September 11th – Yes, they have FORGOTTEN

Update – I wish I didn’t have to write this update, but I do.

As a mystery author, I often include salacious political twists in my storylines, but I am finding that sometimes art doesn’t come close to matching the twisted machinations of what goes on in the back rooms of Washington, D.C.

Back in October 2018, I wrote a post titled: NEVER FORGET THE HEROES. It dealt with the need of Congress to address the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Act (S. 3591 / H.R. 7062), which is scheduled to run out of money in 2020.

If you are like me, you have to wonder why programs such as this are always facing financial peril, yet we never seem to run out of money to fund pressing issues like spending $15 million to study the effectiveness of golf equipment in space or a $43 million gas station in Afghanistan.  Hell, I recall reading one report where the Department of Defense purchased, and then left unused, approximately 270,000 commercial airline tickets at a total cost of $100 million. To compound the problem, the bean-counters over at the Pentagon never bothered to get a refund for the fully refundable tickets. Of course they didn’t and why should they? It is a clear case of: OPM – Other People’s Money, namely YOURS.

If Americans spent just one afternoon casually perusing the voluminous articles there are on wasteful congressional (and overall governmental) spending, Washington D.C. would be a charred, barren wasteland by morning. Yet, when it comes to funding a bill that would provide compensation and medical coverage for the victims of the deadliest terror attack in United States history, the congress seems to have a really hard time trying to find the money. But how much money are we talking about?

Well, the last re-authorization of the bill, in 2015, allocated just under $5 billion to fund it till 2020. Now, this might sound like a lot of money, and it is, except for when you consider some other interesting spending  facts. In 2016, the last full fiscal year analyzed, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) determined that the United States provided roughly $49 billion in foreign aid. So in just one year we provided nearly 10x the funding to foreign nations than we allocated to caring for our sick and dying first responders.  Yet even this staggering amount of $49 billion in foreign aid still only accounted for about 1.2 percent of the total annual federal budget.

If you think this is bad, consider the following.

Afghanistan, the country from where 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden orchestrated the terror attacks has received the following funding since 2001:

2001 - $92 million

2002 – $508 million

2003 – $984 million

2004 – $1.9 billion

2005 – $1.7 billion

2006 – $3.4 billion

2007 – $4.9 billion

2008 – $8.3 billion

2009 – $8.6 billion

2010 – $7.8 billion

2011 – $11 billion

2012 – $10 billion

2013 – $10 billion

2014 – $7.1 billion

2015 – $9.1 billion

2016 – $4.2 billion

2017 – $4.9 billion

(Source: USAID https://explorer.usaid.gov/cd/AFG disbursements)

For those mathematically inclined, that is nearly $100 billion in funding to the very same country from which the attack was planned. Now you can see why many of the victims feel as if we are being left alone to die. Victims have to beg for funding while money is being thrown hand over fist at our attacker. Hell, we even have to BEG for support from our own elected representatives; which brings me right back to my original post.

In October 2018, I reached out to my congressional representative, Rodney Davis (R-IL), through his official government website and asked him to co-sponsor H.R. 7062. It seemed like a no-brainer to me, since he actually represents a first responder who was directly impacted by the attack. I contacted him and I waited…… and I waited. In the three months since, my wife has contacted his office twice and received correspondence from his office.

Me? Not so much.

I guess an NYPD 9/11 survivor with cancer doesn’t merit a stamp.

Perhaps I am better off. The form-letter version I received from him, the last time around, pretty much made my blood boil.

Rodney has spoken out in the past about the attack, but, just like other politicians, he only seems to #NeverForget when the cameras are rolling. Unfortunately, I #REMEMBER every single day. Something else I will remember is Election Day 2020 and I will do my utmost, to remind everyone I know in the 13th Congressional District, to send a message to Rep. Davis. In fact, I still have a few local reporters on my speed-dial and I am sure they would love to do a timely piece.

To find out if your elected representatives have supported 9/11 victims, please visit the following link:

http://www.renew911health.org/take-action/take-action-contact-your-members-of-congress/

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Interview - The Authors Show

I recently had the honor and privilege of being interviewed by Linda Thompson for The Authors Show. It is an online radio outlet that interviews authors from a wide variety of genres.

My interview will play for twenty-four (24) hours on October 9th. You can access the interview by clicking on the link below, scrolling down to the date and selecting the book title: PERFECT PAWN

Hope you enjoy and feel free to share this with other readers you know.

https://www.wnbnetworkwest.com/

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Stop Blaming the Cops !

As a writer, I spend a lot of time on social media, engaging with my fans, a number of whom are in law enforcement. Over the past week or so I have seen several videos, involving police officers, which have sent a cold chill through me.

For those of you who don’t know me, I spent over two decades in law enforcement; including twenty years with the NYPD. While I have a deep appreciation for the often thankless work that our law enforcement officers perform on a daily basis, that does not mean I am a biased cheerleader. I believe that we should always examine every issue through a clear lens.

Are there bad cops? Absolutely.

Should law enforcement be held to a higher standard? Absolutely.

But make no mistake about it, we don’t recruit officers from some mythical alien planet, where everyone is virtuous and never makes a mistake. We recruit from local communities, from among us, and if we are flawed as human beings this means those who we ask to protect and defend us are equally flawed. Theoretically, the background check is designed to weed out any problems, but too often we see that these checks become lax when politics enters the mix.

The authority entrusted to officers is immense. They have the power to take away your freedom and that is something that should not be treated lightly, but I’m often dismayed at how this is treated as a one-way street. Often the biggest critics of police officers are the ones who aggressively abuse their freedoms and push for confrontations.

