.
As we wrote in this space yesterday, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, that day saw humanity at its worst and its best. We the people had to do something, we had to help. Long lines stretched to donate blood at Red Cross and other blood banks thousands of miles from New York. Firefighters and rescue workers poured into the city from other states to assist with the Herculean efforts, and restaurants fired up the grills to provide free food to those working on the scene. Why not rekindle that patriotism? Everybody enjoys a good murder mystery, but this isn’t one of them. Terrorists targeted our neighbors. Only the truth can put this to rest.
Conspiracy theories are extremely underestimated in power and influence. While we don’t fully see in plain sight how conspiracy theories affect people, we know through personal opinions, informative articles, and our findings that conspiracy theories do have an effect on people and their perspective and involvement with politics. They are widely adopted by more people than we think believe in them. Some theories like 9/11 have become a casual joke but what we don’t see is how some people have taken these theories and constructed something much bigger with them. Although the concept seems unbelievable, we as Americans have come to categorize conspiracy theories as a topic to never talk about too seriously.
What also isn’t taken seriously are the sources from where people get their information. Many of the sources from which people receive their “news” come from channels or groups that claim certain statements that aren’t backed by valid evidence. As an example we bring sponsor Alex Jones, and he is either known as the “crazy man” or a leader of conspiracy theories. Because Alex Jones became more widely known he has been given his own platform to speak up his beliefs. He has developed his own group that follow and agree with his beliefs. His arguments range from declaring that school shootings were planned to simply creating a compelling background or reason, or further pushing a theory into the public’s mind. It is people like Alex Jones that have become a source of news that doesn’t publicize researched-based and analyzed evidence. People hear false information, and even not completely agreeing with the information, they start doubting past information and even start to adjust their opinion.
Talk show host and activist Alex Jones screams to the crowd outside the Senate gallery on May 25, 2011, after being denied entrance during a rowdy protest of House Bill 1937 which criminalizes invasive airport pat downs. Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Alex Jones Preaches Conspiracy Theories, Trump Listens
Theories, even when taken as a joke, develop a mistrust in those in authority especially those of our government and our president. That mistrust spreads around and leads to the conclusion that there is no point in being involved with politics. But also we derive that people who have little trust for our government have a weaker sense in in seeing what is true and what isn’t. We have little trust for our government and without it we will not be able see changes in our country. It is a powerful chain of effects.
And now, in yet another bombshell set to rock your world, we're learning that the earth is not round - or flat - but shaped like a doughnut.
The latest theory comes courtesy of an ex-Flat Earther whose technique seems to be "Well, try and prove me wrong. I dare you."
"I was wondering how a theory like FE theory gets formed, and I came to the conclusion that someone must've thought of the original idea," Flat Earth Society member Varaug wrote in a forum called "Donut-Shaped Earth".
"And then it must've been followed by a long series of people pointing out flaws and then re-adjusting the theory (or thinking of new ideas) to iron out the flaws in the theory.
"I thought it might be fun if we emulated that here."
Varaug went on to explain that he believes that "Earth is in fact shaped like a torus (a donut shape)" but because "light is curved... we cannot tell."
It wasn't long before the non-believers started questioning Varaug's obviously sound theory with such ridiculous questions as "Why has the hole in the centre of the torus not been discovered?", "How does the light curve" and "Why can't I see the opposite side of the torus".
Of ye of little faith.
Luckily, there was an answer for every question.
"Light bends and follows the curvature of the torus, making the hole 'unseeable'," Varaug replied to the first question.
"Light waves... are reflected by the atmosphere," he answered the second. "When we look across, the light diminishes as it travels and by the time it reaches the atmosphere, it is diminished enough to be reflected.
"The light will then hit another corner of atmosphere and so on and so forth, curving every time. This gives the impression that the Earth is flat (or has a slight curvature)."
Following? Great.
To the third question, Varaug said: "When you stand in the middle of the [Torus Earth] and look up, the light passes through the first atmosphere it reaches. However, by the time it reaches the second atmosphere, it has diminished enough to be reflected, and gets reflected into space, so you see space."
Right, we think that's just about enough for one day, thank you very much.
For more on Varaug's Torus Earth Theory, check out his full blog here.
How much steel was in the World Trade Center?
"Each tower weighed about 500,000 tons." Both towers were built out of steel frames, glass, and concrete slabs on steel truss joists. A single tower consists of 90,000,000 kg (100,000 tons) of steel, 160,000 cubic meters (212,500 cubic yards) of concrete and 21,800 windows.
In all, 60 workers were killed in construction accidents while the World Trade Center was being built. The topping out ceremony of the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) took place on December 23, 1970, while the South Tower (2 World Trade Center)'s ceremony occurred on July 19, 1971.
How much concrete was used to build the Twin Towers?
The 425,000 cubic yards of concrete used in building the World Trade Center is enough to build a five-foot wide sidewalk from New York City to Washington, D.C. At peak periods of construction, some 3,500 workers were on the site daily.
On top of the World Trade Center 2001
When the Twin Towers came down 14 years ago, about 200,000 tons of steel slammed into the ground. In the months after, rescuers searched through the debris and the mangled metal, looking for those who survived and those who didn’t. Every day, hundreds of trucks carried rubble out of the site. Shortly after the attacks, New York City sold 175,000 tons of World Trade Center steel scrap to be made into something else. Some went to cities in the United States; about 60,000 tons went to companies in China, India, and South Korea. But some steel was recovered from Ground Zero for a different purpose: to be memorialized. For years, that steel, along with hundreds of other artifacts from that day—crushed police cars, elevator parts, souvenirs, and jewelry from the underground mall—was stored in an 80,000-square-foot hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The 840 pieces of steel were cut to create 2,200 chunks. Since 2008, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has doled out these artifacts to government and nonprofit organizations for free.
