From 9/11 to Zohran Mamdani - How Far NYC Has Fallen

From 9/11 to Zohran Mamdani - How Far NYC Has Fallen
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 28, 2025

The latest salvo from Zohran Mamdani hit the public’s eyes and ears just days ago. An oldie, but a goodie, from the archives of September 5, 2023, when headlining as the keynote speaker at the Democratic Socialists of America national convention, Mamdani said “when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” (Israel Defense Forces) Wow - two slurs for the price of one from the Socialist-Marxist-Islamist candidate for mayor of New York City.

One of Mamdani’s State Assembly (36-Queens) colleagues, Democrat Kalman Yeger (41-Brooklyn) said, upon hearing Mamdani’s antisemitic and anti-police diatribe, “sometimes it’s hard to tell if Zorhan hates Jews more than he hates cops, or if he hates cops more than he hates Jews.” Sadly for the voters of New York City, there has been more than enough putrid rhetoric to go around from the Democrat-Socialist candidate for mayor of the Big Apple. Should Mamdani get elected on Tuesday, November 4, he will be the worm that infests the Big Apple.

This is just one of myriad thoughts, slogans, professions from the catalog of Mamdani’s Greatest Hits. While flying under the radar as a backbencher in the New York State Assembly, Mamdani’s espousal of virulent antisemitic, anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, anti-police, anti-capitalist, anti-democracy screeds continue to rise to the forefront. Videos of his own words, and not just rhetoric, but a hard core belief system that is dangerous not just for New York City, not just for the United States of America, but for all of Western Civilization. Just about anytime Mamdani opens his mouth, it’s a fair bet something cringeworthy will emerge from his gaping maw.

Sadly, far too many New Yorkers have fallen for the facade of Mamdani’s smarmy grin reminding folks of the supervillain Joker from the Batman franchise. How is it possible for a Marxist to be the frontrunner in this election in the economic epicenter of the United States, if not the world? How is it that a socialist/communist can be on the verge of victory in the first capital of these United States - where General George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789 - at Federal Hill overlooking Wall Street?

How can the citizens of New York City elect a sharia-supporting, Muslim extremist to be mayor of the city that will forever be the face of September 11, 2001? Imagine next September 11 - the 25th memorial of 9/11 - with “Mayor Mamdani” present with the thousands of victims’ families and friends that are sure to attend for the reading of the 2,977 names of those murdered by Mamdani’s fellow travelers. And don’t forget the additional 8,200 men and women who have subsequently died from 9/11 related diseases and illnesses, according to legalunitedstates.com. The hypocrisy of Mamdani showing his face will stain the somber ceremony and trample the memories of those murdered that fateful Tuesday morning in New York City, at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and in a field in Shanksville, PA. 

Mamdani recently had the unmitigated audacity to compare the slaughter of 2,977 innocents on 9/11 to an alleged experience he said his aunt had. Mamdani said his aunt no longer felt comfortable riding the subways wearing her hijab. Turns out that story has been debunked, that he didn’t even have an aunt living in New York City at the time of 9/11.  Mamdani even campaigned with a jihadi, Hasan Piker, an extreme leftist who, in 2019 said “America deserved 9/11.” 

How, in good conscience, can a single Jewish New Yorker cast a ballot for Mamdani, an antisemite who does not even support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish sovereign nation? Mamdani has attempted to equate the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023 with Palestinian criminals legitimately locked away in Israeli prisons. In September Mamdani appeared on Qatari television declaring the United States is underwriting the genocide in the Middle East, that he supports jihad, and that terrorism is a western invention not one from the Middle East. Mamdani has links to the Qatari royal family - the family who harbored Khalil Sheik Mohammad, the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mamdani consistently refuses to condemn “globalize the indifada,” both the concept and the language. In fact, he has never actually condemned the Holocaust. Additionally, Mamdani is a keen supporter of the BDS movement (boycott, divest, and sanction) against Israel, calling it “a righteous movement for liberation.” He supports a one state solution, and that state is not Israel, as Mamdani endorses “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and said he would never set foot in Israel. Mamdani also said he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested should he set foot in New York City.

“The most frightening thing about him is his antisemitism,” said Emily Compagno, co-host of Outnumbered on the Fox News Channel.

Mamdani, 34, and born in Uganda, has lived a life of privilege and hypocrisy. Hypocritical because he supports the abolition of private property, just so long as it is not his family’s properties being commandeered by the government. One of his advisors, Cea Weaver, posted in 2019 that “private property,” and “especially home ownership, is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as wealth building public policy.” On March 25, 2020 Mamdani said “the oligarchs who want to return to work to goose the stock market, are the same ones with thousands of luxury condos as investment properties, sitting empty while New Yorkers die on the streets and in shelters. Seize those properties. House the homeless. Enact a houses guarantee.” Part of his platform calls for a rent freeze, which he cannot institute unilaterally, and for the construction of 200,000 affordable housing units. Mamdani lives in a $3 million condo in Chelsea.

Hypocritical for calling to defund the NYPD, yet has a personal security team. Not only to defund the police, but replace them with social workers, and has called for a ban on all guns. Naturally, throughout his campaign Mamdani has refuted those defund statements. Of course he can’t deny them as social media is forever. He also calls for the abolition of prisons. On October 18, 2021 Mamdani said “we must decarcerate and we must do it now.” Do the 33,000 men and women in blue really believe Mamdani will have their backs while desecrating Gracie Mansion? Perhaps Mamdani’s security team should be social workers.

