Kwtia

Scared of flying, and tired of explaining to people how your fear just might make sense? Interested in court cases? Like stories about corporate greed and malfeasance?

Have I got the story for you?

Here are some teasers courtesy of Mother Jones Magazine:

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"Documents made public in a whistleblower lawsuit filed against The Boeing Company suggest that thousands of unsafe and unapproved parts have been installed on jets the company produced "

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"structural defects in these parts, some classified as “flight safety critical” by the government, could likewise threaten the airworthiness of at least 1,600 commercial airplanes manufactured between 1994 and 2004"

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"More serious than charges of uninspected parts are charges that parts were actually used that were known to be imperfect, with incorrectly drilled holes or other physical defects"

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The parts came from a company called Ducommun

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Watch MoJo for more on the story

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For those of you who are Amtrak fans..who love the sound of a train whistling and hissing on the tracks, waiting to roll away through cities and open plains as you sip on your coffee and eat hot dogs or those veggie melted piping hot square pizzas..and for those of you who are a little (or very) wary of out of control cowboy privatisation..have I got a story for you..

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"The Amtrak board has approved an essential step in the Bush administration plan to break up the railroad, voting to carve out the Northeast Corridor, the tracks between Boston and Washington, as a separate division"NYT

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"a move by some conservatives in the Bush administration to break up, and eventually kill, the troubled passenger rail service."Boston Globe

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"It is possible that some or all Amtrak routes eventually would be competitively bid. It is also possible that some of Amtrak's long-distance trains, which mainly ply the South, West and Midwest, would be discontinued because of budget pressures". Reuters

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saveamtrak.org

ttd.org (AFL-CIO)

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shoo away the swarms of commuter planes

and find that train ticket we lost

cuz once upon a time the line followed the river

and peeked into all the backyards

and the laundry was waving

the graffiti was teasing us

from brick walls and bridges

we were rolling over ridges

through valleys under stars

i dream of touring like duke ellington

in my own railroad car

i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches

in a grand station aglow with grace

and then standing out on the platform

and feeling the air on my face

Ani Difranco

Self Evident