WI - 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapses!

[deanws]

I don't see it as keeping my head buried in the sand, but I'm not going to live my life in fear and cry terrorism every time something bad happens. What a foolish and sad way to live.

ETA: Since we're comparing birds, better to be an ostrich with my head buried in the sand than running around like a chicken with my head cut off!!! :chicken: :crazy:

Hey...whatever makes you feel comfortable! LMAO!:laugh:

 

[englishleigh]

I don't see it as keeping my head buried in the sand, but I'm not going to live my life in fear and cry terrorism every time something bad happens. What a foolish and sad way to live.

ETA: Since we're comparing birds, better to be an ostrich with my head buried in the sand than running around like a chicken with my head cut off!!! :chicken: :crazy:

I don't think it is foolish to be cautious and to wonder. I'd rather be overcautious and alert in this day and age than DEAD. They tell people all the time to be alert...not live your life in fear...but be alert. That's what I choose to do, and it was not foolish to wonder if yesterday's collapse was terrorism-related when it first happened. Call me a headless chicken if you like. :snooty:

 

[eve]

Thanks English, South, Sewing Deb and Nova! My son was pretty quiet during dinner. He just kept saying how much we take for granted. When he called me to tell me he was ok, his phone broke up so at first I wasn't sure where he was -- he said cell phone signals were just impossible. They finally asked that all of us in the MPLS area not even use them unless it was an emergency. Sure glad he got through on his though. I didn't think I could stand another minute.

Hugs,
Eve

 

[Mysticchic]

I am watching Fox and they have this Ureport and CNN has this Ireport. Check out the wording in this.
By submitting your material, for good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency and receipt of which you hereby acknowledge, you hereby grant to CNN and its affiliates a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to edit, telecast, rerun, reproduce, use, syndicate, license, print, sublicense, distribute and otherwise exhibit the materials you submit, or any portion thereof, as incorporated in any of their programming or the promotion thereof, in any manner and in any medium or forum, whether now known or hereafter devised, without payment to you or any third party. You represent and warrant to CNN that you have the full legal right, power and authority to grant to CNN the license provided for herein, that you own or control the complete exhibition and other rights to the materials you submitted for the purposes contemplated in this license and that neither the materials nor the exercise of the rights granted herein shall infringe upon or violate the right of privacy or right of publicity of, or constitute a libel or slander against, or violate any common law or any other right of, any person or entity. This license shall be governed by the laws of the State of Georgia.

This says they can sell your stuff for profit and you don't get paid. What a rip off.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Did you even watch the video? They explained a.) That it was a "security camera video", meaning some random guy wasn't just standing there, and b.) the person who handed it in did it anonymously because "he wasn't sure he had clearance to release the video."

There is no conspiracy here people. Terrorists did not take down this bridge.

Oh! LOL I guess that was the one I didn't have the sound on because I was listening to another report on the tv. :doh:

I just couldn't imagine. Sorry! :blushing:

He isn't very anonymous then! All the media has to do is go to where the view of the security cam is taken from and they would basically know who sent it. I am glad they gave it to media instead of to LE tho! We NEVER would have had the opportunity to see it!!! It would be another "piece of evidence" never released to the public. The person did the right thing, IMO.

 

[englishleigh]

Oh! LOL I guess that was the one I didn't have the sound on because I was listening to another report on the tv. :doh:

I just couldn't imagine. Sorry! :blushing:

SS, don't let Paladin make you feel silly or embarrassed. :blowkiss:

 

[christine2448]

SS, don't let Paladin make you feel silly or embarrassed. :blowkiss:

Yeah, SS, I did the exact thing, walked around the office for 10 minutes saying, "who the heck was sitting there w/a camera??"..I too watched it w/sound off..then one of my coworkers hollered "it's a security camera video"....Ohhhhh, OK. So, your not the only one.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

LOL Thanks, Christine! Makes me feel a lot better! : )

Will teach me to watch videos without the sound on from now on. I was just amazed and should have listened. <banging my head on my desk now>

 

[cheko1]

It bothers me that they would receive this anonymously! Why was this person recording this particular piece of the bridge at the very moment and seemingly the very spot where failure occurred? You can see the twist clearly. I find it quite frightening this video exists. We all know what this could indicate. I am glad they are treating this as a "Crime Scene" even if it turns out to be structure failure...someone could be charged if found they did take shortcuts in building it or in repairs over the years. They need to obtain every piece of this puzzle to determine what happened.

