It has been fun watching the man known as 'Bush's brain' squirm on the TV talkshows as he tries to sell his self-serving memoir
For Karl Rove's legions of liberal detractors - who did not manage to lay a hand on him while he was in power - it has been a case of too little, too late.
President George W Bush announces the resignation of Karl Rove in August 2007. (Photograph: AUDE GUERRUCCI - POOL/EPA)
But watching the man dubbed "Bush's brain" take to the media circuit to flog his self-serving memoir Courage and Consequence has at last provided a tiny bit of satisfying blood sport at Rove's expense. It has not been a pretty sight and is one that Rove, no doubt, will blame on the natural liberal tendencies of America's media classes. Yet it has been fun watching a man whose name became a byword for brutal, dirty politics go cap in hand around the talk shows and get a thorough roasting.
This is the NFL's policy: Go to a club and drink - no problem; Stay at home and enjoy a little marijuana - get suspended.
A week ago, I blogged about MTV's Real World program and how it is almost a microcosm of society insofar as participants are banned from using marijuana and end up consuming copious amounts of alcohol instead. This excessive alcohol use, both on the show and in the real real world, repeatedly leads to acts of violence and other offensive and/or dangerous acts. Yet our laws - and the rules on the Real World - continue to steer people away from marijuana and toward alcohol, which is clearly a more dangerous drug.
This week, the media world is buzzing with news of an alleged sexual assault by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The least surprising aspect of these reports is that the incident occurred at a club in which alcohol is served. We do not know at this point whether Big Ben was drinking or whether the alleged victim was drinking, but there have been reports that young women were recruited from the main part of the club back to a VIP room where the quarterback was holding court. One article noted that "free drinks" were part of the enticement.
According to the chief of Japans Democratic Party who says that the 9/11 hijackers are alive and that 9/11 was a complete hoax. Dr. David Ray Griffin is a professor and author who wrote The New Pearl Harbor Revisited and he says that he agrees; the World Trade Center was a hoax.
Alex Jones is again claiming that the government may have been trying to bring down his web sites in what appears to be another carefully crafted public relations stunt. After being discredited for intentionally sabotaging and disrupting a pro Second Amendment rally and claiming that a phony hypothetical conversation between Charlie Sheen and Barack Obama would be the biggest thing he's ever done, it looks like Jones has run out of options.
Now he is claiming that the government is trying to bring down his web sites. Regardless of if this is true or not is irrelevant as he is only using this to try and draw attention to himself. However, the possibility of this being a false flag is high considering that this man appears to have sold his soul to the World Order controllers. It is laughable to see that the people over at Russia Today are giving this media stunt credibility. You can view their coverage of it via the below embedded video.
Government finds 21.1 percent unemployment rate for young veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan wars
The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war.
The number was well above the 16.6 percent jobless rate for non-veterans of the same ages, 18 to 24.
As of last year, 1.9 million veterans had deployed for the wars since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some have struggled with mental health problems, addictions, and homelessness as they return home. Difficulty finding work can make the adjustment that much harder.
The just-released rate for young veterans was significantly higher than the unemployment rate of young veterans in that age group of 14.1 percent in 2008.
Edi2or: This is only one of the hundreds of interviews conducted with the first responders of 9-11. A complete list is at the "source" at the end of this article.
WORLD TRADE CENTER TASK FORCE INTERVIEW FIREFIGHTER STEVEN ALTINI Interview Date: December 7, 2001
CHIEF KEMLY: Today is Friday, December 7th, 2001. The time is 1615 hours. This is Battalion Chief Ronald Kemly of the Fire Department, City of New York. I am conducting an interview with the following individual: Steven Altini, firefighter first, assigned to Engine Company 24 of the Fire Department, City of New York. The interview is being conducted at the quarters of Engine 24 in the engine office, regarding the events of September 11th, 2001.
Q. Fireman Altini, would you please tell me what happened on September 11th.
A. Okay. Me and two other off-duty firefighters responded from home prior to the recall. We went over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Looking towards Manhattan, we could see the two towers, pretty heavy smoke rushing from the towers.