Mamdani comes by his belief system honestly, as the antisemitic, anti-capitalist, anti-democracy, anti-Western Civilization candidate did not fall far from the tree of the same hatreds. His father Mahmood, a one time professor at Columbia University, called the suicide bombers “worthy of sympathy, not scorn.” One of his mentors, Linda Sarsour, the co-chair of the Women’s March, a Palestinian-American, is also a virulent antisemite who objected to, and attempted to, bar Jewish and LGBTQ women from participating in the march in 2019. 

There is a video of Mamdani flipping the middle finger at a statue of Christopher Columbus in New York City, and shouting, “take it down!”

Some of Mamdani’s other platform planks include decriminalizing drug possession, providing safe injection sites, legalizing prostitution and sex work, raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour, seizing the means of production, and a $10 billion tax hike on businesses. When businesses begin to flee New York City, as many already have, how will Mamdani pay for his socialist/communist agenda? On the backs of the remaining people, too poor to afford to move away from The City? 

More of the Mamdani agenda includes providing free child care, free city buses, and the creation and operation of city-owned grocery stores, all of which are unsustainable. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said government-owned grocery stores have worked, yet failed to name one locality where it has. These pie in the sky promises to gullible voters goes beyond socialism. Mamdani said capitalism is “theft. When we tax the rich, we’re reclaiming the wealth bosses and corporations steal,” he said. While on the topic of the rich, “I don’t think we should have billionaires because quite frankly it is so much money in a moment of such inequality,” said Mamdani on Meet the Press on June 29, 2025, just five days after winning the Democrat primary.

So in addition to overtaxing the wealthy, opening the prisons, legalizing drugs and prostitution, Mamdani also wants to protect illegal aliens and the homosexual community calling for making New York City an LGBTQ sanctuary city, akin to the sanctuary city for the illegals regardless of their sexual orientation. (Not that there’s anything wrong with protecting appropriate gay rights.) Mamdani wants a $65 billion commitment for transgender surgery for children, but did not say from whom the commitment should come. He also called for free abortion and contraception on demand.

Mamdani not only wants to end cooperation with I.C.E., but he wants to abolish the entire department of Immigration and Custom Enforcement. “He’ll ensure our immigrant New Yorkers are protected by strengthening our sanctuary city apparatus, getting I.C.E. out of all city facilities, and ending any cooperation, increasing legal support, and protecting all personal data,” it said on Mamdani’s “Zohran for NYC” site.

This is who the citizens of New York City are going to entrust as their leader?

Even the liberal Washington Post condemned Mamdani as wrong for New York City and wrong for the Democrats. “...New Yorkers should be worried that he would lead Gotham back to the bad old days of civic dysfunction, and Democrats should fear that he will discredit their next generation of party leaders, almost all of whom are better than this democratic socialist,” wrote the Post in a June 26, 2025 editorial, two days after Mamdani took the primary.

When the shouting's all over, voters in New York City may have to paraphrase Hyman Roth from The G-dfather Part II and say, “this is the government we’ve chosen.” Do the voting citizens of New York City deserve better? Or do they deserve the government they’ve chosen? May G-d continue to Bless the good people of New York City - there’s still a few out there; and may G-d continue to Bless these United States of America.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey, a short distance from New York City.

Celebrating Middle East Peace is Premature

Celebrating Middle East Peace is Premature
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 13, 2025

Mazal Tov! The 20 remaining living Israeli hostages held in Gaza by the terrorist organization Hamas have finally been returned to Israeli soil after 738 days in captivity. And they have been released on the eve of Simchas Torah, celebrating the completion of the reading of the Torah - scripture, and the beginning of the reading from Genesis all over again, along with singing and dancing - including dancing with the Torah scrolls. 

Seeing these 20, now former, hostages reunite with families, friends, and other loved ones expressing sheer exhilaration, raw emotions of tears of joy and grief, genuine love, and relief, as well as physical and mental exhaustion should implore anyone with a pulse to thank G-d for their return.

After 738 horrendous, painful days, Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kupershtein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or, and Matan Zangauker are back home in Israel where they belong. Say their names and pray for their mental and physical recovery.

“Those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together we have achieved the impossible. At long last, we have peace in the Middle East,” said President Donald J. Trump.

This potential Gaza Peace Accords deal could only have been accomplished under Trump’s leadership through what President Ronald Reagan often referred to as “peace through strength.” So much strength that Trump took control of these negotiations in spite of countries like Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom recognizing a Palestinian state. Terrorists must never be rewarded with statehood or legitimacy. https://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2025/10/un-rewards-terrorists-near-107.html 

Under the feckless, weak-kneed Joe Biden administration, the United States commanded virtually no respect around the world. Biden displayed personal and political animus toward Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - a continuation of the less than friendly relationship between Biden’s former boss Barack Obama and Netanyahu. Additionally, Biden simply did not have the energy or mental capacity to conduct all the negotiations and deal making required to bring the necessary parties together to even consider such a lasting commitment. Perhaps Trump’s next bestseller ought to be entitled The Art of the Peace Deal.

Yes, potential, so don’t start celebrating Middle East peace just yet. There are still numerous pieces that have yet to navigate their way through this geo-political labyrinth.

The agreement has already been broken by Hamas in their failure to return all 28 bodies of deceased hostages - just four have thus far been sent back to Israel. Does anyone actually think Hamas can or should be trusted? Of course not. Can Hamas simply be marginalized? Will they disarm, as required? Will they actually leave Gaza willingly? Anyone holding their breath? And if so, where will they go? No other country wants them - this is how this kerfuffle began in the first place - so-called refugees for more than 75 years, claiming Israel to be their land. More than 40 Arab/Muslim nations refuse admission to the so-called Palestinians, because those nations know who those so-called refugees are. Yet, it is Israel that continues to be lambasted for not wanting, and with good reason, to absorb these people.

