Our Dictator

is going to attempt to boost his sagging ratings by going to the site of the I-35W collapse.

I think that would be more work than restoring the bridge, however.

More to note:

Authorities still do not know what caused the 6:05 p.m. collapse. Engineers had theories including heavy traffic and construction work that might have put an undue burden on the span. The bridge was deemed "structurally deficient'' by the federal government as far back as 1990.

Minnesota transportation officials spent another day dealing with scrutiny arising from reports and inspections over the years that raised alarm about the bridge, including rust-eaten steel beams, missing bolts and cracks in the welding that held load-bearing parts together.

A consulting company that thoroughly examined the bridge noted that one possible fix — steel plating of fractures — carried a "relatively high cost,'' according to a January report. Transportation officials deny that cost pressures swayed their decisions.

The Interstate 35W Collapse

proves there is something hideously wrong with our national priorities:

That the wealth exists to pay the $1.6 trillion which the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates is needed to upgrade the country’s infrastructure—and more—is demonstrated by a few facts. Forbes magazine reported earlier this year that there are 946 billionaires around the world, with a combined wealth of $3.5 trillion. Last December, Christmas bonuses paid to Wall Street executives topped $100 billion. That figure alone is more than twice the annual federal allocation of $40 billion for the country’s roads and bridges.

Another Reason

for decaying infrastructure is this country is wasting billions, even trillions, on the unwinnable war in Iraq.

Something

is terrible wrong with a country which values obscene tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy but neglects its infrastructure, which can endanger the lives of thousands.

Cases in point: New Orleans and the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

According to

the latest reports, at least 4 people are dead, 79 injured, and 20 missing from the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Recovery efforts are continuing.

Edit: Search efforts have been halted.

As the World Turns.

More evidence backing up my contention vegetarians are crackpots.
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The big story of the day, of course, is the terrible collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

Reportedly there are three fatalities so far.
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The Getty Museum will return some antiquities back to Italy.
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A woman spent hours being trapped under a boulder on Mount Hood, a place which seems to have more than its share of mishaps and tragedies.

Megan Vansteenwyk didn't see the one-ton boulder roll onto her younger sister, Emily. She only heard her sister's "awful scream."

The sisters and two friends had been hiking a rocky stretch of Top Spur on Mount Hood on Tuesday when Emily Vansteenwyk fell and a 5-foot boulder crushed her right foot. The three ran to Emily's aid, but the rock was stuck.

Emily, 20, begged for help.

"She's my sister," said Megan, 21. "I have never been in more pain for somebody in my life."

The boulder had landed squarely on Emily's foot, flattening it like a pancake, Megan said. It would remain there for nearly five hours, as Megan and fellow hikers Adrian Inzerillo and Matthew Ellis tried to dislodge it.

How awful. Amazingly, Emily has no broken bones in her foot.
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