REST IN PEACE IRIS

It always begins on this date every year.

My beloved sister Iris died on May 28th, 2004, and this starts the beginning of the period each year that represents incalculable suffering, inexplicable unfairness, tragedy that has wrought its massive destruction of so many good, loved members of my family, who deserved so very much better than they received in life and death.  

Once again, another year has passed and I dread the intensified agony of overwhelming grief that envelops me for these lost souls of my family during these upcoming months.

It always begins on this calendar date, May 28th as a not really necessary reminder, each year at this time.

I need not be told that it is here, since the pain is an always present bleeding part of me, all the time, all year round, but becomes insidiously unbearable as of this date, and in the next few months, every year, imploding beyond that which I can even feel as a human being. 

I painfully miss & mourn those of my immediate family who have died, enveloping my entire being, more so than at any other time, as each year passes.

Increasingly difficult, filled with the aching of a lifetime beaten down into ever present, toxic, non stop personal demons, nightmares, flash backs, with memories vividly stamped inside my brain, as if it were just yesterday that we were all together as a family, and of course, little brother and big sister.

I planted those purple Iris flowers pictured above in the garden out front of my house when my sister Iris died.

Each year I take new pictures as they spring to life and insert them on this blog in memory of my sister. 

I liked the idea that they are perennials, returning every year, flowering in all their beauty, now looking so alive on another anniversary today of the day she died, after a courageous, painful battle to live. 

We do that a lot in my family, fighting to live life to the fullest, and when our time comes, refusing to let go until our last precious breath. They call our family fighters, survivors, and that is what we do in both living our happiness as a gift never to be taken for granted, and the darkness which is part of remembering.

Iris was a unique and compassionate person who quietly touched everyone she met with her kindness and strength. 

Iris is missed by all of us who loved her. We will never forget her beautiful smile.

My sister Iris was full of life, insightful, quiet, brave,
loyal, sagely wise, and then she was gone forever, horribly, excruciatingly painfully, and irrevocably. 

She deserved so much better in her short time on this earth but it was not to be.

Iris, my sister, a gift to me in life, was more beautiful in a million ways than these magnificent flowers. 

I will miss you forever my dear sister Iris, but most of all I will always miss your caring love. 

I love you. 

Love, Your little brother- Jerry.

MODERN TIMES- HUMAN ATTENTION SPAN NOW LESS THAN THAT OF A GOLDFISH

                                                         MODERN TIMES

Modern times is a silent movie from 1936 that was written and produced by Charlie Chaplin.

Chaplin brilliantly and humorously plays the assembly line employee who is selected to use a new technology device which the Boss thankfully decides that "No, it is not practical"? (see video above).

As I described in my previous blog post, technology often complicates our life, rather than making us more efficient, it sometimes simply makes us stupid.

Did you know that the average humans attention span is... oh look, a bird!
According to scientists, the age of smart phones has left humans with such a short attention span even a goldfish can hold a thought for longer.
Researchers studied 2000 participants in Canada.
The results showed the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000, or around the time the mobile  smart phone revolution began, to eight seconds.
Goldfish, meanwhile, are believed to have an attention span of nine seconds. 
• Is your attention span actually shorter than a goldfish?

I assume they meant actual goldfish, not the little cheese crackers. 

The research was about attention spans in general, it was designed to test how long humans pay attention to the ads on web pages. And if we're talking about ads, 8.25 seconds strikes me as pretty long.

Which is probably because the test subjects, as it turns out, were all Canadians. Who are genetically patient. 

If they'd tested Americans, you'd figure, what, 2 seconds? On the West Coast. On the East coast, probably one?

Anyway, they concluded that for people to pay attention to ads, the ads have to have movement. Because our peripheral vision is hard wired to respond to movement as a way to alert us to predators.

So now more and more ads are like action films, and here's the irony: these elaborate ads need massive amounts of data, so while you're waiting for this irresistible attention grabbing action packed ad to load, you're watching a download bar on your computer.

What the researchers should have measured is not how long are you willing to look at an ad, but how long you're willing to look at a download bar. I'm betting it's way less than eight seconds, even for a Canadian.

And now congratulate yourself for concentrating long enough to make it through this article.

                                         

IT TOOK ME BACK TO THE FUTURE-WHO'S ON FIRST

                       

                                  


A victim of circumstance is an individual who suffers ill consequences because of factors that were out of their control. 

