The White House announced today that the crown of the Statue of Liberty will reopen to the public this Independence Day – July 4, 2009. The Statue of Liberty’s crown was closed after the 9/11 attacks. At the time it was concluded that the spiral staircase leading to the crown is too narrow with low handrail which does not meet modern safety codes.

The delays in reopening were caused by the difficulties in finding the way to evacuate people quickly and efficiently in case of emergency. The base of the Statue of Liberty did not reopen until August 3, 2004. The torch of the Statue of Liberty has been closed since 1916 when it was damaged by a bomb.

Once the crown of the Statue of Liberty reopens, only up to 10 people will be allowed up there at the same time. If each stays for approximately 20 minutes (which is an average time people used to spend in the crown), 30 people will be let in per hour. That limits the number of visitors to only about 50,000 a year so the access will be chosen by the lottery.

It’s great to see the long overdue reopening of one of New York’s landmarks timed for the National Holiday. The view from the Statue of Liberty must be breathtaking. Even though many argue that the statue should never be open for public. The staircase to the top was not built for heavy public use. It was meant for occasional maintenance. And should a case of emergency (such as fire) occur, evacuating people from there would be excessively difficult and that could result in casualties. It’s a disaster in the making so both opponents and supporters of crown reopening have valid arguments.

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Beverly Eckert lost her husband Sean Rooney to the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. As a 9/11 widow, Beverly Eckert became a co-chairwoman of “Voices of September 11″ an organization that pushed for investigation of 9/11 and proper memorial for all victims. In other words, she grabbed at the opportunity to leave her 9 – 5 job for something less stressful and more rewarding. Late last night, Beverly Eckert got on the Continental Airlines plane to fly to Buffalo to commemorate her deceased husband’s 58th birthday. She never made it. Flight 3407 crashed outside of Buffalo, everyone aboard died.

Investigation into what caused Flight 3407 to crash is ongoing. There were 47 people aboard the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 jet when it took tumble and crashed into a house. All 47 passengers died, one additional person was killed on the ground. Seven and a half years after her high school sweetheart’s death, Beverly Eckert is reunited with her husband Sean Rooney on the opposite shore of river Styx.

Beverly Eckert Photo by Derek Gee, Buffalo News

Further Reading:

• Statue of Liberty Reopens the Crown to the Public on the Independence Day 2009
• Jesse Ventura Talks About The Politics, War and Fascism in America
• Rick Rescorla – An Actual 9/11 Hero
• Sneha Philip – Back on the List of 9/11 Victims
• Why There Were No Terrorist Attacks Against the US Since 9/11

Jesse Ventura for president. Seriously, Jesse Ventura is one of few men who actually make sense in everything he says. He doesn’t fluff around, gets right to the core and cuts through without bullshitting. In this video interview by AlJazeera, Jesse Ventura talks about the politics, war, fascism in America, 9/11 and more.

Jesse Ventura was one of top wrestlers back in the day. He also stared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in predator as Sgt. Blain Cooper. He’s pretty much the most bad ass guy alive today.

From January 4, 1999 to January 6, 2003, Jesse Ventura was the Governor of Minnesota. He didn’t seek second term in the office despite gaining the highest approval rating of any governor in Minnesota history.

His political views are fascinating. Jesse Ventura says that the US is on the brink of fascism today and seriously questions that official story of 9/11 served to the people by the government. He says Republicans and Democrats pretend to be enemies in the eyes of the public, but behind the scenes they go hand in hand as good bodies cutting deals that best serve their personal interests.

Ultimately, Jesse Ventura says American needs to destroy two main political parties and start over. He says “war is the complete failure of politics.”

The awesomeness of Jesse Ventura can be viewed in the video below. The only downside is the incapable interviewer. He’s completely gay and would not let Jesse finish the sentence. He appears to be a Democratic puppet, based on when he stopped Jesse Ventura and when he opposed him. The dude was useless and probably had a vibrating bullet up his ass as he was interviewing. Jesse Venture is however completely awesome.

Further Reading:

• Taliban Video with War Prisoner Bowe Robert Bergdahl
• Statue of Liberty Reopens the Crown to the Public on the Independence Day 2009
• Beverly Eckert – 9/11 Widow Dies in Buffalo Plane Crash Aboard Flight 3407
• Rick Rescorla – An Actual 9/11 Hero
• Sneha Philip – Back on the List of 9/11 Victims

Here’s a rare find – an actual 9/11 hero. His name is Rick Rescorla, a British soldier who moved to America, became a citizen and fought for his adopted country in Vietnam. He remained in service till 1990, after that he got into commercial banking. His company occupied 22 floors of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

When the planes hit, Rick Rescorla evacuated 2,700 people out of the skyscraper. When those were safe, he went back inside on another rescue mission as there were still thousands of people inside. This time he was entrapped as the tower collapsed ending his life.