These so-called refugees chose to leave Israel upon its independence in 1948. They chose not to live side by side with the Jewish people in peace. What makes anyone think a so-called two-state solution could ever possibly succeed? Especially when the charters of Hamas and Hezbollah call for the evisceration of the Jewish people and the destruction of Israel. These self-defined refugees were not exiled, unlike the Jewish people living in the Arab/Muslim nations. Longtime thriving Jewish communities in the diaspora of the Middle East and North Africa suffered expulsion, a loss of property, and murder as their populations unwillfully shrank to nearly zero, and in some cases, absolute zero. In Israel, Arab/Muslim populations continue to blossom - completely belying the notion of Israel as an apartheid state. That Israel consistently traded, unadvisedly, land for peace, also evinces the lie of Israel as a colonizer. And, being historically accurate, make no mistake, Gaza is still Israel, as is the so-called West Bank, which, in reality is Judea and Samaria. Judea - as in Jewish - as in the Biblical, historical, indigenous, ancestral home of the Jewish people, and should never be under the auspices of any other peoples or nations. Ever.

Aside from the issue of where members of Hamas should relocate after leaving Gaza, what of the myriad other terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, al-Qaeda, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and Islamic Jihad? What about the Islamic Republic of Iran, the largest state sponsor of terror? Even if Hamas abides by these agreements, none of these other terrorist organizations agreed to anything. They all have the destruction of Israel and the death of the Jewish people as their top priorities. Will the Islamic Republic of Iran offer safe haven to Hamas? Why is Hamas even being given a reprieve for their crimes against humanity in the first place? Quite frankly, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) should stay in Gaza until the last Hamas terrorist is eliminated. Allowing any to live gives them an opportunity to regenerate. There can be no peace with surviving Hamas members or any of the other terror organizations’ members.

If this is intended to be a peace deal, why would there be a demand for the release of upwards of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and prisons? These are criminals convicted of commiting heinous crimes including, but not limited to rape, kidnapping, murder, bombings, and terrorist activities. There is no equivalence, moral or otherwise, between 250 Israelis forcibly taken hostage by Hamas versus criminal Palestinians imprisoned for committing the aforementioned crimes. If there is to be peace in the Middle East all geo-political entities must not only recognize Israel and its right to exist, but to do so in peace. Remember, on October 6, 2023 a ceasefire existed until shattered by Hamas the next morning - on Shabbos and celebration of Simchas Torah.

And just what will peace in Gaza look like? If Hamas is no longer to be the governing authority, who will fill that void? There are 2.1 million so-called Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza is still and should remain part of Israel. Should Gaza become a de facto Palestine? Quite frankly, Gaza is barely inhabitable. If Israel is to rebuild Gaza, it should be reinhabited by Israelis, not unlike those who were forced to evacuate in 2005. Israelis not only fled Gaza, their dead were taken with the living and reburied outside of Gaza. What became of Gaza after the Israelis departed is absolutely disgraceful - the so-called Palestinians destroyed the infrastructure, greenhouses, and even the agriculture, replacing much of it with substandard housing, schools teaching children to kill Jews and hate Israel, mosques preaching the same, and hundreds of miles of underground terror tunnels. Those so-called Palestinians who are truly displaced persons from their destroyed homes should be absorbed by the other Arab/Muslim nations on a per capita basis so as not to create an undue burden on those nations’ economies.

If Israel rebuilds Gaza, it should be Israelis who benefit with and from the businesses, technology centers, hotels and other hospitality at the beach, sports and music venues, as well as new, state of the art hospitals, schools and houses of worship that neither teach nor preach the killing of Jews and the hatred of Israel.

To paraphrase an old adage, a rising peace lifts all economies. The successful Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates moved to normalize relations between those nations. With this future phase of Abraham Accords off in the not so distant horizon, a new era of recognition, cooperation, and hopefully economic partnerships will be ushered in where investments will be made in life saving medical techniques, technology, and agricultural advancements instead of bombs, munitions, and terror tunnels. 

Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia, a country with no diplomatic ties with Israel for decades, spoke before the United Nations on Tuesday September 23. “We must also recognize, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then we can have real peace,” said Subianto, head of state of the largest Muslim-majority nation, with a population of 283 million people. Subianto concluded his speech with “Shalom.”

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He and his wife last visited Israel in 2019 and they look forward to a return trip.

UN Rewards Terrorists Near 10/7 Anniversary

UN Rewards Terrorists Near 10/7 Anniversary 
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 3, 2025

The upcoming celebration of Sukkot will be marred by the still fresh memories and open wounds of the invasion of Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas, the slaughter of more than 1,200 innocent Israelis by Hamas, and the capture of an additional 250 innocents - 48 of whom are still being held hostage by Hamas. Adding insult to injury, the feckless United Nations voted to reward those terrorists with a state, and did so just days before the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah.

The first day of Sukkot, an eight day festival celebrating the harvest, where Jewish People eat their meals in huts, just thatched enough to be able to see the stars in the sky, falls on October 7 - the second dour “anniversary” of the 2023 invasion and massacre. Those huts, Sukkahs, are decorated by children with produce and artwork. Sadly, thanks to Hamas, hundreds of young people will not be able to decorate their family or synagogue sukkahs this year.

