age AIA, head of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, packed the largest auditorium in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's historic Sterling Hall Thursday night for his lecture "Blueprint for Truth: Re-thinking the Destruction of the Three World Trade Center Skyscrapers." Gage's lecture, part of his Midwest Tour, was the first event sponsored by the new U.W.-Madison Sifting and Winnowing Club. Other sponsors included We Are Change-Wisconsin and Muslims for 9/11 Truth.The crowd of approximately 230 included several dozen who identified themselves as architects or engineers. At the beginning of the lecture, Gage found that more than sixty audience members either believed the government's version of the WTC "collapses" or weren't sure. By the end, virtually all were convinced that the three skycrapers came down in controlled demolitions.
Many audience members were shocked by the abundance, and obviousness, of the evidence for controlled demolition that Gage presented. Even some audience members who had already concluded that the World Trade Center was destroyed by demolition pros, not extremist Muslim hijackers, were awed by Gage's carefully-structured argument, which leaves essentially no room for doubt. (Overall, more than 85% of initially skeptical architects and engineers who see Gage's presentation change their minds and conclude that the WTC skyscrapers were victims of controlled demolition.)
One 9/11 expert in the audience, Dr. James Fetzer of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, said he was impressed by Gage's arguments. "In the past I've questioned some of the lines of argument he presented, including the evidence for thermite and molten metal. But my overall impression was that this was an excellent and very convincing presentation."
Coincidentally, the day before the event, the FBI released many of its previously secret files on the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall by anti-war activists. The irony of Gage's presentation on the most famous bombing in US history (which is not yet officially acknowledged as a bombing) taking place at the site of the second most famous bombing in postwar history was not lost on the crowd. Some wondered out loud whether we would have to wait 41 years before the FBI releases its secret files on 9/11.
Dr. Kevin Barrett, Advisor of the student affiliate UW-Madison Sifting and Winnowing Club, expressed mild astonishment that no U.W. scholar would accept a $1,000 offer to debate Richard Gage on Wednesday night. "The benefactor put up the money only a week before the event, which made it difficult to publicize as widely as we would have liked," Barrett said. "But still, a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks! I know full well some of these professors would happily blow smoke in defense of the official story for, say, a million dollars in federal grants. I guess it's like the old joke where the guy asks a woman whether she would sleep with him for a million dollars and she admits she probably would. So he asks whether she'd do it for twenty dollars. 'Twenty dollars!? What do you think I am?!' 'We've already established that,' the guy says, 'now we're just haggling over the price.'"
Barrett then wondered aloud how much it would cost to purchase the services of U.W. law professor Ann Althouse, who publicly said Barrett was "crazy" and "nutty" and "lying" due to his stance on 9/11, while repeatedly refusing to debate the issue...and was thrashed for her cowardice by another professor. Regardless of Althouse's price, the U.W. Sifting and Winnowing Club will continue to sift and winnow the UW faculty in search of someone brave enough, or foolish enough, to defend the official story of 9/11 in a debate with Dr. Barrett and/or other skeptics. Another likely target is physics professor M.F. Onellian, who called Barrett a "fruitcake" for his views on 9/11, yet refused to publicly debate those views. And a third prospect is political science professor Donald Downs, who publicly said the University should not re-hire Barrett due to his views of 9/11 -- advice that the University has apparently taken - yet backed out of a tentative agreement to debate Dr. Barrett, offering no explanation.
The S&W Club will also explore other important controversial issues, beginning with the question: Do conventional economists underestimate the harmful effects of military spending? Dr. Bob Reuschlein will address that topic at the premiere of his film Peace Economics on April 12th, 7pm, Sequoya Library at corner of Midvale and Tokay on West Side of Madison.
The next Sifting and Winnowing Club meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 14th, 7 pm, in the Paul Bunyan Room of Memorial Union. Please come and let us know what you think are the most significant controversial issues that ought to be fearlessly sifted and winnowed.
The above three plaques - the first memorializing the Sterling Hall bombing, the second the turbulent 1960s, and the third the University's alleged "fearless sifting and winnowing" in search of truth - grace historic Bascom Hill at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
.
