Southeastern NC's Political & Economic Opinion Arena
Apples, Oranges, and Titan
It is amusing how people twist things to shine favorably for their opinion. In regard to titan, check with Virginia and Germany the press cries. Will the next comparison be to ice cream and apple pie? On TV-6's my turn, your turn, they could not find one person in Virginia against titan. Really? Not one? And Germany loves their concrete plant so much, that they want to worship it? What is really going on here? The my turn your turn never seems to give equal or any air time to the opposition. Slanted, junk journalism is getting old. How about just reporting truthful, verifiable facts? Too much to ask?
How about investigating these questions, this is what reporters, er, sorry, journalists used to do.
1- How many times has titan or any other corporations under titan's rule been fined at any of their locations, and what rules were broken? Please give a complete listing including fines.
2- It has been reported that physical force has been used or threatened to be used against the protesters against titan's plant in Egypt. Doesn't sound like much love happening here. Worth checking out? These people don't appear to love titan.
3- How much money has titan or people working on titan's behalf spent lobbying Congress to reduce or worse, remove pollution standards? Why spend this money at all, if titan is such a good steward of the land? Is this the same company that goes above and beyond when following rules, does things not required? Actions speak louder than words and slanted feel good stories.
4- Check into titan's plant in Florida, and see if the population loves them like the people in Virginia and Germany have been reported to.
5- Find out if titan is willing to re-drill any wells that go dry after they get done digging their version of the grand canyon? I already know the answer to this one, they will say prove it, drag everyone through the courts until we can no longer afford to fight a multimillion dollar foreign corporation.
6- Inquire if titan plans to sue any and all citizens that might speak up against them for any reason? They have certainly set this precedent by suing two people already. I am not surprised that this Foreign multimillion dollar corporation would resort to SLAPP lawsuits to try and force it's will and quiet those that oppose them. Why use facts when force and intimidation are their proven business plan. These lawsuits are illegal in other states, and are complete and total BS in this state. The folks in Raleigh need to eliminate this option in the future.
7- If titan is allowed to build this plant, after their massive pit has been dug, how close to the aquifer in distance will this pit be. Even if this does not penetrate the aquifer, has any consideration or study been done on the possibility of the aquifer becoming polluted by this pit in the event of an earthquake? If the aquifer becomes polluted, no amount of jobs will be worth this. How many jobs are we talking about?
8- Will titan publicly say how many jobs will be available to the public in this area and what the pay scales will be? I'm asking how many people currently unemployed in this area will be offered jobs.
9- Titan reportedly has 2 plants operating in their home country Greece, and Greece is bankrupt, why not open a new plant in your own country and help your own economy? Does your own government have a problem with you?
10- The plant in Florida is operating at approx. 35% because demand is down, does it make sense to build another plant at this time? Is there another reason to rush building this plant in this economy?11- Why does titan refuse to fire their plant with propane or natural gas instead of coal. This would ease some of the pollution concerns. What about willing to go above and beyond the current standards that titan claims to do?
12- Will titan publicly affirm that they are not going to use this plant as a toxic waste incinerator? Can they legally not be allowed to use this plant in this manner? The possibility of truck loads of toxic waste traveling thru our neighborhoods really excites me, how about you? We will be a traffic accident away from a toxic waste spill. Anyone want a big bite of this apple? Toxic waste stored a stones throw from the river. Toxic waste from other locations coming here. A great addition to our already crowded roadways. Much more to consider than the rosy pictures spin artists paint, and the illusion of how many new jobs for people currently unemployed in our area?
13- Will titan answer these questions? Will the press bother to investigate and report verifiable facts instead of BS and fairy tales? It is really up to the people to require this. Otherwise, issues such as titan get settled with bullying, lies, half truths, conjecture, promises, illusion, and bribes. I miss the days when journalists were honorable, hard working people that cared about the truth. Now we have the circus sideshows the media has become today. Soundbites without substance are nothing but hot air rising into the abyss where they belong. The National Enquirer used to be a joke, now it is the blueprint. Is this something to be proud of? Is this what people are expected to believe? HELL NO!!!! It seems politicians and news people now need to be hooked up to truth detectors before speaking.
