Elderly Woman Freezes to Death - trying to save energy costs

[flygal]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4026156/detail.html?subid=22100415&qs=1;bp=t

snip

An 83-year-old woman's attempt to save energy may have cost her life this weekend.

The woman was found frozen to death inside her home on Leafwood in Commerce Township at about 1 a.m. Sunday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Department. She was discovered locked in her bedroom, dressed in winter clothing.

The woman's family said she would turn down the heat to conserve energy.

She was last seen alive Thursday. Her name was not released.

No further information was available.



My mother is doing the same thing. Every morning I call her and she's shivering under the covers and says she has to turn the heat up a "little". Her heating bills have tripled in the last four years. Deregulation - gotta love it!

[oldhat]

1. The Gilded Age.

Honestly, Twain and Dickens had nothing on the capitalists of today.

[Erika]

2. A freepers response:

"Well, she should have saved more and been more responsible in her life. She should be ashamed of herself for trying to suck off the federal teat and use our taxes for her irresponsibility. We're done with these leeches. I earned that tax cut and I'm going to enjoy my new yacht".

That is why I call the Republicans the anti-Christ Christians.

[Elidor]

4. Anti-christ Christians

That's it exactly.

Supply-side Jesus and all that.

[genieroze]

50. Supply-side Jesus. lol eom

[InvisibleBallots]

20. just wait until they privatize Social Security, and some Ken Lay steals

people's retirement - you'll see grandmas around the country dropping dead, while the Cons lecture us about the "free market" :grr: :grr:

Don't worry they will get theirs, it won't be long now.

[AngryOldDem]

35. Why even bring Christians into this discussion?

[genieroze]

41. yacht? Most freepers don't even have a dingy. Most are Walmart

working, butt picking, ignorant morons who sleep with their relatives. They are SOOoooo afraid of terrism that they voted for Bush. Oh sure Osama is gonna blow up thar trailer park or send a suicide bomber to blow up thar cow chip tossing event.

[Raiden]

44. You're absolutely right

and it's a damn shame

[lostnfound]

3. Cuts in LIHEAP under Bush

A chapter in Molly Ivins book talks about Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance program and how Bush made major cuts, and releases money only when forced to do so (I think public pressure on congress brought it about), yet takes credit for being compassionate when he finally does release money for it.

[ngGale]

5. Bush's forte is no accountability...

he blames it on the state. Governor's are begging him now not to cut Medicaid, again. Without media coverage, this is not going anywhere. Thousands of people have died needlessly on his watch because of cuts in his programs. More will die and it seems nobody cares, this next four years is going to be a bigger hell. And this is not even Iraq!

[Erika]

7. We need some tough spokespersons

who will demand media attention and get the truth out as to the disastrous cuts Bush is making. A Paul Wellstone type person who has guts and a personal belief in being "progressive".

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. It was 42 in my bathroom one morning last week

I can only afford to heat up one room at a time. I cut off the furnace and use a small portable heater in the bedroom when I go to bed. I know lots of people doing this. I just can't afford $300.00 to $400.00 a month to keep the place at 65-70 degrees.

[momzno1]

24. I hear ya!

the heat in my house is low all of the time now.
who can afford the climbing costs? I am considering a pellet stove cause they are very energy efficient, but they don't work without electricity, so when the grid goes down, you freeze. Hell, if the grid goes down I won't be able to cook on the electronically controlled stove either!
Peak Oil is coming to town sonner than later....

[LeftyMom]

47. A UPS will power a pellet stove for hours

When we had rolling blackouts in CA a lot of people from outlying areas (pellet stoves aren't real common here in town) were coming in to the store I worked at to get uninteruptible power supplies so they'd still have heat.

[wellstone dem]

25. Can't shut off the furnance here

for fear of the pipes freezing, but I keep the house at 60 degrees. If I bake something, once it's done, I turn off and open the oven to ensure the remaining heat is used in the house.

[jdots]

8. Its going to be a cold winter

the neocons will do some skiing in Vail then head for the Islands to rest up before it's back to thier gated communitys.Oh Muffy get George to close some more homeless shelters,damn these social services are costing us a fortune.
It's time to take the bastards on.

[Divine Discontent]

9. SHAMEFUL BASTARDS

That story is so sad, and is going to happen a lot, or lead to deaths from pneumonia or other illnesses, because people cannot afford these bills!

Shameful Bastards? This is referenced to EVERY rich hypocrite that is making MILLIONS off the stock market and energy futures, rising costs, and misery.

I would appreciate that ANY ONE who has a personal connection to ANY public official tell them to start getting HARSH in their wording about the way the country is being FORCED into the hands of the wealth-mongerers more and more with every bill that is passed to cushion their self-righteous, unsympathetic tushes!

blessed are the poor, they will be first in heaven.

:kick:

[flygal]

10. Well, according the "left behind" books

those in First Class are the first in heaven :puke:

[Divine Discontent]

48. ha! well those goofs are WRONG. n/t

[pretzel4gore]

19. this was why the french revolution happened!

(not to mention russia's, mexico's china's)...and 'let them eat cake' became someone's famous last words.....the piggy class seemed to have learned that unleashing the rage of an entire people at them was generally not too wise, but suddenly they crown a dolt like bush (i heard local winos talking about him, laffing their heads off!) king of georgebushamerica and shit publicly right in the nation's soup!
like tommy said, 'dang them fellers!'

[AndyTiedye]

32. That's Why They Are Setting Up A Theocracy

Has a theocracy ever fallen to a popular uprising?
Anywhere in the world?
Any time in recorded history?

[MountainLaurel]

37. Napolean once said

Something to the effect of "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."

