Here is a fact:
<blockquote>Assessing Blame
On-the-Job Deaths, 1972-2001: at least 200,000
Methods for counting workers who have died from traumatic injuries on the job have varied over the years, but the number is estimated to be at least 200,000 since 1972. That figure does not include those who have died from illnesses related to their working conditions.
Referrals for Criminal Investigations into Worker Deaths: 151
Since the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was formed in 1972, few cases have been referred to the Department of Justice or U.S. Attorneys' offices for criminal investigation.
Cases Resulting in Jail Time: 8
Eleven people were sentenced to prison as a result of pleas or convictions in worker fatality cases -- the longest sentence was six months.
Sources: OSHA, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Safety Council
(David Barstow and Lowell Bergman, "Deaths on the Job, Slaps on the Wrist," _New York Times_, National Edition, 10 January 2003, Pg. A14)</blockquote>
200,000 deaths divided by 29 years = 6,896 deaths per year, counting only on-the-job deaths.
It's bad to kill M&A lawyers and bond traders, but it's good to kill workers -- for the bottom line -- and you can get away with killing them scot-free. Some people's lives are worth more than others.
A few more facts:
<blockquote>* Total number of children worldwide who died in 2003 before they were five: 10.6 million. Most of these deaths could have been prevented.
* Daily toll of children in the world who die before their fifth birthday: 29,158
* The number who die each day because they lack access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation: 3,900; those who die each year: 1.4 million
Source: UNICEF, "The State of the World's Children 2005," <http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/sowc05.pdf></blockquote>
Ironically, surviving families of workers killed on the job -- or of children killed by poverty -- would have been financially better off had they been killed by terrorists at the World Trade Center. Then, Washington as well as charities and insurance companies (if they had insurance) would have given them (excepting "illegal aliens") a little compensation (though "62 percent of the total compensation" went to businesses rather than individuals ["RAND Study Shows Compensation for 9/11 Terror Attacks Tops $38 Billion; Businesses Receive Biggest Share," November 8, 2004, <http://www.rand.org/news/press.04/11.08b.html>]).
Ward Churchill's crime is that he directed his anger and despair at expensive lives, worthy of everyone's sympathy, unlike cheaper lives of American Indians, Afghans, Iraqis, or the poor in any country including the United States. Wishing the poor dead won't cost anyone a job or reputation. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * OSU-GESO: <http://www.osu-geso.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>