Although the name is the same, this book should not be confused with the 556-page Final Report based on the work of the Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee, and funded by private citizens.

This volume was written by city rescue officials in Oklahoma City. It focuses on the heroic rescue operations conducted afterwards, in minute detail.

On the plus side, it gives a huge amount of information about effects of the explosion, the number of people trapped inside, the number of people rescued, by what time and date, the locations and numbers of rescuers, and so on. Thanks must forever be given to those who risked their lives to save others.

But the book does not examine questions about perpetrators, motives, and investigations covered in the Final Report by Oklahoma State Representative Charles Key. That book raises extremely important questions about the first major terrorist attack on U.S. shores, which was unfortunately not the last. In hindsight, some observers wonder whether the devastating 1995 attack was both precursor and connected to the Sept. 11, 2002 attacks on New York and Washington which took more than 3,000 lives.

The research in Key's Final Report provides clear evidence that U.S. Federal authorities never found all the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City attack, did not pursue every lead, and did not utilize all available physical evidence. Substantial evidence indicated that dozens of crucial eyewitnesses were neither interviewed nor called at federal trials.

In October 1995, Key petitioned the District Court of Oklahoma County for a Grand jury to be formed to investigate the bombing. His petition was denied in February 1997.

But, an FBI agent swore in an affidavit included in Key's Final Report that Abraham Abdallah Ahmed, a Jordanian-born naturalized U.S. citizen detained by American Airlines security personnel in Chicago on April 19, 1995 met the description of one of the male suspects seen running from the scene of the bombing. Ahmed flew from Oklahoma City to Chicago after the bombing. Ahmed's luggage, which according to the FBI man continued to Rome, contained several car radios, substantial amounts of wire, and several tools. These could be used for everyday work, but were also "consistent with use" for "explosive devices." Ahmed was requested to appear before a Grand Jury, but had fled.

The Grand Jury indicted Timothy McVeigh, along with "others unknown." The Key Final Report provides composite sketches of two "others," each called "John Doe," but never found.

Evidence from 1989 and 1996 terrorist attacks in Columbia, Saudi Arabia and Lima Peru proved a car bomb alone could not destroy reinforced concrete supports like those in the Alfred P. Murrah building. Chemical and electrical engineers, physicists and a U.S. Brigadier General all concurred that damage on April 19, 1995 could not be ascribed to a single truck bomb containing 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fuel oil.

A former military man at the scene on April 19 to search for victims witnessed fire department teams removing two devices that were placed in bomb disposal units. These were described as "military olive drab in color," the size of "round, five-gallon drums, with black lettering designating the contents as fulminated mercury," a high grade explosive. He saw mercury switches on devices that he recognized as detonators.

This book honors the dead, and those who worked to save the living. It's a good companion to Key's Final Report.

A lot more questions ought to be answered. But at this late juncture, it's doubtful that they ever will.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

She liked to take firefighter Sam out of his truck and play with hi

One of the best books about foraminifera. An excellent overview, exellent pictures of many species. Ideal for determination. Many references.

This book was the start of my French career, which has now brought me to Johns Hopkins University!!!!! The way the information was presented, and the ease with which the student could learn the target language make this mandatory literature for any French class. At the same time, the culture introduced to the student proves invaluable. The photographs, dialogues, and cartoons all make the book much easier and fun to learn from, and the exercises strengthen every skill needed to become a master at the language.

Alfred Dodd has written perhaps the finest book on Francis Bacon while solving the mystery of Shakespeare's identity with rare combination of historical truth and placing it inside the narrative of a story. Dodd's penetrating insights and research leave most other Bacon biographers way behind. Partly due to the fact that Dodd himself was a Master Free- Mason the general public will have a unique glimpse and understanding of the ways of Freemasonry and it's influence throughout Bacon's life and how it saturates the Shakespeare Sonnets and Plays. The novice student to the more advanced researcher will profit greatly in absorbing the facts surrounding Bacon's mysterious birth , his relation to Queen Elizabeth, his passion and guidance to advance England thru education, sparking the English Renaissance and formulating a greater vocabulary for the English language, encouraging the New World settlements, overcoming numerous enemies like his cousin Cecil, and Coke the crooked lawyer, it's all revealed in this wonderful book. By the time one finishes reading it you will have not only a greater awareness of one of the world's greatest genuises and his selfless service to humanity and it's future but a deeper wisdom into the Shakespeare authorship issue. . Alfred Dodd has left us a great treasure chest for all to partake in.

Francisca and the Boys is the true essence of growing up in a hispanic family during the depression years of the 30's. This book sets you in real life, as if you were actually living with the characters. The Delmonte family is gently unwoven with love and support that gives the reader a true understanding of what "family" really is. Reading this book to the end is not enough, you'll want more of Nick, Davy, and Francisca......

This book has great ideas for the future, like: The tallest tower, a future home, solar cars, the future man, and much, much more future ideas! It even has quotes of what people said through the 20th century which end up for future ideas! You should buy this book!

Alfred Schneider served as the American Broadcasting Company's head of standards and practices from 1960 to 1990. His thirty year stint as ABC's chief "censor" gave him a unique vantage point as he strove to manage issues of evolving tastes, sensibilities and moralities of the American viewing public. With the assistance of Kaye Pullen, Alfred Schnieder's The Gatekeeper: My 30 Years As A TV Censor is essential and informative reading for students of television as a cultural medium in general, and the behind-the-scenes struggles at ABC between writers, producers, directors, and actors with the corporate administrators, programers, and executives in particular.

