n2doc
n2doc's JournalRolling Stone: Who Poisoned Flint, Michigan?
A writer returns home to find a toxic disaster, giant government failure and countless children exposed to lead
By Stephen Rodrick January 22, 2016
Mom moved my two sisters and me to the appropriately named town of Flushing on the outskirts of Flint, Michigan, in 1980. My dad had just been killed in a plane crash, and she reasoned my Flint uncle would serve as a surrogate father. That didn't happen; he was a good man, but he had two boys of his own. We arrived just in time to watch a city die, as the auto industry disintegrated like a Chevette hitting a wall. This was only good for Michael Moore.
It did give me unfettered access to the Flint River. My uncle was a dentist, and his mansion was built on the proceeds of General Motors' generous medical plan. His house was adjacent to the Flushing Valley Golf Club, which bordered the river. The three months we stayed with him provided hours of creepy pleasure for a maladjusted teen. In pre-EPA days, factories had been dumping sludge and crud into the river for decades. Every day, my anti-nature walks brought new treasures: a dog carcass; the front grille of a K-car; and long, green bubbles of water that appeared to be living, malevolent, aquatic creatures with free will. Whenever I stuck my hand into the water to retrieve an abandoned tire or a shard of chain-link fence, my skin would come out a mottled crimson.
I moved away after graduating from Flint's Catholic high school, where I was mugged at a neighboring 7-Eleven when my teacher sent me to buy him some cigarettes. The jobs kept moving away too. To me, Flint became a self-deprecating anecdote. It was the city that tried to rescue itself with an auto-themed amusement park (hilarious!), had one of the highest per-capita violent-crime rates in the country (scary!), frequently finished near the top of worst-cities-in-America lists (true!), and so on.
Some 30 years later, I can't say I was surprised when my high school best friend, Gordon Young, a chronicler of Flint's slide in his book Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City, texted me that Flint, now in receivership and run by an apparatchik appointed by the austerity-mad GOP governor, was switching over from the Great Lakes to the Flint River for its drinking water. All to save some bucks. I thought this was preposterous. Only in Flint – a city that makes Youngstown, Ohio, look like Miami – could this be a viable solution.
I texted back: "Man, that seems like a bad idea."
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/who-poisoned-flint-michigan-20160122#ixzz3xz52xC9J
Xi Jinping wants a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital
Xi Jinping has a solution to the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict.
Speaking to the Arab League in Cairo, the Chinese president announced that he supports the notion of a full Palestinian state, and said that eastern Jerusalem should serve as the new country’s capital.
“China firmly supports the Middle East peace process and supports the establishment of a State of Palestine enjoying full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders,” Xi told delegates yesterday (Jan. 21). “We understand the legitimate aspirations of Palestine to integrate into the international community as a state.”
Such a statement puts China directly in the middle of a tense standoff between Israel and Palestine. East Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan from 1949, but fell under Israeli control following the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel says that the city–home to sites of religious importance to both Muslims and Jews—should remain undivided, but Palestinians argue that East Jerusalem ought to be their capital.
Xi’s announcement is unusual given China’s official policy of “non-intervention.” Beijing usually avoids ethical issues when dealing with foreign governments, in part to dodge criticism of its own domestic human rights abuses. An increasingly active China could risk eroding Beijing’s defense against criticisms from other governments.
more
http://qz.com/600681/xi-jinping-wants-a-palestinian-state-with-east-jerusalem-as-its-capital/
Sanders is outspending HRC on ads
WRITTEN BY
Ashley Rodriguez
As the US presidential campaign heats up, candidates are ramping up advertising efforts to get in front of potential voters. Bernie Sanders, in particular, is edging ahead of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
In the last two months, the Vermont senator’s campaign spent nearly $8 million on advertising, according to data from ad-tracking firm SMG Delta, as cited by NBC News. That brings his total to $12.8 million spent on advertising through Jan. 19, ahead of the $11.6 spent by Clinton and her super PACs.
The hike puts Sanders ahead of Clinton in terms of ad spending for the first time in the election cycle.
Right now, Sanders’ investment seems to be paying off. His ads are hit with Democrats and Independents, he has pulled within 5 points of Clinton in Iowa, and he leads her by double digits in New Hampshire. Nationally, however, Clinton has a commanding advantage.
The leading Democratic candidates each released new TV ads this week, ahead of the Iowa caucus. The Sanders ad, featuring the Simon & Garfunkel song “America,” offered a message of hope to voters, while Clinton’s positioned her as the only hope for defeating the Republicans.
more
http://qz.com/600119/clinton-and-sanders-are-in-an-ad-spending-war-here-are-the-numbers/
Bernie lights fire of Doors drummer
By John Densmore
This wasn’t an acid flashback, although to my ears it sounded like one. Several months ago, I was with 27,000 people screaming for a disheveled, 74-year-old senator from Vermont. We were in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, where The Doors played in the 1960s. I remember the mass adulation, but that was for our lead singer in leather pants. Even though the white-haired politician has no colorful wardrobe, after he speaks, you want to hug him. Why? Because what Bernie Sanders says feels like the unbridled truth. And he says it loud!
Backstage I said, “It’s so refreshing, almost shocking to hear words that ring true ... out of a politician! You’re like the pope!” That’s why the mass appeal (pun intended).
Let’s not forget that just a couple years ago, in thousands of cities, across 82 countries, on every continent except Antarctica, the mantra that 1 percent owns the 99 percent got embedded in the world’s psyche. Gosh, that’s Bernie Sanders' main theme.
And he’s a minority! We’ve had an African-American in office who, at times, has been rather centrist. We now see that some Hispanic politicians (Rubio, Cruz) are as conservative as they come. And Maggie Thatcher didn’t exactly bestow motherly love. So, it’s not about race or gender any more. It’s about substance.
more
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/caucus/2016/01/21/bernie-lights-fire-doors-drummer/79118130/
There is an interesting war going on in RW media between Cruz and Trump Supporters
Apparently Limbaugh and Levin, among others, have thrown their lot in with Cruz, while Savage Wiener and Imus support Trump. The Wiener was apoplectic yesterday about just 'who really is a conservative' because he was getting shit from people for being such a Trump booster. It was fun, for once, to hear. I'm hoping for more as time goes on.
a link
http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-NEWS-and-COMMENTARY-c-2016-01-19-281216.112112-Trump-losing-conservative-GOP-support.html
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