Someone can be said to be such a victim if, during the course of everyday life, we encounter a situation without seeking it out that causes us harm. 

The phrase is often used to describe someone who shares no blame for the situation and that their current plight was caused by the laws of nature or the actions, intentional or unintentional, of other people or "it".

Technology is the "it" that can often be an evil curse which holds us all as prisoners, making us victims over and over.

Inaccurate medical test results, computers that don't work, cell phones that disconnect us in the middle of critically important calls, batteries that are more dead than alive, the list is endless of the technology that is out of control, yet at the same time, ironically, very much in control of our lives.

It's not because computers are smart but actually computer technology can at times be extremely stupid, intransigent, wrong and definitely lazy.

What once could be corrected in 2 seconds by a simple eraser can take hours, weeks, months, years, or never, to get corrected.

So today I received a credit card in the postal mail that needed to be validated over the telephone before being used.

I called the credit card telephone number for validation.

After 10 minutes of negotiating the endless automated robot voice prompts, "it" asked for the last 4 digits of my credit card.

I entered the last 4 digits as asked.

Next "it" asked for the last 4 digits of my social security number.

I entered the last 4 digits as asked.

Next "it" asked for my zip code.

I entered my zip code as asked.

Finally it asked for my birth date explaining to me to use the digits for the month, not the name.

I entered my birth date as asked.

"It" said that was not my correct birth date and to re-enter my birth date again.

I entered my birth date several more times and each time "it" said that was not my correct birth date.

"It" said, please wait for a customer service representative to help me.

After 5 minutes of waiting a human being came on the phone and:

The human being asked me for the last 4 digits of my credit card.

I gave her the last 4 digits as asked.

Next she asked for the last 4 digits of my social security number.

I gave her the last 4 digits as asked.

Next she asked for my zip code.

I gave her my zip code as asked.

Finally she asked me for my birth date

I gave her my birth date.

She told me the birth date that I gave her was incorrect according to "it".

I laughingly told her this has always been my birth date.

She did not laugh and asked me for my birth date again.

I gave her my birth date, this time assuring her that I knew my correct birth date and it has never changed, how could it be changed I said.

She asked me if I was "using my father's credit card".

I said no, I am 60+ years old and why would I be using my father's credit card?

She said in a matter of fact tone, "it" says you were born in 1906.

After using my fingers and toes to do the required math, I said, well I am not 109 years old.

She said but "it" says you were born in 1906.

I said, "it" must be incorrect.

She said, let me see if I can get "it" to allow me to enter to change it.

She said what is your ID number?

I said what ID number.

She said the Banks ID number "it' has assigned me.

I said I don't know my special ID number because the Bank never informed me that I had a special ID number.

She then asked me if I had my special telephone Pin number assigned by "it".

I said I don't know my special telephone PIN number because the Bank never informed me that I had such a PIN number.

I said would you like my regular PIN number.

She said, "it" doesn't allow entry using the regular PIN number.

I said, this is crazy, I have been your customer for over 30 years and you can't simply activate my credit card?

She said, "it" won't allow an activation without the information "it" has, corresponding to what I give.

I said, since I am 106 years old according to "it", can't you make an exception for me before I drop dead from this aggravation.

She said, I'll try to see if anything else will work.

She said, what is your address.

I gave her my address that I have lived at for over 40 years.

She said, "it" has a different address for me and won't let her enter.

I said, how about telephone numbers, will "it" take phone numbers?

She said that she didn't know if it would, but what is my phone number.

I said do you want my cell phone or land line number.

She said, let's start with your land line number.

I gave her my land line number.

She said, "it" doesn't let me enter with that phone number.

I said, here is my old land line number that I disconnected 10 years ago.

She said, "we did it", Mr. Wolkoff, "it let" me enter using that old phone number.

I asked her to correct all the information now that she had entered "it".

Five more minutes and the corrections were hopefully made.

I asked her if we were done now as I was exhausted being that I had just come back from the future.

She said, Is there anything else I can help you with today (Click Here).

I said that she had done enough helping for the day.

She said, hold on and don't forget to do the customer service survey next.

The customer service survey robot voice came on and I was going to tell "it" to shove itself up into a place where the sun doesn't shine. 