Rick Rescorla is a true 9/11 hero. I tend to use word “hero” lightly as it gets attributed to people who have not done anything heroic to deserve being called one. Rick Rescorla did risk his life and at the end it cost him his life. Thanks to his doing, 2,700 people were saved from certain death. Many of those who died in crushing towers of 9/11 attacks are now referred to as “heroes”. It’s about time one of them was identified as an actual hero. His name is Rick Rescorla, may his soul rest in peace.

Picture above was shot by Peter Arnett and captures Rick Rescorla, who was a lieutenant during the war in Vietnam at the time. The image dates back to November 1965.

Further Reading:

• Statue of Liberty Reopens the Crown to the Public on the Independence Day 2009
• Beverly Eckert – 9/11 Widow Dies in Buffalo Plane Crash Aboard Flight 3407
• Gumbrechts Green Pit Viper Discovered in Mekong Delta (pics)
• Jesse Ventura Talks About The Politics, War and Fascism in America
• Sneha Philip – Back on the List of 9/11 Victims

The name of Dr. Sneha Philip will be read at Ground Zero today, including her on the list of 9/11 victims. Her name was taken off the list 4 years ago when it was believed that she wasn’t killed, just disappeared into the unknown.

Sneha Philip vanished on September 10, 2001. Her image was recorded on a security video camera as she was buying lingerie and after that there’s a big nothing. In 2004, court ruled that her name be removed form the list of victims as it was impossible to say for sure whether she was a victim of the terror attacks or what exactly happened.

The family of Sneha Philip fought for years to get her name cleaned up and put her back on the list believing she died as she was helping with rescue missions. One of the reasons why she was taken off the list was her reputation as drug user and a whore. But it looks like court now decided to debunk these claims and call Sneha Philip a hero instead.

Ronald Lieberman, husband of Sneha Philip fought really hard to get his wife back on the list – somehow that’s not surprising as that would mean 9/11 compensation fund money for him. Her body was never found, he could have easy offed her by taking advantage of 9/11 mess and not only be rid of his wife who spent most of her night sleeping with somebody else, he’d also get paid by the government for it. Talk about smart fish… God knows what really happened, though. RIP to all the victims.

Sneha Philip Image credit: Maisel/News

Further Reading:

• Statue of Liberty Reopens the Crown to the Public on the Independence Day 2009
• Beverly Eckert – 9/11 Widow Dies in Buffalo Plane Crash Aboard Flight 3407
• Jesse Ventura Talks About The Politics, War and Fascism in America
• Rick Rescorla – An Actual 9/11 Hero
• Why There Were No Terrorist Attacks Against the US Since 9/11

Have you ever wandered why there hasn’t been another terrorist attack against the US since 9/11? It seems like Europe has been attacked by the terrorists few times since 9/11, yet even though USA is hated more than any of the European countries, there has been fewer terrorist attacks on the US soil that there has been in Europe. I do not have the answer to why, I’m just thinking aloud here.

So how come the USA have not been attacked by terrorists since 9/11?

One of the possible reasons is that US secret service busted all terrorist act attempts yet at the very beginning, before they were actually able to strike.

Another possibility is that terrorists find it easier and more effective to attack European (but not only, there’s also India and Philippines and other) countries because it’s easier to infiltrate their borders than it is with the US.

Or maybe it is that the USA got what due on 9/11 and now it’s time to strike others?

I think it attacking the USA has in fact become more difficult then it was before. It’s also a fact that being of Arabic descent raises red flags and is likely to put such person through enhanced “random” search.

Fact remains – they don’t really need to attack the US again, do they. Just look how much chaos this one attack caused. Everything is going well for them. They wanted the war and they got it. Now they can pick us apart one man at a time. It has damaged the US on many levels in the aftermath – economical situation is worsening, international position of the US has weakened, domestic front is all upside down. Their 9/11 aftermath is working just fine.

But then again – maybe the terrorists can see that the USA is doing enough damage to itself so they don’t even have to bother. US citizens are under terrorists attack from within…

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• Barack Obama is Osama bin Laden
• Attempted Assassination of Kurt Westergaard by a Somali Muslim
• Muslim Numbers in Europe, Canada, USA and the World
• Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Explosive Underwear Bomb Photo