I wanna hold your hand…

Lately, it seems I need a daily reminder that I am a very Blessed woman. A friend sent me this video– I had seen it before, but it is worth the lesson again, and again……

                                      http://www.wimp.com/watchingthis/

                                                …. yes; I am Blessed. AND so is he!!

The Sweetest Deal EVER made—

…. who made it and who was in on it????

Okay folks– just for the sheer sake of jumpstarting your nervous system today. Read this report. I promise you that in it you will discover one sentence that will make you pause your breath for a second– and then you will think “ How did I not already figure that was coming”. What a deal folks, what a deal!!!!!!!!!!!

European Stocks Climb for Sixth Day; BMW, BP Shares Advance
July 13, 2010, 12:14 PM EDT

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-13/european-stocks-climb-for-sixth-day-bmw-bp-shares-advance.html

July 13 (Bloomberg) — European stocks climbed for a sixth day to a three-week high as Alcoa Inc. began the U.S. earnings season with profit that beat estimates, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG raised its forecast and BP Plc gained.
BMW, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, jumped the most in 15 months after saying higher volumes in 2010 will boost profit. BP increased 2.9 percent after installing a new cap on its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and as Abu Dhabi said it’s considering making an investment in the company.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.9 percent to 255.99, erasing this year’s losses. The measure has risen 8.2 percent over the past six days amid easing concern about the economic recovery and speculation that the selloff in equities since April has overshot the outlook for company profits. The gauge remains 5.9 percent below this year’s high.
Earnings “forecasts look too low and we expect a strong majority of companies to beat their numbers,” said Graham Bishop, the London-based head of pan-European equity strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “We already know a great deal about the performance of the global economy through the second quarter. Consensus economic forecasts have actually been revised materially higher.”
Portugal’s PSI-20 Index was the second-weakest western European market today as Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s credit rating by two notches to A1 because of a growing debt burden and weak economic growth prospects. The gauge gained 0.1 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 surged 2 percent. Germany’s DAX rallied 1.9 percent.
Greek Bond Sale
Greece’s ASE Index surged 2.6 percent as the nation sold 1.63 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of 26-week Treasury bills at a rate below the 5 percent charged by the European Union for its bailout package, easing concern the country faces punitive costs to borrow.
BMW rallied 8.3 percent to 42.13 euros, leading a gauge of auto stocks to the biggest gain among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. The luxury-car maker forecast 2010 sales volumes will rise by about 10 percent to more than 1.4 million units, with a full-year profit margin of more than 5 percent expected for the automobiles segment. Rival Daimler AG advanced 5.4 percent to 43.81 euros.
Automakers Advance
Peugeot SA climbed 5.3 percent to 24.37 euros and Volkswagen AG preferred shares gained 5.2 percent to 77 euros. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price estimate on the French carmaker by 3 percent to 34 euros and on the German automaker by 4 percent to 78 euros, saying increased demand and “attractive valuations” favor the industry, according to a report today.
BP advanced 2.9 percent to 410.35 pence, extending yesterday’s 9.4 percent jump. The oil company installed a new cap on its leaking Gulf of Mexico well and will start testing today whether this will stop the gusher while work continues on a permanent plug. Separately, the Financial Times reported that BP expects to be able to write off the oil-spill cleanup costs against taxes, without saying where it got its information.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the emirate is considering making an investment in BP.
‘Still Thinking’
“We are still thinking about it,” he said in an interview in Abu Dhabi today, when asked about potentially buying a stake in the London-based oil producer. “We are looking across the board. We have been partners with BP for years.”
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer reported second- quarter profit that topped analysts’ projections as higher metal prices boosted sales. Earnings from continuing operations were 13 cents a share, exceeding the 11-cent average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Profits for S&P 500 companies are projected to have increased 34 percent in the second quarter and by the same amount in 2010, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Intel Corp., the biggest maker of semiconductors which reports quarterly earnings after the close of U.S. exchanges today, is among 23 companies in the index to announce results this week.
Burberry Group Plc surged 3.7 percent to 818.5 pence, the highest level since at least 2002. The U.K.’s largest luxury retailer posted a 27 percent gain in first-quarter sales, beating analysts’ estimates, led by growth in Asia and deliveries to wholesale customers.
Unilever, BAT
Unilever, the world’s second-largest maker of consumer products, gained 2.9 percent to 1,898 pence and British American Tobacco Plc advanced 2.6 percent to 2,277 pence as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded both companies to “buy” from “neutral.”
SEB AB surged 4.9 percent to 48.75 kronor after the second- largest bank in the Baltic countries returned to profit in the second quarter as loan losses in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania decreased.
DNO International ASA rallied 4.9 percent to 8.74 kroner, the highest close since April, after the Daily Telegraph reported that RAK Petroleum Pcl has made an offer to buy the remainder of the Norwegian oil producer. DNO Chief Executive Officer Helge Eide said he had “no comment and no information” on the report.
–Editors: Andrew Rummer, David Merritt.

