Oh brother!
Where's the Barf Alert?
You were not his wife.
What nonsense! This was the deal they made, cash on the barrel head NOW, or take your chances with lenghty and uncertain litigation. They ALL must know they were darn lucky to even be given this choice, unique to my knowledge.
And as for the system "favor[ing] the rich", all settlements that compensate for life earnings favor "the rich".
This author reveals little but her own ignorance and prejudices.
Years ago, my husband died, and I applied for life insurance.
I am not thankful that he didn't have it, and I was very glad for the money. But I can say one of the worst moments of my life was when I got that check in the mail.
It was like blood money. I can't really explain it. I wanted to rip it up and say I's rather have him back. Of course I didn't.
No good deed goes unpunished. Unanticipated wealth under any circumstance makes miserable people even more miserable.
In the absence of sudden riches having been heaped on them, other widows have no alternative but to pick up the pieces, take care of their children, and MOVE ON.
Am I unsympathetic? No, not at all. Anyone who has ever been a widow, or been closely associated with one, recognizes many of the symptoms of the first year of adjustment --- but, this time, the 9/11 widows have never gotten beyond that transition period -- and, perhaps, never will.
Is anyone out there living in a non-marital "relationship" paying attention? You have no marital rights when you are not married. Why is that so hard to understand? That particular woman made her own non-marital bed and now must lay in it.
Barf alert, indeed! Make that a double --- or, maybe even a triple!
Please forgive my lack of compassion. Where's the millions in compensation for the families of the victims of Khobar Towers and the USS Cole?
Damn, I'm sorry they lost their loved ones but when does it end?
His wife received compensation from the fund, I have no idea how much, sold their house in NJ and moved to Florida to be closer to his family. She bought a house and is raising his children in as normal an environment as possible.
His family will tell you that they can't believe how much money his widow received, but no one begrudges her the money and she has gone out of her way to keep his family close to her children. It's all very sad, but nobody went off the deep end.
Whatever makes one think that the rest of us owes them anything, anyway? Things happen. The airlines didn't drive those planes into the buildings, nor did the pilots, so these families should be taking their claims to Saudi Arabia...the home of the perpetrators.
Why does our government have to bail everything out? This is socialism, folks. The government was not responsible for 9/11, for Katrina, for any of the bailouts that are regularly laid at their feet. We are expecting the government to provide a certain standard of living to all who suffer loss. Then why not for bankruptcies, defaults, repossessed homes, etc.?
And they repaid us by... voting for terrorist sympathizer, John Kerry. As far as I'm concerned, they're on their own next time.
"Those who took the 'blood money' of up to $7 million each were banned from suing the government or airlines for further compensation, their rights stripped away."
Excuse me? How can accepting $7 million in exchange for an agreement not to sue constitute having one's "rights stripped away"? The hysteria mongers are at it again.
The average person is seldom prepared for the remifications of instant millions. Tales of woe are common.
Couple that with a trajedy, people arent thinking their best to begin with. There should be a better way.
LOL, spoken like a true scumbag. In fact, most of these stories are about greedy scumbags who want to sue somebody - - anybody - - who they figure might have "deep pockets".
The ugly side of America....instead of turning to religion, people turned to money...more evidence of dying Society. What do families do when the main earner dies? THEY CHANGE THEIR LIFESTYLES...and usually not for the better. This is abhorrent to me, and it should be to everybody.
These women were empty and vacuous long before they lost their husbands. It just wasn't as evident.
These ladies are complaining because they were offered millions of dollars?
No wonder they voted for Hillary.
My neighbor was a bank manager of a branch on the North Shore of Long Island. She told me about the number of wives who lost their stock broker husbands on 9/11 who came into the bank looking to withdraw funds from their accounts. They were shocked to find that there was no money and their home was mortgaged to the hilt.
I was reading in the NY Post yesterday about all the 911 rescuers who are all screwed up physically, one guy who got his foot smashed by a metal beam who now has a scarred right lung and needs about $1000 a month for medication, yet lives on just $400 a month. Call me crazy, but there is something seriously wrong here when these guys who spent weeks sifting through hell, who are now dying as a result, are living on pennies while these broads are now fulltime multi-millionaire shopaholics.