Real Security

Collapsing Bridges, Sinking Levees. It’s (Past) Time to Invest

Eric Lotke — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:47:02 -0700

Last year on August 1, the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour. Thirteen people died and more than 100 were wounded. A school bus carrying 52 children teetered on the brink but did not fall.

This bridge is not alone. Our nation’s infrastructure is deteriorating, dying of old age and neglect.

Making Sense Alert:
Invest in America Now
How to talk about the need
for investment in our
common assets in tough
economic times.

Bridges and roads. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that nearly 25 percent of bridges in the U.S.—over 152,000 bridges—are “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.” Heavier vehicles, like school buses and delivery trucks, are forced to take lengthy detours for safer bridges. Nearly one in four miles of urban interstate is in “poor” or “mediocre” condition.

Levees and waterways. Earlier this year, thousands of homes and millions of acres of crops were destroyed after heavy rains overwhelmed obsolete levees along the Mississippi River. In 2007, the American Society of Civil Engineers found more than 150 levees to be at high risk of failing due to poor maintenance. Over a quarter of the dams overseen by the Corps of Engineers have exceeded the lifespan for which they were designed and need major repairs to ensure their safety.

Water and steam. A steam pipe explosion in Manhattan last year launched a tow truck 12 feet in the air, killing one person and injuring dozens more. The blast opened a 40-foot-diameter crater and spread toxic asbestos, closing off 40 square blocks for five days. Almost every state—from California, Hawaii, and New York to Alaska and North Carolina—has reported record breakdowns in water infrastructure. In the words of one expert, “an epidemic of breaking pipes is causing unprecedented havoc.”

These are just illustrations of the deadly danger of letting our infrastructure go unmaintained. America’s electric power grid, dams, water treatment plants, airports, and railways are all in dire need of repairs and improvements.

The solution is obvious. Repair and rebuild. Rebuilding our infrastructure provides jobs—good jobs that can never be outsourced—and an economic shot in the arm that we desperately need. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that every $1 billion in federal highway investment creates 47,500 new jobs and generates more than $2 billion in economic activity.

The “greatest generation” built the Interstate Highway System and laid the groundwork for decades of economic expansion. Now it’s our turn to rebuild the highways and add high-speed rail to boot. We’ll be faster, safer and more efficient. Yes, it will cost money, and yes, we’re running deficits. But this is no time to run scared. These are long-term investments and they will pay off over time.

Don’t fall for the “pay as you go” trap or fear the “tax and spend” label. Real people are smarter than that. A new poll by Time Magazine and the Rockefeller Foundation finds 83 percent of the public supports “increasing government spending on things like public works projects to help create jobs.” Support is at 83 percent among the baby-boom generation who built the interstates, and a surprising 90 percent among the young generation Y who are watching them fall apart.

Let’s invest now to turn the economy around.

Students Who Exposed 30-Year-Old Wrongful Conviction Being Targeted By DA

Philip Palij — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:27:39 -0800

Yes this is America, land of the free and home of the brave and..... the victimised.

The razzamatazz of the constitution and the red, white and blue of old glory are shed like a snakes skin upon the alter of injustice and abuse of law by its own officers.

Who cares about what America stands for anymore?

Wave the flag and be damned.

In Afghanistan, Victory For a Crooked, Corrupt, and Discredited Government

Philip Palij — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:10:33 -0800

"The election in Afghanistan has turned into a disaster for all who promoted it. Hamid Karzai has been declared re-elected as President of the country for the next five years though his allies inside and outside Afghanistan know that he owes his success to open fraud. .."

CIA Heaven.

Kucinich: Why Finite Health Care Resources but Unlimited Money for War?

Philip Palij — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:03:21 -0800

"The inequities in our economy are piling up: trillions for war, trillions for Wall Street and tens of billions for the insurance companies. Banks and other corporations are sitting on piles of cash of taxpayer's money while firing workers, cutting pay and denying small businesses money to survive."

Congress To Investigate CIA For Possible Violations Of National Sec. Act

Philip Palij — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:25:45 -0700

WASHINGTON - October 28 - Members of Congress have begun an investigation into allegations that the CIA intentionally violated the National Security Act of 1947 by misleading them about its intelligence activities and programs on several occasions, including the agency’s use of torture and the destruction of interrogation videotapes.

Greenwald: WaPo thinks wars are more important than health care.

Michael Kwiatkowski — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:58:42 -0700

Glenn Greenwald reveals the depraved "logic" behind the beltway media establishment in his latest entry. According to the Washington Post, it's perfectly acceptable to be trillions of dollars in debt to finance the crumbling empire's wars abroad, but wholly unacceptable to invest in genuine health care reform because it would create massive debt.

U.S. may be invited to become part of Southeast Asia

Philip Palij — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:39:12 -0700

"Southeast Asian countries want to form a bloc similar to the United States. In fact the group wants to include the U.S. in the bloc.

The initiative has come from Japan which is urging leaders of Southeast Asian nations to establish an east asian community which would include the United States as a member..."

Investigate and prosecute Bush officials and lawyers

Philip Palij — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:16:45 -0700

Does who you know influence the laws applied to you? Well in the US it seems it does. An influential group want to do something about it.

"...Seventeen human rights and civil rights organizations and 45 prominent lawyers and civic leaders have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder..."

Big Brother "Fusion Centers" Part of US Domestic Intelligence ...

Philip Palij — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:38:52 -0700

Just in case you missed it here is a brief on the removal of the distinction between military and non-military in the land of the free. It also has some notes on which agencies have now or will aquire access to any of your data they hold and see fit to release.

This is another drop onto the advancing American tide of fascism.

Anatomy: Robbing Taxpayers

Philip Palij — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:59:49 -0700

This is how its done, loading up the taxpayer with losses and creating a revenue stream for the banks for ever into the future, your government, the Fed.

Lewis Testifies U.S. Urged Silence on Deal

Bank of America Chief Says Bernanke, Paulson Barred Disclosure of Merrill Woes Because of Fears for Financial System