90-percent
90-percent's JournalThe solution is to elect somebody named Roosevelt
When the Glided Age became engorged with the overly rich and powerful, Teddy R. busted the trusts.
When the great depression needed to be repaired by the damage done by the rich and powerful, Franklin Delano got in and cleaned it up.
The rich have spent the last thirty years gaming everything in their favor at the expense of the bottom 99%. They own the media, they get fairness acts over turned, they get Glass Steagal overturned, they underwrite hate radio, they set legal precedents that it perfectly fine to knowingly lie in your news broadcasts. They've stripped almost all democracy out of our legal infrastructure to work in their favor. They've turned American news broadcasts into Corporate Propaganda.
Mitt Romney gets to put in a half million a year into his 401K and we peasants are legally restricted to, what, $6K per year?
And now they turned money into speech and corporations into people. Those with the most money have the most speech. Just what our Forefathers envisioned!
The only hope I see is that the greedy and powerful will overstep the rights and well being of the bottom 99% so nakedly and obscenely that we the people will rise up in revolt. As we will by then have nothing left to loose but our lives.
-90% Jimmy
The magnitude of the West Tragedy
In historical terms, it should have a place in history in the same zone as:
THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE of March 25, 1911, in which 146 workers lost their lives.
14 confirmed dead, 60 "missing", the West Tragedy may be "one of the worst industrial disasters since The Texas City disaster of April 16, 1947" Wikipedia states this was "the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions" (in history) This blast killed at least 581 people and was also in Texas and also involved ammonium nitrate.
I suspect the root cause of the West Texas Tragedy will be similar to the root cause of the Triangle Fire; Utter management indifference to anything besides making the maximum amount of money possible and risking your employees lives to do it. They also risked the lives of the people living very nearby, come to think of it.
Does any rational person think the 60 "missing" will eventually be found? "Missing" is merely a polite term for "blown to smithereens".
My prediction is the owners of the West Factory will be fined at least $50,000 and not greater than $100,000 for their industrial negligence. Merely the cost of doing business. And if the owners are found to be Republican political donors, you can cut my estimates in half.
Here's a link to my DU post about West vs. Boston, FWIW
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2720693
-90% Jimmy
PS - Will, you were mentioned on Thom Hartman's show a few days ago and he was referring to one of your DU posts. You've hit the big time! (Although there may be multiple "Will Pitt"s on DU?)
Our withering Constitutional Rights
We American's gleefully allowed many of our Constitutional Rights to be diminished or nullified completely after 9/11.
We were happy to do so, to allow our government to protect us from terrorists.
My question is, simply, how many more rights do we have to give away so our government can do it's stated job and "keep us safe"? What other Constitutional rights should have been sacrificed to prevent the Boston Tragedy?
Another question about the magnitude of the Boston Bombing; why is there much less media concern with the Texas explosion that killed at least 14 and rendered up to 60 others "missing"? In terms of magnitude, the Texas disaster perhaps caused 500% more human loss and misery than the Boston tragedy.
Why do Americans find certain types of death perfectly acceptable, but are totally horrified by acts of terrorism?
Terrorism is horrible and unjustified and should be eliminated from the planet, of course, but an American's chance of being a terrorist victim is perhaps the same as being hit by lightning and a meteor simultaneously, in terms of probabilities.
And the root cause of the Texas disaster seems to be lack of enforcement of existing regulations, and industries allowed "to regulate themselves". Should we not, as Americans concerned about the general well being, be completely up in arms and fighting every day for stronger enforcement of regulations as they apply to dangerous industries?
Judging by the recent gun debate, apparently not!
-90% Jimmy
PS - I am being facetious about the loss of rights after 9-11. I deeply resent my government diminishing my rights in the name of "fighting terra-ists". The dilution of our rights has more to do with growing corpora-fascism than it does with protecting us citizens, in my opinion
Also
Because the SS Trust Fund has absolutely no impact what so ever on the national debt and is not part of the federal budget, I think it's great our President wants to cut something we've all worked all of our lives to get in our golden retirement years.
They want us to work until 70 and throw people over forty out of the work force and end their careers.
The POWERS THAT BE ARE CERTAINLY GOING FULL TILT MEDIEVAL ON OUR ASSES, aren't they?
And I, as a full blown corporate serf, would at least like to know which Lord within the PTB is assigned to my slavery district. Isn't this still a constitutionally protected right?
-90% Jimmy
Is there any democracy left in America?
I have heard that over 90% of all groups surveyed, including NRA members, are in favor of at least background checks before being able to buy a gun.
Our politicians are so afraid of the NRA they are not willing to even consider doing something that 90% of America favors!
You can't get 90% agreement the sky is blue, fer chrissakes!
I am so thankful I'm almost 60 with no children. The future for this planet is Orwell-squared bleak, when you consider corporate fascism and the end-of-life-as-we-know-it consequences of global climate change. I guess corporations plan to make big bucks in the future providing us with air conditioners that can convert 180F outdoor temps to a more moderate 110F inside or something?
-90% jimmy
PS - this is where I got my 180F doom and gloom info. well worth the 15 minutes to watch.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017109076
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Name: JimGender: Male
Current location: Barkhamsted, CT
Member since: Sat Jul 3, 2004, 08:36 AM
Number of posts: 6,829