"It" asked me for my date of birth to begin the survey.

I gave "it" my date of birth.

"It" said that was not my correct birth date and to re-enter my date again.

Made me feel like the old but new version of Abbot and Costello doing their Who's On First comedy routine.

I hung up on "it".

A STUPID QUESTION OR A STUPID JERK? WHEN IS IT TIME, MR. BOEHNER

THIS IS A STUPID JERK

In my previous blog post about the recent tragic AMTRAK railroad crash near Philadelphia last week that killed 8 innocent victims (CLICK HERE) I wrote about a current technology known as Positive Train Control System, that would have prevented this horrible train crash. 

This system also known as PTC automatically slows down a train that's moving too fast by sensing the train speed and if necessary, it will override the Engineers ability to speed above the designated limit on any part of the railroad track.

This Positive Train Control System has been installed on parts of the AMTRAK railroad but oddly, it has not yet been installed in this particular corridor which is the busiest in the United States.

Amtrak officials promised to have PTC in place on the entire Northeast corridor by the end of the year, but it's a complex and expensive problem, and Congress hasn't given Amtrak any extra money to do it. 

In fact, the House Appropriations Committee voted this week to cut Amtrak's $1.4 billion budget. Republican Congressman John Mica of Florida told CNN today that the railroad gets too much public money as it is.

These eight dead victims and countless others, including their families, who are killed, maimed, injured every day throughout the United States due to our crumbling infrastructure, are ignored by the very politicians who are supposed to be serving the public by using the taxpayer money of we the people, to keep us safe.

Instead they are literally telling us "to drop dead".

We the people of the United States are never the priority when it comes to the actions of politicians.

It never seems to be the right time for Congress to have money available when it comes to fixing our country, to fund basic systems that we pay our taxes to supposedly support our communities.

If you're a middle class taxpayer, it means you have a job. And if you have a job, you're a commuter. And if you're a commuter you know the sorry state of the roads and transit systems in much of this country.

Taxpayers are the engine of the economy, and yet they have to run a gauntlet of traffic jams equipment, automobile, airplane, rail, bus, etc. breakdowns and delays, just to get to work every day.

And that is, in part, because Congress has been unable to pass a long-term transportation budget since 2005.

It never seems to be the right time. They just can't find the money.

The results are very different when it comes to raising the politicians salaries, dispensing foreign aid to countries that hate us, corruption, meaningless projects, worthless studies, government waste, fighting wars that we have no reason to be involved in, then billions of dollars needed, magically always appear.

Congress has spoken again and says there is so little money that a House committee went ahead with a vote to cut Amtrak's budget the day after the AMTRAK Pennsylvania crash.

And when a reporter brought it up the other day (See Video Above) at House Speaker John Boehner's regular Thursday news conference, he would hear none of it.

"Are you really gonna ask that? That is a stupid question," Boehner said. "Listen, they started this yesterday, "It's all about funding, it's all about funding. Well, obviously it's not about funding; the train was going twice the speed limit."

He meant that you don't make policy because of one accident that was caused by an engineer who messed up. 

Missing the entire point, Boehner has neglected to understand the accountability that he has to ensure the safety of our Citizens and to prioritize the necessary funding to accomplish these objectives.

So he belittles the question, insults the value of American human lives, and deflects any real answer by blaming the question as being stupid.

Like so many politicians, their stupidity, and total lack of concern about us, ends up in a perverted blame game that never involves the depravity of their corruption, greed, empty brains as being the cause of our problems as a Country.

But if now isn't the time to spend money on our safety, just when will that time be?

Everybody who commutes and sees that commute getting slower and slower has to be asking themselves, since it's commuters like me who pay for this operation that we call the United States of America, why should I have to fight my way to work every day?

Or is that also a stupid question?

POLITICS AS USUAL-AMTRAK CRASH-WHAT ARE HUMAN LIVES WORTH?

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, which runs between Washington and Boston, is North America's busiest railroad, with 11.6 million riders in fiscal year 2014. Every day, trains carry government officials, college students, people getting away for the weekend and corporate commuters along 363 miles of track.

Train 188 was on its way from Washington to New York on May 12, carrying 238 passengers and five crew members at the end of another workday when it derailed.

At least eight people died in Tuesday night's derailment of Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 in Philadelphia.

