Barrett Thanks Nass, Invites Nass to 9/11 Lecture:
Sunday, October 1st, 2:00 p.m., 6210 Social Sciences

Kevin Barrett responded politely and gratefully today to Steve Nass's claim that Barrett is using the University of Wisconsin to get publicity for his 9/11 views.

"Steve Nass has done more to publicize me and my views than anyone," Barrett said. "If it weren't for Nass, most people would never have heard of me or my views."

Barrett pointed out that before Nass began issuing his "fire Barrett" fatwas, the University had treated Barrett just like any other instructor who dabbles in politics on his own time. "The University, displaying no particular enthusiasm, did allow me to organize a nationally televised 9/11 truth speech by David Griffin here at U.W.-Madison," Barrett said, "because they would allow any other instructor or student group to organize a similar speech on any topic, especially by someone of Dr. Griffin's stature. That event got front-page coverage in both Madison newspapers. And they let me bring U.W. alumnus and former Bush official Morgan Reynolds to the Historical Society to charge his ex-bosses with 'blowing the World Trade Center to kingdom come.' Those events happened at the University--not that the University particularly wanted them to--and yes, they did publicize 9/11 skepticism. But that's a drop in the bucket compared to the tidal wave of publicity Steve Nass has generated. I've got to hand it to Steve--he's a PR genius."

Barrett urged Nass to attend the lecture this Sunday to "learn something about the issue he has done so much to publicize." Titled "9/11: Fact and Folklore" the event will feature lectures by folklorist Kevin Barrett and Philosophy of Science Professor Emiratus James Fetzer. The event will compare and contrast ways that the two disciplines' respective methodologies can shed light on the controversies surrounding the events of 9/11. Barrett and Fetzer have argued that because 9/11 was the pivotal event of the 21st century, the official account needs to be closely scrutinized in our nation's universities. They add that since a recent Scripps-Howard poll showed that 36% of Americans believe it "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that top US officials allowed or perpetrated the 9/11 attacks in order to trigger war in the Middle East, this crisis of public confidence needs to be studied and eventually remedied. Barrett pointed out that Folklore Studies, which specializes in scrutinizing unofficial "folk" discourses and contrasting them to official discourse, has developed methods of studying legends, rumors and conspiracy theories that can be appropriate tools for thinking about 9/11 controversies. A subfield of Folklore Studies, the study of myths and legends, may also help us understand how the official story of 9/11 is a myth (a sacred, unquestionable, true story) for some people, and a legend (a questionable story based on a debate about belief) for others.

Barrett voiced his appreciation to Nass for "going the extra mile" to publicize Sunday's lecture. "Normally, an academic lecture like this one would draw a sparse crowd," Barrett said, "especially one scheduled only a week in advance, and on a football Sunday too. If a good crowd shows up this Sunday, it will be thanks to Steve Nass. The taxpayers of the State of Wisconsin, who are paying Steve Nass's salary, should consider writing to thank him for using their hard-earned money to publicize this vitally important lecture. I hope Steve will show up, pay attention, and perhaps come to understand just what a vital contribution he is making to public awareness and the defense of our Constitution."

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Jim Fetzer and Kevin Barrett will be lecturing on "9/11: Fact and Folklore" this Sunday, October 1st, 2:00 p.m., 6210 Social Science (northwest of Bascom Hall across Observatory Drive), U.W.-Madison, Madison, WI. Between presentations, Dr. Fetzer will present a check for $8,472 to the University on behalf of Veterans for 9/11 Truth, which has raised the money to offset funds withheld by the Ozaukee County Board in protest of the University´s employment of Dr. Barrett.

# # #

Barrett Corrects Nass Point-by-Point

September 26, 2006
Patrick Farrell, Provost
University of Wisconsin-Madison
150 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive .m.
Madison, WI 53706
RE: Kevin Barrett’s 9/11 Lecture on October 1, 2006
Dear Provost Farrell:
Once again, Kevin Barrett is thumbing his nose at the people of Wisconsin and administrators on the UW-Madison campus.

No, at YOU, Steve. You started this, you refuse to stop, so what else can I do? The Channel 3000 poll last summer showed around 90% of respondents said I should keep my job, and 60% said I was raising good questions about 9/11. By continuing to issue these increasingly bizarre fatwas against me, you're thumbing your nose at the people of Wisconsin, who are paying you a much larger salary than they're paying me. So I hereby thumb my nose in your general direction.

On October 1, 2006, Mr. Barrett and another member of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth will be giving lectures on their conspiracy theories on the campus of UW-Madison.

