Flint, Michigan continues on it's quest for justice.

The deadline (click here) to do one thing or the other in the Flint water crisis settlement is Monday, March 29.

March 29, 2021

Flint - More than 30,000 registration forms (click here) have been received from people who want to participate in a $641.2 million Flint water lawsuit settlement.

Special Master Deborah Greenspan reported 33,341 registration forms were turned in by the start of the week. The deadline is next Monday.

Registration, which is required to receive money from the settlement, can be completed online by clicking here. Registration forms also were mailed to all Flint residents. Anyone with questions about the process can call 1-800-493-1754 or email FlintWater@ArcherSystems.com....

30,000 forms, some of which are lawyers.

Now, that the Michigan Attorney General is prosecuting the perpetrators of the poisoning of the people of Flint, Michigan there is the issue of the contractors. The lawyers should know any wrongdoing will be punished.

March 27, 2021
By Coleman Waterman

Flint - A court date (click here) has been set for a contracting firm cited by Michigan officials for allegedly dumping construction material in a Flint neighborhood rather than properly disposing it.

WT Stevens is to appear for a pretrial hearing before Genesee County District Judge David Guinn at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, March 29.

The former contractor received more than $27 million from the City of Flint to replace lead pipes. He was cited by both the Genesee County Drain Commission and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for failing to have a soil erosion plan at the dump site. WT Stevens was also cited for placing leftover construction material including soil, concrete and debris (commonly called “spoils”) in a north side Flint neighborhood instead of properly disposing of it....

I am away from home but will post about Flint when I return in the early AM.

3/27/2021

1:35 pm

Sorry for the tardiness. All I can say in my own defense is that it is springtime.

Let's take a look at Flint.

To begin, President Biden brought Flint up in the first news conference he shared with the American people. The reason he did was because of the large number of lead pipes still in homes all across the country. I want to qualify that because it is not the same as Flint.

President Biden is correct to be worried about the country and the lead service lines to homes and children across the USA. The best reason is that we cannot leave it to chance that lead won't come out of the pipes and into the water. Drinking water standards and water quality were never a high priority for the previous president (who's name I shall not mention).

By consequence of the highly destructive previous federal administrtion, there can easily be caustics in the nation's drinking water. The standards for the water are only a part of water quality. The contribution of overland flow and water runoff also plays a role in water quality. So, in environmental justice, if there is a coal plant throwing soot into the air, that shoot will fall to the ground and also causes acid rain. The leaching and overland flow are just as deadly as the lead pipes.

Whenever any sort of toxin enters drinking water and a water treatment plant ends that contaminant, there is a cost to pay for that water treatment. Now, in the case of the water Flint, Michigan used to receive in their pipes, it was glacial water and at the time relatively pure. But, if that glacial water is contaminated in the most minor amount with a caustic substance, then it needs to be treated. But, what often happens is the STANDARD for that toxin can be changed to allow higher amounts of the substance to pass into American diets.

What does that mean? It means the previous administration cut the cost of water treatment at the cost of American health and ultimately illness and longevity. It is this unthinkable reality that is upon us today. After the previous administration, which thought nothing of citizen deaths and even welcomed them, was finished reducing the cost of water treatment, there are dangerous substances in our country's water and it is most probably having an effect on the degree of lead in the homes of those with leaching lead pipes.

The country needs to take stock of the changes the previous administration made into reducing costs to water treatment while allowing higher contaminants in that water. The idea contaminants were increased by the previous standard will effect the entire country whether they have lead service pipes or not.

But, it is notable that President Biden called up the episode of Flint, Michigan in expressing concern for the entire country. The tragedy that resulted in Flint, Michigan under the direction of a ruthless governor not different from the previous president in valuing American lives, has made an impression on the people to the degree their lives can be changed by ruthless standards that feed greed. There is a deep appreciation of the tragedy that occurred in Flint, Michigan. All I can say is this appreciation for what can occur under wayward leadership is the credit of all the whistleblowers. Flint, Michigan has a proud history of standing up for itself when no one else was successful. That is being an American. We are grateful to them and am sincerely sorry for the loss that took a year to surface after the tragedy. 