All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Redstate Revolt or WordPress.com

The 99er’s

WTF are people supposed to do?? Hell, I wish my Grandfather was here so I could get some insight as to how to navigate through times such as these!!! He was born in 1898. I did listen to him when he spoke about the Depression– but I sincerely would like to of heard the deep ‘how tos’. God Bless those fromback then– and God Bless us from today!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/12/AR2010071205144_2.html?wprss=rss_nation

THE 99er’s

By

Michael A. FletcherWashington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Even before his unemployment checks ended, Dwight Michael Frazee’s days were filled with the pursuit of any idea that could earn him a buck. But few are working out, and now his nights are filled with dread.

In the coming weeks, the Senate is expected to resume its debate about whether to extend the emergency jobless benefits that were passed in response to the steep increase in unemployment caused by the recession. But people like Frazee, who have suffered the longest in the downturn, will not be part of that conversation. They are among the 1.4 million workers who have been unemployed for at least 99 weeks, according to the Labor Department, reaching the limit for the insurance. Their numbers have grown sixfold in the past three years.

The 99ers are glaring examples of the nation’s most serious bout of long-term joblessness since the Great Depression. Nearly 46 percent of the country’s 14.6 million unemployed people have been out of work for more than six months, and forecasters project that the situation will not improve anytime soon. Currently, the Labor Department says there are nearly five unemployed people for every job opening.

Frazee, 50, has applied for work at more places than he can remember since he lost his construction job two years ago. He has tried car dealerships, Kmart, Home Depot and the funky shops on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, near Toms River. He looked into becoming a commercial crabber, working in title insurance and as a bail bondsman. But no dice.

While searching for work, he lived on $585 a week in unemployment payments. But the checks were cut off in May when he reached 99 weeks. Now Frazee, who is married and has a 5-year-old daughter, is in a financial free fall with no safety net.

“My life has been total stress. I sleep maybe four hours a night, worrying about money,” he said. “I understood the president and Congress had to stabilize the banks, get Wall Street going. I figured something would be done for middle-class Americans, that they couldn’t abandon us. But I was wrong.”

Since the recession began in December 2007, lawmakers have passed several extensions that stretched the normal 26-week limit for unemployment benefits to as long as 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. In the Washington area, only workers in the District, where unemployment is 10.4 percent — well above the 9.5 percent national rate — qualify for the longest-term unemployment benefits. Virginia and Maryland residents can receive benefits as long as 86 weeks, including 60 weeks of federally financed benefits. The Labor Department has no statistics on the number of workers in each jurisdiction who have exhausted their benefits.

With the federal extensions now up for renewal, Congress has shown decreasing enthusiasm for them amid increasing concern about the ballooning deficit.

On several occasions, Senate Republicans have said they would not vote for stimulus bills that included unemployment extensions, saying any new spending must be offset by cuts elsewhere. With the extensions expired at least temporarily, more than 2 million Americans have lost their unemployment benefits, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research organization. A report by the House Ways and Means Committee estimated that 21,700 Virginians, 12,300 Marylanders and 5,200 D.C. residents lost their benefits when the extensions ended.

Congress’s inaction has been accompanied by a growing sentiment among lawmakers that long-term unemployment benefits create a disincentive for the jobless to find work.

