Project 2996: Remembering Laurie Ann Neira

Project 2996 is a tribute to the victims of September 11, 2001. Maggie's Notebook will honor the memories and the lives of some of those lost that terrible day.

2,996 stories...2,996 voices...2,996 remembered.

Laurie Ann Neira was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 departing from Boston to Los Angeles, after a visit with family. The photograph at the right is Laurie in 1997 with her daughter Francisca, known as Frannie, on Frannie's wedding day.

Laurie worked for Your Office Genie, and a look around the Internet finds many workers remembering her fondly. Some knew her personally, and others recognized her as a co-worker they had not yet met.

One of Laurie's best friends as a teenager in Rowley, Massachusetts, Debbie Madruga Richards, wrote fond memories of their earlier friendship, when they moved to 'The Big Apple' together at age 18.

Laurie was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts. She met her future husband, Gilberto (Gil) in New York City. In 1975 the family, now consisting of Mom, Dad and Francisca moved to Los Angeles. Later, Frannie's brother Christopher was born. Each year after the move, the family returned to their Massachusetts roots for a visit.

Frannie and Laurie were in Boston on their annual trip, but were flying back to L.A. separately.

From Frannie:

"We had the best time together. Then, on 9/1//01 we went to the airport together. The car rental shuttle dropped [Laurie] off at her terminal first, she going on American, and me going on Delta. 

My last words to her were, see you back home."

American Airlines Flight 11 was taken over by hijackers after about 15 minutes after takeoff. Frannie's Delta flight made an emergency landing in Ohio. That is how she learned of her mother's fate.  All flights were grounded, and she was left alone there for three days. 

Frannie says her mother was the glue that held the family together. 

"She was the most loving and caring person I have ever known. She was a loving and devoted Wife and Mother to me and my brother Christopher. She was also a doting Grandmother to my daughter Amanda - she couldn't wait to be a Grandma! She was taken from our family too soon and left a void that will never be filled again."

Note to family: If you find this tribute and would like to add any information about Laurie Ann Neira, please let me know. My email is about half-way down the page on the right side, or leave a comment.

Good Grief. Is that a Panty Line or...a Thong: FLOTUS Does Wal-Mart

Who is advising FLOTUS? Doesn't she have a 'dresser,' and a hairdresser and a mirror? Is that a...a...panty line for all the world to see...on the First Lady of the United States of America? Good grief!

Thanks to my biggest little brother.

Right Reading Round-up 9-7-10 at Maggie's Notebook

I really enjoy reading "round-up" articles from respected bloggers because I find new blogs, and new takes on old issues. I also love to do my own reading round-up because the powerful writing on conservative blogs is simply mind-blowing. This time I found far too many for one post, so I will have another in a day or two. In the meantime...

The Astute Bloggers Alliance: Islam - The Religion of Genocide and the Spanish Inquisition via Always on Watch

Thomas Sowell [Thomas Sowell, Race and Culture, BasicBooks, 1994, p. 188] estimates that 11 million slaves were shipped across the Atlantic and 14 million were sent to the Islamic nations of North Africa and the Middle East.

Alway on Watch - I'm Taking Action

A  video rant reminding us we must be engaged in the November elections.

Bob McCarty Writes - Attorney Tells Story of Wrongly-Imprisoned Soldier

Please read about Corey - 4 years in solitary confinement in Leavenworth for following orders and killing 3 al-Qaeda. See the video



Fausta's Blog on Happy Big Government day?

What is the true cost of the union label?

The Current has a clip of a Jay Leno monologue

 Welcoming the Marines to his show, and acclaiming the wisdom of Hillary Clinton

 The Captain's Quarters - Mosques and the Islamization of America

Under Sharia law, men are the judge, jury and executionser of women, and Obama apparently thinks Americans are too stupid to know this.

Mustang at Social Sense - Irresponsible Behavior

Undeterred by these unhappy events, UC Berkley graduates Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal, and Shane Bauer mistakenly wandered into Iran while on a holiday to the Middle East. As an aside, we wonder what kind of idiot goes on holiday in a region of the world where Islamic radicals hang homosexuals from cherry pickers, leaving their rotting corpses on display to the masses. We don’t think they were on holiday at all. We think they were making a Code Pink statement supporting the Iranians against their own countrymen —but this is the value of a UC Berkeley education.

