Comments by firedervish
Page 1 of 1
Posted on April 8 at 6:04 p.m.
"ilovesb09"-
While your confusion is understandable, assuming that your assertion of 140-175 feet for the height of the drilling platform is correct, the Angry Poodle is correct that it would be similar in height to a 151 foot tall STATUE of Liberty.
The confusion comes from your failing to distinguish between the statue itself and its base, pedestal, and foundation (including Fort Wood).
from the same site you got your stats:
Top of base to torch 151'1" 46.05m
Ground to tip of torch 305'1" 92.99m
Heel to top of head 111'1" 33.86m
In other words, the statue (111 or 151 feet tall) stands atop a 154 foot foundation and pedestal. Your assertion would be equivalent to claiming that by climbing on the roof of an SUV, YOU become 12 feet tall.
0 of 1 people thought this was a good comment.
Posted on March 10 at 1:23 p.m.
hello, people?
just how much real effort will really be put into rehabilitating juarez or any other accused gang member? in this climate of recession and growing fear of ________, how much worse do you think things might get if all we do is blame "them" as some hopeless and worthless cultural detritus to be rounded up and "dealt with"?
i haven't heard such a toxic, disgusting idea since debating ethics with a skinhead klansman in the south. who's next on your hit list to blame after you round up all your ethnically and color-coded scapegoats?
does anyone still understand that there is a difference between incarceration and rehabilitation?
to that (hopefully sardonically sarcastic) comment about rounding them all up- aren't you aware that THAT is exactly what the bulk of politics and law enforcement have been focusing on trying to do (for decades now) ever since we told them that they had to start preventing lynchings rather than just look the other way.
from jim crow, to the socio-economic draft for the "all-volunteer" modern military, to the war on drugs, three-strikes and gang-enhancement mutations of justice, these are all variations on the same theme of white privilege & profit keeping the people in line, feeding their (our) machine.
the prison-industrial complex is the hate & fear-fueled little brother to the military-industrial complex. neither one has any interest in sustainable community; only in their own growth - the nature of any profit-driven corporation.
can't those of you refusing to EVOLVE past 3,000+ year old eye-for-an-eye retaliatory strategies learn anything from looking at the 3,000+ year conflicts in the middle east that are going nowhere faster and faster fueled on that same murderous yet undying philosophy?
the solutions to both crime and terrorism are to be found in education and social justice. not punishment and retribution.
live in love or live in fear. it is a choice.
0 of 1 people thought this was a good comment.
Posted on November 15 at 12:58 a.m.
Actually, if you read the story, CalTrans had promised to open it.
The fire department was a little busy I would suppose trying to put out the fires, saving our lives and our houses.
And at most this would be ONE incident not a group of "examples"
So should I say a this is a perfect example of why you dubbed yourself RANT-abarbara?
[[[A rant or harangue is a speech or text that does not present a well-researched and calm argument; rather, it is typically an attack on an idea, a person or an institution, and very often lacks proven claims. Such attacks are usually personal attacks. Compare with a dialectic. ]]]
Page 1 of 1
Previous Month
Posted on April 8 at 7:08 p.m.
It isn't the "open border" that created this situation.
It is the economic and financial systems. Fundamentally it our economic and business practices here in the USA, then the financial and economic systems we largely control through the World Bank and the IMF, and thirdly the semi-independent systems of foreign states from which the immigrants come.
Our domestic policies that nurture the creation of corporations with CEO's making more than 100 times the income of the lowest paid worker with no benefits. This creates acceptance of workers being paid only a fraction of what would put a full-time worker at the poverty level.
Our systems that bail out criminally negligent corporations because they are too big to fail, yet ignore the bulk of our population not being able to afford basic medical necessities because they can't afford good lobbyists. This creates acceptance and feigned ignorance of illegal blocking of labor union creation, and a serious lack of enforcement of the already scarce labor protection laws that are inadequately enforced.
Our systems through subsidies and aid that attempt to keep foreign countries subjugated at "banana republic" levels of independence - see the general histories of Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Columbia or El Salvador to start developing a clue.
Then look at how our war on drugs' "great success" with Plan Columbia (ever seen the game "whack-a-mole"?) has merely relocated major cartels to Mexico (and of course further buttressed the Taliban in Afghanistan), undermining democracy and safety solely to fuel OUR country's demand for these drugs.
Step up to a little domestic integrity and accountability for OUR nation's significant if not dominant role in this issue.
And by the way; they aren't "anchor babies" they are human beings deserving of protection and every civil right you possess AND they are your fellow citizens. If you were truly humane and a champion of American virtues and the rule of law you would be a little more concerned for their welfare.
The simplistic parroting of right-wing radio scapegoating and distraction talking points running rampant throughout these comments only dehumanizes these people that are simply trying to survive and do the best they can for themselves and their families, just like all of OUR immigrant ancestors did when they came to these conquered and stolen lands to get THEIR slice of manifest destiny. Unless your ethnic background is indigenous to these lands, you have no grounds to judge these fellow immigrant opportunists harshly.
On On Whose Backs?