SS everyone needs ot be very concerned about this bridge going down....... As of now it is being treated as a crime scene & rightfully so. I just returned home from Northern Wis but watched the very first reports......on our local TV.

LE does have bomb sniffing dogs out looking for any remnants of a bomb.
Nothing has been decided yet as to it coming down.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

SS, don't let Paladin make you feel silly or embarrassed. :blowkiss:

Awwwww...Thanks, Englishleigh! :blowkiss: He doesn't really bother me much. We all have our moments...after all...I was born blonde so now I can just blame it on the brunette hairs I have gained over the years.
(No angry letters from brunettes, please...it was to lighten the mood.)

 

[Buzz Mills]

We would be foolish to think that the terrorists aren't well aware of the inherent weaknesses within the infrastructure of our country. After all, as was said previously, a list of the 100 bridges in the poorest condition within our country, are published on the internet.

After 9/11, when the terrorist scare was at its highest, the National Guard was guarding any number of bridges in the Bay Area, especially the Golden Gate, the Bay Bridge (11 miles long), and the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. When we think of how critical most of our bridges are in respect to getting to and from work, the loss of most any bridge, some much more than others, would present a hardship to the citizens, and the economies, of those areas. Of course we could say the same thing about most other parts of the infrastructure

So, it's a multi-faceted problem. Not only do we have to convince our government to invest in our infrastructure, rather than spending so much money fighting needless wars, that we shouldn't have started in the first place, and developing exotic unneeded weapons, and providing foreign aid, again for weapons, just in case they need to fight a war, but we also need to convince our government, that while there is nothing wrong with having an army, that army should be almost entirely about protecting our nation at home.

For 2007, the Defense budget was raised to a total of US$ 532.8 Billion.[1] This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, SUCH AS THE COST OF THE WARS IN IRAQ, AND AFGHANISTAN, and such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance and production (which is in the Department of Energy budget), Veterans Affairs or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, e.g. $120Bi in 2007).[2]

Defense Budget for 2007 [3]
The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2007 is:

Total Funding $439.3 Billion +6.9&#37;
Operations and maintenance $152.2 Bil. +6.6%
Military Personnel $110.8 Bil. +3.7%
Procurement $84.2 Bil. +10.5%
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation $73.2 Bil. +3.1%
Military Construction $12.6 Bil. +57.5%
Family Housing $4.1 Bil. +2.5%
Working Capital Funds $2.4 Bil. +9.1%

Further, the Department of Energy will spend an additional $23.4 Bil. during FY'07 for the development, maintenance and production of nuclear warheads. [4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States

There are even so called Black Programs which are so secret, their funding doesn't even show up in the budget, lest the numbers reveal something about the nature of these programs.

They might want to be reduce the defense budget and spend the money elsewhere. It would help the American public to educate themselves on what is known as the military industrial complex, and also foreign aid, which too often is used for military buildup; it might help to begin redirecting some of that money, to better use, elsewhere in our country.

So far, something like $610 billion has been spent on the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the costs are escalating. While the cost of our two wars, is now quoted as $12 billion a month, the cost will soon go up to $15 billion a month. If the war ended today, the total cost of the war would not be $610 billion, but would be somewhere between 1 and possibly even exceed $2 trillion. There are a lot of future costs that come with what has gone on so far.

 

[deanws]

Thanks English, South, Sewing Deb and Nova! My son was pretty quiet during dinner. He just kept saying how much we take for granted. When he called me to tell me he was ok, his phone broke up so at first I wasn't sure where he was -- he said cell phone signals were just impossible. They finally asked that all of us in the MPLS area not even use them unless it was an emergency. Sure glad he got through on his though. I didn't think I could stand another minute.

Hugs,
Eve

That is sweet eve. He sounds like a doll. You raised a good son.
:blowkiss:

 

[cheko1]

My heart totally breaks for everyone who was on that bridge what a horrific accident.

My son had been on the bridge at 5:15 pm.........I also know someone who had been on the bridge at 5:55 who had just had a bone marrow transplant for his Mom at the U of Mn.

When I found out my son was on the bridge, & knew he was talking to me on the phone as he was crossing it. I about fainted. I thank God he had made it across they just had a baby girl 3 wks ago. Hit to close to home for me.

 

[deanws]

My heart totally breaks for everyone who was on that bridge what a horrific accident.