Hospitals have treated more than 200 others, many of whom have been released. That figure includes eight in critical condition at Temple University Hospital, the closest trauma center to the crash site.

Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of more victims at the crash site.

                                     Photo Of Train Crash on May 12

Here's a closer look at some of the victims who died because they get "lost" in tragedies, with their families, and each one of these human beings are precious, deserving to have the value of their lives recognized by us.

THOSE WHO DIED:

Justin Zemser, 20,  he was attending the U.S. Naval academy in Annapolis, Maryland and heading home to Rockaway Beach, Queens, N.Y.

The U.S. Naval Academy midshipman described as a "great kid and genius" was identified from the name emblazoned on his uniform, a family member said.

Zemser, 20, was from Rockaway Beach in Queens. He was a sophomore at the Annapolis academy, according to his Naval Academy profile.

The academy notified his family of his death Tuesday night, a family member said. His parents "are beside themselves."

"The Brigade of Midshipman, staff and faculty were notified of the midshipman's death this morning," the Naval Academy said. 

"The Naval Academy is supporting the midshipman's family, friends and loved ones during this time of grief."

Justin Zemser, 20, was vice president of US Naval Academy’s Jewish Midshipmen Club;

Zemser attended Channel View High School and was a two-year letter winner on the football team as a wide receiver. 

He was team captain in 2011 and 2012, when he was named to the All-Borough Team. 

He also was elected as the student government president.

"He was a loving son, nephew and cousin, who was very community-minded. This tragedy has shocked us all in the worst way, and we wish to spend this time grieving with our close family and friends," said Zemser's mother, Susan Zemser.

When asked what they wanted people to know about Justin,  Howard Zemser & Susan Zemser answered about their only child, “He was wonderful. He was absolutely wonderful.

Everybody looked up to my son. And there's just no other words I could say."“He was born on March 25, 1995,” she said, choking back tears. “He was his high school's valedictorian.”

Though he would be the first in his immediate family to go to college, he was determined to go to the Naval Academy.

He wanted to be an elite Navy Seal.

Zemser was among the legions of determined students who persevered and graduated in 2013 even after their school was damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Jim Gaines, 48, who designed video software for the Associated Press, was also killed as he headed home to New Jersey from meetings in Washington; he leaves behind a wife and two children.

In a statement, Jacqueline Gaines said: "Jim was more precious to us than we can adequately express. We kindly request that you respect our wishes for privacy as we absorb this incredible loss. In due time, we will make a statement that will fully reflect the incredible person that Jim was."The Associated Press said Gaines was a 48-year-old father of two. 

He had been attending meetings in Washington and was returning home to Plainsboro, New Jersey. He is also survived by his 16-year-old son, Oliver, and daughter, Anushka, 11.

Gaines had worked for the wire service since 1998. He was a video software architect, meaning he worked on the wire's distribution of news video to customers around the world.

                                              Rachel Jacobs, 39

Rachel Jacobs, a 39-year-old mother from New York City with a 2-year-old baby was confirmed as dead by family.

Rachel Jacobs was chief executive of the small tech company ApprenNet. She is survived by her husband and 2-year-old son.

Rachel was a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, wife and friend," her family said. "She was devoted to her family, her community and the pursuit of social justice.  We respectfully ask for privacy so that we can begin the process of grieving.”

We cannot imagine life without her." “This is an unthinkable tragedy,” her family said in a statement published by the Washington Post. “.

Abid Gilani, 55, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo was also one of the victims.

The death of Wells Fargo executive Abid Gilani was confirmed by his company. 

He was a senior vice president of its hospitality finance group and was a valued member of the division, a company spokeswoman said.

"Devastated by the death of my nephew Abid Gillani a senior executive of Wells Fargo Bank in the train accident," his uncle, Zahid Hussain, posted on Facebook.

 "He was returning to New York after attending the funeral of my brother Shahid Husain in Washington."

Gilani and his mother from Toronto had attended funeral services for his uncle in Virginia, and he had to return to New York City for work, a cousin told the Daily News.

The married father of two was a Canadian citizen, who had recently relocated with his family to Walnut Creek, Calif. from Maryland while his kids went to college on the West Coast. 

The dedicated dad and executive had to commute across the country each week to work in Manhattan and returned home each weekend to California to be with his wife.

