I suggest you calm down and take a deep breath.

Who’s prying? Is anybody hiring lawyers to sue for access to court papers?

People comment on what’s in the news. They’re curious; they wonder. I note you spend a lot of time doing the exact same thing,. When you offer your opinions about public figures, are you also “prying”???
Using double standards is not an honorable way to debate or discuss.

And. yes, your comment: “it’s their business, not yours”.: does suggest that no one should even be commenting about these families. Well, excuuuse me, but each person, including yourself, will be making up his/her own mind up about when and about what to comment and about what the comment should say.

It seems to me you are just having an outrage moment in search of a reason for having it.
Otherwise, it makes no sense.

Heh. Then you either missed the point entirely, or you simply don’t want me expressing my opinion. Shaun has every right to express his opinion, and I have every right to disagree with it and criticize it.

Everything to do with 9/11 is of public interest

You may be interested, but that doesn’t give you the right to pry into the private affairs of others. They have a right to privacy. They are not public property, they are private citizens, who engaged in a private suit, and have no obligation whatsoever to share their affairs with the world for the sole purpose of satisfying the vulgar curiousity of the masses.

And it’s downright churlish and childish to slur them in public and impugn their motives because they exercised their right to keep their private affairs private.

I have a sense that my views about this incident aren’t popular, but isn’t this the plane crash with no plane? Why has the US Government gone to such incredible lengths to obscure and cover up what happened at the Pentagon? Out of all the cameras that operate on the premises, they can only show me 3 blurry frames?

3 blurry frames is worth whatever amount the families got.

This is being kept secret because somebody is hiding something. Even if it’s just the size of the cash settlement. So I also think this will just feed the paranoia of the consipiracy theorists.

What does that mean?
They owe others nothing, but, equally,
others,owe them nothing, not even the silence of not commenting.

Everything to do with 9/11 is of public interest,, and eventually,, of great cost to them.
What the airlines pay, they will recoup, never fear.
.
What is private business does often impact on others, and the fence around ‘private business’ is not always clearly demarcated – especially in such an enormours area of concern as 9/11.

You are right to assert your opinion, but not by implying that other opinions shouldn’t enjoy the same privilege.

They owe you nothing. They owe Feinberg nothing. They suffered their loss, they carried their own loads in dealing with it, and they made their own compensation arrangements. If they want to keep their mouths shut about how much they received, or agreed to as part of gaining their settlement, it’s their business, not yours. And blocking release of unadjudicated discovery evidence in suits that settle pre-trial is extremely common, and was almost certainly ordered by the court in light of the other pending suits. Not requested by the plaintiff.

Maybe they did indeed want to get more in compensation than they thought they would get from the commission. So what? THEIR business, not yours.

And while I am respectful of the losses the four families suffered,

No, not really. Not that I can see. Empty words. You’re perfectly willing to make them out as greedy ogres just because they aren’t sharing the details of THEIR work with you.

There was a segment on PBS about Feinberg some time ago.
There is a true hero, one who restores meaning and honor to the term ‘public service’.

You touch on a ghoulishly fascinating aspect of this whole ‘arama.

The mad rush by Congress to protect the 9/11 airlines from being sued into bankruptcy and beyond was not altrusitic, but what grew out of it is IMHO one of the most noteworthy examples of public service in memory — the work of Kenneth Feinberg as the victims’ compensation fund special master.

Feinberg had no less than the Solomonic task of putting a dollar figure on human life, which is fascinating in and of itself and is told with great sensitivity in What Is Life Worth?, a terrific little book that he penned after his work was completed.

I obviously would not have written this post in the manner in which I did if I did not agree with Captain Ed.

This was not a dog-bite case. And while I am respectful of the losses the four families suffered, I find their rationales unconvincing and not in the spirit of the Feinbergs and others who have sweated blood to try to make sure that some good came of that horrible day.

First, although there were many awe inspiring heroes on that awful day, somehow all the victims became heroes by virtue of their victimhood. We will all die one day. Will we all be heroes?

The families have also been given unprecedented powers to paritcipate in plans for the aftermath.
While I think it appropriate that they be given the opportunity to offer opinions and suggestions, one doesn’t become wiser merely by having a family member die. A sense of proportion between showing consideration and treating them like authorities was lost along the way. Some have shown themselves to be thoughtful and itnelligent guiding lights on all things to do with 9/11, but they earned the respect shown then. Others demand respect simply ‘ because’.

The principles behind compensation are not clear to me either. I’m very glad families will be compensated for lost wages, but how does this translate to victims of other disasters? Was the government more liable for damages in this instance than in New Orlwans, where it failed to proivde proper levies?

Litigation is a whole bag of slippery eels. While I strongly agree that worngdoing or negligence should be addressed in courts, there seems to be a pervasive feeling that nothing bad can happen without it being someone’s faul.t If struck by thunder, then someone must be responsible for not preventing it.

I agree with Morrissey about the silent settlers, at least to the extent, that the ‘not for the money’ claim seems dubious. Who knows what’s in their hearts, though? Only they know for sure.

I find it hard to come to firm conclusions about any of this.

It’s impossible to know their motivations here. And I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

If you think you and society have a right to learn the truth, then bring a lawsuit yourself.