My son had been on the bridge at 5:15 pm.........I also know someone who had been on the bridge at 5:55 who had just had a bone marrow transplant for his Mom at the U of Mn.

When I found out my son was on the bridge, & knew he was talking to me on the phone as he was crossing it. I about fainted. I thank God he had made it across they just had a baby girl 3 wks ago. Hit to close to home for me.

That is so scary. Yes, it is horrific and I bet I will think of it everytime I pass over the Fred Hartman bridge! Those poor people. I can't imagine the horror they felt as they were falling!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

SS everyone needs ot be very concerned about this bridge going down....... As of now it is being treated as a crime scene & rightfully so. I just returned home from Northern Wis but watched the very first reports......on our local TV.

LE does have bomb sniffing dogs out looking for any remnants of a bomb.
Nothing has been decided yet as to it coming down.

I agree, Cheko! I am certain they are looking closely for any signs of terrorism as they should be!

You should SEE our bridges here!! They are so beyond repair. This should be a huge wake-up call to the nation that we are in dire risk due to lack of action on the part of the counties, states and at federal levels concerning the bridges/overpasses/roads they ask us to drive on daily to pay our taxes in blind faith they are acceptable!!

We have had a few incidents the past year where concrete has fallen onto cars and roadways below to injure or kill people! One man pointed out here during the past few months (and I heard a report from a man last night about the MN bridge in the past few days before this) where you could actually SEE the roadway from a hole going clear through the bridge because the cement was simply gone!!

A specific Interstate bridge I cross daily for work here goes across the Arkansas River and it has bothered me a lot since the I-40 bridge collapse in OK. When it rains, there is a particular area at the start of the bridge where collisions occur on a regular basis. Clue! Maybe the bridge is shifting underneath the pilings or has other structural defects occurring!

I wish they would get busy to check these things, but the rate they actively and the extent they inspect our bridges is almost nonexistant. Add to that the trucking companies which have added 3 trailers per truck, the millions of interstate travelers which use this main artery in and out of the city, and we have the same problems with the hot and cold weather effects here, too. (During our last winter, it would be 70 degrees one day and in hours...we would have a massive ice storm hit. This pattern continued all winter!)

This is a good time for me to remind everyone they need to buy an escape tool to keep in their vehicles or on their keychains at all times! It could save your family's or your own life someday! It cuts the seatbelt and allows you to break the windows from the inside easier.

 

[Paladin]

Hehe, I didn't try to make anyone sound silly or feel embarassed. Just like to get the facts straight. I really am a nice guy (most of the time).

I sincerely apologize if I came off as rude or condescending.

 

[philamena]

SS everyone needs ot be very concerned about this bridge going down....... As of now it is being treated as a crime scene & rightfully so. I just returned home from Northern Wis but watched the very first reports......on our local TV.

LE does have bomb sniffing dogs out looking for any remnants of a bomb.
Nothing has been decided yet as to it coming down.

cheko,
you're spot on. I think all of us want a thorough investigation of this bridge. I want all possibilities examined.

God blessed those affected by this tragedy.

 

[Paladin]

I don't think it is foolish to be cautious and to wonder. I'd rather be overcautious and alert in this day and age than DEAD. They tell people all the time to be alert...not live your life in fear...but be alert. That's what I choose to do, and it was not foolish to wonder if yesterday's collapse was terrorism-related when it first happened. Call me a headless chicken if you like. :snooty:

I guess I don't understand your post here. How is being suspect and alert to terrorism regarding a bridge collapse after the fact going to help you or anyone?

Do you mean to say this is going to prevent you from crossing bridges from now on or until you're convinced they are safe and terrorist-free?

 

[christine2448]

This is a good time for me to remind everyone they need to buy an escape tool to keep in their vehicles or on their keychains at all times! It could save your family's or your own life someday! It cuts the seatbelt and allows you to break the windows from the inside easier.

Excellent advice, and something we normally just don't think about.

Here is an example of what you are speaking of, only $19.95.

http://www.survival-supply.com/emer...-95_167.html?gclid=CICHwpK2140CFTyKOAodfUCLlg

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Hehe, I didn't try to make anyone sound silly or feel embarassed. Just like to get the facts straight. I really am a nice guy (most of the time).

I sincerely apologize if I came off as rude or condescending.

No worries, Paladin! :slap: Glad you straightened it out for me! We do need to keep facts straight...especially around here! Good job, Buddy! (I still chuckle over your other comment.."Silly Doctors..." You sure can come up with some doozies!)