The last time I spoke with Kurt Benshoof, we had a polite 20-minute conversation about why he thinks 9/11 was an inside job and why I think he’s crazy. Today he’s upped the ante.He’s offering me $1,000 to spend 30 minutes debating the World Trade Center’s collapse–particularly the infamous “Building 7,” which, according to Benshoof and his ilk, could have only fallen because of a “controlled demolition.”But being that I’m not in the habit of accepting money from readers (it’s a constant issue I deal with, lemme tell you), I figured I’d put the question to you all. Anyone want to study a copy of Popular Mechanics’

thorough debunking of every Truther argument ever and make a quick G?Benshoof tells me he made the same offer to Paul Constant over at The Stranger. Not sure what he’ll make of it.Anyhow, here’s his proposition:I off[er] you $1,000 cash for 30 minutes of your time if you can logically explain—without the use of controlled demolition—the 2.2 seconds of gravitational free fall of WTC 7 that the National Institute of Standards and Technologies admitted to have occurred. Nothing fancy required. No calculus, no complicated formulas, just 8th-grade science class Scientific Method with the basic understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion that we started seeing in After School Special cartoons when we were five years old.If he “wins” this argument, he’d like us to retract previous reporting in which we point out the overwhelming majority of scientific evidence that shows there was no “controlled demolition,” just a hellish firestorm of destruction that took down buildings all over the site.Now, before anyone e-mails Benshoof with a plan to simply tell him he’s crazy and pick up a check, know that guys like him have spent many days, weeks, and months filling their brains with every conspiratory argument out there. So be prepared to have a whole bunch of numbers and supposed experts who attest to those numbers thrown at you.Of course for every cherry-picked figure Benshoof has, there are five others that tell a different story. So familiarize yourself. All we ask is that you know what the hell you’re talking about and that we get to videotape the discussion and post it here on The Daily Weekly.Those interested should e-mail ccartier@seattleweekly.com. Structural engineers are most highly encouraged to respond. Follow The Daily Weekly on Facebook and Twitter.