Dr. Derrick Griffith, 42, a dean of student affairs for City University of New York Medgar Evers College was also killed.

 

Dr. Derrick Griffith, a dean of student affairs for City University of New York Medgar Evers College, was also among the fatalities, according to Jamilah Fraser, spokeswoman for the university. He lived in Brooklyn.

He was the founding director of CUNY Prep in New York, Fraser said. He earned his doctorate in philosophy last month.

                                                                                         

Robert Gildersleeve, 45, vice president of corporate accounts for institutional business at Ecolab                                                                                                     

Robert Gildersleeve, 45,  a vice president of corporate accounts for institutional business at Ecolab, a Minneapolis-based company that provides water, hygiene and energy technologies services, according to the company.

Married, Gildersleeve is the father of two teenagers, a daughter, 16, and a son, 13.

Roman Blahoski, a spokesman for Ecolab, said Gildersleeve has been employed there for 22 years and was on the Amtrak train traveling to New York City for business.

Laura Finamore, 47, Senior account director Cushman & Wakefield 

                                          

The family of Laura Finamore, an employee at Cushman & Wakefield in New York for the past seven years, announced Thursday that she was one of the eight victims killed in the Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia. 

Finamore, 47, of Manhattan, was born and raised in Douglaston, New York and has been working at the real estate management firm since 2008. According to the company's website she was a senior account director at the New York office.

 A spokesman for the family said she was attending a memorial service for a college friend's mother at Arlington National Ceremony and was headed from Washington to New York when Amtrak #188 crashed.

"Laura was an incredibly loving and giving person, touching many people each and every day through her generous spirit, thoughtfulness and compassion for others," her family said in a statement. "She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

"Family members said she was a "devoted daughter" to her parents Cynthia and Richard, and had three brothers, Michael, Paul and Peter, as well as seven neices and nephews. 

A spokesman for the family said she was attending a memorial service for a college friend's mother at Arlington National Ceremony and was headed from Washington to New York when Amtrak #188 crashed.

Giuseppe Piras, 40, Business Director, Sardinia Italian Cooperative 

The Italian government has confirmed that one of its citizens, businessman Giuseppe Piras, also died in the 

An avid cyclist, Piras was identified after his worried family contacted the Italian consulate in Philadelphia and sent them his picture.

Amtrak crash.Giuseppe Piras was heading to New York City to sell wine and olive oil on behalf of a cooperative in his native Sardinia.

“We are shocked,” the city’s mayor, Tonino Orani, told the newspaper L’Unione Sarda. “Giuseppe Piras was highly respected in the country.”Piras was married but did not have children.

                                                                             

THE INVESTIGATION:

The train was traveling at 106 mph when the engineer applied the emergency brakes as it entered a steep curve, where the speed limit is 50 mph, Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

The last recorded speed before the data cut out was 102 mph, he added.

NBC News identified the engineer driving the train as Brandon Bostian, 32, of New York City, who has hired a lawyer and refused to speak with detectives. 

The announcement came after the Associated Press analyzed video of the train and discovered it was traveling at 107 mph as it approached a curve in the tracks, where the speed limit drops from 80 mph to 50 mph.

The Associated Press analysed video of the train and discovered it was traveling at 107 mph as it approached a curve in the tracks, where the speed limit drops from 80 mph to 50 mphhe train was traveling at 106 mph when the engineer applied the emergency brakes as it entered a steep curve, where the speed limit is 50 mph.

“Based on what we know right now, we feel that had a system called Positive Train Control been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred,” National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt, who is leading the crash probe told reporters Wednesday evening.

WHAT IS POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL?

Known as positive train control (PTC), the technology automatically slows or even halts trains that are moving too fast or heading into a danger zone.

It can override a train conductor who is exceeding speed, and under current law, the rail industry must adopt the technology by year end.

PTC works by using a global positioning satellite to pinpoint trains. The idea is that it can do this with enough accuracy to allow them to run closer together.

It sends real-time visual and audible information to train crew members about locations where the train needs to be slowed or stopped.

Among other things, it takes into account approaching signals, speed limits, curves in the 

track, construction work and the position of approaching switches.

PTC then communicates with the train's onboard computer to audibly warn conductors if they are approaching danger.

A display shows the train's safe braking distance based on its speed, length, width, weight, and curvature of the track.

