@ glen holland,we have the dancing China girl on the forum that changed a lot

images on the forum.

 

This is China, in a few years the place will be paved over with new houses and schools with the toxic waste reclaimed, reprocessed and sold on the market for a tidy profit.

Your right, that kind of thing would never happen in the US. Could you image, kids living and playing in their own back yards thinking they are safe and there is really toxic waste just inches below the surface - the vapors coming up and filling there lungs little-by-little each day. A whole neighborhood of people getting forms of cancer that doctors say are rare but everyone in the neighborhood is getting 'rare' cancers?

Oh, wait, Love Canal is in the United States.
Ignorant and/or profiteering people there did just as you said,
- paved new roads
- built homes
- built schools
- Developers made a tidy profit
- City had new tax revenue


http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy

from above link:

We suspect that there are hundreds of such chemical dumpsites across this Nation.

Unlike Love Canal, few are situated so close to human settlements. But without a doubt, many of these old dumpsites are time bombs with burning fuses -- their contents slowly leaching out. And the next victim cold be a water supply, or a sensitive wetland.

The presence of various types of toxic substances in our environment has become increasingly widespread -- a fact that President Carter has called "one of the grimmest discoveries of the modern era."​

It is possible that a new housing development in your area, is using land that some metal working company (trichloroethane), or plating company (hexavalent chromium) or some Dry Cleaning company (carbon tetrachloride or various other halogenated solvent), or some other light industry had been dumping their used solvents into for years without anyone knowing about it. Even it if happened in the 1970s, most land is not tested for chemical contamination unless water wells will be drilled on site. In fact, any of our neighborhoods could be a Love Canal. The USA is not so special and immune to such incidents. Nor are we devoid of profit-loving people who would knowingly do such things.

 

Your right, that kind of thing would never happen in the US. Could you image, kids living and playing in their own back yards thinking they are safe and there is really toxic waste just inches below the surface - the vapors coming up and filling there lungs little-by-little each day. A whole neighborhood of people getting forms of cancer that doctors say are rare but everyone in the neighborhood is getting 'rare' cancers?

Yes, China is the USA 50 years ago. Thank goodness for Richard Nixon and the EPA.
http://www.takepart.com/photos/worst-superfund-sites/super-filthy

 

Yes, China is the USA 50 years ago. Thank goodness for Richard Nixon and the EPA.
http://www.takepart.com/photos/worst-superfund-sites/super-filthy

There a lot of mixed feelings in the 'blessings' associated with those two entities. But, yes, the US was not immune. I also feel that average people and organizations prefer to learn from their own mistakes instead of other people's mistakes.

And, there are nations who feel more developed than the US - and, even today, point their finger at us and claim we are behind in other areas and have not learned our lesson and don't take human life and health seriously.

 

average people and organizations prefer to learn from their own mistakes instead of other people's mistakes

My dad taught me the same lesson when I was a kid... he said "C, the best way to learn something is through pain... preferably other people's pain... always watch what those people did wrong, and try to avoid experiencing it on your own, if you can"

 

There a lot of mixed feelings in the 'blessings' associated with those two entities. But, yes, the US was not immune. I also feel that average people and organizations prefer to learn from their own mistakes instead of other people's mistakes.

And, there are nations who feel more developed than the US - and, even today, point their finger at us and claim we are behind in other areas and have not learned our lesson and don't take human life and health seriously.

The US is light-years ahead of most countries in human life and health, it's just not a profitable thing to do today with all the possible fines and penalties. People cut corners and try to line their pockets but it's the exception as a whole not the rule like in China. We had a contractor scratch his arm the other day while installing seismic protection on a machine that handles HPM. All it needed was a little antiseptic and a bandage but still they wanted me to inspect the site for a report to some local agency.

 

The US is light-years ahead of most countries in human life and health, it's just not a profitable thing to do today with all the possible fines and penalties. People cut corners and try to line their pockets but it's the exception as a whole not the rule like in China. We had a contractor scratch his arm the other day while installing seismic protection on a machine that handles HPM. All it needed was a little antiseptic and a bandage but still they wanted me to inspect the site for a report to some local agency.

Yes with the exception of energy production. Oil is still king and fracking is close behind. Water supplies are getting contaminated more and more every year.

Up in Canada, our government is trying to convince BC residents they should sell out for nothing to LNG, a project to support which farm land is to be flooded to provide them with energy. We pay astronomical prices for oil that is shipped out from Alberta to be refined in US and is then sold back to US.... There have been multiple industrial accidents up north. Stupid can't learn from stupid and someone is making a great profit.

