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Saturday, January 23, 2016

Open Thread


So, what's on your mind?

Please opine on the topic of your choice according to the parameters below:

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. Comments that include any of the following are subject to deletion:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective

Note: comments consisting of blog gossip will be deleted as soon as an administrator of this blog becomes aware of such comments.

35 comments:

  1. In Flint, many residents will now have to replace all of the pipes and water using appliances in their homes due to the ongoing corrosion caused by the decision to use corrosive Flint River water.

    My question is this... Who should have to pay for that? Government or the private citizens, many of whom who have lost all their home value because of this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dave,
      There is a problem not only in Flint, Michigan, but also in Porter Ranch, California -- the latter a gas leak (methane). Have you heard about what's been going on in Porter Ranch?

      Such aging storage facilities for natural gas are numerous in parts of the United States. Time bombs.

      Delete
    2. I thought the Porter Ranch issue was more like a vent... Here's what's interesting about those two scenarios...

      In Flint, the residents are stuck in homes with no usable water... Dealing directly with the health risk.

      In Porter Ranch, which is Los Angeles, the government forced the company to put everyone up in hotels or residences until it is fixed...

      Also in Flint, it looks like insurance will not cover the repiping...

      Flint housing... Average cost 80k and falling... Porter Ranch 1 million and climbing...

      Delete
    3. I have not heard that the piping needs replacement.
      Once the Ph is corrected, the corrosion will cease.
      Appliances are consumable, water heaters are glass lined.
      I'm trying to think here, Dishwashers? Coffeepots?

      Delete
    4. Ed, the damage has already been done. They are telling people to wait until the city side is fixed and then retro your home including the lines from the street. It included hot water heaters, washers, dishwashers, etc. it was that corrosive...

      Delete
    5. Dave,
      It took three months for Governor Brown to issue an emergency status.

      Delete
    6. Ed,
      You are in Michigan, so I trust that you have several insights which the rest of us do not have.

      Feel free to weigh in. Thanks.

      Delete
    7. I live 20 minutes from Porter Ranch and I haven't heard a thing about what's going on there, AOW.

      Delete
    8. Z,
      I saw some coverage in Time Magazine last week and some in the LA Times -- abandoned some elsewhere a few weeks ago, but I don't recall the source.

      Could it be that the coverage is limited because Jerry Brown is governor?

      Delete
    9. Z... not sure how you could not be aware of what is happening... Since October there has been a massive natural gas leak in the Porter Ranch Hills... On the LA Times alone, there have been almost 300 stories.

      Additionally, the story has been featured on national news sites fairly prominently.

      AOW... the coverage is hardly limited and Jerry Brown, being a strong environmentalist, would always be pushing for more coverage, if he was to be involved. Part of the delay for the emergency status was that So Cal Gas was downplaying the seriousness of the leak for months. It wasn't until the residents had had enough that news reached a critical mass, forced LA city into action and then the state.

      Even as people are being relocated, the So Cal Gas, a private entity, is still trying to avoid relocating people because it "very expensive."

      Delete
    10. Dave, I PROMISE you, I don't read the L.A. Times and I rarely listen to or watch local news.
      I only came back here now to tell AOW I did actually hear a very slight mention of it today on the radio...first time.

      what are you suggesting? I haven't seen it. Believe me. And there aren't too many people as up on national/international news as I am.
      I've always admitted I'm not big on local news. that's all...but, gee, thanks for having Googled the amount of times in the newspaper, etc...geeez

      Delete
    11. Dave,
      Part of the delay for the emergency status was that So Cal Gas was downplaying the seriousness of the leak for months.

      You're letting Gov. Brown off the hook too easily. The plethora of agencies in California should have been on top of the situation much earlier.

      Delete
    12. Z,
      I'm not sure how or where I first heard about the situation in Porter Ranch.

      Dave,
      The coverage of the situation in Porter Ranch hasn't been all that extensive. One reason? Primary season!

      Delete
    13. AOW... I am not sure how you would define "all that extensive." Literally, there are millions of stories about this, on both local and national news outlets, conservative and liberal.

      Granted it hasn't risen to the level of the Flint crisis, but that has as a booster, kids directly poisoned by the debacle.

      No doubt there is great focus on the primary season, but since you guys are speculating on reasons for non coverage, maybe I can too.

      Perhaps you guys have not seen much on the story because you watch, read and listen to more of the conservative media.