If a response is not provided by the train engineers in ample time, the computer remotely activates the brakes and stops the train.

While this automatic braking system has been available since 1990, the technology remains widely unused.

Positive train control was one 10 items on the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) Most Wanted List last year

The commuter rail route where the Amtrak train left the track on Tuesday was not using this life-saving braking technology.

POLITICS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HUMAN LIVES:

So why wasn't this Positive Control System installed on the track?

Lawmakers from both parties have previously offered bills to add years to a congressionally imposed Dec. 31 ,2015 deadline for railroads to install positive train control, which both the railroads and DOT say the industry cannot meet.

Guess what??? 

On Wednesday, just hours after the crash, the House Appropriations Committee backed a measure that would slash Amtrak's budget by $251 million, giving the rail operator $1.1 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.

In the House, the Appropriations Committee voted 30-21 along party lines for a bill that would give Amtrak about $260 million less than its typical $1.4 billion share. 

The panel defeated Democratic amendments meant to restore or boost the funding that would have offered $825 million for the above technology known as positive train control.

In his February budget, President Barack Obama had asked for $2.5 billion for Amtrak, citing the need for investments in infrastructure and improvements along the Northeast Corridor.

Rail advocates have been particularly concerned with the current set of cuts.

“We cannot prevent major infrastructure failure on the NEC and support important long distance rail service without greater federal investment on an annual basis,” said Robert Yaro, president of the NAR, according to The Hill. 

The last time that a major piece of legislation on Amtrak funding was passed in Congress was in the wake of a deadly train crash in California in 2008 that killed 25 people. 

The House passed a reauthorization of the bill in March that allows funding for vital repairs to infrastructure in the Northeast corridor, where Amtrak's traffic is heavy and where the crash occurred. 

But the White House and some Congressional Democrats have said that funding doesn't go far enough to ensure rail safety. 

Republicans said the cuts are necessary to stay under the spending caps that President Barack Obama and Congress agreed to four years ago.

Then, Congress passed a comprehensive bill reauthorizing funding and helping ensure rail safety.

Republicans argue that the current allocation keeps key funding measures intact while forcing Amtrak to be more responsible with its annual construction budget.  

“We urge the committee and your partners in the Senate to authorize greater annual investment levels in a final reauthorization package.”

In September, the Northeast Alliance for Rail sent a letter to the House Transportation Subcommittee urging Congress to keep key provisions of the railroad budget intact to ensure safety.

Beyond rail, Congress is just 18 days from the expiration of the law that authorizes federal spending on highways, bridges and mass transit and the biggest debate in the Capitol is whether to kick the can down the road to either July or December. 

Meanwhile, the FAA is struggling to implement an advanced, GPS-based air traffic control system that’s supposed to improve safety and reduce congestion, and Vice President Joe Biden has likened the condition of some U.S. airports, like New York’s LaGuardia, to something out of “some Third World country.”

We have a Highway Trust Fund on the brink of insolvency with no plans, to fix it . 

We have a crowded and outdated aviation system that we refuse to adequately fund.

We have failed to upgrade with presently available technologies that can reduce the number of failures.

We have appropriations bills aiming to cut already low funding levels of Amtrak in particular to meet an arbitrary budget cap. 

We are not close to where we need to be for our roads, highways, bridges, transit and inter-city passenger rail

Funding of our infrastructure and transportation could not have occurred at a more unfortunate or appropriate time. 

America's bridges, highways, and public transportation have suffered from insufficient funding for decades, and the results of the neglect have recently turned ugly.

The latest “report card” from the American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation a D-plus on the state of its transportation infrastructure.

Now comes the investigation, but I'm going to make a prediction. Congress will debate these infrastructure needs to death and then end up doing little to nothing about installing the safety systems that could have prevented this and future tragedies. 

The fact that this is all preventable, that human beings are dying who didn't have to lose their lives, is enraging.

Congress can throw untold billions at quote "Protecting the Homeland" from terrorists, then they can throw a few more million at upgrading our crumbling infrastructure, before we sabotage more of our country by neglect in killing our own people.

OUR POLITICIANS WON'T DO IT BECAUSE THEY DON"T CARE ABOUT OUR LIVES, INSTEAD POLITICS, CORRUPTION, GREED, IS THE GOD THEY SERVE.