FOX News so called reporting of Vice President Harris is all their politics of hate.

From the time the Vice President accepted the nomination she made it perfectly clear this is the Biden presidency. She is his Veep, not his co-star.

We are so very lucky to have her. I would expect gratitude and not hate. But, FOX’s mission is to destroy government and not look for its competency. That seek and destroy agenda was a tool and all over the Trump presidency.

To those that read this there is a fine line of verbiage FOX is using to hold on to their media power. The word is “precedent.” There is no precedent regarding civilian salutes except for those that seek the power of misguided words.

The only proper address our dedicated Vice President needs to carry out in her job is PROTOCOL. Given the insurrection that FOX helped foster, I would think they would be very cautious in their propaganda of hate.

FOX is playing the game of the tail wags the dog. It is old, unworthy, and all to familiar as a false and dangerous agenda of their desperation for control and be of any value at all.

Suez Canal

Has anyone asked the US Army Corp. for their OPINION?

Basically, it looks like the dust storm has caused an enormous sand bar. The Evergreen is a flat bottomed ship. It is literally sitting on land with some water around it.

The sand has to be dredged, but, actually the entire canal needs to be dredged because the wind is filling it with sand. The canal needs to be made deep again.

No one in Egypt will like this, but, the Suez Canal has been neglected. The region has been so unstable in conflict after conflict that the basic MAINTENANCE was neglected. The Evergreen is not in any significantly deep water. This event, in my opinion is not the captain’s fault.

Where is Israel in all this? They have the engineers to leverage an opinion and perhaps come up with some plans to return function to the canal. Unless, of course, they would rather the canal fill in to create a land bridge.

The news conference.

This is Joe Biden. I love this guy. He loves America. All of it. 

Climate today in the USA

There is horrible weather today in the southeast USA. Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and possibly Kentucky are facing tornado out breaks for the second time this week.

There are also Gail Warnings surrounding the lower peninsula of Michigan. Chicago, at the southern most tip of Lake Michigan, is excepting flooding with a report two days ago of 15 foot waves.

The east coast is excepting severe storms beginning tomorrow. A new report from Rutgers University, the state university of New Jersey, states sea level rise is the worst in New Jersey in all the country. The report was published in “Nature” journal and at the university website.

It is Spring and there are winter weather advisories in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. Alaska is also receiving winter weather advisories. The Pacific Ocean has Gail Warnings along nearly the entire west coast. I have to wonder what kind of traffic there is at those shipping ports. 

This is Spring 2021 and there is high wind in every region in the country.

Let me make this clear. I don't care about one word of what McConnell has to say.

McConnell uses bipartisanship as a weapon to disaffect our democracy. Boo-hoo the filibuster might be ended. If getting the people's business done means "RAW POWER," then that is what the Congressional Democrats are there for.

I hope the Democrats see this fact. Susan Page is a very reputable journalist.

March 24, 2021
By Susan Page (click here)

A woman consoles a King Soopers pharmacy technician at the grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

Two-thirds of Americans (click here) back tougher gun laws, a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds, but Republican support has fallen significantly as the issue takes on a stronger partisan cast than it did a few years ago.

In the poll, taken in the wake of two mass shootings in the span of a week, 65% overall say gun laws should be stricter – a sizable majority but one that has fallen by 7 percentage points from a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll taken in August 2019.

The 54% support among Republicans two years ago has plummeted to 35%. Democratic support has stayed about the same, now at 90%....

I hope to find a very good article about what happened to the people that day and how the entire day was turned upside down. A musician brought his cello I think to the place where the shooting took place in an impromptu memorial service. The people won't leave the scene for the trauma bond they all felt. That bond was felt by residents who could see the shopping mall from their homes. I believe Boulder was in a state of shock that day.

Susan Page is a highly regarded journalist. She would never lie about any statistics she found to be correct. She points out two-thirds of Americans want gun law reform. 