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The door of a Fire Department of New York truck, salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks
Steel beams taken from ground zero for storage at John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Hangar 17
2009
© Francesc Torres
The Port Authority program has provided artifacts to 1,500 entities nationwide, in all 50 states and several countries. Across the country, bits of beams that once held up the towers stand outside of fire departments, inside municipal buildings and libraries, in town squares and museums, including the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero. The biggest chunk of steel, weighing 47,000 pounds, was given to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which raises money for first responders injured or killed in the line of duty. The smallest—a handful of nails fused together—was given to the office of New York Senator Chuck Schumer. There’s steel at American military bases in Afghanistan and South Korea, the U.S. Embassy in Germany, the Imperial War Museum in London, even a police station in Brazil.
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
Twisted steel beams from ground zero dominate the space in JFK International Airport’s Hangar 17, where 9/11 artifacts were housed for study and safekeeping
2009
© Francesc Torres
In Westerville, Ohio, an 18-foot-long, two-ton piece of steel, bent in the middle from the impact of the first plane, stands in First Responders Park. “It wasn’t just a New York or New Jersey tragedy,” says Tom Ullom, a retired Westerville firefighter who called the Port Authority once a week for seven years to ask for the steel. “It just affected so many people everywhere.” A Port Authority spokeswoman could not say for sure the number of requests the agency has received over the years, but it’s safe to say there were many. The memorialization of the tragic events of September 11 has become part of a healing process for victims, their families, and the general public.
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
View through a portion of the broadcast antenna that fell from the top of the north tower. A number of fragments of the 360-foot antenna were kept at Hangar 17
2009
© Francesc Torres
Acquiring World Trade Center steel can take several years. Those who seek artifacts for private ownership—like the person who asked for steel for a class ring—are rejected. All applicants must agree to publicly display the steel, and Port Authority officials work with applicants to determine the best size and shape to fit their proposed designs. Once approved, recipients either pick up the artifacts themselves from JFK Airport, or, if the size allows, have them shipped to their hometowns.
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
The collapse of the twin towers created a series of iconic objects, transformed by force and fire from their daily uses into artifacts that tell a story. At Hangar 17, tented enclosures were built for artifacts of various kinds that, in the view of curators and conservators, needed the added protection of humidity control and stillness. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this transformation could be found inside the vehicle tent, where trucks and cars, normally left outside in all conditions, were given shelter
2009
© Francesc Torres
Sterling Claypoole, an assistant fire chief and chaplain, drove 22 hours to New York in 2010 to bring a 695-pound chunk of I-beam from the South Tower to the residents of El Dorado, Arkansas. “It allows them to live in the lives of other people in history,” says Claypoole, who went to New York after the attacks to provide crisis counseling for emergency-service workers.
Roger Smallbeck, a retired fire chief in Chanhassen, Minnesota, exchanged emails with Port Authority officials for two years. He didn’t tell anyone about it in case it didn’t work out. In 2010, a package from UPS arrived carrying an 80-pound piece of I-beam. Smallbeck had paid just $60 to have it shipped.“I had it sitting on the table down in the meeting room and I had a big towel draped over it,” he says of his reveal to his fellow firefighters. “I said, ‘Here’s a piece of the World Trade Center,’ and pulled the cover off it.”
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
Because the Last Column had inscriptions and attachments on all sides, it was raised onto a specially constructed steel cradle at Hangar 17 so conservators had enough clearance to work. A mirror provides a glimpse of tributes on the underside of the column. Visible on the facing side are the taped-on memorials for Firefighter Christian Regenhard, 28, and Deputy Battalion Chief Dennis Cross, 60
2009
© Francesc Torres
Francesc Torres’s work features over 150 projected images which explore inside the hangar and reflect on the emotional power of what remained, from personal belongings to steel girders distorted by the force of the attacks. Alongside the photographs is a section of raw rusted steel over two metres in length from the ruins of the World Trade Center. In 2009, Torres was granted rare access to Hangar 17 at John F Kennedy International Airport, a gaping space of over 80,000-square-feet. Within the hangar lie the remnants deemed worth preserving from the September 11 attacks, taken from the 1.8 million tonnes of debris from Ground Zero. For five weeks Torres daily confronted the legacy of terror and the ghosts of that fateful late-summer day, capturing images of objects that stand as symbolic substitutes to the victims.
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
These three panels, offering a view of the Statue of Liberty from 1977, were salvaged from the Cortlandt Street subway station under the World Trade Center. The spray-painted markings indicate that the area nearby had been searched by rescue workers for survivors or victims
2009
© Francesc Torres
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
9/11, as seen live on television in Barcelona, Spain. Photographed at roughly 3 p.m. local time by Maria Iturrioz de Torres, Francesc Torres’ mother, while they spoke by phone
2009
© Francesc Torres
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
Though most of the vehicles at Hangar 17 came from first responders, this taxi, an emblem of daily life in New York, was also preserved. At left, the tags hanging from the frame indicate its Port Authority inventory number (white) and mark its selection for inclusion in the permanent collection of the Memorial Museum (yellow)
2009
© Francesc Torres
Francesc Torres (Spanish, b. 1948)
During the recovery at the site, some ironworkers would cut religious or other symbols out of pieces of steel from the World Trade Center and give them as keepsakes to family members or other visitors
2009
© Francesc Torres
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