Alfred Korzybski had intended to write a treatise specifically on General Semantics. However establishing the institute of General Semantics, functioning as director, giving endless lectures, etc., he just simply ran out of life-time. Therefore these lecture notes transcribed by Keith Ball, then a student of History at Olivet college, presents us with a valuable glimpse of what Korzybski knew.
Semantics comes from the Greek word semainein, introduced by Michel Breal(1897) for significance, value, meaning. However General Semantics goes beyond semantics(linguistical meaning of terms) replacing Aristotle's(c.350B.C.)'elementalistic logic', representing a Science of values, hence evaluation.
'Aristotelian logic' involves a 'two-valued''deductive''reasoning', hence reversed order of evaluation based on 'a priori''universal-innate' knowledge('reason' without recourse to evidence). Of which our education system, parents, society, etc., enculturates us as a neuro-semantic environment(verbal, non-verbal meaning), creating neurological deterioration. Since our intensional('general-universal' definitions) language as a neuro-linguistic environment(verbal meanings), forces facts to fit 'universals', 'elementalizing' our semantic reactions(feeling-thinking-action(s)-about-event(s)) affecting our perception through the 'filtering' of facts. Such that we assume('hypothesize') that what we have 'is all, same, absolute, symmetrical, linear, certain', etc., failing to test this against actualities. Indeed this involves an 'association-habitual-unconscious-conditionality' where 'aristotelian logic' leads to 'aristotelian automatic reactions', thalamic without integrating our cortex, instead filled with false knowledge.
Since Korzybski argues we must orientate to facts by not ignoring the event(s), then our process of evaluation must involve an a posteriori, natural observation-inductive(empirical) order: a non-elementalistic(interchangeable, equivalent, reversible, etc., functional[non-linear-asymmetry-non-additive] packets, etc., emergent, holism) event(s)-insight-logic. Tuning into the similarity-differences in our consciousness of abstracting(representations), the avoidance of the confusion of the orders of abstractions termed 'identifications'(treating abstractions, anything, etc., as the 'same', by ignoring['filtering' out] of facts) as a result of 'aristotelian-conditionality'. Even Immanuel Kant's(1787) 'synthetic a priori' truths involve the false-to-facts generation of 'universals' which ignore actualities, for example the multi-exceptions. The difference involves a delay in reactions, such that our cortex may function, allowing our nervous-system-to-work-as-a-whole as a properly ordered process. Here time-binding(capacity to improve on the accumulated abstractions of others, then transmitting it for future generations) comes in, where accumulating 'racial experience' called Science in human life, becomes in the main more important than personal individual 'opinions'('prejudices').
Korzybski found that the most reliable descriptions get made with physico-mathematical languages, since they appear closest to facts; whereas inferences, abstractions of higher order, become less reliable because they go further away from facts. In other words we must construct a language, similar in structure(having multi-dimensional order of relations) to the actualities, otherwise having an infinite-valued uncertain maximum probability of predictability. This then involves an extensional orientation to the non-verbal levels, employing multi-ordinal(order of values in a continuum) terms having different meanings contextually(dependent upon abstraction level), founded upon our non-definable, non-verbal representations.
As such Science suggests an ordering of evaluation involving:
(1). Physico-chemical, electronic process, representing the external dynamic process(noumena), more important than; the following electro-colloidal(after Thomas Graham(1861) atoms, molecules, etc., functioning as interchangeable bi-polar dispersions) processes, the basis of Psycho-logical levels of meaning(phenomena):
(2). The object, a nervous non-verbal abstraction in the brain, more important than;
(3). The descriptive-observation, a verbal level more important-reliable than;
(4). Inferences of higher order, a verbal level more important-reliable than;
(5). Inferences of higher order, etc., etc.
The key to consciousness of abstractions remains the Non-Aristotelian(Korzybski's(1933) fact orientated revision of Aristotle's(c.350B.C.) paradigm) premises introduced in "Science And Sanity". Since a language(using the analogy of maps) must become similar in structure to actualities then:
(1). "Map is not territory"- an abstraction, anything, etc., is not the 'same'.
(2). "Map is not all of the territory"- cannot have 'all' abstractions, anything, etc.
(3). "Map is self-reflexive"- an abstraction, anything, etc., has context.
Korzybski further introduces extensional devices to facilitate consciousness of abstractions:
(1). Indexes: mathematically expressing similarity-differences, for example Smith 1, Smith 2, etc.
(2). Dates: reminding us that changes occur over a period, for example Science 1933.
(3). Quotes: taking care by placing single quotes around false-to-facts terms.
(4). Hyphens: connecting non-elementalistic terms.
(5). Etc: taking into account non-allness.
Therefore General Semantics offers a theory of evaluation which has an equivalence to a theory of sanity(Psycho-logics), thus happiness. Such that insanity appears as maladjustment to 'reality',hence facts. Since the old 'aristotelian certainty and security' went with 'intensional' too much expectation- 'identification(s)', leads to a big let down- trauma. Which Douglas M.Kelley used successfully in the European theatre of World War II on soldiers with psycho-neurotic 'reaction' patterns, which for the most part had developed under combat stress. Reported in a paper "The Use Of General Semantics And Korzybskian Principles As An Extensional Method Of Group Psychotherapy In Traumatic Neuroses", in "The Journal Of Nervous And Mental Disease", September 1951.

The black and white photography captures the artist perfectly. You can feel her intensity and sensuality spring from the pages. It is an intimate look at a very private artist.