“Workers are less likely to look for work, or accept less-than-ideal jobs, as long as they are protected from the full consequences of being unemployed,” said Michael D. Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “That is not to say that anyone is getting rich off unemployment, or that unemployed people are lazy. But it is simple human nature that people are a little less motivated as long as a check is coming in.”

That was disputed by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, who cited a recent study ordered by congressional Democrats. “These benefits do not inhibit job seekers from vigorously looking for or accepting work,” she said.

The growing backlash against unemployment insurance has left the 99ers with few political advocates. President Obama, buffeted by GOP criticism of his economic policies as unemployment rates hover at their highest levels in 28 years, has been struggling to win support for renewing the extended jobless benefits. Consequently, any help for the 99ers is off the table, at least for now — leaving them angry at their political leaders.

“President Obama talks a lot about making the victims of the gulf disaster whole, but what about the victims of this economic disaster?” Frazee said. “Nowadays, he seems mostly concerned with image. Now, he doesn’t want to be seen as a big spender. But people need help.”

A 34-year-old resident of Vienna, Va., named Brian, who withheld his last name because of his embarrassment about being out of work, worked in corporate finance for nine years before being laid off three years ago. He exhausted his unemployment benefits long ago and has been living off savings and credit. “Before this, I figured that if you can’t find a job in two years, you’re not looking,” he said. “But I keep looking and jobs just are not there. The economy is not recovering. It’s being propped up by government spending. But when that ends, I think this whole mess is not over with.”

Here in Toms River, Frazee has not earned a regular paycheck since working as a $75,000-a-year laborer during the construction of the Borgata hotel in Atlantic City. That was in July 2008, just as the economy was imploding — and just after he was returning to health after having a cancerous appendix removed.

Since then, he has not worked, save for a recent four-day stint cleaning up a construction site at a nearby state college. He has fallen behind on mortgage payments for his sunny townhouse, and he is staring at the prospect of foreclosure even after negotiating a loan modification with his lender, Wells Fargo.

Most of the time, Frazee said, he has been confident that things would work out, if only because they always have. He started as a construction worker after his father’s endorsement helped him land a spot in the Laborers’ International Union Local 415 shortly after he graduated from Toms River South High School in 1978.

When he wasn’t working construction, he had jobs on oil rigs off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., and in the Gulf of Mexico. He also was a bounty hunter. “I’ve never been one to feel sorry for myself,” he said. “I’ve always worked.”

Until now. The longer he is out of a job, the more unemployable he feels. He suspects that potential employers are turned off by his age and by the fact that he has been out of work for so long. But he is moving near the top of the hiring list for his union. And in the meantime, he has been buying mail-order children’s quartz watches from China and selling them on consignment at local convenience stores. He clears close to $3 per watch.

“I’m a union construction worker, but I think I can be a hell of a salesman,” Frazee said. “A lot of the stores around here are owned by Indian Americans, and they like me. They’re taking my watches. Maybe India and China are going to help me out of this jam if my country won’t.”

All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Redstate Revolt or WordPress.com

According to Uncle Sam’s Accountants…

                             http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/

These are the figures for U.S. Trade per Country….

Call me crazy– but first : I don’t believe ‘all’ the figures
and secondly I just keep thinking ‘ what exactly did we trade for that couldn’t of been produced here?”

And why the hell do we trade with our enemies???? To win their hearts and minds…?  How about winning your own citizens hearts and minds so they can get back to work, make a liveable wage, stay healthy… and pay into their own systems .

What’s the fuss all about?

                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Post-American_World
The Book

               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria
The Author

Many folks have remarked that they think this is all Muslim backed… how about 1] At least our President can read 2] he is reading a book  openly not appearing to hide it. God forbid!

so… in your opinion whats the big deal?

There are no words….