Stop the ACLU - Beat Whitey Night Deemed Not Racial

What a relief. Remember all the folks who were assaulted at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Beat Whitey Night? Authorities have determined there was no racism involved. A spokeswoman who suggested otherwise has been punished. 

Chicagoan's Conservative Chronicles - Koran Burning Stunt Ill Advised and Provocative

I think it would serve just as much of a purpose to just cancel the thing the day before. He will have ‘tweaked the Muslims’ and brought some attention to it and perhaps they’ll act like animals anyways and prove the point without actually ‘burning’ them.

That’s just how I feel, I wouldn’t want them burning bibles, but then again, they don’t have time for that in between killing and beheading Jews Muslims and Christians whenever they can.

NEWSFLASH - Because of this article, Ray at Conservative Chronicles has been asked to appear on the BBC's global radio program, World Have Your Say. He is scheduled for the next Islamic-issue-oriented segment. Congratulations Ray!

teresamerica - More Black Conservatives speaking their Minds to Al Sharpton Protesters in DC

A teacher's voice is heard in this powerful video - WOW, she is good!

Doug Ross - The Top Ten 'Earth from Above' Photos

Awesome! Take a look at the Military cemetery in Verdun, France, the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark and the ruins of a medieval city of Shali, Egypt

Reaganite Republican - Bumbling Obama will need a Miracle to Avoid Jimmy Carter's Fate Now

...the harsh caning his power-mad Democratic Party is about to receive at the hand of the American voter now spells doom for the entire Obama "progressive" legislative agenda

 Si Vis Pacem - How About...Shock Therapy on the Delaware Primary

Mike Castle doesn’t represent much of a choice on either plank in the long run.  If O’Donnell sells her message well, a lot of those seeking liberty and prosperity will vote with her.

 Ran is celebrating his First Annibloggary! Stop by, read about the Conservative in the Delaware Senate race (not the Republican incumbent), and salute his Annibloggary

Matt at Conservative Hideout 2.0 - The Hottest Hoax Around

Check out what has been happening while Leftists worshipped at the throne of global warming - very interesting video. Don't miss it at about 8 mins-in.

Holger Awakens - Egyptian Cleric: If Women are Harassed in Hijab, Stay in the House.

 "Allah mentioned the adulteress first because it is women who seduce to sin. Women tempt men and attract them. By Allah, if a woman covers and protects herself, nobody will attack her.

American Power Blog - Why Won't Barbara Boxer Debate Carly Fiorina?

Carly Fiorina is hot on the issues and totally polished. She doesn't get flustered at all. Barbara Boxer agreed to one debate previously, and according to George Skelton, she came up short and she's balking at another round

The Lonely Conservative - They're Coming After Our Retirement Accounts

I told you about this in October of 2008, and again in May of this year. There is too much wealth sitting out there in private retirement accounts and the progressive statists want to get their hands on it.

No Sheeples Here - Project 2996: Remembering Darlene "Dee" Flagg

Project 2996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11. 2,996 stories…2,996 voices…2,996 remembered. Each day, from now until September 11th, this blog will honor the memory of a 9/11 victim.

Carol at No Sheeple Here also produced a video reminder of the days just following September 11, 2001 

Visit Project 2996 here

Chris Christie Mike Castle: Christie Endorses RINO Castle: Good Faith Pledge in Order?

So, there are few problems here: Senator Mike Castle is a RINO - yes, he is. He voted for cap and trade and he voted for the DISCLOSE Act. What more do you need to hang the RINO sign around his neck? Those watching the race closely, however, believe Christine O'Donnell is a conservative, but...some of those watching closely do not believe O'Donnell can beat the Democrat opponent. I suggest Republican House leadership secure a good faith pledge from Castle that he will never, ever again vote to silence us with the DISCLOSE Act, or any similar legislation, and never, ever vote for a Democrat version of cap and trade. And do this before the election. Doing so defines the meaning of "House Leadership." But please read on, there are other considerations.