The US Congress cannot ignore the response by the people. The reason the Republicans are running away from that statistic is because of the gun lobby and corporate money for elections. The Democrats in the US House and US Senate MUST pass legislation to secure this country. There is reasonable CONSTITUTIONAL ways to secure weapons of war in the USA. They need to get it done. President Biden and the US Senate Democrats knows what this means. Either the Republicans stop their retreat from doing the right thing or the Dems know what they must do. They will be heroes every place except FOX News.

DO NOT IGNORE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE ON THIS ISSUE. 

The one picture in an enormous number of pictures taken that day in Boulder was a long view of the entire mall area. It was a sea of emergency vehicles and police vehicles and all the men and women that came to end the violence that day. A local citizen waited hours to remove their car from the parking lot, but, gave up and walked home for the intense scene and the law enforcement that responded.

The only law enforcement not deployed to the emergency was the National Guard, but, I am sure they were "on-call" if needed. Law enforcement was there to take on an insurrection attempt. It was amazing. They used an armored vehicle to crash through the front of the store to gain access to the shooter. The entire building was surrounded. He could not escape if he tried so he surrendered.

When he was taken into custody he was naked except for his underwear shorts to know for a fact he did not have a bomb under his clothing he would initiate should officers walked toward him.

The ten that were killed were slaughtered. They were approached once down by the gunman and he shot repeated rounds into them to be sure they were dead. What the heck was that? 

Stop the defaming politics with the family. I could not believe this is even an issue.

I realize there are complaints about the New York Governor that very determined people want to resolve with a resignation. I don't think Governor Cuomo is going to resign.

He asked a state government official, Larry Schwartz (click here), to talk to county supervisors to find out if there was still confidence in the ability of Governor Cuomo to lead the state. The county supervisors stated they have no problem with the Governor remaining in office and Mayor de Blasio is asking for an investigation.

Given that Governor Cuomo didn't conduct the survey of the county supervisors, it is safe to say he wasn't interested in leveraging power over them, but, rather seek the true opinion of those leading the counties in New York State. I think Mr. Schwartz is an honest man. If the Governor had conducted the survey himself it is easily stated as a method of corruption. That didn't happen. I think to some extent given the rise in complaints to sway public opinion or maybe to give voice to public opinion the survey was a prudent measure to find out the extent if any confidence in the Governor was waning. It is not. For that reason alone I sincerely believe he will not resign.

It is a legitimate concern to find out if members of the Cuomo family were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. He is the Governor and his family and others that come in close contact with him need to be known if they were positive for the virus.

Did Trump, his staff, and his family not get tested regularly. He stated they were tested daily. What is the problem here? I don't get it. The article from The Washington Post does not state who "the connected people" were. I can't comment on unknown facts.

I might point out, if memory serves me well, that Chris Cuomo contracted the virus and was quarantined in his basement to prevent his family from exposure. So, I really don't get it when it comes to testing the Cuomo family. I was surprised this was even an issue.

The harassment allegations have nothing to do with the testing of people for the virus surrounding the Governor. 

March 24, 2021
By Josh Dawsey, Amy Brittain and Sarah Ellison

As the coronavirus pandemic (click here) swept through New York early last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration arranged for his family members and other well-connected figures to have special access to state-administered coronavirus tests, dispatching a top state doctor and other state health officials to their homes, according to three people with direct knowledge of the effort.

As part of the program, a state lab immediately processed the results of those who were tested, the people said, even as average New Yorkers were struggling to get tested in the early days of the pandemic because of a scarcity of resources. Initially, the lab was capable of running only several hundred tests a day for a state with 19 million residents.

The use of state resources to benefit people close to the governor raises serious ethical questions, experts said. New York law prohibits state officials from using their positions to secure privileges for themselves or others....

Vice President Harris is going to have a real task deprogramming Congress from years of propaganda.

From what I have read about the southern border, it is a humanitarian crisis alone. There is no one storming the border, at least not yet. If Russia has it's way that may become a reality someday.

At least 70 percent of the adults coming to the border are being returned to their home countries where there is an asylum application process. The only people being accepted into the USA from the southern border are pregnant women and unaccompanied minors to the age of 17.