We responded through Brooklyn via the Gowanus Expressway. We were waved through the easy pass lane from PD as we showed our ID, who we were. We proceeded to go through the Battery Tunnel. We noticed no fire apparatus or emergency vehicles as we went through, just some civilian vehicles. As we exited the Battery Tunnel to lower Manhattan, we proceeded to make a right turn onto West Street where we were confronted with a lot of debris in the street, airplane debris, human remains and such. We pulled our pickup truck just north of the Marriott at Carlisle Street on the east side of West Street, facing north. As we exited the vehicle, two other firefighters donned their protective gear and headed north towards tower two or one. Me being in civilian clothes and no protective gear, I proceeded west across West Street to Commissioner Gregory and his aide and asked them where the off-duty firemen were going, and what I can do. I was instructed to either remain at the scene or proceed over to City Hall where the firefighters were now mustering up after the recall. As I was there, I remember seeing Ladder 113, but there was no members there. This was between 9:30 and 10. I don't know the exact time the second plane hit the tower, but that's exactly when we left Staten Island. It took us maybe about 20 minutes to get in. I noticed an engine company -- I believe it was Engine 211 -- pull up. As they were getting out of the rig, I went over to the chauffeur and asked them if they had protective gear that I could borrow. Being the chauffeur was also suiting up, they had no extra gear. With that I headed east across West Street and went through the Marriott at Carlisle Street, exiting the rear onto Washington Street, headed north one block, over east another block to Greenwich Street, where I met up with another fireman who was in full gear from Engine 249. We proceeded north towards Engine 10, and we tried to enter their quarters through the rear basement entrance, which was locked. As we continued north on Greenwich Street towards the corner of Liberty and Greenwich is when tower two started to come down. The only other apparatus I saw, that I remembered seeing on Liberty Street in front of tower two, I believe it was Ladder 15. The number is not clear, but I thought it was Ladder 15. I may be mistaken. I confronted no personnel other than the one member from 249 at that point.
A Florida Highway Patrol officer has admitted his incredulity at a woman who pranged her car while shaving her privates.
Megan Mariah Barnes, 37, was driving her Thunderbird in Key West last week when she piled into the back of a Chevrolet pickup carrying four people. Or rather, although she was in the driver's seat, it was actually her ex-hubby Charles Judy who was holding the wheel while she tidied herself up down below.
Highway Patrol spokesman explained that the pair drove on for about a kilometre down the road before pulling the old driver/passenger switcheroo - unsurprising since Barnes was the day before "convicted and sentenced to nine months of probation for DUI and driving with a suspended licence", deprived of her licence for five years and "ordered to get her car impounded".
Briton tells court of the moment he saw American activist fall as she tried to defend Palestinian homes
The final moments of Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist crushed to death beneath a pile of earth and rubble in the path of an advancing Israeli army bulldozer, were described to an Israeli court by an eyewitness yesterday.
The parents of the 23-year-old, who was killed by the bulldozer in March 2003, were present to hear the harrowing account on the first day of hearings in a civil lawsuit they have brought against the state of Israel. The country has never acknowledged culpability over Ms Corrie's death.
Richard Purssell, a British activist with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM), said he watched in horror as Ms Corrie was dragged four metres by the bulldozer moving forward at a "fast walking pace".
Fosamax, a drug used to strengthen the bones of women suffering from osteoporosis following menopause, may actually cause some of them to suffer leg fractures.
Following a report by ABC News' Dr. Richard Besser that linked long-term use of Fosamax to fractures, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would launch an investigation into the use of some osteoporosis drugs and a specific type of femur fracture.
Bisphosphonates, a class of bone-strengthening drugs that includes Fosamax, Boniva, Reclast, and Actonel, have raised safety concerns, including heart risks. In 2008, the FDA said it found no link between the drug and heart problems.
Foxamax has also been linked to severe musculoskeletal pain, as well as to a disease of the jaw bone called osteonecrosis. In January, a judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a woman alleging that Fosamax caused damage to her jaw.
The FDA issued a statement saying it had found no link between bisphosphonate osteoporosis medications, such as Fosamax, and atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures - bone fractures just below the hip joint. It recommended that patients continue their medications, but also suggested that the health industry be aware of a "possible risk" of the unusual fractures. (As Usual?)
As we've come out of the frozen tundra of the Snowfecta, we might think "oh thank goodness winter is over and we won't have to worry about a blizzard for a while." While you may be right in that regard, we'd be missing the larger point: A lot of people were not prepared to handle this in any way, shape or form.
![[President George W Bush announces the resignation of Karl Rove in August 2007. (Photograph: AUDE GUERRUCCI - POOL/EPA)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/rove-goodbye-to-bush-001.jpg "rove-goodbye-to-bush-001.jpg")