And yes, it is Hamas being rewarded with a state. It was the terrorist organization Hamas that garnered a so-called election in Gaza in 2006 - to date the only such plebiscite under the authoritarian and terrorist regime. A regime responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of its own people via shootings, stoning, strangulations, and starvation. Gaza, (Israel) which had been inhabited by Jewish People, withdrew not just the living, but the dead - reintering their deceased out of Gaza in order to allow so-called Palestinians the inhabitation of that land in 2005. Since then, Hamas destroyed the infrastructure left in place by the Jews before vacating Gaza, and in its place Hamas built hundreds of miles of terror tunnels. Gaza has beachfront land that could have been built into the Riviera of the Middle East. But instead, terrorism, murder, rape, kidnapping and destruction became the order of the day.

For those with short memories or who have chosen to ignore facts, reality, and truth, the ceasefire demanded by the useless UN, and a cavalcade of their ignorant minions (so-called sovereign nations living on their knees), actually existed until October 6, 2023 when Hamas shattered it by slaughtering more than 1,200 innocent Israeli children, women, and men, many attending a music festival, others preparing to observe Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah celebrates the completion of the reading of the Torah - scripture, and the beginning of the reading from Genesis all over again, along with singing and dancing - including dancing with the Torah scrolls. Hamas produced its own video footage of their heinous crimes against humanity - including raping little girls and women, murdering pregnant women, murdering babies and children, as well as the kidnapping of more than 250 other innocents. Of those 250 hostages, 48 are still in captivity, with 20 believed to be alive - maybe. Put in perspective, consider if more than 40,000 Americans were murdered on September 11, 2001.

In the two years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel, in unprecedented actions, Israel warned civilians in Gaza, via various forms of media, to flee for their safety as the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) sought to eliminate Hamas and other terrorists. Additionally, it is Hamas killing its own people - preventing them from seeking safe havens because of the optics to make Israel look guilty in the eyes of the anti-Israel press, the UN, and other detractors. It is Hamas starving its own people - again with video proof - by hijacking thousands of tons of food and medical supplies sent into Gaza provided by Israel. Hamas then extorts its own people in an effort to fund their continued terrorist war against Israel. While Israel gives Gazan civilians warnings before strikes against Hamas, it is Hamas hiding in hospitals, elementary schools, even mosques - desecrating their own houses of worship.

And for all the damage, death, and destruction perpetrated by Hamas and its rabid supporters, the UN decided now is the right time to reward that evil, heinous, murderous behavior. So the message, the takeaway, is clearly rape, kidnap, and kill as many Jews and Israelis as possible and you will become a sovereign nation within the family of nations. Where will this nation exist? With what borders? Under what leadership? With what form of government? Will this be the same nation people supporting a two-state solution have naively called for? Naively because it is written in the charter of Hamas (and Hezbollah) that the Jewish People are to be eliminated (killed), and the sovereign, independent nation of Israel is to be razed. One cannot negotiate with, or peacefully coexist with those seeking your total annihilation. And those rabid supporters include the tens of thousands of painfully ignorant college students residing full time in their echo chambers driving the rates of antisemitism through the roof. And the overseas antisemitism that includes the attack on, and murder in a Manchester, UK synagogue on Yom Kippur (Oct. 2), the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

This is also why land for peace is a perpetual failure. Once land is gone, it is gone; peace is fleeting at best. A nation for the Palestinian people must never include land that is Israel. And that includes the so-called “West Bank,” which is, and always has been Jewish land - Judea and Samaria - Judea, as in Jewish, and should never belong to anyone else. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Islamic Jihad, and myriad terrorist organizations won’t even acknowledge Israel as a nation or recognize its basic right to exist as a people, as a sovereign nation. They certainly wouldn’t dare to praise Israel for being the most democratic nation in the Middle East affording equal rights to its citizenry - Jewish, Christian, Druze, Muslim, Israeli, and Arab. They serve in the military, the Knesset (parliament), work as judges, doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, businessmen, and teachers. All these terrorist organizations want is the death and destruction of the Jewish people and its Biblical, eternal, indigenous, native land of Israel. That is never a viable solution.

The UN voted overwhelmingly, on September 12, to reward terrorism and terrorists with a nation called Palestine, as 142 nations voted in favor, 10 voted against, and 12 abstained. The 10 nations opposing the measure included the United States, Israel, Hungary, Argentina, Paraguay, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga. These are the brightest nations in an increasingly dim UN who know terrorism and terrorists should never be rewarded with a nation, or anything else. (https://www.newsweek.com/un-general-assembly-israel-palestine-two-state-solution-2129372) 

Israel and the Jewish People, a scant 0.2 percent of the global population - not two percent, two-tenths of one percent, are fighting for mere survival on a daily basis. From the executions, expulsions, pogroms, and Holocaust prior to the present-day re-founding of Israel in 1948, to the five-pronged invasion upon the announcement of independence, to the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the intifadas, the War with Iran, and the myriad continuous invasions and terrorist attacks on an almost daily basis, as well as the calumny of disinformation, misinformation, and outright lies perpetuated by Israel’s enemies, the UN, and the global press, Israel is in a constant state of defense and survival mode. While they are made to be a constant victim, they are not behaving like a victim - laying on the floor crying, whimpering in the corner. 

No, instead, Israel and the Jewish People are doing what is right and necessary to not just survive, but prosper and thrive. Public opinion be damned. Israel and the Jewish people must stand strong, be bold, be proud - speak out against antisemitism wherever it may be - on campus, in the cities, in the media, and in the body politic. Dara Horn (no relation) wrote an excellent book - People Love Dead Jews, a title that speaks volumes. That there is sympathy, for, and a desire to read about dead Jews in history, and not the living. It is the living Jewish People who are the future of a strong, vibrant nation, growing stronger in their faith, their patriotism, and their continuing contribution to all avenues of society - medicine, law, education, science, literature, and service to community. The Jewish People and Israel - hardly monolithic - survived the pogroms, the Holocaust, October 7, 2023, and will continue to do so in spite of the terrorists, the antisemitic press and academia, and the antisemitic UN and its tentacled agencies, such as UNRA, UNESCO, WHO, and ICC. 

