美国93岁老人欠电费被冻死 中国喉舌隐瞒细节
【北美在线 NAOL.CA/NAOL.US】
2009/01/30 分类:美国/中国时事
来源:猫眼看人
中国媒体《XXX》报道了美国93岁老人因为欠费而冻死的新闻,为此编辑查看了英文原报道,发现中文报道刻意“忽视”了其中一些细节。
1、老人被停电,是因为电力公司安装了欠费停电的装置,限制金额是1000美元。1000美元的电费,大概是这个寒冷地区普通家庭一个冬天的取暖电费。更为重要的是:这个装置只是让电掉闸,用户到屋外重新开一下就可以继续使用。(做为警告?)
2、这个老人不缺钱,死后发现他桌子上很多钱。
3、老人家并不是用电取暖,而是烧煤气。问题是没有电,煤气燃烧装置有点问题。这样看,这个老人欠费应该超过2年多了,美国冰箱、电灯用电,每月一般不会超过40美元。
4、该市除了要马上调查,还下令停止了所有限电装置。
中文媒体应该关心中国人,片面歪曲报道国外事件,忽视国内百姓疾苦,除了蒙骗世人,还有一个很大的负作用,就是使得中国人看不到光明,因为天下一般黑,坏人会缺少负罪感,受苦的会觉得一切正常。过去60年,中国人逐渐根据官方媒体编造的虚假宣传,学习了西方一切黑暗的东西,西方文明、优秀的东西则被掩盖和丢弃。简单一句话:西方人不是那么的无情,相反,远比中国有人情味。就以此新闻的英文报道为例,此事发生后,人们的愤怒,政府的立即行动,足以说明问题。假设,一个有钱的中国人,欠电费2年,而取暖不是用电,这个人被暂时断电,他可以到屋外重新开启供电(美国是每户外面有电表等装置),如果冻死了,人们如何反应?政府如何反应?媒体是否会报道?
同一篇英文报道提到,该地一户因为不让狗进屋而要受刑事起诉。
中英文媒体的报道都全文附在下面:
美国93岁老人因欠费被停电
被冻死家中
星岛网
美国密歇根州的93岁独居老翁舒尔,日前因为欠缴约1000美元电费而被电力公司限制供电,最后在摄氏0度的低温下活生生冻死于家中。当地司法部门已就老翁死因展开调查。
据香港《文汇报》报道,舒尔生前独居在密歇根州贝城,膝下无儿,妻子则于多年前去世。报道指,当地电力公司于1月13日以欠缴电费为由,在舒尔家外安装了一个限制供电装置。只要用电量超过一定限度,供电便会自动中断。
装置安装4天后,有邻居发现舒尔冻死于家中床边。当时屋内气温只有0度,就连厨房洗碗盘内的水都已结冰。法医表示,舒尔死去的过程是“又慢又痛苦”,“他的手指脚趾会先感到火烧般的疼痛,继而全身失去知觉。整个过程长达多个小时。”
Freezing
death of
Mich. man in
house sparks
anger
By DAVID
EGGERT,
Associated
Press Writer
David Eggert,
Associated
Press Writer
– Wed Jan
28, 7:08 pm
ET AP –
People stand
in front of
Marvin
Schur's home
in Bay City,
Mich.,
Tuesday,
Jan. 27,
2009. Schur,
93, froze …
BAY CITY,
Mich. – When
neighbors
went inside
Marvin
Schur's
house, the
windows were
frosted
over,
icicles hung
from a
faucet, and
the
93-year-old
World War II
veteran lay
dead on the
bedroom
floor in a
winter
jacket over
four layers
of clothing.
He froze
to death —
slowly and
painfully,
authorities
say — days
after the
electric
company
installed a
power-limiting
device
because of
more than
$1,000 in
unpaid
bills.
The old
man's sad
end two
weeks ago
has led to
outrage,
soul-searching
and a
resolve
never to let
something
like this
happen
again.
"There's
got to be a
way in
today's
computer age
they can
find out if
someone's
over a
certain
age," said
Chad Sepos,
37, a copy
machine
installer
who lives a
block away
in this Lake
Huron city
of 34,000
people,
about 90
miles from
Detroit.
"It's just
sad."
One of the
saddest
things of
all was that
Schur
appeared to
have plenty
of money,
and, in
fact, one of
the
neighbors
who entered
the home
reported
seeing cash
clipped to a
pile of
bills on the
kitchen
table.
Schur's
nephew
suggested
the old
man's mind
may have
been
slipping.
