Words of Beverly Eckert

Published on Friday, December 19, 2003 by the USA Today

My Silence Cannot Be Bought

by Beverly Eckert

I've chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund. Instead, I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force, attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease. I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited.

I am suing because unlike other investigative avenues, including congressional hearings and the 9/11 commission, my lawsuit requires all testimony be given under oath and fully uses powers to compel evidence.

The victims fund was not created in a spirit of compassion. Rather, it was a tacit acknowledgement by Congress that it tampered with our civil justice system in an unprecedented way. Lawmakers capped the liability of the airlines at the behest of lobbyists who descended on Washington while the Sept. 11 fires still smoldered.

And this liability cap protects not just the airlines, but also World Trade Center builders, safety engineers and other defendants.

The caps on liability have consequences for those who want to sue to shed light on the mistakes of 9/11. It means the playing field is tilted steeply in favor of those who need to be held accountable. With the financial consequences other than insurance proceeds removed, there is no incentive for those whose negligence contributed to the death toll to acknowledge their failings or implement reforms. They can afford to deny culpability and play a waiting game.

By suing, I've forfeited the "$1.8 million average award" for a death claim I could have collected under the fund. Nor do I have any illusions about winning money in my suit. What I do know is I owe it to my husband, whose death I believe could have been avoided, to see that all of those responsible are held accountable. If we don't get answers to what went wrong, there will be a next time. And instead of 3,000 dead, it will be 10,000. What will Congress do then?

So I say to Congress, big business and everyone who conspired to divert attention from government and private-sector failures: My husband's life was priceless, and I will not let his death be meaningless. My silence cannot be bought.

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Beverly was killed in the plane crash in Buffalo last week.

TV and Government Control

What is up with the TV shit? I’m pretty sure we all by now are aware that if you are still using rabbit ears to watch television, you need cable. Or a converter box. Or a time machine. Whatever.

But our government is completely freaking out, saying that the Bush administration dropped the ball on notifying the public, and extending the digital conversion date until June! Why is our government freaking out, and how could they possibly handle this any less efficiently?

And how much is all this bullshit costing us????

Here’s how I would handle this:

Get a list of everyone in America.

Get a list of everyone with cable, satellite, or DTV. Remove them from the list.

Send a letter to everyone that is left! By my calculations, it should be about 137 people; all located in either central Pennsylvania or Montana. Maybe send a second letter, but that’s it! Guess what? When their TV stops working, and getting Junior to climb on the roof to adjust the antenny doesn’t fix it, I bet they figure it out real soon! Especially if it’s Nascar season!

So why the government freakout? When was the last time they were this concerned about something? Have you seen any public service announcements about the recession or stimulus? How about a government ad campaign about avoiding STDs, or the dangers of heroin? Perhaps the government can begin buying airtime to educate the public on how a bill becomes a law (I know of a really good song they can use) or how the Federal Reserve creates money and debt? How about a public service campaign on how to balance your checkbook, or change the oil in your car? Why doesn’t our government spend millions on public education for CPR? How to write a resume? How to properly use a library? How to read?!

Nope. None of these are important enough to warrant government action. No public information on how to care for an infant properly. They won’t teach the general populace how the stock market works, or even what GDP means. Here’s a good one: How about a country wide public service campaign on converting to the FUCKING METRIC SYSTEM?!!

Nope. How to avoid having your TV interrupted for a minute.

Why? Because they would have no power without their propaganda machine. Do you really think the people control the airwaves? Without TV, how would we know that Arabs are evil? Russians are bad. French are pussies.

This is so important to them they can’t risk a very minuscule minority of the population missing the message for a second!

February 14, 2009.

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

Guess what? The gibberish from the song, well it's happening a week from friday!

So what? Well, the age of Aquarius is supposed to be one of peace and love. And water. Weird that it falls on Valentine's Day! Did Hallmark know something we don't? Of course the earliest roots of this day come from the Romans, as a pagan fertility celebration. Why the 14th of February? Possibly to commemorate the marriage of Zeus and Hera. I don't know much about astrology, but I'm sure this is significant somehow!

What I do know is that all signs point to the actual "Dawning of the Age of Aquarius" to occur on February 14, 2009, at 7:25 am EST.

Any connection to the Mayan prediction of the great change in the universe that will occur on December 21, 11:11 am, 2012?

As one of the Signs of the Apocalypse herself would say, You Betcha!

Better find yourself a Valentine this year. It could be your last!

Superbowl thoughts....