Am Israel Chai. עם ישראל חי.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He and his wife last visited Israel in 2019 and they look forward to a return trip.

SGA Votes in Ignorance Against Israel

SGA Votes in Ignorance Against Israel
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 22, 2025

The University of Maryland’s Student Government Association ignorantly voted overwhelmingly urging the University to “acknowledge Israel’s military offensive in Gaza as a genocide and call for a ceasefire.” (Diamondback, 9/18/25) The vote by the feckless SGA cast 25 ballots supporting the resolution, one abstention, and one vote opposed, by an obviously knowledgeable member of that student body.

The SGA resolution came on the heels of a United Nations report urging Israel and all countries to end the genocide. No mention of which other countries encompassed “all countries,” while, as is typical of the UN, singling out Israel. The SGA followed in the uneducated, inept footsteps of a virulently antisemitic UN, clearly without doing its own due diligence. Since 2015 the UN voted to sanction Israel 140 times, while sanctioning the rest of the world a combined 68 times - this includes only six times against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. (https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-condemned-israel-more-than-all-other-countries-combined-in-2022-monitor/)

This is the same UN that voted overwhelmingly, on September 12, to reward terrorism and terrorists with a nation called Palestine, as 142 nations voted in favor, 10 voted against, and 12 abstained. The 10 nations opposing the measure included the United States, Israel, Hungary, and Argentina. (https://www.newsweek.com/un-general-assembly-israel-palestine-two-state-solution-2129372)  A nation for the Palestinian people must never include land that is Israel, the Biblical, indigenous, eternal, native land of the Jewish people. The Jewish people did not colonize the land, as it has been theirs for more than 3,500 years. Israel is a sovereign nation affording equal rights to its citizenry - Jewish, Christian, Druze, Muslim, Israeli, and Arab. They serve in the military, the Knesset (parliament), work as judges, doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, businessmen, and teachers. 

The land called the “West Bank,” is, and always has been Jewish land - Judea and Samaria - Judea, as in Jewish, and should never belong to anyone else. Gaza, (Israel) which had been inhabited by Jewish people, withdrew not just the living, but the dead - reintering their deceased out of Gaza in order to allow Palestinian people that land in 2005. Since then, having elected the terrorist group Hamas as its leadership, no other election has been held, Hamas destroyed the infrastructure left in place by the Jews before vacating Gaza, and in its place Hamas built hundreds of miles of terror tunnels. Gaza has beachfront land that could have been built as the Riviera of the Middle East. But instead, terrorism, murder, and destruction became the order of the day.

Consider this ceasefire the UN demands. What the UN refuses to acknowledge, and by association, the SGA, is that a ceasefire existed on October 6, 2023, until Hamas shattered it by slaughtering more than 1,200 innocent Israeli children, women, and men, many attending a music festival, others preparing to observe Simchat Torah. (Simchat Torah celebrates the completion of the reading of the Torah - scripture, and the beginning of the reading from Genesis all over again.) Hamas produced video footage of their heinous crimes against humanity - including raping girls and women, murdering pregnant women, murdering children, and the kidnapping of more than 250 other innocents. Of those 250 hostages, 48 are still in captivity, with 20 believed to be alive.

Since October 7, 2023 - almost two years after the Hamas invasion of Israel, in unprecedented actions, Israel warned civilians in Gaza, via various forms of media, to flee for their safety as the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) sought to eliminate Hamas and other terrorists. Additionally, it is Hamas killing its own people - preventing them from seeking safe havens because of the optics to make Israel look guilty in the eyes of the anti-Israel press, the UN, and other detractors. It is Hamas starving its own people - again with video proof - by hijacking thousands of tons of food and medical supplies sent into Gaza provided by Israel. Hamas then extorts its own people in an effort to fund their continued terrorist war against Israel. While Israel gives Gazan civilians warnings before strikes against Hamas, it is Hamas hiding in hospitals, elementary schools, even mosques - desecrating their own houses of worship.

The resolution voted upon by the University of Maryland’s Student Government Association, is at best shortsighted, at worst, dangerous and ignorant. In the United States of America, the greatest country on earth, we the people are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts. Both the UN and the SGA must travel outside of their echo chambers for facts, reality, and truth.

Sanford D. Horn, Maryland, Class of 1988 - History/Government and Politics, is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. During his time at Maryland, he served on several SGA committees (among other activities).

Absence of Religion Opened Door to Chaos

Absence of Religion Opened Door to Chaos
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 21, 2025

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the advent of the Jewish New Year ushering in the year 5786, I wax a bit more introspectively, perhaps more so as the political assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is still raw. He sought order amidst the chaos.

That order, for Charlie, came through the church. I find that same order in the synagogue, or shul. One of the myriad things, in addition to our abiding faith in G-d, Charlie and I had in common is our observance of the Jewish Sabbath - Shabbat. I heard Charlie often say he observed the Jewish Sabbath - from Friday night sundown, through Saturday night sundown. He reveled in the opportunity to step back from the rigors of the work week - those same six days the L-rd labored before, as it says in scripture, “He ceased from work and rested.” If that’s good enough for G-d, it most certainly is good enough for the rest of us.

Charlie said Shabbat gave him the all important family time - with his wife Erika and their two children he lacked the other six days of the week. He said they turned off their phones - they had no connection with the outside world, and the outside world had no connection with them.