The politics surrounding the USA southern border has been cultivated for the past four years and the idea that the border is an open crossing is a lie.

The people coming north from the countries below our southern border are very misinformed. The USA, especially Texas, is not the place to take refuge. Dr. Fauci is correct there is still an increase in COVID-19 cases in 21 states in the country. There are also Americans unwilling to take the vaccine. The USA isn't even close to herd immunity as only 25 percent of Americans have received their first shot and a portion of that, approximately half, have received their second shot.

Texas has been through enormous tragedy and sincerely needs to correct the path. That is not conducive to illegal immigrants crossing the border. Texas has a significant history of not only allowing illegal immigration but, fostering it to provide a cheap workforce. So, any objection by the politicians is all show and not substance. Using those immigrants as television fodder is just wrong. Those folks are grossly misinformed, need to go home and apply for asylum properly.

The idea that southern states do not want illegal immigrants is a lie. The idea the southern border states want to end illegal immigration only manifested politically in the recent decades by the Republicans. Their change in politics started when President George W. Bush wanted to pass immigration reform. The Republicans in Congress opposed him. At that point, immigration reform is something Democrats want and not part of the Republican Party rhetoric.

There is a strong history of cheap labor (work Americans won't do because of cheap pay) in Texas using illegal immigrants. 

April 1, 1995

By Leon F. Bouvier and John L. Martin

...Within the lifetime (click here) of a few Texan old timers the state has surged from about three million inhabitants (1900) to well over 18 million and it is still growing rapidly. Texans are rightfully proud that the state is attractive to newcomers, but as conditions in the state change, so too do the benefits and costs of continued rapid growth.

The components of population growth are fertility, mortality and immigration. This study is not about mortality or fertility, although it notes that a decrease in immigration from abroad would not, by itself, be sufficient to stabilize population size. Rather the focus is on immigration and how it has contributed to change in Texas' population and what the prospects are for the future, if current trends continue....

Vice President Harris is perfectly suited for the diplomatic initiative that will return the order to the southern border and stop the chaotic and misinformed migrating people.  

Mr. DeJoy is ridiculous. The lines in the US Post Office are already long. The mail is already slowed. He is not putting forward a better post office, he is disabling the USA Mail. The only redeeming aspect to his ideas is to end the punitive pension program started under the Bush White House. The only reason that is in the proposal is that it is the only palatable part. It is called politics.

While the entire government is going to need clean fuel vehicles, LaJoy's idea is not a good one. If there is to be a revamping of vehicles to clean electric transportation throughout the US Government, it will take place over a period of time, and that will have to come in legislation from Congress. LaJoy is not qualified to make those decisions. It is the tail wagging the dog. 

Since LaJoy seems to think the pension burden is too great for the Post Office that should be a stand-alone bill that even the Republicans can support.

We need an experienced Post Master General and a supportive Board of Governors to begin to untangle the mess Trump created.

Long overdue and necessary for a comprehensive constitutional gun program.

March 23, 2021
By Joey Garrison

Washington - President Joe Biden (click here) called on Congress to "immediately pass" legislation that would close loopholes in gun background checks and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in his first public remarks after a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, killed 10 people.

"I don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save the lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act," Biden said Tuesday, speaking from the White House State Dining Room.

Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden are "devastated" by the shooting, adding that he "just can't imagine how the families are feeling – the victims whose futures were stolen from them."...

I hear President Biden is being investigated.

 ...for cancellation of contacts connected with the southern border wall.

THAT MONEY BELONGS TO THE USA MILITARY, morons!

You can bet Trump cancelled every contract that could be found on a whim.

End of discussion!

The Republicans like to call it liberty for political purposes.

It isn’t liberty. Nope. Allowing the free wheeling of weapons is NEGLECT IN GOVERNING.

Alissa bought a military style weapon after the gun ban was lifted.

A 21 year old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was known by the FBI through an investigation of another person. The FBI was getting too close to the truth. Alissa is part of whatever the FBI is investigating.

Alissa had plans. The investigation was getting too close and his plans would have been ruined. I can’t help but think Alissa’s residence would provide excellent insight.

