Post: #1

What the hell is going on up there?..i dont see a thread on it. Michigan residents talk to us..

Post: #2

Just spoke to a few of my cousins still living there, and they tell it's a human issue turned political.

Seems the state has been trying to find ways to cut back on costs for some time now in leui of it's financial struggles. The city of Flint decided to switch from using the water supply from Lake Erie to local water from the Flint river. This issue goes back almost two years. The water was tested and retested and certified as drinkable, but the residents have been complaining about the smell/taste and appearance. Strangely enough, a couple more cousins live 5 minutes outside of city limits, and they haven't been affected because they are still on the Erie water supply.

One of my cousins works for GM and he confirms the story in the article (below), Gov. Rick Snyder was a whole year and half late to the party as far as taking action.

Even though, as the highest elected state official, you would think he had at least heard about this catastrophe in the hallway in passing.

Now that this has become a national issue, aid and help is on the way. Sad how the media has to pull your skirt up, to force politicians to provide the basic human necessities.

Timeline:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/timel...n-36419075

Post: #3

There's a lot to the story but the main theme is total government neglect.

In 2014, the local Flint government had an emergency manager instead of a mayor due to the financial problems. Those financial problems led to drawing water from the local water source(Flint River) instead of the pipelines to Lake Huron from Detroit.

The water levels were tested but passed when they shouldn't have been. The city and state government have been receiving complaints about the water.

Then it was neglected and completely ignored until the media exposed it and it became a national story. That's when all the relief, water bottles and stories started flooding in.

Basically the Flint and Michigan government were allowing Flint residents to be poisoned via lead poison from water. That's the last thing a city like Flint needs. It already has tons of problems.

Post: #4

The actual lead content qualified the water to be considered toxic waste. Even an auto plant had to stop using it because it was damaging the machines. A real travesty, lead poisoning can last a lifetime.

Post: #5

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Post: #6

For the dump that is Detroit, Flint is far worse. Flint had been getting their water from Detroit where it was properly treated and whatnot. Flint goes bankrupt, and Snyder puts into place and emergency system where the local mayor, city council, etc, are basically eliminated, and control over the city is in the hands of the governors office, or whatever emergency manager the governor appoints. They decide to save money by disconnecting from Detroit, and getting their water from the Flint River. Here's where it really gets fucked up. They apparently sold off the infrastructure that was the actual connection to the Detroit water source. If that's not burning bridges, I don't know what is. So the problem is amplified by the fact that they can't simply undo what they did and go back to Detroit. They literally sold the fucking pipes. So in order to really resolve this problem, the have to put in new pipes, or they have to set up their own water treatment facility which is a bit of a problem when you're bankrupt.

The governor is saying "we're going to hold those who are responsible for this accountable." Hello dumb ass, your office gave the green light for this to go down this way. You're responsible. Something tells me the end result of this is going to be privatized water, which is like the second worst possible outcome (the worst is obviously doing nothing and shipping water in via truck.)

Post: #7

Reason Magazine has recently had an amazing article about Flint being a failure of government in general, not government oversight. Basically, enormous liabilities for undeserved high pensions of public servants led the city into bankruptcy, which from then on has been managed by an unelected emergency manager the same way like any bankrupt company would: cut, cut, cut, cut.

With zero concerns about the actual welfare of its citizens, this emergency management squeezed all possible areas of potential savings hard, leading to the current water disaster.

It's mind-boggling that something as cheap and abundant as water (especially in Michigan, we're not exactly talking parched Arizona here!) is ever allowed to be subjected to corporate-style cuts and reductions in such vital areas.

We've recently seen the same globalist scourge in Croatia, one of the most water-rich countries in the world where tens of thousands of citizens have no access to water.

Post: #8

You also have to place some blame on the system itself. You cant have a system like in Flint, where the majority of people either live in HUD or live off the government and therefore pay no taxes. These same people have also voted for the same corrupt politicians for 40 years and are now shocked their lack of tax money and capable leaders failed them. Who would have thought things like water plants and pipes cost money? Likewise, while paying no taxes and voting the same do-nothing leaders into office every year, those leaders continued to pour money back into their union coffers and pensions, ignoring basic things like water plants and pipes to make sure their votes kept coming.

Nothing is free, not even water. They should have fixed the infrastructure years ago, instead, their elected leaders ignored it, while greasing their own pockets while kicking the can down the road. More and more we are seeing this across the country. Local idiots screw up, spend what decreasing tax money they actually collect like drunken sailors on things they dont need, then scream and cry for even bigger gov to come and save them. Naturally, all this needs to happen on someone else's dime.

Post: #9

I'm so lucky I don't live there. I'm the sort of person that will optimistically trust official reports of certified water testing. Fortunately, I live in a part of the world where I don't even trust a lot of the bottled water, so I probably won't get lead poisoning.

Post: #10

The mayor of Flint. Note her hair.

Post: #11

She wasn't the mayor when the decisions were made though. That was this guy:

Post: #12

Do they water their plants with the Flint River water?



That movie becomes more relevant day by day...

Post: #13

(01-23-2016 02:12 AM)Repo Wrote:  She wasn't the mayor when the decisions were made though. That was this guy:

No, I'd put the blame at both the corruption of the entire council and the decisions of the previous four (!) Emergency Managers.

I'm just pointing out that the Mayoral Office of Flint has obviously been subverted, by someone who will most likely cover up corruption in the name of social justice, no matter her professed political or religious affiliation. Looking into her background, there's a career full of various social concern organisations.

I doubt Actual Justice will be served, so the commoners will get fucked over, as usual.

It's interesting to note that, whilst all this crap was going down, Flint was more concerned with more serious problems, such as passing ordinances in 2012 (!) to criminalisation discrimination against "Sexual Orientation" and "Gender Expression".