Religion offers order amidst chaos. Many people have declared the structure of a church or shul service grants them peace - the ritual. I know walking into any shul, whether in Indianapolis where we live, or Baltimore, Mexico City, or Jerusalem at what point the service is. This is due to the ritual. Whether a prayer is being chanted or recited, I know where to turn in the siddur - prayer book. It’s familiar; comforting, and shuts out the outside world providing order amidst the chaos.

When religion found itself exiled from daily life, it opened the door to chaos, and the devil, and far too frequently that chaos, that devil, found acceptance in people’s lives. More than a century ago conservatives ceded the education of our children to the left, which preached, among other things, unimportance of the family. The federal government took that one step further when it replaced the father in the home with a welfare check - infinitely less order and much more chaos. Fatherless boys turned to gangs for a father figure, and more often than not, it ended with a prison record or a coffin. Single parent families lead to more children dropping out of school, higher crime rates, greater use of illicit drugs, higher teen pregnancy, and sadly, more slaughter of children in the womb - abortion. I witnessed this up close and in person having taught middle and high school in inner city public and charter schools. Perhaps were prayer returned to school along with dress codes or uniforms order could begin to be restored.

This is the point of no return - when people lose their humanity, when life ceases to have value, which is what has given rise to the point at which our society stands now - solving disagreements and arguments with political assassinations. A grim figure shows a growing acceptance, almost exclusively from the left, that assassination is an acceptable form of behavior as a solution to a problem. Particularly among the 18-35 generation. Increased polarization separating left from right is not just on a sharp rise, it seems to be coming more from one side than another. Almost exclusively from the left, and even a couple on the right, live in echo chambers where they only hear that which they agree with, and to hear anything to the contrary causes them discomfort and triggers them to behave irrationally. There is no law protecting people from hearing things with which they do not agree or that discomforts them.

Just recently on the floor of the House of Representatives when a call for a moment of prayer in memory of the just fallen Charlie Kirk, a number of Democrats loudly objected, and then continued to interrupt the attempts to memorialize Kirk in prayer. Why? Because they disagreed with him? The man stood for free speech, and sadly, died because of free speech. This is what is masquerading as free speech from the left? Democrats and leftists employed cancel culture throughout the Biden administration to silence and demonize the right or scare the right into submission. Fortunately that did not work.

A leftist assassinated Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare in New York City on December 4, 2024 to the glee of those on the left. SO much so, they are celebrating the assassin. An extremist antisemite assassinated Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim - two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, DC on May 21, 2025. Deranged trans leftists are responsible for shootings at two religious schools - three students and three adults murdered at Covenant School in the Nashville suburb of Green Hills on March 27, 2023, and just last month two students lost their lives at the Annunciation Catholic School in the Minneapolis suburb of Windom on August 27. And of course, two attempts on the life of President Trump during the 2024 campaign, which also have been celebrated by many on the left.

When George Floyd died in Minneapolis the left razed the city. No order whatsoever. Pure chaos. During the so-called summer of love in Seattle, no order, just chaos as people were killed in the streets. This came from the left. As did the virulent campus antisemitism, which plunged college and university campuses into academic darkness, unrest, and centers of abject fear for Jewish students. Again pure chaos. Absolutely no order. So much so, a number of university presidents found themselves on the unemployment line. Upon the assassination of Charlie Kirk no violent outbreaks or rioting, no looting and robbing of stores and businesses, no arsons occurred. Instead, outbreaks of prayer vigils, candlelight vigils, memorials with flowers and Bible verses could be found nationwide.

But if our so-called leaders continue to set such poor examples, in the halls of Congress, the halls of school houses where teachers often dress like streetwalkers and bums with voluminous piercings and tattoos, chaos will continue to reign while order won’t even be visible in the rear view mirror. One network noted, the Sunday following the assassination of Charlie Kirk saw a noticeable increase in church service attendance. I made the same observation the day before, in shul, on Shabbat.

If there is any hope for order it must start with leadership in all walks of life. Set an example. Turn off those phones for a 24 hour period. Dedicate oneself to the study of scripture, the Torah, even if for just an hour or two. Over the next three weeks Jewish people the world over will be immersed in prayer, reflection, introspection, seeking forgiveness from not only G-d, but from each other (that’s not so easy), and seeking inscription in the Book of Life for the next year. Throughout Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), and Simchat Torah (celebration of the completion of the cycle of reading the Torah and the beginning of the cycle yet again), there will be intense spirituality and ritual, returning us to order.

Let’s fill the pews and seats of the churches and shuls for meaningful religious experiences, reinvigorate family and family values, restore American values and patriotism as we approach America’s 250th birthday, return to what our founding documents stand for, including our freedoms of speech and religion. Freedom OF religion, not FROM religion. Bring G-d back to daily life and chaos will surrender to order. To those who will observe, Shana Tova Umetuka (a good and sweet year.)

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Conservative Influencer Charlie Kirk Assassinated

Conservative Influencer Charlie Kirk Assassinated
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 10, 2025

Charlie Kirk, the enormously popular conservative commentator, influencer, and co-founder of Turning Point USA died at the hands of an assassin’s bullet while responding to a question about transgender school shooters during an event at Utah Valley University. The lone fatal bullet hit Kirk, just 31, in the carotid artery on the left side of his neck, shortly after noon MDT. Witnesses reported blood gushing out of Kirk’s neck. Confirmation of Kirk’s death came from President Donald Trump at 4:40 PM EDT. Kirk died at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah.

