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Paul Buchheit reports via AlterNet
While Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou are vilified for revealing vital information about spying and bombing and torture, a man who conspired with Goldman Sachs to make billions of dollars on the planned failure of subprime mortgages was honored by New York University for his "Outstanding Contributions to Society".
This is one example of the distorted thinking leading to the demise of a once-vibrant American society. There are other signs of decay:
- A House Bill Would View Corporate Crimes as "Honest Mistakes"
- Almost 2/3 of American Families Couldn't Afford a Single Pill of a Life-Saving Drug
- Violent Crime Down; Prison Population Doubles
- One in Four Americans Suffer Mental Illness; Mental Health Facilities Cut by 90 Percent
- The Unpaid Taxes of 500 Companies Could Pay for a Job for Every Unemployed American ...for two years ...at the nation's median salary of $36,000 ...for all 8 million unemployed.
Citizens for Tax Justice reports that Fortune 500 companies are holding over $2 trillion in profits offshore to avoid taxes that would amount to over $600 billion. Our society desperately needs infrastructure repair, but 8 million potential jobs are being held hostage beyond our borders.
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(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @03:52PM
There used to be laws in most locations that say freeways can't have banner adds because it was considered a traffic distraction and hazard. Businesses have managed to get around that now. Now when you drive the freeway it's inundated with bright signs, digital signs, and in some cases very bright almost blinding digital signs under some conditions. Business interests > safety.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @04:13PM
> There used to be laws in most locations that say freeways can't have banner adds
When?
I remember riding along interstates in the 70s and there were plenty of billboards then.
AFAIK, there are only 4 states that ban billboards and they do it for scenery (tourism), not distraction. Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont and Maine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @04:29PM
Here are some links
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/real_estate/oac/oacprog.cfm [dot.gov]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Beautification_Act [wikipedia.org]
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9623_26662_26679_27267_48606-182170--,00.html [michigan.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @11:25PM
So, basically for a period of a few years from the late 60s to early 70s some places had some limits.
Not really what the OP implied - it certainly wasnt the original condition nor was it comprehensive.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @04:55PM
The ones on Route 66 (even though it wasn't a freeway) in the 60s-70s were entertaining. The best ones were the mysterious "what is it?" ones that eventually led to an ice cream store.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday December 09 2015, @12:25AM
The ones on Route 66 (even though it wasn't a freeway) [emphasis added]
There were/are tolls on Route 66? That's news to me.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Wednesday December 09 2015, @11:21AM
In Oz, the term "freeway" means free of traffic lights and intersections (they have on and off ramps instead).
It has nothing to do with tolls. Many of our freeways have tolls, and almost all of the non-freeway roads do not.
Perhaps some other people/places have the same usage.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 10 2015, @02:51AM
> Perhaps some other people/places have the same usage.
They do. The GP is yet another manifestation of that geek trope - autistic jerk who picks one definition of a word without regard to actual usage and then judges any other use of that word to be proof that the speaker is an idiot. Its just the forum equivalent of public masturbation, don't pay any attention. Writing that post was how he got off and now he's too sleepy to care anymore.