An Open Letter to Our So Called Representatives

Dear Congressmen and Congresswomen,

I could not even address this letter to our Representatives as you have once again shown that you do not warrant that title.

Your rejection of the Zadroga bill is just another slap in the face to those who actually attempted to do something after 9/11.

As you sit in your offices paid for by those who elected you and meet daily with lobbyists to discuss how you can promote their interests brave people continue to die.

People who did not hold press conferences after 9/11 to swear they would never forget.

But people who did the right thing and worked at Ground Zero or Fresh Kills in an attempt to find the victims of the most vicious attack in the history of America.

And when we came to you to help those who are sick and dying because of their efforts you turned your backs.

You hide behind Congressional tricks that allow you to change the voting rules to get your desired results.

You line up behind Nancy Pelosi who has stonewalled this bill since it was first introduced with the hopes that it would die in committee.

Well the bill didn’t die but many of our loved ones will continue to as you play politics with their lives.

It is amazing how the House continues to be held hostage as its members sell their votes to the highest bidders every chance they get.

Unfortunately we do not have the money or the influence to buy your votes.

But be assured we will keep up the fight.

And we will let everyone know who voted against this bill.

We will also make them aware of what to expect “God Forbid” something like 9/11 happens again.

So the next time you are counting the money in your campaign war chests, money that you will most likely need to use to pay lawyers to get you out of trouble most of you seem to find yourselves in, remember we are still here.

We expect to be represented.

We expect you to care for the victims who where lied to by the Federal Government about the quality of air after 9/11.

We expect you to make decisions based on what is right and not what fills your pockets.

And most importantly unlike you……”We Will Not Forget”

Dennis McKeon

Haiti....6 Months Later

Most of the media outlets are doing their 6 month update on Haiti and surprise surprise not much has been done and they are questioning where the billions that were donated or supplied by governments went.

This is like a broken record.

After every tragedy or natural disaster millions are collected by agencies that state they are using the funds for that specific event.

They get kind hearted people to donate and the money goes into their general administration fund to be spent when and where they want it.

We warned people up front that this was happening. (see below)

If the government really wanted to do something it would be really easy.

Compare the amount of money that was collected by these charities this year (from Jan through July) with last year.

The bulk of the increase could be associated with what was donated for Haiti.

Then check how much of that money was actually sent to Haiti and how was it spent.

But this will never happen.

Do you know that we could not get one of these charities to give us $15,000 to ship our T Shirts to Haiti?

We had to rely on individuals and small organizations and we are finally going to be able to ship the shirts.

Many of the people who we reached out to stated they already gave to these major charities and were shocked that they would not support our effort.

100% of what we collect will go towards shipping the shirts and the shirts will be distributed directly to those in need in Haiti.

We are making the final arrangements and should be shipping by the end of the month.

We are going to give everyone who donated a dollar or a shirt to sign labels that we are going to be placed on the shipping cartons to let them know who helped out.

We will also ask everyone who comes to help us load the container to bring a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid which we will be sending to the Gulf area to help with the cleaning of wildlife impacted by the oil spill.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped us with this effort. We will also let you know about a small fundraiser we will be planning to cover any additional costs we may run into getting the shirts through customs.

We hope that you will take part in some of our future events and hope that you continue to support other grass root efforts that are always there at every tragedy and really give you a bang for your donated buck


Follow the Money...The Donation Shell Game

http://www.where-to-turn.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=50415

GROUND ZERO: ABOVE GROUND MOSQUE AND UNDERGROUND MEMORIAL

As plans are underway to build a huge mosque AT Ground Zero remains are still being found.

Just today another 4 potential human remains were uncovered bringing the total to 1831 since the second recovery effort was started in 2006.

While you may not think that these have anything in common they certainly do.

Shortly after 9/11 in an effort to bring business back to Lower Manhattan the process began to remove the stigma of 9/11 from Ground Zero.

The mayor rushed to convert the site from a recovery area to a construction zone and the search for any additional remains was called off.

They couldn’t have remains being found because that would remind people of what happened on 9/11 and keep business away.

If not for an accidental discovery in 2006 the new search that turned up nearly 2,000 remains would have never even taken place.

At the same time the site was turned into a construction zone plans began on what type of memorial would honor those who died on 9/11.

Once again the concerns of the community and economic factors cast the deciding vote,

An above ground memorial would make Ground Zero too much like a cemetery and they couldn’t have that.

9/11 family members were pretty much eliminated from any planning sessions and any design that contained an above ground memorial structure was immediately eliminated.

So the 9/11 Memorial (I will not call it the WTC Memorial because it should be honoring all who died on 9/11) will be entirely underground.

Visitors will have to travel between four to seven stories underground to get to the memorial and museum.

They even wanted to list the names of those who died at the bottom of the two waterfalls and would have if we didn’t fight them tooth and nail to bring them above ground.

And who are the people who pushed for this underground memorial?

The same people who are pushing for a huge mosque to be built a block away.

The members of Community Board One and our local elected officials, that’s who.

They have and will continue to try to remove any reminders of 9/11 from the site.

The mayor has already stated that this is not the 9/11 families’ memorial but that it belongs to everyone.

So they continue to bury everything related to 9/11.

The memorial………….. underground.

Human remains ………..underground at the site.

Human remains ………..underground at Fresh Kills.