[Tight_rope]

52. You know I believe he was right...........

The poor are so busy worried about their after life in heaven that they forget to live.

[genieroze]

49. Good site.

http://www.theocracywatch.org/

[roguevalley]

11. This stuff makes me throw up. I remember reading about a little

old lady who fell in her kitchen. The pipes had broken and she FROZE TO THE FLOOR! She was frozen there for about three days before someone found her. That just haunts my dreams. Poor babies. Somewhere in an old person is a child, a teenager and a young adult. Never did at any time did she probably think this could happen to her. RIP lady. I am so sorry.

[Selatius]

12. I wonder how many Bush supporters are having to do this?

They want limited government and deregulation. Well, in life, you cannot gain something without giving up something else. Sure, they can get their capitalism in the utilities sector and spurn socialism there, but they have to give up security (stable prices, oversight over utilities (Enron gouging California anyone?), etc.) in exchange.

[Is It Fascism Yet]

16. you know, there really aren't many bush voters, just a handful of psychos

most bush voters are just phantasms of diebold, probably not more than 20 percent of america voted bush, so, it's not that they earned it and they deserved it. Americans voted for Kerry. Kerry won. Diebold can't count.

[NMDemDist2]

13. i read this and passed on, but had to come back and post if just to

kick it

we were at Costco last week and they had an "angel" tree

i stopped to look and it was for seniors (not children asking for toys) with requests like

blanket and food

slippers and food

warm robe and (diabetic) food



it just broke my heart.....

[solinvictus]

15. Exactly..

seniors humbly asking for the very essentials needed to keep them alive. That's the Bush regime.

[NYC]

38. That is very, very sad.

And Bush wants to "reform" social security.

[Vidar]

14. But thank the repub god that chimp can affor $12,000 suits.

[Is It Fascism Yet]

17. yes, and 40 million dollar inaguration parties, we wouldn't want to spend

that on keeping seniors warm, educating kids, or buying armour for the troops.

[yorkiemommie1]

30. 12,000 suits

w/ bumps in them! blames it on his tailor, lol.

[AndyTiedye]

34. For $12,000 They Should Get Fully-Integrated Instrumentation & Comms

They can make circuitry that has the properties of fabric these days,
so there's no excuse for bulges. They are getting ripped off.

[Voltaire99]

18. "Where are the men of righteous rage...

...and the women who know the worth of life? We need you."

I dream that one day we shall civilize this savage nation.

[0007]

21. I bet Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Benny Hind, Billy Graham,

and John Hagee are staying warm while they count the money and pray for the old folks.

[Bono71]

26. Billy G is a democrat, FYI

[amazona]

27. maybe but he gained notoriety as advisor to Nixon

Not many fond memories of Billy Graham from that era.

[0007]

36. Thank you amazona, some folks just don't seem to catch on,

'eh?

[solinvictus]

45. Nixon...

was a raging liberal compared to El Presidente or John Kerry.

[saigon68]

22. "They are only "Rag Head" Islamics, to Hell with Them",

"We would have had to kill them sooner or later", mused BeezelBush the Lesser </sarcasm> as he reflected on the success of the Ninth Crusade.

[snippy]

23. This is what happens when people vote republican.

More people need to understand the actual consequences of their vote.

[catmandu57]

28. We haven't seen nothing yet

Stories like this are going to be the hallmark of this misadministration. People will die, and the pigs won't give a fat rat's ass.

Next year is going to be the worst, they'll have to do the most damage before the midterms, however, if they nullify the elections then all bets are off, and, the moron* places the crown on it's head, and we all die.

There will be more people dying of heat though, heat kills more than cold, even though it sounds meaner that people freeze to death, watch out for next summer.

[Tempest]

29. Bush cut funding to heating assistance for the elderly and poor

This woman's death falls squarely on Bush's shoulders.

[fooj]

31. I bet dumbbell and dickie are all warm and fuzzy...

It's enough to make you puke!:puke:

[MADem]

40. The NAVY pays Dickie's heating bills, and all his utilities

See, he lives in the CNO's House. His house is actually the TEMPORARY QUARTERS of the Vice President, and the Navy foots all the bills. The CNO lives right by the gate at the Navy Yard, just down the road from the hookers and heroin addicts.

So, if those Sailors can't afford new hawsers to keep the ships tied to the pier, or fuel for that WESTPAC, blame Dickie!

[Solon]

33. Holy shit, this is terrible...

And it is only the beginning...once the NG starts to run out, for both heat and electricity, then this is going to happen much more often. First it will be the children and elderly, then it will be those inbetween, no one should have to suffer from this. But our fucking pResident won't do shit to help them, Fuck him, and Fuck the Republicans and their enablers.

[genieroze]

39. Thank * and his energy cronies. eom

[ckramer]

42. And also think about these homeless people who died outside frozen because

they couldn't afford a roof on top of their head!

[Raiden]

43. That's terrible!

Think of all the fun seniors will have when SS is privatized...

[Forkboy]

46. truly sad

here in Mass it's illegal for the electric/gas company to turn off the power from Dec through April,but then you owe a huge amount.Even with fuel assistance last winter we owed over 1200 dollars by the end of winter.We haven't even paid it all back yet and the next winter is already upon us.

There's no excuse for this women having to die like this in a country like ours.

[moondust]

51. Bushtopia.

"Why didn't she just get a job?"

[ObamaFan2500]

53. She didn't have to die..

I have a cold apretment outside memphis... so sometimes it gets cold and i drive a bus a lot of the time, so there is always heat.. what she should have done is gone to walmart and picked up one of them cheap space heaters.. mine keeps half a room warm and it was chearp.. good deal, espicllayif you pick it up in the summer.