Friday, October 14, 2005

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
**
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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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

4 comments:

Shemsi said...

Hi

I'm glad to see you're still posting, even though it's Ramadan. I promised myself that I would be more productive this Ramadan, and I have been, but I still spend a significant amount of time checking blogs to see if they have updated!

kwtia said...

Hi, The long hours in Ramadan leave lots of time to post..especially since I hate all the socialising..I prefer contemplative ramadans as opposed to the crazy out at all hours Ramadans..

Spontaneousnessity said...

afraid from flying and not ashamed to say so =| yes I am =|

kwtia said...

Hi Sponty, that makes two of us..I have reached ridiculous proportions..the air staff always think i'm a corpse from the frozen fear that grips me..