14- We need new jobs here, we need jobs created by American Companies for American Citizens. We need business that is willing to say how many jobs, what the payscale will be, and owned and operated by people living in the area where the business is located. The best owners are the ones that have a vested interest in the enviorment where they live.
Views: 439
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben McCoy on -
Good post. The local media here is closely tight with the political establishment, and regularly appoints itself propaganda mouthpiece for their wishes. WID is usually at the center of it - with Titan being a prime example.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Schriber on -
Gee you think we will grow by being a service industry? How about what GE is doing? How about what the city is doing? Let's see. You have a brick - concrete foundation? Drove on a concrete highway? Don't say one thing and want another! GO TITAN.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Wilson on
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Would you care to answer any of my questions with facts? Have you bothered to do any research before forming your opinion? Or do you choose to let others form your opinion for you. Titan refuses to answer any questions. They choose to operate with lawsuits, name changes, big green buttons to give the illusion of caring about the environment, and teams of lawyers looking for loopholes to bypass regulations. I am not against progress, I am for new American owned industry, industry that does not add pollution to an already polluted area, located next to an already polluted river. I also believe the reason they want to build this plant now, in a down economy, with their Florida plant operating at approx. 35%, is to use it as a toxic waste incinerator. I am totally against this. If I am not correct, then titan can publicly and on the record deny this. Titan is a foreign owned company, with a proven track record of not following the rules. I do not think for a second they care about anything but their bottom line, and I do not want them in my neighborhood. Before I start hearing about what it takes to run a business, and that all business worry about their bottom line, my bottom line is I want titan to run their business out of my neighborhood and out of this country. I'll ask one more time, would you or titan care to answer any of my questions with verifiable facts?
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Permalink Reply by Robert Schriber on
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So you are against Free Enterprise? A company follow the laws, but because you do not like it, they should not operate a business. Don't know what you do for a living, but if you follow the rules and the laws, great. Titan is following the laws, so why can't they estiblish business? Manufacturing is the only way the country will grow. How come you are not campaining against GE, Corning, Progress Energy, ....?? and yet Titan is going to re-build at an existing Cement Plant. Zoned Heavy Industrial, bringing more jobs, both at the plant and those that service the plant. I guess you better move upstream and shut down all those other polluters, seeing how the NE is already polluted.
Did you drive across a bridge? Is you house on a concrete foundation? Do you walk on a side walk? Where should we get the cement to make those items, China?
Buy stock in Titan and get your questions answered, otherwise it is not your business.
Learn how cement is made and then you will figure out the answers to your other questions.
If they follow the laws, they should operate a business.
Your spokeperson sure doesn't follow the laws and yet you support her?
No you will not change my mind. GO TITAN
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Permalink Reply by Allison on
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I will respond to your questions one by one.
1. I have nothing against manufacturing. Yes, there are cleaner ways to do it and every effort should be made to do so.
2. If GE, Corning, or Progress Energy was being bombarded daily with requests for answers by the local citizens, then I would expect them to answer, as well. It is not about the cement plant, but about transparency. Is manufacturing important? Yes. Do we, as citizens, deserve transparency? Yes. Whether or not we receive it, we demand it from our government, so why do we give private industry a free pass?
3. I appreciate all of the cement I currently stand/drive/live on. The only thing cement ever did to me was bloody up my knees and elbows as a kid, but over time I managed to get over it.
4. It is my business! It is my right to demand that any company answer my questions. If they are going to put anything in my air or water (good or bad), then I am allowed to ask questions. The fact that I am free to ask questions and demand answers is my right as an American. To NOT question private industry is a disgrace. To swallow ANY information without questioning it is to be the robot many private industries expect us to be.