RIP Granny-D

The power of one!
Granny not only walked across America for Campaign Reform– she stayed actively involved staying on-top of things in Washington. She passed this week– I hope her spirit stays alive within us all to keep being watch-dogs!Her legendary 3200 mile, 2 year walk across the country at 90 years of age raised awareness about campaign finance reform and resulted in the passage of the Mccain-Feingold Bill

.. when nobody is watching the hen house…

Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

The Massachusetts election Tuesday was the last one conducted under rules that had been in place for over a century to protect the right of the people to choose their government free from enormous expenditures of corporate wealth. Next time voters want to send us a message at the ballot box, they may find their voices drowned out by wealthy corporations with their own special-interest agendas.
This Supreme Court decision takes us back a century to a legal framework that fostered a golden era of corporate influence. While the core of the McCain-Feingold law, the ban on unlimited “soft money” contributions by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals directly to the political parties remains intact for now, the reasoning of this decision undermines the foundation of a host of laws enacted to strengthen our democracy and curb corruption in government. Indeed, the soft-money ban could very well be the next target of those who want to see our political system dominated by corporate influence.
This decision gives a green light to corporations to unleash their massive coffers on the political system. The profits of Fortune 500 companies in 2008 alone were 350 times the entire amount spent on the last presidential election.

Oil companies, with virtually no harm to their balance sheets, can now try to “take out” members of Congress who don’t toe their company line on energy policy. Foreign-owned companies–even those owned and controlled by other governments are free to underwrite the candidates of their choice.
Because of the scope of the Citizens United decision, it will take close examination to see what can be done to restore the voice of the average citizen in elections. We must not stand by as corporations threaten to dominate our democratic process. If the race in Massachusetts showed us anything, it’s the power of voters. In our democracy, that power not the power of corporate wealth should decide our elections.

WP/1.23.10

bird? plane? What the hell..

http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/hes_barack_obama

Health “Care” Reform Vs Health “Insurance” Reform: Red Herrings For The Gullible Americans

What will it take for all you lemmings to get full of the herrings being forced fed you. Do you like the taste so much or are you truly that stupid? Do you consider those elected into office to be more deserving of good, quality Single Payer healthcare than you? Did you know that those fighting against this, use it, even tho “Socialized medicine” (read as “Devil’s Healthcare” in the mind of fools) is Sooooo bad? Or are you aware that the brainwashing is so deep that the elderly and others on Medicare are being brainwashed into thinking that their beloved Medicare is actually “Socialized Medicine”?

When will you think for yourself? Ever?

These criminals, with the exception of a very few, use the Devil’s healthcare and don’t want you to have it… all the while lining their campaign pockets with the very ones that cause your bankruptcy or sickness and death due to limiting or denying your care when the worst comes? Ask your old Mama to give her “Socialized Medicine” up and see what happens. She’ll slap the shit out of you. Ask a vet to give up his VA healthcare for the private plans and watch out for the M16. ask a Congressman to give his up and watch out for the… (crickets chirping).

Single Payer: Listen to the Doctors!

What a concept! Listening to the people who work in our broken healthcare system every day and can tell you exactly what needs to be done from a first hand perspective!

h/t JohnPerryOnline

And please watch John’s Homework assignment in a RealNews segment down below highlighting Glen Ford as he explains how they are pulling off Health “Insurance” Reform, when what we need Health “Care” Reform. We do not need health “insurance” reform, unless you call cutting the head off of health insurance companies all together, “reform”. THAT is what is needed and any sane person knows this.

For you “conservatives” out there that keep insisting Obama is “liberal”, consider that he has played to the conservatives at each and every turn in this debate (and virtually every other debate). This man is no more a liberal than YOU are. You fall for the Kabuki Dance and look very stupid doing so, for the most fiscally conservative way to health “CARE” is Single payer. For you “liberals” or “progressives” out there, when will you begin to understand what those terms are and actually mimic their meaning? I’m just asking, because otherwise you are just as foolish and ignorant as your despised two-party headed counterparts in the dance.

Health reform: dead or alive?

