Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Dr. James Donovan, Katherine Cintron, and an Inspiring Jennifer Simon,

This one needs a subtitle. How about Nest of Vipers in Chappaqua Exposed!

My attention had been drawn to this image from the old.911digitalarchive.org

I felt there was a certain disconnect between the parts on display here. Why, for instance, was this picture of men dressed in civilian clothes captioned in a style of the utmost dramatic union solidarity?
"The firefighters working on top of the twisted steel would yell for cutting tools, we would pass them up the same line we were taking debris down from. Watching the firefighters work without fear of injury, trying to save their fallen brothers is something that I will never forget. I could feel their desperation. Yelling hot, heavy, as we passed the debris down from the top, mangled pieces of steel, buckets of dust then we would hear a yell QUITE! No one moved, then the call, it’s a stand down, everyone off the rubble." Cite as: James Donovan, Image #1750, The September 11 Digital Archive, 12 November 2002, .
These guys are displaying too much personality in my book, and I'm not talking about the over-the-top rhetoric. I thought there were whiffs of coded reference here, with their oblivious disregard for a proper bucket-brigade meme protocol, it seemed like a counterpoise. I wondered if this wasn't a discrete formal portrait of some kind, like Michelangelo painting himself into "The Last Judgment" on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, as Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom, representing himself as the face on the flayed skin? Were these big guys on the down-low and did I know what I didn't know??

So I Googled the only name I had, "James Donovan" plus 9 11 +World Trade Center, and what came up was a Fall 2001 newsletter for the Chappaqua School District, where, taking over that fall, was the new Superintendent, an un-illustrated Dr. James Donovan.

Not surprisingly, the majority of the news in the quarterly was related to the 9/11 attacks. But there were some very particular tidbits, like this, for instance:
"Moved by the magnitude of the disaster, Greeley students too, pitched in to do what they could to raise funds to help victims and relatives of those who died. Inspired by Jennifer Simon, a new biology teacher at Greeley, who lost both her father and brother at the World Trade Center, Greeley students made ribbons and sold them in the cafeteria. “I want to thank everyone at Greeley for their kindness and support which is helping me get through each day,” said Simon, who has returned to work and to her students."
A stranger to the community starts working in a school district only days before she experiences a devastating double tragedy on September 11th, but then she is back in the classroom in time for the Fall 2001 News & Views report? Hmmm.

But it gets even stranger:
"On Nov. 5, the school held a special assembly where students handed over the check to Katherine Cintron, director of philanthropy for the American Red Cross in Westchester County who thanked the students. “You students are terrific,” said Cintron. “Do you know what you have done?”
No. I mean, really. What are the chances that Katherine Cintron would turn out to be related to Edna---her mother perhaps? Somebody call Rosalee Grable!

A brief piece from the Westchester County Business Journal, dated March 21, 2005, provides an updated CV:
"Katherine Cintron of Danbury, Conn., was appointed executive director at Westchester County Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, White Plains. Since 2001, Cintron was director of philanthropy at the American Red Cross in Westchester County, White Plains. Prior to that, Cintron was director of development at Search for Change, White Plains. Prior to that, she was an account executive for 13 years at GFI, Manhattan. Cintron holds an associate's degree in marketing from Westchester Community College and an associate's degree in fashion merchandising and marketing from Tobe Coburn. E Photo Monday"
Search For Change. Girls With Wings. Stories That Matter. More hmmm.

Katherine's Google is highly suspect, with only a handful of references establishing her in her recent career in not-for-profit development in Westchester County. Her 2001 career change represents a significant elevation I should think. The fact that she, James Donovan and Jennifer Simon were all recently placed in brand new jobs in the fall of 2001, is highly significant.

I can find no mention of a connection between Katherine and Edna Cintron, but that doesn't mean that one wasn't the intent in creating a "Cintron" persona.

I find the Westchester County area to be an extremely spooky place for these sorts of things, with lots of working-class retirees north of there, like police, and fire-department members, ready, willing and able to do the bidding of an elite ruling over-class. This would stand as their last bastion if push ever came to shove in the religious and economic "culture wars." The education and charitable networks at play here also provide the infrastructure that can easily move chess pieces around on a board, let alone indoctrinate.

There was a chilling passage in the school newsletter
"At Greeley High School, a school-wide Forum discussion was held on Oct. 25th to help students learn more about the history and politics of Afghanistan and the region where our new war is taking place. Principal Kathy Mason said she was pleased with how interested the students are in learning more about what led to the terrorist attacks. At the Forum, the entire school population of 1,100 students assembled in the gym to hear a panel discussion led by four of Greeley’s social studies teachers: Steven Houser spoke on the history of terrorism; Mark Jagels, on Islam; Mary Devane talked about Kashmir (disputed region between India and Pakistan) and Stephen Walker discussed the present challenges facing our country since Sept. 11th.

"After the teachers spoke, students broke into smaller discussion groups led by student Forum leaders who raised questions that explored how our country can keep its freedoms in a society threaten by terrorism. “How long should we be able to detain suspects we think may have terrorist ties, but who have yet to commit a crime?” “Many students are waking up and appreciating our freedoms,” said junior Forum Leader Matt Goldshore. “Students want to learn as much as they can about America’s new war in Afghanistan,” said Greeley history teacher Stephen Walker, a former U.S. diplomat who uses what is going on in today’s headlines to teach students in his American History class and foreign policy elective classes.

“History is more relevant to them than ever before.”
They were already articulating the concept of preventative detention in the days and weeks after 9/11. And I thought it had started with Jane Harman. This is, to me, just more evidence of foreknowledge.

I will do further searches on James Donovan and Jennifer Simon, but frankly, I think this piece already stands on its own. The scales have fallen from our eyes, and we can see the full panorama before us. Amongst us are culprits, about which, the good must soon take action.

And let us duly note, that nowhere else in the news of the Chappaqua School District, beyond Jennifer Simon, are any victims of 9/11 mentioned. Affluent networks of families with school-aged children are the most likely locus to feel the tragedy acutely, and are likely to extend throughout Westchester County, but here, only one person is doing double duty.

Oh, by the way, Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment" also contains a little known depiction called the "punishment of sodomy." It's so little known, that only a black and white drawing of it can be found online:
But that speaks volumes, on so many levels---about Catholics and control, and pleasure and pain, and about the conflicts at stake, and our hopes for the future. So you see, it's not just about the Jews.

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