Mike Castle's political leanings

From Ace:

I do not know why it is that Mike Castle is running 12 points or so ahead of his Democratic rival. It could be partly due to his despised RINOism, of course. And it's also due to personal characteristics which he alone possesses and cannot be transferred to O'Donnell -- like, as the state's only at-large Representative (the state has only one Rep.), he knows everyone in the state, has campaigned statewide nine times before. For whatever reason, the voters trust him, seem to like him. (Well, "like" as much as one can like a politician.)

For whatever reason, they've decided he's okay by them. And preferable to a Democrat. And so he polls 10-12 points ahead.

Meanwhile the latest Rasmussen poll puts O'Donnell ten points behind Coons.

And on that point, I ask, where is the plausible pathway to candidate growth? What is the realistic plan for getting O'Donnell up from ten points down to at least even?

Castle's Republican challenger is Christine O'Donnell. She is not a politician, but is a conservative activist. We have non-political activists running across the country, and that is a good thing, but this one is particularly problematic.

The other side of this is the GOP Fossils who are trying to denigrate O'Donnell and force her to drop out of the race, and are apparently paying people to "stalk her." From TheOtherMcCain:

Let me repeat the question I asked over the weekend: How many pro-life voters in Delaware? Castle’s pro-choice, O’Connell’s pro-life, and that life-or-death issue ought to be decisive in a GOP primary.

If the bottom line is O'Donnell cannot win (and polls are not always the last word) let's tell the Republican leadership to demand a few promises from Mike Castle or they will move to O'Donnell's camp.

In the video below, Christie says a vote for Castle is a vote for "smaller, smarter government." What? Even GovTrack shows Castle only barely Republican (see the graphic above). See Castle's past voting record, which sides with Democrats far more often than with Republicans. However GovTrack also says in the current Congress he has voted with Republicans 87.3% of the time. Sigh. I can't tell you how  comfortable it is to live in a Conservative, very red state. See the Christie endorsement below.


Governor Chris Christie Endorses Mike Castle (video)

Carson-Gore Academy Toxic: Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Sciences Built on Toxic Dirt

The Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Sciences is scheduled to receive 675 high school students on September 13th, 2010 in the Arlington Heights area of Los Angeles. But...the monument school named after Rachel Carson and Al Gore has been built on "toxic" dirt. The $75 million school "naming" committee chose "Carson-Gore" to first honor Rachel Carson, the killer of millions of African babies after successfully getting DDT banned almost world-wide, and the former Vice-President and author Al Gore, who has worked feverishly to murder the America economy and steal the wallets of all Americans through his "green" initiatives. After cleaning up the toxic dirt under the school, if that's possible, Gore and Carson will remain toxic to humans. Do we have any doubt that the teachers at this "academy" will be toxic to our children?

This LA Times article says construction workers worked "up to" the Labor Day weekend replacing the toxic dirt from two 3,800 square-foot plots - to a depth of 45 feet - enough to hold a four-story building. It is unclear whether the building has now been deemed safe. The school principal plans to install an organic food garden, but the seeds will not be sown in above-ground planters.

From The Blaze:

Before settling on honoring Gore, the school’s naming committee teased the idea of naming the school after a communist, but that idea was dropped after one member of the committee objected:

In the spring, a school-naming committee received six options, including Pete Seeger Community School. A representative from school board member Marguerite suggested that the folk singer’s “affiliation with the Communist Party among other factors, made that choice inappropriate, two in attendance recalled.

Read more about Rachel Carson who convinced environmentalists, and governments, that spraying with DDT to kill mosquito-borne diseases...the only effective preventative for malaria, was harmful when in fact, it was life-saving. Keep this in mind, a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds. If you survive it, it reoccurs all though-out the life-span. There is no cure. World-wide, there are 250 million new malaria cases, and 1 million die every year. The Natonal Institutes of Health in 2007 said, "the ban on DDT may have killed 20 million children." If you are worried about DDT and a connection to the eagle population, you'll find this interesting.

Aside from naming a school after Carson and Gore, what's up with a $75 million school in a state on the verge of bankruptcy with a governor begging the fed to bail him out?