The History Channel produced a special on the WTC last year, but had not yet aired it as of Sept. 11. After some soul-searching, they presented it unedited, with minor items added, and explanatory pieces where commercials would normally go.

An excellent special, with some sad moments. The items added to the film were small bits of text in the upper left hand corner of the screen, showing the date of the interview (typically January of 2001) so that the comments could be understood in context. On a number of the interviews, another line of text would be added above: "Missing since 11/01/01."

Frank DeMartini, a WTC structural manager, spoke confidently of the towers' ability to resist an aircraft impact, likening it to "poking a hole through a mosquito net." Of course, he had not expected a full fuel load in the bargain. A small bit of text above him: "Missing since 11/01/01."

Irony so thick it could stop a neutrino.

Hopefully, this show will be repeated...History Channel won't come up on the Net.

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In a related item, some engineers feel that had the wet asbestos fire protectant originally specified for the steel members of the WTC been in place, instead of an inferior substitute, the buildings might still be standing, or would have stood much longer, allowing more to escape.

Unfortunately I was unable to find a link to the original Fox New column on this subject by Steven Milloy (from September 14), but did find a link to a follow-on column. I have no idea what happened to the original. Milloy's own site, Junkscience.com, isn't answering.

Without tracking down more sources, I have no way of independently ascertaining if this theory is true or not. If it is, it would only be a few thousand more lives added to the toll at the hands of environmental hysteria, although it pales in comparison to the 3 million children that die of malaria every year due to the banning of DDT.