That was tough to watch.

How many times during that game, no matter what was occurring on the field, or off, did I think, "This should be us. Why aren't the Eagles in this game?"

At the same time, how often did I realize that, had it been the Eagles, had we beaten Arizona last week to take our place as the true team of destiny this year, our destiny would have met the same fate as that of the Cards. That 4th quarter was eerily similar to the Championship game, wasn't it? Hopeless in the first half, amazing comeback in the second, jaw dropping defeat delivered in an unstoppable 2 minute drive, capped by an amazing play by an amazing receiver. Would we have beaten the Steelers? I really don't know. I'm leaning towards no.

Had it been Philly in that game instead of Arizona, there were a sufficient number of bad calls to allow Eagles fans to come away from the loss bitter, blaming everyone, and saying 'But what if..."!

That's the key. The "What If"s that have plagued the Eagles my whole life. What if we had been in the superbowl? We would most likely be saying the same shit we said 2 weeks ago. What if McNabb had made a few of those passes he missed? What if those tipped balls were interceptions? What if our DBs reacted half a second faster? What if the pass interference was called?

What if, what if, what if. What if we were just a little bit better, and none of this shit would matter.

Wall Street Assholes and Obama's Needed Attention!

18 billion dollars.

That’s a shit-ton of money. Most of us cannot even wrap our poor little brains around that number. Most of us will never have a million dollars. Or 18 million dollars. But 18 billion dollars? Too difficult to imagine. Lets add some perspective.

The new stimulus plan passed by congress and heading to senate, where it is surely to be passed as well, is for $819 billion dollars. We won’t even get into that amount, or the disastrous effect it will have on you and I. Well, ok, we’ll get into a little. Where do you think that money actually comes from? It’s ours! Yours! But, no, you won’t have to actually chip in on it. It’s a tricky secret tax. See, the Fed will pull this money out of their assholes to give to the government as a loan. A loan that will never be paid back. So where does it really come from? Well, the money in your pocket just dropped in value. By how much, I don’t know, but since the Fed and the US government started operating this way together in 1913, the dollar has dropped in value by 96%. Think about it.

But I digress. My outrage at the inflation this supposed ‘stimulus’ package will eventually created will be saved for another day. For now we are talking about 18 billion dollars. (You have to say Billion in your head in real maniacal way with an evil laugh. If you have a white cat, stroke it).

Why 18 billion? In case you haven’t heard, it was reported that Wall Street executives, from the very companies receiving the $819 billion bailout, were paid $18 billion dollars in bonuses in 2008! Did you get a bonus in 2008? You and I are paying these people $819 billion, and they already gave themselves $18 billion! I could repeat this over and over, but it will still blow me away. The failing markets responsible in part for the mess we are in thought it ok to give themselves bonuses. The 6^th largest amount in bonuses in history! In 2008!!

This stimulus package contains a $500 payroll credit for most working Americans. Let’s look at this.

If 18 billion was distributed to EVERY American, it ends up being about $60 a piece. Divided among adults over 18, it’s closer to $80. Factor out folks over 65, and it’s about $100. Considering the average working American is only going to see $500 in a payroll credit from this bailout, I think this number is significant.

It is amazingly difficult to obtain details about where this money is going. For some reason they don’t want us to know. Obama has promised to post online the spending details so we may track it, but not until after it is passed. We are kept in the dark. I do know about $9 billion is going to help repair the country’s infrastructure – roads, bridges, tunnels, and levees. Levees. Think they need some help? And they are getting a portion of the infrastructure money which is HALF of what Wall Street got in bonuses!

Part of this stimulus is aimed at job creation. It’s estimated that by investing $100 billion, over two years, the US could create 2 million jobs. That’s 2,000 jobs for every billion dollars. So $18 billion could theoretically create 360,000 jobs! Would that help?? (I know it’s not as simple as this, but humor me on this one. )

So, what can we do? GET PISSED OFF! The President and/or congress can ask for this money back. That’s right. We want the $18 Billion Dollars! I would be thrilled to get a check for $100 out of the pocket of some rich Wall Street exec who doesn’t deserve it. Never mind the other billions he is about to receive! Better yet, I would gladly give up my portion of the $18 billion to see it used for something needed in this country. Fix the roads bridges and levees. Give a raise to every teacher in America. Put it towards public healthcare. Anything. Just don’t allow some douchebag to put an addition on his place in the Hamptons.

Mr. President, Please, on behalf of the American people, take back our $18 Billion!!!!