He could get his weapons and he acted killing ten precious American lives and leaving families with empty chairs at dinner still yet again. There are ten dead and a multitude of victims behind those deaths. This is the problem with the gun lobby. People in this country have privacy rights. That is a deeply held belief by most if not all Americans. The authority in this country at every level is hobbled by that deeply held belief and fundamental right. There is only one way to end military style weapons from killing innocent Americans and that is to control the availability of them. There is no other method. Background checks make some impact, but, people intent on these acts manage to get past the check to the guns. We have seen that “Oops” they shouldn’t have had that gun many times; too many times.

The supply of powerful guns is not needed in this country. There has to be a ban put in place. It is the only sure fire way of eliminating that danger. It not only protects unsuspecting Americans, but police and would end the profits of straw purchasers. There is a whole host of reasons, some domestic and some international to return a law that works. We know the ban works.

The Officer is leaving behind seven children. Those are just more victims.

End the filibuster!

Another 20 something after...

 ...the assault weapons ban of Boulder was blocked in a court proceedings. 

I would like to know why the gunman with a wounded leg decided to shoot up patrons of a grocery store.

 Fire DeJoy!

He is incompetent. He has fully demonstrated that. While willing to spend whatever it takes to purchase an entirely new fleet of vehicles, he can’t remain competitive. He is a ridiculous.

The US Post Office is required by the USA Constitution. It is a vital part of the definition of democracy. The best ally the USA has in running the Post Office is the union of workers, essential Americans at work. I strongly suggest the Board of Governors need to be replaced as equally as incompetent as DeJoy.

The union needs to work with a new slate of Board members and an experienced Post Master General to solve its problems if it actually has any.

The response by law enforcement in Boulder, Colorado...

 ...was nothing short of incredible. 

I am very sorry to hear ten people are dead, including the Officer that first responded to the carnage.

I am not surprised there is silence about the shooter simply because I think we witnessed a new approach to responding to an active shooter scene. It appears Colorado may have restructured their law enforcement since the Capital insurrection. That response should be a model for every state if it isn’t already.

Again, I am very sorry to hear of the ten deaths and especially the Officer that died from his heroic actions that probably saved lives.

GOP Rep. Crenshaw on the Medhi Hasan Show...

 ...is angry that 15 to 17 year olds from south of the USA border are crossing into the country. His argument is that they are old enough to be considered adult males and deported. He further states in their own countries they are part of the military. That is incorrect.

The countries south of the USA require men to be 18 years old to enlist. What Rep. Crenshaw went on to say is that these older teens should be returned to their home countries where they are enlisted to the drug cartels. 

??????????????????!!!!

Does a light not go on for Crenshaw when he states the 15 to 17 year olds crossing the border can work at that age for the drug cartels?

This is the kind of dummied down response that causes problems when really attempting to pass laws and implement policy that are moral and don’t violate human rights objectives that the USA embraces.

To be clear boys 15 to 17 years old from south of the USA border are in fear for their lives because they are pressed into service by the drug cartels. What member of the GOP has the almighty right to justify hate of these teens by stating they have to be deported KNOWING they are man enough to serve with drug cartels? 

The GOP leadership is at such a loss for real objections to the Biden Immigration Policy they will send teens back to their countries to service drug cartels that are sending drugs to the USA that is laced with fentanyl and kills Americans. 

Enough of this idiocy. The GOP leadership needs to take their racism elsewhere!

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Andrew Ross Sorkin is reporting in the New York Times today, there is enormous tax fraud that has been allowed to exist that when collected will net trillions into the USA treasury. It would pay the bills for the support programs during the COVID-19 health emergency.

There are hundreds of billions in unreported taxes. A 2019 I.R.S. analysis estimated that Americans reported less than half of all income that wasn’t subject to verification like a W-2, meaning that lots of business profits, rent and royalties go untaxed. That’s the largest reason that unpaid federal income taxes may amount to more than $600 billion this year, and more than $7.5 trillion over the next decade.

"Tax Evasion at the top of the income distribution theory and evidence" (click here)