“The Great, and even Legendary Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” posted Trump on his Truth Social network. Trump also called for flags to be lowered to half-staff through Sunday, September 14. 

Ironically, a self-taught college dropout himself, Kirk entered the belly of the beast visiting campus after campus from coast to coast to challenge the students living in their echo chambers. His purpose on campus had been not to lecture, but to debate any and all comers. In the interest of calling for an open exchange of ideas Kirk would typically open his events with, “if you disagree with me, move to the front of the line.” It did not appear that any topic was off limits, but favorites of his audiences usually included, abortion, American values, Judeo-Christian values, faith, capitalism, democracy, socialism, and communism. Having seen several of these Kirk-student exchanges on YouTube, Kirk masterfully gave students more than enough rope from which to hang themselves, and typically by their own words, leaving them twisting into the ground.

Charles James Kirk, born in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, IL co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 at just 18 years of age. Kirk’s co-founder of the non-profit was businessman William “Bill” Montgomery (1940-2020). Strongly advocating for conservative issues and politics, Turning Point USA proudly boasts of more than 3,500 chapters on high school and college campuses, totaling more than 250,000 members, and the Utah Valley University event appeared on the schedule as part of the American Comeback Tour. Utah Valley University is located in Orem about 40 miles south of the state capital of Salt Lake City. It is the largest university in Utah, with more than 40,000 students. More than 2,000 people attended the Kirk event of September 10. The large numbers of people attending Kirk’s events on campuses required most of them to be held in outdoor venues, such as the quad near the food court at Utah Valley.

“When people stop talking, that’s when violence happens,” Kirk often said.

This is not the first volley in the politically violent war on conservatives by the rabid, extreme left. This is yet another phase in the culture war, vying for the hearts, minds, and soul of America. A supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (DS-VT) shot four men, including then House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) at a baseball practice on June 14, 2017 in Alexandria, VA. Another far leftist assassinated Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare in New York City on December 4, 2024. An extremist antisemite assassinated Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim - two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, DC on May 21, 2025. Deranged trans leftists are responsible for shootings at two religious schools - three students and three adults murdered at Covenant School in the Nashville suburb of Green Hills on March 27, 2023, and just last month two students lost their lives at the Annunciation Catholic School in the Minneapolis suburb of Windom on August 27. And of course, two attempts on the life of President Trump during the 2024 campaign.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared his thoughts on the assassination of Kirk on X: “Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom. A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization. I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel. Sadly that visit will not take place. We lost an incredible human being. His boundless pride in America and his valiant belief in free speech will leave a lasting impact. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.”

Kirk’s popularity and strong following helped him change an election. Kirk understood young people, and Trump garnered a greater percentage of their votes in 2024 versus 2020. In the under age 30 constituency Trump won 41 percent of the male vote in 2020, improving to 56 percent in 2024. With women, Trump earned 33 percent of their vote in 2020, rising to 40 percent in 2024. Trump largely credited Kirk for those electoral successes. (Source: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement - CIRCLE)

In his personal life, Kirk enjoyed success and many blessings, having married his wife Erika in 2021. The couple welcomed their daughter in 2022 and their son in 2024. They must now soldier on without a husband and a father, but with the support of a movement he created.

That movement must not only carry on in Kirk’s stead, it must continue to grow and thrive to preserve Kirk’s memory and that he did not perish in vain. Kirk’s supporters, those thousands and thousands on the myriad campuses across the nation must ensure his legacy by speaking up, speaking out, speaking louder - now more than ever to let his assassin know they will not be intimidated or silenced. Instead, like waking a sleeping lion from a long slumber, the roar must be heard from coast to coast. That conservative, American, Judeo-Christian values will win the day, month, year, and millennium.

“Honor the Sabbaths and turn your phones off one day a week,” Kirk also said.

Charlie Kirk, a champion of free speech, traversing college campuses the nation over, gave an open forum for all who wanted to "ask me anything," and to "prove me wrong," as the signage said at his events. He strove to conduct open debate with anyone who disagreed with him, taking on all challengers. Charlie Kirk lived for free speech, and now he has died because of free speech. His name will undoubtedly be invoked, and Charlie Kirk will be martyred through the 2026 midterms. Yes, this is a political assassination. Charlie Kirk's death, his murder, is a hate crime, a political assassination. Charlie Kirk was murdered - assassinated because of his love of country, his love of his children, and his love of Christ.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

9/11 at 24 - Was Lincoln Right?

9/11 at 24 - Was Lincoln Right? 
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 5, 2025

On January 27, 1838, at a mere 28 years of age, Abraham Lincoln gave what would prove to be a seminal address at the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, IL. In these most precarious times in which we the people live in these United States, Lincoln’s words, perhaps prophetically, should be heeded.

Lincoln begins with a now common comparison between the current generation and the prior, articulating similar concerns as are expressed in the 20th and 21st centuries - the prior more patriotic, better prepared for the future, etc. And with that keen observation, Lincoln warns that the future of the United States is in the hands of the up and coming generations, and they must work hard to preserve it within the Constitutional realm or it shall be laid waste by our own hands.

“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide,” said Lincoln.

There exists within these United States a growing animus toward our own nation mostly from within our borders rather than outside those borders. The extreme, radical anti-American, anticapitalist, antidemocracy, antisemtic forces that have dominated academia for more than a century is as good a place to start as any. College campuses are destructive breeding grounds for the aforementioned “antis.” 

Now more than ever before Jewish students on myriad campuses not only feel unsafe, but are unsafe - from Columbia University to Cal-Berkeley and points in between. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 were as much an antsemitic assault on America, as it was anti-American, anticapitalist, and antidemocracy. The Islamic extremist terrorists struck at centers of large Jewish populations - New York City and Washington, DC, also the seat of finance in New York City, and the seat of the federal government in Washington.