      Those outlets might not want to cover an environmental story because it is not a big interest to their audience.

      Z... I am not suggesting anything. I will say that if you do not watch local news, or read the local paper of record, yes, with their biases, it might be tough to know what is going on locally.

      Delete
    14. Dave,
      Wha I MEAN is that the coverage of the Porter Ranch situation hasn't been extensive as compared to the situation in Flint. Because Michael Moore isn't at Porter Ranch?

      For your information, I do not restrict my information garhering to the conservative media. In fact, I subscribe to the WaPo and Time Mqgwzine home delivery, I also have a digital subscription to the NYT.

      Not that I pay much attention to those publications during a d just after a blizzard. And I work long hours, too.

      Delete
  2. From Muslim Imam Defends Refugee Sexual Assaults With 8 Outrageous Words:

    Imam Sami Abu-Yusuf defended their actions saying the women were assaulted and raped by the men “because they were half naked and wearing perfume.”

    “The events of New Year’s Eve were the girls’ own fault, because they were half naked and wearing perfume,” Abu-Yusaf said. “It is not surprising the men wanted to attack them. [Dressing like that] is like adding fuel to the fire.”

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope you and Mr AOW are toasty warm and safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bunkerville,
      So far, so good. No interruption in electrical power.

      Will take days to shovel out, though.

      Delete
    2. Home breakins should drop.
      Except for those trying to get warm.

      Delete
    3. Glad you're doing as well as can be expected, AOW. Take it slow.

      Delete
    4. Duck,
      It's snow-mageddon. No hyperbole.

      For example, I-270 northbound is closed.

      Even the main roads are impassable.

      And way too many gawkers are out and about -- and trying to drive around. Sheesh.

      6-12 more inches expected this afternoon. The low pressure system is stalled.

      Delete
  4. Dr. Drayneau Dinwiddie said

    O've heard it said the water situation in Flint is the direct result of racist policies in the part of Michiganders who'd love to make impossible for unwelcome Muslim population that now saturates the formerly American area to survive.

    If so, do you think it's a good or a bad idea? Please explain why in either case.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think MOST democrats will plug their nose and vote for Hillary in the general election. However, I have no intent on voting for her in the primary. You're right, there isn't much selection - who's fault is that though? Surely our own as we delusionally think the runner up of the 2008 primary is our BEST shot in 2016...we're doomed folks, let that sink in. If we couldn't manage to elevate someone better in the 8 years since Clinton lost the primary, we've got no real shot in 2016 unless the republicans suck worse and put up a tea bagger and even then I don't think we're going to win. History has shown that the pendululm will swing back to the conservatives - either because that's the ebb and flow, or because our elections are far more rigged than we'll ever know. Last note - I haven't forgotten her blatant pandering to the racist segment of the democratic party in a last ditch effort to beat Obama in the primaries...honestly, that was the moment she lost every ounce of my respect and will never get it back again.

    ReplyDelete

  6. _ IDIOCY REIGNS SUPREME _

    Or What’s So Especially Bad
    About Chemical Weapons?

    Apparently, it’s AOK
    To mow ‘em down with bullets,
    But don’t dare try to kill ‘em off
    By poisoning their pullets.

    It’s all right too when bombs
    Rain from aloft or on the level,
    But when you kill with poison gas,
    You’re in league with the Devil.

    Lock ‘em in a building,
    Then burn it to the ground.
    By judges at The Hague
    You’ll not be guilty found.

    Go drag them from their cells
    Into a courtyard to be shot.
    The World Court will not chide you,
    Nor tell you “Thou shalt not.”

    Take mothers, babies, toddlers ––
    Grandmas –– anyone who thrives,
    Then hack them with machetes
    And bayonets to end their lives.

    Rape and loot and strangle,
    Garrote or stab at will ––
    Of you The World Community,
    I promise, won’t think ill.

    Set ‘em loose in wood or field,
    Then hunt ‘em down like game;
    Let half-dead bodies lie unhealed.
    You won’t lose your good name.

    Rob and cripple, maim at will ––
    Dislocate their joints.
    Multiculturalists will know
    You must have your good points.

    Gouge their eyes out, slit each tongue.
    Sodomize, impale their young.
    Club ‘em down, then crush with tractors.
    Brussels won’t call you bad actors.

