Showing posts with label power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power. Show all posts

Monday, February 02, 2009

The Free Market


Republicans and money managers LOVE to crow about the advantages of the "free market system" - capitalism at its finest. Many of them right now proclaim that we don't need to bail out the economy - we need to let the markets restore balance. Of course, that means millions out of work, out of money and out of health care. But what concerns these Republicans? Balancing the markets.

From Mother Jones...

And the Award for the Biggest Cold-Hearted Bastard in America Goes To...

Bay City (Michigan) Electric Light & Power manager Robert Belleman. Upon learning that 93-year-old Marvin Schur froze to death—"a slow, painful death" according to the medical examiner—in his home, Belleman defended the utility's decision to cut off the man's power, without warning, during last week's subzero cold snap. Installing "limiters" which put a cap on power usage and shuts off the juice altogether if an owner exceeds the limit, is company policy, noted Belleman, and he saw no reason to change it in the light of Schur's death. As for the utility's failure to inform Schur?

"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."

Schur, who was $1,000 behind on his utility bill, was indeed found by his neighbor—four days after the limiter was switched on, in a sub-freezing room that had icicles on the insides of its windows.

Friday, November 02, 2007

US Not Well Thought Of

Our position in the world is declining because of bad choices by our leaders in Washington. Unreasonable wars, torture, poor fiscal management, poor moral leadership, disintegrating freedoms, and much more have led to a general, overall negative opinion of the US. The following is from Reuters via Yahoo News...

Iran is the country most people around the world would like see having less power, followed closely by the United States, a new opinion poll showed on Wednesday.

The survey, which polled 57,000 people from 52 countries, showed 39 percent of respondents wanted to see the influence of Iran diminished, compared with 37 percent for the United States.