 

The US is light-years ahead of most countries in human life and health.

True for industrial situations. As I said above, my comment was related to the perceptions of people from other developed countries believe Americans' desire to own guns is a higher priority than human life. I don't want to get political here, I am just pointing out that China is easy to criticize for their treatment of people, but remember that the other people around the world know that 30,000 people die by gunshot in the US each year so they believe americans have little regard for human life.

 

True for industrial situations. As I said above, my comment was related to the perceptions of people from other developed countries believe Americans' desire to own guns is a higher priority than human life. I don't want to get political here, I am just pointing out that China is easy to criticize for their treatment of people, but remember that the other people around the world know that 30,000 people die by gunshot in the US each year so they believe americans have little regard for human life.

Without getting political they both (needless deaths here/there) are the effects of a robber baron sub-culture that lacks empathy for the powerless.

 

Interesting to note, there have been 3 more explosions since the first one:

Some think it is a conspiracy, however I suspect they are simply the result of carelessness and negligence on the part of the workers in jerry rigged factories.

The Third World is quite well known for huge industrial accidents like the Union Carbide plant Bopohl India that killed over 10,000.

 

I suspect they are simply the result of carelessness and negligence on the part of the workers in jerry rigged factories.

And / Or

1. governmental / regulatory failure;
2. violation of local fire / safety code;
3. corruption / bribery;
4. improper fire fighting;
...

 

Or just an accident...

 

Or just an accident...

It is likely an accident - ie not someone intentionally trying to set it off.

However, many parties failed: the place isn't licensed to hold hazardous materials; it is not supposed to be so close to residential areas; it isn't equipped to hold hazardous materials; the fire fighters were not informed the nature of the fire and started to dowse water on the fire, igniting multiple explosions in the process; ...

Having said that, one of the neighbors (on the same block) is a site that holds one of China's supercomputers. So unless a thorough investigation is done, it is hard to rule out any one possibility.

 

Or just an accident...

No such thing as an accident. I work in the industry and we, like the US Departmemt of Transportation, are eliminating the word, accident, from our language. Officially, there are no car 'accidents' in the US any more, they are crashes.

In recent years, working for a major US chemical manufacturer is safer than being an insurance agent. What other manufacturing industry can say that? None except the chemical industry.

 

I work in the industry and we, like the US Departmemt of Transportation, are eliminating the word, accident, from our language. Officially, there are no car 'accidents' in the US any more, they are crashes.

Hmm. Sounds a bit like me. Since I got married I to have changed or outrightly removed certain words and complete phrases from my vocabulary as well.

Accidental unexplained explosions are still okay though.

 

However some "accidents" can still happen like:

Tripping on a crack in the sidewalk
Slipping on a wet floor
Stepping on the cat's tail in the dark
Stubbing your toe on the coffee table while going bare foot in the dark
Being struck by lightning while walking from your car to the front door
Getting married, then having to get a divorce

 

However some "accidents" can still happen like:

Tripping on a crack in the sidewalk
Slipping on a wet floor
Stepping on the cat's tail in the dark
Stubbing your toe on the coffee table while going bare foot in the dark
Being struck by lightning while walking from your car to the front door
Getting married, then having to get a divorce

The first 4 are caused by a lack of awareness of your surroundings and possible maintenance issues.

The fifth one is a failure to pay attention to the weather.

The last one is either a failure to understand cause and effect or a maintenance issue.

 

The first 4 are caused by a lack of awareness of your surroundings and possible maintenance issues.

The fifth one is a failure to pay attention to the weather.

The last one is either a failure to understand cause and effect or a maintenance issue.

I agree... there are NO accidents... disastrous events are either caused by human stupidity/overlook... or natural causes that we as humans could have either foreseen or been prepared to face.
Consider the Fukushima disaster, for instance... it was triggered by natural causes, but it happened because the reactor's design was not in accordance with its environment. Newest reactor's designs have included flooding in their possible scenarios, and are now much more resistant to such events.
Of course, I don't want to sound like a safety nazi here, since there is a limit to everything (like a meteorite falling on your head or something) But the vast majority of historical disasters that I've known of could've been easily prevented through nuanced planning and common sense.

 

So you can attribute no randomness, probability, distraction, forgetfulness, or spontaneity to human behavior?

Sounds like a system to direct blame, while the responsible party is protected.

Life is full of un-intended action. Many say life itself is but an accident.

 

I suspect West, Texas is still rebuilding from the fertilizer explosion.