Case in point: Charlottesville.

Regardless of what side of the fence you are on this issue, we have to agree that American’s have a First Amendment right to free speech. You may not agree with it, but you have to respect it. The reason is pretty clear: today you might not agree with their speech, but tomorrow they might not agree with yours. But disagreement was not on the hearts and minds of some in Charlottesville. By all accounts the ‘white supremacist’ contingent failed to materialize, but that wasn’t a problem for the Antifa folks. No they showed up ready for a fight and when they couldn’t find any ‘fascists’ to bash, they turned their anger toward the cops and journalists.  They were a riot looking for a reason.

This is part of a growing trend in America where people are being emboldened to act in any way they want without fear of any consequences.

Recently in New York City, the police were called to a location in the Bronx. As the officers were leaving the location, several males confronted them, cell phone cameras in hand, and began a profanity laced tirade against them. Even though they were committing a clear case of disorderly conduct, no action was taken by the officers.

Why?

Because police officers now work in an exaggerated environment of: damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Frankly, I have never seen it this bad before.

Politicians and pundits are actively supporting groups who call for the death of police officers. They even make excuses, citing the current president as being the source of all these issues. Apparently, for as enlightened as these folks claim to be, they are unaware that these groups and events predate the last election.

The reality is that they have been running roughshod over facts for a very long time.  Why you ask? Ratings and votes. I wish I could say it was something more profound, more enlightening, but it’s not. If you are interested, I wrote about this previously (Violence Based on a Lie) and I am sad to say nothing has changed.

The fact is that law enforcement in America is an illusion. The population of America is 320 million and there are less than a million law enforcement officers. You do the math.

The origins of policing in America are founded on the British model which contends that the powers to police are with the implicit consent of the public. That means we want to be safe and we want the police to perform this job. It’s the principal of community policing, but what happens when it is undermined?

That is what is happening today in America when politicians and journalists spread misinformation or just outright lies. Sadly, this mindset is also taking hold among police administrators, who fear a career ending political backlash if they don’t toe-the-line.

Imagine the message that is sent to the front-line officers when they perform their job exactly as they were trained, in accordance with the manual they were given, and yet when the public protests, they are made a scapegoat. Is it any wonder why more and more officers are taking a hands-off approach?  It’s a tough enough job to do when you know the agency has your back, but entirely different when you know that your bosses will sacrifice you to protect their careers. 

When we demonize and dehumanize law enforcement, we make it acceptable to do anything we want to them. They become the nameless, faceless representatives of evil repression. We don’t have to look any further than the assassination of NYPD police officers Ramos and Liu in 2014 to see what that looks like.

But when the cops are gone, who will protect us? And that question should send a cold chill through YOU.

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The WTC Cross

The World Trade Center Cross - by Anne Bybee, Copyright © 2001

When I was coming up with the design for the cover of, "Where Was God?" I wanted something powerful, something which would evoke the raw emotions that we felt in the aftermath of that horrific day, but also one that conveyed a sense of hope among the devastation. 

I think it is safe to say that all of us were aware of the World Trade Center Cross, the steel I-Beams that were sheared off at the joints, forming the shape of a metal crucifix. While doing research I stumbled upon an iconic photo that seemed to convey all of the elements that I was looking for.

After doing some serious internet sleuthing I was able to finally locate the photographer, Anne Bybee, who graciously gave me permission to use this extremely powerful photo for the cover of the book. I am deeply honored. 

Many have dismissed these 'crosses' as just the end result of metal fatigue, but to those of us who were there, they took on an entirely different meaning. They were hope, they were comfort, they were a reminder that we were never alone.

Andrew G. Nelson - Summer 2018 Update

Well, summer is in full swing and I thought that it would be a good idea to bring everyone up-to-date on what has been going on in my little literary world.

As those of you who receive my free newsletter are aware of, back in December 2017, I was diagnosed with cancer attributed to the 9/11 rescue & recovery effort after the terror attack at the World Trade Center. As a result, I had surgery this past June. Obviously, the lead-up and post-surgical recovery had a dramatic impact on my writing, but I am happy to say that I am back in the saddle again.

For fans of the James Maguire series I wanted to let you know that I have eight chapters already written for book five in the series. I had originally intended on a late summer / early fall release, but because of the above issue the timeline had to be adjusted. I’m now planning for a winter release and I thank you for your patience.

Another contributing factor was a book project that I had originally started in 2013.  This is something very close to my heart, since it deals with the 9/11 terror attack. I am proud to announce that I have completed this book and hope to release it within the next few weeks.

This book, titled: Where Was God? Is based upon my personal spiritual journey, as a 1st responder, to determine whether God was absent on September 11th. If you have ever wrestled with this feeling, or if you have even wondered if God is out there, then I think you will truly appreciate this book. Not only do I address the issue of where God was on 9/11, but I also use the investigative skills I honed, as an NYPD detective, to investigate the existence of God.

Back to School Special: Well, soon it will be that, ‘most wonderful time of the year.’ With the little urchins heading off to school, I can’t think of a better time to reward long-suffering parents, grandparents and even folks who just know someone with kids, with a great book deal. So from August 22nd through August 28th I will be running a Kindle Deal on my first book, Perfect Pawn. Beginning on the 22nd you can get it for only $0.99, but act early because the price will slowly increase over the course of the week. Perfect Pawn is a great book to have available in your e-reader for the Labor Day Weekend.

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