And unfortunately we continue to bury loved ones still dying from 9/11 illnesses because the city would rather fight claims than save the lives of 9/11 victims.

They even changed the name of the Freedom Tower because they didn’t want to offend anyone.

But that is how it has always been and will continue to be at Ground Zero.

And when family members come to the site to pay their respects they will have to walk by a huge mosque before they begin their long journey underground to visit the 9/11 memorial or museum.

But why would we expect anything different.

If it were up to them there would be no memorial at all.

M MEMORIAL DAY PRAYER

As I stand with hand on heart

Pledging to the land I love

Proud to be an American

As Old Glory flies above

I see the red the white the blue

And my heart fills with pride

And a tear rolls down cheek

For those who fought and died

I remember those we have lost

Fighting to keep us free

And I pray you all do the same

And keep alive their memory

Remember these fine Americans

And the price that they did pay

And say a prayer for all who still

Answer the call today

The backbone of America

We honor on this day

For they are the only reason

We have a USA

100,000 T Shirts for Haiti 4/14...81,375...We Are On Our Own

To All,

We really need help getting the word out about our need for assistance with shipping.

Please pass on to all of your distributions.

If you have a contact in the media please give them a call. (Oprah Ellen etc)

If you know an elected official please contact them.

If you have friends in the shipping industry have them give us a call.

Donations can be made through Facebook at 100,000 T-Shirts for Haiti http://apps.facebook.com/causes/435485/38137363 or Through the Network for Good https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=200404386 or By check made payable to Where to Turn 150-L Greaves Lane # 312 Staten Island NY 10308 Please note Haiti T Shirts in memo section All donations are 100% tax deductible.


To date we have collected 81,375 shirts

We need help with pickups from the following locations

ON ISLAND

PS 16 80 Monroe Ave (100 shirts)

OFF ISLAND

2 Hudson Place Hoboken NJ (700 shirts)

St. Theresa's Church 2855 St. Theresa Ave Bronx NY 10461 (500 shirts)

787 7th Ave NYC 10019 (300 shirts)

Baruch College Performing Arts Box Office 25th and Lexington Ave (3,000 shirts)

We have no success with our outreach to any charities or businesses so we will have to do this on our own

We got another e-mail from the Red Cross

The best advice I can give you is to ask airlines for free or discounted space. They are opening up again for Haiti. Or, you could run them to Miami – there is a lot of ocean transport available from there. The American Red Cross is not able to assist with funding.

I guess they really want to let us know that they are not interested.

All we are asking is that they include our supplies with one of their shipments. So I really do not understand the response.

We will be brainstorming this week about a possible fundraiser your input would be appreciated.

We still need another 10,000 shirts but are looking for a few big pickups.

We ask everyone to check with their businesses, schools or organizations about leftover shirts from old events.

I once again like to that everyone who has contributed so far.

To date we have collected $2,830.

We are also going to make up labels that say from your friends at _________. We will then print all of the various schools organizations etc who have participated.

Keep up the good work.

Dennis

100,000 T Shirts for Haiti

http://www.where-to-turn.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=89

IT BEGINS ALL OVER AGAIN

Eight and a half years later and they are still finding potential remains at Ground Zero.

While we are glad that remains are being found we are once again reminded how poorly the recovery process has been handled.

These remains were from the Haul Road or the area that included hot spots.

Witnesses have stated that the Haul Road itself was constructed by unsifted debris from the pit itself.

This contention was supported when steel beams were found when the road was dismantled.

Although there was a very good chance that remains would be found in this material, the city let it sit unattended for over a year.

Delaying the process that started over eight years ago another 18 months.

Now family members will have to go through the ordeal yet again.

From day one the city has handled the recovery effort as a “when we get around to it” effort.

They have spent millions on a contract to a company with a questionable past that was supposed to produce a significant amount of identifications but have produced few.

They have refused to expand the search of the roofs of surrounding buildings and flat out refuse to resift the remains buried at Fresh Kills.

The recovery effort was forced to close to expedite the rebuilding at the site.

Well we all know how swiftly that has progressed.

Unfortunately at this rate they will still be finding remains as people are going into the Memorial.

One only has to refer to the way the Deutsche bank was handled to get an idea as to how the recovery effort was as well.

While we hope that some of these new remains actually lead an identification our hearts go out to the families that are continuously put through this ordeal.

MAYBE WE SHOULD ONLY ELECT CURLERS

For years many people have made fun of curling with its stones and sweepers.

But I did a little research and maybe our elected officials could take a page out of the curling rule book.

Below is the Code of Ethics for Curling Participants.

Curler’s Code of Ethics

I will play the game with a spirit of good sportsmanship.

I will conduct myself in an honorable manner both on and off the ice.

I will never knowingly break a rule, but if I do, I will divulge the breach.

I will take no action that could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate or demean my opponents, teammates or officials

I will interpret the rules in an impartial manner, always keeping in mind that the purpose of the rules is to ensure that the game is played in an orderly and fair manner.

I will humbly accept any penalty that the governing body at any level of curling deems appropriate, if I am found in violation of the code of ethics or rules of the game

Just think how much better off we would be if those in office were held to the same standards.

As Thomas Jefferson once said “When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property”

Unfortunately today we have too few elected officials who do.

Since we cannot trust them to govern themselves we once again say

It's Time For A Political Pre-Nup

http://www.where-to-turn.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=43838

Or maybe we should only elect curlers