Former New York City Office of Emergency Management Director Richard Sheirer.

'I refer to it as the unendurable'

'I refer to September 11 as the unimaginable,'

'....even though it was my job to imagine it!'

When Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appointed Richard Sheirer to head the city's Office of Emergency Management in February 2000, little did he know the 55-year old Brooklyn native would oversee the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero from the day of the attacks until he retired in March 2002. That would be OEM Director for 19 months before 9/11 and 6 months after, then he quit to join the ex-mayor at his "consulting firm," Giuliani Partners.He started out as a fireman. Pretty impressive rise.

"I refer to September 11th as the unimaginable. I don't think anyone envisioned this kind of an attack. I did think we would experience some sort of biological attack at some time in the future, and of course that happened in October."

Half prescient, let's say. Twice that day, Sherier came within minutes of being at places that would have killed him. His first brush with death came that morning. After the first plane hit he raced to the command center in Tower One to oversee rescue efforts. After the second plane hit he was summoned to join Guiliani and other aides at an operation post several blocks away.

"If they hadn't called me over there, I wouldn't be having this conversation now," he said.

Then, later that morning, Sheirer and his staff planned to go to their headquarters at 7 World Trade Center. Fortunately, they were behind schedule.

"As we were driving toward the building, someone said, 'Forget about it, it's down.' If we had been on time, again, I wouldn't be talking with you."

I've had Peter Duveen envy for quite some time now, so imagine how delighted I was to find this hard copy on my shelves. 122 pages of more potential contradictions than you can shake a stick at.

9/11 One Year Later: A Nation Remembers is the title of a special commemorative edition put out at the one-year anniversary mark by American Media, Inc., whose Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer is the deliciously named David Pecker. Produced at a time of supreme hegemonic dominance for the official version of 9/11, this is a bold, risky storytelling, before all the facts had really sorted themselves out actually. Today, its narrative reads like a parody of a puffed-up B-movie version of 9/11.

Is that because of the offices in sunny Boca, or because of all the interns sent over from the Enquirer?

Let me just enter a few of the names into the record---you don't want to get your names all bunched up on the witness lists late. Truth tribunals fill up fast you know.

Editor Jim Lynch; Deputy Editor Barry Levine; Managing Editor Nancy W. Miller; Photo Editor Ray Fairall; Associate Editors Bennet Bolton, Dan Weil; Senior Investigative Editor Reg Fitz; Had to look Reg up! Great piece in the National Enquirer there dude: 'Speed' star's nightmare as dad is jailed in cocaine bust.)

"Behind schedule?" "On time?" 14 months on the job and then he quits? With the level of talent behind 9/11, I'm finding the aftermath to be almost unendurable.

"No building collapse is ready before its time" Ernest & Julio Gallo