Schur, or
"Mutts," was
a retired
foundry
worker who
lived alone,
his wife
having died
a couple of
years ago.
The couple
had no
children. He
could often
be seen
through the
big front
window of
his
comfortably
furnished
home of 50
or 60 years,
watching TV
or keeping
an eye on
his
neighborhood.
On Jan.
13, a worker
with the
city-owned
utility
installed a
"limiter" on
Schur's
electric
meter after
four months
of unpaid
bills. The
device
restricts
power and
blows like a
fuse if
usage rises
past a set
level.
Electricity
is not
restored
until the
device is
flipped back
on by the
homeowner,
who must
walk outside
to the
meter.
City
Electric
Light &
Power did
not contact
Schur
face-to-face
to notify
him of the
device and
explain how
it works,
instead
following
its usual
policy by
leaving a
note on the
door. But
neighbors
said Schur
rarely, if
ever, left
the house in
the cold.
At some
point, the
device
evidently
tripped and
was not
reset,
authorities
said.
Schur's home
was heated
by a gas
furnace, not
electricity,
but some gas
furnaces do
not work
properly if
the power is
out.
Neighbors
discovered
Schur's body
on Jan. 17
in his home,
a yellow
house with
peeling
paint. The
outside
temperature
ranged from
a high of 12
degrees to a
low of minus
9 on Jan.
15, the day
he was
believed to
have died. A
heating pad
was on his
favorite
armchair by
the window.
The oven
door was
open,
perhaps to
heat the
place.
"The body
has a
tremendous
fighting
power for
survival. He
died a slow,
painful
death," said
Dr. Kanu
Virani, who
found
frostbite on
Schur's foot
when
performing
the autopsy.
Investigators
are trying
to establish
how long he
was without
electricity.
City
officials
are
reviewing
their
procedures
and in the
meantime
have
suspended
shutoffs and
removed all
limiters
from homes
after using
the devices
for 18
years.
The
medical
examiner is
looking into
whether
Schur
suffered
from
dementia,
particularly
after police
found enough
cash lying
around in
the home to
cover his
bills. His
nephew
William
Walworth
said Schur
told him two
years ago he
had $600,000
in savings.
"It's
definitely
not a
situation
where money
is an issue.
The issue
has to do
with the
mental
faculties
you have and
your ability
to make good
decisions,"
said
Walworth,
67, who
lives in
Ormond
Beach, Fla.
"I think
the
utility's
policies are
horrible and
insane," he
added. "For
50 years he
paid the
bill on a
regular
basis and
never had
problems. If
people would
know who
their
customers
are and take
concern for
their
customers,
maybe they'd
go knock on
the door and
see if
everything
is OK."
Neighbors
and others
have posted
messages on
the
Internet,
complaining
it was a
shabby way
to treat a
veteran and
demanding
city
employees be
fired or
prosecuted
for not
taking a few
minutes to
check on
Schur, who
was a medic
in the South
Pacific and
earned a
Purple
Heart.
One
blogger
noted that
even a pet
owner who
leaves his
dog outside
to freeze
can face
charges.
Sharon
Gire,
director of
the Michigan
Office of
Services to
the Aging,
said Schur's
death was
preventable.
"He was one
of
Michigan's
most
vulnerable
citizens in
need," she
said. "It is
a tragedy
that he had
to suffer
such a
painful
death."
Michigan's
big,
state-regulated
utilities
are not
allowed to
shut off
power to
senior
citizens in
the winter
and must
offer
payment
plans to the
poor. State
regulators
also
discourage
the use of
limiters.
But
Michigan's
41 smaller
municipal
utilities —
Bay City's
included —
are not
overseen by
the state.
Schur's
death has
prompted
Michigan
lawmakers to
start
writing
legislation
that could
ban the use
of limiters
by municipal
utilities.
"The
concern was
particularly
with elderly
customers;
they can be
frail or
confused,"
Public
Service
Commission
spokeswoman
July Palnau
said.
"Anything
that can
require some
sort of
mechanical
intervention
can be
overwhelming."
Bay City
Manager
Robert
Belleman
said that he
was "deeply
saddened" by
Schur's
death and
that State
Police will
investigate.
But he also
said
neighbors
have a
responsibility
to each
other.
"I've said
this before
and some of
my
colleagues
have said
this:
Neighbors
need to keep
an eye on
neighbors,"
Belleman
said. "When
they think
there's
something
wrong, they
should
contact the
appropriate
agency or
city
department."
(根据国内实际情况转贴时有删节)
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