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Post by eileen on Dec 24, 2008 12:55:23 GMT -5
Louis, I saw some footage about a major dam collapse in TN. It looked really bad. I know TN. is a long state but I still wanted to check on you and yours. How bad did it get as far as people are concerned. The infrastructure in this country has been going down hill since Regan declared government evil and gave all that responsibility back to the states. Bridge Collapse in MN. Levies substandard in LA. and Miss. Water mains breaking in MD causing a flash flood, and so many others. Most of the massive power outages in the North East and North West this year are because the power grids are old. Don't get me started on how antiquated the Air Traffic Control is in too many spots of the country. You'ld never fly again. We need to get on it like they did in the 50's and start mindfully taking on the worst cases first and start rebuilding. More jobs, better roads and a bit more safety. Every time I go by Hoover Dam I think about all the men who died building it and what hell it would cause if it ever failed. My Christmas wish to you all. May all the roads you travel be well mended and smooth for a happy journey. Happy Holidays all.
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Post by havingfunnow on Dec 24, 2008 17:14:19 GMT -5
No flood here, no winter either... the Dam that burst was in the eastern part of the Tennessee 50 miles west of Knoxville and it was a slurry pond for a power plant. A slurry pond is where they store the toxc wastes from washing coal before burning it, to get cleaner emissions. So instead of poisoning the air, they poison the ground. I live in a town south of Jackson, 100 miles east of Memphis. You can't blame Ronnie's Empire of Evil speech for US infrastructure failings, which was more about promoting the development of democracies around the world. The US infrastructure has been starting to deteriorate since the 1970s. It has been documented that some states have diverted federal funds for bridge repairs to other projects; not surprisingly, these states have some of the bridges in the greatest need of repair. The I35W bridge in Minneapolis was first designated as becoming structurally deficient 17 years before its collapse in 2007, and it was mainly design flaws that caused it. Then there's Indiana, who sold their toll road to a foreign consortium to run for 75 years @ $3.8 billion. When you consider that the road is expected to generate $20 billion over that time frame, it is a $16.2 billion dollar loss. Can you say kickbacks I knew ya could.
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Post by eileen on Dec 25, 2008 13:05:25 GMT -5
Louis, Glad to hear you were no where near it. More reports are coming in today(not in many major outlets though). They are already saying the drinking water is safe. Boy that was a fast decision.
Here in Vegas we know how safe it will be to store nuclear waste in our Yucca Mountain. We all know how much care will be taken to store that dangerous stuff. Just like the dike in Tn.
They even decided that when the project could not meet the safety standards the Feds decided to lower the standards so they could be met. Wasn't that nice of them.
Merry Christmas Louis to you and yours. Stay safe.
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