Friday, March 04, 2016

Preserve evidence, conflict of interest.

Flint, Michigan is going to want to preserve those pipes for evidence. Ask the people from Virginia Tech to assess the pipes and take samples for the record. Then any lawyers involved should decide what needs to be evidence and how best to preserve it.

March 4, 2016
By the AP

Crews in Flint are starting (click here) to dig up old lead pipes connecting water mains to homes as part of efforts to allay the city's contaminated water crisis.

Mayor Karen Weaver says work starting Friday will target lead service lines at homes in neighborhoods with the highest number of children under 6 years old, senior citizens, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems and homes where water tests indicate high levels of lead at the tap.

On Thursday, a crew dug up a service line leading to a Flint home as part of a separate effort funded by group of private, charitable, business and community groups.

Also Friday, Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan is set to lead a delegation of 25 members of congress to hear from Flint residents.

That is no word of a lie. It will take years to litigate this and during that time there can be all sorts of things going on to change the truth. It is best to document every pipe and preserve evidence. It may not be possible to have the pipes stored for a decade, so the evaluation today is vital.

Flint, Michigan still has an emergency manager and while he doesn't care about the people he does have the power to manipulate the evidence. Having scientists evaluate the pipes and publish the results.

The emergency manager is not the mayor and council. The city counsel should take testimony from experts at their next meeting or a special meeting and then act in the best interest of the people and their children. It all has to be documented.

The emergency manager and the State of Michigan have conflict of interest. Document any attempt to undermine the judicial process.

The household pipes are not as vital. There are documented lead levels from the tap water. There is only one place it could have come from when the pipes are assessed and documented. I hesitate to have residents keep a sample of the pipes because if they are stored in the home it is a source of toxins the air and water doesn't need. Children are curious, why expose them in any way within their home environment. The pipes on the street are a different issue.

Part of the documentation is the location of where they were removed. Street name and house numbers on either side of the street. Spray paint tracking numbers #1, #2, etc. If possible record a GPS of the pipe. GPS cannot be denied and the GPS of any contaminated home can be taken later or at the time of pipe removal.

Street names can be changed. Who knows what is coming next? House numbers can be changed. Ruthless people do ruthless things.

Do something creative. Surprise yourself.


FOX theater was very nice. The set was very nice. End of discussion.

Okay, everyone. The reason Governor Chris Christie came to appear with Donald Trump is because the Republican Party has been stating Donald Trump is not a Republican. 

Chris Christie is regarded as a tough minded Governor. He is slammed everyday in New Jersey since the issue with the bridge. Considering when that all began until today, Christie has proven to be someone who can handle it while also leading the Republican Governor's Association.

Donald Trump has been a very active member of the Republican Party for a long time now. Governor Christie's willingness to stand by Donald Trump's side is an open statement to the rest of the party. I think it was very smart for both men and it was correct to do.

The aches and pains of Ukraine.

By Noah Barkin and John Irish
Berlin/Paris, March 2 
For months, as progress in implementing the Minsk peace deal (click here) for eastern Ukraine stalled, its architects, Germany and France, held out hope that with time and carefully calibrated pressure on Kiev and Moscow, the agreement could be pushed back on track.
But since a joint visit by the German and French foreign ministers to Ukraine's capital last week, a gloomier view has taken hold: that political dysfunction in Kiev has all but doomed the chances of it delivering on its own commitments under the peace agreement.
Against that backdrop and a rise in ceasefire violations in the east, where Ukrainian government forces are faced off against pro-Russian rebels, ministers from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine meet in Paris on Thursday to discuss Minsk.

One of the meeting's main goals is to tackle what is now seen in many European capitals as the biggest hurdle to the peace deal -- Kiev's failure to push through an election law for the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine that would set the stage for a vote there by mid-year....
All parties need to honor the Minsk.