Outrage(ous)
In case anyone still has any misconceptions about who's side President Bush is on, consider this article from Friday's Boston Herald. Instead of looking out for the interests of the people, he is more concerned with the profits of companies who's asbestos has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Here is some good information on what exposure to asbestos does to a person. The main point is that if even a very small amount--mere fibers--gets inhaled, they get stuck in the lining of the lungs and remain there. Then, ten years later, you find out that you have lung cancer (asbestosis, mesothelioma, etc.).
Bush says he wants to put a low cap on legal claims from victims of asbestos, becasue, ``It's not fair to those who are getting sued and it's not fair for those who justly deserve compensation." Does he think we're fucking stupid? He's basically saying, "I'm doing it for you're own good, so instead of getting a million dollars for your family (after your life was cut short by maybe fifty years), you might get $150,000." Jesus Christ people, we have officially stepped through the looking glass, where everything is the opposite of what it should be.
(WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH)
Praise Jesus, Bush is going to save us from the lawyers. This has nothing to do with the interests of the people, and everything to do with the profits of big business. Bush says, "These asbestos suits have bankrupted a lot of companies and that affects the workers here in Michigan and around the country."
Ummmm...Mr. President...Do you know what else affects workers in Michigan and around the country? Getting cancer and dying a slow, agonizing death. These companies are not suffering. No, they are not suffering at all. Here is some information from one of the links above, which you may want to read:
--Bodily injury begins with the first inhalation of asbestos fibers, yet lung damage from asbestos cannot be detected by X-ray until an estimated 30 percent of lung capacity has been lost. Inability to detect damage via X-ray does not mean that a person does not have the disease.
--Asbestosis is a progressive disease. Twenty-eight (28) to 38 percent of persons with the disease progress to a more severe classification within 2 to 10 years (Markowitz 1997).
--People with early stage asbestosis, many of whom would be classified as unimpaired in the proposed Senate legislation, are at substantial risk for lung cancer or mesothelioma. In the definitive study of asbestos insulation workers, 30 percent of workers with no X-ray evidence of lung damage (a zero classification on the ILO system) died of mesothelioma or lung cancer within 27 years of the initial diagnosis. Those with "minimal X-ray change" fared even worse. Nearly 40 percent (39.9 percent) of individuals initially diagnosed as ILO classification 1, died of these two cancers within the 27 years analyzed.
posted by Skrambled Egghead Reborn @ 10:25 AM
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