    BUT, urinate upon the corpse
    Who tortured your best buddy,
    And you’ll be tossed in the stockade
    With nose broken and bloody.

    And should you dare to wipe yourself
    With leaves from the the Koran,
    ‘Tis YOU The World Community
    Will call BARBARIAN!


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  7. Big Thanks to Ed Bonderenka. I was researching to draft a post on Flint to include the timeline, who made what decisions and the technical details of what happened, but Ed e-mailed me a link to a most excellent blog post that covers it all.

    I made a rare Saturday blog post at Western Hero:

    Another Day Another Day, Another Humanitarian crisis in the Good 'ol US of A

    Here is the original article: The Real Tragedy in Flint

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF,
      Wow! What comprehensive information at your blog!

      Now, if only all this information would gain some traction in all the media.

      Delete
  8. ____ Why Be A Democrat? ____

    Willfulness is part of what it takes;
    Haughtiness makes a component too.
    Yearning for a better life’s heartaches
    Beset by Self-Deception’s shuttered view

    Earns suicidal urges ‘mongst the Rich,
    And fosters dreams of Vengeance in the Poor
    Deny this truth? You’re apt to lose your niche
    Ending up locked outside your own door.

    Money too diffused loses its power.
    Our hope to see Equality for All
    Creates a fractious mental climate sour
    Resulting in Revolt bound to appall.

    A misperception of our truest needs
    Traps us where upon ourselves we feed.


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cruz is a liar. The Gop have two great choices. NOT!

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Dr. Drayneau Dinwiddie,


    "....the water situation in Flint is the direct result of racist policies in the part of Michiganders who'd love to make impossible for unwelcome Muslim population that now saturates the formerly American area to survive."

    "....do you think it's a good or a bad idea?"

    If that was a "good idea" it should also be tried in Dearborn but it's NOT. Like cock roaches they would only move somewhere else, disrupting the neighborhood(s) and forcing the long time residents to flee for their safety and wellbeing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. From the WaPo article: Flint’s water crisis reveals government failures at every level:

    Local, state and federal officials — including the top Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the Midwest and Michigan’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder — are accused of ignoring, denying or covering up problems that left thousands of children exposed to toxic lead in their drinking water for about 18 months.

    “Nobody was owning the problem, not the [state Department of Environmental Quality], not the EPA, not the governor’s office,” said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which revealed that damning passages had been removed from a government specialist’s report on Flint’s water contamination.

    [...]

    “People have realized they’ve been lied to, and EPA knew about this, and the state knew about this,” said Virginia Tech engineering professor Marc Edwards, a national authority on municipal water quality whose tests exposed the extent of Flint’s lead contamination....

    [...]

    The agency [the EPA] chose instead to quietly try to persuade the state to take action. Hedman, the EPA’s regional leader, later conceded that the agency had been aware of the corrosion problem in the spring, but said her hands were tied by interagency rules, according to the Detroit News....


    The travesties are not limited to one political Party.

    The blame, in my view, can be laid at the bureaucracy's feet. Cumbersome leviathan.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I can't believe that the Baggers have already deserted Teddy boy Cruz. He seemed like thier ideal candidate. A jackass just like Trunp is.

    I would still like to know what kind of a deal Trump worked out with the Moose Girl, with the voice like a Cat in heat!
    She did add some fun to the already hilarious campaingn, but not anything of any substance.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pat Condell nails it again, on Europe's betrayal of women:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIfMAP4Q1yk&feature=youtu.be

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Baysider. Will watch the video tomorrow. I'm off to bed now to rest my aching back. Snow shoveling takes its toll!

      Delete
    2. Baysider,
      Spot on! I will be including this video in my blog post on Thursday.

      Delete
  14. Skynet is a reality in our time. Constant death by big pharma, planned parenthood, vaccine poisons, a decrepit infrastructure causing methane and lead poisoning, geoengineering destroying the planet with 75% of ocean life dead! insane invasions by western enemies by invitation of our governments who act on the elites orders. When will we the people of this planet put an end to this madness? When will the people who value life and love over money and power bind together to stop this? Shed the shackles of technology and it's propaganda machine and think for yourself. Ask yourself what is important. Judge yourself honestly and follow your deep convictions. Let us look to one another for support and boycott what continues to give Skynet it's power. If we do not make the move to stop this as a united front, we voluntarily give up and fold.

    ReplyDelete

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. Comments that include any of the following are subject to deletion:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

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