Ford: By excluding single payer plan, Obama allowed the right to dominate the reform debate

Maybe all you need, Mr Conservative, is for one of your very own heroes to admit the truth. Is Jon Stewart really this brilliant or is Billy Boy Kristol as stupid as I think he is? Maybe Billy has come to his lying senses, or maybe he just got caught in a trap. Either way, watch some truth come out and explain why the Armed Services “deserve” superior treatment and other Americans don’t. I mean, don’t they say that your reward is the “adventure”, not the job (including benefits)?

more about “Bill Kristol | The Daily Show | Comed…“, posted with vodpod

h/t AfterDowningStreet

I wonder if the following segment from Countdown (guest hosted by Governor Dean) interviewing Wendell Potter, the CIGNA insider who has been forthcoming with the truth about healthcare, would help you understand why the Kabuki Dance moves on and how, if the congress is allowed to carry forward, we will see an even worse situation arise.

more about “Countdown:Fighting to keep the public…“, posted with vodpod

The Blagojevich Committee Chaired By Max Baucus

Follow the money, honey, to see why Sen Max Baucus (Dungheap: Montana) will not allow Universal Healthcare “on the table”. Do you think that this corrupt, bought and paid for Insurance water boy will fight against his MAIN financing that gets you local Montana dumbasses to vote for him?

The “Pay to Play” Senator is clear about his intentions on his own site:

Universal Coverage: The first principle is universal coverage, every Montanan and American has a right to affordable health coverage. Universal coverage is essential if we are to make meaningful progress on the other four principles. We cannot address the health care system, if we leave a growing portion of the country behind. The solution, however, must build on the current system and must involve a public and private sector mix.

It MUST? Really? Wonder why it MUST?

Like I said, follow the money. His invitation was to “Stake Holders”. No real consideration of American workers or the public, in general. Pay to Play.

Now then, I saw a video at Dandelion Salad which continues the gist of my post from yesterday regarding the heroic 8 people who demanded that Universal, Single-Payer Healthcare be “PUT BACK ON THE TABLE“. The Real News Network’s video illuminated the lies that these corrupt, deep pocketed pawns say (and the American Sheople take as truth and “Gospel”) and offered the truth in answer to those lies.

The video quotes from a Harvard School of Public Health Feb 2008 Press release and shows poll results of how Americans feel about “Socialized Medicine”, broken down by Party affiliation. From the poll (just to show you that a majority of those who believe they understand what “Socialized medicine” is, feel like it would IMPROVE our system). Sorry to take away the lying MSM meme of “Americans are against it” (no I’m not).

To begin…
Q1 Politicians sometimes talk about “socialized medicine”. How well do you understand what this phrase means? Would you say [READ LIST]?
67% VERY/SOMEWHAT WELL (NET)
34% Very well
33% Somewhat well
31% NOT VERY/NOT AT ALL WELL (NET)
15% Not very well
15% Not at all
2% Don’t know/Refused
(Asked of those who understand what socialized medicine means “very well”, “somewhat well” or “not very well”; n=886)

Q2. So far as you understand the phrase, do you think that if we had socialized medicine in this country that the health care system would be better or worse than what we have now?
45% Better
39% Worse
4% About the same (volunteer)
12% Don’t know/Refused

When Sen Jim Bunning of Kentucky weighed in (heavy laden with his largest campaign contribution coinage in his pockets from Big Insurance), he told what is termed down here in Tennessee, “A Damned Lie” when he said that when he looks at “Government Single Payer” healthcare in other countries like the UK, Canada, Sweden, etc that he sees MUCH higher tax rates on workers (“60% and Higher”). In other words, government run, “socialized medicine” causes very high tax rates for the workers of those countries compared to us.

But what is the truth about that claim?

The truth is found in the OECD Fact Book.

Canada 33.3%

UK 32.6%

Sweden 50.1% (but they also get free college for everyone and many other “social services” that we pay for out of our pocket, or double the unemployment insurance protection than our own government provides).

NONE are the Big Money’s (or the “Owned” Sen from Kentucky’s) lie of “60% or higher”.

But just what IS the American tax rate (before our expensive health care, college and other “social services” we pay for are factored)?

30.4%

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a tax burden of ALMOST as much as they do, but we STILL pay for our healthcare in premiums, out of pocket and the cattle train mentality of our extremely lucrative medical industry (and the health insurance companies that control it via their high dollar campaign contributions to the very ones who keep the only viable option OFF THE TABLE).

