Friday, May 05, 2017

Governor Snyder is on the Board of the water authority. He should be able to write an executive order that will end this nonsense.

Median household income in Flint, Michigan is $24,862. (click here) It is impossible for homeowners to keep up with water needs and pay for lead tainted water at the same time. There needs to be an executive order placing all tax liens on hold and an investigation to the hardship being caused by this aspect of this ongoing saga. 

May 5, 2017
By Oona Goodin-Smith

Flint, MI - A notice warning roughly 8,000 Flint residents (click here) of losing their homes if they do not make good on their water bills has sparked anger among residents and politicians alike.

They say they are being threatened to pay bills for water they cannot drink.

"I'm really flabbergasted," said Flint resident Timothy Abdul-Matin, who received the notice from the city's treasury department on Wednesday, May 3. "We have people who have made a conscious decision to switch over to this water source without proper treatment, and now they're threatening to kick us to the streets if we don't pay for it."

According to the letter Abdul-Matin received, the father and husband has until May 9 to pay nearly $200 in order to avoid a water shutoff and a tax lien placed on his home. He said he stopped paying his water bill in February.

"Of course I'm going to pay it, man, I've got a wife and kids," said Abdul-Matin. "But it really infuriated me. The mental agony that my kids have to go through, my kids knowing they have to drink bottled water, and now this. How could you threaten to make me pay for the water that's not consumable?"

In a statement, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said she agreed with those "who have spoken out against this process."...

The weather has been unpredictable in Michigan, as the rest of the country. It is my plan to handle all personal business and know the extent I am in demand otherwise to prior commitments; and then dedicate attention to the Flint River. 

The first estimation about the river will be very unrefined and basically an assessment to know the equipment I'll need to succeed. That will probably be within the month. It is an interesting river from what I have gathered to date. 

I appreciate your interest and I support the City of Flint in it's needs and demands. It is my strong opinion the Flint River is incapable of being a water source today and in the past. Rivers have to be able to handle the 'hole in the water' created by intake pipes for residents needs in any city. 

Until later...
Rumor has it that the next great and stupendous executive order from President Trump will be to allow left hand turns on red lights.

I think legally this is considered incompetence. But, otherwise, it is called an Executive Order to satisfy political promises.

May 5, 2017
By Barbara Starr

Washington - When President Donald Trump (click here) signed an executive order promoting religious liberty on Thursday, he singled out the US military for preventing troops from receiving religious items....

...Pentagon officials are adamant there is no policy that prohibits members of the military from receiving religious items at military installations.

Military hospitals are considered the same as a military base, so security and patient privacy concerns require that any donation of any outside items by non-military groups be reviewed and distributed with chaplains overseeing religious matters. And no outside group can enter a hospital or a patients room without permission, according to defense officials....

This is also a security issue for the military. Soldiers are more than welcome to practice their religion and they have a right not to practice it at all. But, to ENFORCE the idea any religious group can enter the living space of a soldier uninvited is a military security issue.

..."In 2011, a local patient visitation policy was issued at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that was written to prevent unsolicited proselytizing from religious groups, including the distribution of their religious items to patients who had not asked for them," the Pentagon said in a statement sent to CNN.

Were the Gideons insulted? Why is it that religious organizations can't accept the fact there are Americans, soldiers or not, that do not value their intrusion?

"Due to the wording of that policy, religious groups interpreted the policy to be an outright ban on visitation and distribution of religious items," the statement continued. "The policy was subsequently re-written to eliminate ambiguity, stating that, 'Patients determine their visitors.' "

President Trump and/or Jarad Kushner should have discussed this political issue with someone from the military that actually handles military policy. It is my guess such a person has an office in Washington, DC and not Kabul. 

Here again President Trump is out of step with the USA Constitution and still yet again his actions are going to result in lawsuits the US Justice Department has to litigate. Trump is piling on unconstitutional executive orders that the Justice Department will put on a shelf until they no longer can. It will delay justice and bring about a window of opportunity for his cronies to do as they please if there is no injunction.

Trump is either the most ridiculous man to sit in the White House without any concern for the efficient running of the government or he has a strategy to please all those that voted for him to insure his re-election in 2020.