See the second-to-last paragraph above for actual lecture topic.

Mr. Barrett’s website notes the event is being sponsored by the UW-Madison Folklore Program, an official academic unit.

Indeed. I will be presenting an academic lecture, presenting findings I intend to publish in a refereed academic folklore journal. Jim Fetzer is a distinguished Professor Emiratus who has published around 25 books and countless academic articles, and has excellent qualifications to present a Philosophy of Science perspective on the facts and meaning of 9/11.

According to Mr. Barrett’s website (http://www.mujca.com), a crew from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was already scheduled to be in town to prepare a story on the Scholars for 9/11 Truth. My office has confirmed that Mr. Barrett contacted the Folklore Program Director, Professor James Leary, and obtained official sponsorship of this event to benefit the Scholars for 9/11 Truth. Mr. Barrett lectured in a folklore class last semester

I did teach The Folktale class for Folklore last year at U.W.-Madison, and included a brief look at 9/11 "conspiracy theories" as part of the week devoted to Legends: Rumors and Conspiracy Theories. Since you are so interested in how I include 9/11-related material in my courses, why don't you come to the lecture to find out?

and utilized his connections with this program to obtain the official sponsorship of lectures by the Scholars for 9/11 Truth, an organization that has no official affiliation with UW-Madison.
Almost all scholarly organizations "have no official affiliation with UW-Madison" yet are free to co-sponsor academic lectures, and do so as a matter of course.

Additionally, my staff learned from a UW-Madison official that Mr. Barrett had sought permission from administrators for the BBC crew to film him lecturing in his class on Introduction to Islam. That request was appropriately denied.

I made no such request. I have barred cameras and obtrusive recording equipment from my class, and brook no exceptions. It may be that a university official misunderstood my inquiry about the BBC being allowed to film the public lecture.

This was followed by another request to administrators from Mr. Barrett that his Scholars for 9/11 Truth organization be allowed to use university facilities to hold a lecture on campus that could be filmed by the BBC. That request was also correctly denied.

Again, I made no such request. (Dr. James Fetzer may have made such a request; I don't know the details.)

Mr. Barrett, not to be outdone, decided to circumvent the decisions of the administration and sought sponsorship from the UW-Madison Folklore Program.

My staff confirmed with Program Director Leary that he was aware that Mr. Barrett’s request was on behalf of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth. Mr. Leary also confirmed that Barrett never told him about the previously denied requests by the administration.

I never made any such "previously denied requests" but was aware that a variety of students and others were planning to sponsor a lecture by Dr. James Fetzer. I have for some time been eager to (a) present my own work on the Folklore discipline's potential contribution to 9/11 studies, and (b) listen to Dr. James Fetzer discuss his own Philosophy of Science perspective on 9/11 studies here in Madison, since he moved here just a few months ago. Jim Fetzer and I decided last week that the "Fact and Folklore" lecture format would be of interest to the U.W. community and the public, so we proposed it to Folklore Program Director Leary, who agreed to sponsor it. Those who are wondering whether this is an appropriate event for the Folklore Program to sponsor should attend and come to their own conclusions.

On July 20, 2006, you notified Mr. Barrett that he was prohibited from using his position at UW-Madison to advance his “personal political messages.”

Provost Farrell asked me not to identify myself with the University in my non-academic political writings--i.e. to remove my job title from my signature when I write non-academic polemical works. I considered that request reasonable, agreed to it, and no longer mention my UW job title in polemical writings. This lecture, however, is an academic event, focusing on the way academic methodology can help elucidate the most important historical event of the 21st century. Censoring all academic discussion of the most important historical event of the century would not be in keeping with the U.W.'s tradition of "sifting and winnowing."

The current situation clearly violates the technicality and spirit of the understanding between the university and Kevin Barrett.

I invite Steve Nass and others to attend the lecture and judge for themselves. Pre-judging does not make sense.

Mr. Barrett is clearly trying to use UW-Madison as a backdrop to improve the story being done by the BBC on the Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

The time has come for UW-Madison to end its embarrassing employment of Kevin Barrett. The taxpayers of Wisconsin and the tuition-paying families aren’t interested in supporting the University of Wingnuts at Madison. The time has come to put Wisconsin back into the UW and firing Mr. Barrett would be a noble first step.