5. My issue is not with Titan breaking the laws, my problem is with the laws themselves. Is Titan allowed to put pollutants in the air? Yes. Are they allowed to put it in the water? Yes. Are they allowed to drill? Yes. The issue, for me, is that they are allowed to do it at all. And if I can't rely on the government to protect us, then the next step is to "stop Titan."
6. You are right, you don't know who I am, but I will tell you this: I DO NOT HAVE A SPOKESPERSON. Believe it or not, I am my own person with my own opinions. Do not assume (I'm sure you know the saying) that I support anyone or anything. My original response was to news reporting as whole, and Titan's coverage was an example. Whatever this person you assume I support is doing is neither here nor there in this discussion.
7. Clearly, I have struck a nerve with you, for you chose to use my response to launch into another pro-titan post that had almost nothing to do with what I said, which was that I am disappointed that we cannot rely on our newspapers to report on the news in an unbiased way (or at all). To demonstrate my point, here are some major newsmakers that the locals did not cover (just to name a few):
- HR3408
- Greek Bailout
- The history of President's day (ON President's day)
- The Smithsonian breaking ground on a new Black History Museum
- That UN experts failed to reach a nuclear agreement in Iran
- Georgia lawmakers' proposals to limit vasectomies in response to other birth control bills
As I said before, I do not have a spokesperson and I am not against manufacturing or private industry. I am, however, for our right to ask questions and demand answers. Any company that wishes to entire my community should have to answer to the that community. If they refuse or are unable to do so, then they can find a community that will not resist.
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What spokesperson are you referring to? What laws are not being followed? If you are referring to the lawsuit, the courts will decide who is right. It is a fact that these SLAPP lawsuits are not allowed in a number of states, and I do wish North Carolina would join modern society on this issue. If you think foreign corporations should be allowed to sue American Citizens because you don't happen to like the people being sued in this case, please think about a totally different issue, and you are the one being sued. No matter how you feel about the titan issue, I can't believe any American, except for the lawyers making money, can believe this crap should be allowed.
The Sutton Plant is in the process of converting from coal to natural gas. A positive step voluntarily done by private business. A great example, too bad titan couldn't follow this lead. By your logic once a place becomes polluted, it's open season and more pollution added does not matter. All the plants in our area need to follow the Sutton Plants led, and once the area is cleaned up, keep it clean. When do you get concerned about pollution? When it is not safe to live in an area anymore? The cement plant that was once located at this site caused local wells to go dry, and it was approx. ¼ the size of what titan is proposing to build. With the current dry cycle the climate is going through the last 4 years, people are having to re-drill their wells now. Add this plant and everyone in Castle Hayne will probably have to re-drill their wells. Do you live in Castle Hayne? Did you live here when Ideal Cement was in operation?
You continue to do what titan and their supporters do. Answer questions with questions without answering anything. I am against this plant opening in my neighborhood, for reasons I've stated and you say I'm against Free Enterprise? This is a stretch in logic at best, but it appears to be the game-plan of the pro titan crowd, paint a negative picture of someone without facts. I do not believe I should have to buy stock in something I'm opposed to, just to get legitimate questions answered. What kind of logic is this? This company is trying create this mess in my neighborhood, and I do believe this is my business. I believe if titan wanted to prove it wanted be a good neighbor, they would want to answer all questions posed.
What is your dog in this fight? Stock holder? Promised a job? Already have a job with titan? Just don't care about anyone or anything but yourself? Regardless of your motivation, you are entitled to your opinion. However, you are NOT entitled to try and discredit people without facts to back up your accusations or to dictate what is required of people that do not share your opinion.
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Permalink Reply by Allison on
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It's sad that we can't read our local NEWSpaper for news, anymore. I remember growing up having a lot of respect for journalists and the guts they had for going after the truth of a story. What they said mattered! More importantly, it was unbiased and they were receptive to criticisms and questions. Today, I'm impressed if I can make it through an entire article without noticing the spelling and grammatical errors. As for unbiased reporting and answers, I'm still waiting.
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