An Unbroken Bond

Friday, March 9, 2012

" While you may only see yourself as one person you can be the change you want to see. You may have no control over the cards you are dealt, but you do however have control over how those circumstances, no matter how terribly they affect you. You may not even know you possess the core of inner strength. You can choose happiness. You can choose to channel towards the positive. And then you win. " - Edie Lutnick

CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE ELEPHANT?

Over the past 10 years much has been written about the disposal of Human Remains as a result of the tragedy of September 11^th, 2001. The deplorable practice of unceremoniously dumping and then leaving human remains and cremains in a garbage dump has largely been glossed over. The issue however again made it to the forefront of our consciousness when Dover Air Force Base staff subjected our returned deceased soldiers to the same indignity and fate as the WTC victims suffer in Fresh Kills landfill. Now the media has suggested that the remains of Pentagon September 11, 2001 victims may also have been dumped. This claim regarding Shanksville victims proved untrue and there are conflicting positions regarding what may or may not have been cremated of Pentagon victims. Regardless of the specifics, the question remains. When does this behavior so shock the conscience of society that we do something about it? When do we hold the politicians who have made these decisions to the detriment not just of the families of those who live with this realization daily, but to the reputations of us all, accountable?

And then there is the larger issue; the elephant in the room. Where is the clergy from every religion in all of this? Why aren’t they outraged and screaming? Isn’t the greatest religious honor bestowed on those who ceremoniously dress and care for the dead? Osama bin Laden received a burial in accordance with the dictates of his religion. Those who were murdered as a result of his actions, and the brave men and women of our military who have fought against his ideology are denied that basic human right? And our clergy isn’t screaming? Has the role of religion in our lives declined so dramatically that those we look to as our moral compass refuse to stand and fight for our societal morality?

Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high deeds." -- William E. Gladstone, former British prime minister.

I can only hope not.

If this painful political and local municipal disrespect of 911 victims' and military persons remains was not itself an unparalleled outrage, the public is now learning what the 9/11 community has long known - the suspected complicity of the Saudi Arabian government in funding the Saudi terrorists who participated in the 9/11 attack.

What has out Justice Department’s response been to 9/11 families who have sued the Saudi Arabian government for civil damages relief for the murder of their loved ones? An Amicus Curai("friend of the Court") in support of the plaintiff 9/11 families as American victims’ families and citizens would expect from their Government? No.

Our Justice Department has intervened on the side of the Saudi Government to have the suit by the 9/11 families dismissed!

How much more pain and suffering must our 9/11 families be expected to endure? Do any public officials or religious leaders have the political integrity and morality to confront the "elephant in the room?"

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Statement from WTC Families for Proper Burial

After yesterdays horrid news that remains of some 9/11 victims went to landfill, according to Pentagon report , The WTC Families for Proper Burial has issued the following statement:

It is with great sadness that we read the reports of human remains from both Shanksville and the Pentagon having been treated with the same indignity as the remains from the World Trade Center.

We have said for ten years that not only was the dumping of human remains, in a garbage dump, an outrageously callous act, but also it set a terrible precedent. We were proved right by the similar desecration of military dead. The line between decency and expediency was crossed causing great pain to many friends and family members of those who were killed. We have said that such an act would not only cause immediate pain but would open the door for newer, similar atrocious acts. What was done flies in the face of human kindness and most religious commitments.

When we asked for justice for the World Trade Center victims, we were told that our dead were merely “undifferentiated dirt.” Our courts allowed people like Mayor Bloomberg to think of our dead as “dirt” and the city’s attorneys actually claimed that throwing such remains, since they were comingled, into a toilet and flushing them away would not shock the conscience. Today’s news merely reflects these consciences that cannot be shocked but that continue to shock the rest of us.

I am so very sad for the other families and loved ones who now must face the same reality that the World Trade Center families have had to face for 10 years. I would not want anyone to walk in my shoes. The call remains for a protocol to be put in place preventing any further such horrific disrespect for our dead.

What sad news for us all.

Diane Horning

WTC Families for Proper Burial

February 28, 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

International Corporate Philanthropy Day

February 27th is International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD), an international advocacy day intended to build awareness of corporate-community partnerships and to inspire businesses around the world to engage further.

International Corporate Philanthropy Day is an opportunity to tell your company’s philanthropy story on an internationally recognized day.

Have you heard about Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners dedication to corporate philanthropy? See the Media highlights from charity day by clicking on the digital book below and also visit the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund: http://www.cantorrelief.org/

Clarence B. Jones discusses An Unbroken Bond in his recent article in Huffington Post

Clarence B. Jones: Scholar in Residence, Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stand University

In his recent article in the Huffington Post, Remembering Daniel Pearl: The Challenge of Non-Violence and the Possibilities and Limitations of Forgiveness, Clarence B. Jones discusses An Unbroken Bond.

" There's lots of TV news footage, articles and books to refresh our recollection of the violence, pain and suffering caused by the bombing of the World Trade Center in NYC on Sept 11th, 2001. Few descriptions, however, capture the magnitude of the personal pain experienced and endured by victims of that event better than the book by Edie Lutnick, author of An Unbroken Bond. Ms. Lutnick tells the story about how 658 men and women employees of the company Cantor Fitzgerald, including her younger brother, were killed on that day.

In a foreword to the book, I wrote:

There are some events past and present that challenge or ability to comprehend the magnitude of the human pain and suffering and the destruction associated with them... The terrorists airplane attacks against the World Trade Center... challenge our ability to grasp and comprehend the enormity of t the horror and loss experienced by fellow Americans.

Click here to view the full article

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Jimmy Choo / Allison Lutnick Valentine Charity Benefit to Support the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund!

The Jimmy Choo / Allison Lutnick is a charity event organized by Allison Lutnick to support the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund. Edie Lutnick also had a book sale and signing at the event, in which all sales are donated to CFRF as well!

The Jimmy Choo Collection

An Unbroken Bond for Sale to benefit the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund
Get Your Copy Today:
www.anunbrokenbond.com
Amazon.com
http://www.cantorrelief.org/