Now what does our 2-3% “savings” in tax rate get us? Besides the $.31 of every Healthcare Dollar going to the Big Insurance Company’s overhead and outrageous salaries and bonuses?

Well, it gets us more dead babies on arrival. Yes, that’s right… the American infant mortality rate is higher than all of these “socialized medicine” controlled countries. (On a side note, Cuba beats us, too) Along with France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Japan, S Korea, Israel, The Czech Republic, Portugal, Australia, (do I have to go on)…

US 6.26 out of 1,000 births

Canada 5.04

Sweden (that monsterous “Socialized Medicine/College/Worker Friendly” country?

2.75 infant deaths out of 1,000

(Do you understand what this means? That those bastards in Sweden have twice as good an infant mortality rate, get all their college paid for and are very well treated as workers and citizens, while we… well, you know what you are going through)

These scumbags are liars and well paid for it. Sen Baucus can giggle about “needing more police”, but if you ignorant sheep herders from Montana would just wake up to his bullshit, we could rid ourselves of another Big Money crony set to protect his coffers and fuck his fellow citizens. I’m working on my sorry assed Senator Alexander. Step up and do your part.

We need to rid our country of these slimy assholes enriched by ill-gotten gain that leaches off of you and your families’ health.

The Buffering of history

WHAT AN AWESOME DAY! … and now I have a question…

Well, after watching ‘history’ today… I noticed a topic I do desire to ask all of you about. Bear with me as I set this topic up and then ask a few questions. Do those who chose to be the ones ‘recording’ history for our country as well as the world have the right or obligation to alter the ‘realism’, truth of reflection regarding it? To delete, or ignore parts etc out of it as a rationalization of using kindness or respect? Sounds nice and right– but I disagree! I can recall critics of the Statue of Iwo Jima [which was made after the photograph of those who actually did raise the flag]… say that that statue should of reflected a black, an Indian and a woman. Well that to me would have been a distorted reflection and not true at all.

So– when the reality of the history today was recorded… those who held the power over the audio and cameras decided to not pan the masses when Bush was announced… and turned down the audio. This to me was not a ‘real’ entry into the ledger of history. No matter the day– the chips should of fell the way he himself had caused his presence to effect the people of this country. Obama didn’t hedge in his speech regarding those that failed the country. He even made many pointed remarks about Bush in my opinion.
>
“…a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some,…”

“…false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics….”

“…that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply…”

“..And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government….”
“…we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals…” [I love that nice way of calling someone a liar]

This only took 8 years to do!!
“..”Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].” <

So, whatever did or didn’t happen in that slice of time will only be told by those there… independently.

If we demand that Cheney turn papers over for historical reasons, we demand truth in all things, then I personally took offence to the fact that the media decided to edit anything. The media must join the train of change… and what led us all to the gates of hell prior to this day, was our own complacency. Today was not the day to not expect the true reflection of all things about this day that made it what it was.

Who can really afford this!

Besides the unmeasureable damage that hit residents locally and headon to ruin their lives– the radius is being hit with water problems, air pollution and air-traveled-and-breathed toxins. And then– we all get to pay for it while we also endure our personal economys sinking fast. This [among so much stuff everytwhere ] sucks so bad.

 

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090108/GREEN02/901080355/1001/RSS01 

TVA’s ratepayers will be saddled with the cost to clean up a massive coal ash slide at an East Tennessee power plant, the agency’s chairman said.

The tab, likely to be tens of millions of dollars or more, will include the cost of extra workers, overtime pay, heavy machinery, and housing and supplies for families chased from their homes, along with the lawsuits that have begun to pile up.

“This is going to get into rates sooner or later,” Tennessee Valley Authority Chairman Bill Sansom told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “We haven’t even thought about going to Washington for it.”

Washington is where Sansom will be today, as Tom Kilgore, the agency’s chief executive, testifies about the spill at a Senate hearing that brings TVA’s operations into their first high-profile scrutiny by Congress in more than a decade.

Also testifying will be Stephen Smith, a longtime TVA watchdog who heads the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and William Rose, director of emergency management services for Roane County.