The destruction from within about which Lincoln warns/prophisizes is a genuine concern thanks to some of the most dangerous people in America. Bill Gates, who supports mandated vaccinations regardless of age and health conditions, is a huge proponent of population reduction - both in the United States and globally, and thus is one of the most dangerous Americans. 

Another homegrown virulently dangerous American is Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. According to their annual report, with the most current data available, during the period October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023, Planned Parenthood committed 402,230 murders of children in the womb via abortion. Consider that 620,000 people lost their lives during the War Between the States that spanned four and a half years versus the abhorrent Planned Prenthood figure for a single year. It is both daunting and telling. Even after the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, the next full year of abortion statistics is beyond disturbing.

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is among the most dangerous people in America. This homegrown peddler of anti-American, antisemitic hate filled bilge reaches international audiences with a large following. Never missing an opportunity to condemn both the United States and Israel, Tlaib consistently reminds those willing to listen to her, that “her people” are not only here to stay, but alter the course of American history. Kind of reminds one of the evil words spoken by Barack Hussein Obama on October 30, 2008 in Columbia, MO. “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Perhaps still the most popular Democrat in America, Obama is certainly a dangerous American.

Chicago-born US Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) had the audacity to say “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American,” while attending the second annual Panamerican Congress in Mexico City, during the first week of August. If these are the public pronouncements of an elected official, Ramirez is certainly one of the most dangerous people in America. She should be censured and expelled from Congress. Here’s another couple of scary thoughts - Ramirez not only serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security, but she admitted her husband Boris is in the United States illegally - the lone member of Congress to hold such a dubious distinction. 

The dramatic weakness and failure of the immigration system in the United States is responsible for millions of anti-Americans to enter this country either legally or illegally, thanks to poor or no vetting, to then peddle their anti-American, America Last tropes; some now occupy elected positions in the body politic. Somali-born, now US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) condemns the US and Israel as often as humanly possible. She typically calls the United States the worst country in the world. She came from Somalia! If she feels this way, she can pack her rather expensive bags, and the $6-30 million she claims to have amassed during her short time in Congress and return to Somalia with our Blessings. In fact, if Omar loathes America that much, just leave - take nothing earned in America with you.

Hungarian-born George Soros and his American-born son Alexander are purveyors of the father’s Open Society - no borders, one world order, one global currency, and virulently anti-American. Soros for years contributed millions of dollars to sanctuary city mayoral candidates, sanctuary state gubernatorial candidates, anti-law and order district attorney candidates, all for the purpose of weakening America from within. 

To see Soros’s successes all one need do is look at the high crime rates of virtually every large American city and the mayoral and DA candidates he supported that won. Witness the number of illegal aliens who have committed heinous crimes leaving dead young Americans scattered across the fruited plain. Soros, in one way or another, is responsible for dangerous Americans such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) - both of whom have designs on the White House in 2028. Add to the mix Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D-CA) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D-IL). Johnson is single-handedly producing more Black Republican Congressional candidates than the GOP could muster on its own. None of these elected officials are representing their constituents, but instead the illegal aliens they are protecting in their sanctuary jurisdictions.

Another import, and Democrat candidate for mayor of New York City is Uganda native Zohran Mamdani, one of the most dangerous people in America. This virulent antisemite, Islamo-Marxist, anti-American is gaining in popularity in the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel said “we have to destroy the idea of America.” Is this the person who should be charged with leading the biggest city in the United States? Is this the person, a Communist, who should lead the city that is the seat of America’s financial life? Mamdani has said repeatedly, and endorses the mantra “globalize the intifada,” and vowed he would never set foot in Israel. Is this the person who should be at the helm of one of America’s most diverse populations? Mamdani’s smarmy grin has the look of satan about him.

Dishonorbale mentions go to US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). They are lightning rods with large  followings, continuing to pull the Democrat Party farther and farther to the left, while the party seems to follow willingly. They are dishonorable mentions as they are vapid traffickers of lies, manipulations, and disinformation who can be detected from a mile away.

On Thursday, September 11, for the 24th consecutive year, the names of the 2,977 innocent souls, murdered by 19 Islamic extremist terrorists who skyjacked four American airplanes with the express purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible against people, property, and the body politic, will be read.

For the 24th year we will, and we must, pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Islamic extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, 64 degree Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging this nation and the world into darkness and chaos. (And perhaps the last time Deomcrats and Republicans stood together for any reason.)

But are we too far removed from that calamitous and fateful day? Or will the prophetic words of Mr. Lincoln jar the sensibilities of the American people reminding them the importance of closed borders, strong defense, deportation of illegal aliens, no sanctuary cities/states, safe streets, and the right of every parent to decide at what school their children should be educated.

A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:

        Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights depart Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

        8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly. 

        9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly. 

        9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

        9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground.

        9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered. 

        10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. 

        10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

        10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians  and first responders are murdered. 

        8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

This must never be forgotten. To forget is to become complacent. This nation has traversed down a path of complaceny that has invited enemies from abroad, supported by the homegrown who have turned toward Marxism, Islamofascism, antisemitism, and anti-Americanism - the bellwethers of our destruction. They must all be curbed and eradicated from within as we restore and strengthen the greatness that once was, and will be again, the United States of America.

May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001, and those who succumbed to related illnesses thereafter, always be for a blessing.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon. His annual 9/11 column is dedicated to the memory of the 2,977 murdered that day and the hundreds who have died since due to its unhealthy aftermath.