Steve Nass is clearly trying to publicize a previously-obscure Folklore and Religious Studies lecturer, and indirectly publicize the cause of 9/11 skeptics, in hopes of mobilizing the shrinking base of voters in his district who are as ignorant as he is. His indefatigable efforts to publicize Kevin Barrett and 9/11 skepticism have already cost Wisconsin taxpayers far more money than has Kevin Barrett's employment -- especially now that Veterans for 9/11 Truth will be reimbursing the University for the amount of Barrett's salary, which was withheld by the Ozaukee County Board. The taxpayers of Wisconsin are tired of funding Nass's endless fatwas. The time has come to get the wingnuts out of the legislature, and voting out Steve Nass would be a noble first step.

Sincerely,
Kevin Barrett
(job title withheld by request)

Sincerely,
Steve Nass
State Representative
31st Assembly District

* * *

9/11 Lecture to Bring BBC to Madison, WI October 1st, 2006

contact Dr. James Fetzer, jfetzer@d.umn.edu (608) 835-2707

A Sunday, October 1st lecture by Scholars for 9/11 Truth members James Fetzer and Kevin Barrett, "9/11: Folklore and Fact" is expected to draw coverage by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Dr. Kevin Barrett will present an opening discussion entitled "A Folklorist Looks at 9/11 'Conspiracy Theories'" followed by Dr. Jim Fetzer's lecture "9/11: What We Know Now That We Didn't Know Then." The BBC plans to be in Madison for a story on Scholars for 9/11 Truth and has expressed interest in covering the event. Fetzer, an expert in cognitive science and philosophy, maintains the Scholar's website at http://st911.org. Barrett, an Arabist-Islamologist and Folklorist, is the founder of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth at http://mujca.com

Between presentations, Dr. Fetzer will present a check for $8,472 to the University on behalf of Veterans for 9/11 Truth, which has raised the money to offset funds withheld by the Ozaukee County Board in protest of the University´s employment of Dr. Barrett.

The lecture is scheduled from 2:00pm - 4:30pm at a University of Wisconsin-Madison campus location to be announced--check http://www.st911.org. This event is sponsored by Scholars For 9/11 Truth (http://www.st911.org), the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth (http://www.mujca.com) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Folklore Program, and is free and open to the public.

Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a non-partisan society of students, faculty and experts dedicated to exposing falsehoods and revealing truths about 9/11, includes physicists, mechanical engineers, civil engineers, pilots, and aeronautical engineers among its members.

jfetzer@d.umn.edu (608) 835-2707

Religious Leaders Outreach Program MUJCA-NET can help arrange for a 9/11 Truth outreach person to speak to a priest, imam, rabbi or minister in your area. We can also help arrange for a speaker to visit your church, synagogue or mosque and/or meet with members of your religious group (all religions welcome). We can also provide 9/11-related educational materials as finances permit. Click here for more information	Media Interview Requests MUJCA-NET may be able to arrange media interviews with, and guest appearances by, its founders, endorsers, and supporters in your area. It's an amazing story--Jews, Christians and Muslims uniting to fight for 9/11 truth and put an end to the bogus "war on terror" along with the escalating violence between the Abrahamic faiths. Click here for more information.
Eminent Theologian David Griffin Sparks 9/11 Truth Groundswell David Griffin, one of America's most eloquent and influential theologians, has summed up the overwhelming evidence for US government 9/11 complicity in in his bestseller The New Pearl Harbor. (Read Marc Estrin's review.) (Listen to Pacifica radio interview.) Dr. Griffin's follow-up book, The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, demolishes the last shreds of doubt that 9/11 was an inside job, and the official story a transparent cover-up.	Day of Prayer for 9/11 Truth Jews, Christians and Muslims from around the world are uniting to pray for 9/11 truth every Friday afternoon. (Muslim congregational prayer occurs shortly after noon on Fridays.) Muslims are asking God to end the nazi-style persecution aimed at them, and related political violence perpetrated by all sides, by helping reveal the the truth about what happened on 9/11. All are invited to join. Click here to find out how.
Please Support MUJCA-NET MUJCA-NET needs your support. We are a non-profit organization and the scale of our activities depends entirely on your generosity. We would like to get copies of David Griffin's two 9/11 books (see above) into the hands of every religious leader in America. And we would like to push 9/11 truth onto the front pages of every newspaper in America. But we can't do it without your help. If you would like to donate to MUJCA-NET, click here.	Book-in-Progress: The Myth of 9/11 MUJCA-NET co-founder Kevin Barrett is writing a book entitled The Myth of 9/11: An American Muslim Speaks Out. Dr. Barrett, an Arabist specializing in the analysis of myth, literature and folklore, argues that the official story of 9/11 is a myth, both in the popular sense of an untrue story, and the scholarly sense of a founding narrative legitimizing a particular social order. Preview and comment on The Myth of 9/11.

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