The equivalent of more than 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge cascaded Dec. 22 in a dark avalanche from an aboveground, ash-walled storage structure at the Kingston coal-burning power plant.

When a wall ruptured, the waste barreled out, damaging homes, knocking over trees and power lines and filling two inlets of the nearby Emory River.

The slide has turned into a rallying point for activists, many of whom want national regulation of coal ash ponds and question industry talk of developing “clean” coal for the nation’s energy future.

Several residents who live not far from TVA’s coal-burning plant also have traveled to Washington to lobby their lawmakers with Smith.

“I want to be part of the solution, to get this mess cleaned up,” said Melinda Hillman. “We lived in a little bit of paradise and now it is unbelievable what has been done.”

Much of the gray ash covering almost 300 acres is being sprayed with liquid fertilizer and seeds to try to stop what could be lung-damaging ash particles from drying and going airborne as the cleanup continues.

Lab work on water and ash samples has shown elevated levels of arsenic, lead, thallium and other substances.

State and federal environmental officials say testing shows that drinking water supplies are safe and that treatment plants would remove these materials if they entered the water intakes.

Hillman, who has lived in the area for eight years, said an independent investigation is needed to determine why the pond wall failed.

Forty area families have joined a pending lawsuit along with several environmental groups, demanding that federal courts levy fines and assure the community is made whole.

A TVA official had said earlier that insurance covers such accidents, but just how much had not been determined.

“We are primarily self- insured, but we also have some insurance policy carriers,” agency spokesman John Moulton said Wednesday. “It’s too early to tell what the impact on rates might be.”

Ash pond spills and leaks elsewhere in the country — some smaller than the one at Kingston — have resulted in cleanups of more than $35 million and lawsuits with settlements of $25 million and more.

Tough hearings likely

Pointed questions are expected at today’s hearing, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CST.

The Environment and Public Works Committee is led by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who has pushed an aggressive environmental agenda since she took over as chairwoman in 2007. She supported efforts late last year to keep tighter environmental regulations in place for coal-fired power plants.

Kilgore, the CEO and president of TVA, was not available for an interview. But agency spokesman Moulten said Kilgore and Sansom were scheduled to meet before the hearing with the TVA Caucus — members of Congress who represent areas to which TVA provides electricity. That’s virtually all of Tennessee and parts of six other Southern states.

Moulten said Kilgore’s Senate testimony would emphasize cleanup efforts.

“Our focus is entirely on recovery,” Moulten said.

The last major confrontation between TVA leaders and Congress came in the 1990s, when the agency gave up the annual appropriations that had covered the costs of management of the Tennessee River system and economic development projects.

Today, TVA, a federal corporation, finances all its flood control, power generation and recreation operations from the sale of electricity.

Groups call for change

Local and international environmental groups homed in on the spill when it occurred.

The Environmental Integrity Project, along with Earthjustice, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the United Mountain Defense, held a teleconference Wednesday, releasing federal data about nearly 100 largely unregulated wet landfills nationwide that hold arsenic and other potentially toxic substances, like TVA’s Kingston facility.

Heavy metals found in coal can concentrate in the ash when it’s burned, and even more ash is created as pollution controls are tightened on power plants.

The groups object to mixing the dry ash with water to move it into ponds. They want dry landfills, recycling of the materials and regulations requiring liners to protect groundwater.

“This issue has been a sleeper,” said Jeff Stant, with the Environmental Integrity Project. “It’s not a glamorous issue. It’s been dumped where people are poor or aren’t members of environmental groups.”

High stakes and glamour, however, are part of it now — along with the potential for huge claims for class-action damages.

Erin Brockovich, who was made a celebrity by the Julia Roberts movie about a community’s fight against contaminated water, and a New York law firm are coming to meet victims this week.Contact Anne Paine at 615-259-8071 or

apaine@tennessean.com.
Contact Bill Theobald of The Tennessean’s Washington bureau at wtheobal@gns.gannett.com.
Duncan Mansfield of The Associated Press contributed.

Foul Ball from Hell

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Times we say “WOW!”–

Human perfection just may exist–

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Come on, admit it when you have seen this , that this made you say “Wow!!”