Quote:“The ordinance is crucial for those of us in LGBT families because not having this basic security is very stressful and harmful for our quality of life. If Flint wants to attract new residents, it’s important for the city to support a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone,” said Mona Munroe-Younis, Flint resident.

Post: #14

Oh yeah, I definately agree that there will likely be little justice. I just thought that your post implied that she was the one in charge when the fuckups happened, thats all. I don't even think that is her hair, looks like a wig.

Post: #15

Flint has been a shithole for years. I know, I dated a girl from there once. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

Post: #16

Regardless of the residents being of a certain economic level, they should not be drinking poison due to the greed, stupidity and criminal neglect of those in power. This is akin to the mayor of New York allowing Manhatten island to be flooded because he cheeped out on the flood defense budget.

The US has god knows how many under water reseviours and surface water sources but its beyond them to provide clean drinking water to everybody. I don't give a shit if they're poor and it looks like some sort of socialist project, clean water should be a basic right.

Post: #17

(01-23-2016 10:09 AM)Gmac Wrote:  Flint has been a shithole for years. I know, I dated a girl from there once. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

Most definitely is, i live near Flint and have been there on many occasions. It's like a wasteland in parts. Detroit gets the coverage even though the metro area is fantastic, safe, and affluent. Flint has nothing around it of real value and the city itself is just the decayed remains of an industry that abandoned the area long ago.

That said, being a shithole doesn't explain this degree of fuckup. I'm not a conspiracy guy but you have to believe that, at minimum, somebody figured it didn't much matter what "these people" were drinking. We've known about it in Michigan since 2014, this isn't even a little bit new. I've been seeing Facebook posts of straight brown tap water all throughout 2015, well before it became national news. The lead people took in for that whole time is likely going to have serious effects on a whole generation.

Post: #18

Apparently Flint officials were being given bottled water a year ago.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/...employees/

Quote:The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget decided to haul water coolers into the Flint state building in January of 2015 out of concern over the city’s water quality, a year before bottled water was being made available to residents, according to documents obtained by Progress Michigan.

Flint switched its water source from Detroit to the Flint River in April 2014, which is now known to have caused lead to leach into the city’s tap water. After two boil advisories were issued in August and September of 2014, the city sent residents a notice that the level of trihalomethanes (TTHMs), which can cause liver and kidney problems, had exceed federal limits, although they were told that it was still fine to use the water and no corrective actions needed to be taken.

But concerns raised over water quality were enough for officials in the state’s capitol of Lansing to decide to give state employees the option to drink bottled water from coolers, rather than from water fountains. Coolers were placed next to the fountains on each occupied floor, according to the documents, and were to be provided “as long as the public water does not meet treatment requirements.”

Post: #19

Flint native Michael Moore weighs in:

Quote:More water bottles won’t help Flint’s crisis, filmmaker Michael Moore argues.

Moore, a Flint native, called for a revolt in Michigan instead of more donations from celebrities and organizations in a letter he posted on his website on Wednesday.

“You would have to send 200 bottles a day, per person, to cover what the average American (we are Americans in Flint) needs each day,” he wrote. “That’s 102,000 citizens times 200 bottles of water — which equals 20.4 million 16 oz. bottles of water per day, every day, for the next year or two until this problem is fixed.”

Instead, he asked readers to join him in a revolt, demanding Michigan’s governor Rick Snyder to be removed and arrested, calling the politician corrupt and incompetent.

He described Snyder’s handling of the water crisis as worse than anything a terrorist group could do, calling his administration’s actions “criminal.”

“There is not a terrorist organization on Earth that has yet to figure out how to poison 100,000 people every day for two years — and get away with it,” Moore said.

Moore also said Michigan must bear the financial burden from the crisis, as well as letting the federal government take over of the recovery process.

The MI governor is more worse than ISIS?

Post: #20

(01-28-2016 11:22 PM)Habano Wrote:  Flint native Michael Moore weighs in:

Quote:More water bottles won’t help Flint’s crisis, filmmaker Michael Moore argues.

Moore, a Flint native, called for a revolt in Michigan instead of more donations from celebrities and organizations in a letter he posted on his website on Wednesday.

“You would have to send 200 bottles a day, per person, to cover what the average American (we are Americans in Flint) needs each day,” he wrote. “That’s 102,000 citizens times 200 bottles of water — which equals 20.4 million 16 oz. bottles of water per day, every day, for the next year or two until this problem is fixed.”

Instead, he asked readers to join him in a revolt, demanding Michigan’s governor Rick Snyder to be removed and arrested, calling the politician corrupt and incompetent.

He described Snyder’s handling of the water crisis as worse than anything a terrorist group could do, calling his administration’s actions “criminal.”

“There is not a terrorist organization on Earth that has yet to figure out how to poison 100,000 people every day for two years — and get away with it,” Moore said.

Moore also said Michigan must bear the financial burden from the crisis, as well as letting the federal government take over of the recovery process.

The MI governor is more worse than ISIS?

Holy shit! Never I'm my lifetime would I think Michael Moore and I would agree on anything. Good thing I was sitting when I read that.

Post: #21

I can't for the life of me understand how Americans manage to use "200 bottles of water per day per person on average". Maybe Moore would prefer to tackle that issue as well?

Post: #22

We use water when washing dishes, if you wash your dishes with toxic water, you get toxic film on your dishes. Same with clothes. Can't lead be absorbed through the skin? So I guess that applies to hand washing too. Boiling toxic water doesn't get rid of toxins/heavy metals. You would have to run the water through a still or filter.
At my cabin I get water from a creek, it needs to be boiled for human consumption/usage on eatery. I still have bottled water, but that's just for drinking due to cost.